Ecoscraps

I can appreciate Walt Disney World copyrighting their park.  After all, they’re largely responsible for just about every inch of it, from the sculpted bushes to human-engineered lakes and waterways.  Obviously, it’s well established that biotech companies currently have every right to own and patent new forms of life.

But when I was passing through Pebble Beach on the spectacular Monterey Peninsula of California, a friend mentioned that I could NOT photograph nature should it ever be used for some commercial purpose.  In essence, every inch of the natural area, including the coastal ocean frontage, was owned and copyrighted by the Pebble Beach Company — thus my jarring red line through an otherwise brilliant image of nature’s beauty.  Thousands of happy-camera-clicking tourists — many of whom make deposits to enter the grounds or eat at the upscale restaurants in the area — end up capturing images of the famous “Lone Cypress” tree.  Some of these photos, my guess, will end up on Flickr or in Wikipedia.  At that point, anyone can “borrow” them for their own uses, commercial or otherwise.  Funny, since the Pebble Beach Company brochure actually proclaims that the Lone Cypress is one of “California’s most familiar landmarks…inspir[ing] countless artists, photographers and sightseers.”  Just don’t share them with anyone.

So should a company be able to copyright a view of nature for which it was not directly responsible for planting or otherwise creating?

Perhaps the Pebble Beach Company should consider the California Coastal Commission’s report related to public access for an insight less motivated by greed:

“The California Coast is a place of magnificent vistas and seemingly endless beauty. It seems
to define who we are and what this State is all about. Anyone, no matter who he is and
how much or how little he has, can partake of this beauty. The California coast belongs to
us all. It sustains a remarkable variety and abundance of life. It fires the imagination, inspires
creative expression, and offers sanctuary to body and soul.”

So what’s next, charging us for the air we breathe as we pass by a park or preserve (trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, which we then breathe)?

What ever happened to the idea of sharing the commons?  Must everything be reduced to dollars and cents?

With all the talk of New Year Resolutions, many involving losing a few pounds (and inches off our waistlines), perhaps one approach to the holidays is to get off the couch (and away from the TV). Participate in an active community event like cross-country skiing, dance, or some participative sport. Or escape to the woods for a hike, not hit the mall.

My son and I returned to Mayor Daley’s Chicago Sports Fest at McCormick Place again this year. Produced by the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, the Chicago Sports Fest offered activities for young and old alike, though most the activities were for young people. My son timed himself on a 40-year dash and we competed in a stationary rowing event. We both joined in a two hour game of floor hockey (can’t remember the last time I had so much fun hitting around a puck). We both broke a sweat.

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Most of us have heard on NPR’s Marketplace that the GMO-giant, Monsanto — a sponsor of the program — is “committed to sustainable agriculture…Produce more. Conserve more.” Obvious greenwashing, if you ask any farmer at a local farmers’ market or people committed to growing with nature, not synthetic chemicals. For more examples of greenwashing, see the Greenwashing Index from EnviroMedia and the University of Oregon.

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About 3 million twinkling, high-efficiency, quarter-watt LED bulbs are now greeting visitors to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, nestled at the doorstep of the spectacular Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Gatlinburg welcomes over 11 million visitors a year.

The City of Gatlinburg’s commitment to convert the Gatlinburg Winter Magic Celebration lights program to 100 percent LED bulbs during 2008 has paid off in immediate and significant savings of electricity (not to mention reducing the City’s carbon dioxide emissions). LED lights use as much as 75 percent less energy, last ten times longer, produce (i.e., waste) almost no heat, and are more durable than glass bulbs. The City — like millions of Americans — have discovered that going green with LED lighting saves green and helps preserve the environment.  As I write about in ECOpreneuring, the “greentech” or clean tech sector, of which LED lighting is but one such technology, is booming.

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It’s true.
I have a zero-gallon/flush toilet! The air in my basement (collected by my 5-gallon dehumidifier) flushes my toilet.

The 5-gallon reservoir in my dehumidifier fills up daily in the summer (I’m in humid St Louis, MO). Then, gravity lends a hand. I pour the 5 gallons into the toilet to flush the “yellow” that we’ve let “mellow” in the first floor bathroom, at the end of the day (for all you cringers out there, it doesn’t start to smell until day 2 or 3).

#2 is done upstairs and flushed in a normal fashion each time–we’re not barbarians:)

Now, I know that this works (and that it saves water) but I don’t know how it works. For that I looked up an old yahoo answers post which explains the process (for those who want to know).

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons GNU Free Documentation License

With all the news (and common sense) about the harmful effects of various weed killers, I’d like to arm our readers with a free, earth-friendly weed killer.

Scroll

killer.

Yep, it’s your hands. I am arming you with your own hands. The thumb and index finger can work together to rid most small yards and gardens of all invasive weeds.

If you have kids and/or a partner, then you have more free weed killers at your disposal.

And you don’t have to purchase “green” products to be “green”. As Adam Shake writes at Twilight Earth; “Do Nothing – And Call it Green”. This is a perfect example of this mantra…

Now get pickin’!

Related News

EPA fails to inform public about weed-killer (Atrazine) in drinking water
Green Options Article Archive on “Atrazine”
Report: Genetically Modified (GM) Crops are Harmful to Your Health (good info on the effects of Roundup weed killer. Also, click on the links at the bottom of this article for more info.)

image credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Nude pole dancing on the New York subway and pole dancing on a pedicab (bike)! Two more reasons to ditch your car…

See the video here.

image credit: Wikimedia Commons–Creative Commons Public Domain

Most teenagers are busy texting their friends or playing video games. Not Angela Primbas. This teen is taking matters into her own hands when it comes to pollution. She and two friends of hers have formed Save Our Streams (S.O.S.), and new group dedicated to stopping the pollution of their backyard streams and the entire Lake Erie Watershed.

Says Angela,

When I was a kid, I can remember seeing a sign that was posted on one of the beaches at Lake Erie that said the beach was closed to swimming because of pollution. That was a big wake-up call for me. I also learned about pollution in my seventh-grade science class. Environmental issues weren’t really part of my school’s curriculum, but I was lucky enough to have a science teacher who really cared about the environment and shared with us some facts about pollution. Between those two avenues, I learned about the toll that pollution is having on our community.

You can read more of the interview with Angela at Mother Nature Network.

Image via NeilsPhotography on Flickr.

I once called Blue Planet Run a “must read“, and it is (so read it!). However, GOOD’s latest water issue* is easier to take with you, covers some new topics, and well, some people just prefer magazines.

I’m not sure if magazines can be called ‘must reads’–but if so, then this issue is (so read it!).

*The on-line edition does not have the content in its entirety, so consider buying the hard copy as well.

More on Water

Blue Planet Run
Green Options Articles tagged ‘Water’

image credit: flickr

Yesterday, TIME magazine reported that pollution isnt just bad for your health – it is also linked with lower IQs in children. The study, which was published by the journal Pediatrics found that mothers who gave birth after living in places with high pollution have, on average, children with IQ scores that are four points lower than mothers who are pregnant in a clean environment.

“A difference in four points could be educationally meaningful in terms of school success,” says Frederica Perera, director of the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health and lead author of the study. The effect is comparable, she says, to the damage seen in children exposed to low levels of the toxic metal lead.

Nearly 20 children participated in the study, which first began in 1998 and has tracked them for over a decade. Read more about it at TIME.com.

Picture via Flickr.