Sharing the Wealth

Since I’m going to be seriously MIA this week (Happy Thanksgiving everyone!), I’ll just share a list of my favorite sites to get green news/updates/stories/anything from.

1. I could read articles on TreeHugger for days, even though the site is a little over-powering at times.
2. Grist.org calls itself “the beacon in the smog.” LOVE it.
3. Stop Dodo - thank you KL! Green job listings.
4. And on a related note… Green Dream Jobs!
5. Living green at Fairfield U… The Reluctant Environmentalist.
6. Sorry Boston… The New York Times wins hands down for their coverage of environmental topics (extra points for Revkin’s blog Dot Earth).
7. The WHOI Pictures of the Day never cease to take my breath away – for natural beauty or in amazement of the variety of research in one little place. No rhyme intended.
8. I don’t know much about these but they look fun! Environmental Graffiti and Earth Spark International.

You should also check out my friends page to see what else keeps me entertained. See you next week!

Victory for NOLA!

This may not be overtly environmental, but it’s something close to my heart. All pictures were taken in January 2009… three and a half years after Katrina.

US district judge Stanwood Duval ruled “negligent failure” to maintain the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet – a shipping channel – had led to flooding in the city’s Lower 9th Ward and nearby St Bernard Parish.

-BBC News

Duval said the corps was aware the MRGO could produce a funnel effect, which ultimately increased the height of Katrina’s storm surge and the magnitude of destruction. The canal acted as a funnel bringing water into the city and strengthening its force, Duval said.

The corps considered a remedial action to prevent this funnel effect in 1967, he said. “The plan was eventually rejected as not economically justified, detrimental to the economic interests of the local participants, and was so broad that it would require Congressional review,” he wrote.

-Bloomberg

For more than 40 years, the judge said, the corps had known that a crucial levee protecting suburban St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood would be compromised by the deterioration of the channel. The corps had “myriad” ways to address the problem, he wrote, but failed to do so.

Duval awarded a total of $719,000 to a small group of flood victims that sued the government in April 2006.

-LA Times

A Kid Again

This past Saturday, I took my two little cousins to the Museum of Science in Boston, where we (yes, we) proceeded to crawl, jump, build, discover, and explore for hours on end. I felt like a kid (and looked like their mom). It was great. Here’s some of my favorite pictures…

owl-eye butterfly

I love her wings

3D topographical map (it's white, i played around with it) (:

this led to a ridiculous dream where i had to design a life-size cardboard version of an unknown fictional character's bedroom. i'll stop there.

And for an environmental bonus, the photographer Chris Jordan I mentioned last month had a mini-art-installation demonstrating our destructive consumer culture. I was shocked by the facts he so artfully presented – because people have so much difficulty grasping numbers over a few thousand, he put the numbers into pictures we can understand. See for yourself!

1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags are used in the United States every hour.

This print depicts "2.4 million pieces of plastic, equal to the estimated number of pounds of plastic that enter the world's oceans every hour."

There were more facts about cell phones, jet fuel, plastic cups and more. If you’re in the area, it’s absolutely worth a visit. Pictures like this help me remember why I want to work in the environmental industry.

People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

Countdown to… Mexico City???

What, did they forget they were going to Denmark?

Photo: Oglivy/Guardian.co.uk

World leaders decided today that 22 days is not enough time to produce a formal international climate change treaty, the amount of time remaining before the much-anticipated COP15 in Copenhagen. (There is even a running countdown to the meeting on the UNFCCC website).

Instead, leaders are calling COP15 in Copenhagen a ’stepping stone,’ rather than following through with The Bali Roadmap, a promise two years ago in Bali to formally replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Photo: Business Week/Getty Images

The presidents and prime ministers (including Obama) are now touting next year’s meeting in Mexico City as the new Copenhagen, seeking significantly more time to compose a treaty that enough countries can agree on.

Analysts see a risk that some countries — led by the United States where the Senate has not agreed carbon-capping legislation — may take delay of a treaty text as easing pressure to overcome long-running deadlock on key issues.
- Alister Doyle

So much for the seal the deal campaign. HOW FRUSTRATING.

What brings you here today?

One part of the WordPress stats tracker is the list of search engine terms people use to find my blog. I’m not sure if this is just when they search WordPress, or if it includes Google, etc.

