Posted on September 25, 2019
CREDO Tip: Do these 6 things immediately if you lose your phone
Losing your phone can really stress you out. In a 2017 survey by the Physiological Society, a London-based nonprofit, people ranked losing their phone as life’s 14th most-stressful event, just above moving to a new home.
But there are measures you can take to mitigate the anxiety – and the risks – that come with losing your phone. If your phone is lost or stolen, take these steps right away.
Call your phone
This is the obvious first step. Maybe your phone isn’t really lost. Maybe it’s just down the back of the couch or under the bedside table.
Or maybe your phone really is lost and someone picked it up. Your passcode, fingerprint scanner or whatever security measures you have in place could make it difficult for this good Samaritan to answer your phone when you call it. But if your phone does ring, that’s an encouraging sign. The first thing a thief might do with a stolen phone is switch it off.
Track your phone
Android and iOS phones have built-in tracking tools that allow you to locate your phone via GPS. These tools are turned on by default in most phones these days, but you should double-check to make sure (obviously, you should do this before you lose your phone.)
On your iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name at the top of the screen and then tap the name of your phone. From here, you can toggle on Find My.
On your Android phone, Find My Device is enabled by default once you sign into a Google account on that phone. To check, open Settings, then tap Security & location. If you don’t see Security & location, tap Google then Security. Tap Find My Device and see that it’s on.
Of course, since your phone is missing, you’ll have to use another device to track it. You can use the Find My iPhone or Find My Device app if it’s installed on that other device. Or you can use these websites: https://www.icloud.com/#find and https://www.google.com/android/find.
Find My iPhone and Find My Device are quite helpful. You can see your phone’s location on a map, lock your phone remotely and erase all your personal data – as long as your phone remains switched on. If your phone is switched off, you’ll see its last known location, and your phone will be locked and/or erased as soon as it is switched on by whoever has it.
Display a “lost” message on your lock screen
Both Find My iPhone and Find My Device have a feature you can use to display a “lost phone” message and a contact number on your lock screen.
This feature is available in an iPhone’s Lost Mode and in an Android’s Secure Device mode. Using these tools, which you can access at the sites linked above, you can choose a message and contact number that will be displayed automatically on the lock screen of your missing phone, such as “This phone has been lost. Please call me at (415) 555-1234.”
This is probably the most effective step you can take to retrieve your lost phone. If your phone is protected with a passcode or other security measure – and you don’t display a “lost” message on your lockscreen – it’s nearly impossible for someone who finds your phone to open it and get it back to you. But lost phones that show a contact number on their lock screen are three times more likely to be returned to their owners.
Contact your carrier and police
Report your phone lost, and your carrier can lock the phone out of its network. From that point forward, your phone can’t be used on your carrier’s network or any other major network.
Contacting the police may not ensure you’ll get your phone back, but you’ll most likely need a police report if you have insurance on your phone and you want to file a claim. If you don’t have phone insurance, a lost phone may be covered by renter or homeowner’s insurance.
Change your passwords
Even if you lock your device and erase your data, you should also change the passwords on all your accounts, including online banking, email, social media and shopping.
We wish you years of happiness and productivity with your current phone. And, when you decide to replace it, we invite you to check out the great phone deals we have at CREDOmobile.com. If you’re not already a CREDO Mobile member , consider switching today. You’ll join America’s only progressive mobile phone company, get the nation’s largest, most reliable network and help fund progressive causes and activism you care about – all just by using your phone every day.
Posted on September 24, 2019
WATCH: Coalition of 10,000 Farmers and Ranchers Call On Congress to Pass Green New Deal
A coalition of nearly 10,000 farmers and ranchers on Wednesday demanded that Congress support the Green New Deal.
At a press conference on Capitol Hill and in a letter to lawmakers, farmers and ranchers from across the country said reducing fossil fuel emissions to net zero by 2030 is needed to sustain their livelihood and is achievable—but only with congressional support for large-scale reforms to the agricultural industry.
“We stand ready to help achieve all of these [Green New Deal] goals,” wrote the coalition, led by the Sunrise Movement and Regeneration International. “But we need Congress to work with us to develop food and agriculture policies that support climate-friendly organic and regenerative farming, ranching, and land-use practices.”
