E Magazine articles from July 2005

E Magazine archives from July 2005

Will the real "slob" fishermen please stand up?(E Word)(fish conservation )
July 1, 2005... I grew up on the Connecticut shores of Long Island Sound and spent many weekends fishing off the docks of Norwalk's beaches with my dad. On some days his best friend would take us out fishing on the Sound in ills motorboat. We'were angling...

One home is enough.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2005... I greatly enjoyed and mostly concurred with Jeremy Rifkin's comparison of the American quality of life versus the European ("Learning from Europe," cover story, March/April 2005), but I cringed when I read that "... almost everyone [in Europe]...

Real environmentalists.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2005... Your cover story suggesting Americans learn from Europe to create new American Dream underscores a fundamental problem in American society. It takes more than "fill in the square" or "click the box" to achieve sustainable outcomes, leading one...

Consider the source.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2005... Your recent article on choosing a holistic practitioner ("The Natural Way, Your Health, March/April 2005) was tantamount to free advertising for the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP). There are a number of good schools of...

Who is extreme?(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2005... I just read a letter from a reader who called E "extreme" five separate times (Advice and Dissent, May/June 2005). I totally disagree. Claiming that environmentalists base decisions "on emotion" and "disregard science" is an opinion that I...

The immigrant dream.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2005... I am in disbelief that E ran a full-page ad from Negative Population Growth (March/April 2005) that promoted an anti-immigration message. Have the editors forgotten that this country was built on the backs of immigrants? The contribution of...

Calling all clean cars.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2005... Letter writers Kathleen Stroh and Lawrence Rhodes (Advice and Dissent, March/April 2005) are right on. Sometimes it seems like just a few of us are out there trying to bring Americans to their senses about hybrids, and auto travel in general....

Another look at fuel-cell cars.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2005... E's answer to the reader's question on water vapor exhaust from fuel-cell cars missed some key points (Earth Talk, March/April 2005). It is true that gasoline-fueled vehicles emit a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2). According to the Natural...

First NAFTA, now CAFTA?(North American Free Trade Agreement)(Central American Free Trade Agreement)
July 1, 2005... In 1993, the U.S. government passed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, promising it would promote jobs. In reality, according to Sarah Massey, a spokesperson for the AFLCIO Americas Union Movement, it...

Students green the think tank.(Roosevelt Institution objectives)
July 1, 2005... The widespread dissatisfaction among campus activists after President Bush's reelection prompted student liberals to create the Roosevelt Institution (RI), the first student-run progressive think tank, guided by the principles of Teddy,...

Mute swans in peril.(bird conservation efforts)
July 1, 2005... With their elegant profiles, mute swans are the stars of many a fairy tale, but in real life they have become creatures of controversy. Some environmental groups and wildlife managers want to rid North America of the birds, which are native to...

Cousteau's water crusade.(water borne diseases prevention through quality supply)
July 1, 2005... "Six thousand kids die each day: because of water-related diseases. That's like 12 full 747s crashing every day." The speaker was Ryan Hreljac, age 13, addressing a room full of adults gathered for the launch of the Water Culture Network (WCN)...

Abundant energy: New England's NESEA promotes solar power ... and green buildings.(CURRENTS)
July 1, 2005... Everyone's familiar with the concept of the "open house," but suppose instead of McMansions you could visit only energy-efficient homes heated by solar or geothermal energy, with electricity provided by the wind? Sounds like an alternate...

Something stinks: the lingering legacy of the wood-preserving industry.(CURRENTS)
July 1, 2005... Sunshine was streaming through the picture windows into Kimm Marshall's living room and the sky was a crisp blue, a rare treat for valley-bound Oregonians in December. Side-stepping his nieces and nephews, Marshall gathered up a garbage bag of...

Living roofs: green miracles that also cool buildings.(CURRENTS)(green roofing)
July 1, 2005... Critics praised the new Millennium Park in downtown Chicago when it opened last July, and visitors streamed in: a half million in the first week alone. Visitors exploring the 24-acre park were drawn to the shiny 110-ton abstract steel sculpture...

Road to perdition: are smog-belching "truck tollways" a congestion solution?(CURRENTS)(traffic management in a greener way)
July 1, 2005... Fifteen years from now, 28,000 trucks day, many of them hauling double r triple trailers, may be speeding up and down special truck lanes on Virginia's Interstate 81, belching tons of carbon monoxide into the Shenandoah Valley each year....