But I laugh every time this list is updated. Here’s a list of things people search the internet for and then clicked on my blog hoping to find some answers:

• people being sympathetic: 6 (well i guess i’m sympathetic to the environment)
• tundra humpback whale: 4 (sorry everyone, whales live in water)
• pictures of people being sympathetic: 3 (what would that even look like?) ***
• κλιματικές αλλαγές: 2 (i wonder if that means climate change in another language)
• too many studies: 2 (of what?)
• animals suffocating on plastic bags: 1 (i’m glad there’s only one of you out there!)

Note: the top search is ‘climate change’ at 372; the next closest number, ‘climate change policy’, is 19. At least I have some people actually interested in the topic!

That’s all, hope you smiled.

*** Just what I thought, looks like nothing.

Update: New favorite search! what will a polar bear and whale mix tog: 1

Many Heavens, One Earth

When I started writing here in July, I intended to write about environmental issues, and how policy affects them. I’ve also been meaning to write about another facet of people’s behavior and the environment: religion.

Thomas Berry // Photo: Wikimedia

It all began when I heard of the passing of Thomas Berry, a well-known Passionist Catholic priest and prominent advocate for deep ecology. (Deep Ecology, a radical philosophy introduced by Arne Naess, believes in the “recognition of the inherent value of all living beings and the use of this view in shaping environmental policies”: totally my cup of tea, I know). I have wanted to read Berry’s “The Great Work” ever since, but haven’t found my way to a library yet (will work on this).

This week, the subject of religion and the environmental movement re-surfaced, this time in Britain. There is a conference this week at Windsor Castle called “Many Heavens, One Earth,” with British Prince Philip, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, and leaders from nine major world religions. Andrew C. Revkin, the blogger from NY Times’ Dot Earth, writes, “the meeting is intended to generate commitments for actions by religious organizations, congregants and countries that could reduce emissions of greenhouse gases or otherwise limit the human impact on the environment.” The article touches on ways religion can affect people’s behaviors and attitudes towards the earth, including education and how they use their finances.

To give you some of my own background, my personal relationship with religion is a little fuzzy – raised in a cafeteria Catholic family, four years in a Jesuit university, still not sure where I stand (sorry grandparents). For the life of me I can’t decide whether or not I like the idea of religious leaders becoming involved in the climate change movement.

Photo: Joanna Macy

The ability of religion to shape human behavior and perspectives should never be underestimated. There have been some incredible acts of humanity done in the name of religion, as well as more dishonorable behavior than I care to remember. This capacity to influence actions may be a link that has been ignored for too long, that can help push policy in the right direction. BUT, though I clearly believe that “the right direction” for policy is stronger mitigation tactics, not every one agrees, and convincing people through religion that the scientific community is in fact correct is manipulation. I’m not big on that, even if it means people think I am wrong. This may just be another example of religion getting mixed up in politics and economics, which (I believe) is not where it belongs. (But I must say, religion’s role in guiding moral matters keeps the three permanently and inextricably linked).

“This is a case of ‘Drill, baby, oops.’”

I watched a news clip last night on CBS about an oil spill in Australia, a “ disaster that could rival the impact of the Exxon Valdez.” It appears to have spread at least 9000 square miles so far.  Apparently, the company who owned the deep-water rig was unable to fix the pipes that were cracking 8000 feet under the seabed, leaking 2,000 barrels of oil a day into the sea for miles around for ten weeks (BBC News). When the well was finally capped, we got this:

PTTEP Australasia / AP Photo

The publicly-owned Thai company, PTTEP, has been compliant with the environmental remediation thus far and are taking full responsibility. Indonesian fisherman in particular are very concerned about long-term environmental impacts, because of the effects on the Timor Sea. The World Wildlife Federation fears that public concern will be relatively low because it occured so far off-shore, although they are predicting that the leak is extending into areas where whales migrate.

Humpback Whale

[[Entry on pros & cons of offshore drilling forthcoming...]]

I’m an Aqua Kid!

anastasia & marina finding our boat

Part of the WHOI Summer Fellowship program involves spending a day on the research vessel (RV) Tioga, learning how to take samples and identify different animals and use a map, sexton, and compass to get your location. Every kid’s dream, I know. But I was lucky enough to choose the day when we would be accompanied by THE AQUA KIDS!! (please forgive their cursor, UGH).