Washington must shift its attention from the consolidated corporate agribusiness sector back to small family farms, the coalition said.
“We also ask that Congress stop subsidizing monopolistic, extractive industrial agriculture practices that pollute the environment, produce unhealthy food, and disproportionately devastate rural communities and economies,” reads the letter.
Watch the press conference:
Farmers and ranchers are major contributors to Republican candidates. A 2016 survey by Iowa State University found that only 40 percent of farmers agree with the scientific consensus that human activity like fossil fuel extraction is causing the climate crisis.
But the coalition made clear that many in the agricultural sector feel far more threatened by extreme weather caused by the crisis and economic policies promoted by Republicans like President Donald Trump than by proposals to reduce carbon emissions.
“My grandmother lost her sense of purpose after my family sold the dairy cows because growing corporate consolidation of the industry made it unprofitable,” said Garrett Blad, national press coordinator for the Sunrise Movement. “I feel disheartened when I see my uncles stress about historic rains delaying planting season, or how Trump’s tariffs are throwing my family’s business into jeopardy. I’ll be damned if I let global warming take the rest of what my grandparents built.”
“With a Green New Deal, we have a historic opportunity to break corporate control of farming, invest in rural America, and stand behind the hard-working people who grow our food every day,” he added.
The Green New Deal calls on lawmakers to work alongside farmers and ranchers to remove pollution from the agricultural sector—which creates about 13 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions—by supporting family farming rather than subsidizing corporate factory farms and investing in sustainable farming.
Moving to net zero carbon emissions by 2030 is achievable, the coalition wrote, but only with a rapid shift to a renewable energy economy and large-scale reforms to farming systems, such as a shift to regenerative agriculture—farming practices including no-till farming and composting, which increase biodiversity and enhance ecosystems by capturing carbon in soil and foliage.
“New agricultural policies could provide greater support for practices such as cover cropping, rotational grazing, agroforestry, and silvopasture,” the coalition wrote. “These practices are proven to restore ecosystem health, including the soil’s potential to sequester carbon. Policies that support better farming and ranching practices would make our farming businesses less vulnerable to the impact of climate change and more financially resilient.”
The letter comes two days before the global climate strike and days after major players in the labor movement—also often thought to oppose climate action—urged workers to support the walkout and the week of action that will follow.
“Farmers are our allies in the fight against climate change. For them, change is already at their door, and they’re feeling the effects,” said Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) in a statement. “Farmers and ranchers have a critical role to play in mitigating the devastating effects of greenhouse gas emissions. As this Congress prioritizes bold solutions to the climate crisis change, we must remember to bring farmers to the table.”
Posted on September 24, 2019
Can a Climate Conscious Diet Include Meat or Dairy?
Two new studies are making the case that people in high-income countries need to cut back on livestock-based foods, but they’re also suggesting that one-size-fits-all recommendations won’t work in all cases.
Though each advocates a major transformation in how the world eats and produces food in order to slow climate change—including a shift toward plant-based diets—they also say that consuming meat and dairy products in certain parts of the world, by certain populations, is critical for meeting nutritional goals.
One report explores the economic case for changing current food production and consumption habits, estimating that they cause about $12 trillion a year in damage to the environment, human health and development. If countries invested just half of 1 percent of global GDP in carbon-friendly agriculture, food waste reduction, reforestation and prescribing more plant-focused diets, among other measures, the world could sustainably feed itself and reduce the climate-related damage, the authors found.
“What over 9 billion people choose to eat and how they make these choices are at the heart of how our food and land use systems evolve,” the report finds, adding: “The right animals, in the right places and raised in the right conditions can continue to play an important role in sustainable food and land use systems.”
In a second report, published Tuesday in the journal Global Environmental Change, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that modest shifts toward plant-based diets globally could cancel out the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from helping undernourished populations get adequate nutrition, including protein. The number of malnourished people in the world—roughly 820 million—remains stubbornly high.
