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March 30, 2005
Furs for Wildlife
It's a lovely bright day, the first of the days we'll call 'the first day of spring' (spring teases us for months here in the Berkshires). Tom's off to get his bike out, and in a bout of spring cleaning I came across a fur coat I bought at a tag sale 10 years ago, when I first came back to the States from England.
I'm not sure quite what I had in my mind when I bought it, except I liked the colors (black and gold), and I've never worn it. But in the interest of wasting nothing, I was looking for information about cleaning vintage fur coats, and came across this fascinating idea, using old furs as beds for wildlife. So, if I don't end up wearing the coat next winter (or maybe this spring!), it'll be donated to a good cause. Furs for Wildlife
Posted by Karen Christensen at 5:02 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2005
Easy recycling that really matters
My laptop battery died a few weeks ago and I have been using the old one as a paper weight--couldn't throw it away, but didn't know what to do with it. Then I saw an ad in Organic Style (more about that another day) for the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation. The website has a database of all the places where you can drop off used rechargeables, from phones, PDAs, cordless power tools, etc. But I live in a small town and didn't expect to come up with anything at all. What do you know? A plethora of options, incuding the hardware store two blocks from my office! Can't ask for better than that. Do try it.
This is a tip for the US and Canada only, but I'll follow with information about programs elsewhere.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 6:23 AM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2005
Textbook insights
My daughter's taking a class in environmental management and I've learned two important things from her. First, Richard Nixon's looking better and better: he signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act in 1970.
One of the most important demands of this law is that Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be produced. As Rachel points out, creating these big reports is a lot of work. (Students are very much aware of the work involved writing reports, but I'm sure she doesn't realize the extraordinary resources that go into writing government reports.) Just calling for an EIS can slow down or derail projects that would damage the environment.
Naturally, today's US government considers NEPA too restrictive, tough on business. I was fascinated to learn that any citizen can contact the government and ask for a copy of an EIS. Rachel was even given the choice of hard copy or CD/ROM. I think it's great to have students make personal contact with a person in Washington DC, so they realize that the government consists of real people sitting at desks, answering the phone, doing their jobs.
I've also discovered that the websites that go with textbooks have some interesting features. Some of the links and resources are pretty weak--you could do much better on Google--but there are some good case studies and high-tech mapping tools. I was startled to read that the snow goose, as well as the Canadian goose, is increasing rapidly. The snow goose has "a devastating effect on the fragile tundra ecosystem in the far north where they breed and raise their young."
For a free home environmental studies lesson, take a look at the Environmental Science site from McGraw-Hill.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 7:20 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2005
Unbottle your water
"The Armchair Environmentalist is filled with wisdom for those who want to live an environmentally responsible life. For example, simply saying no to bottled water will save energy and measurably reduce carbon emissions. Karen Christensen has incorporated more environmental advice in this crisp, tightly written volume than in anything I've seen to date."--Lester R. Brown, President, Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble.
I'm glad to have Les Brown's blessing on my advice about water, because a friend complained about it the other day. We've really been persuaded that bottled water is purer and healthier and somehow part of what someone recently referred to as 'conscious living.' This is simply not so--just Google for references to studies on this--but that doesn't mean it's a hard habit to break. Yet practically, in western nations, it's dead easy to carry a bottle and refill it from time to time (if you don't lose things all the time, as I do, there are even beautiful stainless steel water bottles that'll keep water cold in the desert).
Even here in London, the tap water's perfectly okay. Used to be that there were separate taps for drinking water, and you weren't supposed to drink from the bathroom tap either, because water was stored in houses in big murky vats in the attic, to get a little pressure I think. No more. You can even take showers here now.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 2:32 PM | Comments (0)
March 5, 2005
The world in a bottle
This won’t save the planet, but it’s a useful and seasonal tip, here on the East Coast, because so many people go to Florida this time of year. It’s so tempting to bring reminders home—even when we should "Take only photographs, leave only footprints." (And traveling by any vehicle other than a plane is also a good idea.) I’m not a regular Florida tripper, but a couple of years back I found myself with a small bag of shimmery white sand, full of tiny bits of coral and seashell. Not much use, not much beauty, and an ecological no-no to boot.
What I did was this: I put funneled the sand into a long clear whiskey bottle with a wooden cap. On its side, lying here on my desk, it reminds me of the sea and sunshine, of the wider world, on the beauty we need to preserve.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 5:15 PM | Comments (0)