Daily Loaf

Let us assume for one moment that water was a precious commodity, as rare as gold itself. How would we treat it? Would we bathe our infertile landscape with it? Expend perfectly clean water to dispose of our waste? Throw it away after scantly using it in the sink while doing dishes?

Now let us live in reality. Realize that already this resource is such a thing. For we live way above our means at almost 500 gallons a day for the average American. Most human beings on this planet use less than 100 gallons, and by 2025 water will be a scarce resource for nearly three-quarters of the population due to exponential growth of use and depleting glaciers.

In my previous post about South Central Asia, I spoke also about the resource war that could erupt over water. With recent fires in California as well as sandstorms in Australia, more than ever resilience in a water supply will be crucial for our success in the future. We must adapt to a goal of using less water and utilizing it more efficiently.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Connecting of tribes at the Campus and Community Sustainability Conference at USF- Contributor Eric Stewart gives an overview of the seminars at the event and what Florida students are doing to make others aware of sustainablity issues.

USF Green Expo panel discusses high-speed rail- A speaker at the USF Going Green Expo, Nazih Haddad, Manager of the High-Speed Rail Program at the Florida Department of Transportation, said that demographics, geography, and growth management needs to create a perfect niche for high speed rail technology.

Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful receives $10,000 grant award as part of nationwide competition to “think green”- KHCB received a $10,000 cash grant for being one of 15 winners nationwide in a competition to present proposals for ambitious projects representing a wide array of stewardship, community outreach and educational projects.

Participate in ‘No Impact Week’ to lighten your carbon footprint-  Starting Sunday, October 18, use the No Impact Project guide and learn to gradually reduce your carbon footprint, step-by-step.
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I intend to describe an emerging tribe that is being formed, not only in the Tampa Bay area, but across the state as well. But while doing, so I want to showcase my own observations of the mindset of a large section of the population that is emerging. I believe and have witnessed the cohesive power of this tribe en mass. This cohesiveness is being brought about with courage from an unknowable source. The people standing up for the changes within our culture are ones that have jumped into a new dark abyss. They go forward with lamps showing the way for others to follow.

Last weekend, I attended the 4th Annual Campus and Community Sustainability Conference and Expo at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus. One of the first seminars I went to was about a group of young architect students from the USF Center for Community Design and Research designing a sustainable community.  These young ladies entered a contest to design a sustainable city, their design being at the heart of  Tampa between Ybor and downtown Tampa. They readily valued community supported agriculture as a method of enabling people to consume food, not measured in miles, but in feet. Light rail mixed with walkable communities enabled the commuters to enjoy a short stroll to anything needed in daily living. Driving a bicycle was just about the only vehicle allowed within most of the area. There was a centralized farmers market where hundreds of stands could be set up, bringing in the local community garden’s food, as well as that from local farmers.
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What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

The Earth Charter: How ethics can change the world (video) – The Earth charter was created by thousands of people representing hundreds of countries aiming at a universal ethical code of conduct for human beings. How do we treat each other? How do we treat the world? These questions were raised and answered.

City of Tampa Green Business Designation Program- As of this week, the City of Tampa became one of just a handful of cities nationwide to start a green business designation program.  Outside of the West Coast (California and Washington state), Tampa will join major metropolitan areas like Philadelphia and Knoxville in rewarding private businesses that have become or want to become more environmentally-friendly.

Why buying recycled, repurposed products is so important- Preserving the Earth’s natural resources is vital to the future of the planet and all of its inhabitants. Buying recycled and repurposed products is a great way to make a positive impact on the environment by cutting back on waste and the resources needed to make new items.
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Sustainability is the ability to meet present day needs without jeopardizing the future’s ability to provide for their needs as well. In order to have a sustainable system such as this it must be created equally in a democratic way. If sustainability is built only for the extremely rich the poor and middle class will be left out with ever rising costs of living. A green revolution is needed most from the bottom up, not the top down.

Social justice and peace are necessities for a sustainable society. The resources and manpower devoted to war are all we would need to combat global climate change and transition our economy from a fossil fuel dependent one to a cleaner/renewable energy/decentralized system. What would this story look like?

In 1992 a little girl named Severn Suzuki spoke at the Rio Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero:
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