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Environmental Update |
If everyone lived like
Americans, you’d need three planet Earths . . . to sustain that level of
consumption.
— Peter Raven, Botanist and Conservationist
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Consumers :Are you an ecological citizen?
Do you participate in planting or protecting trees in your neighborhood,
spend weekends restoring wetlands, or take your children out to count
songbirds and discover bugs in the parks? New York University
environmental ethicist Andrew Light has identified what he terms
‘ecological citizenship’ that may arise from serendipitous contact among
volunteers and others cooperating in ecological restoration and advocacy
projects. The growth of ecological citizenship is predicted to lead to
ecological cities. (Rutherford H. Platt, “Toward Ecological Cities,”
Environment, June 2004) Read an excerpt of a chapter from Platt’s
book, The Meanings and Uses of Land, at www.islandpress.org/landuse.
:Interested in
working in the eco-field? Ask advice guru Umbra Fisk. Ms. Fisk is always
getting questions about how to work in a position that endorses earth
consciousness. To those who want to make a difference, Ms. Fisk provides
advice ranging from rivers to chocolate cake in the June 15th edition of
Grist magazine. The answer to your next career move may be just a Web site
away. Check out Umbra Fisk and advice about eco-jobs at: http://www.grist :If you enjoy seafood, you’re
likely aware of the high mercury content in ocean fish such as swordfish,
shark, and albacore. But do you know where the fish you’re eating come
from? Just because it’s fish, don’t assume it’s harvested from the wild.
Fish farms are becoming big business, and because they are big business,
more money goes into mass producing the fish than into the quality of the
product. Fish raised on farms contain far more carcinogens than fish found
in the world. Dozens of pollutants, including Dixon and PCB, have been
found in farm-raised fish. To help consumers become more aware, beginning
in fall 2004 seafood sold in U.S. markets will carry labels stating where
the fish was caught and processed and whether it is wild or farmed. Want
to know more? Go to: www.environmental
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Business :In the past few years, “sustainable” and “ethical” have been top buzzwords for organizations. Now there are consultants who specialize “in being sustainable” and, for a few thousand dollars more, they will give a certificate for being ethical, but only if the organization can get through the checklist. But, just as some people are beginning to understand the definition of sustainable organizations, a new buzzword is on the horizon: mindfulness. If your organization is not “mindful,” then your organization must be mired in destructive behavior, according to the October 2003 issue of Spirituality and Health (Barbara Stahura, “Lessons from Mindful Corporations,” Spirituality and Health, October 2003). :The International
Organization for Standardization has accepted proposals for a new global
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSP) standard. But after careful
consideration, the group has determined that in place of a standard such
as the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard, which has
specific requirements for organizations, the CSP will take the form of a
guidance document. An ISO advisory group recently concluded “the ISO does
not have the authority or legitimacy to set social obligations or
expectations, which are properly defined by governments and
inter-governmental organizations.” For further information, go to www.iso.org/iso/en/ISO
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Government :Canadian government scientists at Alberta Agriculture in Edmonton have found a sustainable and cheap source of protein to feed turkeys: flies. There are thousands of flies around the farm, so farmers can grow fly larvae, bake and ground the maggots produced, and feed it to the turkeys, who love it. “Each gram of maggot power contains almost twice as much protein as a regular diet.” Read more in Animal Feed Science and Technology magazine, March 2003. :A crime lab for animals? The U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Agency’s forensics lab in Ashland, Oregon, collects and analyzes more than 5,500 items each year in its quest to track down killings of protected or endangered species. For example, black bears are being slaughtered for their gallbladders, which are prized in Asia for treating all types of illnesses. And, butcher shops are making money on the side by selling lion, tiger, and bear meat for the “real meat eaters,” while black rhino horns are used to make daggers. Moreover, if you catch an albino Arowana fish, you can get $175,000. They are believed to bring good luck (David Diamond, “Geographica,” National Geographic, March 2004).. :Do lawmakers have all the right information before they make a decision? Of the 23,600 deaths caused in the U.S. each year by pollution from old coal-fired power plants, 90 percent could be prevented if the federal government adopted tough emissions regulations, according to a new study. But that study found that President Bush’s preferred pollution-control plan falls far short of the mark. “The study—conducted at the request of a coalition of environmental groups by Abt Associates, a consulting firm that often does research for the U.S. EPA—compared Bush's Clear Skies plan with two other legislative proposals and found that while his plan would save 14,000 lives per year, the competing plans would save 16,000 and 22,000.” (Reuters, Chris Baltimore, June 9, 2004) http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2593. o |
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