Boycotting BP Gas Stations a Waste

Privately Owned BP Stations

If you watch the video posted above this post, you will see that BP does not own any gas stations in the United States. Every gas station is privately owned and when people boycott getting gas there, they are only hurting an individual that is not payed by BP. There have been miniscule drops in business, but the upcoming Summer season usually sees an increase in sales and prices. This season will definitely hurt the sales. So next time you pass a BP station and think that the people working there are bad people, think again, BP sells the gas to them only. There have been local news stories where people have thrown balloons filled with paint at BP gas stations. The only person paying for this is an individual and it is coming out of their wallet, not Tony Hayward's company. I am not telling you that you have to purchase BP gasoline, but do not think that avoided these gas stations will hurt the BP conglomerate, you are only hurting one innocent individual who did not mean for this all to happen.

"The oil is on the surface," Hayward said. "There aren't any plumes."

'I want my brother's life back'

History of the Comic

Rustle the Leaf is an environmental comic strip that was published from November 2004 through July 2007, and is still available online through various environmental and earth science web sites. At the height of its distribution, the weekly comic was featured on over 70 Sierra Club Chapter and Group web sites, on the home pages of the U.S. and Canada Green Party web sites, on several college and university web sites, and on hundreds of environmental, natural products and science web sites around the world. From February 2005 through February 2007 the strip was the weekly comic feature on the web site for Orion, a publication called "America's finest environmental magazine" by The Boston Globe.

The strip's characters were created in late 2002 and early 2003 by Dave Ponce, a Central Indiana-based marketing consultant, and were proposed as a comic project to Steve and Melissa Zeitler, founders/owners of Citra-Solv, LLC., a manufacturer of natural, eco-friendly cleaning and personal care products. Ponce provided consulting and creative services to the Zeitlers, and believed their philosophy of sustainable lifestyle practices would resonate with a larger audience if presented in an engaging, humorous, noncommercial, less politically-charged context. In January 2003, the Zeitlers agreed to fund the development of "Rustle the Leaf," and to make it available on their web site at www.citra-solv.com. Although Ponce had knowledge and experience writing environmental articles, and was a devoted follower of the comic strip medium, he did not have the art skills to draw Rustle the Leaf, and tapped friend and digital illustrator Corey Wilkinson to bring the characters to the page.

This is just a short history of Rustle the Leaf from Wikipedia, you can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rustle_the_Leaf .


"The American people have a right to air that they and their children can breathe without fear."
— Lyndon Baines Johnson

Solar Day 2010

June 19, 2010 will be the official Solar Day for this Earth. This is the second year of celebrating solar power and how "green" the power truly is. This date is chosen because it is the weekend closest to the summer solstice. This means that day has the most daylight hours and therefore more sun, if the clouds aren't out of course. The development of solar power has changed the face of energy dependency on fossil fuels. Solar, wind, thermal, and hydro are just a few other sources of energy that do not harmt he Earth directly. So when the Summer comes around the corner, think about what you can do to change the environment in a positive way, maybe even invest in solar power.

"Only when the last tree has been cut down,
Only when the last river has been poisoned,
Only when the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
— Cree Indian Prophecy

Whatever You Do, There is Always a Risk

With all of the modern technology today, scientists can find things wrong with every aspect of a person's life. From brushing your teeth to driving your car, there is always a chance for harmful particles to get onto your body or into it. People have been doing these things for many years and nothing has come to thought that it could be harmful to their well being. There are warnings on almost every home necessity, from soap to even food. I am sure you have seen those pharmaceutical commercials, where a person will talk very quickly and name many side effects. Some of these listed side effects very from headaches to heart failure. There are many serious problems with newly formed products, but most products are not extremely harmful to people's health.

"It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish."
— J.R.R. Tolkien

Destruction of the Battered Gulf Coast

I am sorry if this picture offends anyone, but the public should be allowed to see what BP has done to the Gulf Coast. This is a saltwater Dolphin that was caught in the water for an attempted rescue, but the oil already got too far into the body of the dolphin. This is truly the inconvenient truth for all Americans and people overseas. There will always be mistakes, but this is an absolute disaster. The endless attempts at capping the wellhead have failed and now it is time to start punishing those who made this go wrong. BP has been fined $69 million, but many critics are saying this is too little for the monstrous oil company. People say they should be fined this for everyday that oil is coming out of that wellhead into the ocean.


