E Magazine articles from May 2004

E Magazine archives from May 2004

A blizzard of paper.(E Word)(paper consumption)
May 1, 2004... A recent University of California-Berkeley study found that information stored electronically grew by a whopping 80 percent between 1999 and 2002. And even though less than one tenth of one percent of that data was printed, the amount of...

Immigration: a polarized debate.(Advice & dissent: letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Jim Motavalli's article "The Numbers Game" on U.S. (over-)population (cover story, January/February 2004) was the best I have seen in the 10 or 15 years that I've been following this subject. And it's truly refreshing to see the subject treated...

Immigration not the problem.(Advice & dissent: letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... In an otherwise useful article, Motavalli insisted in "The Numbers Game" that reducing immigration is the way to address U.S. population growth. But there is a far better, more practical, more humane approach to meet domestic population...

Not my views.(Advice & dissent: letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... My views were misrepresented in your article "The Numbers Game." In my communications with the magazine I never said that voluntary family planning programs were oppressive to women, as the article infers. Instead, I pointed out that voluntary...

Razing Canada.(Advice & dissent: letters from our readers)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I was pleased to read John Holt's article "Oh Canada!" (feature, January/ February 2004) exposing the environmental atrocities taking place in western Canada. In regard to the excessive logging, British Columbia rightfully deserves its...

Last stand for Hawaiian birds.(Hosmer Grove)
May 1, 2004... In Maui's Haleakala National Park, at an elevation of 7,000 feet, Hosmer Grove serves as a rather enchanting memorial to a failed experiment. In 1910, German-born Ralph Hosmer planted 86 varieties of non-native trees in Maui, including the...

Restoring Iraq's Eden.(marshlands)
May 1, 2004... Anyone who watched the 2003 television coverage of coalition troops hurtling across barren desert wastelands through raging dust storms saw the legendary marshes of Iraq--at least what was left of them. The dry, cracked, seemingly endless...

Clearing the air with hybrid buses.
May 1, 2004... The soot spewing from the exhaust pipes of diesel buses doesn't just look dirty, it is dirty, accounting for 20 percent of U.S. air pollution, says the Natural Resources Defense Council. Some forward-thinking transit agencies are fighting back...

Pollution off the starboard bow.
May 1, 2004... From Barbie dolls to the latest consumer gadgets, most of the goods stocking North American store shelves arrive by ship. Large marine vessels such as container ships and oil tankers are one of the least-regulated sources of air pollution in...

The nuke next door: do cancers cluster around atomic plants?(Currents)
May 1, 2004... Raised on fresh fruits and vegetables by his vegetarian mother, Ty-Michael Schmidt never even had a cold or ear infection before the age of five. Then doctors found a tumor in his abdomen. His mother, and some scientists, suspect the tumor has...

Through the smoke: China embraces sustainability--one city at a time.(Currents)
May 1, 2004... When China announced last November that it would impose strict new fuel-economy standards for small cars and minivans, it was only one sign that the world's most populated country is headed down a more sustainable path--while the U.S. moves in...

Greening Cuba: the island's new environmentalism faces challenges.(Currents)
May 1, 2004... The students of the escuela primeria in Los Tumbos, a village nestled deep within the rich agricultural province of Pinar Del Rio, constantly hover around the computer awarded to the school a year ago. Their computer runs off of two small solar...

Wangari Maathai: from jail to parliament.(Updates)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... What a difference a year makes! On International Women's Day in 2001, Wangari Maathai, founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement and the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in East and Central Africa, woke up in jail (see "Africa's Green Belt," Currents,...

Testing Bush on mercury.(Updates)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Bush administration's proposed weakening of mercury emissions rules for coal-fired power plants, largely written by industry lobbyists, are coming under fire from activists and even critics from within the Environmental Protection Agency...

Contradictory reports fuel recycling debate.(Updates)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... E reported last March on a recent study by the National Recycling Coalition that said the recent backlash against recycling in New York City and elsewhere was the result of poor consumer education and mismanaged waste removal systems (see...

Energizing wood power: replacing fossil fuels in a "clean energy" economy.(Currents)
May 1, 2004... Three towering smokestacks rise from the fossil fuel-fired Schiller Power Station in the quaint New England city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built more than 50 years ago, Schiller is a striking example of a dirty, coal-burning power plant...

The paper chase: the paperless office is still a distant dream. In the interim, we should be recycling more and developing alternatives to wood-based paper.
May 1, 2004... While many futurists predicted that we'd be enjoying the paperless office around this time, Americans are still at the epicenter of a paper blizzard. Were you under the impression that the electronic age would free us from all that? According...

Confronting chlorine.(bleaching techniques )
May 1, 2004... TO ACHIEVE ITS PEARLY WHITE COLOR, most paper goes through a bleaching process that uses some of the world s more toxic chemicals. Assuming we can't live without bright white paper, does it have to be bleached with chlorine, or are there...

Pulp friction: debating the paper alternatives.
May 1, 2004... Hemp- and kenaf-based paper, often made with imported pulp, is now widely used in environmental circles, but there are a fair number of dissenters. Rick Meis of Treecycle Recycled Paper recently asked if such non-wood fibers are not simply...

Plantation pines: the paper industry moves South.
May 1, 2004... Flying over the 500,O00-acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park last year in a Cessna 180 operated by the nonprofit group Southwings, writer Chris Camuto could clearly see evidence of the park's enormous and breathtaking biodiversity, home to...

