The Scottish Resistance, Bees, Hand Washing and Earth Overshoot Day (Biochemistry: Living Diversity)


Check out the video from Full Front with Samantha Bee.  I love this response to Trump's golf course. 



The class discussion on bees was eye opening. I almost forgot the colonies are collapsing, and I had no idea bees are trucked all over the country! This article goes more in depth, and suggests that a solution to the problem of colony collapse is increased urban bee keeping.  I hella heart our local honey and the colonies ticked in and around Oakland's neighborhoods.   

Global Research: Death and Extinction of the Bees by Joachim Hagopian   

The article was written in 2014 - 7 years after colony collapse first became a big story.  It was updated in March of 2018, and apparently not much changed.  

A comment was raised in class that this is an international problem.  SOS-Bees.org has a nice collection of vides from international scientists discussing the colony collapse crisis and research into pesticide reduction and ecological farming practices, brought to you by Greenpeace.  It's a nice place to spend some time.  

SOS-Bees.org Solutions Videos 


We live as if we have more than one planet to occupy.  Earth overshoot day arrived on August 1st this year, and the MindBodyGreen newsletter was in my inbox to announce it.  

We've Already Used Up The Planet's Resources For The Year (And It's Only August) 

This week I read articles, watched videos and took a quiz attempting to understand my ecological impact. The biggest adjustment that I could make is limiting travel - especially air travel but also public transit.  I was surprised to see the impact that public transit had.  Commuting is an unfortunate fact of life for many of us, and public transit is the greenest choice but it still costs a planet or more a year in the Footprint.org calculator.  I would like to use this to suggest work from home arrangements for all non-essential work functions.  I would like to make it a rule -- if your job doesn't require traveling to another place to perform the work you are not allowed to. ;)  It's one way to save the planet. 


Are bathroom hand dryers blowing bacteria everywhere? Sure. 
Do toilet seat covers do anything?  No. 
Do public bathrooms have to be a paper heavy experience to be clean? I guess so. 
Is all of this blown out of proportion?  IMO - Yes.

Consider this video, which suggests that there are actually more microbes on your cutting board or kitchen sponge that in the bathroom. It also points out that skin is an excellent barrier. 




Or this article, which includes Dyson's response to the study claiming bacteria are blown everywhere. 

Study: Dyson's powerful jet dryers may spread 1,300 times more germs than paper towels

Naturally Dyson has a stake in refuting the Journal of Microbiology's claim. They suggest that the researchers are starting with dirty gloved hands. If that is true, the microbial concentrations being reported are severely out of whack for the average public restroom user. Challenge is research design are nothing new to students of TCM. I appreciate the Business Journal including Dyson's response.

Both the video and the article point out the key to cleanliness is proper hand washing.  Are you doing it right? 




**Use soap and lather for 20 seconds - sing the alphabet song. Paper towels are cleaner. **



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