Earth Blog

Did you ever play SimCity for the Super Nintendo or PC growing up? Not The Sims, the simulation game where a player basically creates a suburban version of his or herself, but rather the old school game rooted in city planning and map making. 

Do you remember the anxiety felt when building an airport in your simulated town because, yes the residents are demanding it but it’s going to create so much pollution! How did you fight pollution? Did you place the airport on an island, far away from residential areas but connected to the main land via rail? Did you surround it with park land trying to combat pollution with the power of trees? Did any of that even work to reduce pollution? Furthermore SimCity was just a game; you could always destroy your town and start all over.  That isn’t an option in real life when city planners look at their communities and airports.

Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant,  whom you might remember from such 90’s hits as “Wonder” and “Jealousy,” is the latest celebrity to speak out against hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Last year a group of actors including Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo, and Zoe Saldana appeared in a video called “I Love My New York Water” which was made by Clean Water Not Dirty Drilling.

Merchant has chosen to work with The Finger Lakes CleanWaters Initiatives, another non-profit that is also concerned with eradicating fracking.  She will headline with her band in a benefit concert to support a ban in her home state of New York. 

“Hydrofracking poses the greatest threat to clean drinking water in New York and Pennsylvania right now. Our opposition to this threat is imperative. I hope people can come to the concert to show their concern," says Merchant.

Valentine’s Day was a shopping holiday we covered on the blog and we urged shoppers to buy local and ethical, if possible, when hunting for last minute gifts. Ethical consumerism and the effectiveness of “voting with your money” is being debated and discussed over at treehugger.com and at least one other green blog.

The debate started when Sami Grover posted: ““Why Corporate Fat Cats Love Ethical Consumerism.” He set out to explore the concept of: "Every time you spend a dollar, you are casting a vote."  The widely-accepted idea is this: If you don’t agree with the way a company does business simply stop shopping there and they will change or go out of business as they see their revenues drop. But is that wishful thinking? Grover argues that real change occurs at the political and cultural level. He cautions that ethical consumerism could erode the political activism he believes to be more effective at getting at the core problem. Is he right or wrong or somewhere in between?

A threatened coral reef off the coast of Florida’s Broward County received a staghorn coral transplant last week. Researchers at Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Oceanographic Center noted that this was the first time this specific reef has received coral.  Along the Florida coast and globally reefs have previously benefited from nursery grown coral. 

“This is the northernmost location on the planet for transplanted staghorn corals,” said Abby Renegar, a researcher and doctoral student, “Staghorn corals previously have been transplanted in the Florida Keys, Southeast Florida, and other tropical locations around the world.”

LivingHomes is considered the premier builder of pre-frabricated (pre-fab) sustainable homes.  Founded in 2006 the company features homes designed by Ray Kappe and architectural firm Kieran Timberlake. LivingHomes may be pre-fab but can also be customized and are available nationally. 

This weekend their new C6 model will open for tours in Long Beach at The Long Beach Performing Arts Center and in Palm Springs as part of Modernism Week.

Televisions have evolved from clunky, overweight boxes into slim, flat-screen electronics that seamlessly blend into most living rooms.  Their new design doesn’t make them any easier to mount on a wall though.  Think about all the screws and hardware needed in mounting and what is left behind when the television is ripped from its moors -unsightly holes and damaged paint. Imagine a way to get that television, bookcase, or oversized oil painting to stick to the wall with nothing but a sticky substance similar to what is found on gecko’s feet. 

Students at colleges and universities are generally considered to be short on funds. They famously dine on Ramen noodles and drag their laundry to mom and dad’s because they never have quarters for the laundry mat. Crippled with student loans and debt they enter the workforce and slowly pay down the sometimes astronomical balance. Most of them don’t feel comfortable taking out additional loans to buy a home or start a business. Fingers point in numerous directions when it comes to the death of entrepreneurship and small business- regulations, corporations, the education system itself-but no matter where you think the blame should be placed without money no one can start a business.

Good news for organic food and the people who buy it in the United States and Europe: today the
European Union (EU) and the USDA signed an “organic equivalent arrangement.” 

You know how much we love telling you what fancy terms mean and this one will be no exception: the EU and USDA have agreed to trade agricultural organic products between each other. In what is being called a “historic” agreement this “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”  deal overlooks tiny differences between European organic standards and American standards to open a viable market. Big differences are not being overlooked and there are some foods that are non-transferable.

Did you know that white chocolate isn’t real chocolate? White chocolate contains no chocolate liquor which is the main ingredient the treat would need to be considered real chocolate. What it does have is cocoa butter and the FDA says it must have at least 20% cocoa butter and no more than 55% sugar to be called white chocolate. Who other than Willy Wonka could have known that chocolate is a complicated confection?

Dark, bitter and semisweet chocolate is required to have 35% chocolate liquor while milk chocolate must contain 10% chocolate liquor.  Anything less is not up to the FDA’s standards and is likely labeled “chocolate flavored” or could be made of carob. 

Carob has a different texture and taste than chocolate but contains the same amount of calories. It is commonly used in gourmet dog treats to give them a harmless taste of chocolate.

Eco-rewards program RecycleBank, despite its known flaws, is a program that works for many people around the United States and in Britain.

Incentivizing home recycling on a municipal level with coupons for the mundane (buy one bottle of water, get one free) to fantastic (gift cards) would be icing on the cake for homes that consistently recycle. But not all homes do so and some towns haven't always had curbside recycling which means a commitment to one of the easiest ways to be earth-friendly isn’t present in every home. Therein lies one of the problems with RecycleBank.

