ENN: Environmental News Network -- Know Your Environment

It seems like everyone has some kind of Smartphone, be it an Android, Galaxy, or Iphone. Thousands of Apps have been created for these Smartphones in order to make our lives easier (or at least more entertaining).  Smartphones Apps give people the ability to get directions, play angry birds, and of course talk and text, anytime or anywhere they want.

Last month the Sierra Club published a blog on the Top Ten Eco Friendly Smartphone Apps. In response I have created a list of the coolest FREE APPS that are environmentally and sustainability themed.

1.      Iviro

 Iviro allows users to estimate their homes environmental impact. Iviro gives users the ability to perform detailed energy analysis of homes by calculating their homes energy, heating, and water consumption.  Iviro also teaches users what changes can be made to their home and lifestyle to reduce their environmental impact and save money.

Similar (free) Apps relating to home assessment include: Home Sustainability Mobile Assesor, Waterprint, and EcoFootPrint

2.       iRecycle

 Almost anything can be recycled, you just need to know where to bring it. iRecycle makes it easy to identify the closest recycling facilities for hundreds of products.

 Similar (free) Apps relating to the recycling of atypical objects include: My Recycle List and RadioShack Trade & Save

3.       Seafood Watch

Seafood Watch was created by the Monterrey Bay Aquarium to help users choose the most sustainable fish options while at the market or while going out to eat.

Similar (free) Apps relating to the sustainable consumption of fish include: Sustainable Seafood Guide, SeaChoice, Best Fish Guide, Ocean Wise, and Good Fish Guide

4.       Recyclebank

RecycleBank is one of many Apps that attempts to reward users for Eco-friendly decisions. 

 Similar (free) Apps relating to rewards and challenges include: EcoChallenge and RecyclePix by Greenopolis.

I hope you find these Apps helpful. If you have any other suggestions of helpful “green” Apps please share in the comments sections!

smartphone girl via shutterstock

When touring the Golden Gate Bridge or taking a train to work, the last thing people want as they close out their summer is a natural disaster. And even if it doesn’t happen, don’t you want to make sure that you and the people you care about are safe? You’re in luck because next time you visit the city by the bay you’ll notice a new warning system for earthquakes.

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system team up with the University of California-Berkeley’s Seismology Laboratory to come up with a warning system that will automatically halt trains in their tracks (literally) when a quake strikes the City by the Bay. This new safety technology allows trains to stop tens of seconds to minutes before an earthquake so the passengers are safe as the ground starts to shake. Put into motion in August 2012, the new system provides new electronic warning signals to over 200 stations in the Northern California region.

These electronic warning signals are sent to the stations from seismic stations, and the researchers say that these specific wavelengths travel at a quicker pace than seismic waves themselves. These signals also help people outside of the Bay Area be notified of quakes. Outside of the San Francisco area, the data gives BART’s central computer system advanced warning that seismic activity’s about to occur; the farther the earthquake is away from San Francisco, the more time the high-speed trains have to stop from their top speeds of 70 miles-per-hour. The response is even faster if it’s inside San Francisco.

“The earthquake early warning system will enable BART to stop trains before earthquake shaking starts, and thereby prevent derailment and save passengers from potential injuries,” said BART Board President John McPartland. “We are the first transit agency in the United States to provide this early warning and intervention.”

The new warning system should be welcomed with open arms to the area which is prone to earthquakes and it gives the Northern California region another vital resource to provide awareness in addition to prevent injuries.

Image Credit: Earthquake via Shutterstock

“It’s environmental evolution, art intervention as growth, or a balancing of relationships“- Jason deCaires Taylor

Last month I wrote about art as catalyst for positive environmental change. I wrote about WENDY, a sculpture that actively cleans the air. This month I’m going to highlight the works of Jason deCaires Taylor, an artist who uses underwater sculpture to improve underwater biodiversity by creating new habitats for threatened underwater sea life.