Salt marsh SOS: from Maine to Mississippi, tidal wetlands are degrading.(CURRENTS)
July 1, 2005... A picture may speak a thousand words, but time-lapse photographs of an imperiled tidal marsh in Darien, Connecticut are more likely to leave viewers speechless. In a scientist's photomosaic taken in 1972, wetlands along the Five Mile River...

Losing the orangutan.(UPDATES)(pet trade declines Orangutan population)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... There are only about 20,000 orangutans left in the world, and their numbers are dwindling rapidly. The Sumatran Orangutan Society suggests that the animals may be extinct in the wild within 10 years. The "man of the woods" once spread across...

More mad deer.(UPDATES)(mad deer disease spreads to humans)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Wildlife officials are becoming increasingly worried about chronic wasting disease (CWD), a/k/a "mad deer disease," which has been detected in wild and captive deer and elk in 12 states (see "What About Mad Deer Disease?," Features, July/August...

False fish.(UPDATES)(farm raised salmon infectious)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... A study conducted for the New York Times last arch found that six of the eight New York City fish vendors tested were falsely selling farm-raised salmon as wild. The story unfolded when the limes realized that many of the stores were selling...

Ocean rescue: can we head off a marine cataclysm?
July 1, 2005... As I walked along the beach in northern Washington, scouting for garbage to put in the heavy-duty trash bag they had given me at the Olympic Coast clean-up orientation session a few hours earlier, I came upon a sad sight. A sea otter had...

Rod Fujita: works to save our seas.(interview with scientist of Environmental Defense )(Interview)
July 1, 2005... Rod Fujita, an Oakland, California-based senior scientist with Environmental Defense who was instrumental in setting up marine reserves in the Florida Keys and the Channel Islands of California, is the author of Heal the Ocean: Solutions for...

Ocean resources: in search of blue water.
July 1, 2005... Once relatively neglected in relation to such A-list Hollywood concerns as rainforests, the increasingly dire plight of the oceans is now attracting the attention of researchers, environmentalists, regular folks and even some celebrities...

Regional councils: managing fish stocks or just protecting industry?
July 1, 2005... When Congress adopted the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (FCMA) in 1976, it completely reshaped the way in which the U.S. managed its fisheries. The act (now known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act) extended the limit of national...

Warming up the seas.(ocean warming due to human activity)
July 1, 2005... In February, scientists unveiled compelling evidence that human activity is causing the oceans to heat up, a finding with troubling implications for life on both sides of the ocean's surface. "Previous observations have shown that the...

Clearing the air: how to breathe easier at home.(Your Health)(indoor air quality)
July 1, 2005... Most people look to the sky for billowing smokestacks when they're concerned about air pollution. But Karen Spector of the Los Angeles-based Children's Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC) says parents of young children usually look down. "We...

Going nuts: why are so many kids allergic?(Eating Right)(food policy for nuts meals)
July 1, 2005... The last time I flew to California, I was given a packet of pretzels rather than the usual peanuts. But since I had missed a meal, I was really counting on the more filling (not to mention tastier) nuts to tide me over. When I queried the...

Unplugging: living off the grid.(House & Home)(home based fuel for electricity)
July 1, 2005... In the early 1970s, more than one million young people stoked on hippie idealism and old copies of Mother Earth News went "back to the land," choosing to homestead as their pioneer ancestors did in rural cabins, often without running water or...

Buy now, pay later: greening credit cards.(Money Matters)
July 1, 2005... In the U.S., there are now more than two credit cards for every man, woman and child. As correspondent Lowell Bergman recently reported on PBS Frontline, With more than 641 million credit cards in circulation and accounting for an estimated...

Yosemite calls: touring California's Tuolumne County.(Going Green)
July 1, 2005... Tuolumne County, California, 133 miles east of San Francisco, is best known for housing Yosemite National Park. Yet the county itself is chock-full of hidden treasures that would please any vacationer or environmentalist yearning for a deeper...

Wearing your values: eco-fashions are on today's runways.(Consumer News)
July 1, 2005... During New York's famed Fashion Week last February, there was one show that drew environmentalists along with the trendy regulars and entertainment celebrities. Such well-known designers as Diane von Furstenberg, Halston and Oscar de la Renta...

