Welcome to Street Prophets Coffee Hour! Thermal for the warmth of a good cup of coffee or your preferred beverage, as well as the warmth of a more progressive religion and community.
Or in some parts of the country, it’s still warm enough that you may want to pull up a comfy chair with a cold drink. Whatever perks you up for your afternoon without causing sleepless nights! Feel free to share in the Comments, if you’re so inclined. This is also an Open Thread for you to connect.
So I could not decide on a “Christianity and ____” topic for this week, but a Greenpeace flyer came across my desk, so I thought I’d let y’all know about that. Greenpeace released a report last year: “The Climate Emergency Unpacked: How consumer goods companies are fueling big oil’s plastic expansion” (link is to the 28-page summary report; more details are available for anyone who would like a deep dive).
In short, every big manufacturer chosen for analysis — including Coke, Pepsi, Nestle, Unilever, and P&G — all buy plastic packaging from manufacturers who buy plastic resin from Big Oil — ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron Phillips, and Dow, amongst others. This business is an increasingly important part of the Big Oil business model, keeping those fossil fuel profits flowing!
Consumer goods providers try to convince us that the solution to plastics is to recycle. However, despite Americans being pretty good about putting plastic into the recycling bin, that doesn’t mean the recycling facility will actually recycle it — in fact, only about 5-10% of plastics are recycled, news.climate.columbia.edu/… (this link ends with what individuals can do to help fix this).
Greenpeace, however, recommends systemic fixes: They call on companies to:
- Urgently move to reuse systems and package-free products.
- Commit to collaborating with others to standardise reusable packaging.
- Phase out all single-use plastic.
- Be transparent.
- Advocate for political action to drive industry-wide transformation.
They also call on governments to:
- Work with communities most impacted by plastics to ensure needs are addressed.
- Support the development of an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty.
- Move toward a zero-waste economy.
- Encourage a phase-out of single-use plastic.
- Encourage adoption of reuse and packaging-free systems.
In short, individual actions are a small part of the effort, but the whole system of using and discarding needs to change. We can have nice things if we change the system. Please discuss below.
And finally, let’s elevate our Community Cred and repost The Needs List! From Aashirs nani (with permission) on Helping Humpday (there’s a pootie at the linky, check it out!), with some variations on bolding for variety’s sake.
PLEASE NOTE:
When sending via PayPal, be sure to select “Send to family/friend” to avoid fees on either end. Be aware, both donor and recipient, that GFM not only charges fees, but also money received through that platform is treated as taxable income. If you are requesting help through GFM, also be aware that there can be delays in accessing the money.
Community Needs List as of 9/28/22.
Fundraisers who want a diary to be or stay on the list: PLEASE kosmail requests and donations received to njm5000 by Tuesday evening to be included on the Wednesday morning updated list.
Living on the financial edge—need help? Check out the Helping Directories before your next emergency.
Housing and Living Expenses Fundraisers and Other Links
morgansmom—needs help towards major car repairs and moving to a better environment. $8000 7950 7900 7850 7750 7725 7615 7605 7565 7465 7415 7375 7275 7175 7025 6920 6820 6570 Turns out the car needs a front end rebuild, so repairs are on hold, til more $ is raised. :-) • Visit the KoFi page to see some cool artwork & donate! • PayPal: wingednag at gmail dot com.
DHfromKY—is looking to raise $2450 1950 1830 1720 1685 1585 1385 1285 1180 1170 960 for rent and other necessities. Against the wall, again...• PayPal is dharden40219 at yahoo dot com—select “Send to a friend”, and PayPal doesn’t charge a fee.
J Graham—"Your child has mental health issues." But you're a fighter. "It's cancer." But you're a fighter... • She’s sleeping in a tent! (Cats, music, and a chance to help a deserving Daily Kos member). The goal is $14,000 9944 9534 8884 8859 8709 8684 4448 4348 4323 4223 to cover first and last month rent, security deposit, some medical expenses, utility bills, and moving costs. She has a Mighty Cause fundraiser, and PayPal at: jgraham4healthcare at gmail dot com
HarpPlayer posted a diary—I Really Need Some Help asking for help with various expenses that have accumulated. HarpPlayer is a retired RN with health problems, but this help can provide a fresh reset. Total needed is adjusted to $2395 990 PayPal bluessingerrn at aol dot com.
I haven’t changed the total need, but there is another update to the diary.
michelewln—needs help for food, cat food, utilities.
PayPal: michelewilson327 at gmail dot com.
Wired Wolf—needs about $3000 2960±. Helping support Mom “…on one fulltime retail wage…and living on credit cards through Covid have suddenly caught up with us bigtime--I'm in way over my head right now. I need about $3000 to get my credit cards to a safe level that I can maintain… we're still waiting for our utility-assistance appeal and my student loan servicer never paused IBR payments..
Paypal is paypal dot me/WiredWolf
The Kos Katalogue 2021 is here. Updated by CathyM.
Also:
ericlewis0 has a fundraising diary for The Marti: The Marti, a.k.a. MarTigress, Needs Our Help. For her health, physical and mental, and finances she needs to move to Maryland, and it looks like it will take $15,000 to cover everything: deposits, move, relocating things from storage in Massachusetts, etc. There is some time pressure, as her lease in South Carolina is up at the end of November. Her PayPal is:
martiscott50 at gmail dot com
The fundraiser stood at $6112 $6987 as of yesterday noon!
I’m in for a mickle. I hope you’ll join me. Always glad to see the needed amounts gradually decreasing!
If helping financially isn’t the right choice for you at this time, you can still help. Tip and rec the diary so it stays visible. Share on social media: Twitter, Facebook, whatever platform you use, to bring the attention of others outside our daily readers. And offer words of encouragement to people who are struggling. It can be scary to be struggling, and it can feel lonely. Let them know we understand and are here to help.
If you have time, please visit the diaries above and leave comments for their authors. Those words of encouragement are vital!
If you don’t like fundraisers, please just move along. They are a longstanding tradition at DKos — Until we vote in enough progressives to create a much stronger social safety net!
Please note: I take care of my 90ish-year-old Mom and something could come up. If possible, I’ll be here to engage in Comments. However, if I’m not here, please chat amongst yourselves, take a coffee break, post aminal photos and tunes, spread the word and invite your friends, etc.! Thanks to all!