Never heard of them? Neither had I, haha. But I know I would have spent a lot less time watching Rainbow Brite if this show was around when I was young. It’s a TV show for kids all about the ocean and what’s living in it. It seriously must be the coolest job for all the kids working on the show – traveling from New England to the Bahamas to California back to Georgia… they seem to hit every aquarium in existence.

Photo: Tom Kleindist, WHOI

Last year they made a stop in Woods Hole, and climbed abroad the RV Tioga with me and about six other friends (<3) and the two-man crew. The little boat was PACKED. But it was so fun to watch a legit TV show production, with multiple takes and shots and interviews and way-too-happy faces. “Come on kids, let’s dive into the jellyfish bucket!”

You know what, though? I went with it (I had to, based solely on what we were forced to wear, see below). I was a total cheese-ball in my interview, talking about “being not-so-great at math is a-okay, just keep following your dreams!” or some BS like that (HA). The producer was so pleased he high-fived me afterwards and had me sign a release form so I can be famous or whatever.

2008-05 Woods Hole #1 – Oct. 6, 2008

On Board a Research Vessel

Hop on-board the Tioga, a research vessel of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and join student interns who get a first-hand lesson on some of the equipment and procedures used in a career in Marine Biology and Oceanography.

Lalala, a few months pass and I forget. But someone calls me in October and says “hey, I think you’re on TV…” I almost choked. (Note: I hope they were babysitting and not sitting there waiting for Aqua Kids to come on). And I totally missed it, so I don’t know what the episode looks like. Obviously now I’m dying to know, especially who else is going to be famous with me, so I emailed the producer asking for a copy. (I wouldn’t subject anyone but myself to that, don’t worry). I’m still waiiitttiinnnngg….

Until then, here’s some pictures of my debut our trip.

all aboard the r/v tioga!

being interviewed by an aqua kid

amalia & anastasia playing in the mud

filming us taking samples

Plight of the Honeybee

This is probably the most difficult article I’ve ever written for GSM. Why?

This makes me so uncomfortable...

Because I hate bees. I HATE them. I used to leave classrooms because of them, I hide behind people because of them, and I stare with paranoia into soda cans when drinking them outside, because of this stripy little insect.  I won’t go into the real details of this phobia, however (we’ll just cite an overly dramatic 90s TV show about anaphylactic shock, and a little bug chasing food into my mouth), because they need help.

There are many types of bees: bumblebees, yellow jackets, wasps, carpenter bees, honeybees, and hornets (I don’t like any of them). But the most biologically important of this crew is the honeybee, Apis mellifera. The list of crops they pollinate is astounding – fruits, veggies, and plants as essential as onions, mustard, watermelon…even coffee! (Clearly coming at this from an American perspective, HA). One estimate I read said every one in three bites of our food would not be possible without a pollinator like the honeybee.  (This is also due to the fact that they pollinate the food our livestock consume, but that’s a whole other green issue).

Honeybee & Milk Thistle

The global population of honeybees is being affected by something known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). It sounds like the plot of some insect thriller flick! Honeybees might have a colony with somewhere between ten and fifty thousand bees – and they all at once up and leave, never to return. And there aren’t even any dead bee bodies left around by the hive (insert evil laughter). We don’t have definite answers as to why this happens, but it probably is a combination of some of the following: insect diseases, malnutrition, pesticides, genetically modified (GM) crops, other environmental stressors or even cell-phone radiation. I’m envisioning a honeybee version of I Am Legend.

Varroa mites seem to be one of the most likely culprits of the die-off thus far (and they’re ugly as hell): “These are parasites that attack hives and suck out the honeybees fluids, leaving them weak and prone to infections”  (www.honeybeesite.info). Now THAT is a movie I’d watch under a pillow. Yuck.

Beekeeper - www.thedailygreen.com

 Beekeepers began reporting the loss of hundreds of thousand of their bees in 2006, but they may not have all fallen victim to CCD. During the winter of 2008-09, 28.6% of honeybees were reported lost, with 15% being attributed to CCD (vanEngelsdorp, Hayes, & Pettis 2009).

