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dandelionsresilience · 1 year ago

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Good News - March 22-28

(Edit to update support link) Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles!

1. Scimitar-horned Oryx: A Story of Global Conservation Success

“Eight years following the first reintroductions of the species in a protected range in Chad, the species has been downlisted to ‘Endangered’ [an improvement from “extinct in the wild”] in the most recent IUCN Red List update.”

2. Thailand moves closer to legalising same-sex marriage

“Under the law, it describes a marriage union as one between two individuals, rather than a man and a woman. It will give LGBTQ+ couples the ability to adopt, have equal access to marital tax savings, rights to property and the ability to decide medical treatment when their partner is incapacitated.”

3. Juvenile platypus found in NSW: a sign of breeding success

“A baby platypus was discovered in the Royal National Park less than a year after 10 were reintroduced to the area, marking the end of a half-century local extinction. […] “Finding the juvenile platypus is a clear sign the reintroduced population is not just surviving but thriving, adapting well to their environment, and contributing to the genetic diversity and resilience of this iconic species.””

4. New Laws Protect Bird-Friendly Yards From Neighborhood Rules

“A blossoming legislative trend prevents homeowners associations, which set landscaping rules for a growing number of Americans, from forbidding native plants.”

5. Bookstores Around The World Are Flourishing Again

“[I]t’s not just the major chains like Barnes & Noble that are flourishing, as the US book sales market continues to both grow and diversify, the majority of the retail book market is controlled by small indie stores.”

6. 'Like a luxury condominium': Providence zoo unveils new red panda habitat

“"Kendji and Zan's new home boasts a spacious two-story, climate-controlled indoor space designed to mimic their natural Himalayan habitat," the zoo said in a news release. "This ensures their well-being regardless of fluctuating Rhode Island temperatures and humidity."”

7. The first CULTIVATE Mobile Research Lab on food sharing in Barcelona

“[Volunteers] engaged in growing, cooking and eating food together, and redistributing surplus food, as well as other actors involved in food sharing and sustainable food systems in Barcelona and its surroundings.”

8. New Methane Rule Will Reduce Natural Gas Waste, Generate Money for Taxpayers, Help Address Climate Change

“The Bureau of Land Management’s final rule on reducing methane waste from oil and gas production on public lands will conserve critical energy resources, with the added benefit of decreasing toxic pollution [….] The rule will benefit wildlife, public lands, water resources, and nearby communities. By requiring royalties for wasted methane, the rule will also generate more than $50 million each year for American taxpayers.”

9. 'Exceptional' Two-Headed Snake Undergoes Surgery in Missouri

“Tiger-Lily's [the snake’s] abnormal ovaries were then removed during surgery at the Saint Louis Zoo Endangered Species Research Center and Veterinary Hospital on March 11. The procedure went smoothly, with her ovaries being successfully removed, and the snake is recovering well.”

10. Aruba Embraces the Rights of Nature and a Human Right to a Clean Environment

“A draft constitutional amendment would make the Carribean nation the second country in the world to recognize that nature has the right to exist.”

March 15-21 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

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casualmaverickspell · 2 months ago

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Where to Buy Kitchen Cabinets: A Comprehensive Guide

When it comes to remodeling your kitchen, choosing the right cabinets is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. Kitchen cabinets not only provide essential storage but also define the overall aesthetic of your space. If you're wondering where to buy kitchen cabinets, this guide will walk you through the best places to shop, factors to consider, and tips for making the right choice.

1. Home Improvement Stores

One of the most convenient places to buy kitchen cabinets is at large home improvement retailers. These stores offer a wide selection of styles, materials, and price ranges, making them a great option for homeowners.

Popular Home Improvement Stores:

The Home Depot – Offers stock, semi-custom, and custom cabinets from brands like Hampton Bay and Thomasville.

Lowe’s – Features a variety of cabinet lines, including KraftMaid and Allen + Roth.

Menards – Provides affordable stock cabinets as well as premium custom options.

Pros:

In-store displays allow you to see and touch the cabinets before purchasing.

Frequent sales and financing options are often available.

Professional installation services can be arranged.

Cons:

Limited customization compared to specialty cabinet dealers.

Stock cabinets may have long lead times if out of inventory.

2. Specialty Cabinet Retailers

If you're looking for higher-end or fully customized options, specialty cabinet retailers are an excellent choice. These stores focus exclusively on cabinetry, offering premium materials and craftsmanship.

Where to Find Specialty Cabinet Retailers:

Local Cabinet Showrooms – Many cities have dedicated kitchen cabinet showrooms where you can explore custom designs.

National Chains – Stores like IKEA (for modern, modular cabinets) and Cabinet Select offer unique styles.

Pros:

Greater customization in terms of wood species, finishes, and hardware.

Expert design consultants help optimize storage and layout.

Higher quality construction compared to mass-produced options.

Cons:

More expensive than big-box store cabinets.

Longer lead times due to custom manufacturing.

3. Online Retailers

For those who prefer shopping from home, buying kitchen cabinets online is a convenient option. Many reputable websites sell high-quality cabinets with detailed product descriptions and virtual design tools.

Best Online Stores to Buy Kitchen Cabinets:

Wayfair – Offers a vast selection of styles at various price points.

Houzz – Features premium brands and designer-inspired cabinets.

Barker Cabinets – Specializes in solid wood, custom-sized cabinets.

Pros:

Easy price comparison across multiple brands.

Many online retailers offer free samples.

Direct shipping to your home.

Cons:

Cannot inspect cabinets in person before purchasing.

Shipping costs may be high for large orders.

Self-assembly may be required.

4. Direct from Manufacturers

Some cabinet manufacturers sell directly to consumers, cutting out the middleman and potentially offering better pricing.

Popular Cabinet Manufacturers:

KraftMaid – Known for semi-custom cabinets with extensive finish options.

Wellborn Cabinet – Offers affordable, high-quality stock and custom cabinets.

Aristokraft – Provides durable cabinetry with a focus on value.

Pros:

Lower prices by eliminating retailer markups.

Direct customer support from the manufacturer.

More control over customization.

Cons:

May require working with a contractor for measurements and installation.

Limited showroom access for viewing products in person.

5. Secondhand and Discount Outlets

If you're on a tight budget, consider purchasing secondhand or discounted kitchen cabinets.

Where to Find Discounted Cabinets:

Habitat for Humanity ReStores – Sells gently used or surplus cabinets at a fraction of retail prices.

Liquidation Stores – Overstocked or discontinued cabinets are often sold at deep discounts.

Facebook Marketplace & Craigslist – Homeowners remodeling their kitchens may sell their old cabinets at low prices.

Pros:

Extremely budget-friendly.

Eco-friendly option by reusing materials.

Cons:

Limited selection and sizing options.

May require refinishing or repairs.

6. Custom Cabinet Makers

For a truly unique kitchen, hiring a local carpenter or cabinet maker ensures your cabinets are tailored to your exact specifications.

Pros:

Fully bespoke design to fit unusual kitchen layouts.

High-quality craftsmanship with attention to detail.

Cons:

Most expensive option.

Longer production and installation time.

Factors to Consider Before Buying Kitchen Cabinets

Before deciding where to buy kitchen cabinets, keep these factors in mind:

Budget

Stock cabinets: 50–

50–200 per linear foot.

Semi-custom: 150–

150–650 per linear foot.

Custom: 500–

500–1,200+ per linear foot.

Material & Durability

Plywood and solid wood are the most durable.

MDF and particleboard are budget-friendly but less sturdy.

