E Magazine articles from July 2008

E Magazine archives from July 2008

The cow in the living room.(E Word)
July 1, 2008... I politely passed on the offer of a bison burger at a recent Ted Turner-hosted fundraising event I attended in New York City (no, I'm not a donor--we were invited as press). But I couldn't resist a wisecrack and a wink to the server that it was...

Spread the good news.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... Your feature ("Cleaner, Greener U.", cover story, March/April 2008) brought good news about what some colleges and universities are doing. It seems as though the students, the youth, are leading the way. It is interesting that the movement has...

Gunning for change.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... I am so glad that people are finally becoming aware of the benefits of reusing and recycling, not only for the planet, but also for the more simple reason of saving money and keeping our households healthier. However, I was appalled at Doug...

Veggie power!(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... I was very pleased to see your article on hemp as a "super food" ("The New Super Foods," Eating Right, March/April 2008). I found it brave that you published it, and would suggest that you go deeper into the subject, including hemp's use in...

Toxic truths.(ADVICE & DISSENT: Letters from our readers)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... As you noted, fire retardants known as PBDEs were banned in 2003, but you neglected to mention that other equally dangerous substitutes have replaced them ("From Pouches to Couches," EarthTalk, March/April 2008). In our new report called...

Conservation from above.(EcoFlight)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our Cessna 210 takes off between two gas drilling rigs standing sentinel over the end of the runway at the small airport in Rifle, Colorado. "I am always a little worried about those when the weather is marginal,"...

Tuning in slowly.(environmental news)
July 1, 2008... In April of 1991, National Public Radio (NPR) began running a regular environmentally focused news segment called "Living on Earth." NPR was the first major news outlet to take environmental news seriously. According to Bruce Gellerman, a...

Tracking your footprint.
July 1, 2008... Online carbon calculators show the relative size of one's carbon footprint and how simple lifestyle choices--say, switching to high-efficiency lightbulbs or taking mass transit--can dramatically decrease your contribution to climate change....

Plastic Industry strikes back.
July 1, 2008... Following San Francisco's lead, other cities with plastic bag woes are now considering their own bans on single-use bags in grocery and drug stores. But when the progressive town of Fairfax, California--population just over 7,00--decided to ban...

Sorting through sadness: the high cost of recycling at a Cambodian landfill.(CURRENTS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Those who live there call it "Smokey Mountain." Officially, it's the Steung Meanchey landfill in Cambodia, the city dump for Phnom Penh, a 100-acre mountain of waste where some 2,000 registered workers, including 600...

The reel downfall of reefs: controlling fishing to save the coral reefs.(CURRENTS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Across the world coral reefs are dying because of over-fishing. It is the fish which protect the reefs from excessive algae, the main culprit in coral death. For over a millennium, inhabitants of small islands who...

Follow the salesmen: how industry insiders challenged the car lobby.(CURRENTS)
July 1, 2008... Chuck Frank is the son of a man who billed himself as "The World's Largest Chevy Dealer." But Frank never wanted to sell cars. As a boy, his favorite pastimes were camping and fishing. He wanted an outdoor career, but that seemed impossible for...

Relearning to recycle: streamlining the process (and reaping rewards) with RecycleBank.(CURRENTS)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It costs Connecticut towns $72 to haul one ton of trash to a landfill. Last year, Hartford produced 109,000 tons. In an effort to curb the capitol's waste accumulation, Mayor Eddie Perez is launching a new recycling...

Chemicals gone wild.(UPDATES)(chemical pollutants)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chemical pollutants have cropped up in--and are threatening the very existence of--the populations of two distinctive predatory creatures (see "Intensive Condor Care," Currents, September/October 2007). As reported...

Measles or the rise.(UPDATES)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The number of cases in the United States of measles--a viral disease that in 2000 was declared eliminated from the U.S. population--has reached a six-year high. A Center for Disease Control (CDC)report shows that between January 1 and April 25,...

Waves of change.(UPDATES)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The concept of harnessing tidal energy is hitting the shores of Ireland with the launch of several wave power projects see "Wave Power," Currents, May/June 2008). The island nation, with its position in the rollicking North Atlantic, is ideally...

The meat of the matter: our livestock industry creates more greenhouse gas than transportation does.(Cover story)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ask most Americans about what causes global warming, and they'll point to a coal plant smokestack or a car's tailpipe. They're right, of course, but perhaps two other images should be granted similarly iconic status:...

Think before you eat: the widespread effects of factory-farmed meat.
July 1, 2008... One of the most stalwart defenders of factory farming in America is the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and it's none too happy that the United Nations has concluded that the environment pays a heavy price for our addiction to meat (see...

Fixing the animal farms: an interview with Robert Martin.(Interview)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Late last April, the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (PCIFAP) released the findings from its 2 1/2-year study on the current state of the meat industry, called "Putting Meat on the Table:...

Dreams of gold and green: U.S. Olympic athletes push environmental causes.
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An eerie metallic sound swells as U.S. Olympic swimmer Tara Kirk poises on the pool's edge. Her leg muscles tense, and, in a flash, she and the other swimmers dive beneath the water. "It's said our fastest racers...

Healing headaches: drug-free remedies for one of the most common medical complaints.(Your Health)
July 1, 2008... According to the American Headache Society, 90 percent of people have at least one headache per year. With $1 billion dollars spent annually on over-the-counter headache medications, it's clearly a big, throbbing problem. But simply popping a...