Injecting mercury: is thimerosal the missing link to autism and developmental problems?(Your Health)
May 1, 2004... No one could accuse Lyn Redwood of being anti-vaccination or suspicious of the medical establishment. After all, the Atlanta, Georgia resident was a nurse practitioner and member of her county's board of health, which promoted childhood...

The low-carb conundrum: can environmentalists "go Atkins" and still eat healthfully?(Eating Right)
May 1, 2004... Last week, my favorite health-food supermarket was invaded with little red-and-blue circular signs. They read "Low-Carb" and appeared on everything from tomatoes to bulk cashews to reformulated bread and pasta. I've been trying to ignore the...

Green, but clean: breaking the lawn-care pesticide cycle.(House & Home)
May 1, 2004... Elise Craig lives in a garden apartment in Portland, Oregon, where children roll in the grass and run barefoot across lawns in the summer light. A year ago, she realized that whenever the landlord spread lawn-care chemicals on the grass, her...

Credit where it's due: Green credit unions do well by doing good.(Money Matters)
May 1, 2004... While many of us may feel we don't have the extra money, let alone the spare time, to take the plunge into the vortex of socially responsible investing (SRI), just about everyone has a bank account. A developing trend in banking allows...

Sustainable Scotland: hike, bike, kayak and birdwatch among natural splendor.(Going Green)
May 1, 2004... Scotland's green reputation now stretches beyond its famous golf course fairways. A hill walker's heaven, Scotland's mountainous terrain has long attracted avid hikers, cyclists and wildlife watchers. Its majestic lochs, salmon-packed rivers,...

Best for baby: natural alternatives promote healthy kids.(Consumer News)
May 1, 2004... The birth of a child gives parents a very big and happy incentive to make organic choices. Business is booming for today's growing contingent of environmentally responsive companies selling eco-healthy children's products. Perhaps the most...

Tree-friendly paper.(Tools for Green Living: resources for eco-awareness and action)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The papermaking industry is well known for depleting Earth's supply of freshwater and trees. But at Twisted Limb Paper-works, Sheryl Woodhouse Keese is offering a way for people to help conserve our environment. Keese offers beautiful, handmade...

Care for your hair.(Tools for Green Living: resources for eco-awareness and action)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Give your hair a bit of nature's goodness with Aveda's aromatic line of shampoos and conditioners. Using a nut based protein, the company's Shampure products (8.5 ounces, $9) thoroughly cleanse and condition hair while shielding it from harmful...

Dapper duds.(Tools for Green Living: resources for eco-awareness and action)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... While shattering the long-held misconception that natural clothing fibers must be unattractive and uncomfortable, Of The Earth continues to develop innovative organic clothing with style and comfort. Founded in 1992, this line of sustainable...

Drink a beer, save a turtle.(Tools for Green Living: resources for eco-awareness and action)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Now you can feel good about yourself as you make your way through the better part of a six-pack. Honu Beer offers a smooth, 100 percent malted barley beverage that gives back to the animals it's named after ("honu" means sea turtle in...

Buzz off!(Tools for Green Living: resources for eco-awareness and action)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Take a stand against pesky bug bites this spring and summer with products sure to keep away the bugs... and the chemicals. Shaman's Quit Bugging Me! offers insect repellent products that are DEET-free and 70 percent organic, including a...

Is free trade fair?(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... While governments and multinational corporations are boasting the benefits of free trade, the workers and farmers entangled in this web of deceit paint a different picture. Shafted" Free Trade and America's Working Poor (First Food Books, $10),...

The GM foods you're eating.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Put down that fork and listen to this: Most Americans eat genetically modified (GM) food at every meal without even realizing it. Jeffrey M. Smith's eye-opening Seeds of Deception (Yes! Books, $17.95) exposes a trail of pressure from the...

Calling all gardeners.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Looking for a gardening book with fresh ideas and practical tips? Check out Diary of a Compost Hotline Operator by Spring Gillard (New Society Publishers, $15.95 paperback). Gillard stumbled across City Farmer's garden in Vancouver, Canada and...

Hydrogen hype?(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... It's hard to argue with the relentless logic presented by Joseph Romm in his new book The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate (Island Press, $25). Hydrogen and fuel cells have enormous potential for freeing us...

Hemp! A profitable, renewable resource.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... "Marijuana resembles hemp about as much as a garden rose resembles its cousin the strawberry," explains author Mark Bourrie in his new book Hemp: A Short History of the Most Misunderstood Plant and its Uses and Abuses (Firefly Books, $14.95)....

Big beautiful cats.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Join award-winning photographers Erwin and Peggy Bauer as they bring to life the history, legend and private world of the planet's most magnificent animals. The Last Big Cats: An Untamed Spirit (Voyageur Press, $29.95) is a journey to the...

The high cost of coal.(Books)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Most of us rail against the evils of coal without knowing much about it. Barbara Freese's brief, well-written book, Coal: A Human History (Penguin, $14) will arm you with the facts. Did you know that coal (once thought to be alive!) represents...

The digital debate, chasing paper and swimming green.(Ask E)
May 1, 2004... What are some tips on maintaining a "green" swimming pool?--Jim Humphey, North Andover, MA Evidence on the dangers of chlorine continues to mount, as a recent study shows a possible link of child asthma cases to exposure of chlorine...