EatsBarksAndMews Blog

Hazelnuts and our Future

ebam2 — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:55:00 GMT

Exactly one year ago (to the day!) I wrote a post (see below) about how planting hazelnut bushes can have a profound impact on the environment and the American landscape. The entry didn't seem to generate much interest or attention at the time. However, I am pleased to report that I have recently received a number of comments on this particular post one year later. This is making me very happy, so i would like to update the readers with the latest information about hazelnut farming today.

My original information came from the Arbor Day Foundation. They are carrying out a large (9 acre) hazelnut research project which was planted about 13 years ago. There are several ways in which to join this project, but before we get to that, I'd like to review a little about hazelnuts and why they're important.

Hazelnuts are small nearly round brown nuts that resemble acorns which have a little pointy end and a flat lighter colored end. Normally available only around Christmas, they are great nutritious snacks and found in many delicious desserts. Popular for many decades in Europe, they are only now coming into their own here in the US. The market for hazelnuts ranges from biodiesel oil to food. Packed with vitamins, protein and fiber they are used in everything from savory fish entrees to decadent ice cream desserts.

Here are some of the reasons why this project is so important to our future:
(Taken from ArborDay Foundation Magazine, Jan/Feb 09)

Hazelnuts are an ideal crop for fighting global warming because of their carbon-sequestering abilities and less need for mechanized care. Currently agriculture accounts for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. By converting land from annual crops to hazelnuts, farmers can eliminate annual replanting and cultivating, reduce the need for fertilizing, and minimize chemicals for pest control. This can add up to additional on-farm income, including carbon sequestration payments. (Note: Since I don't know anything about this, please contact www.ArborDay.org/hazelnuts for further information on this point)
Hazelnuts can contribute to energy independence through "green diesel" production. In comparison studies, the Univ. of Nebraska found that hazelnuts can product an oil yield nearly two times that of soybeans - and the hazelnut oil is superior. Plus no annual replanting!
Hazelnuts are highly adaptable to poorer soil. They can also anchor erodible soil, helping to protect waterways while at the same time providing wildlife habitat in addition to a profitable crop.
In flood-prone areas, hazelnuts thrive where other crops are destroyed. They can survive cold weather to 40 degrees below zero.
Hazelnuts are an extremely valuable nut crop because of their high level of vitamins and protein. The five year average in Oregon was $1,589/acre from 2002 to 2007.

My original love for hazelnuts stems from my European heritage. As a German child growing up in America, I was the only person I knew who ate them or who even knew what they were. Today I'm happy to report hazelnuts are coming into their own here in this country too. This is thanks to in large part the efforts of ArborDay Foundation (from whom I receive absolutely nothing for saying any of this, by the way).

To Get Involved in Arbor Day's Hazelnut Research, there are three ways: (I'm sure there are other ways to get started planting hazelnuts too, especially if you're interested in planting more than a few plants, so this is just one idea...)

Phone 1-888-448-7337 and ask to be part of the Hazelnut Project.
E-mail hazelnuts@arborday.org and sign up for their email list.
Visit www.arborday.org/hazelnuts

The more hazelnuts are planted the more land becomes profitable to the grower, healthier for the environment, a boon to wildlife, and a step toward less dependence on foreign oil.

PS - To the person who recently wrote to say they had planted 2.5 acres in hazelnuts. Would you be willing to share with us where you obtained your plants in case others would like to follow your lead. Thanks.

Newsflash! Hazelnuts Fight Global Warming...

ebam2 — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:01:00 GMT

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is my original post from January 19, 2008 (exactly one year ago to the day!) that I am republishing for the convenience of old and new readers. Thanks for reading!

I recently received the following information from The Arbor Day Foundation www.arborday.org which I want to share with you today. It's about "The Hazelnut Project". Hazelnuts are very popular in Europe, used in flavorings, cookies, cakes, and other desserts. And although I've been eating hazelnuts (aka filberts) since childhood, I never knew they grew on bushes! I had always pictured them growing on trees, like acorns. Not true.

Hazelnut shrubs are being used as part of a research project to find better so-called "woody crops". These woody crops offer special characteristics relevant to global warming, as a food supply, and for energy conservation.

You may not have known that:

Hazelnuts are rich in dietary fiber, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium and heart healthy vitamin B.
Loaded with antioxidants and phytonutrients that benefit the immune system.
Studies suggest that consuming just 1.5 ounces of hazelnut per day may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Hazelnut bushes are classified as "woody agriculture" - which means they help reduce global warming by offsetting the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Hazelnut shells are a safe and efficient fuel which can help lessen demand for wood and other energy sources.
As "woody plants" Hazelnut bushes are about 3 times more effective than annual plants at capturing solar energy and reducing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is driving global warming.
Used on a large scale, these shrubs would meaningfully contribute to reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide ... and fighting global warming!

Woody plants like hazelnuts can help revolutionize agriculture's contribution to a cleaner, healthier environment. For example, if perennial hazelnuts replaced many of the annuals now planted for food, they would yield not only a healthful food crop, but would eliminate the need for fuel to plow and plant every year. Woody crops also provide wildlife habitat, stop soil erosion, and greatly reduce the need for fertilizers that often run off into streams and lakes or seep into the ground and pollute water supplies.

And hazelnut shrubs remove huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. Philip Rutter, director of Badgersett Research Farm in Minnesota said "Woody plants are intrinsically much more efficient collectors of solar energy. Even in tropical regions where more than one crop (of annuals) per year is raised, substantial amounts of sunlight fall on the bare fields required by traditional plowing and planting. Planting one fourth of the present world croplands to woody plants would result in enough extra carbon absorption to completely counteract the present carbon overload."

Hazelnuts seem to be an ideal crop, even for novice gardeners or those who may not have ever been interested in growing things before. Some things you might not know about these woody shrubs include:

The roots will grow deep and "take hold" rapidly, thriving in a variety of soil types and climates. Ideal for North Carolina (hardiness zones 3-9).
As strong growers, these vigorous plants will produce one whale of a harvest come late summer (truly a sight to behold!).
They can grow to about 6-8 feet tall and are renowned for early bearing, with some producing nuts as early as their second or third year.
Hazelnut bushes live as long as 80 years or more, so you can expect a lifetime supply of hazelnuts, as well as endless compliments from these who will witness the delicate red blossoms transform into plump, tasty nuts in one growing season.

Imagine, if you will, how growing hazelnut bushes can help transform the landscape in America and throughout the world. This in turn will promote the conversion of gullied, eroded hillsides that now struggle to produce traditional crops into soil-building fields of vigorous hazelnuts. The plantings throughout America in yards and acreages and gardens (such as yours) will show the way for what can become countless hillsides clothed in hazelnuts. These crops will help feed a hungry world while the fields keep waterways clean, give wildlife a home, and help reverse global warming."

