E Magazine articles from September 2007

E Magazine archives from September 2007

Fashion this.(E Word)(Fashion industry's foreign child labor)
September 1, 2007... To paraphrase a well-known PETA anti-fur campaign, "I'd rather go naked than wear pants made by child laborers inhaling pesticides all day long in fields in Uzbekistan for 38 cents a day." Though I admit that would be a rather cumbersome bumper...

Hush, little baby.(LETTERS FROM OUR READERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... As a relatively recent father (my daughter just reached seven months yesterday), I don't read baby books. I don't put all the burden on my wife either; she reads no baby books. We do what we think is best and what seems best for our daughter...

People power.(LETTERS FROM OUR READERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Your headline "Can the Democrats Save the Planet?" (feature, May/June 2007) is a bit misleading. While our political leaders are crucial in setting society's agenda, fundamentally we are a planet of 6.5 billion consumers whose aggregate...

In defense of detox.(LETTERS FROM OUR READER)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Most of the detox programs do not say you must fast ("The Fast Track," Your Health, May/June 2007). If you can handle fasting, it's fine. But I still wouldn't recommend it during detoxing because your body is already working hard. Detox means...

The killing fields.(LETTERS FROM OUR READERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... It was equally gruesome and enraging to read about the cruel and monstrous poaching of majestic sea turtles ("Real Men Don't Eat Turtle Eggs" Currents, May/June 2007). Lamentably, I am not surprised that humans are perpetrating such a heinous...

Notes from a bush supporter.(LETTERS FROM OUR READERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I recycle everything, compost, eat organic and use renewable and reusable sources of everything. I am an Oregonian who was green before green was a political issue. But neither Clinton nor any other Democrat except Carter did anything to green...

Correction.(LETTERS FROM OUR READERS)(Correction notice)
September 1, 2007... CORRECTIONS: In the Your Health story "Calling the Shots" (July/August 2007), we incorrectly stated that "each year, 300,000 kids die of measles in the U.S." According to the World Health Organization, 345,000 people worldwide died of measles...

Giving rock some reverb.(Organization overview)
September 1, 2007... Reverb has toured with artists ranging from college-rock bands Guster and Dave Matthews Band to classic blues artist Bonnie Raitt, pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne and folk-rock jamband String Cheese Incident. They've played cruise ships, ski...

Tigers for tourists.
September 1, 2007... Protection of tigers in India reached a peak in the late 1980s before deteriorating. According to leading conservationists, both tiger and leopard populations are now nearing extinction levels, despite claims to the contrary by the Indian...

Grandma vs. the oil-sands mine.(Liz Moore and Syncrude Canada Ltd.)
September 1, 2007... Eighty-five-year-old grandmothers aren't typically subject to censorship, but Liz Moore is no ordinary grandma. After touring an oil-sands operation in Canada, Moore returned to her home in Colorado and began researching the mining process....

Saving a city, one trumpet at a time.
September 1, 2007... It sounds like the plot of a Twilight Zone episode: The destruction of virtually all of the musical instruments in a major U.S. city. Yet that's what happened when Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz and a tourist...

Intensive condor care: banning lead bullets and providing vaccines.(CURRENTS)
September 1, 2007... In what could be a potential boon for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) California Condor Recovery Program, the owner of Tejon Ranch--the largest private game preserve in California--announced the banning of lead bullets in time for...

Coming to a campus near you: focus the nation joins schools in climate change collaboration.(CURRENTS)
September 1, 2007... LuAnne Thompson is in an ideal position to champion a grassroots global warming initiative. A professor of oceanography at the University of Washington, Thompson teaches a graduate class on climate dynamics and works for an institution that has...

Fishing for certification; the struggle to bring organic standards to the fishing industry.(CURRENTS)
September 1, 2007... With the organic meat and produce sector fattening into a 17 billion cash cow and expanding into retail giants like Wal-Mart, it's no wonder that the fishing industry feels left out. Aquatic animals were excluded from organics when U.S....

