Green Options

According to a 2008 study (Jelks et al), nearly 40% of freshwater species in North America are either at risk of disappearing or have already vanished. Representing some 761 distinct species, 230 are deemed “vulnerable”, 190 are threatened, 280 are endangered, and 61 are extinct (or extinct in the wild). These numbers represent a 90+% increase over a 1989 assessment of freshwater species. And these trends are consistent with assessments in Europe.

The “Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch” lies about 1,000 miles from the coast of California. It is in the North Pacific Ocean Gyre, which is one of the oldest and most diverse ecosystems in the world. The garbage patch has gotten a lot of media attention in the last year. However, due to the fact that one must get on a boat and go all the way out to the patch to study it, there hadn’t been any in-depth scientific analysis of the patch,… until now.

The Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) went on an in-depth search of the “Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch” this month. Their findings were varied.

There is a growing movement to assess the value–in dollar terms–of “ecosystem services” such as storm protection (from salt marshes), pollination of crops (from bee colonies and insects), natural predation of harmful insects and parasites (by birds, bats and other animals), fertilizer from animal feces, fish in the oceans, clean water and air, and cooling/greenhouse gas-controlling forests, etc.

This movement has been gaining steam–especially with the recent [...]

Climate change and habitat loss blamed as eight more species join the seriously endangered list

Three baby hedgehogs.

The hedgehog, water vole and hazel dormouse are among a number of British mammals that face becoming seriously endangered, research published today reveals.

Climate change and habitat loss have led to a dramatic increase in the number of mammals whose future survival is a cause for concern among conservationists, the study commissioned by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species concludes. The Bechstein’s bat, one of the country’s rarest mammals, has shown a marked decline while the number of soprano pipistrelle bats has fallen by 46% in six years.

The report, the seventh annual assessment of the state of land mammals in Britain, says that more effort is needed to help the endangered species, which now number 18 - more than 30% of Britain’s mammal species - up from 10 last year. Only two species on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan list, the otter and the lesser horseshoe bat, have increased their numbers.

Most of America’s seafood counters display glistening mounds of all manner of fresh fish. But this bounty belies the fact that the oceans are in serious trouble. In the U.S., thousands of fishermen have lost their jobs, and signs of ecosystem collapse are on the rise, as nets get clogged with jellyfish rather than sought-after kinds of fish.

The graph below paints a sobering picture of how much fish populations have dwindled – and where they might be headed if we don’t act soon: In 1950, just 15 percent of stocks were overfished; in 2003, 70 percent were overfished or had totally collapsed

Scientists have uncovered life in a South African gold mine, 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) beneath the surface of the earth. In this dark but hot ecosystem, a single biological species derives power not from the sun but from elements produced by uranium’s radioactive decay.

Remarkably, it is the first ecosystem ever found having only one biological species. In utter darkness, total isolation, with no oxygen, and in 60-degree-Celsius heat (140 degrees Fahrenheit), the cave-dwelling, rod-shaped bacterium, Desulforudis audaxviator survives.

Trajectories of evolution have fitted the bacterium with the genes necessary to exist under a variety of different conditions. One such adaptation is the ability to survive by fixing nitrogen and carbon directly from the environment.

This week I interviewed Leslie Richard who writes for our sister site Crafting a Green World and runs an amazing online eco-boutique called the Öko Box, featuring eco-styles like these:

Here is our Q & A:

1. Tell us more about how you came up with the name for your organization? I also dig your blog. Which one came first the blog or the company?

I have been deeply involved with the organic movement since the first day I walked into a health food store as a teen growing up in New Orleans. I naturally knew any business I would run would have to be related to health and preserving nature. So when my childhood best friend moved to Germany and began bragging about his “oko box” of affordable organic goods delivered from the farmers each week, his excitement really stuck with me. “Oko” is german for organic, and his descriptive stories of what arrived in his “oko box” left me feeling inspired- I knew I wanted to be part of a movement that made organic more accessible and affordable in the US with the ease he was experiencing in Europe.

Being that I have chemical sensitivities and some health probs I quickly became conscious of the connection that not only did our food need to be ecological & organic, but that every purchase we made, every product we used, every consideration must be done with the earth in mind. When I saw that there was plenty of organic baby products out there, but eco minded adults were being left behind by the organic fashion industry I decided to start “The Oko Box”. The catch for me, was it had to be affordable and break certain style barriers. I think I have a little something for everyone now, whether classy, hippy, punk, or suburban there’s a garment to love. The blog was born after the store and fairly recently, but has gained a huge following already which is a lot of fun for me! I really love to interact with customers and readers, your opinions totally matter to me.

2. The Öko Box mission is wonderful and we love that- “The Öko Box donates monthly to the National Wildlife Federation, in support of their Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program,” Please tell us more about your wonderful connection to these organizations and nature.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published a report in 2006 that documented the plunder of natural resources by human activity and warned that the globe itself could be outstripped in its capacity to support life, rendering the earth extinct in under 50 years.

Based on scientific data collected from across the globe, it revealed that more than a third of the natural world has been destroyed by human activity in just over the past three decades, because of, among others, increased emissions of green house gases into the ecosystem.

Unless consumption of natural resources was cut and the destruction of vital ecosystems was stopped, human life and that of thousands of other animals and plants would not be sustainable hence the suggestion that the earth itself could be extinct by 2050. In short, the demise of biodiversity will be the death of life on earth, as we know it.

A long time ago, 50 years or so, I was invited to a party that promised some unusual and tasty snacks, along with the usual supply of beer and other alcoholic libations.

Never one to pass up free food and booze, I showed up at my friends apartment , said hello to everyone, grabbed a cocktail and headed for the snacks. The table was filled with the usual cheese and crackers, veggies, liverwurst and other delights.

The center piece caught my eye, chocolate, lots of it, but not in any form I could immediately recognize. Upon questioning my host, I learned they were chocolate covered ants and grasshoppers.

“Here, try some,” said my host, “they’re delicious!”

I doubt he saw the green leaching into my face as I politely declined, saying I was on a diet.

Trout Are Made of Trees, written by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Kate Endle, is the story of how a river’s ecosystem works together for the benefit of the trout. From leaves falling from the trees to trout hatchlings growing up in a stream, this book emphasizes the natural cycle of a trout.

In fall, trees let go of leaves,

which swirl and twirl

and slip into streams.

They ride in a rush

above rocks

and over rapids.

They snag and settle soggily down.

Bacteria feed on the leaves.

A pronounced lack of growth rate among some corals in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef leads scientists to believe this is the first sign of ocean acidification, something scientists world wide are beginning to fear.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolves in seawater, that increases acidity, making it more difficult for marine organisms to grow and maintain their shells.

Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences have studied porites, a common coral species growing along the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef, and discovered that calcification had slowed by 21% over the past 16 years. Calcification is the process used by corals to extract calcium carbonate from seawater to build their shells.