To participate in this project, to get your hazelnut bushes and for more details, please visit www.arborday.org/hazelnuts. It's not too late to join with other Arbor Day members to receive your 3 free shrubs for a modest contribution to Arbor Day of only $15."

I have already ordered mine and am really looking forward to adding them to our garden this year. Thanks for stopping by. By the way, if you have any topics of interest you would like to see covered in future posts, please let me know in a comment. Thanks again.

Why Flowers Are Losing Their Scent

ebam2 — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:54:00 GMT

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." - Henry David Thoreau

Pollution is dulling the scent of flowers and impeding some of the most basic processes of nature, disrupting insect life and imperiling food supplies, a new study suggests.

The potentially hugely significant research - funded by the blue-chip US National Science Foundation - has found that gases mainly formed from the emission of car exhausts prevent flowers from attracting bees and other insects in order to pollinate them. And the scientists who have conducted the study fear that insects' ability to repel enemies and attract mates may also be impeded.

The researchers - at the University of Virginia - say that pollution is dramatically cutting the distance traveled by the scent of flowers. Professor Jose Fuentes, who led the study said: "Scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment could travel for roughly 1,000 to 2,000 meters. But today they may travel only 200-300 meters. This makes it increasingly difficult for bees and other insects to locate the flowers."

The researchers, who worked on the scent given off by snapdragons, found that the molecules are volatile and quickly bond with pollutants such as ozone and nitrate radicals, mainly formed from vehicle emissions. This chemically alters the molecules so that they no longer smell like flowers. A vicious cycle is therefore set up where insects struggle to get enough food and the plants do not get pollinated enough to proliferate.

Already bees - which pollinate most of the world's crops - are in unprecedented decline in Britain and across much of the globe. At least a quarter of America's 2.5 million honey bee colonies have been mysteriously wiped out by colony collapse disorder (CCD) where hives are found suddenly deserted.

The crisis has now spread to Europe. Politicians insist that CCD has not yet been found in Britain, but the insects have been declining here too, and the agriculture minister Lord Rooker has warned that "the honey bee population could be wiped out in 10 years."

The researchers do not believe that they have found the cause of CCD, but say that pollution is making life more difficult for bees and other insects in many ways.

(Source: Geoffrey Lean, The Independent/UK, April 20, 2008)

Here in North Carolina we are also seeing CCD in our hives with great concern. Unfortunately there are no answers yet, although time is running out. Hopefully we can put all our heads together and come up with a solution to this pressing problem soon. I will be presenting more on this critical topic in future posts so please come back soon! Thanks. e

Revisiting The Clear Cutting Issue Once More

ebam2 — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT

"The cultivation of trees is the cultivation of the good, the beautiful and the ennobling in man." -J Sterling Morton

As you may remember, if you're a long-time reader of this blog - we were brutally introduced to the barbaric practice of clear cutting behind our home in North Carolina last October. Things haven't gotten all that much better since then, despite our putting in several thousand dollars worth of landscaping this winter. All those plants take time to grow.

The debris field of dead tree carcasses is still there and visible from every window in our house. There has been absolutely no attempt by anyone to clean it up (nor will there be...) It's a terrible and heartbreaking sight. The animals which have been displaced are trying to survive as best as they can, but one can only imagine at how difficult it must be for them now to eat, raise their young and stay safe.

True to their word, the Forestry Service has planted hundreds of pine trees per acre in and around the dead limbs and branches. Imagine this - it took them only about a day and a half to cover 50 acres. The baby trees are about one foot tall, and as many as a third or more of them appear to be struggling or even dead already. I can only guess at how long it'll take for the residue of the cut dead hardwoods to break down and disappear. As for the pines, they'll take about 20-30 years before they're ready to harvest.

Have I mentioned the herbicides yet? Apparently it's standard forestry practice to apply a multitude of herbicides (known by lovely names such as Arsenal, Escort and Accord, among others) aerially in order to control other competing plant life from crowding the "baby trees". I don't know about you, but having a helicopter fly over my house dropping herbicides sounds pretty terrifying to me. I question how they can do that with any kind of precision. Have you ever stood near a helicopter while the props are turning? I'm not only concerned about my own health but that of my cats, the remaining wildlife and their poisoned food supply, and the stream that runs through the clear cut area, to say nothing of the rest of our neighborhood. So far, we haven't heard anything more about this, but it hangs over all our heads like the sword of Damocles.

In the meantime, the people whose business is clear cutting continue to dupe NC landowners into believing they can make a lot of money through timbering and tell them "...don't worry about a thing - we'll take care of it all for you. Oh and by the way - the animals actually like the clear cuts - we see them running around the area the next day...!" The owner of this devastated land lives many miles away from all of this, in Roxboro, with a pretty backyard with lots of trees surrounded by lots of other pretty backyards. I know this because I can see his house on Google's mapping website.

If I sound angry, I am. I'm furious. But I'm angry and upset for reasons that go far beyond the violation of my personal space. Everywhere I go in North Carolina I see lumbering trucks carrying logs to feed the mills leaving ugly clear cut areas behind. I'm not a hypocrite - when it comes to using wood and enjoying it's beauty, I'm right there. But I am against the rampant thoughtless and senseless practice of clear cutting every patch of land in sight, solely for money with total disregard for what's ultimately being destroyed.

North Carolina is yet a beautiful state. But from where I'm standing, it's not going to stay that way for long if the timbering industry has its way with the folks who live here. Its beauty is irrevocably being destroyed an acre at a time. I wouldn't be saying this if we practiced sustainable forestry instead of clear cutting. And if we want to hand over more than a few spindly pine trees growing out of looming carcasses of dead trees to our children and their grandchildren, we had better take another look at this issue.

Thanks for coming by today. See you next time when we're going to talk about flowers and bees. e

Scrubbing Carbon From The Breeze

ebam2 — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:01:00 GMT

"...What you can do or think you can do, begin it. For boldness has Magic, Power & Genius in it." - Goethe

I recently came across a fascinating article by Rona Fried, PhD (president of SustainableBusiness.com) in the May 08 issue of Solar Today Magazine. It asks the question: What if we could turn airborne greenhouse gas (ie CO2) into fuel? A Tucson firm says they can do it in five years! Here's what they propose.

Although many scientists believe we have let global warming go too far to stop it even with radical reductions in emissions, it may be possible to literally vacuum the existing carbon pollution out of the air. Last year, Al Gore and Sir Richard Branson offered a $25 million prize for a device that would do just that. I remember seeing the article. Several teams are already working on this carbon-capture technology.

