Collisions with buildings cause 100 million to one billion bird deaths per year. Hunters kill 100 million. Pesticides: 67 million. Vehicles: 60-80 million. Domestic cats: 39 million-1 billion.

So, Fluffy is one of the biggest aviocidal maniacs out there. That gift she left on your doorstep? A boon to the ecosystem, and there’s more where that came from.

It is a little strange that we have cats, an invasive species of non-social animal as a popular pet. It’s even weirder (and sadder) that with 9.6 million cats and dogs killed in shelters each year, we continue to pay breeders to make more cats and dogs to be sold, released, and killed in a shelter.

What should be done? We could keep our kitties indoors, but I would never do that to my Mew. We could introduce them to Kinect Birdcatch(tm), but I think I just made that up.

One thing that I’m sure I support withdrawing support from cat breeders and kitten mills which feed pet stores. Cats cause so much damage to the ecosystem, and we are paying people to produce more of them, just to see these animals killed in the shelters. If you’re going to get an animal, adopt one at petfinder.com, the Lange Foundation, or your other local shelter. And try to keep them out of birds nests.

Don't be the reason trees like this one could be cut or even extinct, especially how things are going. Photo credit: Julio Alberto Cruz

It’s not about money, even though the rest of the world is.

Because of this frugal and money-savvy mentality, many are against the movement of organic-made products and environmental-friendly ways. It cost more money to be green and save green. But this should be a way of life and not an activist fight.

From experience, many have been and continue to be against many progressive practices.

Why? I have no idea.

Why be against using less of plastic bags?

Why be against using alternate vehicles due to the increase of gas prices or cycling around the city more often?

Why be against going organic?

Why be against using less to no plastic water bottles?

Or

Why be against Fair Trade?

But my question is, why knock it if you haven’t tried it? Then you can say your feelings and opinions.

You don’t know you might just like it and you it’s beneficial because that’s what it should be all about – for the greater good.

Yes, change for many isn’t the best thing to do but trying sounds much better.

Remember, you can’t never fight for the “good” about our Mother Earth.

Good day, Matadors!

“Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use”

- Wendell Johnson

It is common sense, but better yet, it simply makes sense. Photo credit: Julio Alberto Cruz

I visited coffee roasting company Larry’s Beans, in Raleigh, North Carolina two months ago and was surprised at their recycling initiatives.

The staff already recycled, but what surprised me was their urge to know how efficient they actually are in recycling.

To find out they dumped all their trash onto the pavement and went over it. They found out that very little of their trash could be recycled.

Then, I heard of businesses and even households doing the same, to see what can be recycled and what can be thrown out.

Keep in mind, some of those households my live in homes, versus apartments, making it easier to recycle items in the garage or else where, unlike those who live in apartment buildings.

So to help us all out, below is a list of common household items in the trash that CAN be recycled. We’ve also listed a few items and how/where to recycle them:

• Plastic water bottles (recycle them).
• Aluminum cans (recycle them).
• Paper/envelopes (recycle it, or reuse them as notepads).
• Newspapers (either recycle it or save it for future use like putting some cut pieces into shoes to kill odor).
• Magazines (either recycle it or save some and stack them up, tied them up, making a coffee table).
• Plastic bags (either recycle them or reuse them).
• Clothes/shoes (recycle clothes tips; give them to homeless shelters or homeless people – they really appreciate that).
• Cellphones/electronics (recycle them, sell them, or keep them to show them to your grandchildren).

I hope it helps. Just remember it is in an effort to preserve the planet, save money (even get some money if possible by recycling certain items) and to do the right thing.

Living off the grid is a very sustainable solution when you hunt for and grow your own meat. McCandles lived in an abandoned bus in Alaska and bought nothing, contributing nearly nothing to waste or carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. He traveled by foot and foraged for native foods.

McCandles made notable mistakes on his journey. He was hardly prepared and didn’t use a map for much of it. He went the wrong direction and ended up in Mexico and burned his money in an act of resisting human currency. While in Alaska he died, although it is arguable how this happened. His quest to survive by himself without human luxuries seems a little like a failure.

Although I think that his rash decision to leave civilization without preparing was foolhardy, I admire his bravery. How many people can I say I know who have made such a commitment to following their dream? How many people have such adventures with their time on earth?

Of course the best idea is to both be prepared and bold enough to go for what you want. McCandles could have had a full life of exploring nature, and preparation would have made that a lot easier. The same goes for anyone else, but most of us are held back by our fear. What risk would you take to follow your dream?

