Coming soon, some of you will get a free cloth shopping bag, compliments of the Green Team, Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, and the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. Les Schwab Tire Center on 122nd and Division is purchasing advertising for some of our bags. They want to work with kids, so the SUN School program at Faubion School will have a contest for an environmental drawing for the outside of the bag. Alberta Cooperative Grocery Store will be sponsoring some bags for the kids contest, too. They’re also purchasing advertising for their business on another batch of bags. We are projecting delivery of the bags to start sometime between the first and middle of July. There will also be something special” in the bags for you. We will be knocking on your door to give you a bag, but if you’re not home we’ll hang it on your doorknob. Join us at a Green Team meeting, always the fourth Tuesday of the month in the Community Room at the Kennedy School. We always have room for more people committed to our environment.
Click on the link below to read another story from the Green Team about the effect cows and their methane output have on climate change.
Pass The Tums, Please
Strange request for an article about methane, but pertinent to herbivores and their impact on global warming. We will confine this article to cover cows which is a term that includes calves, bulls, steers, ox, and the female cow. Being raised on a cattle ranch we always used the proper term for the animal with which we were dealing. Oh, well! They all burp, belch, and eruct. Yes, you guessed right – methane.
The cows’ stomachs contain a micro-organism called methagenon that digests their food and creates methane as a by-product. What would Old McDonald think? A burping cow? Not a big deal? Hopefully, if he really existed he would realize the importance of methane in the global warming process.Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. 25 times more potent, in fact.
The world’s billion and a half gassy cows make a significant impact to climate change. A cow burps every 40 seconds and livestock production worldwide is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than is created by every scooter, SUV, and big rig combined. Meat production is expected to double by 2050, as will the methane that the livestock will produce. And we’re only talking about one end of the cow.
The University of Hohenheim in Germany is working on a super-sized antacid pill for the cattle, in addition to creating a low burp diet for the animals. Until we are able to utilize the methane from animal burps as we do from landfills, why wait for the super-sized tums?
We, as individuals can start eating less meat, the only solution available to us at this time. We can become vegetarians or go to the best solution, which would be vegan. If either of those solutions don’t suit your taste, have one meatless meal a week or even have an entire day without meat. Can you have a whole day as a vegan? Why not give it a try. Help save a cow, help save our planet.
If you want more information on animal methane, Google “cows methane”. You’ll find a lot of compelling information on this subject.