Global Research Technologies LLC (GRT) in Tucson, AZ now says it has a viable system and may be able to deploy it commercially within five years. It might look like a small nuclear cooling tower, a 40' shipping container or a 300' tree. Thanks to the investment of the late Gary Comer, founder of Lands End and the work of Klaus Lackner, professor of geophysics at Columbia University, the reality of it might be closer than we think!

Although capturing Carbon Dioxide from the air is not a new concept (submarines and spacecraft have been using this technology for years to maintain healthful oxygen/CO2 levels in their vessels) applying it to the atmosphere on a global scale certainly is.

Within 5 years, 100 of GRT's ACCESS (Atmospheric Carbon CapturE SystemS) units could be located around the United States, each absorbing 1 ton of CO2 per day! Using proprietary means, ACCESS absorbs carbon emissions from cars, trucks and other vehicles, along with those from forest fires, agricultural burning, volcanic eruptions, loss of natural vegetation from land clearing and even from the release of methane from melting permafrost.

The recaptured CO2 can be used in industrial process, piped into greenhouses to stimulate food or biomass production, stored underground or reprocessed to release its carbon in a liquid form that could be refined into motor fuel. The device can be located anywhere there's a breeze. Since CO2 knows no national borders, a device in Iceland could offset gas emitted in China.

Dr. Lackner says "Today we should see air capture as a way to compensate for emissions and stabilize them rather than reducing the CO2 in the atmosphere. In the future we'll be able to use the CO2 we take from the air to make fresh fuel rather than sequestering. We will capture it again and again."

"In the future, the energy to run your car will come from solar, wind, nuclear or fusion. If you give me CO2 from the air and water, I can make you a liquid hydrocarbon. You would convert it back into CO2 and water as you drive, requiring of course having to retrieve it from the atmosphere again, ideally within a reasonably efficient loop," says Lackner.

Remarkably, the devices are surprisingly small. A carbon-capture device the size of a tree would collect about 1,000 times more CO2 than a tree does. GRT claims that 250,000 wind turbine sized devices located around the world would neutralize the CO2 we're currently emitting. Exciting as this development seems, Dr. Lackner stresses that the potential of carbon capture is only one piece in a portfolio of carbon reduction strategies.

We should not stop here, of course, but the prospects of a device to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turning that into fuel in a safe, sustainable way is certainly exciting. In the meantime, hybrid vehicles look like a pretty good way to conserve fuel and reduce our carbon footprints.

Next time we'll take a look at a new agricultural industry developing in North Carolina - the raising of truffles on former tobacco fields. Come back to learn what truffles are and why you might be interested in them. Hint: yum, yum...

Be well, elisabeth

Hybrid Vehicle Sales Increase

ebam2 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:33:00 GMT

"Real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present." Albert Camus

Good news: Hybrid vehicle sales increased 38% in 2007! A growing number of buyers feel the need to get a car that depends less on foreign oil these days. "My decision is a very political one," says Kim Fenske, 48, an attorney by training who has also worked as a forest ranger and was an environmentalist long before hybrid cars like the Prius hit the market.

US registrations of new hybrid vehicles rose to a record 350,289, according to data released this week by RL Polk and Co., a Southfield, MI based automotive marketing and research company. Hybrids made up just 2.2% of the US market share for the year, but they were growing steadily even as overall sales declined 3%.

Polk Director, Lonnie Miller, said rising gas prices may affect some buyers, but they're not the main driver of hybrid sales. Instead, he thinks sales jumped in 2007 because buyers had more options, including the new Nissan Altima, Saturn Aura and Lexus LS600h hybrid sedans and hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Mazda Tribute SUV's.

Along with gas prices, another important factor is that hybrids have been on the market long enough for consumers to trust the technology. The Prius, the second mass market hybrid after the Honda Insight, went on sale in the US in 2000. The Prius remained the best-selling hybrid in 2007, commanding 51% of the hybrid market, up from 43% in 2006, despite the influx of new hybrids.

California remained the top state for hybrid sales in 2007. Twenty-six percent of all hybrid registrations were in California, up 35% from 2006. Florida, New York, Texas and Washington followed. Despite warnings from automakers that US car sales could be at their slowest pace in more than a decade due to high gas prices and the weak economy, Miller forecasts that hybrid sales will rise 30% or more. "This segment has still outpaced what the rest of the industry has done. I can't see the hybrid category chilling out," he says.

Fenske, who closely monitors hybrid discussion groups on Web sites like Edmunds, hopes more people will do the research and the math he did and buy a hybrid car. He figures he's saving $3000 per year in maintenance compared to his old vehicle, plus $2000 -$3000 per year in fuel costs for his 20-minute commute. He says he gets around 48 MPG.

Fenske said he waited several years to buy a hybrid because he wanted to make sure the technology was proven. Then he was concerned about how the little car would perform in the mountains where he lives. He has had to make come compromises; he can't drive up some rough roads, but he has decided to hike or bike those instead. For the most part, the car has exceeded his expectations.

(Source: From Dee Ann Durbin, The Associated Press, April, 2008)

Heirloom What's? You Mean Tomatoes?

ebam2 — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:06:00 GMT

"There are many wonderful things that will not be done if you do not do them." -Charles D. Gill

Last time I wrote about the exciting influx of women into the world of agriculture and I mentioned "heirloom plants." I want to continue the discussion by explaining what these are and what they can offer us in flavor, color and variety in our own little vegetable patch this year.

"In general, heirloom means that the variety was around before 1940 when hybrids first started being grown," says Carolyn Male, author of 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden. Heirloom plants have many benefits, including their unique flavor, says Bill McDorman, founder and president of Seeds Trust in Cornville, AZ (population 3,335).

"Heirloom varieties are often the result of selection for fresh-picked flavor, a value often ignored in commercial vegetable varieties, which have to be shipped long distances and stored on grocery store shelves."

Despite the popular misconception, heirloom plants aren't any harder to grow than hybrid plants. "Most hybrid varieties have tolerances bred in for certain diseases, but unless those diseases are present in your area, they mean nothing," Male says. She adds that disease tolerance may only gain a gardener one or two weeks of harvest time, which is less important to a home gardener than a large-scale grower.

For gardeners looking to buy heirloom seeds there are several catalog seed suppliers around the nation, such as Seeds Trust: (928-649-3315); Tomato Growers Supply (888-478-7333) and Heirloom Seeds (412-384-0852).