Style & Finish

Shaker-style cabinets are timeless.

Modern slab doors offer a sleek look.

Installation

DIY-friendly options (like IKEA) vs. professional installation.

Final Thoughts

Knowing where to buy kitchen cabinets depends on your budget, style preferences, and whether you need stock, semi-custom, or fully custom solutions. Whether you choose a home improvement store, online retailer, or a local craftsman, take the time to compare options and read reviews before making a decision.

By carefully considering your needs and exploring different purchasing avenues, you can find the perfect kitchen cabinets to enhance your home’s functionality and aesthetic appeal.

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mostlysignssomeportents · 6 years ago

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Ecofascism isn't new: white supremacy and exterminism have always lurked in the environmental movement

It's easy to think of climate denial as a right-wing phenomenon, but a growing and ultra-violent strain of white-nationalism also embraces climate science, in the worst way possible.

Several of the recent white nationalist mass killers have described themselves as "ecofascists" and/or have deployed ecofascist rhetoric in their manifestos. The short version of ecofascism is that it's the belief that our planet has a "carrying capacity" that has been exceeded by the humans alive today and that we must embrace "de-growth" in the form of mass extermination of billions of humans, in order to reduce our population to a "sustainable" level.

In some ways, ecofascism is just a manifestation of "peak indifference": the idea that denial eventually self-corrects, as the debt built up by a refusal to pay attention to a real problem mounts and mounts, until it can no longer be denied. Eventually, the wildfires, floods, diseases (and ensuing refugee crises) overcome all but the most dedicated forms of bad-faith motivated reasoning and self-deception, and people start to switch sides from denying science to embracing it.

But there's an ugly side to peak indifference: that denialism can give way to nihilism. As activists seek to engage people with the urgent crisis, they describe it (correctly) as an existential threat whose time is drawing nigh. Once people acknowledge the threat, it's easy for them to conclude that it's too late to do anything about it ("Well, you were right, those cigarettes did give me lung-cancer, but now that I've got it, I might as well enjoy my last few years on earth with a cigarette between my lips").

Ecofascism is a form of nihilism, one that holds that it's easier to murder half the people on Earth than it is to reform our industrial practices to make our population sustainable. Leaving aside the obvious moral objections to this posture, there's also an important technical sense in which it is very wrong: we will need every mind and every body our species have to toil for generations to come, building seawalls, accommodating refugees, treating pandemic sufferers, working in more labor-intensive (and less resource-intensive) forms of agriculture, etc. etc. The exterminst doctrine assumes that we can know before the fact which humans are "surplus" and which ones might have the insight that lets us sequester carbon, cure a disease, or store renewable energy at higher densities.

But ecofascism isn't an entirely new phenomenon. Pastoralist and environmental thinking has always harbored a strain of white supremacy (the Nazi doctrine of Lebensraum was inextricably bound up with an environmental ideology of preserving habits from "excess" people -- as well as the wrong kind of people, whose inferior blood made them poor stewards of the land.

The connection between eugenics and environmentalism runs deep. One of the fathers of ecofascist thought is Madison Grant, who worked with Teddy Roosevelt to establish the US system of national parks, and also to establish a whiteness requirement for prospective US immigrants. This thread of thinking -- that there are too many people, and the wrong people are breeding -- carries forward with the environmental movement, with figures like John Tanton, who started his career as a local Sierra Club official, but went on to found the Federation for American Immigration Reform and co-found the Center for Immigration Studies, warning Americans to defend against a coming "Latin onslaught," revealing himself to be a full-blown white nationalist who is revered today as the ideological father of the ecofascist movement.

Meanwhile, the eco-left kept having its own brushes with xenophobia. In the early 2000s, the Sierra Club underwent an internecine struggle to reform its official anti-immigration stance and purge the white nationalists and xenophobes from its ranks. In the early 2010, Earth First had to oust co-founder Dave Foreman as his pro-environmental activism was overtaken by his anti-immigrant activism, with splinter groups like "Apply the Brakes" taking hard lines on borders and immigration.

Today, the ecofascist movement is closely aligned with the Trump administration, through links to Steven Miller and Jeff Sessions. The former executive director of FAIR is now serving as Trump's citizenship and immigration services ombudsman. Ann Coulter demands that Americans choose between either "greening or browning" their future. Richard Spencer wraps white nationalism in green rhetoric, and Gavin McInnes has directly linked environmentalism to anti-immigration ideology.

Pushing back against this are two complementary strains of environmental thought: the bright greens who see democratically managed, urbanized, high technology as the way through the climate crisis (dense cities enable a circular economy, heal the metabolic rift, and leave more land free for habitat and carbon-sequestering trees); and the climate justice movement, which recognizes that poor, racialized people are the least responsible parties for carbonization, and the most vulnerable to the climate emergency, and emphasizes climate remediation steps that are led by, and responsive to, the priorities of indigenous people and the Global South.

https://boingboing.net/2019/08/19/grand-lorax.html

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dallasareahabitatforhumanity · 3 years ago

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How your company’s unused furniture and materials can benefit Habitat

Habitat for Humanity builds houses and provides housing assistance to low-income households in the United States and abroad. It is an international nonprofit organization with regional locations focused on specific communities placed all over the world.

To support our global mission, Habitat Restores were created as physical home and hardware stores that sell used and refurbished items to the general public. The proceeds from sales go back into Habitat for Humanity projects. ReStores are located all over the world, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand – including several local locations here in Dallas.

Can my company donate their unused furniture and materials to Habitat ReStores?

ReStores collect and distribute donated furniture, appliances, rugs, paint, and other materials that can be resold to raise money for housing projects. The program eliminates the need to purchase new items which would then be abandoned or sit in a storage facility indefinitely. This reduces waste and decreases environmental impact by diverting used items from landfills.

Types of items that can be donated to ReStore

A lot of items can be donated to ReStores, here are a few:

Furniture

Tool and equipment

Lighting

Paint

Unused building materials

Home decorating supplies

And more!

You, and your company, can also donate money and volunteer time to Habitat for Humanity ReStores as long as it complies with all of its guidelines and policies. If you have any questions about what can be donated, contact your nearest ReStore.

How can I donate my company’s unused items to ReStore?

ReStores team will pick up corporate donations from you, for free.

Whether your office is relocating or upgrading, collaborating with Habitat for Humanity is a great way to donate your gently used equipment, furniture, or surplus inventory into homes for needy families in the area.

Your business can save moving and disposal expenses, time, and tax dollars, as organizing a ReStore product-drop off or pick-up with ReStore is easy. If you’re arranging a pick-up from your worksite, the team will come and collect your donation for free during business hours. If you’d rather drop off the items, you can do so during business hours at any ReStore.

The Benefits of Donating Office Furnishings to ReStore

By donating office furnishings to a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, you’re not only helping families in need, but also reducing waste and saving money. Not only that, but by working with Habitat for Humanity you can make sure your donated items are given the proper care and attention as they enter the store system – from being assessed for damage or wear to being properly stored until they’re ready to be donated again.

Donating also empowers upcycling, which combines an ecological responsibility as it eliminates waste from society; destroying resources (our natural resource economy). It reduces landfill reports for us all both morally and physically.

#habitat for humanity warehouse #habitat for humanity online store near me #Humanity Habitat Restore #Restore Furniture Near me #Community Service in Dallas #Donate Appliances #Habitat for Humanity Donation #Homeless Shelter Dallas #Homelessness Dallas #Dallas Emergency Housing #Restore Stores Near me #Humanity Habitat Store #Dallas Habitat for Humanity Restore

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dallas-habitat · 3 years ago

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How your company’s unused furniture and materials can benefit Habitat

Can my company donate their unused furniture and materials to Habitat ReStores?

Types of items that can be donated to ReStore

A lot of items can be donated to ReStores, here are a few:

Furniture

Tool and equipment

Lighting

Paint

Unused building materials

Home decorating supplies

And more!

How can I donate my company’s unused items to ReStore?

ReStores team will pick up corporate donations from you, for free.

The Benefits of Donating Office Furnishings to ReStore

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architectnews · 4 years ago

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K30 Office Complex Kruppstraße, Stuttgart

K30 Office Complex Stuttgart, Kruppstraße Building, Baden-Württemberg Commercial Property, Architecture Photos

K30 Office Complex Kruppstraße, Stuttgart Building

17 December 2021

Design: AllesWirdGut

Location: Kruppstraße, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, south west Germany

K30 – Office Complex Kruppstraße, Stuttgart (DE)

Sustainable Office Shelves for the Work World of the Future

visualization © Patricia Bagienski / AllesWirdGut

K30 – Office Complex Kruppstraße, Stuttgart Building News

The design by AllesWirdGut Architektur delivers on the promise of a future of flexible work by creating an office building as an open-shelf system that offers multiple versatile green spaces: Expanded work areas on balconies, terraces, or a garden house not only provide for a perfect setting for collective activity; the office complex also makes a valuable contribution to the local microclimate and biodiversity. Guiding ideas such as resource-saving construction, climate-friendly operation, and foresighted life-cycle planning are the backbone of a design with an attitude.

visualization © Patricia Bagienski / AllesWirdGut

The main structure of the seven-building complex consists of wood, while the thermal-storage prefab-slab ceilings and the below-grade substructure are made of lower-emission concrete with slag cement. Together with the modular construction—individual materials can simply be removed and reused in the future—the flexibly usable and easily adaptable rental units make for longevity of the new working environment.

model © mattweiss

The façade of the office complex takes up the rational ground-plan grid and extends the ground-floor garden to the vertical through a circumferential compartmentalized scaffolding. Sliding doors, unusual for offices, make it possible to step out on the wraparound balconies thereby created.

model © mattweiss

Transparent sliding panels in the outermost building skin make this exterior circulation and communication zone also a climatic buffer space in the cold season. Closing the panels creates winter gardens that store solar energy and thus help reduce heating costs. In summer, the panels are kept open. Projecting balconies provide direct shading and good daylighting quality without glare.

illustration © AllesWirdGut

Between the upper levels, covered footbridges trained with vines (garden houses) create transition areas with an ecological surplus value. Simple glass roofs with photovoltaic modules offer weather protection and generate energy that can be directly used, stored, or fed into the public grid. Through the use of simple and natural ventilation and air-conditioning systems and with an optimized building skin, an urban habitat is established that gives more energy to humans, animals and the built environment than it takes—for work, for life.

illustration © AllesWirdGut

K30 Office Complex Kruppstraße, Stuttgart – Building Information

Project data: Architecture: AllesWirdGut Project stages: 1 Client: Wöhr+Bauer Competition: Feb. 2021 (2nd prize) GFA: 33,446 m² Team: Cristina Vlascici, Dorotea Malnar, Janek von Zabern, Karolina Pettikova, Philipp Stauss, Rita Roznar, Valentin Schmid Landscape architecture: grabner hubber lipp

CREDITS:

Visualisierungen / visualizations: © Patricia Bagienski / AllesWirdGut Illustrationen / illustrations: © AllesWirdGut Modell / model: © mattweiss

AllesWirdGut Architektur

K30 Office Complex Kruppstraße, Stuttgart Building information / images received December 2021 from AllesWirdGut

Location: Baltmannsweiler, Esslingen, Baden-Württemberg, south west Germany, western Europe

Stuttgart Architecture

Stuttgart Architecture Designs – chronological list

Stuttgart Architecture Designs

Stuttgart Architecture News

Stuttgart Architecture Walking Tours

New Stuttgart Buildings

Quartier Am Rotweg, Rot, north Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg Design: Delugan Meissl Associated Architects visualization : Toni Nachev Quartier Am Rotweg

City Hall of Baltmannsweiler, Esslingen Design: Zoll Architekten Stadtplaner photograph : Zooey Braun, Stuttgart City Hall of Baltmannsweiler

Dorotheen Quartier, Dorotheenstrasse Architects: Behnisch Architekten photograph : David Matthiessen Dorotheen Quartier

Brunner Innovation Factory, Rheinau, southwestern Baden-Württemberg Design: HENN, Architekten photograph © HENN / HGEsch Brunner Innovation Factory Building

Comments / photos for the K30 Office Complex Kruppstraße, Stuttgart Building design by AllesWirdGut page welcome

The post K30 Office Complex Kruppstraße, Stuttgart appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

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habistore · 9 months ago

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How Can the Habitat for Humanity Surplus Store Support Your Next Renovation?

When you shop at the Habitat for Humanity Surplus Store, you’re not just getting great deals – you’re also supporting a worthy cause. The store’s profits go directly to Habitat for Humanity, helping them build homes for families in need. By shopping here, you contribute to their mission and make a positive impact on your community.

#Habitat for Humanity Surplus Store

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allyklapak · 5 years ago

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You are what you eat: Unsustainable

Food and water are two of the most fundamental needs of mankind. In order to adequately fulfill this vital need, the land and the water sources which accommodate these must receive proper care. However, unsustainable human practices constantly jeopardize the health of these biomes which consequently poses a great risk for the existing ecosystems and they habitant, including humanity. The agriculture and aquaculture industries are largely exploited for economic benefit and are strong examples of short term gain that results in sometimes irreversible environmental ramifications. While the more imminent repercussions are already evident in the dwindling populations of many important sea creatures and flora variety, an expanded analysis of the interconnected nature between life and the environment demonstrated the negative effects humanity will face.

While the majority of the ocean and its depth remain vastly unknown to mankind, the areas we have touched have greatly perished under our hand. The degradation faced by these aquatic ecosystems can be directly attributed to mankind's unsustainable habits. To put the scale of this issue into perspective, according to ecologist Douglass J. McCauley, "'oceans are facing a major extinction event."[^1] The situation must be in a dire state to warrant such designation as an extinction event. Developing a comprehensive view of all of the issues at hand, should lead to a widespread desire for action and reform that is necessary to inspire true change and potentially reverse the demise of all sustaining life beneath the water.

Humans have both a direct and indirect impact on the ecosystems of the oceans. Through inland pollution and unsustainable practice in coastal areas, the collateral pollution and climate change touch aquatic life. Pollution can directly run off into water, pouring in harmful chemicals and solid waste. As stated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), "80% of all ocean pollution… comes from land-based coastal activities."[^2] This statistic directly ascribes the blame for the toxic waste dropped into the oceans to the large populations that inhabit coastal areas. Species that perish often abundantly include algae, which then subsequently must be decomposed, but the process in which this accomplished spends oxygen that is then being deprived from marine life. [^2] Additionally, humanity's unregulated CO2 emissions have sparked a period of climate change, slowly rising atmospheric and subsequently water temperature. Many aquatic organisms are not suited for these warmer climates and therefore die off when they cannot adapt. [^3] For example, coral reefs suffer coral bleaching g when these temperatures force them to expel algae, making these important ecosystems vulnerable to collapse. [^4] Humans also may inadvertently harm sea life through accidentally introducing invasive species to ecosystems such as lionfish. Boats that traverse across the world may unleash harmful microbes and organisms that they had bred or been stored in their ballasts.[^2] This accidental harm can be blamed for "about two-thirds of all fish extinctions in the United States since 1900 and have cause huge economic loss" according t the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [^2]. This exemplifies the massive adverse impact mankind has without even knowing. Propagating this data is imperative to encourage more careful practices to attempt to cut back the impact we make. It is ludicrous that we know the harm that can be done yet often turn a blind eye to it for the sake of profit. This sentiment is equally counterintuitive as the long term economic expense of widespread ocean extinction will drastically outweigh the temporary gains. These aquatic ecosystems are destroyed by the chain reaction of detrimental human activity on land.

The intentional abuse of aquatic life by the fishing industry has also become an issue of great urgency to be addressed during this time were the onset of a mass extinction is in our midst. The fishing industry varies in importance from place to place due to the unique role it plays in different cultures. However, the rise of unsustainable practices are widespread. The root issue exists in the recurring human habit of consuming more than is available at a rate which does not allow adequate time for natural replenishing. In this case, this principle manifests itself in overfishing. There exist fishers to accommodate the commercial demand for fish but man's increased fish print has resulted in, "87% of the world's commercial fisheries have been fully exploited or overfished." [^5] The mass quantities of fish caught by innovative strategies such as trawling, purse-seine fishing, long-lining, and drift-net fishing, have wiped out significant populations inhabiting both the deep and shallow ecosystems of the sea. [^5] This has jeopardized the populations of important predators that maintain order and filter out natural waste such as sharks. [^6] Through decreasing biodiversity, the integrity of an ecosystem is compromised which poses adverse effects to all of the inhabitants and therefore may harm human health and economic interests. Those choosing to cash in on large fishing hauls to not consider the problematic commercial extinction that will ensue when the types of fish that are commonly aught and sold are depleted to the point of extinction and create a whole in the market where no profit can be made. [^5] Although the financial security of this destructive industry is not f utmost concern, this is an important position to underscore as the industry may only be motivated to act if their wallets are at stake.

It is vital that more sustainable practices are adopted for the sake of the population s of the world that rely on fish as their primary source of food, for the life that exists within, and to avoid the negative natural phenomena that would be emerge. The threat is not exclusive to the ocean but also targets freshwater sources and wetlands. It is more complicated to implement legislative protection in oceans due to the uncertain nature of jurisdiction.[^7] The UN has issued various regulations over the years to create reserves and sanctuaries as protective measures, but preventative measures are key as the complicated biodiversity beneath the sea is very difficult to restore artificially. [^7] Nature's resilience is remarkable but it must be given adequate time to heal. The aftermath of marine mass extinction is too alarming to go unheeded. Governments should utilize this common threat on common water as a unifying factor and should cooperatively pass strict law and policy to restrain sales of illegally caught fish and implement regulations on practices that over fish or emit unsustainable amounts of CO2.

While fish primarily feeds those on the coast, majority of the world depends on agriculture for the bulk of their food. The economically driven world of agriculture ultimately harms the land and human habitats which consequently threatens posterity of all people, especially those of low-income. In order to satisfy the demands for a surplus of food, modern nations have utilized developments in irrigation, fertilization, and pesticides to implement industrialized agriculture.[^8] Monocultures are often promoted as they yield high output of a essential crops and facilitate genetic engineering to manipulate produce.[^9] The cost of this practice includes extreme water waste which in turn can over-saturate topsoil as well as encourages the use of toxic pesticides. These pesticides were created with the intention of fending off disease carrying pests, but have adversely bred insects with greater resistance to the chemicals and can be dangerous to human health when consumed. [^10] Organic practices are more sustainable as they use more natural processes and reserves certain legal criteria to be used to market products, which the term natural does not. [^11] Mass farming nonetheless harms the land it exists on as it is often over-tilled and topsoil loses its integrity.[^12] Polluted, eroded, and chemically imbalanced topsoil will not support plant growth.[^12] This point is pertinent as land unfit for plants will become land unfit for humans. If agricultural lands are not cared for, humans will wither starve or suffocate due to the inability to produce adequate food or oxygen providing plants. A daunting thought that alls on the innovators of the world to engineer a new sustainable system to support our planet and its habitants.

Finally, the meat industry encompasses its own array of environmental catastrophes due to harmful and exceedingly wasteful practices to meet the superfluous demand for poultry, beef, and pork in the nation.[^13] Factory farms expends exorbitant amounts of energy and water to feed and slaughter the animals within. [^13] Time means money in business so those in the meat industry have devised a way to grow their livestock in a timely fashion in order to have a greater rate of profit. The chemicals fed to the animals are ultimately consumed by humans and also make the manure produced unusable for fertilizer and sheer waste. [^13] The CO2 emitted by the animals themselves as well as the factories that breed them are catastrophic for the atmosphere and climate. [^13] In additional to the environmental issues, the cruel practices this industry is infamous for should be enough to institute much stricter regulation. It is not so much to ask humans to cut down on their meat intake and while I note the importance of protein in a diet, even small restrictions can make a world of difference to motivate action.

The ethical considerations of this industry imbalance are disconcerting. Malnutrition is an issue that plagues a significant population of the world on a daily basis.[^14] Wealthy nations often trade sustainable practice for high crop yield and therefore high profit. Powerful nations are able to invest in technological advancement which enable these unsustainable systems. It is not right that those that do the least harm suffer the most. We could use or technology and influence to solve the issue of world hunger, but human greed has exacerbated the threat of famine and malnutrition across the world in a sickening way. Through understanding where our food comes form, we may endorse more sustainable practices in our own practices and in fighting for greater change. This is a matter that takes place in the home and if approached with persistence and unity may reach much further.

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Discussion Question: It is often promoted that many people doing many things can make a whole world of difference. In this case can cutting out meat really make such a large impact in industries will continue to produce large amounts and the issue is rooted in the ethics of human's flexibility or restrictions in diet?

Miller Jr, G. Tyler. Living in the environment: an introduction to environmental science. No. Ed. 19. Cengage Learning, 2017. 255

Miller, 258.

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Miller, 255.

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Miller, 268.

Miller, 287.

Miller, 291.

Miller, 304-305.

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Miller, 284.

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berniesandersniece · 5 years ago

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Saving Biodiversity: Our Role in Halting Species Extinction and Ecosystem Degradation (Revised)

Olivia Johnson

Severe soil erosion caused by deforestation and overgrazing.1

When evaluating the earth’s current environmental crises, it is evident that humans are the key player in causing ocean acidification, habitat destruction, water and air pollution, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and the many other problems we force upon the planet’s species and ecosystems. Chapter 9 of Living in the Environment discusses these issues and what must be done to reverse and repair them, specifically regarding species and ecosystem services. The text begins by examining honeybees and their role in one of the earth’s most important ecosystem services: pollination. Since 1980, human activities have caused a dramatic decrease in their populations, especially as our own species’s population rapidly increases; however, bees are not the only species currently under threat from humans. Species are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times faster than the historical rate, which is about one species per year for every one million species on earth.2 This alarmingly high rate has led researchers to believe that the earth is currently experiencing its sixth mass extinction, which will likely severely impair vital ecosystem services and wipe out at least 20-50% of all species on earth within our lifetime. Researchers working on the Living Planet Index, created by the London Zoological Society and the World Wildlife Federation state, “Given the pace and scale of change, we can no longer exclude the possibility of reaching critical tipping points that could abruptly and irreversibly change living conditions on earth.”3 The great diversity of species on earth provide ecosystem and economic services that sustain not only humans, but all other residents of our planet. It is evident that we must try to sustain these wild species, not only because we benefit greatly from them, but also because they too have a right to live on the earth.