Ecologically speaking, a spilt tanker load is like sticking a safety pin into an elephant’s foot. The planet barely notices. After the Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska the oil company spent billions tidying up the coastline, but it was a waste of money because the waves were cleaning up faster than Exxon could. Environmentalists can never accept the planet’s ability to self-heal.
— Jeremy Clarkson

A New Way of Flying High

The has not been much of a change in the airplane industry in the past 50 years, when it comes to general plane design. This is because of the fear to change the airports yearly and cause tons of money to be implemented into the airplane industry. The largest change in travel has been seen in the automobile industry, but the airplane's have been lacking. NASA gave five companies and one university contracts to fund the development of airplane prototypes. There were various constraints that consisted of greatly decreasing emissions, reducing fuel consumption, decreasing noise, and having the plane capable of taking off on a shorter runway. All of these will help make flying better for the environment and more economical. The future of flying may be very different then what it has been in the past.

The packaging for a microwavable "microwave" dinner is programmed for a shelf life of maybe six months, a cook time of two minutes and a landfill dead-time of centuries. ~David Wann, Buzzworm, November 1990

The Endless Oil Spill

The oil spill has entered its seventh week, dousing the Gulf with oil and causing disruptions with local and national governments. Our president does not have answers to the many news agencies concerning the oil spill and BP representatives are still optimistic in the future of the spill. BP has been looking out to the public to find answers to this disaster and once hurricane season starts, there could be major problems. The hurricanes could push the oil filled water into marshlands and destruct the already battered Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Coast and the efforts to repair all of the land is still underway. Another Category 5 hurricane would destroy wildlife and dampen the relief efforts that are currently in process.

The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun. ~Ralph Nader, quoted in Linda Botts, ed., Loose Talk, 1980

Significance of the Cartoon

Rustle the Leaf includes many, many humorous comics, but create a very strong environmental opinion. They try to educate the community as a whole to help the future of our planet, economy, and social status. Making a comic appealing to children, teenagers, and adults makes a universal message for others to follow and possibly learn something from. So check out the Facebook page for Rustle the Leaf at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rustle-the-Leaf/124817034120?ref=ts .


When a man throws an empty cigarette package from an automobile, he is liable to a fine of $50. When a man throws a billboard across a view, he is richly rewarded. ~Pat Brown, quoted in David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising, 1985

Environmental Realization

How much does it take for the average adult in the United States to realize most of the objects they use on a daily basis may be hurting the livelihood of this Earth? This question is posed to millions of people everyday and there has never been a good answer to solve these problems. I remember seeing the price of gas in "I am Legend" the movie, and this shows the perfect example of one way of showing people that they are harming the environment by using gasoline powered engines. People complain about taxes on harmful products, such as cigarettes and people do not realize, that it is there to help them quit and save the environment. The government should not be the only organization making regulations, people should step in and influence the government to make educated legislation.

Your grandchildren will likely find it incredible - or even sinful - that you burned up a gallon of gasoline to fetch a pack of cigarettes! ~Paul MacCready, Jr.

A Political Controversy

Environmental policy making is a very large part of the legislative process today on Capitol Hill. There will always be the true Congressman that are searching for a better climate, but there still will always be the Congressman looking for the corporate relationship and money transactions. This given comic exemplifies the current events in the United States and how reputation and alliances with other people can create a large lie, that covers up the whole truth. It is depicted as a game in the comic, but many people do not realize that lobbyists today will fight with litigation to stop people or companies that get in their way. There are many Political Action Committees (PAC) that will move to the forefront to fight for the truth, but there are still many of them here to cover up the truth and spread the wealth in environmental destruction.

They kill good trees to put out bad newspapers. ~James G. Watt, quoted in Newsweek, 8 March 1982

Learning With Rustle

Rustle the Leaf has created dozens of lesson plans to help educate the community as a whole on environmentally friendly subjects. The plans vary from early education to even college students. There have been adults that have even learned from these plans and now practice ways of helping the environment and saving money at the same time. There have been many public school teachers that have spread their ideas and issues with the lesson plans taught in class. The characters of the comic strip make it very easy for children to appeal with the lessons and it creates more fun within the learning experience. If there are any teachers that would like to check out these lesson plans or anyone else, please visit http://www.rustletheleaf.com/lessonplans1.html .