Where the wild things are: foraging for the season's best-kept secrets.(Eating Right)
July 1, 2008... In our 21st century supermarket culture, we've come to trust only packaged products. But just a century ago, plants we consider weeds--like purslane, sorrel and dandelions--were a regular part of the diet. Wild things grow all around us: in...

Movin' on up: condos get a green makeover.(House & Home)
July 1, 2008... Green condominium projects may be the most environmentally responsible housing on the market today. By their nature, condominiums are dense developments that take up less room and help preserve open space. Primarily urban, green condos are...

Making a life: redefining success and rediscovering joy.(Money Matters)
July 1, 2008... Adapted from the book ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet Before Profits (New Society Publishers) Life offers more than a paycheck, corner office and promotional title. In fact, many of us are working ourselves to death. For many...

Finding grace in Dominica: a yoga getaway in a tropical paradise.(Going Green)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Three weeks after returning from a yoga retreat on the Caribbean island of Dominica, I saw one of the other trip participants. She smiled broadly and said she was still feeling high from our weeklong stay at the...

Cover up: blocking rays with sun-protective clothing.(Consumer News)
July 1, 2008... The most effective method of avoiding undue sun exposure is to stay indoors, but most of us love the sun too much. Does chemical sunscreen or sunblock provide a solution? Not likely, says Harvey Schakowsky, owner of Solar Protective Factory, a...

Summer brews.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Orlio)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Summer's got a new organic beer, and its name is Orlio, a light, hoppy India Pale Ale or a smooth, crisp "common ale" that offers the perfect compliment to grilling and chilling. The common ale won the gold in the...

Spread a little summer.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(flatwares)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We've seen plastics, tires, cardboard and license plates all find new life as recycled goods, but Artful Wares has harvested a different cast-off for its flatware--mussel, lobster and clam shells from the Maine...

Nosing ahead.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(TruKid's Sunny Days Face Stick)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sunscreen in a stick makes reapplying on little one's exposed noses a lot easier on parents. And TruKid's Sunny Days Face Stick, a mineral sunscreen without any toxic ingredients and no animal testing, offers an...

Crank it up.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Eco Media Player)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Eco Media Player, made by Baylis, is a very good idea that still needs to be perfected. Media players can do more than provide entertainment--they can generate their own energy using a hand crank. And this model...

Get funky now.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Funk Divine's t-shirts)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] San Francisco designer Funk Divine offers a bold answer to the pale organic T-shirt with its collection of gold-on-black cutoff tees and zip-up sweatshirts ($38-$128). Made of hemp and organic cotton, the tops exude...

Come sail away.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Sea Bag's Team 7)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... This summer, you can head to the beach while clutching your own contribution to the Team 7 Olympic women sailors--a special edition bag from Maine company Sea Bags, which turns recycled sails into roomy, durable totes with thick, braided...

Dead-end dreams.(Tools for Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Radiant City )(Movie review)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Radiant City is billed as a "documentary about suburban sprawl." It feels like a documentary, too, up until the final credits, when you learn that the subjects are being played by actors whose recorded "lives" are actually cut-and-pasted from...

Changing China.
July 1, 2008... China's Water Warriors by Andrew C. Mertha (Cornell University Press, $29.95) and The China Price by Alexandra Harney (Penguin Press, $25.95) cover the same topic from two very different angles. Both seek to explore the evolution of the Chinese...

Cheeky birds.(A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Not all naturalists are stiffs. In A Supremely Bad Idea (Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All) (Bloomsbury USA, $24.99), author and bird geek Luke Dempsey pokes fun at the laborious waiting and thumb-twiddling involved in birding...

Midwestern boy.(Man Killed by Pheasant and Other Kinships )(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... The Midwest is ripe for dreaming, and John T. Price does his fair share in Man Killed by Pheasant and Other Kinships (Da Capo Press, $25). The memoir is set in Iowa, the place Price never left. In many ways, it's an ordinary story: Price joins...

Happy meat?(The Compassionate Carnivore: Or, How to Keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald's Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat )(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... The Compassionate Carnivore, subtitled Or, How to Keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald's Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat (Da Capo Press, $24), written by well-grounded dreamer Catherine Friend, is a convincing book exhorting...

Green teens.
July 1, 2008... In their book Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life (Simon & Schuster, $9.99), Los Angeles residents and eco-enthusiasts Linda and Tosh Silversten outline easy ways for adolescents to get active on global...

Our chemical world.(The Body Toxic )(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... This is it: The book that finally chronicles the chemical invaders tainting us and the environment--the phthalates and Bisphenol-A (BPA), the flame retardants and non-stick surfaces. And investigative journalist Nena Baker's book The Body Toxic...

The hard questions.( A Passion for this Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Explore Our Relationship with Nature and the Environment)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... There are no words one is more likely to read on the cover of an environmental book than "Foreword by Bill McKibben." The collection, A Passion for this Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Explore Our Relationship with Nature and the...

New life for flights and fabrics.(EARTH TALK: Questions & Answers About Our Environment)
July 1, 2008... Dear EarthTalk: Are there any efforts underway to green the air travel industry? It seems to me that it must be one dirty business from a pollution standpoint.--Elias Corey, Seattle, WA Air pollution from commercial, jets is a growing...