Read at : Google Alert -desertification
http://peer.org/wordpress/?p=147
The Big Things Count, Too
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is circulating environmental tips to all of its employees (See http://greening.usda.gov/simple_things.htm), including such common step things as turning off unnecessary lights, reducing printing and avoiding travel for in-person meetings when other forms of communication will do. Even those tips are recycled from another agency. This message is part of a program, called Greening USDA. Its purpose is laudable but – in a department that funds clear-cuts of forests and industrial agricultural practices leading to growing desertification, not to mention promoting pesticide use, genetically-modified crops and mega-factory farms – the focus on the “small stuff” like re-using your lunch bag obscures employee involvement in the department’s big issues.
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