Keeping America cluttered: the big fight over bottled water litter.(CURRENTS)
September 1, 2007... The soda age is slowly subsiding as Americans stock their refrigerator shelves with water bottles instead of Coke cans. And that's added impetus to campaigns around the U.S. to address the growing mountain of Poland Spring and Aquafina...

The nuke waste around us.(UPDATES)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Nuclear waste is seeping through loopholes in U.S. disposal policies and could be recycled into material for roads, schools and playgrounds, according to a report released by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS.) The report, "Out...

Dark sky Gemini.(UPDATES)(Bob Crelin's outdoor lighting regulation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Sprawling light pollution is blotting out the night sky's majestic stars and planets (see "Finding the Stars," Tools, January/February 2007). But concerned light activists get big results when they think globally, but act locally. ...

San Fran's bottled water ban.(UPDATES)(San Francisco )(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Last June, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive directive phasing out the city's bottled water use, citing environmental concerns and the excellent quality of municipal tap water (see "Message in a Bottle," cover story,...

The eco fashion revolution: getting consumers to care about what they wear.
September 1, 2007... Today's eco designers don't talk about being inspired by leaves tailing or icecaps melting; they're starry-eyed for futuristic-looking chairs, towering skyscrapers and folding bicycles. They're thinking like architects, leading with design and...

From roadside attraction to one-of-a-kind handbags.(BILLBOARD REVISITED)(GG2G company)
September 1, 2007... Alison Grieveson was driving on Interstate 95 in Connecticut en route to her studio in New Haven when her eye caught the billboard "www.wagepeace.org" superimposed over an unfurling American flag. "That vinyl would make a really cool bag," she...

Fashion victims: conventional cotton is taking a heavy toll on the planet, but the organic market is growing.
September 1, 2007... When she gets up in the morning, a seven-year-old Uzbek girl heads not to school but to the cotton fields. She carries a plastic water bottle filled with pesticides. The June day is muggy and hot, and as she douses the plants, the chemicals...

Save the planet in your own backyard: seven steps to thinking globally and acting locally.
September 1, 2007... In Baltimore, neighbors worried about the fate of Mount Vernon Place, a four-block inner city park that sat neglected and little-used. It seemed the symbol of a once-vibrant neighborhood in danger of losing its economic and social footing. But...

Nature is the best medicine: more hospitals are incorporating "healing gardens" and speeding patient recovery.(Your Health)
September 1, 2007... Natural light, says Roger Ulrich, professor of architecture at Texas A&M University, can make a world of difference. In 1984 after Ulrich was hospitalized with a broken leg, he launched what has become the classic study in the field of healing...

The 100-mile diet: the struggles and successes of eating local foods.(Eating Right)
September 1, 2007... I'll use any excuse to go to the farmers' market, so when I heard about the 100-mile diet--eating food produced within 100 miles of my home--I had to try it. I wondered if it would be possible to subsist on food grown and raised in and around...

Buzz cut: electric lawn mowers beat the gas guzzlers at their own game.(House & Home)
September 1, 2007... The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculates that a single gas lawn mower emits the same amount of volatile organic compounds in an hour as a car driven 350 miles. Multiply that times 54 million--the estimated number of Americans who...

Calling all consumers: green marketing for green products.(Money Matters)
September 1, 2007... "Just like their conventional cousins, sustainable businesses must speak to basic consumer needs--efficiency, cost, health and safety, performance and status," says Patti Purcell, president of sustainable living media company Blue Egg. "The...

Light in the Black Forest: Freiburg, Germany embraces the sun.(Going Green)(City overview)
September 1, 2007... In just two decades, Freiburg, Germany, a sleepy 12th century village known for its Catholic seminary, has transformed into a progressive 21st century city that's being called the world's first eco-municipality. The community of 200,000 has...

