Saturday, November 17, 2007
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
This is another forest product certification organization. Here is their description of themselves.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative program is based on the premise that responsible environmentalbehavior and sound business decisions can co-exist. SFI program participants practice sustainable forestry on all the lands they manage. They also influence millions of additional acres through the training of loggers and foresters in best management practices and landowner outreach programs. This unique commitment to sustainable forestry recognizes that all forest landowners, not just SFI program participants, play a critical role in ensuring the long-term health and sustainability of our forests.
Increasing Home Efficiency
Today's Tip: Once a year, clean and inspect all central heating equipment such as furnaces and boilers. The cleaner and more efficient they are, the bigger the energy savings. A properly adjusted furnace can help save you up to 10% in fuel consumption.
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Forest Stewardship Council
The FSC is an organization that gives certification to forest products that meet their standards of sustainability. The U.S. division can be found here. Look for their symbol on wood and paper products.
They have standards for each section of the country. Here's how they describe my region.
The Pacific Coast region is distinguished by having the most commercially productive forests in the US, as well as some of the nation’s most highly valued scenic and biological resources. The region's coastal coniferous forests grow taller and larger diameter trees than dominant-tree species in the eastern U.S., and consequently often have a very high economic value.
Humboldt County has the highest timber production of any county in California. No wonder I find myself right in the middle of the deforestation situation.
Increasing Home Efficiency
Today's Tip: Energy-efficient doors and windows can help reduce fuel costs up to 15%. Can't replace windows? Then try layers of curtains, shades, lined drapes, or shades.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Loggerhead Turtles
New research shows that a small-scale Mexican fishery operated by hand from small open boats
can kill as many critically endangered loggerhead sea turtles as all of the industrial fishing
fleets in the North Pacific Ocean put together. On a per-hook or per-net basis, the Mexican
fishery is 10 to 100 times as deadly, the study found. The research has already resulted in
a voluntary turnaround in the fleet’s fishing practices and the declaration of an offshore
turtle refuge.
And in the Atlantic, the Center of Biological Diversity had a recent article on the decline of loggerhead turtles on eastern coast of the United States.
"Conservation groups Oceana and the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the federal government today to stop the precipitous decline of the western North Atlantic loggerhead sea turtle. The petition urges the National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency responsible for protecting loggerheads in ocean waters, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for protecting turtles on land, to change the designation of western North Atlantic loggerheads from threatened to endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This designation would strengthen protections, especially in the loggerheads’ nesting beach and marine habitats."
Increasing Home Efficiency
Today's Tip: If you have a window air-conditioning unit, cover it to prevent cold air from entering through the vents.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
A Little Global Warming
Yes, I believe in global warming, but not in the catastrophe scenario. That is the thought in an article entitled "A Scientist's Take on Global Warming" by Jeffrey P. Schaffer in today's Napa Valley Register.
Increasing Home Efficiency
Today's Tip: Install water-saver shower heads or flow restrictors. These inexpensive devices will pay for themselves in a few months.
My sons and I hate these things. We would rather take shorter showers. Further, water saving tips illustrate to me that one tip does not fit all. For people living in wet county, using wells and septic systems, electricity is the issue. It does cost a fair amount to pump water out of the ground using a 220-volt pump. Where I live, the water is free and plentiful -- most of the year. The water table drops in late Fall to the point where some people with shallow wells and old pumps lose their water. Further, you want an adequate amount of water running into and out of a septic system -- they don't work dry. However, I've lived most of my life in desert areas and water is viewed differently - maybe. More on this later.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Increasing Home Efficiency
Today's tip: Insulate hot water heater, pipes and ducts.
I wonder how many hot water heaters would need to be wrapped to make up for the conspicuous consumption represented by the trophy home and hummer shown below.
We're Making The Rest Of The World Sick?
"Our high consumption of energy is putting a huge disease burden on places that are quite remote from us," explains Jonathan Patz, a professor in the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. "There are many serious diseases that are sensitive to climate, and as earth's climate changes, so too can the range and transmission of such diseases."
"Many of these climate-sensitive diseases, such as malaria, malnutrition, and diarrhea, affect children," he explains. "We in the developed world need to recognize how our way of life imposes negative impacts upon poorer nations of the world — especially their children."
Learn more about this at the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), where they examine the linkages between natural resources, human health and security, and changes in the global environment.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Increasing Home Efficiency
Today's tip is quick and easy. Close off unoccupied rooms.
Global Resources are Scarce Resources
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns that if we don't make immediate changes, humans are on the road to running out of global resources. The WWF report says the human race more than tripled its exploitation of the Earth's resources between 1961 and 2003. And it warns of dire consequences if humanity's appetite continues to grow.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Increasing Car Efficiency - Last Installment
Purchase a fuel efficient vehicle. Selecting which vehicle to purchase is the most important fuel economy decision you will make. The difference between a car that gets 20 mpg and one that gets 30 mpg amounts to $550 per year (assuming 15,000 miles of driving annually). To find fuel-efficient vehicles for sale in New Hampshire, look for the Granite State Clean Cars label in the window of new vehicles. To learn about this program, visit www.cleancars.nh.gov. If you're not in the market for a new car, and are a multiple car family, the simplest way to get better fuel economy might be to drive your most fuel-efficient vehicle more of the time.
Farm Nutrients Cause Frog Deformities
In Boulder, Colorado, a study suggested high levels of nutrients from farming and ranching activities increased infections that produce deformities in frogs. University of Colorado-Boulder scientists found such nutrients fuel parasite infections that have caused highly publicized frog deformities in ponds and lakes across North America. Researchers determined the nutrients stimulate algae growth, which increases snail populations and the number of infectious parasites released by snails into ponds and lakes. The parasites form cysts in the developing limbs of tadpoles causing missing limbs, extra limbs and other malformations, Johnson said. This is the first study to show that nutrient enrichment drives the abundance of these parasites, increasing levels of amphibian infection and subsequent malformations.
The research has implications for both worldwide amphibian declines and for a wide array of diseases potentially linked to nutrient pollution, including cholera, malaria, West Nile virus and diseases affecting coral reefs. The study, which included scientists from Washington University, the University of Wisconsin, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project and the University of Alaska appears in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
