Yosemite & Beyond: Tuolumne County Calls
Tuolumne County, California is best known for housing Yosemite National Park. Yet the county itself is chock-full of hidden treasures…
Wearing Your Values
Launched to provide an alternative to chemically treated clothing, the eco-fashion business has been slow to catch on, and was for years linked to potato sacks and oddly styled t-shirts. These days, fine natural fabrics made from organic cotton, wool and linen, tencel (made from wood pulp), hemp, bamboo, Ingeo (made from corn) and silk are used to create sharp, stylish outfits. After much experimentation with these materials over the past 15 years, even such household names as Patagonia, Nike and Timberland have embraced the concept.
Vermont Fresh
Freshen up any space with the new collection Vermont Naturals from Way Out Wax. The delightful Clean Air Soy Candle ($9) burns for up to 50 hours and the Clean Air Spray (four ounces, $9.50) can be dispensed into the air or onto fabrics, furniture, clothing and even pets. Plant extracts and botanical oils neutralize smoke and unpleasant smells by absorbing them and accelerating the natural breakdown process.
Something Stinks
An Oregon wood preserving plant treats utility poles, railroad ties, marine pilings and other industrial-use wood with pesticides that protect it from rot and decay. The chemicals they use do not only smell bad. Along with a host of associated health effects ranging from skin irritation to birth defects, the three most commonly used wood preservatives have been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as known or probable human carcinogens.
Ocean Resources: In Search of Blue Water
Once relatively neglected in relation to such A-list Hollywood concerns as rainforests, the increasingly dire plight of the oceans is now attracting the attention of researchers, environmentalists, regular folks and even some celebrities anxious to learn more about and help protect marine ecosystems. Until relatively recently, the only way to find out what was happening beneath the waves was to watch The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, but now there is a host of organizations and websites about ocean issues.
Regional Councils: Managing Fish Stocks or Just Protecting the Industry?
Congress adopted the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976. In the years since, fisheries management in the U.S. has not been a complete failure. More than half of the known, managed, major fish species in U.S. waters are not overfished. But critics might argue that to declare that a success would be to set a very low bar; and there is also no avoiding the occasional and spectacular disasters that have occurred on the councils" watch.
Warming up the Seas
Early in 2005, scientists unveiled compelling evidence that human activity is causing the oceans to heat up, a finding with troubling implications for life on both sides of the ocean’s surface.
Why is it bad for the environment to release balloons into the air?
Given that “what goes up must come down,” balloons released into the air—whether by accident or in large quantities at events—eventually end up as trash on the ground or in bodies of water. In addition—and as any wildlife or marine mammal protection organization will tell you—spent balloons are dangerous to animals,
Ocean Rescue
A lot of people are worrying about the world’s oceans these days, but the federal government could be doing so much more to head off a marine cataclysm…
Rod Fujita: Works to Save Our Seas
Rod Fujita, an Oakland, California-based senior scientist with Environmental Defense who was instrumental in setting up marine reserves in the Florida Keys and the Channel Islands of California, is the author of Heal the Ocean: Solutions for Saving Our Seas (New Society Publishers). He is the recipient of a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation and serves on the National Marine Protected Areas Advisory Committee.