Fortunately, a Science Daily article gives us a promising look at the future of our food, with an antibiotic called flumagillin.  It seemed to allow for the recovery of a hive infected by CCD, but I can’t find much follow up research on the drug. Does it work long-term, does it create other issues, and is it readily available for most bee-keepers? Other than that, many websites recommend purchasing your honey (which will become increasingly expensive) from local famer’s markets. Plant lots of flowers (like alliums, mints, most beans, and daisy-shaped flowers) that will keep them well-fed. And for the extremist among you (or just the US Presidents among you)… keep your own hive!

Bees have also been gaining some corporate sponsorships from Haagen Dazs and Burt’s Bees. Sorry, bees. I don’t love you anymore than I did this morning. But I’ll keep hiding, and let you live.

More on this topic: Room for Debate, NY Times, September 09

Greening your Office…

It’s not just adding a fern.

For my birthday this year, my wonderful roommate Kim gave me the Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook. Ironically, it was written by David de Rothschild, the same green celeb I mentioned yesterday because of his Plastiki expedition. It’s a collection of useful ideas of how to be practical about greening your daily life, and how much CO2 would be reduced if all Americans made that change. A lofty goal, I know. (The book also has some ridiculous recommendations, like evolving into a green, big-eared autotrophic imp.)

But one article I saw on greening your office has actually led me to make some changes in an already-pretty-environmental office. (I did ignore the suggestion to keep chickens in the office – something about local food I’m guessing).

So here’s my inspired list of ways to green your office space…

1. Unfortunately, most of the tools I need at work are located in-office, not online. But if I could telecommute a day or two weekly I would! Save gas and time… and changing our of your pj’s.
2. Bring your own lunch, and use a reusable bag and Ziploc containers. This saves you money as well (probably somewhere between $45-55 – nearly $3000 a year!!), and it cuts down on take-out-food packaging. Chances are your packed lunch will be much healthier, too.
3. Use task lighting and daylight instead of overhead lights. My office keeps most fluorescent lights off (besides the fact that they’re not very flattering), all window shades open and desk lights on. Even the bathrooms lights are only on when necessary.
4. Since I’m constantly using my desktop, I needed to reconfigure the energy-use settings so I don’t abuse the electricity. I also shut it down nightly; hibernating still uses up energy, even if it is in smaller amounts.
5. Fall in love with Google apps. You can have a full, share-able calendar, group document sharing and editing, full texts of books, and news articles from around the world without printing a single sheet of paper.
6. Convince your office to switch to recycled paper if they’re not using it yet. Print on both sides and re-use ‘mistakes’ for taking notes. And there’s plenty of places to purchase green supplies now!
7. Public transit, carpool, bike, walk… [Unfortunately, none of these are available to me if I want a commute less then two hours. Any ideas?]
8. What about work clothes? In Fairfield, the Salvation Army had lots of hidden gems from Ann Taylor and J. Crew. In Boston I prefer The Garment District in Kenmore Square and both locations of A Second Time Around on Newbury St.
9. During the fall, I ship catalogs and fair materials to universities across the U.S. I asked my co-workers for their leftover newspapers for packing materials, and to return cardboard boxes when possible [they obliged]. Bonus: I read tons of interesting article in the NY Times I would have missed otherwise.
10. Help out with recycling, whether it’s convincing, sorting, contributing, or dragging barrels outside.

I’m sure you can think of lots more to do – I was surprised at how many little changes I could make in just one 8 x 9 cube!

More on Ocean Trash

I’ll admit it, some days I really abuse the stats tracker on Word Press. And for some reason, my entry a couple weeks ago on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch garnered way more attention than any of my others to date. Maybe it’s a hot topic in the news in general, now that a few celebs are jumping on board (David de Rothschild in particular, see his link below).

Here’s some links to more information, for those of you interested in this topic:

The Plastiki Expedition is a group of people, including de Rothschild, sailing a catamaran made from reclaimed plastic bottles from San Francisco to Sydney to bring attention to the marine debris issue, espeically in the Pacific. Check out their website for their updates or a map of their journey, or read the article in the National Geographic for more background.