Jason deCaires Taylor is an award winning underwater photographer and eco sculptor who’s work is both awe-striking and contemplative. Taylor received a BA in Sculpture in 1998 from the London Institute of Arts and is also a certified diving instructor.  Taylor created his first underwater sculpture garden in 2006. Only 10-15% of the sea bed has strong enough substratum to allow reefs to form naturally. By “sinking” PH neutral sculptures, Taylor creates an artificial reef which attracts coral, fish, and crustaceans. Taylor hopes tourism to his reefs will reduce pressure from natural coral reefs, which are dying at an alarming rate.

One of Taylor’s newest pieces,  “The Listener”, is planned to literally act as a “ear” to  the under sea life, testing that whether Taylor’s sculpture is a legit conservation tool. “The Listener” is a humanoid sculpture composed of ear castings and rigged with a hydrophone. The recordings will be reviewed by Heather Spence, a marine biologist and PHd Candidate at Hunter College, to determine whether the sculptures are beneficial or disruptive.

Jason deCaires Taylor documents his sculpture by periodically diving and photographing their changes in growth. The images are beautifully haunting(and sometimes a little creepy). As time passes the sculptures in the picture start to look like lost treasure from a sunken ship. My favorite of Taylor’s images is of “Phoenix”,  a sculpture of a woman arching backwards with coral “wings” sprouting from her sides (see right).

Taylor’s underwater sculptures are innovative in both the visual and environmental sense.  By marrying his love of sculpture to his love of ocean life Taylor has, like the coral on his sculptures, transformed art. I suggest anyone with a few spare minutes on their hands check out his photo galleries on underwatersculpture.com.

All photos in this article were taken by Jason deCaires Taylor and were found at underwatersculpture.com

One story that has garnered a considerable amount of attention through anti-corporate documentaries (both The Corporation, and Food Inc), has been Monsanto’s development of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in the early 1990s. It could be that this case has received ample attention as it demonstrates how companies like Monsanto have so much influence in what foods are pushed in the market today, regardless of scientific studies that prove these foods are not safe for human consumption. But where corporations have the power to put unsafe products on the market, corporations also have the power to take them off the shelves.

How One Corporation Kept rBGH on the Market
In the early 1990s, the development of Monsanto’s rBGH (marketed as Posilac) was intended to increase the milk output of dairy cows by more than 10%. It soon became evident that this was not a magical solution for farmers after all, as cows were having frequent and painful rBGH-induced infections, that in turn had to be treated with greater amounts of costly antibiotics.

Through their expensive marketing dollars, Monsanto insisted that milk from cows given rBGH had no negative effects on humans. But governments of Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe saw otherwise. Most governments banned the use of rBGH, noting that their scientific committees reported that consuming milk of cows injected with rBGH poses serious risks of cancer in humans.

Government Did Not Stop it, So Another Corporation Did
It was bad for the cow, bad for the farmer, and bad for the consumer. Nonetheless, in 1993, the genetically engineered hormone rBGH was approved for use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration. Yet, by 2008 the milk from rGBH cows disappeared off the shelves of stores almost overnight. And no, it was not the U.S. government that stepped in to do it.

One of the first groups to step in; Safeway. Yes, that is right, the grocery store. As early as 2005, Safeway’s processing plants became rBGH free, and by 2007 the company stopped buying from dairy farmers that used rBGH. Even though this was not the most profitable decision for the company (initially of course), it was a decision that just made sense. The company operates on a philosophy that focuses on; People, Products, Community, and the Planet. The Monsanto rBGH is bad for people, products, community and the planet, so for Safeway there was no better thing to do then to ditch it.

When retail giant Walmart decided to follow this trend and phase out rBGH products in 2008, Monsanto’s prized product took a final big hit, and it forced Monsanto to realize losses on the drug.

Corporate Social Responsibility Programs Do Matter
All it took was one important grocer with a strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to cause a rBGH-free domino effect. After Safeway took action, one after the other grocery stores began eliminating rBGH containing products from their shelves. Even if companies did not care for social causes like health and the environment the way Safeway did, they began eliminating rBGH products just the same to avoid profit losses of having customers switch to Safeway for their weekly supply of safe milk and eggs.

While we see one corporation take advantage of animals, people and the environment by pushing a dangerous drug, we also see another corporation become a force for positive social change. We should still look cautiously on the corporation but we should not loose faith in the market system altogether. We see how CSR programs like the one at Safeway, can be more responsive to society than even governments themselves.