A critically endangered white northern rhinoceros killed by a poacher in South Africa.4

The acronym HIPPCO is useful when considering how our harmful actions are currently accelerating species extinction and the degradation of ecosystem services. Consisting of Habitat destruction, Invasive species, Population growth, Pollution, Climate change, and Overexploitation, HIPPCO explains how humans are directly causing the current unnatural rate of species extinction. According to the text, establishing and enforcing national environmental laws and creating and protecting wildlife sanctuaries could provide a solution to sustaining these species. By following the precautionary principle and taking preventative measures to protect the environment instead of constantly cleaning up the messes we have created, we may hope to restore ecosystems and slow the current species extinction rate.

Ways you can prevent extinction of wild species.5

Chapter 10 of Living in the Environment continues the conversation about our role in sustaining biodiversity by discussing ecosystems and the services they provide, specifically terrestrial ecosystems. In the past 8,000 years, human activities have wiped out over 50% of earth’s forests. United Nations environmental bodies have commented on this massive destruction of natural capital, stating, “Unless radical and creative action is taken to conserve the earth’s biodiversity, many local and regional ecosystems that help to support human lives and livelihoods are at risk of collapsing.”6 Currently, unsustainable deforestation and climate change are the primary threats to forest ecosystems, which provide many vital ecosystem services, including reducing soil erosion, purifying air and water, removing carbon from the atmosphere, and supporting energy flow and chemical cycling. These services amount to an estimated minimum of $125 trillion every year, a value far greater than the value of wood and other raw materials they provide. By emphasizing this great economic value, we may hope to better manage and sustain forests without which we could not live. Several steps to achieve this goal include halting government subsidies that encourage deforestation, protecting old-growth forests, improving the management of forest fires, reducing the demand for harvested trees, and planting trees to reestablish forests.7

Map of biological hotspots.8

Forests are not the only ecosystems being severely degraded by human activities. Grasslands, which cover one fourth of the earth’s land surface, are under threat from overgrazing, development, and climate change. Like forests, grasslands provide numerous important ecosystem services including soil formation, erosion control, chemical cycling, and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The text emphasizes protecting biodiversity hotspots found within these ecosystems is especially important. These pertain to areas, such as Madagascar, rich in highly endangered species found nowhere else on earth that are now extremely threatened by human activities. Only around six percent of the earth’s land is strictly protected from the destructive touch of humanity, which is incredibly concerning as our world continues to sink into environmental collapse.

Ways to protect tropical forests.9

Something I found particularly interesting in Chapter 9 of Living in the Environment was the emphasis placed on invasive species as a global threat to species extinction and environmental degradation. Humans are to blame for introducing nonnative species that end up severely impairing their host ecosystems, but what we fail to realize is that in some ways we are currently acting similarly to an invasive species ourselves. Our population has surged and reaches almost every corner of the world, and with that has brought death and destruction to many species and ecosystems. We currently deplete natural capital at an alarming and unsustainable rate, leaving little to no resources for other species whom we share the earth with. The text states, “A problem can occur when an introduced species does not face the natural predators, competitors, parasites, viruses, bacteria, or fungi that controlled its populations in its native habitat. This can allow some nonnative species to outcompete populations of many native species for food, disrupt ecosystem services, transmit new diseases, and lead to economic losses.”10 Although humans are not necessarily a nonnative species, we are currently behaving as such because we have no natural predator containing our populations and maintaining our resource consumption.

Florence Reed, founder of Sustainable Harvest International.11 235

When considering solutions to this global consumption and destruction epidemic, I believe Florence Reed’s efforts to establish sustainable farming practices serves as a perfect example on how to provide a lasting and impactful solution to these environmental problems we have caused. Inspired by her experience working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama and witnessing agriculture-motivated deforestation on a large scale, Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International in 1997 to educate farmers in developing nations on sustainable agricultural practices. Unlike some aid programs, this does not create a dependence on wealthier nations for resources, but instead empowers and raises people out of poverty. Once taught these growing techniques, farmers can then share them with others, and also earn extra income by selling the surplus of their crop yields. Establishing these types of sustainable practices that encourage consumption of locally produced goods not only stimulates local economies, but also decreases the dependence on other nations for foods that involve highly unsustainable growing, manufacturing, and shipping measures.

Question: In Chapter 10 of Living in the Environment, the text addressed the problem of overgrazing and its threat to grassland ecosystems, but did not mention the key factor driving this destruction. Is the failure by this text and the general public to confront the meat industry and its role in deforestation and ecological degradation only worsening our current environmental crises?

1Miller, G. Tyler. Living in the Environment. S.I.: Cengage Learning, 2020, 228.

2Miller, 193.

3Beats, Geo. “Global Wildlife Population Declined By 50% In Last 40 Years - Video Dailymotion.” Dailymotion. Dailymotion, September 30, 2014. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26ybub.

4Miller, 207.

5Miller, 216.

6Miller, 222.

7Miller, 231.

8Miller, 245.

9Miller, 235.

10Miller, 200.

11Miller, 235.

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fgcu2020 · 5 years ago

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blog 2

Urban or suburban sprawl is when there is uncontrol expansion of urban or suburban areas which is being seen in Florida as we speak. 7 cities show up on the Sierra Club’s list which is not a good thing at all. This list saying that there has to be better development control. If there isn’t better development control, then parts of Florida can look like a megalopolis like the one from New York to Washington D.C. The way the state of Florida dealing with sprawl is buying land so it can protect land that is environmentally sensitive from developers trying to make more sprawl. Sprawl is become a major issue in Orange county that developers are getting close to nearby counties showing how bad the sprawl has gotten which has caused the county to discuss charging fees which are basically taxes. In the city of Fort Lauderdale sprawl has caused the development to reach the edge of the highly sensitive ecosystem of the Everglades that has a water supply. Here in Southwest Florida the population has exploded between 2010 and 2020 in that from what I’ve seen they are clearing away nature in the Golden Gate Estates and making new homes and that will get to the point of creating problems because it’s getting closer to the Everglades itself.

Sprawl has a lot more negative consequences but there is another side of the coin when it comes to this argument. One of them will be that since the land is less expensive people are able to afford bigger homes with a lot more land than the people near the city. Another good consequence of sprawl will be that with having more space for the family and that the population is less densely populated people can feel more that they belong in the area they live in. Those benefits to having a house and having more room has its own sense of consequences. The environment suffers in this because of the city gets more spread out there will be a loss of undeveloped land due the construction of roads and buildings. The positive of being in a city like New York is that you are encouraged to walk or take the train to work while the negative of sprawl in the suburban and rural areas will be more cars are being used which is causing more Co2 pollution to go up in the air due to the distances they have to travel for school, work , church, and parks in the city.

We unfortunately can’t stop from growing or expanding our cities, but there are other ways we can make urban sprawl a positive for the neighborhood or a town near you. Starting with being educated on what sprawl is. People have to be educated on how and why urban sprawl affects them. Without education on how it affects them and their community, no one will ever know. With the education of this knowledge it would prevent thoughtless development. Next you will have to get the community in which urban sprawl can or will take place involved. With the communities support you can make a difference, by voicing concerns that development of sprawl has, the saying “it takes a village,” really applies here. If sprawl was to happen in your community, finding ways that the new development can make living there sustainable that benefit not only the owner but also the society. Community and family owned business can be replaced with those new expansions being made. Also, with expansion the developers can take in the concerns of the community and plan according to these concerns.

