E Magazine articles from May 1997

E Magazine archives from May 1997

The whales' lonely song. (global preservation of whales)(Editorial)
May 1, 1997... In 1987, a tragedy occurred off Cape Cod. At least 15 humpback whales were poisoned by eating fish saturated with saxitoxin (a toxic byproduct of algae growth associated with red tide). Humpbacks, more accustomed in the 1990s to the flash of...

Woody Harrelson: acting on his convictions. (interview with environmental activist and actor)(Interview)
May 1, 1997... Actor Woody Harrelson isn't one to tread lightly when it comes to environmental issues. Acts of civil disobedience have him awaiting a response from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and facing charges in a Kentucky court. In his 1995 tax...

Illegal entry: endangered animal smuggling is big business at U.S. ports.
May 1, 1997... Mary was returning to Miami from a South American vacation when a U.S. Customs agent asked her to answer some routine questions regarding her declaration of a large sum of money. She was very nervous and repeatedly touched her hair, which was...

The dead Pigeon River: did Champion International's dioxin pollution create a 'Widowsville' in North Carolina? (Champion International Corp.)
May 1, 1997... Even as a five-year-old in 1947, Mary Woody knew there was something wrong with the Pigeon River, which flowed behind her great-grandfather's home in Hartford, Tennessee. "It had foot-high white foam floating along the top, was brown in color and...

Toxic technology: electronics and the Silicon Valley.
May 1, 1997... California's Santa Clara Valley, stretching from the southern reaches of San Francisco to San Jose, was once an agricultural paradise known as the "Valley of the Heart's Delight." Over the past 25 years, however, the region has been transformed...

Violence, lies and videotape: wildlife filmmaking takes a few liberties with the truth.
May 1, 1997... World-famous wildlife filmmaker Marty Stouffer, accused of secretly staging nature scenes, depicting unrealistic situations and treating animals cruelly, stands at the center of a controversy over how very popular nature documentaries are made,...

Whale watch: pursued to the brink of extinction, cetaceans fight for survival against man-made odds. (includes related articles on commercial whaling and whale watching)(Cover Story)
May 1, 1997... In the early 1970s, the slogan "Save the Whales" became the mantra of the still-embryonic environmental movement. The plight of these beloved mascots of the sea captured the popular imagination - and mobilized protests that culminated in one of...

The producer pays. With Germany leading the way, governments are taking a hard look at packaging waste - and making manufacturers bear the cost. (includes related article on packaging wastes)
May 1, 1997... On a drugstore's shelves in downtown Stuttgart, Germany, the toothpaste tubes are nakedly displayed, sitting upended on their flat caps like rows of little soldiers. Each tube is decorated with a tiny green dot, meaning it's in compliance with...

Make-up call: beauty care doesn't have to be a chemical stew. (chemical-laden cosmetics)(Column)
May 1, 1997... We primp, we perm, we powder - without blinking a mascara-lined eye about the potentially harmful ingredients we expose ourselves to in the name of beauty. Yet, walking into most salons is like entering a toxic cloud of ammonia and formaldehyde,...

Proudly independent: co-ops give natural food shoppers a cost-effective choice. (marketing cooperatives)
May 1, 1997... Wendell Berry has remarked that everyone is connected to the land by their gastrointestinal tract. Even if our food-gathering instincts have been reduced to cruising the supermarket aisles and scanning for red dot specials, it's still possible to...

Security blanket: fiberglass' potential dangers can be avoided with insulating alternatives.
May 1, 1997... Walk into most American attics, and you're likely to be met with a vision in pink: a solid wall or floor of fiberglass insulation. Indeed, the "Pink Panther" is still America's favorite: More than 90 percent of American wall and attic insulation...

Swamp romp: eco-touring Georgia's Okefenokee isn't for the squeamish.
May 1, 1997... So many alligators once swam in the Okefenokee that you could walk clear across that 641-square-mile swamp just by stepping on their backs. Or so the first European settlers claimed. Of course, those settlers didn't spend much time exploring...

Pedal power: new technology makes for better biking. (carbon fiber bikes)
May 1, 1997... Okay, you know bicycling is good for you. It pumps your heart, works your legs and fills your lungs with good, fresh air. You also know what using leg power instead of your favorite gas guzzler can do for the local ozone layer. So why is your...