Vermont fresh.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Vermont Naturals product info)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Freshen up any space with the new collection Vermont Naturals from Way Out Wax. The delightful Clean Air Soy Candle ($9) burns for up to 50 hours and the Clean Air Spray (four ounces, $9.50) can be dispensed into the air or onto fabrics,...

Write on this.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Boku Books environmental products)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Boku Books offers a beautiful line of journals, notebooks and blank books, and none are made from trees! The stylish books ($1 to $10, depending on size) are lightweight, designed to fit in your pocket or bag, and are offered in a variety of...

Great green choices.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(GreenerChoices.org)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Readers of Consumer Reports who have noted the glowing reviews of hybrid cars, low-VOC paint, natural foods and other Earth-friendly products might have suspected that the staff harbored more than a few closet environmentalists. Now the...

Smart money on TV.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Ethical Marketplace television program)(Brief Article)(Television Program Review)
July 1, 2005... A great new way to learn about the growing sustainability movement and how to strike a balance between your dividends and the environment is by watching the new weekly half-hour television show Ethical Marketplace. Each episode spotlights...

Organic pastabilities.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(organic food now in the market)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Hodgson Mill's Certified Organic Gourmet Pasta (12 ounces for $2.15) is made with only two ingredients: organic durum whole-wheat flour and milled flax seed. Since 1882 Hodgson has used only whole grains, unlike most conventional foods, which...

Got it in the bag ...(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(shopping bags from Wrapsacks and Annon Fashion )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Move over Prada, there's a new bag in town. The Zipsack by Wrapsacks ($11.95) is small enough to fit in your pocket and large enough to carry all of your groceries. Made of hand-dyed cotton in a range of bright colors, these bags zip up neatly...

The ghost hunter.(The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker book by Tim Gallagher )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Tim Gallagher got his Eureka moment in the swamps of Arkansas on February 27, 2004. In his book The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker (Houghton Mifflin, $25) this lifetime birder and magazine editor at the Cornell Lab...

Finger foods.(Vegetarian Appetizers: Simply Delicious Recipes for Easy Entertaining book by Paulette Mitchell )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Vegetarian Appetizers: Simply Delicious Recipes for Easy Entertaining (Chronicle Books, $18.95) by nine-time cookbook author Paulette Mitchell makes it easy to prepare delicious appetizers and snacks. The book has 70 recipes with step-by-step...

Kids need nature.(Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder book by Richard Louv )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Dr. Donald Shiffin, a Bellevue, Washington pediatrician, told the New York Times that he rarely sees kids with the broken arms that come from falling out of trees. Instead, they arrive at his office toting video games, cellphones and handheld...

Bicycle basics.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Bicycle: The History book by David V. Herlihy)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... David V. Herlihy, author of the definitive, colorful history Bicycle (Yale University Press, $35), fives in the seaside town of Hull, Massachusetts, where he can bike past the East Coast's first community-owned wind turbine. It's not...

Your food and you.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(The Little Food Book: You Are What You Eat book by Craig Sams )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Rampant misconceptions and a barrage of fads surrounding "healthful" foods have left many confused about their diets. The Little Food Book: You Are What You Eat (The Disinformation Company, $9.95) offers up the bare-bones facts about food, its...

Steinbeck's green mentor.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Beyond the Outer Shores: The Untold Odyssey of Ed Ricketts, the Pioneering Ecologist Who Inspired John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell book by Eric Enno Tamm )(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... In the 1930s self-taught marine biologist Ed Ricketts led pioneering investigations of the Pacific coastline. Now, journalist Eric Enno Tamm uses pictures and letters to uncover the story of the great field ecologist in Beyond The Outer Shores:...

Colorful kites.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Tracking Desire: A Journey after Swallow-Tailed Kites book by Susan Cerulean)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Susan Cerulean takes her readers on an adventure tracking swallow-tailed kites as she teams up with field biologists to observe, tag and count the nesting populations of this bird. Cerulean describes the elusive species in great detail while,...

English ivy and green hospitality.(EARTH TALK: Questions & Answers About Our Environment)(environmentally friendly products)
July 1, 2005... Is the English ivy covering the unattractive fence in my backyard really an environmental villain?--Perry Pitcher, Seattle, WA English ivy is everywhere across the North American landscape, largely because it is an attractive, hearty and...