What’s Happening to the Fish?
Jun 11, 2009 Environmental News
I’ve been coming across a lot of articles lately on how overfishing is running rampant. From the bluefin tuna being in danger of extinction to California closing the 2009 salmon season. And the situation is a lot worse than than.
Just read this article by Johann Hari on whether we could be the generation that runs out of fish. Ouch.
Then try Tree Hugger’s article on 10 fish you shouldn’t be eating.
The problem is quite simply overfishing. Too bad the solution isn’t so simple, as there’s too many big businesses relying on heavy fishing to survive, and they keep managing to keep the quotas too high for the stability of the population, and will no doubt fight the closures that need to happen.
Even though such moves would keep their businesses running for a longer time.
It’s one of the biggest problems we have, that so many people don’t want to take the steps necessary to preserve, well, anything, until it’s just about too late. We see this time and again. Pesticides and fertilizers and dead zones in the ocean and pollution and plastics, and, and, and….
It doesn’t stop.
These are the things that go beyond saying “well, I just won’t buy any.” That’s not good enough. Someone else will buy it. It’s not even enough for one government to say “stop.” That helps one area, one country, but more needs to be done.
As Johann Hari says in his article, at least 30% of the ocean needs to be closed to fishing, with strict quotas in the remaining 70%. That would take some incredible policing, but it’s what needs doing if we want fish in the ocean.
Tags: fish, food, oceans, overfishing
Are Plastic Water Bottles Safe?
Apr 29, 2009 Environmental News
There’s been a lot of controversy in recent times about the presence of Bisphenol-A (BPA) in certain kinds of plastic. According to a new study from scientists in Germany, kinds of plastic that were previously thought safe may also contain substances that interfere with reproductive hormones. The results aren’t definite yet, but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Glass and stainless steel look better every day.
All in all I’m glad I don’t use plastic water bottles, especially the disposable ones. The waste and the question of what’s leeching into the water isn’t something I want to spend a lot of time thinking about.
It was also quite interesting to note that they tested two cardboard boxes similar to juice boxes. Those also apparently showed signs of the compound. However, they also showed in some of the glass bottle water samples taken, so it’s possible that some of the problem related more to the water itself.
Call it another argument in favor of tap water.
Tags: Bisphenol-A, bottled water, BPA, plastic, water
Is the Solution to Colony Collapse Disorder Getting Near?
Apr 27, 2009 Environmental News
It’s been a while since I’ve written about colony collapse disorder. It’s still out there, still a very scary thing, but I hadn’t seen much interesting news on it. But today I came across two stories on it and the work being done to solve it.
For those unfamiliar with colony collapse disorder, it’s a condition where bee colonies suddenly die off. The bees generally do not die at the colony itself, making it difficult to find out what’s wrong. Given how important bees are, it’s a topic worth paying attention to.
The first is from Science Daily. They quote a study published in Society for Applied Microbiology: Environmental Microbiology Reports that treating two bee colonies for Nosema ceranae allowed the depleted colonies to recover. They found no other pathogens in those colonies to account for their initial collapse.
The second is from Scientific American. It’s a much longer report, and indicates that it is more likely that a wide range of conditions have come together to cause colony collapse disorder. This part, from page 2 of the article I found particularly interesting:
One of us (vanEngelsdorp) performed autopsies on Hackenberg’s remaining insects and found symptoms never observed before, such as scar tissue in the internal organs. Initial tests also detected some of the usual suspects in bee disease. In the gut contents we found spores of nosema, single-celled fungal parasites that can cause bee dysentery. The spore counts in these and in subsequent samples, however, were not high enough to explain the losses. Molecular analysis of Hackenberg’s bees, performed by the other of us (Cox-Foster), also revealed surprising levels of viral infections of various known types. But no single pathogen found in the insects could explain the scale of the disappearance.
In other words, the bees were all sick, but each colony seemed to suffer from a different combination of diseases. We hypothesized that something had compromised the bees’ immune system, making them susceptible to any number of infections that healthy colonies would normally fend off.
Considering how much farming has changed in recent years, that hypothesis doesn’t sound at all unreasonable to me. So much of what is done in farming now really isn’t tested well enough in my opinion, especially in combination with all the other new factors.
Pesticides plus GMO plus different fertilizers… then there’s the notion on page 3 that poor nutrition due to a lack of variety in the wildflowers that bees can pollinate. Makes me regret my weed-filled lawn rather less.
As individuals there are certain things we can do. Organic gardening and planting a range of local wildflowers should be the obvious things on the list. Same for talking with our wallets - buying more organic and from producers we trust.
And any time you see a chance to encourage others to do likewise, or if you see a chance to be politically active on environmental topics, do so. This is one of many areas we need to improve our treatment of the environment for our own sakes as well as for the rest of the planet.
Tags: bees, ccd, colony collapse disorder, disappearing bees, nature
Will Natural Toys Be Almost Illegal?
Dec 10, 2008 Environmental News, Environmentally Friendly, Green Parenting
A new rule from the Consumer Products Safety Commission will bring this awfully close to the truth. The rule is called CPSIA, and I was first alerted to it by this post on Eco Child’s Play.
The problem is that this rule mandates third party testing for all toys, and labeling with a date and batch number. The testing would be up to $4000 per toy.
This is overkill. The problems with lead paint and such haven’t been so much with toys made by individuals, or toys made in the U.S., Canada and Europe. The rules for manufacturing toys in many of these places make such testing unnecessary, and quite burdensome to smaller companies.
What can you do?
Write to your Congressperson here, Senator and the CPSC. Tell them what you think. The Handmade Toy Alliance has a sample letter that I found linked at the Eco Child’s Play site.
All of this is so frustrating to see. We have the FDA doing a lousy job protecting us, and now the CPSC going into overkill, which will be bad for small businesses. Sometimes you just can’t win either way. But you can register your disagreement and try to make a change.
Tags: cpsc, cpsia, natural toys
Brita + Preserve = Pitcher Filter Recycling in 2009
Nov 18, 2008 Environmental News, Environmentally Friendly, Home and Family, Recycling
Take Back the Filter has a great announcement up right now - Brita has partnered with Preserve so that the Brita Pitcher filters can be recycled starting in January 2009. You can read the entire PDF press release here.
I’m quite delighted, and hopeful that this includes their Brita On Tap filters, as that’s what I have. The release doesn’t mention them at all.
It’s a pretty nice deal. If there’s a Whole Foods near you, there will be a place for you to drop your filters off. Otherwise, you can just mail them in.
While I’m disappointed that my filter isn’t listed as included yet, it’s a nice first step. If the lack of recycling for filters has held you back from buying a Brita pitcher
I’m also thinking this could make for a nice combination for Christmas presents if you know anyone still buying bottled water. Get them a Brita pitcher and a reusable bottle (maybe more, depending on family size), with a note about recycling the pitcher filters. Might just work for those who make excuses about their tap water quality.
Tags: brita, preserve, Recycling, water filters