“So many countries are dealing with under-nourishment. They’re going to have to increase food consumption, and accordingly their carbon footprints are going to have to go up,” said Keeve Nachman, director of the Food Production and Public Health Program at Johns Hopkins’ Center for a Livable Future and one of the report’s authors. “We have a responsibility as a global community to make sure they have enough food. What that means is that high-income countries that typically consume more animal products are going to have to more rapidly consider some of these plant-forward dietary shifts.”
Their study took nine different plant-focused diets and determined what the carbon impacts of each would be for 140 different countries around the world. The idea, Nachman explained, was to help policy makers in those countries understand how potential dietary shifts might impact nutritional needs and their carbon footprints.
The study comes in the wake of a series of reports, including one from the United Nations, calling for a global shift toward plant-based diets. During the negotiations on that report’s language, some developing countries argued that it was unfair to call for a broad, global reduction in meat consumption when some populations still lack enough protein.
“We recognize that every country has its own complex set of situations and priorities, so we’re presenting these nine plant-forward diets in the hopes that we’re giving decision makers options that are benchmarked to these climate and water footprints,” Nachman said. “If we come barreling in with statements about how we need to reduce animal products, that could fall on deaf ears. All countries can be part of the solution.”
Different Plant-Based Diets, Different Impacts
Nachman and his colleagues analyzed common, recognizable diets including “lacto-ovo vegetarian,” in which people eschew meat and fish but eat dairy and eggs; a “two-thirds” vegan diet, in which people consume one-third of their diets in animal-based protein; strictly vegan diets; and diets in which people ate mostly plant-based foods but also some proteins low on the food chain, like mollusks and small fish.
They found that a shift to vegan diets reduced per capita greenhouse gas footprints by 70 percent, having the lowest per capita carbon impact in 97 percent of the countries.
They also found that lacto-ovo vegetarian diets had a higher carbon footprint than diets in which vegans consumed meat in moderation but avoided dairy, largely because of the greenhouse gas emissions from dairy production. And they found that low-food-chain diets had less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of lacto-ovo vegetarians in more than 90 percent of the countries.
“These findings suggest populations could do far more to reduce their climate impact by eating mostly plants with a modest amount of low-impact meat than by eliminating meat entirely and replacing a large share of the meat’s protein and calories with dairy,” the report said.
It added: “The country-specific results presented here could provide nutritionally viable pathways for high-meat-consuming countries, as well as transitioning countries that might otherwise adopt the Western dietary pattern.”
Overhauling a Food System
In the economics-focused report released Monday, the Land and Food Use Coalition, a group of scientists, economists and environmental groups that formed in 2017 to help overhaul food and land use systems with the goal of achieving global climate targets, lays out 10 strategies for transforming food and land use systems, including a more diverse diet that’s lower in livestock-based foods, particularly in high-income countries.
It recommends that global consumption of meat from cattle and sheep “should be halted and gradually reduced,” but “in some cases this means people will need to eat more meat, and in others less.” For example, the report says, children and women of childbearing years in sub-Saharan Africa who are among the world’s undernourished populations, will need more protein to meet their nutritional needs, while people in high-income countries will need to cut back for both health and climate reasons.
The coalition found that if governments and societies invested about $350 billion a year—about 0.5 percent of GDP—in carbon-friendly agriculture and other sustainable food and farming measures, the world could save $10.5 trillion annually in environmental and health costs by 2050.
“The productive potential of the earth is plenty big enough to return 1.2 billion hectares of land to nature and produce healthy food for a growing population,” said Per Pharo, the report’s lead author and director of Norway’s Climate and Forest Initiative. “There are no technical, financial or biophysical barriers to doing this.”
Farmers Have Important Roles to Play
There are, however, political and systemic barriers.
“The goal of this report is to say this can be done, it should be done,” Pharo said. “We haven’t been able to mobilize the political will.”
The report points out that governments spend about $700 billion supporting agriculture globally, but only about 1 percent of that is directed toward beneficial environmental practices. Governments need to substantially increase their support for farmers in ways that incentivize regenerative and carbon-friendly farming, the authors write.
“We are extremely aware that [farmers] will be part of solving this,” Pharo said. “We have asked them to deliver and they’ve delivered. … This is not about blaming farmers. It’s a question of aligning more people behind the mission of transformative change.”