One of the most recommended ways to make sprawl a positive, is to make the buildings that are being developed into mixed-use buildings. Mixed-use is a building that you would commonly see in major cities like New York, Atlanta, etc., with these buildings you will be able to have a business which the people in the area can go to such as a doctors office. Also a place where they would be able to live, then a store in which food can be purchased. With a mixed-use building you will be able to condense the surplus of unnecessary buildings. Lastly, finding ways in which the buildings you are developing can also be used for sustainable living. Such as implementing solar panels to the buildings where sprawl is occurring so there is a reduction in the use of electricity in that area. Making sure the area in which development is being made is growth friendly. Which means you can add plants, fruits, etc, for a more eco-friendly community. Sprawl can have a negative affect to the community but if there are policies, community involvement, and education on what sprawl is then it wouldn’t have to have a negative effect.

Urban sprawl not only affects us here in Florida, but it also affects other countries as well. In certain countries such as Australia where there is a lot of land and a need for a car to get around emits more air pollution then what is necessary. In such countries as Australia urban sprawl is even worse due to the habitats in which construction is destroying. This doesn’t have just an effect on humans, but the living conditions of the animals. As Urban sprawl continues to grow, it runs the risk of affecting climate change, health and infrastructure. We as the people of not only our community but of the world, need to take a more affect approach and get involved in our communities, make people aware what urban sprawl is. It doesn’t have to be something that happens overnight, but major changes have to take place, to help out our planet. Never stop making it a concern, because it doesn’t just concern you, it concerns everyone. I would like to continue to have this planet thriving even as I get older, also for my future grandkids, and to do that it takes you to help.Don’t wait to be the change.

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habistore · 10 months ago

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Habitat for humanity surplus store

Looking for incredible bargains while supporting a great cause? At HabiStore, our Habitat for Humanity surplus store, you'll find unbeatable deals on building materials and home essentials. Each purchase helps build homes and strengthen communities. Shop with us and turn your home projects into a powerful act of generosity!

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zellytaylorphotography · 4 years ago

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Environmental Ezine Research, Themes

Recycling “ Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products”

I am a very big advocate of Recycling. Recycling means that most of our household waste will avoid the landfills, and will instead be turned into new products. According to the website ‘recyclingbins.co.uk’, on average there is 26million tonnes of household waste created each year in the UK, and of that figure, only 12million tonnes of that waste is recycled. The British Government set a goal of having 50% of household waste recycled by 2020. This goal has failed at only 43% of our waste currently being recycled.

Climate Change

“Climate change is a change in the usual weather found in a place. This could be a change in how much rain a place usually gets in a year. Or it could be a change in a place's usual temperature for a month or season.”

We are currently living with the very real consequences of climate change. The most recent example in the news being the deep freeze that was experienced in Texas, which resulted in many households loosing power and water for long periods of time. Our Summers are getting hotter and our Winters are getting colder. This can have a great effect on our habitats, and alter the ecological balances which allow plants and animals to grow and thrive. The Polar Icecaps are melting at an alarming rate, causing sea levels to rise.

Poverty

“Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a minimum standard of living“

People living in poverty are more likely to have a wide range of health problems, both mental and physical.

They don’t have enough money to pay for good nutritious meals, and there have been instances of many parents living in poverty opting to skip meals entirely just to make sure they have enough to feed their children. Food is usually the first thing that families start cutting back on when they begin to fall into poverty.

They can’t afford to pay the fuel bills and rent for their housing, and housing is generally in a poor state of repair. Even with housing benefits, the rising costs of renting housing make it difficult to stay out of rent arrears. Even if one person in the household has a job, they are generally not meeting a real living wage.

For people living in poverty, they have to account for every penny leaving their purses and there is never enough to cover the expenses of social activities and events, which can lead to feeling social isolation. Friends and Family may see this as them withdrawing and not wanting to engage.

Children born into poverty are more likely to experience bullying in school, due to the type of clothing they’re having to wear, or the lack of up to date technology. Their education suffers due to a poor mental state, they don’t achieve good grades, they struggle to get into higher education, and in turn they struggle to find or maintain any work late in life. And it becomes a vicious cycle where their own children as born into poverty as a result.

Fast Fashion

“Fast fashion makes shopping for clothes more affordable, but it comes at an environmental cost.“

“Fast Fashion” is a term used to refer to the cheap and rapid production of clothing, often sold at low prices, created purely to mimic and capitalise on rapidly changing catwalk trends.

Fashion Production currently accounts for 10% of humanities carbon emissions, and consumes 1.5 trillion litres of water annually. 85% of all textiles end up in landfill, and because these textiles are so cheaply made, they are non-biodegradable and will remain in these landfills for years to come. Textile dying is a huge source of pollution of sources, as leftover water from the dying process are dumped into streams and rivers. Even washing these “fast fashion” garments results in water pollution from micro plastic particles being released into the oceans.

Food Waste “It’s all too easy to ignore the rotten fruits and vegetables that line our bins. But the truth is, our actions cause a reaction. Wasting food has ethical and financial implications as well as causing enormous environmental issues.”

In the UK, we waste on average 7 million tonnes of edible food each year. This food waste makes it’s way into landfills, where it will produce harmful methane gas as it decomposes. Food waste doesn’t just happen in the home, it can start as far back as the crops that farmers produce for these products. Farmer plant more crops than needed to account for any potential adverse weather condition, and are often left with a surplus if these weather conditions have been favourable to them.

Food Waste is a huge source of water waste, as water is needed to grow and cultivate crops, and feed live stock It is also a source of fuel waste, as oils and fossil fuels are required to harvest, transport, store and cook all this food. The consumption of this fuel also contribute to the greenhouse effect with the release of harmful gasses.

#inspiration

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holytheoristtastemaker · 5 years ago

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Could the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic further consolidate surveillance capitalist practices and enterprises? Author Shoshana Zuboff warns Computer Weekly it is possible When the dot com bubble burst in April 2000, the business environment of Silicon Valley went into a tailspin. Startups with massive valuations were suddenly shuttered, while shell-shocked venture capitalists began to panic about whether they would see returns on their investments in surviving businesses.

One such enterprise was Google, which was incorporated just two years before, and where revenues at the time primarily depended on licensing deals for web services.

Initially, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin vehemently opposed the idea of advertising funded search engines, which they condemned as “inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of consumers”.

Shoshana Zuboff, author of The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power and a professor emerita at Harvard Business School, argues it was only when the bubble burst and pressure from investors began to mount that Google discovered its servers were full of behaviourally rich data.

“The data was considered just waste material. It was only in the heat of emergency they discovered these digital traces, which they had thought were worthless, were actually full of rich predictive signals,” Zuboff tells Computer Weekly.

Previously, data was only used to improve the quality of search results, but anything beyond the data needed for these improvements constituted a “surplus”, which signalled to Google how people were behaving.

This behavioural data surplus could then be used for targeting advertising to individual users, and allowed Google to make increasingly accurate predictions about how its users would behave.

This, in turn, improved the profitability of adverts for both Google and its business customers.

“It was on the back of those data streams – data that we did not even know that we were producing, and we did not know that they were taking – that they could create a trillion-dollar empire,” says Zuboff.