Grocery stores, cafeterias and restaurants, all shapes and sizes, must abide by federal laws to stay in business. Most of these companies also set in-house policies to boost sales and provide superior service and products. These directives and laws could be seen as a hinderance to workers but the core of these policies are the same: to lead consumers in the right direction and to the cash register.

Last week, Walmart debuted their “Great for You” label, a green stamp of approval for healthy groceries, and it was even applauded by First Lady Michelle Obama who said, “Just over a year ago, Walmart committed to save shoppers a billion dollars in their cost of fruits and vegetables and the fact that Walmart exceeded this number is a real accomplishment and a milestone in our efforts to support families eating better. In addition, the healthy seal will be another tool for parents to identify the best products for their kids. Giving parents the information they need to make healthy choices is a key piece of solving childhood obesity.”

On January 18th we posted a blog about a dolphin stranding and the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW) emergency response and their research conducted to understand why dolphins strand in Cape Cod.  

Stranding season was in “full swing” when that blog was written and while the IFAW knew it was not close to being over they were not anticipating this week’s staggering realization: “In the past 26 days alone, the number of stranded dolphins has already surpassed the average number of strandings in 12 months,” blogged Fred O’ Regan, President and CEO of IFAW on February 8th.

The Sumatran rhino is “critically endangered” according to the ICUN Red List because poaching -primarily to obtain their horns- has severely depleted the rhino population making it difficult for them to successfully breed in the wild. It is estimated that less than two hundred Sumatran rhinos remain in Southeast Asia and most live in Indonesia’s national parks where they can be protected and still live in a natural habitat. 

The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) in Kambas Way National Park, Indonesia has a handful of rhinos thanks to conservation efforts from the International Rhino Foundation, the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia and Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry.

Just in time for Spring Break a new federal regulation will prevent certain boats from discharging sewage -whether or not it’s treated- into California’s marine waters.  The sewage ban will create the largest “No Discharge Zone” (NDZ) in the country stretching from Mexico to Oregon and includes waters around major islands. The ban will stop an estimated 22 million gallons or more of treated sewage from being dumped into the oceans, bays, and estuaries each year along 1,624 miles of coast. Under the Clean Water Act the state of California was able to ask the EPA to approve the NDZ to help restore water quality.

“This is an important step to protect California's coastline. I want to commend the shipping industry, environmental groups and U.S. EPA for working with California to craft a common sense approach to keeping our coastal waters clean," said California’s Governor Jerry Brown.

Coca-Cola’s 2011-2012 Arctic Home campaign, which came in two phases after the white cans of regular Coke confused the soda addicts, was too late to help a selection of survey respondents improve their polar knowledge.  At best it would have only achieved the bare minimum when it comes to knowledge of Earth’s polar regions -it would have raised awareness and little else.

Raising awareness is good because it could lead to concern which then leads to action. But a research study conducted by the Carsey Institute of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) says even with much ado about the polar regions it has led to not much but political-driven opinions.

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) released an informative overview about jobs in the clean energy sector for women. The nine chapter guide titled Why Green is Your Color: A Woman's Guide to a Sustainable Career is available in downloadable formats on the DOL website and was produced by the the DOL’s Women’s Bureau (WB). The WB was created in 1920 and a federal agency dedicated empowering and protecting working women and their families.

"Many occupations in the clean energy economy remain virtually untapped by women," said Sara Manzano-Dias, director of the Women's Bureau.  "This guide is an invaluable resource that workforce professionals can use to help women transition into higher paying jobs that serve as a pathway into the middle class.  It is also a tool to help fight job segregation."

Marjory Wildcraft is well-known among people who grow their own food and are interested in homesteading or self-sufficiency. She knows people garden and raise animals for several reasons but she is more interested in sharing her knowledge to help the confused who don’t know where to start in their own backyards.

"I came from a business background and could not keep one house plant alive. But now I grow more than half of what I eat. I've learned what works and what doesn't," Wildcraft says.

Today’s championship game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots has something for everyone. “Manning Face” enthusiasts will be delighted to count the number of times the camera catches Eli Manning scrunching up his face and Tom Brady fans can analyze his most controversial feature- his hair. It’s all so exciting you may even forget there is a game being played! 

Lucas Oil Stadium (LOS) is the home of this year’s Super Bowl XLVI (46) and as a multi-purpose stadium it’s used year-round for sporting events and functions. It’s managed by the same company as the Indiana Convention Center which is connected to LOS. The stadium seats anywhere from 15,000 to 70,000 people depending on the requirements and size of the event. LOS' ability to house that many people is a great power and with that comes a great responsibility to sustainability.

The EPA (the job-killing, regulating machine we talk about a lot here on the Earth Blog) has announced the 2012 beneficiaries of their “Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities” program. The program is part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities that includes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Building Blocks program isn’t handing out money to fifty-six communities in twenty-six states- they are providing technical assistance which is a fancy term for information. These communities asked the EPA to come in to help create a plan for improving their town’s infrastructures. 

The EPA explained it best: “The assistance will be delivered in a day-long workshop for each community that will provide ideas on local policies and procedures to improve the local economy, environment, and quality of life. Each community will receive a short ‘next steps’ memo outlining options the community can consider as it moves forward.”  

In the past sustainable and socially conscious fashion was a bit bland. The misconception must have been: “Eco-conscious people like the Earth so let’s make everything look earthy!” or “Let’s put a whale on it!”  There is nothing wrong with earth tones and t-shirts, plain or printed, but sometimes a shopper is looking for an item that provides more color or fit. Fashion designers have stepped in to fill the need but their items can be expensive. Eco-fashion is a certainly a trend but it’s not trendy: meaning it’s here to stay.