David de Rothschild - www.earthfirst.com

Not for the weak of stomach: photographer Chris Jordan recently traveled to the island of Midway, located near the trash, to photograph the effects on local wildlife. The pictures of the albatross-chick-leftovers are extremely telling of how literally sickening the situation has become. You know you want to see it.

I was going to bring attention to the problem of cruise ships and the ways in which they contribute to the problem, but I was pleasantly surprised by an article on the just-introduced legislation for a “clean cruise ship act.” NICE. Seriously, think about it: a ship carrying 3000 people has to generate lots of waste (of all kinds, if you know what I mean). And they are allowed to just dump it into the ocean… so they do! Depending on where they are sailing, waste can be brought into port and treated on land, but small Caribbean countries can’t handle garbage from an additional thousands of people every week. I’ll keep following this story; I love sharing good news.

Cruise Ship off St. Kitts - Andre Leighton/AP

GCI 2009

Back in the good old days when I was still a college student, I spent a lot of my extra-curricular energy helping Fairfield’s newest environmental group get off the ground. The Green Campus Initiative is less than two years old, but has accomplished far more than its youth would indicate. I checked in with Alex Roem, the current leader of the GCI, to see what kinds of projects are being tackled at Fairfield this year.

• The project with the largest long-term impact will most likely be converting our school shuttles to run on biodiesel generated by our school cafeteria. Last year, GCI spent an inordinate amount of time convincing Fairfield’s administration that the project was not only feasible, but also economically and environmentally responsible. It was absurd how many barriers were in the way. (In fact, at some schools, the faculty members are actually encouraging the students to get involved with biodiesel production. WEIRD.)
  

  Dattco Bus... minus the giant STAGS on the side

  Fortunately, great strides were made in the past two years. Ms. Roem is currently working with Ms. Susan LaFrance of FU’s grants department on an EPA grant in order to purchase the desired biodiesel processor. All the oil from the Campus Center (that we throw away anyway) will hopefully be running the buses on campus in the next couple of years.

• Yesterday, Fairfield made its eye-catching contribution to the 350 organization. (The safe limit of CO₂ in our atmosphere is 350 parts per million, so this organization wants people to “[incorporate] the number 350 at an iconic place in their community and then upload a photo of their event to 350.org”). GCI, alongside the Student Environmental Association and The Birds’ Eye View Project, created a giant 350 on the lawn in front of the library on the roof of the business school to raise student awareness of the immediate need for climate action.
  

  The 350 was made of donated bedsheets, in support of 350.org

  Read more in Meghan Schelzi’s Mirror article and Fairfield’s green blog, The Reluctant Environmentalist.

• If the Fairfield student population can’t live without anything, besides its green movement of course, it’s the party scene. The official Fairfield U website actually has a page dedicated to tips for greening your party… talk about the best of both worlds. Now, students can also take advantage of the four new Tomra recycling machines to recycle and get money back from their empty bottles and cans. Another project that makes me wonder why these ideas are just being put into action now…

There’s much more being worked on (NEW ORLEANS) that I’m saving for future entries, and certainly a long way to go. But I’m very proud of what has been accomplished and where things are headed. Go team!

green campus iniative

Now I ask you:
College Sustainability Report Card 2010: Do we deserve this???
We even made the top 100 of the Sierra Club’s List of “Cool Schools!”

Water is Everything

This is the most beautiful website I have ever seen – just go play around.

waterlife.nfb.ca

It’s about water, particularly the Great Lakes. And they use Sigur Ros music in the background. <3

Happy Blog Action Day!

I know this is more posting than I’ve ever done in one week, but I can’t help it. It’s Blog Action Day!!! Which really meant nothing to me until, oh, five minutes ago. Don’t feel bad. I had to jump on this opportunity though, because this year’s topic is climate change. I mean really, how can I ignore it? I just don’t know what to write about, because my whole blog is about that, essentially.

Here’s the website for B.A.D., but it’s basically an agreement for every blog who signs up to post on this one topic. Apparently 149 countries are represented this year… pretty sweet.

