There hasn’t been much happening in the way of good environmental news lately so rather than complain I’ve just kept quiet. There are other people who have a voice that gets the message across better than I do. One of those people is a person we affectionately have referred to as The Geek in our family.
The geek, better known to the rest of the world as Bill Nye, had a show called Bill Nye the Science Guy when my children were younger. The boys loved his show and being homeschoolers, we invested in a couple of his books filled with experiments. The experiments were great because all the materials were common in every kitchen. My boys would bring their friends over and pull out Bill Nye’s books and I’d have a house full of boys laughing while learning about science.
Bill Nye, The Geek, is back in Bill Nye Saves the World, a program for adults. My son called to tell me the program was on Netflix and he was so excited to watch it that it felt like Christmas morning. Later, a neighbor told me she was watching the new Bill Nye series.
While the program was made for adults, Nye explains the concepts in such simple terms that even the children are watching it with the adults….and getting it!
I fear we will always have climate deniers but I am hopeful that those, because of lack of education, who aren’t familiar with the problems we are facing will get their education not from schools but once again from Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Or as we lovingly call him. The Geek.
Life In A Minimalist Farmhouse 
Love, Bill Nye and wish I got Netflix.
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Who doesn’t love Bill Nye? I asked and there are 13 episodes on Netflix, maybe you could sign up for the free month and watch the show then cancel it. 🙂
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That’s an idea.
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Thanks for the heads up on The Science Guy’s new series. My kids loved his show when they were growing up!
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You’re welcome. I am impressed by how many love watching Bill Nye, currently it’s all anyone is talking about.
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I’m on my son’s Netflix account so we can each watch in 2 different states. I’ll look it up. I have always enjoyed hearing Ed Begley, Jr. pontificate about the ecology. He takes to another level with the Hollywood crowd and spends a great deal of time here in the PNW. I think they are dismantling the EPA in favor of more military. More money in their pockets that way. Everyone I know is working hard to be green and be kind to our planet. We will outnumber them one day, I hope. The planet will win even if we don’t. I hope. Planting as fast as I can. I guess I look at things in a different way but always with an eye toward kindness to the earth. It is a living thing. I was the only one who brought my own shopping bags today on an adventure with friends. Fortunately, I had extras clipped to my purse so I never have to use disposable bags for anything. I loaned them out and will get them back on Tues. 🙂 No waste. Have a good week ahead. Hugs.
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Ed Begley is a trip! I’ve never met him but have enjoyed hearing him (and watching his show when it was on). I look at him and think there is no way I’ll ever reach his level of sustainability but then I don’t live in LA any more.
That’s nice your son shares his Netflix with you. My son used to share his with me too since there was little I wanted to see but Netflix is cracking down on the sharing so I don’t risk it.
I can’t even listen to the political news any more, it makes me sick. I just learned we may be headed for a shutdown the end of this week and wanted to scream. I’m glad the scientists are working hard to retrieve all their papers from the internet and saving them on servers in Canada until this reign of terror that is the orange clown is gone.
I don’t see any one else around me using reusable bags. I have to watch when I go to the store because they try to put my things in a plastic bag then load the plastic into my reusable one. When you hand them a bag and say you’ve brought your own why would they think you want theirs too? Dumb people. I can’t wait till everyone wises up.
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I’ve been using my own bags for over 30 years. We always used them in Germany and even in Taiwan. I was brought up that way. They are awkward for the checkers but they make it work. My bags goes on the line before my groceries. Even if I go to a bookstore, art or fabric store, I tell them right away that I brought my own bags. You know how I watch the news. I pray every day that this reign of terror ends.
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My bags go on the line or counter first as well. After I always ask that everything be put in my bags only as kindly as I can but I still have to watch them.
I can’t watch the news anymore. It just makes me angry and fearful. Instead I am trying to be productive and spend as much time outdoors as I can.
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The rain stopped here finally so I’ll be getting outside too. Was in the sewing room yesterday getting organized and did some work. More of the same today. Still quite chilly. ;(
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And our rain started. Last night we had hail like I’ve never seen before. I had to check the windows afterwards to make sure none were cracked from the impacts. Tonight we’re experiencing thunderstorms. I’m okay with the rain, we always need it, but the hail… I was just happy none of my seeds had sprouted yet or they would have been gone.
