Wagwan everybody, it’s Austin checking in from Jamaica. It’s been almost three months since I left home for Kingston, and my time here has been both incredible and difficult. So what I’m doing here in Jamaica, if you’re wondering, is the United States Peace Corps. So far the process has taken me from the struggles of being a trainee to being a full fledged volunteer in the southern Parish of Clarendon. I have been an official Peace Corps Volunteer for about a month now and I have been placed with an environmental NGO called the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Fund (CCAM). Read more…
Have you ever dreamed of getting in a van and driving south until who knows when? I know I have, and in 1968 Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins lived this dream. This 10,000 mile trip started in Southern California and “ended” in Patagonia, South America. This trip changed the lives of the explorers and now, because of these two men and their work, over two million acres are under permanent protection. Their epic adventure was recently recreated and made into a documentary/ travel/ surf film called 180 Degrees South. Produced by Woodshed Films, the film depicts a group of surfers/ explorers making their way from Southern California in a sailboat. The destination was Patagonia but where they ended up along the way could never have been predicted. The film is set to release this spring and from watching this trailer one word comes to mind: Epic. Enjoy…
The non-profit group Conservacion Patagonica has been dedicated to conservation in Patagonia since 2000. They have protected over 450,000 acres of land through the implementation of national parks in Argentine Patagonia and have started the process of implementing another national park in Chilean Patagonia. The future Patagonia National Park will be in a place called Valle Chacabuco in southern Chile and will be about 500,000 acres in size when completed. Read more…
The American people are becoming increasingly aware of what goes into the food we eat. Not just pesticides and other chemicals but also the truth about why our food is so cheap and the repercussions of the current system, both environmental and social. Industrial agriculture has delivered cheap groceries and a greater variety in what we choose to eat; but it has also brought us contaminated meat, carcinogenic hormone-filled milk, and environmental disaster. The cheap prices we see at the market are a farce. The costs that we are averting is being dumped on something or someone else. The article in Time Magazine by Bryan Walsh titled “Getting Real about the High Price of Cheap Food” displays what is wrong with the food we eat and shows how some companies are choosing to do it the right way. Read more…
Patagonia is one of the last wild places on earth. Thanks to some courageous and motivated people its probably going to stay that way for a while.
A group called “Conservacion Patagonica” is dedicated to creating the Patagonia National Park and has already placed 460,000 acres of Patagonian habitat into permanent protection. This group is a motivated NGO that has already created an Argentinean park and has been working on its Chilean sister for years now. Read more…
Recently in Oregon a bipartisan agreement of epic proportions has taken place. The heavily contested battle over old growth forests in Eastern Oregon has finally ended. The most recent saga of the argument has taken eight months and has produced a solution that both sides agree on. Environmental groups have argued for decades for the protection of old growth forests because of their ecological benefits. The timber industry, obviously, has been a thorn in the side of conservation. This argument has lasted for over three decades and with the help of Senator Ron Wyden an agreement has been made to ban the cutting of trees with a diameter of more than 21 inches, which protects watershed areas in eastern Oregon. Read more…
Our current climate crisis is without borders. All nations, developed and developing, are in the same boat when dealing with the possible effects. Most leaders around the world have come to the realization that both ground work and international legislation are necessary to preserve our environment for the future. Things are no different in Jamaica. Read more…
For decades now, surfboards have been made out of hazardous materials such as high density foam and fiberglass. These materials have created hazardous waste for too long and ‘Green Foam Blanks’ has been working on creating less hazardous surfboard materials and shaping recycled polyurethane blanks. Based in San Clemente, California, the heart of the California surf world, Green Foam is on the right track. They are trying to change not only the materials but also the culture. Surfers have always been on the greener side of the spectrum, I mean, who really wants to surf in dirty water? But now more sustainable surfboards look to further decrease surfer’s footprint and offer a better alternative. Read more…
In 2007 the US Fish and Wildlife Service made the decision to remove the “threatened” label from the Yellowstone Population of Grizzly Bears. The Yellowstone Grizzlies had been designated as “threatened” in 1975 which granted them “special protections” as part of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The USFWS removed the Grizzlies from the list in 2007 after the population numbers “increased from an estimated population of 136 to 312 when they were listed as threatened in 1975, to more than 500 bears today.” But just recently, Judge Donald Molloy of the Montana District Court ruled that the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision would leave the bears under-protected. Judge Molloy ruled that the existing regulatory plans were inadequate and that they “depend on guidelines, monitoring, and promises or good intentions for future actions (which are) unenforceable and non-binding on state and federal agencies.” Read more…
Here’s an idea…maybe nature is better at fighting climate change than we are. A new study out of Europe shows that governments may be able to better fight climate change by investing in the natural world. Certain natural resources like mangroves and forests have a huge potential to fight the effects of climate change. Preserving these resources could end up costing less than investing in other global warming preventative measures and their mitigation effects could last much longer. According to the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, or TEEB, our “Natural systems represent one of the biggest untapped allies against the greatest challenge of this generation.” Read more…
Our current climate crisis is without borders. All nations, developed and developing, are in the same boat when dealing with the possible effects. Most leaders around the world have come to the realization that both ground work and international legislation are necessary to preserve our environment for the future. Things are no different in Jamaica. 
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