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August 28, 2006
Native plants bring butterflies and more
This is an odd post to write from Beijing, but I took this photo some weeks ago and have been wanting to tell you about a wonderful result of planting native species: a great increase in insects, including butterflies of different types. And because we now have two types of milkweed, we have been enjoying visits from monarch butterflies. Double-click the photo to see the two types more clearly. The pink flowers at middle and right are swamp milkweed, and the tall plant at left is what I think of as regular milkweed, with just off-white flowers.
They reseed themselves freely, as do the many other native and hardy species we've been planting, so weeding is important--and we have to learn to identify the tiny seedlings so we know what to keep. I was startled this year to find a purple morning glory coming back on its own. These plants--known as bindweed--can be invasive in warmer climates, but I had no idea the seeds would survive a New England winter.
Perhaps by the time I get home from China the pale yellow solidago, or goldenrod, will be blooming in the terrace bed. I've never seen so many tiny bees or flies or whatever they are as this plant attracts. This is all to the good: we need to create habitat for myriad small creatures, because they are part of a healthy local ecosystem. Ideally, you should find a local or regional nursery to get your native plants from. My favorite in our area is the Catskill Native Nursery. And for common plants, just collect seeds or small plants in the wild, from the roadside or a vacant lot. (It's funny to find that plants we consider roadside weeds are grown for their beauty in other countries: English gardens often have goldenrod and sumac, and the bouquet a colleague left for me here at my Beijing hotel has goldenrod in it.)
I'm not a zealot though, as you can see from the photo: I love my hybrid lilies, too!
Posted by Karen Christensen at 7:33 AM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2006
Website hosting
I'm blogging in haste from Narita Airport in Tokyo, en route to China, and here's a link I've been meaning to pass along: SustainableWebsites, Green Web Hosting. We're planning to look into this at the office, and I've heard good reports. More from China, as I meet with environmentalists there.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2006
Chinese version of Eco Living now online
I recently received a copy of the Thai edition of the Armchair Environmentalist, and am pleased to announce the free online version of Eco Living (2000) in Chinese at GuanxiOnline.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 4:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2006
Appliances aren't just energy accessories
In some cases, a new household appliance can save a good deal of energy. This is true for refrigerators and freezers, and for washing machines (especially if you choose front-loading). But it's not true of televisions, as this article, "Plasma screen TVs sap energy supplies," explains:
"Britain's seemingly insatiable appetite for the latest plasma screen televisions could be posing a serious threat to the planet, a technology expert has warned.
"If just half of British homes were to buy one of the flat-screen sets, two more nuclear power stations would be needed to meet the extra energy demand - with all the environmental problems that would bring."
The same probably holds true for computer monitors, by the way. Anyone know about this? We'll be looking into it.
While we focus on the energy used in transportation, energy use at home is far from negligible (the article says that up to 1/4 of carbon emissions come from household appliances, but I suspect that includes home heating as well as freestanding appliances). When it comes to televisions the old-fashioned option is clearly best.
My son, Tom, a toddler when I first started writing about environmental issues, has become my best source of news like this. I remember him shocking people by waving a Lego gun around when I went to the Ecology Centre in London to give a talk the night Home Ecology was published. He's turned out just fine, anyhow.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 11:08 AM | Comments (1)
August 10, 2006
Organic food for one and all (but what does "organic" mean now?)
Food has always been a central environmental concern, but there are some new issues arising. One is the growing conflict between fuel and food--or, one might say, between SUV drivers and the world's poor--and another is the mass marketing--or, perhaps, the industrialization, of organic food.
It's a little hard to tell whether Michael Pollan thinks the latter is a good thing or a bad one, in "Mass Natural" in the New York Times:
"This is good news indeed, for the American consumer and the American land. Or perhaps I should say for some of the American land and a great deal more of the land in places like Mexico and China, for Wal-Mart is bound to hasten the globalization of organic food. (Ten percent of organic food is imported today.) Like every other commodity that global corporations lay their hands on, organic food will henceforth come from wherever in the world it can be produced most cheaply. It is about to go the way of sneakers and MP3 players, becoming yet another rootless commodity circulating in the global economy."
Pollan has got John Mackey, the founder of Wholefoods Markets, on the defensive, as you can see from Mackey's blog. Investors adore Wholefoods, a company that markets virtue with staggering success, and that is, no question, a fascinating and attractive business. What I'm waiting to see is a campaign aimed, like the Church of England's recently launched effort, at getting their customers to stop driving to the store. Or should Wholefoods ban SUVs from their parking lots?
And think of this: "The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol will feed one person for a year. The grain it takes to fill the tank every two weeks over a year will feed 26 people." Read more.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 3:43 PM | Comments (1)
August 4, 2006
Oil and water shouldn't mix
I've noticed a trend here that strikes me as a good sign. I've seen two or three people drinking water out of glass bottles they've obviously refilled. This solves the perennial water bottle challenge of taste (how many discussions have you heard about the latest, greatest new sports bottle?), and is so much better for the environment (and health) than buying bottled water.
Here's a great photo created by David Coale of Acterra, who worked out how much oil is takes to ship a bottle of water from its source to California. You'll see the oil floating on the top.
Can you ever buy Evian again?
Posted by Karen Christensen at 9:16 AM | Comments (0)