Hold the sugar and salt: angry moms are demanding big changes in the school cafeteria.(Consumer News)
September 1, 2007... Amy Kalafa is a seriously angry morn. Middle school kids in her Connecticut suburb (and elsewhere around the country) ant to do the right thing when it comes to lunch. They also listen to the barrage of societal messages about staying slender,...

Online eco friends.(Tools: For Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Website overview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The Greens are not just the boring legumes that kids love to hate at meal time. The Greens, at www.meetthegreens. org, are animated characters that represent the emerging class of environmentally conscious households. From the makers of...

The virtual market.(Tools: For Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Wellness Grocer )(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Working, driving kids to practices, preparing meals and cleaning the house leaves little time for grocery shopping. You could shop on the weekend, but the checkout lines are usually backed up to the stock room. Instead, check out...

Real deal lotion.(Tools: For Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Blue Q's Get Real lotion)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Blue Q, purveyor of Gnome air fresheners, Cat Butt magnets and Mullet shampoo is getting real with its new brand of beauty products. The Get Real lotion line boasts three varieties: orange ginger, lavender and unscented. Since they come from...

Balance-by-number.(Tools: For Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(AFM Safecoat's Ayurveda Essence Paints)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Ayurveda Essence Paints, produced by AFM Safecoat, add a touch of eastern philosophy to house painting. These paints aim to "restore balance in your mind and body through an accessible, holistic paint system." Using the art of Ayurveda, an...

Indian fast food.(Tools: For Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Seeds of Change's sauce)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... You don't have to live in India to enjoy the aromatic foods native to the country. You don't even have to leave your home, thanks to Seeds of Change's new line of organic simmer sauces. These sauces can be quickly heated and poured over...

Trustworthy tuna.(Tools: For Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Wild Planet Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Concerned about mercury levels in your tuna? Worried about sustaining our marine environment? Wild Planet provides one solution to the controversial issue of seafood consumption. Offering a variety of seafood items from fisheries that use only...

Tree-preferred.(Tools: For Green Living: Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Most paper companies look at virgin forest with eyes clouded by dollar signs. GreenLine Paper Company sees a different sort of green. GreenLine offers a wide variety of recycled and tree-free office supplies online, and all the products contain...

Safe and sane supermarket shopping.(Books)(Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... Genetically modified foods are entrenched in the U.S., affecting half the market or more, but a discerning shopper can still make healthy choices. Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food (Earth Aware...

Mighty winds.(Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nan tucket Sound )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... In middle-class suburbia, it's local zoning battles that animate the political scene. Otherwise apathetic homeowners will turn out when a developer proposes an office building (or, worse, low-income housing). When the homeowners have...

Vegetable hallelujahs.(Books)(Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... Barbara Kingsolver's ode to local eating, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (HarperCollins, $26.95), has already received plenty of plaudits. Take away husband Steven L. Hopp's practical sidebars on the benefits of family farms,...

Toxic high, 90210.(Books)(Parts per Million: The Poisoning of Beverly Hills High School )(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... Parts per Million: The Poisoning of Beverly Hills High School (Viking $25.95) by Joy Horowitz examines the legal battle over the oil wells and power plant next to Beverly Hills High School. As rare cases of cancer and other terminal illnesses...

Shiny, happy Future.(Books)(Solartopia! Our Green Powered Earth, A.D. 2030)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... "Green became the color of both money and survival," Harvey Wasserman remembers of the past from life in the year 2030, a year that he recognizes as marking the age of "Solartopia." In Solartopia! Our Green Powered Earth, A.D. 2030...

Inspired brews.(Books)(Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... As rich as the brews it describes, author Chris O'Brien's book, Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World (New Society Publishers, $18.95), is full of history, inspiration and wisdom regarding one of Earth's most ancient...

Revved up & shut down.(Formerly Ask E)
September 1, 2007... Dear EarthTalk: How much pollution do motorcycles generate? Are there efforts to make them more eco-friendly?--Matt Lackore, Rochester, MN Motorcycles typically get about double the gas mileage of even fuel-efficient cars--but that doesn't...