July, 2010

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30
Jul 10

Paraquat

Paraquat, is a “contact herbicide”, destroying plant tissue on contact. It’s been around for decades, and is used worldwide (except where banned) for killing weeds before and after planting, between crop rows, and for desiccation or defoliation of plants such as potato vines, cotton and soy before harvesting.  Tea, coffee, cocoa, banana and palm oil plantations have also used it extensively. Some of its brand names are: Gramaxone, Cyclone, Herbikill, and Parakill.  The upside, besides crop yield benefits and efficient weed clearing, is that it binds to soil, becoming biologically inactive, and not likely to leach into groundwater.

The extreme danger that Paraquat offers is primarily to the people who handle and apply it, and also to the creatures who happen to come in contact with it. Banned in the 27 countries of the European Union since 2007 and in Sri Lanka, in the U.S. it can only be applied by commercially licensed users. Protective clothing and safe handling would help the workers who must use it here.  Elsewhere, who knows?  Thousands are poisoned by it annually, some intentionally, as it has become a popular poison for suicide in many developing countries.  For the living, its use has caused many health problems, including permanent skin and lung damage, and it has been linked to Parkinson’s disease.

Thanks to campaigns by workers and NGOs, like the Pesticide Action Network, progress happens.  Chiquita has stopped using paraquat on their banana and pineapple plantations, and Dole followed. Unilever, which owns Lipton and PG Tips, is now prohibiting its use on their tea plantations. Let’s hope its decline continues…

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=23710
www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/Paraquat.pdf

http://paraquat.com/

http://www.inchem.org/documents/pims/chemical/pim399.htm
http://www.iufdocuments.org/www/documents/GoodbyeParaquat.pdf

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Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

EcoFacts — 1 Comment
23
Jul 10

Hemp Redemption

“To deliver from sin and its penalties’” is a Webster’s definition of “redeem”. Hemp production has been banned in this country for most of a century.  The crop was just too good.  Its sins were: 1. of association, being a cannabis plant (though not at all useful as a drug); 2. being far too functional for the timber and plastics industries to want to compete with it. And so it is imported from Canada, China and other countries for its current uses, which number in the thousands.

Every part of the hemp plant is useful.  As a plant, it is naturally more drought, mold and pest tolerant than cotton, and more can be grown, per acre. Its fiber is very strong and durable, hence its use for marine rigging and rope, before the era of plastics. As a fabric, it wicks moisture and dries fast, stretches little, and becomes softer with use. The seeds are not only edible but extremely healthful, containing omega 3 and 6’s, lots of protein and more. The plant’s oils can be used for food, personal care products and every thing else that uses oil, e.g. inks, paints, lubricants, fuel.  The stalks are used for building materials, textiles, paper, biofuels, the leaves as food and mulch. Perhaps even, hemp is the single most useful plant of all. So, CAN THIS ABSURD LAW BE CHANGED?!

Commercial cotton production is bad for the planet, being pesticide and herbicide intensive.  Quantities of sustainable wood and petroleum are clearly now both limited.  It is time for hemp’s redemption.

http://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/characteristics-of-hemp/

Thanks to Vanessa Harris for inspiration and material:
http://layogamagazine.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=608&Itemid=1
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_history_of_cannabis_in_the_United_States

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Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

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16
Jul 10

Got Inspiration?

Clean water and clean energy ­ two things most needed in the developing world if it is to continue developing, also necessary for our survival onthis planet. Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway personal transport vehicle and other fantastic machines, and Amy Smith, who teaches humanitarian engineering at MIT, have some solutions.  And both are planting seeds for more.

Millions each year die of water born diseases and smoke from indoor cooking fires.  In places like Haiti, landscapes have been stripped of trees to make cooking fuel, which besides wreaking ecological and health havoc, is an unsustainable economy for the those who make and sell the charcoal. Smith and her students have arrived at simple ways of producing charcoal with
local ingredients like agricultural waste, creating fuel that burns more efficiently and cleaner than wood, and is both environmentally and economically sustainable.  Kamen has developed a small power generator that can run on almost anything, e.g. cow dung or garbage ­ cleanly ­ and its waste heat can be used to distill 10 gallons per hour of drinking water.

Good idea blooms are sprouting here and there in our warming, deforested world, but the next generation must make this garden flourish.  Dean Kamen’s FIRST organization (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) involves kids from around the globe in science and technology challenges and competitions, granting over $12 million in scholarships this year alone. MIT’s IDEAS competition, which Amy Smith co-founded, awards students for projects that improve life for those who must struggle daily, just to survive.

Watch Amy Smith’s Ted talk if you are in need of some hope.

http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_smith_shares_simple_lifesaving_design.html
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/gonzo/4273674-4
http://www.usfirst.org/
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dean_kamen_on_inventing_and_giving.html

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

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9
Jul 10

A Walk in the Woods

One can easily enough imagine a walk in the woods being peaceful, and promoting a feeling of well being. The Japanese, having acknowledged the therapeutic benefits of such time, even have a word for it ­ Shinrinyoku ­ forest bathing. Immersing oneself in nature, such an inherently wise idea for us more urban types who need it, and such a lovely image. Well, so the benefits are not only psychological, even though we know now that those are also felt by the body, that eliminating stresses can heal.

Trees and plants give off phytoncides, antimicrobial substances that protect them from bacteria, fungi and insects. We breath these in, while walking among the trees, and they protect us as well. Studies have shown that NK cells (natural killer) and other immune indicators have increased after periods spent in the woods. A more recent study even employed the vaporized substances in a hotel room, with similar effect. Homeopathic medicine and aromatherapy have been using phytoncides for ages, so many would not be surprised to learn of this scientific proof.

Feels good to know that the human body is so fundamentally connected to the ecology of the plant world, other than through eating them, that is. So could we not just extract their goodness for our own purposes?  A walk in the woods is, after all, satisfying to our whole selves, and essential to countless others.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/health/06real.html
http://lib.bioinfo.pl/auid:193778
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/025839.html
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/the-healing-power-of-trees-629224.html

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

EcoFacts — 5 Comments
2
Jul 10

BAG BANG!

Imagine a time when plastic bags are not drifting along the road, on the beach, caught in the trees.  These thin film, polyethylene bags have been fluttering around the globe for a few decades. And, besides being a blight on the landscape (China called them “white pollution”, South Africa, the “national flower”), after their single use they’ve gone on to cause much damage – flooding due to clogged drainage systems,  marine life killed a-plenty. Lightweight as they are, there are still literally tons of them in landfills, worldwide, since recycling them has not been economically advantageous.

California is close to becoming the first U.S. State to ban these bags from grocery, liquor, convenience and drug stores. Weeks ago the law passed in the Assembly, and earlier this week the Senate Environmental quality Committee approved it. The Senate vote is the last hurdle. People will have to pay for paper bags or bring their own.

Bans are already in place in China, Bangladesh, parts of India, Rwanda, South Africa, Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda.  Ireland imposed a hefty tax and soon saw a 94% drop in their use.

Here, San Francisco banned them a few years ago, Washington D.C. has raised a million dollars for river cleanup through a tax that went into effect in January. Slowly but surely their weight on the environment is overtaking their lightweight and cheap convenience.  In L.A. county alone, 6 billion are used per year, few of them recycled.

The American Chemistry Council, lobbying arm for the plastics industry, does not support the ban.  California’s Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, called the ban “a great victory for our environment.” Yup, I’d agree.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15384532?nclick_check=1

http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/plasticbags/pdf/Initial_Study_12012009.pdf
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/06/china-plastic-bag-ban-saves-1-million-tons-of-oil.php

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss