Here’s a summery four-step program to protect nature, on or off the grid:
1. Stop your neighbours from spraying toxic pesticides
2. Don’t compost invasive plant species
3. Learn to ID critter poop and protect wildlife trees
4. Renovate green and reduce waste destined for the landfill:
How to ask your neighbours to stop spraying pesticides Ever asked anyone not to spray pesticides where children play or near your organic vegetable garden? How’d that go over? I suggest putting up a “Pesticide Free” lawn sign. (Congrats to eight lucky blog readers who won their very own!) Read the full story.
Stop the spread of invasive plants Invasive plants are good at wreaking havoc. But many wouldn’t be so successful if they didn’t have our help. Make sure you aren’t aiding and abetting (plant) invaders! Make amends. Maybe become an ivy buster? Read the full story.
The poop on scat… and other wildlife skills Enrich your next outdoor adventure – whether it’s a walk in the woods at the family cabin, or a trip into the back country. Did you know that moose poop looks like chocolate-covered almonds? Or that dead trees house an abundance of wildlife? Read the full story
Green your next home renovation Back in the 1800s, Levi Strauss never imagined scraps from manufacturing denim jeans would have value as non-toxic home insulation. An old toilet could be reincarnated as your kitchen counter. Now, that’s reusing! Read the full story.
Lindsay Coulter: Queen of Green: ☺
FYI Eye Glasses and Bug Spray….. eek!!
From the Editor:
On our recent vacation to the Adirondacks we did some hiking as we usually do only this time there was something different.
For a number of years in our household we have used a natural bug spray called “Bug Stuff” I had sold it in my store and both hubby and I really like it. Alas this time while packing up to get ready I couldn’t find the “Bug Stuff” and had to take our back up supply which has DEET in it. We don’ t like the thought of using a repellent that contained DEET but figured it wouldn’t hurt just this once…..
So off we went hiking up a mountain, thankfully this was a short hike :) but it was very buggy because of the wet spring the forests had experienced, we held off as long as we could but there was just too many of them, and out came the Repellent with DEET…. all goes well for the rest of the hike and we enjoyed the solitude at the peak for a little while until others came and it was time for us to head back down.
Hiking through forest growth, over rocks and up steep inclines, through, over and around puddles and streams can be a rather sweaty (and tiring) undertaking, but it sure is worth it when you reach the summit and when you come back down and look back you feel good :) . After changing out of our hiking shoes and settling back in the car to head to our camp ground, I noticed something on my eye-glass lens, it looked like a sweaty finger smudge, but when I tried to clean it off it wouldn’t budge….
As time went on the “smudge” on my lens got worse it seemed to be growing and nothing we did would get rid of it, it was like it was in between the layers of the lens. After doing a bit of research hubby and I came to the conclusion the bug repellent with the deet must have wrecked my lens!!!! So off to Lens Crafters where I had purchased them about 2 1/2 years ago to see if they could fix them, nope they said nothing we can do, it’s time for new glasses, the staff indicated that by the color of the lens (it had a smoky tinge to it) you could tell the lens were just about shot anyway…. !!
I wasn’t ready to get a totally new pair of glasses, I like my glasses and they are still perfectly fine for my needs, however it was becoming increasing annoying seeing a smudge in my line of vision all the time. Hubby needed new reading glasses and was looking for the flex frame type so my sister suggested New Vision Optical located in Oshawa as this is where my brother-in-law got his flex frame specs. :)
We went to New Vision, sister and hubby met us there as sister had a question about her glasses. We left New Vision very happy and satisfied, hubby got two pairs of glasses, I got a fabulous pair of prescription sun glasses and new lens’ in my frames all for a great price. Jose is helpful and easy to deal with and he has a large selection of glasses to choose from.
Lesson learnt, DEET wrecks plastic eye-glass lens’ and as Jose told us nail polish remover can also wreck your plastic lens’, the chemicals seem to melt the plastic….!!! We certainly learnt that our natural “bug stuff” was a far better product, and it’s far safer for us and for our environment and it’s deet free.
If you are in Oshawa and area and looking for glasses check out
905-432-6033
And if you are in Whitby and area and looking for glasses check out
(905) 665-8515
Both places have fabulous customer service, great prices and a large selection :)
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FYI David Suzuki Science Matters
From my inbox. If you would like to receive updates from Science Matters in your inbox please connect to David Suzuki’s website. ☺
By David Suzuki with contributions from Ian Hanington, Communications and Editorial Specialist
Photo credit: themajesticfool via Flickr.
In their desperation to find even a tiny shred of peer-reviewed science to challenge the volumes of research from around the world about human-caused climate change, deniers have often held up Willie Soon’s work.
Dr. Soon, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, is known for studies that purportedly show that the sun, and not CO2 emissions from human activity, is the main factor in climate change, and that climate change in the 20th century wasn’t that unusual to begin with. He has also argued that mercury emissions from burning coal are no big deal.
Now, in response to a Greenpeace investigation, Dr. Soon has admitted that U.S. oil and coal companies, including ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, Koch Industries, and the world’s largest coal-burning utility, Southern Company, have contributed more than $1 million over the past decade to his research. According to Greenpeace, every grant Dr. Soon has received since 2002 has been from oil or coal interests. This despite the fact that he once told a U.S. Senate hearing that he had not been hired by, employed by, or received grants from any organization “that had taken advocacy positions with respect to the Kyoto protocol or the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
Dr. Soon has also been affiliated with a number of industry front groups, including the coal-funded Greening Earth Society, and Koch-Exxon-Scaife-funded groups including the George C. Marshall Institute, the Science and Public Policy Institute, the Center for Science and Public Policy, the Heartland Institute, and Canada’s Fraser Institute. Please Click Here to view this article in its entirety.
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FYI: David Suzuki.Org… Science Matters: Wind Energy
By David Suzuki
Wind energy is increasingly being considered a viable and attractive power source. Many countries, including the U.S., Germany, Spain, China, and India, are putting policies into place to drive the development of their wind energy industries. In Canada, the amount of wind energy being harnessed for use in our homes, offices, and factories has grown quickly over the past few years, led by Ontario with its Green Energy Act.
However, a backlash has been growing in many places where wind power is being developed. In Ontario, one of the main criticisms of wind development has been its impact on human health, mostly because of the noise that wind turbines produce. Yet, the peer-reviewed scientific research indicates that the sound from windmills, which generally falls into three categories (audible sound, low frequency, and infrasound), has little to no impact on human health.
This is especially true if windmills are built far enough away from residences. For example, the required setback in Ontario is 550 metres. At this distance, the audible sound from windmills has been found to be below 40 decibels, which is around the level of sound you’d find in most bedrooms and living rooms. Studies from the University of Massachusetts similarly found that even if the sound were audible, annoyance would be minimal.
Critics have also pointed to low frequency sound and infrasound as the source of health impacts from wind turbines. These are sounds that are either difficult to hear or inaudible to humans. However, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health did a review of the scientific literature and found no evidence that low frequency sound from wind turbines causes adverse health effects.
Research from Sweden and the Netherlands may shed some light on the opposition that windmills are facing, despite the lack of evidence for human health impacts. At or just under 40 decibels, 73 per cent of people could notice the sound and six per cent were annoyed. But those who did not like windmills or found them ugly were more likely to notice the sound and were more likely to be annoyed by it.
Though we should always remain open-minded about new and emerging research on any issue, the evidence seems clear that wind turbines built with appropriate setbacks do not constitute a health hazard. And wind becomes a more attractive energy source when you consider the health impacts of the main energy alternative, burning coal and other fossil fuels.
The Canadian Medical Association estimated that in 2008 Canada’s air pollution was responsible for 21,000 premature deaths, 92,000 emergency room visits, and 620,000 visits to a doctor’s office. Even if you look only at the health impacts of Ontario coal-fired power plants, the numbers are significant and startling.
When considering whether Canada needs to curtail the development of its wind resources or expand wind power in the way that Ontario’s Green Energy Act proposes, we should heed the conclusion of Maine’s Center for Disease Control . After dismissing the notion of a moratorium on wind development due to its health impacts, the Center’s Dr. Dora Ann Mills concluded, “If there is any evidence for a moratorium, it is most likely on further use of fossil fuels, given their known and common effects on the health of our population.”
For the rest of this article or to find out more about our environment please visit
David Suzuki’s web site
Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation climate change policy analyst Dale Marshall.
Photo credit: Randy Harrison via Flickr
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Sun Moves into Cancer
June 21 2011 The Sun moves into the zodiacal sign of Cancer.
Cancer the Crab: Water: Feminine: Cardinal:
We love you guys, you are always trying to take care of everyone. ☺Nurturing is in your nature, whether it be children, plants or animals, you just feel the “need to nurture” Emotional you usually operate on ‘gut feelings’ and you need to feel connected to a family, but you like your privacy too. Some of you can become needy, dependent or unable to function unless someone or something needs you.
Most Cancerians are great in the kitchen, as feeding others is another way to say “I love you” and it’s likely that those who enjoy cooking or baking find it very easy to do. You may suffer from tummy/breast/chest troubles as these are the parts of the body ruled by Cancer. Sensitive by nature you may at times imagine slights from others and become defense or withdrawn (as a crab into its shell) if an effort to block any hurt.
The Sun remains in Cancer until July 23 2011:
Warm Birthday Wishes :
Ian, Christine, Janine, Jeff (cusp) Rose (cusp) And warm birthday wishes are sent to everyone celebrating a Cancerian birthday. Happy New Year All… ☺
Serenity's Gift Cove (sgc) 