Climate Refugees from Bangladesh

I have yet to cover what I believe about climate change (though I’m sure some of it’s pretty obvious from reading any of this), but here’s the list:

1. It’s real. Obviously I wouldn’t have started gsm. And it’s caused by people.
2. It’s not entirely fix-able. The way the majority of the world lives is not possible without some kind of environmental degradation, no matter how small.
3. It wasn’t a problem until we realized how much humans are going to be affected. People don’t want to save ‘the planet’, they want to save their own kind. I don’t really like using the phrase “save the planet” in general, we sound like we’re trying to be superheroes.
4. I hate when people assume that because it’s ‘colder’ somewhere, that global warming is a hoax. Climate CHANGE means things will be DIFFERENT, not necessarily warmer.
5. Policy to effect change isn’t going to be at all useful without a massive change in mentality, and I’m not even sure education will solve that problem.
6. I also don’t support converting everyone into climate-change-will-kill-us-all believers; we still need dissent, or at least open-mindedness about the causes and effects of global warming.
7. It’s scary. There’s a lot of changes coming we can’t even predict. The idea of millions climate change refugees is one of the scariest predictions. We can’t get along now with the amount of inhabitable land we have, never mind adding religious and ethnic conflicts into the mix for areas like the Middle East.
8. Everyone has to pitch in and help at least somehow. Sorry China & India. But yes, those of us without very high standards of living should be leading the way and creating affordable ways to mitigate global warming for everyone else.
9. The best analogy I’ve ever heard about what will happen as animals start becoming extinct because they can’t adapt quickly enough is that our world is a brick wall; we’ve lost some species already, and each is like their own brick. The wall will still be standing if it loses a couple bricks, but pull out too many and everything will come tumbling down.

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. ~John Muir

I’m deciding to apply to my dream school.

I found this excerpt on another WordPress blog, Elizabeth Blue. 

If you want to achieve a goal you’ve set, the most crucial part is to DECIDE to manifest it. It doesn’t matter if you feel it’s outside your control to do so. It doesn’t matter if you can’t yet see how you’ll get from A to B. Most of those resources will come online AFTER you’ve made the decision, not before.

If you don’t understand this simple step, then you will waste a lot of time. Step 1 is to decide. Not to ruminate or to ponder or to ask around and see whether or not you can do it. If you want to start your own business, then decide to make it so. If you want to be married and have a family, then decide to attract a mate. If you want to change careers, then decide to do so.

It blows my mind that people think that something else has to come before the decision. People waste months trying to figure out, “Is this goal possible?” And this makes a lot of sense to do so if you’re at a certain level of consciousness. But all you’re really doing is creating delay, and you’ll simply manifest evidence to suggest that the goal is both possible and not possible. You think doubt in your head, you find doubt in the world.

From Cause-Effect vs. Intention-Manifestation by Steve Pavlina

I finally feel like it’s a possibility. Don’t let me beat myself up over this too much. Small steps.

The first? Start studying for the GREs. Then sign up for a class in January. Maybe another in the summer. Take the GREs, twice if I have to. Then start writing personal statements and looking for scholarships. Lots of them. Keep working, and save money. Lots of it.

It’s not going to be easy as that might make it sound, but I can take this one day at a time. I have to.  It’ll be my proudest accomplishment to date.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Those of you that know me, you know how much I love the ocean. I want to spend my life near it, on it, and working to preserve it. The large patch of trash that was discovered floating in the Pacific is one of the saddest environmental news stories I’ve ever heard.

Turtle caught in an abandoned fishing net

The Great Garbage Patch, or the Pacific Gyre was actually predicted in 1988, but it wasn’t until 2008 (!) that the public started hearing about the problem. One foundation trying to shed more light on this issue describes it was “roughly the size of Texas, containing approximately 3.5 million tons of trash.” DISGUSITNG. [Note: Many media outlets describe the patch as actually twice the size of Texas, but NOAA claims that we don't have the technology yet to properly determine it's size, especially without a constant location or borders. Either way, it's huge.] Most of the trash is made up of non-biodegradable plastic floating just below the surface of the water, which can cause a number of health problems in sea life that try eating it. Examples include birds and animals suffocating from ingested plastic, getting tangled in nets, or corals and plants underwater being smothered when the plastic sinks.