One of the most satisfying reasons to grow heirloom plants is that gardeners can save seeds to grow next year, and even pass them along to friends and family and neighbors. "It is a human ritual to save the best seeds and pass them on," says McDorman, who believes that heirloom varieties are a better value for home gardeners than hybrids. "Buy once, plant indefinitely." (Source: Pamela Kock, Hamilton, Ohio for American Profile Magazine, Spring 2008)

Well, gotta run so I can order my new heirloom seed catalogs before the weather turns warm.
Until next time, elisabeth

Female Farmers Causing a Paradigm Shift

ebam2 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:53:00 GMT

"Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it. " - Confucius

A rising corp of women is putting a new face on American farming. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the number of farms headed by women as primary operators grew 58 percent from 1975 to 1997. As much as 75% of US farmland may be owned by women by 2014.

Whether they inherit the land, assume the job of a spouse forced to find work elsewhere or return to the farm where they grew up to support aging parents, these women are changing how food is grown and sold and how it tastes.

"As more women become heads of businesses there is a constant stream of new ideas," says Melissa Joiner, president of the non-profit Florida Agri-Women. "We bring a fresh perspective." Thinking outside the box with their family's support has made women a driving force in alternative and sustainable agriculture. Studies suggest they are more likely to farm organically and on small acreages. Crops range from heirloom* tomatoes, fresh herbs and nursery flowers to certified organic wines and free-range chickens. Farms even become green venues for reunions and receptions.

Flexibility and creativity keep these women afloat. But it's the intangible benefits that keep them going. "It just makes sense to nourish the soil and live in balance with nature. It's a wonderful philosophy of life," says Betty O'Toole, who lures customers to her demonstration farm with workshops, internships and tours. Cut-flower grower Sandy Dutton relishes the independence. Plus, what could be better than "growing smiles and food for the soul?"

(Source: Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services)

*For gardeners looking to buy heirloom seeds, there are several catalog seed suppliers around the country. Check out Seeds Trust, Tomato Growers Supply, and Heirloom Seeds for more information.

Next time we'll discuss the benefits of growing heirloom plants in our gardens.

Until then, elisabeth

The Forest - A Poem

ebam2 — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:59:00 GMT

As my faithful readers know - I am a big fan of what Oprah's doing right now on the web every Monday night at 9 EST with author Eckhart Tolle. His newest book, A New Earth, is being featured on Oprah's Book Club Selection over a 10-week period, with a live discussion between Oprah, Eckhart, and countless numbers of people all around the world who are Skypeing, emailing, and calling in their questions.

It's an amazing event in that so many people are participating simultaneously in this live event. Every week they talk about another chapter and even if you missed out on the start, all previous chapters are still available to view, for free, at anytime. You can even download them on your MP3 player. Chapter 7 will be broadcast this coming Monday night.

Oprah read an amazing poem written by award-winning poet and novelist, David Wagoner during the Chapter 5 webcast. I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with you now. You'll see why when you read it.

'Lost' by David Wagoner

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you might also consider reading Eckhart Tolle's new book, A New Earth. It's not too late to participate. I have personally found it life-changing, as have millions of other readers around the world. Watching the discussions of the chapters make the book really come alive, even if you watch them later. Together we not only can, but will save the world, one small step at a time.

Until next time, be well - elisabeth

Bird Smaller Than Dollar Bill Travels Thousands Of Miles

ebam2 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:07:00 GMT

It's simply amazing how the broad-tailed hummingbird can migrate over 2,000 miles between central Mexico to as far north as British Columbia, Canada on wings that aren't quite two-and-a-half inches long each. The bird itself is only four inches. To put that into perspective, take a look at the American dollar bill: it's six inches long - bigger than every single hummingbird species in the United States!

When it's migrating, a hummingbird's heart can beat up to 1,260 times a minute and those tiny wings flap 15 to 80 times a second. That's why their wings look like a blur in flight.

With all that energy being expended, a hummingbird is generally just hours away from starvation; they need to sip flower nectar almost all the time just to survive. Not only do they fly the more than 2,000 miles once a year, but they fly each spring and again in the fall on those tiny, iridescent wings, depending on habitat along their migration route just to eat and survive.

As the hummingbird sips nectar, pollen sifts from the flower onto its head and back, allowing the bird to carry that pollen to the next plant. So just as the flowers sustain the hummingbird, the bird helps the flowers spread and thrive. Once again, here's another perfect example of how all life is dependent on each other in that rich, interwoven web of life - as are all species and habitats throughout the world.

An organization that has worked tirelessly for the preservation of the lands which countless plants and animals inhabitant is the Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org). For years, this non-profit has purchased and managed over 119 million acres of habitat throughout the world. These days, with explosive growth and urban development proceeding at a fast and furious pace, their efforts are needed more than ever. What they've been able to do is nothing short of amazing.

For example, Ramsey Canyon, Arizona is a stopping point for 15 out of the 18 species of hummingbirds found in the United States. It contains a spring-fed stream and high, shade producing canyon walls, creating a moist cool environment that very unusual in the desert southwest. As a result, Ramsey Canyon attracts quite an array of wildlife, including the hummingbirds. The Nature Conservancy obtained Ramsey Canyon as a donation, then bought two more parcels to add to it, keeping it safe from development even into the future for our children and grandchildren.

Another area that Nature Conservancy has been involved in protecting is the "Great Bear Rain forest" in British Columbia. This 21-million acre rain forest in Canada is part of the largest coastal temperate rain forest remaining on Earth! This spectacular region had been the site of an on-going conflict between environmentalists, governments, and businesses. Today, however, there is a new vision of hope for the rain forest. Historic land use agreements will protect at least 5 million acres of the rain forest from logging. Another more than 18 million acres will be placed under strict land management guidelines to help ensure a healthy future for the plants, animals and people of the Great Bear Rain forest.

The land use agreements mark a watershed event in modern conservation and recognize that a sustainable economy is vital to a sustainable environment. (and vice versa, I'd personally like to add)

Hummingbirds have the tendency to return year after year not just to the same region and the same tree, but often to the exact same branch it nested on the year before. They build tiny, cup-shaped nests, sometimes on top of their old one, using plant fibers and spider webs. Their two little eggs are about the size of beans. One site with great pictures: www.howtoenjoyhummingbirds.com

A world without hummingbirds (or wolves or jaguars or sea turtles or the habitats that sustain us all) is terribly sad to contemplate and no legacy to leave our future generations. While destroying hardwood forests in North Carolina might not seem too significant or as important as bringing down a rain forest or developing a canyon, we must recognize that all these uncontrolled activities act cumulatively to change our world. And without forethought, usually not in a good way.

What can we do? If we're lucky enough to have wooded areas around us, we can start by practicing selective forestry instead of clear cutting. This would help conserve the immediate environment that the resident plants and animals require to live. Not only would this show respect for our planet and all its lifeforms, it would also teach our children and grandchildren that we care about more than just money. What a valuable lesson that could become!