Let us know in the comments below!

A Vespa motor scooter. Motor scooter saves more on gas than a car. Photo credit: shindoverse/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Since January it seems like every other week gas prices have risen, especially here in Los Angeles. And many people have turned to driving less, using public transportation, riding bicycles or even walking.

Bicycle riding has grown a lot as of late and you can tell by just looking out for cyclists in the city.

but how about a motor scooter? Have you seen one?

It seems like a practical mode of transportation now a days, doesn’t it?

It’s been hard to find “reasonable” gas prices in LA alone, where it seems that there aren’t many gas stations charging gas for less than $4.00 a gallon.

For some, it may be stressful spending that much for travel. Might I suggest a motor scooter as an option?

I’ve seen them around the city, in particular a Vespa motor scooter, but I see them more often now, so it dawned on me to check them out.

I have always liked the idea of a motor scooter, especially over motorcycles for some reason and a  Vespa motor scooter is one of the best out there. But, that’s besides the point.

With this gas crunch on my wallet, I decided to look further into my lust of motor scooters. I saw by my house the other day and it costs around $3,3oo. Before I even contemplated the thought of buying one, I had to look at the specifics of my possibel new mode of transportation.

The scooter got about 85-90 miles per gallon. May be that’s because it’s meant to be driven only in the city since it doesn’t go any faster than 40 miles per hour.

Aside from gas economy, one I really became attracted to a Vespa GTS 300 because it can be used on the freeway. It can go up to 80 miles per hour and gets 70 miles per gallon on average. It costs about $6,000, but that price hit to me is like a steal when you think about how much I’d be saving on gas.

That still a lot more than the miles per gallon I get in my “economical” 2007 Honda Accord, which only gets up to 34 miles per gallon.  Don’t get me wrong, that’s pretty good for a car, but if I want to save some money, especially if I want to drive around, or simply commute to work and school, I would love to cut that gas payment.

I would probably spend $20 to fill up the motor scooter tank. I think I’m sold.

And, it seems like fun riding a scooter, especially now that the weather is warming up.

Like my necklace? Like today’s issue?

Too bad we aren’t printed on recycled paper. Ironic isn’t it? How the world can be so green forward and preach about green initiatives, but those who preach don’t practice them. But today’s CSUN Footprint entry isn’t about another guilt trip. but rather a different trip. Today’s entry is a trip down memory road to a previous entry I wrote last semester about an upcycle and D.I.Y project, known as DIY: Female upcycle. (Hey we’re recycling entries, haha!)

In the entry we give instructions, a material list and even featured Your Daily Thread’s instructional video. I made another one recently and it took a photo of it above. So ladies, go green and make you’re next spring/summer accessory an upcycled one.

Perserve and protect our Pacific Ocean by not using plastic bags that hurt and kill sea animals. Photo credit: Julio Alberto Cruz

Earth Day is this Thursday, April 21 and it has been over 40 years since society has made a conscious effort to change. We need to continue to change more aspects of  our lives so we may conserve and protect our environment.

Did you know that the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970? Since then, groundbreaking environmental laws have been passed. All thanks to the 20 million Americans that stood in protest and began the environmental movement. Without them we wouldn’t have  Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

It’s really something that should be incorporated into our every day lives, but nonetheless because there are so many aspects of life that need our eco-help, we must continue continue the effort for a better environment.

As of late, Los Angeles has incorporated CicLAvia, an event that brings awareness to other modes of transportation by highlighting the bicycle. The community is encouraged to ride their bicycles throughout the city in order to minimize the usage of cars. Two CicLAvias have taken place, one recently on April 10.

So what to do for Earth Day?

One idea is to ban the usage of single-use plastic bags is a contribution to Earth Day, especially here in the City of Angels.

It has been an effort since last year to ban single-use of plastic bags all throughout California.

There has been a few local municipalities that have been pushing forward in ways to protect our ocean by banning the use of plastic bags. For example, the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, the City of San Jose, Marin County and the City of Santa Monica all have stood up to pass the ban on the usage of plastic bags.

It isn’t us trying to use less or not use at all any plastic bags, but this Earth Day is about making our individual efforts a collective effort by helping ban plastic bag usage a top priority in LA this summer so we can protect our oceans.

The City of Angels should join 11 other California cities in banning plastic bags. San Francisco, San Jose, Long Beach and Santa Monica are some major cities, just to name a few.

These local bans are definitely working.

