Reading List: 2015-2016

April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November| December | January | February | March

Here I am! Catching up with the past 4 months of readings.
I didn’t FINISH reading anything during December and January, so those lists will never exist.  Here is what I’ve finished reading and remembered to write down.

» March 29

Interviewing Inuit Elders: Child-rearing Practices by Naqi Ekho and Uqsuralik Ottokie

This is the most fascinating book! An interview about how things used to happen with birth, aging, being a child and the ways people were raised. The way it is written feels as if Naqi and Uqsuralik are talking to you! I am using this as a resource for my paper and I discovered that you can access the whole book on this website!Here is a .pdf of the book +it has pictures. I hope that link works. :P

» March 26

The Pursuit of Ecotopia  by E.N. Anderson

Tried to read a few pages for research and couldn’t put the thing down.  Really insightful.

» March 18

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam and the Science of Ocean motion by Loree Burns

I am writing a HUGE research paper on garbage (mainly plastics), so this kids book was light reading.  Super informative, though and quite sciency for all those non-scientists who wants to learn about cool stuff.
It also talks about the Pacific Garbage Patch and Beach Debris –Cool stuff!

» Feb 2

Words that come before All Else  by Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force

This book is beautifully written and an insightful look into the way the Haudenosaunee look at Creation. I was asked to read this for one of my classes, and it has opened my mind to a completely different way of seeing the Earth and all life that is on it.
After reading the .pdf I decided that I had to support the writers and buy the book. <-  if you click that link, you can read a preview or buy it yourself. I had no problem spending $26 CA (after S&H) to support HETF.

» Nov 30

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

GOOD BOOK! Read it! It is messed up. Begs its readers to ask questions like:

– What does it mean to be human?
– Would you like to live in the Brave New World?
– Are we moving towards living in a Brave New world?
– Is it better to be conditioned or to think freely?

Also, someone please explain to me HOW DOES THE BOOK END??! (without giving away too much, I was very confused)

OUCH! Right in the feminist.

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682 Plastic Beaches

8 Million Metric Tons of Plastic Dumped Into World’s Oceans Each Year – NationofChange.

Just finished reading this article on Nation of Change (independent journalism) about the excessive amount of waste in our oceans and how much of it we can’t even see.

Did you know that we have a series of ‘plastic islands’ aimlessly floating in our oceans due to individuals and large companies dumping waste into the water?

It’s incredible how much plastic actually exists on this earth.

Plastic is everywhere! In your clothing, wrapped around your food and in Canada it has even become money!  Most plastic does not break down. Those that do will take years to degrade and even then tiny micro-pellets will still exist. The amount of plastic on the surface of our oceans and beaches is only what we can see. There are hundreds of plastics underneath the ocean floor and broken down in creatures’ bellies that we will never know about.

Most people take plastic for granted and don’t think much of what it is.

Watch this video from Brentwood Plastics to learn more. He talks about what plastic is made of, and the biodegradability of some plastics:

There are a lot of things we can do to limit the amount of plastics we use. Here are 3 examples that are super easy:

• STOP USING PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES  – buy a reusable water bottle and take it with you! You will help save hundreds of water bottles a year. It drives me mad when I see people taking water bottle around their house when they have fully functional glasses that can be washed a reused infinitely.
• BE A SMART SHOPPER – Think about how much packaging you are paying for. Do you need the mushrooms in the plastic tubs, wrapped in plastic? A lot of toys, electronics and other things come with unnecessary packaging. We buy it just to throw it away.
  Next time you shop, choose products that are modest about their packaging.
• RE-USABLE SHOPPING BAGS FTW!! – Seriously. If you carried a roll-up bag in your purse or coat pocket, you could save so many plastic bags from going into the garbage. Less of them will be produced! Which means less water and less oil wasted on recycling these unnecessary objects. If you do have to use a plastic bag, reuse it! You can use plastic bags to carry your lunch or your dog/cat waste or as a liner for your green bin/garbage. Don’t throw away plastic bags, they can always be recycled.

It’s crazy that you can only see the front of this man’s cart. We don’t even know how long it is… SO MUCH PLASTIC!

All this talk about plastic gets me thinking about a really good album… well, it gets me thinking about a lot of things. Some of them are depressing, some make me angry, and others make me hopeful and itching to make a change. It makes me want to share my love for the plants and trees and water and air with everybody!

We don’t need to live life always wanting more, never being satisfied with what we have. I love this life and believe me, mine is in no way perfect. I am a low-income citizen in a big city. I don’t have much, but I have love and knowledge and passion for the things I believe in. It’s better than any material objects I could own because in the end, those are not me and will never become me. they are impermanent and can be tossed away or broken.
I am me.
I am capable of loving every living thing on this earth and truly treating them as they deserve to be treated.

What are you capable of?