“The problem is that all this knowledge is about us, but it is not for us. It’s used to fabricate predictions of our behaviour that are sold to business customers”

Shoshana Zuboff, author and professor

“You take something from someone without their knowledge, claim you own it, and then use it to become unprecedentedly wealthy; lay that out for a child and they would say, ‘Oh, you mean they stole it’,” she says. “This is the original sin that made surveillance capitalism possible. The economics depend upon keeping data flowing. That’s why they don’t care if an ad, article or video is true or false, as long as it engages users and keeps their data supply chains full.”

Zuboff adds that we are now in a situation where surveillance capitalist enterprises, including Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and others, are sitting on “configurations of knowledge about individuals, groups and society that are unprecedented in human history”.

“The problem is that all this knowledge is about us, but it is not for us. It’s used to fabricate predictions of our behaviour that are sold to business customers. This began with online targeted ad markets, but now has migrated throughout the ‘normal’ economy,” she says.

“Instead of democratisation of knowledge, we have extreme asymmetry of knowledge. We thought we would now have access to proprietary knowledge, but just the opposite has happened – proprietary knowledge, owned and operated by these companies, now has complete access to us, without resistance or friction, because we don't even know it’s happening.”

It is this logic – the claiming of human experience as free raw material for translation into behavioural data, and in turn its commodification into ‘behavioural products’ to be sold in ‘predictive futures markets’ – that Zuboff says constitutes surveillance capitalism.

Far from being a passive development, Zuboff describes the practice of surveillance capitalism as “a direct assault on human autonomy”.

“That knowledge turns into power, just as in engineering monitoring capabilities lead to actuation capabilities – the more I know about you, the more I can intervene with your behaviour and shape it in ways that make it more predictable. These interventions are subtle and designed to bypass your awareness. It also means that this growing power is completely unaccountable,” she says, adding that without awareness, which is the basis of human autonomy, people cannot have meaningful agency or choice.

“If you don’t have autonomy and agency and so forth, forget about democracy. Surveillance capitalism is an economic logic that is fundamentally anti-democratic, both at the level of the individual and the larger societal framework – as democracy is weakened, surveillance capitalists aim to fill the void with their own form of ‘computational governance’ in which we are ruled by algorithms under the aegis of private capital.”

‘Business as usual’ for surveillance capitalists

Now, as the world grapples with a global pandemic and people are spending more time than ever living and working in the digital milieu, surveillance capitalists are poised to further expand their supply chains in what Zuboff calls an “extraordinary boon doggle”.

“While it is a crisis for all of us, it is something like business as usual for surveillance capitalists, in the sense that it is an opportunity to, possibly, significantly enhance their behavioural data supply chains,” she says, adding that Google has long been looking to establish a beachhead in health data (see box: Google’s push for health data), mainly through various partnerships and acquisitions.

Google’s push for health data

Google has previously landed in hot water over the transfer of medical data when, in 2017, the transfer of 1.6 million patient records from the Royal Free Hospital in London to its artificial intelligence firm DeepMind Health was found to have an “inappropriate legal basis”.

In November 2019, it was also reported by the Wall Street Journal that the personal medical data of more than 50 million Americans was being transferred from Ascension, the US’s second largest healthcare provider, to Google, where staff could easily access the full set of personal details.

The report noted that Amazon, Apple and Microsoft were also “aggressively pushing into healthcare”, though they were yet to strike deals of the same scale.

Even as recently as January 2020 it came to light that Google offered Cerner, a health data company responsible for one of the largest collections of global patient data, around $250m in discounts and incentives to store its data on Google servers.

However, the company backed out as it was not convinced that Google would not try to commercialise the data at some point down the line, as Facebook ended up doing with the WhatsApp data it had pledged to keep separate.

“For a company like Google, creating contact-tracing applications in partnership with Apple or the many other ways in which it wants to lend its resources for disease tracking and containment, the great likelihood is that these become institutionalised as new supply chains for Google,” says Zuboff, adding that a company’s past activity is a good indicator of how it will behave in the future.

“We know that the surveillance capitalist’s already historic lobbying machine has been out there using this crisis to try and consolidate huge gains for these companies, including trying to get California to postpone enforcement of its new state-wide privacy rules until 2021,” she says.

“We’ve even seen former Google CEO Eric Schmidt quoted as saying the coronavirus pandemic will make big tech even bigger. He’s not saying maybe, he’s saying it will – they are confident about this.”

Surveillance capitalism’s second state of exceptionalism

While the economic logic represented by surveillance capitalism was born in the first few months of the new millennium, Zuboff argues it was not until after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that it really started to take root.

At this point, elected officials, who only months before were discussing how to regulate the emerging internet sector, became very interested in allowing private companies such as Google to develop these still early surveillance capabilities.

“There were some comprehensive proposals for federal privacy legislation. All of that changed with 9/11, ‘total information awareness’ became the new obsession,” says Zuboff.

“The idea was we’ll let these surveillance capabilities develop in the young internet companies because we're going to need them and, at least in the United States, you can do things in a private company outside of constitutional constraints, whereas even our intelligence agencies ultimately are held to account by our Constitution and the rule of law, as much as they may try to play with that boundary.”

Zuboff dubs the shared interests of governments and private companies in these information-intensive surveillance capabilities an “elective affinity”. The development of this affinity was aided by the specific historical conditions of the dot com bubble and 9/11, which provided a “state of exception” for the new market form of surveillance capitalism to grow and evolve.

“Both institutions craved certainty and were determined to fulfil that craving in their respective domains at any price,” Zuboff writes in the book. “These elective affinities sustained surveillance exceptionalism and contributed to the fertile habitat in which the surveillance capitalism mutation would be nurtured to prosperity.”

Now, the “boon doggle” of Covid-19 represents a second state of exception for surveillance capitalists.

In mid-March for example, the UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, invited more than 30 technology companies – including Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, DeepMind and controversial surveillance-as-a-service firm Palantir – to Downing Street in an attempt to commandeer their resources in the fight against Covid-19.

Leading scientists in the UK also urged these companies to “invest in society” by sharing their data with government and researchers.

“Digital data from billions of mobile phones and footprints from web searches and social media remain largely inaccessible to researchers and governments. These data could support community surveillance, contact tracing, social mobilisation, health promotion, communication with the public and evaluation of public health interventions,” they wrote.

On 26 March, the BBC reported that Amazon, Microsoft, Palantir and Faculty (the artificial intelligence firm hired by Vote Leave) had already struck deals with the NHS to pull together its disparate data and the data its partners hold.

On top of this, a notice from health secretary Matt Hancock, which was signed on 20 March but has only become public since 1 April, provides legal backing for the NHS to set aside its duty of confidentiality in data-sharing arrangements.

Dubbed the Covid-19 Purpose, the new data-sharing agreement means NHS organisations and GPs can share any and all patient data with any organisation they like, so long as it’s for the purpose of fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

“We’re at an impasse now – we’re meeting this crisis at a time when we don’t have all the pieces in place that would allow us to trust such technology application and their complete dedication to public health objectives, because they remain in the unregulated, lawless space of private surveillance capital,” says Zuboff.

“We’re dependent on their word to say, ‘Of course we won’t collect more than is required for public health, of course we won’t use the data to identify people, of course we’re going to delete it when we’re past the pandemic’, so we’re back to self-regulation when we already know self-regulation doesn’t work – just in the same way Facebook bought WhatsApp and said [it would] keep it a separate company.”