If you would like to make a donation to help Nature Conservancy fulfill their mission to protect the diversity of life on Earth, please go here . I get no material compensation for this. (Source: The Nature Conservancy Newsletter, Mar 2008)

So - Thanks for stopping by. Until next time, elisabeth

German Community Goes Car-Free

ebam2 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:01:00 GMT

Last time I wrote about the effect of urban sprawl on the loss of nature (and indirectly on quality of life) to development. The following news out of Germany demonstrates how a shift in consciousness is making a significant difference there.

Vauban, ("Fow-bun") a 2,000 home community on a former military base at the edge of the Black Forest, is Germany's best-known experiment in green urban living. Its 4,700 residents show that it's possible to live day to day virtually car-free. They're just 10 minutes by bike from the eco-friendly university town of Freiburg. Families with kids here enjoy the same or better quality of life than in their former suburban neighborhoods. They like that carpoolers receive yearly tramway passes and don't mind paying steep fees for garage slots for themselves and guests.

Car ownership in Vauban is only 150 per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 430 per 1,000 in Freiburg proper, and 640 household vehicles per 1,000 residents in the United States.

Vauban's holistic planning process involved a community-wide effort involving engineers, politicians, city planners and residents, notes Peter Heck, a professor of material-flow management at Germany's University of Trier. "Before you had pilot projects. Now it's like a movement," says Heck. "The idea of saving energy for our landscape is getting into the basic planning procedure of German cities." Environmental research has become a backbone of Vauban's economy. And communities across Europe are taking notice. (Source: The Christian Science Monitor)

Is anyone noticing anything on this side of the ocean? It's not too late, of course, but if we're still cutting down trees for minimal profit-taking while leaving only devastation behind, where are our priorities? Planned communities are not a new concept. We have been doing this since the 1930's in places like Greenbelt, Maryland, Greendale, WIS, and Greenhills, OH, spurred on by the vision and support of former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Is there some reason we can't follow these and other similarly successful examples in the United States (for example Boulder, CO) and return to building communities that integrate homes, multi-family dwellings, stores, recreation, green areas, bicycle and walking paths, lakes, small businesses, service stations, medical facilities, AND lots of trees?

I have yet to hear any good excuses for our not doing this in every community we develop in this country from now on. As always, I welcome your comments.

Be well, elisabeth

Southwest NC Loses 100 Acres Daily

ebam2 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:44:00 GMT

Recently I came across some information that gave me a "perspective adjustment" about the (mere) 50 acres that were clearcut behind my home last October here in North Carolina. Not that I can condone the wasted environment any better than before, but it did make me realize how increasingly serious any additional loss of woodlands is, for whatever reason.

According to a new study, it suggests that southwest North Carolina (I don't live there but in Central NC) has lost more than 100 acres daily for the past 30 years to urban development! Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte used satellite imaging to study 24 counties between the Blue Ridge Mountains and Rockingham. They found that between 1976 and 2006, development increased by 850 percent. And it isn't slowing down.

The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday (26 March 2008) that Mecklenburg County is on pace to see all of its available land developed within 25 years. The study was funded by the Open Space Protection Collaborative, a group of six regional land-preservation organizations. Group officials are using the study to raise awareness in areas where their efforts to save open space could have the largest effect. (Source: Courier-Times, Roxboro, NC 28 Mar 08)

Where is it all going to end? Are we all going to have to live in neighborhoods where the lots are the size of postage stamps and the houses "supersized"? Sprawl is truly breathing down virtually everyone's neck. But there might actually be a tiny yet bright light at the end of the tunnel: ...fortunately "people are not sitting around and waiting for Washington bureaucrats to solve the problem of strip malls in their own backyard - they're forming land trusts," says Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance. While development overruns 2 million acres of open space, farms and forest a year, private land conservation jumped 54%, from 24 million to 37 million acres between 2000 and 2005. That's an area larger than New England.

Nonprofit land trusts assist in setting up conservation, agricultural and other land-preservation easements and then act as land stewards in the public interest. They might focus on wildlife habitat, wetlands, natural open space, farms and ranches, local parks or urban gardens. Donors receive tax breaks while saving rugged landscapes they love. As federal dollars dwindle, the big green bucks to buy land are coming from state and local bond issues as citizens approve targeted taxes. Groups like the Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and the Trust for Public Land are also contributing to the trend.
(Source: The Christian Science Monitor)

A Better Brew - Easing Our Conscience about Coffee

ebam2 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:03:00 GMT

A while back, (post of 2/16/08) I talked about the benefits of growing and drinking good (i.e. organic) coffee. Did you know that coffee is one of the world’s most heavily traded commodities? That essentially means that our choices in what kind of coffee we choose to drink can make a huge difference not only in the global economy, but in the environment as well.

But first a little humor. This comes from an annual contest sponsored by the Washington Post in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. Coincidentally, the winner this time was:

Coffee, n. the person upon whom one coughs.

Coffee plants are especially susceptible to disease and insect damage, causing many growers to spray heavily with persistent, toxic pesticides. Organic coffee is produced without these substances, so while you’re safeguarding your own health, the soil, the water, the wildlife, the farmer and his family, and the rest of humankind all benefit too.

With conventionally grown coffee, especially decaffeinated coffee, you may ingest not only dubious chemicals used for growing, but also questionable substances used to remove caffeine – all prohibited in certified organic coffee.

Coffee plants grow fast in full sun, but they produce best in a shade ecosystem that includes a variety of forest and fruit trees, which also provide habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife. The high-yield full-sun approach actually costs more per kilogram since growers must buy fertilizers and pesticides.

Offering little food or shelter, these sun plantations attract few birds and wildlife to control pests and technification – the conversion from shade to sun production of beans – quickly exhausts the soil’s nutrients.

By contrast, diversity thrives on sustainable shade plantations where birds, animals, ant, spiders and other natural controls keep pests in check and living things add nutrients to the soil.

Traditional small farms replicate the structure of the natural forest – canopies shade the understory of coffee bushes while insect and bird varieties rival those in tropical forests. Just as crucial, other crops grown on shade plantations provide sustenance for the grower and his family.

Understanding the following labels might help you to choose your brew more wisely next time:

•    Certified Bird Friendly coffee must also be certified organic and shade grown without persistent, synthetic chemicals. Research by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center shows alarming declines of migratory birds, due in part to sun plantations.
•    Fair Trade Certified ensures that farmers earn a living wage by marketing their beans in co-ops, avoiding middlemen who siphon off profits. Not necessarily organic, fair trade does require environmental stewardship. And most fair trade-certified coffee sold in the US is also certified organic.
•    Certified Organic production, which maintains and replenishes soil, is best for growers and their families, consumers, and the ecosystem. Plants are grown without synthetic pesticides or other prohibited substances for three years, with a sufficient buffer between organic coffee and the nearest conventional crop. Farmers must have a sustainable crop rotation plan to prevent soil erosion and nutrient depletion and to control pests.
•    Shade Grown coffee promotes biodiversification. “Only a tiny percent of coffee sold in the US is labeled shade grown. By comparison, only 4 or 5 percent carries the certified organic seal,” says Rodney North of Equal Exchange. “Ultimately,” adds North, “organic consumers care as much about the people who grow and pick their food as they do about the farming methods used.