Article reposted with permission from Inside Climate News
Posted on September 19, 2019
Everyone needs to strike for the climate. And that includes CEOs.
Our planet is on the line, so we’re going on strike – yes, even me, the CEO.
That’s because the company I have the privilege to lead, CREDO, is a corporate leader in the Global Climate Strike – a massive, week-long, youth-led event to demand climate justice for everyone and end the age of fossil fuels. We’re joining Patagonia, Levi Strauss, Ben & Jerry’s, Lush Cosmetics and others, to enlist as many of our employees and customers in the strike as possible. I’ve urged every one of our employees to walk out and join one of the thousands of marches taking place globally on Friday, September 20.
Fighting climate change isn’t something just for idealists, it’s urgent and existential. That’s why we are willing to take a potential hit to our profits by shutting down for a day. This is the bare minimum that’s necessary to do our part to fight the climate crisis.
Scientists confirmed that climate change is worse than we ever thought, and we have a little over a decade to drastically transform our economy and reduce carbon emissions to ensure we leave the next generation – the millions of young people we will strike with this month – with a habitable Earth. And as a business leader, I know I have a moral obligation to do what’s best for our customers, our employees and for the mission of our company.
CREDO was founded more than 30 years ago to create progressive social change by donating a portion of our revenue to causes that will make a positive social impact – and fighting for climate justice has been a top priority for decades.
Of the $88 million we’ve donated to nonprofit causes since 1985, our customers have helped us give nearly $20 million to groups fighting for the environment and climate. And this month, to coincide with the Climate Strikes, we’re asking our members to vote to donate an additional $50,000 to five groups fighting for climate justice and the passage of a Green New Deal.
Our CREDO Action team has a long history of climate activism. They’ve empowered our millions of CREDO Action members to push the Democratic National Committee to hold an official climate debate, urge companies, universities and financial funds to divest from fossil fuels, and protect our public lands from fracking and oil pipelines. They are also recruiting CREDO activists to join strikes across the country.
Our business model ties us more closely than most to progressive values, but now is the time for all corporate leaders to take action on climate change on behalf of their businesses, their employees, their customers and the planet. I’m not talking about a “CEO Climate Dialogue” filled with some of the largest polluters in the world, or small commitments by some in the Fortune 500 to reduce their carbon footprints, either.
The young people across the world who are leading the Climate Strikes this September are in the streets demanding that the leaders like us in industry, government and media do everything we can to protect our planet for future generations.
As CEOs, it’s more than just a moral obligation to listen to millions of young people rising up for the future of our planet; it will also affect our bottom line.
A recent study found that Gen-Zers (those born between 1995 and 2002) will make up 40 percent of consumers by next year, and more than 50 percent of them “feel that knowing a brand is socially conscious influences purchase decisions.”
We’ve known for a long time that consumers choose brands that align with their values – it’s precisely why our customers choose our wireless or renewable energy services – so if companies want to succeed while also running a socially-responsible company, it’s in their best interests to not only do business sustainably, but to actively fight for climate justice.
Because all the revenue, customers and reputation in the world won’t make a difference if we don’t have a livable Earth on which to do business. So we’re going to keep fighting to protect our planet and end climate change.
And on Friday, we’re going on strike.
CREDO is a socially conscious corporation dedicated to powering progressive change through everyday acts of commerce through CREDO Mobile, CREDO Energy, and CREDO Long Distance. CREDO gives customers the opportunity to support causes they care about — like climate justice and women’s rights — by paying for the services they already use, including mobile service and home electricity supply.
Posted on September 18, 2019
Brett Kavanaugh must be impeached
Brett Kavanaugh is a liar and credibly accused sexual predator, yet misogynistic Senate Republicans put him on the Supreme Court anyway.
But Kavanaugh’s days on the court could be numbered, especially if enough of us speak out to force the House of Representatives, especially congressional Democrats, to take action to hold him accountable.
The New York Times recently reported an in-depth corroboration of Kavanaugh’s college assault of Deborah Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh who came forward last year during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. The article highlights how Senate Republicans constrained the FBI’s investigation of her allegations in their attempt to railroad Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and ram through Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
We’re calling on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings immediately to hold Kavanaugh accountable. You can sign our petition calling for Kavanaugh’s impeachment here.
The text of our petition reads: “There is no room for an accused sexual predator and liar on the Supreme Court. Initiate impeachment proceedings to get Brett Kavanaugh off the federal bench.”
Kavanaugh was credibly accused of sexual assault and lying under oath in 2004 and 2006 and at least 30 times during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Not only is lying under oath unacceptable, but perjury is an impeachable offense.
In 2018, Democrats promised that if they took control of the House of Representatives, they would open an investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct and perjury against Kavanaugh. It’s past time to make good on that promise.
We must hold each and every Democrat in the House of Representatives accountable and demand that they preserve the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. Click here to sign our petition demanding that the House of Representatives impeach Brett Kavanaugh.
Posted on September 18, 2019
On 9/20, CREDO is going on strike for the climate. Will you join us?
Here at CREDO, we’re going on strike. For the climate.
That’s right – I’ve asked all CREDO employees to walk out on Sept. 20 and join one of the thousands of Climate Strikes happening across the country and the world to demand climate justice for everyone and end the age of fossil fuels.
It’s the least we can do to lift up the voices of the millions of young people striking for our climate.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg urged the global community to act as if the house is on fire – because it is. We have only 11 years to prevent irreversible damage to our planet, so we must all act now before it’s too late. We are heeding Greta’s call, and we want your help to do even more.
Here are some ways you can join the movement with us:
- Vote now to help us distribute $50,000 to groups fighting for climate justice and the Green New Deal. In addition to the nearly $20 million that members like you have helped us donate to groups fighting for the environment and climate justice, we’re stepping up to donate even more this month to five great groups on the frontlines combating climate change.
- Sign the petition demanding that American banks divest from fossil fuels. U.S.-based banks JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citi are the top fossil fuel investors in the world. Tell them to stop financing oil, gas and coal companies.
- Join and recruit your friends to attend a Climate Strike near you. There are thousands of marches across the country on Sept. 20. If you don’t see one close by, you can organize your own.
- Download a Climate Strike poster. Whether or not you can attend a march, download and print a poster to show your support for climate justice.
We hope to see you on the streets on Sept. 20 for climate action.
-Ray Morris
CEO, CREDO
Posted on September 17, 2019
Download your Climate Strike posters here
This September, people across the nation and the world will take to the streets to participate in the Global Climate Strikes, a massive, week-long, youth-led event to demand climate justice for everyone and end the age of fossil fuels.
Here at CREDO, we’ll be marching alongside young people across the country on Sept. 20 to demand climate action – and we hope you will join us!
We’ve created some great posters to download, print and take with you to the marches happening all across the country. And if you haven’t yet committed to attending, click here to RSVP or to organize a Climate Strike in your area.
Download “Strike for Climate Action”
Download “Our House is on Fire”
Download “Another _ Against Fossil Fuels”
Posted on September 12, 2019
CREDO Tip: How to participate in the Global Climate Strike
The climate crisis is worse than we ever thought, and we have a little over a decade to drastically transform our economy and reduce carbon emissions to ensure we leave the next generation with a habitable Earth.
That’s why here at CREDO, we are doing everything we can to slow the climate crisis, including participating in the Global Climate Strikes – a massive, week-long, youth-led event to demand climate justice for everyone and end the age of fossil fuels.
This Sept. 20, people all around the world – including the staff at CREDO offices across the country – will walk out of our workplaces and homes to join young climate strikers in the streets at thousands of marches and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels.
We urge you to join us for the Global Climate Strikes, too. Here are some ways you can get involved.
Here are 4 ways you can join the Global Climate Strike.
1. Join the Global Climate Strike.
In 2018, Greta Thunberg started a single-person strike on the steps of the Swedish Parliament House. That strike went viral.
Young people united in solidarity and led the way for climate justice by striking from school every Friday. The hashtags #FridaysforFuture and #ClimateStrike are now the rallying cries of millions. The message is simple: If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
On Sept. 20, three days before the U.N. Climate Summit in NYC, young people and adults will strike all across the United States and world to demand transformative action to address the climate crisis
To find a Climate Strike year you, visit the Global Climate Strike website.