Efforts to cut plastic pollution, along with the impact of those of us who already bring a reusable bag to the grocery store, have reduced California’s annual use of plastic bags by a third over the past few years – from 18.2 billion to 11.9 billion in just two years.

So, with that being said, try to use less of plastic bags when shopping at supermarkets per say and instead invest in reusable bags. You could always reuse those plastic bags at home or recycle them yourself or drop them off at retail stores that recycle bags like a Kohl’s.

Scratch that. As a community we don’t. Well we kind of do, but if I really want to look at the CSUN community, I’m going to have to be hesitant in believe in our community’s green efforts in celebrating Earth Day.

I would think that the natural disasters as of late would have ignited a flame under our wasteful butts, but they haven’t. At CSUN, the only thing saving us are the random people that come on campus to collect our recyclables, the Institute of Sustainability (and their projects like the fuel cell and botanical gardens) and the thousands of trees that surround our campus and occupy our orange grove.

Back in 2009, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened the world and California by cutting the budgets to our State parks, as well as to our universities. The cut hurt parks by reducing the funding, maintenance and hours.

Our parks dodged the kill off, but not for long because last year’s voters were asked how they felt about better funding for California State parks via a long-term vehicle registration fee. Sadly, most of you weren’t like me and voted the other way. (thanks, not.) But the battle still isn’t over, it is currently on the agenda in Sacramento waiting on legislative action.

If you haven’t guessed, I’m trying to pull the ultimate guilt trip in hopes that you’ll feel so bad in not recycling and not voting for park funding that you will join California’s efforts to cleaning our parks this weekend.

California State Parks Foundation's Earth Day Volunteer Handbook

Saturday, April 16th (a few days before Earth Day) the California State Parks Foundation will be holding its 14th Annual Restoration and Clean-up. The non-profit’s event will let you soak-up some vitamin D, work on your tan and do something concrete and park/earth-friendly with your time as you enjoy the outdoors.

You can plant trees, pick up some trash or even clean-off some graffiti in your neighborhoods all for Earth Day (or a couple days before). Events are planned for about 36 parks across the state. So pick a location near you and get to cleaning!

In LA we’ve got two events in the county:

- In Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, 6300 Hetzler Road, Culver City from 9 am to 1 pm you can help remove invasive plants. Just don’t forget your SPF or your gardening gloves!

- Also at Malibu Lagoon State Beach, 23400 West Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, from 9 am to 1 pm, the community is welcome to assist in removing waste, graffiti and help with the maintenance of trails.

Malibu Lagoon State Park

I urge to you register online if you plan on exercising your green thumb, so the foundation can keep track of the volunteers. After all, there 100 helpers needed at the Baldwin Hills site and about 300 volunteers in Malibu. Hope to see some of you there!

It was a day to be active and try to reduce car pollution in LA. Photo credit: Julio Alberto Cruz

Like any metropolitan city, LA has had problems with pollution, car pollution being the main contributor. CicLAvia is the city’s effort to be like Bogota, Colombia where ciclovia is a way where people can enjoy a Sunday of blocked streets to cycle most of the day.

Street closures had some car drivers upset, and even some bikers due to stopping at certain spots. Photo credit: Julio Alberto Cruz

First-ever CicLAvia on 10/10/10 brought many cyclists enjoy the 7.5 miles throughout the entire sunny Sunday. Photo credit: Julio Alberto Cruz

The first ever ciclovía in LA was last October and there was a great turn out that this year three events will take place.

The other two will be on July 10 and October 9.

April 10 is projected to be a sunny 81 degree-day for all Angelenos to walk, jog or bike the 7.5 miles from Boyle Heights to East Hollywood.

In order for this happen, there will be streets closed to car traffic (see map).

What better way to get out the car and enjoy a warm day on a Sunday while getting some exercise done and getting to know place in LA that probably didn’t even know they existed.

CicLAvia is pushing for streets to be safer for people to walk, skate, play and ride a bike. There will be activities along the route, and shop owners and restaurants are most likely having their doors open for people that will be along the CicLAvia.

For those that do not know about ciclovía, it is a great event the city puts into work, something done in many places across the globe for decades.

Like in its place of origin, ciclovía has weekly street closure events in Bogotá, Colombia, where people have been creating space and time to be active.

That is definitely something needed here in LA, where most residents drive and don’t do much else, especially when commuting.

So, stay connected with CicLAvia through Facebook to make sure you don’t miss the bike ride on April 10 and the other two later this year.

So many things occur other than just biking or walking down and up the roads, like bands playing live music, some sort of games for adult and children, a yoga class, and more.