“We are organic for two reasons – the farmers and the sustainability of our planet,” says Michael Sweeney, president and CEO of Voyava Republic. “We are committed to preserving health, great taste, opportunities for people and sustainable farming.”

If you can say “half-decaf, double non-fat latte,” how hard is it to add “…and make that certified organic, bird friendly, fair trade, and shade grown”?

Until next time, enjoy your cuppa java in good conscience.

(Multiple sources including an article by Elaine Ambrose, Taste for Life Magazine, Jan 2008; also “The Campaign to Humanize the Coffee Trade” by Daniel Zwerdling, NPR News; “Coffee That Eases the Conscience”, by David Barton Bray, Florida International University Magazine, et al.)

Corporate Partnerships Are Growing Forests

ebam2 — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:21:00 GMT

When I originally created this blog in October, 2007, it was to write about the questionable practice of clear cutting in my home state of North Carolina, Person County. I had several very good reasons.

I wanted to educate people about the damage this kind of forestry practice causes to our immediate environment as well as globally, so that clear cutting becomes a thing of the past;
I needed to heal myself from the trauma that this had created in my own personal life.

As I continue writing my blog, however, another reason has emerged: The desire to maintain a focus on positive activities occurring in tree conservation, reforestation and related environmental topics, whenever possible.

Therefore, today I offer the following examples to show how the work of one dedicated organization, the Arbor Day Foundation, has been supported and expanded thanks to some of their corporate friends. (Source: Arbor Day Magazine, March/April, 08)

Bayer Crop Science has continued its partnership that provides $1 for tree planting for every 32 oz. and 1 gallon bottle of Tree and Shrub Insect Control sold and every 3 lb. bottle of 12 Month Tree & Shrub Protect & Feed Granules. Last year this resulted in 100,000 trees planted in our national forests. Bayer also donated their products for testing on some sick trees at Arbor Day Farm.

Nebraska Book Company has an ongoing campaign to encourage college students across the country to "Buy a Book, Build a Forest." The central theme is to promote the purchase of the recycled text books. To date, the company's donations resulting from student and faculty participation has planted 100,000 trees in the fire-ravaged Gallatin National Forest in Montana. For more information and a look at an innovative Web site that combines humor and education, visit www.buildaforest.com.

Frito Lay, well known for its "fun foods and sensible snacks" has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation in its "Making America A Little Greener" program. This ambitious project includes providing trees to community groups and giving trees away to shoppers at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. By the end of last year, the impressive totals were:

150,000 trees planted in the Pike and San Isabel National Forests;
50,000 for Katrina recovery efforts;
50,000 to community groups;
50,000 to Wal-Mart shoppers in a single weekend!
and more to Sam's Club shoppers via a mail-in promotion.

In addition, 100 trees were planted along the Katy Trail near Dallas, Texas, with Frito-Lay and Wal-Mart employees and mayors from across the state volunteering as tree planters.

For information about how your community can participate, please visit www.arborday.org/fritolay.

Bicycle Commuting Made Easy, Part 2

ebam2 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:34:00 GMT

This is Part 2 on how to start bicycle commuting taken from an article in Solar Today Magazine, Mar/Apr 2008 .

Staying warm is crucial to a good riding experience. A thermometer can’t measure warmth as well as your ears, fingers and toes can. Here are some easy springtime clothing tips to keep you warm and comfortable on your ride.

•    A thin winter hat under your bike helmet can keep you amazingly warm.
•    Full-finger bike gloves offer good warmth on cool mornings when winter gloves, besides being more bulky, would overheat your hands.
•    Always carry a windbreaker or rain jacket. You never know when you’ll need it. Get something in a bright colored, breathable fabric to prevent overheating and so that motorists can see and avoid you.
•    Rain pants make a good extra layer in cold, wet weather.
•    Over-the-shoe booties can keep your toes warm on cold, wet mornings. Here’s a quick trick that's cheap- simply place a small plastic sandwich bag around your toes before sliding your feet into your shoes. Keeps socks dry too.

“Getting it off your back” means being able to enjoy your ride without feeling like a pack mule. The experienced bike commuter plans ahead instead of carrying extra items. You can always change your clothes in the office restroom.

•    Drop a change of clothes and shoes at work the day before you ride in.
•    Keep a few basics like deodorant, sunscreen, a small towel, cleaning wipes, etc. at the office.
•    Consider bringing an extra lunch to leave at work the day before.
•    Leave your bike lock at work so it’s there when you need it. On the other hand, bring your bike inside and you might inspire your co-workers to make the ride too.

As far as which route to take, the one you drive to work is very likely not the best one for bicycling. The ideal road for a bike has a wide shoulder or bike lane, light traffic and lower speed limits for autos.

Get good route ideas from bike shop staff members, co-workers who ride, or neighborhood street maps. Drive your proposed route to assess mileage and to see if it still makes sense.

Go on a test ride of your route by bicycling it during the weekend before you plan your first real commute. This is a must-do activity for any new bike commuter. This also gives you the chance to see what it’s like to pedal that distance and how you feel when you get there. You may need a little practice on shorter runs before you feel fit enough to “go the distance.”

More and more people every day are trying bike commuting. With the price of gas soon approaching $4/gallon (despite President Bush’s not having heard about this…) every gallon of gas we save by biking adds up to big savings. The savings add up not only in dollars but in fewer carbon dioxide emissions as well.

Here are a few last minute things to consider:

•    Be aware of the weather forecasts to make sure there are no unpleasant surprises in store.
•    Bring only the essentials like keys, wallet, water bottle and yes, the cell phone.
•    Some people bike to work once a week. Others drop off 3 days’ worth of clothes on Monday, bike Tuesday through Thursday and drive on Friday to bring their clothes home.
•    Regardless of what works for you, the key is to get started and to have fun doing it.

Stay safe!
I hope you enjoyed this little change of pace. Until next time,
Elisabeth

(Source: Solar Today Magazine, Mar/Apr 2008. Taken from an article by Neal Lurie, Director of Marketing and Communications at the American Solar Energy Society. Lurie is also an avid bicyclist who commutes this way to work daily. He led the successful effort to finance a new bikeway between Denver and Boulder, CO)

Bicycle Commuting Made Easy

ebam2 — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 05:02:00 GMT

“If you do not have the power to change yourself, then nothing will change around you.” - Anwar Sadat

Did you know that transportation contributes nearly one-third of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States? Bicycle commuting can be a powerful way to reduce our carbon footprints, according to an article in Solar Today Magazine (Mar/Apr 2008).