No one source is to blame for this island of trash. The exact location of the patch actually changes, because ocean currents and wind patterns cause the debris to converge in one general location. Remember learning about the horse latitudes in high school, near the British West Indies? Sailors coming from Europe would hit a dead zone between the 30th and 35th latitude lines, and would have to throw horses overboard to save on food and water (sad story, but true). A similar thing is happening at the North Pacific Tropical High, or Subtropical Convergence Zone.

North Pacific Gyre World Map

Clean-up efforts are not fully underway yet. NOAA explains why this marine debris is especially difficult to manage:

In some areas where marine debris concentrates so does marine life, such as in the STCZ. This makes simple scooping up of the material risky–more harm than good may be caused. Remember that much ocean life is in the microscopic size range. For example, straining ocean waters for plastics would capture the plankton that are the base of the marine food web and responsible for 50% of the photosynthesis on Earth… roughly equivalent to all land plants! Also, because this area moves within the North Pacific Ocean (a very large area), one can imagine the difficulty in finding large concentrations on a given day.

Very sad. So for now, apparently all we can do is leave it there until we can outsmart the trash. There fortunately has been some collaboration on this issue, espeically with an organization called the Environmental Cleanup Coalition, (see also Project Kaisei below), so that plastics can be removed from the ocean to prevent chemicals leaching from the plastic into the water. On a day to day basis, we can try reducing the plastic we need, keep using those reusable bags, and if you leave near the coast, participating in ocean clean-ups.

If you want to learn more, here’s a video from the Captain the discovered the Garbage Patch, and one on marine debris from the scientists involved with Project Kaisei.

[The mission of Project Kaisei is "to study the North Pacific Gyre and the marine debris that has collected in this oceanic region, to determine how to capture the debris and to study the possible retrieval and processing techniques that could be potentially employed to detoxify and recycle these materials into diesel fuel." I LIKE IT.] 

Update: If you’re interested in learning more, I found some more links you might find helpful/relevant; they’re in “More on Ocean Trash.”

New Hampshire Part 1

Last Friday, I drove up to Dartmouth to visit George for our anniversary (<3). Since it was my first official visit, we had tons of things we wanted to do. (Don’t worry, we still somehow managed to watch the entire season of The Next Iron Chef. LOVE it.) George gave me a tour of his campus, which was pretty much the entire town of Hanover, and we stopped at the local co-op grocery store. I had never been in one before, and I totally fell in love. Obviously this calls for some research.

picture courtesy of hanover co-operative co.

A co-op, or cooperative, is an ” organization owned by and operated for the benefit of those who use its services,” according to their website. They’re not limited to food stores either (like credit unions). In one short visit, I came up with a whole list of reasons why I adore it!

• It makes buying local easy!
• When I visit farmer’s markets near me, I’m usually frustrated that everyone’s selling the same things… green beans, squash, tomatoes. I know that it’s New England and it’s delicious and all that, but I’d like to try something new! This co-op actually had the wide range of food I’m usually looking for (not that kiwis or avocados are local) haha
• It’s very community-based. It’s an ‘everyone knows everyone’ feel, and their website has profiles of the people who make their food, or people who work in the company. Even the accounting department gets featured.
• Becoming a member gets you crazy discounts, and not just on food… I’m talking home-owners and car insurance and home solar systems. I want in.
• I was amazed by their serious tea collection. It’s become a serious addiction this year.. okay the last four years. I stayed with my favorite chai…
• …But I did find a delicious new wine! It was very good with George’s delicious chicken p. (Note: I am not the Jen on the website…)
• If you’re good and remember your re-usable bags, they deduct a nickel for everyone you use. Hey, it adds up. Eventually.

Sidenote: Another stop we made was to the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, VT. It wasn’t that big, but we definitely got some great things in the gift shop. I got a pretty pink-and-green re-usable lunch bag (no more plastic grocery bags!) and George got a SWEET BOY global warming mug. When it heats up, the coastlines start to disappear. hahahaha

see ya later southeast

I can’t wait for my next trip. It’s a beautiful place to be.

trees around dartmouth's golf course

Toyota made an OOPS!

Toyota is recalling almost 4 million vehicles (including the Prius Hybrids), because there is a chance that the floormats in the car can get stuck in the accelerator, so it’s very difficult to stop or slow the car.

Uh-oh!

Update:
Toyota changed the status to a ’safety advisory,’ not a recall, on the following cars according to their website.