According to research by digital security firm Surfshark, 60% of contact-tracing apps around the globe are unclear about what they track, do not provide terms and conditions upfront, or use intrusive methods, such as surveillance camera footage, to keep tabs on users.

Only four in ten were also identified as being developed by, or with the help of, non-governmental bodies or private companies.

Therefore, while surveillance capitalists have been busy expanding their supply chains, governments have been expanding their own surveillance apparatus too.

The expansion of state surveillance

For example, in the UK, the emergency Coronavirus Act relaxed restrictions on mass surveillance in the Investigator Powers Act 2016 and expanded police detainment powers.

Of the UK’s 43 police forces, at least 26 have also set up dedicated online portals so people can report those breaking lockdown rules.

Although police claim they will only respond to the most serious incidents, and that the primary reason is to take pressure off the 101 non-emergency police number, the portals give these forces access to lots of new data which could be used for controversial “predictive policing” efforts that mainly target poor and racialised communities.

The UK is not alone, however, as governments and public bodies around the world have rushed to adopt new surveillance systems, ranging from dragnet monitoring systems and the collection of real-time location data, to the deployment of facial recognition and thermal cameras.

“In the coming decade, we need to create new democratic institutions, laws and regulatory paradigms that assert democratic governance over surveillance capitalism’s unaccountable power. This is the only way to ensure that data and AI serve society and democracy”

Shoshana Zuboff, author and professor

In France, for example, the Ministry of the Interior put a tender out for the acquisition of some 650 surveillance drones, which would effectively double its current fleet, while in Baltimore in the US, the police department has started testing an aerial photography system capable of tracking the city’s 600,000 inhabitants.

Similar efforts to either digitally or physically survey those suspected of infection or breaking government lockdown rules are in place all over the world, including in Spain, Australia, India, Belgium, Argentina, Russia and China, among many others.

“What we don’t have now is a sufficiently complex set of laws that would allow us to meet these challenges of the digital,” says Zuboff. “In the coming decade, we need to create new democratic institutions, laws and regulatory paradigms that assert democratic governance over surveillance capitalism’s unaccountable power. This is the only way we can ensure that data and artificial intelligence serve society and democracy.”

She adds that it is much easier to expand surveillance powers than it is to curtail them once made, pointing to the fact that US Congress has only just started to roll back elements of the Patriot Act, a sweeping piece of emergency anti-terrorism legislation rushed into law after 9/11 that expanded US surveillance powers, after 20 years.

“Anything that is proposed must come with its own self-destruct measures that are codified in law,” insists Zuboff.

Optimism over despair?

Despite the opportunity Covid-19 represents for surveillance capitalists and the risks posed by increased state surveillance, Zuboff maintains that nothing about the future is inevitable.

“It depends on us. It depends on every single person who reads what you write and the conversations they have within their communities. It depends on the new forms of collective action, social movements, it depends on demanding new laws, new institutions from our elected officials,” she says.

“That’s not going to happen overnight, but this is the decade in which we have to do it.”

Zuboff says a sea change has already occurred over the past few years regarding the business practices of surveillance capitalists, largely thanks to revelations such as those about Cambridge Analytica and other surveillance capitalists, which means we are now having conversations that five to ten years ago would have been impossible.

“In November of last year, Pew Research did a survey in the US, where 81% of Americans said that the cost of private companies’ data collection outweighed the benefits, so there are very significant ways in which we are no longer naïve – people are raising these questions and have substantial misgivings,” she says.

“That suggests we’re at a place in our history where it’s finally the time to invent the laws, the institutional forms, that are going to allow us to approach the digital future in a way that is compatible with democracy.”

Zuboff concludes that the fight against surveillance capitalism is a problem of collective action: “We need new social movements, we need new forms of social solidarity. Lawmakers need to feel our pressure at their backs.

“In the end, we’re not talking about bad people, we’re talking about an economic logic that is solely responsible for trillion-dollar market capitalisations. It has its iron laws. Now that we have begun to understand surveillance capitalism and its real threats to our future, shame on us if we don’t look at that, scrutinise it, and understand what it means for the future if we give them free run.”

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annarbrandt · 6 years ago

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How to Get the Perfect Appliances for Your Home — For Less

When you’re designing your dream kitchen, your focus is probably on the aesthetic details like backsplashes, countertops, cabinets and flooring. But no matter how beautiful the space may be, it still needs to be functional, and you still need to include appliances!

Photos via: Style Blueprint

Since installing inexpensive, basic appliances isn’t likely to match your vision, you’ll need to find stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers and other appliances that are both functional and attractive.

It’s easy to get carried away when choosing appliances, with some high-end models of ovens and refrigerators carrying price tags well over $10,000. Even if you aren’t looking to become the next gourmet cooking superstar, good-quality appliances can still run you well into the thousands of dollars. But don’t fear. You can still have top-of-the-line appliances or find the perfect pieces for your kitchen design without breaking the bank. It might require a little detective work and in some cases some haggling, but it is possible to find the perfect discount appliances without settling.

Buy Used

As with many things, buying appliances second-hand can save you a great deal of money and allow you to get more for your money. Buying used doesn’t mean you have to settle for a stove that only has one working burner, either. By doing some legwork, you can find high-end (read: those $10,000 stoves) for less than half price.

Some of the obvious places to find used appliances are eBay and Craigslist, as well as local marketplaces on social media. Focus on sellers that are located near you since shipping isn’t always practical, and ask plenty of questions about the item before you buy. Keep in mind that a high-end appliance (like a Viking or Wolf range or a Subzero refrigerator) that needs a tune up or a couple of parts might still be a better deal than buying new. Online marketplaces are also a good place to look for inexpensive vintage pieces. Some appliance manufacturers offer replicas of classic models from the past, which is a viable option if you want the look of vintage without having to worry about whether it works or not, but if you want a real stove from the 1920s or –‘30s, you can find them here for surprisingly low prices.

Another option for quality used appliances is a place like Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, which might have appliances available on the cheap. The proceeds from sales here go toward building low-income housing. Check your area for companies that do green renovations as well. Some work with local thrift stores or operate their own warehouses to sell appliances and other salvageable pieces from their projects. And finally, don’t overlook surplus and salvage stores. They may not be fancy, but you might be able to find appliances that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford at rock-bottom prices. They might have a ding or a scratch here and there, but to save thousands of dollars, you might be willing to overlook it.

Shop at the Right Time

Although most appliance stores offer specials and sales throughout the year, and you can often find great deals just by shopping around, there are a few times when you have a better chance of scoring deeply discounted items. Most appliance manufacturers roll out new models in the fall, and stores heavily discount the previous models, which typically aren’t any different. Shopping around the end of the year can also reap big rewards, as retailers are even more committed to cleaning out old inventory. If you don’t have a specific brand or model in mind, you can find exceptional bargains on floor models, unsold inventory and even appliances that were purchased and returned. Other times to shop for deals include holiday weekends and Black Friday, when retailers offer deeper discounts.

You can also save big bucks on your appliances by enrolling in a discount program, such as that offered via a home warranty. With a discount card, you can potentially save up to $2,000 on the purchase of new appliances and have peace of mind that you’re covered if they have problems.

Regardless of the cost of your appliances and what brand names they have, carefully evaluate the different options before purchasing. Don’t pay for features you don’t need; just because an appliance has a feature doesn’t mean it’s useful. Be realistic about your needs, and focus on getting the best quality you can afford. When you do, you’ll have both a beautiful kitchen and some extra money in your wallet.

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