2. Help CREDO decide how to allocate funds to groups fighting for climate justice.
Every month, CREDO gives to progressive causes – $1 million a year and more than $94 million to date.
This month, CREDO is donating an additional $50,000 to five groups fighting for climate justice and the Green New Deal. But we need your help!
Click here to cast your vote and help us distribute donations to five groups fighting the climate crisis.
3. Spread the word
Messages are only powerful if people hear them. Support the cause by helping to spread the word! Tell everyone – your friends, family, co-workers, classmates, teammates and adversaries – because as Greta said, “Everyone should mobilize for the 20th-27th of September because this is a global issue which actually affects everyone.”
There are plenty of free resources online that will help you spread the word at the Global Climate Strike and Strike with Us websites.
On social media, be sure to use the hashtags #StrikeWithUs and #ClimateStrike and check out CREDO’s Facebook and Twitter accounts for great content to share leading up to and during the Climate Strikes.
Our allies at 350.org also have additional resources to help you share your story about why you’re participating in the Climate Strikes. You can find those here.
4. Organize a group in your community.
This year the Global Climate Strikers have made organizing easier than ever by providing both workplace and community organization and action plans.
- For workplace organizing and action plans, click here.
- For community organizing and action plans, click here.
Use these action plans to activate your networks. Think of the organizations, clubs or faith groups you belong to. Maybe you’re in a dinner club or a book club? Talk about the climate strikes at your next meeting. Are you a teacher? Organize faculty and encourage your students to participate.
In the days leading up to Global Climate Strikes, organize a poster day. Creating your strike day materials together is a great way to activate your community.
If you don’t want to create your own poster, we have some great posters for you to download, print out and take with you to the marches.
We hope to see you on the streets on Sept. 20! To RSVP for a Climate Strike near you, please visit the Climate Strike website here.
Posted on September 9, 2019
Victory: Yosemite keeps historic names
Thanks in part to more than 143,000 CREDO members who signed our petition, the names of historic locations at Yosemite National Park will be restored to their well-known names, including the Wawona Hotel, Curry Village, the Ahwahnee Hotel and Badger Pass.
Jeremy Jacobs, a billionaire Trump donor and the chairman of the concessions company Delaware North that recently lost its $2 billion contract in Yosemite, sued the NPS for tens of millions of dollars to turn over naming rights of two iconic landmarks in the park, the Wawona and Ahwahnee Hotels. The NPS recently settled the lawsuit that restored the original names to these historic locations.
Thank you to CREDO members like you who stood up for these beloved American landmarks.
Posted on September 3, 2019
Our August grantees thank you for your support
Each month, CREDO members vote on how we distribute funding to three incredible nonprofits. Those small actions add up – with one click, you can help fund groups supporting progressive labor policies, making our government more inclusive and representative, and fighting to protect our environment. In August, over 61,000 CREDO members voted to distribute our monthly donation to Democracy for America, National Day Laborer Organizing Network and Rainforest Action Network.
These donations are made possible by CREDO customers and the revenue they generate by using our services. The distribution depends entirely on the votes of CREDO members like you. And for that, our August grant recipients thank you.
Democracy for America
$54,158
“Thank you CREDO members for being essential allies in our fight to build a country and a Democratic Party that’s unflinchingly committed to an inclusive populist political agenda up-and-down the ballot in all 50 states.” – Charles Chamberlain, Democracy for America
To learn more, visit www.democracyforamerica.com.
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
$35,416
“Thank you for standing with NDLON at a time when your support is very needed! CREDO members like you make an impact on the communities, programs and member organizations we serve.” – Pablo Alvarado, Co-Executive Director, National Day Laborer Organizing Network
To learn more, visit www.ndlon.org.
Rainforest Action Network
$60,425
“Thank you for supporting Rainforest Action Network! CREDO members like you further RAN’s mission to protect people and the planet by addressing the root causes of climate change, deforestation and exploitation within extractive industries.” – Lindsey Allen, Executive Director, Rainforest Action Network
To learn more, visit www.RAN.org.
Now check out the three groups we are funding in September, and cast your vote to help distribute our donations.
CREDO members who use our products are the reason why we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile, the carrier with a conscience.