• 2007 – 2010 Camry
• 2005 – 2010 Avalon
• 2004 – 2009 Prius
• 2005 – 2010 Tacoma
• 2007 – 2010 Tundra

My True Calling in Life…

Ever since high school, I’ve dreamt of becoming an interior designer. Seriously. (I was told to wait until I retire and have some free time on my hands… oh well…)

I’m starting my first real, well-planned project this week anyway… my own room!

Now that I’m home, I don’t want to feel like  I’m living in my middle/high school bedroom anymore. There’s an ocean and a sun painted on one wall, paper-and-CD bubbles on two others, and a rug that I’ve realized I’m REALLY allergic to (it’s 14 years old).

Here’s the plan:

1. RIP OUT THAT CARPET! I’ll be able to breathe. Maybe I won’t get sick as often, either. And fortunately for me, there’s a carpet reclamation center less than fifteen minutes from me! (Apparently people in the US get rid of five billions pounds of carpet a year, EW).

2. I’m painting the walls a shade of bright aqua, it’s going to look so happy. I found a shade called “tropicana cabana” at Benjamin Moore, who has a no-VOC option now called Natura. SWEET LIFE. I might even use a stencil so one wall looks like wallpaper. Hmm…

3. I’m donating my dresser & exchanging it for a bookcase. I need somewhere for my photo albums, notebooks, & fish tank. Hopefully it’ll give me space to put plants in my room too – I love pink flowers. And ferns.

4. I’m still using my dorm-room blanket. Also EW. I have a couple options here… I’ve been looking for a plain white comforter, but I don’t know if I trust my dog enough to leave it white. But regardless of whether I puchase one, I found instructions for making my own duvet cover. That’s great because I can change the look more often and for cheap, and it saves money and water because I would only have to wash the cover and not the whole comforter. Also, since Fairfield gives out more than its fair share of free t-shirts, I’m going to make a  blanket out of those as well. Go stags.

5. I also need to update my lighting. Not all my bulbs are energy efficient yet, shame on me.

This should take me a couple weeks, but if I remember I’ll post pictures. And for those of you still in college… there’s still hope.

Hopenhagen

I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday… I’ve had a crazy week, missing work, in the hospital (eek!), but now I’m home in bed for a few days so I can catch up on environmental policy (and sleep).

It’s appropriate that I waited, I guess, until after Obama made his first speech to the UN about how Washington is ready to confront this challenge. YAY! Here’s what will be happening this December in Denmark…

Delegates from nearly every country in the world will descend on Copenhagen from December 7th to the 18th to address the failures of the Kyoto Protocol, and establish its replacement.

The most significant problem that needs to be solved is how to include developing countries into the treaty. There was no cap placed on their emissions in 1997, as I mentioned a couple weeks ago. The argument for this position was extremely well-stated by a speaker from India, who said she would prefer to improve the lives of today’s population through better healthcare and food and clean water, rather than spending money to try and prevent climate change in order to save millions later. She highlighted the extremely difficult decisions facing government leaders in developing countries today.

My hope for the Copenhagen Protocol is that the representatives will agree on a way to include all countries, so that every nation must take some responsibility to prevent further climate change. I see why these nations see their inclusion as unfair: they should have an equal opportunity to develop, and richer nations caused much of the damage in the first place. But not making this treaty all-inclusive will heavily undermine its effectiveness, as well as the message climate change leaders need to send.

I’m most worried about the decisions that China and India will make regarding carbon dioxide emissions. Although they have the first and second largest populations in the world, they are not restricted in the greenhouse gas emissions they can produce (they were classified as developing, not developed). Even if they do not produce amounts as high as the US today, their massive populations generate equally substantial energy demands.

Another hope I have for the next treaty is a much improved reward-and-punishment system. Violations of the treaty must be severe enough that countries begin making positive changes to work within their limits. Countries who succeed in this endeavor could receive a reward more tangible than knowing they’re preventing global warming (well, I guess cleaner air and water in a nice bonus…). But at least we’d also create more incentive to have countries become leaders who have yet to step into that role.

ok that kinda just makes me sad.

 

“You are not Atlas carrying the world on your shoulder. It is good to remember that the planet is carrying you”
— Vandana Shiva