Category: Direct Action

Bicycle Commuters Save Economy $21 on Each Commute

Australian research has led to the conclusion that bicycle commuters are great for the economy! Every time a commuter chooses to ride a bicycle instead of a car or public transportation the economy benefits.

With the obviousness of health benefits from riding a bicycle and the ever-increasing amount of economic research that supports bicycle infrastructure the future of smart transit planning is just around the corner.

The economy benefits by more than $21 every time a person cycles 20 minutes to work and back and $8.50 each time a person walks 20 minutes to and from work, according to a policy statement released by Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday.

Mr Albanese said the construction of walking and riding paths was relatively cheap compared with other modes of transport. A bicycle path costs only about $1.5 million a kilometre to plan and build.

“We need to get more people choosing alternatives to the car”: Anthony Albanese. Photo: Nic Walker
The government has agreed that, where practical, all future urban road projects must include a safe, separated cycle way.

Read more

The B Team – A Plan B for the Economy

The economic stupidity of a few years back is still causing problems and the fact that the wrongdoers got bailouts for their transgressions hasn’t helped. Even years later economies haven’t recovered and the class divisions within multiple societies have widened. It’s time for an alternative to this current form of (rather bizarre) “hyper capitalism”.

This is where The B Team is looking to make a difference. It’s a new organization focused on researching and promoting a new form of economic thinking that doesn’t ignore the environment and people. Social entrepreneurship is on the rise and The B Team seems to want to help that trend continue.

The B Team is a not-for-profit initiative that has been formed by a group of global business leaders to create a future where the purpose of business is to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit.

Working with a global community of advisors and partners, The B Team seeks to develop and implement a Plan B for business that puts people and planet alongside profit. The B Leaders will focus on execution and action, catalysing and amplifying others’ efforts by undertaking specific global Challenges where their collective voice can make a difference.

Check out The B Team.

Thanks to Liz! (again)

Evidence for Democracy: A Group Championing Fact-Based Policy

Evidence for Democracy is a new organization in Canada that wants government policy to based on reality. The federal Canadian Conservative government (which openly hates the environment) continually cuts finding to scientific research that can lead to a better understanding of the world around us. The constant cutbacks and denials of actual science pushed some scientists too far: now they are calling for the government to openly cite scientific research to back up their policy.

“I watched as the professors realized that they are the ones that have to stand up for science,” Dr. Gibbs said, “that they can’t expect someone else to make the case as to why it is important.”

At the behest of her colleagues, Dr. Gibbs helped organize the Death of Evidence protest in Ottawa, July 2012. Thousands of scientists and their supporters chanted, “No science, no evidence, no truth, no democracy,” as they carried a symbolic coffin to the steps of Parliament Hill.

…

“Government policies affect every aspect of our daily lives,” Dr. Gibbs said. “Using the available evidence assures that we get policies that actually do what they are supposed to do. It’s a better use of tax dollars than just picking what seems to be a good idea at the time.”

Read more at the Vancouver Observer.

Choose Cage Free

Animal cruelty sadly still exists and we can all make a difference in the suffering of domesticated animals by changing our shopping habits. The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has launched an education campaign to get people aware of the dangers of factory-farming hens while celebrating the benefits of letting the animals roam free.

Cage-free is healthier for the chickens:

There is overwhelming scientific evidence to demonstrate that caged hens have a greater chance of being infected by Salmonella; which is among the most common causes of food-related hospitalization and deaths in the US and Canada.ii,iii,iv

  • A study by the European Food Safety Authority, which analyzed data from 5,000 egg farms in more than 20 countries, found up to 25-times greater odds of Salmonella infection in farms where hens were kept in battery cages than in farms using any non-cage system. i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi
  • Keeping hens in small, barren, crowded cages causes them considerable stress, which can make the hens more susceptible to diseases and more infectious.
  • Diseases can spread more rapidly in larger, denser flocks. The average size of a caged flock in the U.S. is 75,000 to 100,000 hens while the average size of a cage-free flock is 25,000 hens. A USDA study found that farms with more than 100,000 birds were four times more likely to have birds test positive for Salmonella than those with fewer than 100,000 birds.

Take the pledge to buy cage-free here.
Read more about why cage-free matters.