If you are fortunate enough to live in an area where you can safely utilize a bicycle for transportation, you are lucky indeed! The majority of Americans live in suburbs, where the only way to safely get around is by car. However, if you can commute to work and even go shopping on your bicycle, there are some things you should know about how to get around safely on two wheels.

First off, here are a few of the most common mistakes new bicycle commuters often make:

•    Trying to carry too much.
•    Not planning where to park the bike.
•    Not testing the route before the first commute.
•    Forgetting to bring your workplace ID and getting locked out of your office.
•    Not checking the weather forecast.
•    Forgetting to pump the tires.
•    Not having a backup plan; is there someone you could call in an emergency?
•    Leaving just before sunrise and forgetting your sunglasses.

When deciding about bicycling to work you need to take into consideration how far away you work and whether it makes sense to ride in your work clothes.

•    Short commutes are under 4 miles each way. Nearly any bike will do. Unless it’s very hilly or hot, sweating probably isn’t a major concern. It may be easiest to simply bike in the same clothes you wear at work.
•    Moderate commutes (5-9 miles each way). Use relatively skinny road tires to reduce rolling friction. Knobby mountain tire treads will slow you down. Consider a change of clothes when you get to work.
•    Long commutes (more than 10 miles each way) Get a dependable road bike and definitely plan on a change of clothes once you get to work.

Just because your feet reach the pedals doesn’t mean your bike fits you correctly. Get yourself to a good bike shop and ask them to evaluate how your bike fits you. You’ll be amazed how even a half-centimeter adjustment can significantly increase your comfort and pedaling power.

Get the bike basics:

•    Pant leg band to keep your cuffs away from the chain.
•    Red blinking tail light so you can be seen.
•    Full fenders to protect your clothes on wet pavement.
•    Bike pump – properly inflated tires are safer and easier to ride on.
•    Bike lock to safeguard your bike. If rules permit, however, bring the bike inside and park it in your office or the break room.

Next time we’ll talk about how to stay warm, plan your route and how to keep from being a pack mule on two wheels.

See you then! Elisabeth

(Source: Solar Today Magazine, Mar/Apr 2008 Article by Neal Lurie, Director of Marketing and Communications at the American Solar Energy Society who is an avid bicyclist and commutes this way daily. He also led the successful effort to finance a new bikeway between Denver and Boulder, CO)

Oprah Hosts "A New Earth" Web Event

ebam2 — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:45:00 GMT

I want to tell you about the latest Oprah Winfrey happening that I hope you will want to take a look at this week and beyond. This is a global event of unheard of magnitude - I don't think that anything like this has ever been done before.

On Oprah.com this Monday and for the next 9 Mondays, there was the start of an amazing 10-week worldwide event. Oprah hosted the first of 10 weekly web sessions with author Eckhardt Tolle. Some of you might know him from the well-known "Power of Now". He has written another fascinating book, "A New Earth" and this is what the web cast is all about.

Although the new class is every Monday night at 9 Eastern, 8 Central time, you must sign up to "take it". I however just completed watching the 90-minute session tonight, on Wednesday. This works better for me than to have to commit to a special timeframe. Apparently the classes can be viewed at any time during that week, making it very convenient for anyone who might be interested.

What makes this web event so spectacular is the fact that over 700,000 people from 139 countries including the US were registered to watch Monday night's session at the same time. There's no knowing how many more are taking advantage of it the rest of the week. We could be talking about possibly as many as one million people from all over the globe participating in this special energy at quite nearly the same time. This is a powerful phenomenon.

Using Skype technology, people could ask questions live right during the broadcast. It was definitely more like a spontaneous conversation between friends than a formal "show". Email questions were also answered on the spot. There's a workbook which you can download from Oprah's website. Also, the book itself is readily available; I found mine at Walmart!!

I've heard it said that it only takes about 10% of a population to create a change for the entire population. Presumably, to save our planet, even if only 10% of us (that's one out of 10 people) think and operate in ways that will support this activity, then there's a chance we can make the difference.

Oprah and Eckhardt talked frequently about "The Shift", referring to some kind of change that occurs when we "awaken". I'm thinking that of the 6.5 billion people on the planet today, it would only take 10% of us waking up (whatever that number comes to - I'm very tired right now and math isn't my strong suit) to change the outcome of the survival of both planet and species.

I'm going to be on vacation (my first one in years) for the next 12 days. There are two more posts available to you during this time. They both deal with how to start bicycle commuting, even if you've never done it before. I hope you enjoy them. I will return after the 18th of March when I will be rested and restored once more ready to tackle "saving the planet one step at a time".

PS - I had promised you the recipe for the most perfect cup of coffee. It's available on my other blog written by my helper "Baby Herman", the Tuesday February 19th posting. Please go to www.themdgmethodblog.com * for the coffee directions and lots of other helpful alternative health information that is easy to implement in your day-to-day routine. The last two posts there deal with how to get ready for a cruise holiday: eg. what to take with you, how to stay healthy, etc. Guess where I'm going?

Please check out Oprah while I'm gone and see you in a couple of weeks.
elisabeth

*Once more, my humble apologies for the link not working. Please copy and paste this into your browser and it will definitely take you there. I promise to look into this problem when I return. If you have any ideas about how I can get godaddy to understand my difficulty with linking, please fire away!

Greensburg Kansas Rebuilds in Green Style

ebam2 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:31:00 GMT

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from that of their social environment." - Albert Einstein

I recently came across a website about the rebuilding of Greensburg, KS after a massive tornado destroyed 95 percent of the homes and businesses there in May, 2007. These days, with weather disasters occurring in ever greater frequency than we have known before, the overwhelming aspect of the tragedies makes it tempting to want to dismiss hearing of someone else's disaster. If it hasn't happened in our own immediate area, we can more easily overlook these events.

I remember living through a Cat 5 hurricane a number of years ago. It was Hugo in Charleston, SC, and it was beyond devastating at the time. Afterwards, I called everyone I knew to let them know we were alright. This was before we had email and such. I was both upset and amazed at the reactions I received. The majority of people I contacted had absolutely no concept of what I was going through or why I was even calling! Some had heard of the storm, many hadn't, but I felt so little compassion from anyone that I wished I had saved myself those long-distance phone charges when the bill finally arrived.

