"If we are to teach compassion for all life
in this world, and if we are to carry on a real campaign against cruelty, and against the destruction of our environment, we have to begin with reaching children." ~ Betsy Seeton |
. |
What's all the buzz about ? It's not coming from bees.... Einstein supposedly said if bees were to disappear from the surface of the earth humanity would have no more than four years to live – whereas if we were to disappear, the rest of the planet would carry on just fine. Others argue that the quote was NOT said by Einstein, but whether he said it or not, it evidently got people's attention. And the fact is that the loss of bees will have drastic consequences for the human race. Another fact is that bee populations are diminishing at alarmingly high rates. honey bee - by Betsy Seeton In the Maoxian county of Sichuan, China, an area that has lost its bee pollinators through the indiscriminate use of pesticides and the over-harvesting of its honey, human workers can be seen pollinating pear and apple trees by hand. In this part of China, the honeybee has been replaced by the human bee. The Guardian journalist, Rosie Boycott writes, " Every spring, thousands of villagers climb through fruit trees hand-pollinating blossoms by dipping "pollination sticks" (brushes made of chicken feathers and cigarette filters) into plastic bottles of pollen and then touching them against each of the tree's billions of blossoms." honey bee - by Betsy Seeton Rosie's article states: "No one quite knows why the honeybees are collapsing in numbers so dramatically but the over-use of pesticides on farms and in gardens, the mysterious "colony collapse disorder", the spread of disease like the varroa mite or foul brood, the changing climate and an increase in mono-cropping on farms, which means less food for bees throughout the summer season are all playing their part." Here's more eye opening news from Rosie's article: One-third of all our food staples only grow after pollination. In the United States alone, the cost of replacing this "free service" which nature has provided for hundreds of thousands of years, is put at anything between £14bn and £92bn. And that's in one country alone. If we don't wake up to the global crisis facing our pollinators, the banking crisis is going to look relatively trivial as the world runs out of food. China can, for the time being, afford to hurl this level of human labour at the problem: but short of the prospect of actual starvation, it is wholly unrealistic to imagine this happening in, say, California, where bees still pollinate orange, apple, pear and plum trees. In Britain they are losing bees at an alarming rate. Worldwide, many beekeepers estimate that, at the current rate of bee loss, there now may be only a 10-year window to find a cause and a solution to this problem. And the British Beekeepers Association has warned that honeybees could disappear entirely from the UK by 2018. READ FULL ARTICLE .. and learn what city dwellers can do to help! Click for another very good article .... below is an excerpt From the 2 May 2010 Observer (UK): "The number of managed honeybee colonies in the US fell by 33.8% last winter, according to the annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the US government's Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The collapse in the global honeybee population is a major threat to crops. It is estimated that a third of everything we eat depends upon honeybee pollination, which means that bees contribute some £26 bn [over $42 bn] to the global economy…US scientists at the ARS have found 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax and pollen, lending credence to the notion that pesticides are a key problem. (Source: http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/article.php?id=4587) Beehive - by Betsy Seeton Bee decline could be down due to chemical cocktail interfering with their brains. Read Article CLICK FOR AMAZING BEE PHOTOS AND EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT BEES Bee briefing http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RXLEm9WXrHk%3D&tabid=439 $15 Billion Bee Murder Mystery Deepens http://www.businessinsider.com/colony-collapse-disorder-still-unsolved-lead-researcher-had-connections-to-bayer-2010-10 “Nicotine Bees" Population Restored With Neonicotinoids Ban http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/nicotine-bees-population-restored-with-neonicotinoids-ban.php EPA memo reveals concern that pesticide causes bee deaths http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=79910 Beekeepers want government to pull pesticide http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/beekeepers-want-government-to-pull-pesticide-1107701.html Bees in freefall as study shows sharp US decline http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/03/bumblebees-study-us-decline?INTCMP=SRCH Pesticide industry involvement in EU risk assessment puts survival of bees at stake http://www.corporateeurope.org/agribusiness/news/2010/11/16/pesticide-industry-future-bees SIGN THE PETITION TO BAN PESTICIDES
1 Comment
Jacob - by B.Seeton As the close of 2010 draws near, I'm looking back, not just over the past year, but back to the beginning of creating this website. People have asked me how I came up with the name ‘livehonestly’ for a website. It was the summer of 2006. My brother had just died of cirrhosis of the liver. I was visiting my mother, helping her with all that follows a death in the family. Dealing with the loss of a talented, intelligent brother who got lost in a bottle for his whole life left me heavy-hearted while examining my own life. There are many ways to waste away. My brother did it with booze. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to do it by inaction, by not going after some of my dreams. And I had a long list. I’d given up my apartment the month before and was looking for something exciting, if not also meaningful to do with my life. I bought one of those everything-you-always-wanted-to-know books about volunteering overseas. I devoured it in two days. Between that book and pouring through the internet, I found it. I found the place I would begin my journey: a trek to the base camp of Mt. Everest while raising money for orphanages in Kathmandu. I didn’t know what I would do after that or where I would go or even how long I would be gone. But I had a starting point. I was headed to Nepal. (I actually had to find it on the map first.) I was floating with excitement. My to-do list seemed unending. One thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to design a website where I could record my travels. Ultimately, I was hoping my journey would help me discover what kind of non-profit I could start. I was interested in stopping human trafficking, particularly helping children being sold into sex slavery. I asked myself many questions and the one that seemed to resonate most deeply was: What is most important to you? It was simple. Honesty. I learned it from my parents. They taught honesty in everything they said and in everything they did. They walked the talk. So, it became my epicenter; my compass. Coffee with Chippy .... by B.Seeton To live honestly means much more than just truth in words. It’s a whole way of life. It’s about honoring the path you’re meant to take and taking responsibility for the choices you make. It's about being self aware, and always wanting to learn more. It’s about getting back up when you fall no matter how often or how hard. It's being strong enough to ask for help and caring enough to give without being asked. It’s respecting yourself and all other living creatures. And your word is who you are. It has to be unconditionally trustworthy. Living honestly is about recognizing when ego might steer you off course and when fear is blinding you or stopping you. It's about a life that lives WITH the land not OFF the land. It's about balance, fairness, and treading lightly on this planet. It's caring enough to say no to buying cheap, slave made products, and caring that people are starving and not turning a blind eye to children abducted for sex or forced into being soldiers in a war they don't want to fight. It's caring more about people than money and offering a helping hand when it's not only Christmas or Thanksgiving. Living honestly makes for the best relationships, the best work product, and it breeds all things good. It’s the most nourishing way to live for yourself, for others and for the planet. The caption for my website was inspired by two other aspects I believe are critically important for living a good life. That's when I coined: Live fearlessly, compassionately, and honestly. |
By Betsy Seeton
Loading
"If we are to teach compassion for all life in this world, and if we are to carry on a real campaign against cruelty, and against the destruction of our
environment, we have to begin with reaching children." -- Betsy Seeton FOR ALL
|