News Forum Archives: July 2005
We Are the Chumpions
When it comes to green products, who’s zoomin’ who?
By Bill Penrose
Grist Magazine
21 Jul 2005
“I don’t trust ‘natural.’ People are always dying of natural causes.”—Woman looking at food labels, in a Richard Guindon cartoon
Shoppers of the world, I have just one question: Are you an eco-chump?
Lots of us try to shop green. We buy unbleached paper towels and recycled products, some with more than 5 percent post-consumer content. Commend McDonald’s for banning Styrofoam, and shun them for lying about beef fat in the fries. Save our paychecks because we suffer from Prius envy. Wouldn’t be caught dead at Wal-Mart because, well, it’s Wal-Mart.
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Drop reported in levels of some harmful chemicals
By Lisa M. Krieger
San Jose Mercury News
There is good news about the bad things that lurk in our bodies, according to the newest and most comprehensive survey of Americans’ exposure to pollutants.
A nationwide sampling of bodily fluids shows a decline in the levels of lead, some pesticides, and other chemicals known to be harmful to our health.
But the survey also poses new questions, because it offers the first-ever evidence of exposure to previously unmeasured chemicals. Because their health impact is not well understood, further study is planned.
Continue Reading Drop reported in levels of some harmful chemicals
Study Says Ethanol Not Worth the Energy
by Mark Johnson
Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. – Farmers, businesses and state officials are investing millions of dollars in ethanol and biofuel plants as renewable energy sources, but a new study says the alternative fuels burn more energy than they produce.
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Tired of Prying Off Stickers? Tattooed Fruit Is on the Way
By Julia Moskin
The New York Times
July 19, 2005
A pear is just a pear, except when it is also a laser-coded information delivery system with advanced security clearance.
And that is what pears – not to mention organic apples, waxy cucumbers and delicate peaches – are becoming in some supermarkets around the country. A new technology being used by produce distributors employs lasers to tattoo fruits and vegetables with their names, identifying numbers, countries of origin and other information that helps speed distribution. The marks are burned onto the outer layer of the skin and are visible to discerning consumers and befuddled cashiers alike.
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Food movement ‘harms environment’
BBC NEWS
The distribution of food across the UK in cars and lorries adds to pollution, congestion and climate change, a report by the government says.
It said the environmental cost of moving food was as much as 9bn a year, around half of it due to congestion.
The quantity of food moved by road has doubled since 1974, the report said.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report said 25% of all miles covered by heavy goods traffic was to move food.
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Cycle-mania grips London
Fri Jul 8,11:27 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) – London’s streets creaked and rattled with nervous new cyclists Friday after bicycle sales rocketed in the wake of bomb blasts on three underground trains and a double-decker bus.
Seasoned cyclists told of weary walkers offering them up to 300 pounds ($500) for their bikes as they headed home on Thursday, and of giving impromptu lessons to shaky beginners.
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‘30 Days’ of a new life
JC resident Jenkins participant on Fox cable show, spent month living in rural setting
Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer
Jersey City Reporter
07/01/2005
OFF THE GRID – Jersey City resident Johari Jenkins stands in a garden in the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Missouri, part of her one-month experience of living a rural life while on the FX network series “30 Days.”
It was an online ad that caught Johari Jenkins’ attention and led her down the path to reality TV.
“It said online, ‘Do you consume a lot, do you use internet a lot, are you always on the go?’ And I said ‘yeah, that’s me’,” Jenkins said.
The 30-year old Jenkins, a resident of the Jersey City Heights section for the past five years, would go from a respondent to resident for a month at the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Rutledge, Mo., a six-hour drive from St. Louis.
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