Today, I have more understanding of that phenomenon and realize that people can't relate to something if they haven't felt it on an experiential level. I get a similar reaction to my telling people about clearcutting. The reactions range from "well, that's just the way it is" to "get over it", with very few people showing the ability to express any kind of emotion unless they've been personally impacted by it in some way.

In a post on Febr. 13th, I wrote about a town in Arkansas that had been hit by an F-4 tornado. This event didn't even make national news beyond the weather station relating how there had been 69 tornadoes counted in the Midwest that day. Even then, the personal impact wasn't brought home until I received an email from someone who had lived through it and written about it to me. I chose to share it with you because I was so emotionally touched by the story.

What's remarkable about the town of Greensburg, Kansas, is the story of their rebuilding. Since the tornado hit on May 4, 2007, the city has focused it's recovery on rebuilding as a green community. The Greensburg City Council on Dec. 17 approved a resolution stating that all city building projects will be built to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Platinum Standards (usgbc.org). Greensburg is the first U.S. city to pass such a resolution, according to the USGBC.

You can learn more about how this town is coming together to "show the world how green they are" at www.greensburgks.org. I invite you to follow their progress on their website.

Next time I will give you the "Seven Simple Steps to Energy-Efficient Transportation". See you then!
elisabeth

Consequences of Global Climate Change

ebam2 — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:48:00 GMT

“The consequences of global climate change are so pressing that it doesn’t matter who was responsible for the past; what matters is who is responsible for the future – and that means all of us. The rich nations and the poor nations have different responsibilities. But one responsibility we all have, and that is action … action, action, action! It is time to come together in a new international agreement that can embrace rich and poor nations alike.”

- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, 2008

Those of my readers who have been following my blog since its inception in October of 2007 know that it all started with my rants about clear cutting practices in my home state of North Carolina, specifically in my own back yard. Although I'm still not over what happened and don't expect to be any time soon, I continue to write on topics related.

Recently I came across some information presented in a Renewable Energy Trade Publication, Renewable Energy Focus, Jan/Febr 2008 that I want to share with you today. It deals with the immense difficulties faced while attempting to break the poverty cycle in developing nations. And yes - it's still related to my discussion about trees, so read on...

Most of us probably know that the majority of the world's population lives in the developing world. According to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, improved access to clean, modern energy in developing countries is a fundamental step to poverty reduction. About 2.4 billion people depend on firewood, charcoal, harvest residues and dung for cooking and heating.

Typically about 35% of the energy needed for cooking and heating comes from these sources. In parts of Africa, however, it reaches 90%. The indoor pollution from open fires leads to health problems in mostly women, children and the elderly. Not only that, but the World Health Organization maintains that air pollutants from burning biomass (wood) and coal causes the death of 1.6 million people a year, more than the number of deaths from malaria! How much television coverage is this getting?

Women, who are primarily responsible for the majority of household chores (firewood gathering, water carrying, cooking, child bearing and feeding of the family) are generally unable to obtain either education or gainful employment. If women are better educated and household incomes increase, women's health improves. This also has been shown to stabilize (i.e. reduce) the number of children born into poverty.

But just as significant to this discussion, it's been shown that the unsustainable use (i.e. depleting the natural tree resources) of firewood is a contributing factor to desertification (when fertile land becomes a desert due to deforestation, drought, or inappropriate agriculture).   This, in turn, leads to greater climate changes and further global warming. (There's that tree subject again.)

What are some of the available alternatives? For one, solar cookers and ovens made from simple cardboard and aluminum foil have been shown to work extremely well, sparing much firewood in the process. This also saves an enormous amount of time for women every single day, freeing them up for other activities such as training and education.

Fundamentally, though, it's the grinding poverty in rural areas that makes access to electricity and subsequently modern communication and information technology all but impossible to the inhabitants living there. In order to change this, clean, sustainable, and cost-effective energy surely can, and probably must, come from the renewable sources of sun and wind, and soon.

Ultimately this will provide the starting point both for the reduction of poverty and the beginnings of development. Time is running out for many people of the world, as drought, crop failures, starvation, wars and famine take their toll. It has been said that ..."if the developing nations of the world were to follow the wasteful energy example set by some industrialized nations, the global impact would be devastating!"

Whereas the developing nations accuse the industrialized nations of destroying the environment by overconsumption, the industrialized nations accuse the developing nations of destroying the environment by overpopulation. Unfortunately for our planet Earth, both are right.

Where can we start? We could begin at the beginning - with the trees - setting an example of responsible stewardship of our forests by taking just what we need, leaving the rest for later.   There's room for the fulfillment of everyone's needs for wood, without destroying the very source from which it comes. Clear cutting is always going to be wrong. Period.

Thanks for coming by today.   I really appreciate your continued interest.
elisabeth

2008 Designated "Year of Planet Earth"

ebam2 — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:54:00 GMT

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.” -William Blake

It’s official: UN Declares 2008 Year of Planet Earth !

Research scientists, political decision makers, leading corporations and the voting public are engaged in a three-year effort to raise and invest $20 million on research and outreach activities aimed to promote Earth sciences. Ninety-seven countries representing 87 percent of the world’s population back the United Nations initiative.

Expressions of interest from individuals, researchers and organizations are now welcome. Winning proposals will target one of 10 areas. For example, they may show how to reduce risk from natural and human-induced hazards, reduce health problems, uncover poorly accessed groundwater, discover renewable resources, build safer structures and expand urban areas, determine the natural factor in climatic change or raise interest in Earth sciences.

(Source: Wikipedia by way of Natural Awakenings, Jan 2008)

I'm thrilled about this. It's a wonderful way to start to give Planet Earth some long-needed support and recognition. I hope this initiative continues and grows to massive proportions. (Although $20 million sounds like a lot, and it is, much much more will be needed. Putting this into perspective, keep in mind that the war in Iraq alone costs the United States many billions of dollars a month. Just think of all the positive ways that we can spend that money... )

Since the emphasis of this blog is on what we can all do for the environment, let's in the meantime continue to :

Conserve water wherever possible - 3 min showers, for example
Pick up trash and not litter
Change out high-energy light bulbs to fluorescent bulbs wherever possible
Spare trees and plant new ones to replace those lost
Walk or ride bicycles instead of driving
Open windows whenever weather permits to save on heating and air conditioning
Turn off and unplug appliances when not in use
Recycle everything your community offers
Compost household waste or start a worm pile to feed veggie scraps to
Purchase and consume organic produce whenever available
Teach your children respect for our planet by encouraging more outdoor play time
Support "FairTrade" products such as coffee, cocoa, tea, pineapples, flowers & cotton

Next time our topic will be "Fair Trade Coffee" and what it means to farmers in developing nations. Plus I'll give you tips on how to brew a most awesome cup of coffee. See you then!
Elisabeth