Tuesday’s Broccoli Soup

This post is also available in: Slovenian

I’ve never thought about this, but it’s true. Electricity that we’re so dependent on is completely artificial and not sustainable in any way. Here’s why. A human being, lying down, uses 90 Joules every second (i.e. Watts). Back in the days when people were hunter-gatherers, they used about 250 Joules per second, hunting down prey. What about a modern American? 500 Joules? Maybe 1000 Joules?

11.000 Joules every second!

Yes, you read it right. Eleven thousand. 44 times what the hunder-gatherers need(ed). Granted, not all of it is in the form of electricity, but much of it is. Computers, air-conditioners, you-name-it…

So, the average American needs more energy to properly function than the biggest animal that ever existed, the blue whale. If that’s not unsustainable, I don’t know what is.

Do you think the Earth could support 7 billion blue whales? I think not!

What could propel the world to a better future? 2 %. If we spent just 2 % of global GDP on better waste management, energy efficient transportation, better water use, etc. we could “alleviate global poverty and keep stagnating economies humming, while cutting humanity’s global ecological footprint nearly in half by 2050 even in the face of rising populations.” How about that? Instead, we choose to spend that 2 % on pesticides and fossil fuels.

In other news:

• Plastic bags are not so bad after all.
• Another line about recyclable shoes. Urshuz.
• Is the world one poor harvest away from chaos? I think it very likely is.

Let’s finish off with another incredible video. Baby stingrays! Watch it, you won’t be sorry.

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Photo by jonashansel