In an underdeveloped country, don't drink the water; in a developed country, don't breathe the air. ~Changing Times magazine

What You Are Really Getting Out of Every Mile

If you see next to a well traveled road in a small sized city today, you will see a record number of hybrid cars cruising down the street. This is because people actually somewhat care about the environment and the future of the planet. As this cartoon is explaining, the demand for faster hybrids is on the rise, so if you see a sport car hybrid in the future, it may not mean that it has great gas mileage. People want speed in America and they may get it, but with the increase in horsepower, comes lower miles per gallon. Overseas, the need for speed is much less and people care about how much money they are saving by getting a compact car and saving gas. It is a whole different world here in America, but we have to change our practices of preserving gas or we will end up like the people back in the Stone Age.

Take care of the earth and she will take care of you. ~Author Unknown

The Recycling Process

There are thousands of products out there today that can not be properly recycled in the environment. This comic strip shows the terrible effects of normal recycling uses for PVC. This object is very disruptive to the environment and it is very hard to educate people on properly recycling these important substances. Almost every part of this planet can be effected by improper recycling practices and with the current oil spill catastrophe, people should be looking for better ways of approaching recycling and helping the Earth.

Just remember during this summer, please recycle and do so properly. Thank You

-If civilization has risen from the Stone Age, it can rise again from the Wastepaper Age. ~Jacques Barzun, The House of Intellect, 1959

The Real Heat "Waves"

When the ocean levels rise, they heat up because of the expansion of surface area. The heat waves that could hit any place this summer are nothing compared to the waves of the ocean that will be warmer than ever. "The energy stored is enough to power nearly 500 100-watt light bulbs for each of the roughly 6.7 billion people on the planet." This statistic is mind blowing to people all over the world. People say would should harness the power of the ocean, but with the widespread area of the ocean and the wildlife in it, this would cost way too much money.

What are your opinions on this article? What do you think our government and other agencies can do to help the heat energy of the world's oceans.

URL: http://www.enn.com/energy/article/41346


We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb

The Pigment of Computer Paper

Have you ever wondered why paper is so white? When you see a fallen branch or tree and look inside, it is usually a yellowish white or even sometimes green. People prefer to work with paper that is extremely white, so their words can be seen better. A bleach is a chemical that removes colors or whitens, often via oxidation. This is what is used to make paper the color it is usually seen as today. When the page is completely bleached, it often lets the black ink stand out more then it would on a page of other color. This chemical can be found in all types of house cleaning materials, but just because it is found in the average home, does not mean it is particularly safe. Bleach harms the environment when it is leaked into water supply and depletes animal lives. If it is leaked into a small pond, it would not be surprising if all life in the pond died out. There have been many researches done to see bleach's effect on this planet, and they have noticed that for every use of bleach, there is an alternative method with another chemical or alcohol.

Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. ~Henry David Thoreau

Making Differences

There are literally hundreds of organizations and agencies trying to help the future of this country, but what can we really do to make a difference? This comic shows how we should use nature to change people's opinions about polluting. There are many issues we face today that should be taken care of, but forgetting about something is harder then remembering it.

-Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions.

US Cut Its CO2 Emissions by 7 Percent Last Year

David Gabel of the Environmental News Network found a statistic that brings back good news about how our efforts to save this planet have paid off. The title explains the story, which is that the United States has cut its CO2 emissions by 7 percent in the fiscal year of 2009. This is the largest drop in CO2 emissions since the U.S. has been recording in 1949. This is good news for people who have been striving to drop the footprint that individuals give off and businesses around the country. The atmosphere on this planet can only withstand a certain amount of CO2 and the plants can only take in so much. The change in manufacturing and driving practices may continue to pay off. The new cars out on the road with better miles per gallon may have contributed to this statistic.

Another view on this drop in CO2 emissions may have come naturally with the recession in the U.S. market. When people are having a hard time paying their bills, they try to cut back on energy use and even choose save money by purchasing a more fuel efficient car. Money is the key issue in the news and one of the best ways to save money is to save energy. People chose to keep lights off in the offices or leave the windows open at night, instead of turning on the air conditioner. I am sure the Earth is happy for our improvements in our CO2 emissions, but we still have to work to keep them down. For a greener approach to cleaning the environment, visit http://www.citra-solv.com/whynatural.shtml .

For the whole article go to:
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/41295

Posting

People are welcome to post new articles about the news or opinions about the environment.

The First Rustling

Hello all Bloggers,

This is the first of many posts on this blog and all other information can be seen at http://www.rustletheleaf.com/.

There is a comic to ponder for today and maybe you can even help out the environment we live in.