Movements and Initiatives            return to MHA Home

We are looking for contact people who can also write better descriptions of these and other references of interest.

Adoption
    An alternative method of starting a family that does not increase population pressure.  Many children across the world need families.  Far too much red tape and politics slow down the matching process.  You must be mindful, though, of how much baggage a child brings with.

Conservation
    Generally refers to a balanced program of preservation of natural resources.

Environmentalism
    By championing important environmental causes over other issues, some environmentally minded groups risk finding themselves pitted against elements of society that are more concerned with property rights and feeding their own children.  At the extreme we find groups engaged in acts of lawless vandalism.  Below we review different agencies on the basis of the balanced nature of their approach

• Greenpeace -- Possibly the worse reputation for "militant eco-terrorism".
• Green Switch -- A program for donation to the power companies to promote environmentally friendly practices and research that some say they should be doing on their own.
• Nature Conservancy -- National group buying up land, focused on wildlife habitats.
• Sierra Club
• Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) -- Engaged in purchasing and preserving unique regional habitats.
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Buy Locally Grown Food Movement
    This initiative cleverly combines a number of threads, including national patriotism, boosting the local economy, reduction of transportation costs, and improved safety of the food supply by avoiding big-business mega-mistake recalls.

Libertine
    Refers to someone who abdicates social responsibility in pursuit of pleasure.

Libertarian
    Fiscally conservative, socially liberal, they claim a historic place as alternative to the Republican and Democratic party.  They are exactly the opposite of Socialists, believing that capitalism should prevail in government, civic, and social program (he who wants them should pay for them -- not taxes).

Lunatics
    The Lunar Society was an early scientific society from the days of founding America, known for traveling to meetings monthly by the light of the moon.  Now used derisively by antagonists of visionary folk.

Pagan
    Any religious or spiritual movement that finds the divine in nature, as opposed to the creations of mankind.

Poverty
    A state in which survival takes precedence over environment.  We must break the poverty cycle to gain the luxury of education.  The following groups engage in such activities, with varying success.

• Habitat for Humanity -- Focused on affordable and dignified housing, with affordable pay-back.
• Heifer International -- Provides (gives?) livestock to the impoverished to break the poverty cycle
• Kiva.org -- Loans money to third-world entrepreneurs to develop local economies and break the poverty cycle.
• UUSC (Unitarian Universalist Service Committee) -- many responsible outreach and social justice programs across the world to empower people, encouraging sustainable ecological practices.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
    Don't just jump on the Recycle bandwagon.  This is the proper ranking -- reduce our footprint first, re-use everything we can, and recycle what we can't.  To quote my friend Sam, "There is no 'away", as in 'throw it away' ".

Simplicity
    Sam, I need you on this one.  A repudiation of rampant consumerism?

Tree-Hugging
    A symbolic act valuing nature -- used derisively by antagonists of environmentalists.

Vegetarian
    Sometimes pursued for health reasons, which are manifold, or ethical reasons, it is a simple fact that vegetarians have smaller ecological footprints than meat eaters.  Cows are not an efficient protein source, and the methane they generate is a greenhouse gas.

ZPG - Zero Population Growth
    Starting from the point of view that overpopulation is the cause of many of mankind's woes, and is likely to overwhelm the environment, ZPG sets the arbitrary standard of "no growth".  Of course history is replete with examples of governments that tried to control population growth -- either their own or that of a neighbor.  The problem is -- who decides?  And of course our animal instincts continue to push us to reproduce.