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I don’t really know anything about Bill Nye, except that he occasionally made cameo appearances on Ed Begley Jr’s eco-reality show. But perhaps I’ll check it out on Netflix.
But… I actually do have some good news in terms of the climate – well, sorta good news. I mean, “good” in the sense of things aren’t quite as horrible as they might have seemed. The USGS (United States Geological Survey) released a paper in February that was a review of all the available data on arctic methane. They were evaluating the likelihood of the “clathrate gun” horror scenario (the idea that rising temperatures will cause giant frozen methane stores or “hydrates” in the arctic to release their methane and cause sudden runaway warming – a la Guy McPhereson.)
Anyhow, I watched a video today that was basically a guy going through the paper and explaining it all. And their conclusion was that this scenario is very unlikely because a) there are fewer frozen methane hydrates than previously thought, b) while warming oceans will tend to destabilize the hydrates, as ice melts it adds water to the oceans which increases water pressure – which has the opposite effect, tending to make the hydrates more stable, and c) because even when melting hydrates do release their methane, the vast majority of it is broken down through a variety of processes before it can ever reach the surface and escape into the atmosphere.
Not sure if that news counts as “good” or not, but I’ll take it!
And I had a strange thought about climate deniers today. They sorta remind me of the kids in high school who used to make fun of me for wanting to wear my seatbelt and drive the speed limit. They don’t care if they’re risking their lives, as long as they have some fun and get to be “cool.” Unfortunately, this time we’re all in the car with them hurtling toward god knows what… But hey, at least we can worry less about arctic methane!
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Bill Nye started his career as a mechanical engineer who left that to do stand up after winning a contest impersonating I believe it was Steve Martin. He then decided he wanted to do educational television and got his show in the early 90s. Kids loved him. I always thought of him as a clean cut mix of Pee Wee Herman (kids version) and Mr. Rogers.
I had cable when Living with Ed was on. He used to crack me up with his bike to toast bread or the way his wife would find ways around his environmental rules (such as artificial turf to have grass). But best of all on the show was Ed and Nye arguing over who was doing the better job for the environment.
Now the methane news is good. I’m a bit confused about how the methane gets broken down, I’ll have to do some research and figure it out, but anything that makes McPhearson wrong is a good thing in my book. 2030 was too soon for the world to basically end.
Oh, and while I wouldn’t have made fun of you, I was that person who refused seatbelts and raced cars. 😦 I still can’t wear a seat belt or I have a severe panic attack from being restrained by the darn thing. I’ve tried so many times and if I’m driving and the attack gets bad on the highway and I can’t pull over right away I will black out which is more dangerous to everyone on the road than if I go without. Good thing I no longer drive. 🙂
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I haven’t seen any of Nye’s shows but I use a lot of his quotes on my Environment Pinterest board. I really like what he says, and from what I see on social media, he’s held in high regard which is great .
Reading the other comments on plastic bags for groceries, I was surprised to read that packers will use a plastic bag to put inside a re-usable one – oh boy! How sad that so few people use reusable bags. Where I live now, everyone used to bring their own because the shops didn’t provide them. Then the supermarkets started it, and we had a huge litter problem as no one used their reusables any more. Finally last year they started charging for them, and it’s made a big difference.
But I really was saddened by your comment on schooling: “get their education not from schools but once again from Bill Nye” – what a terrible shame that education is so lacking in science. (I’m not surprised you home schooled). Good education is just so important to a country.
Thanks for the info on Nye’s shows Lois, I’ll see if I can get them somewhere – they sound great!
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Hi Clare. I love Bill Nye, where I part ways with him is on GMOs. He used to speak out about them, then he visited Monsanto and came out for GMOs.
In my opinion schools in the US are lacking in many areas. Children graduate without any financial education and so can’t even balance a checkbook nor understand how interest payments work on mortgages and other lines of credit. Then there’s science which is completely lacking in any lessons on climate change etc.
It’s good to hear a charge was added for plastic bags. I use no plastic bags, but will collect them to use for trash since all our garbage must be in a bag. Yet, plastic bags are every where. I looked into my yard day recently to see a bag stuck in one of my trees. When using my reusable bags I get all kinds of reactions from eye rolls to cashiers who will outright complain that I am making their job harder. We’ve got a long way to go here.
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