Glass of Milk via Shutterstock

When people are asked what the number one environmental issue is, what do you think they say? Endangered species? No.  Smog? No. The actual answer is climate change (or global warming, no matter how you say or want to say it).

Climate change is such a hot topic nowadays some natural wonders can’t even keep up with the heat, and believe me, they are way out of the kitchen. According to the National Academy of Science based in Washington, D.C., glaciers around the globe don’t know how to react to the constantly changing temperatures, especially in one of snow and ice’s favorite destinations: the Himalayan mountain range.

A new study suggests that glaciers in the eastern and central regions of the Himalayas are receding at hastened rates, similar to other glaciers in other regions of the world. The interesting part is that glaciers in the western Himalayan Mountains are staying constant and could possibly growing stronger and thicker.

This plays a large role in the region’s climate because the melting glaciers contribute to the region’s fresh water supply through rivers, lakes and streams. For right now, the retreating ice does not have an immediate effect because the region consistently relies on summer smowmelt and the rains in the monsoon season for its immediate supply. However if this continues, researchers propose that the thawing glaciers may cause a lack of fresh water availability over the next several decades to tens of central Asian countries.

Image Credit: Wired.com

Researchers also suggest that the melting glacier ice could be a key component of maintaining water security throughout times of drought; during the 2003 drought in Europe, extremely high water levels in the Danube River (caused by melted glacial ice) helped the region throughout its dry spell. The research team is suggesting a similar thing may happen in the Himalayan region over the next few decades.

So if your local glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, don’t fear, because they may be growing in another place in your area. And who knows? They could help you out in the long run too.

Social enterprises do not aim to maximize their profits but to maximize the reach of their social mission. For some social enterprises, having a greater social reach means partnering with current market systems for accelerated growth. That is what Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield decided to do when they brought their company, Ben & Jerry’s, public. However, what they did not know was that their social cause would have no voice in the case of an acquisition. No voice whatsoever…

From Happy Once Upon a Time, to An Unwanted Acquisition
It’s 1978, and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield start up an ice cream store with a social mission to be fair to its double bottom line; people and profit. They became profitable, responsible to the environment, fair to employees, and pretty nice to cows. So with a growing customer base, and the desire to expand the reach of it’s social mission to greater lengths, Ben & Jerry’s goes public.

But in 2000, its outstanding success grabbed the attention of Unilever, the world’s third largest consumer goods company. While Ben & Jerry’s founders and customers were incredibly worried about the security of the Ben & Jerry’s social cause if acquired  by Unilever, the company was public – their legal stakeholders are the shareholders, and they wanted an acquisition. As a publicly-traded company, the board was legally required to sell to the highest bidder in order to maximize the profits for the shareholders. When bought out by Unilever on August 3, 2000, Cohen noted that it was ‘just about the worst day of my life’.

Although Unilever made promises to uphold Ben & Jerry’s social mission, evidence of this has been diminishing over the years. In 2010, labels touting that Ben & Jerry’s contains “all natural” had been removed following pressure from a US watchdog who questioned the transition of the ice cream’s ingredients towards corn syrup, and hydrogenated soya bean oil.

Is the B-Corp the Knight in Shining Armour?
Needless to say, this remains one of the horror stories for the social entrepreneurial community. Time and time again, successful social enterprises face the trade-off between accelerated growth and their social mission. We saw a similar story repeat itself in 2006 when L’Oréal acquired the Body Shop. So what can a social enterprise do? Revoke itself from this market system altogether? Remain in the private sector for fear of undermining their social responsibility?

Becoming a Certified B Corporation could be one of the solutions for fearful social enterprises who do not want the legacy of their social mission to become diluted. B-Corporations;

1) Meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards;
2) Meet higher legal accountability standards,
3) Build business constituency for public policies that support sustainable business.

In a traditional corporation, shareholders are the stakeholders who legally reign supreme. So while social enterprises can work  as hard as they can to look after their various social stakeholders (the environment, the workers, the community), when push comes to shove the shareholders’ interest will always direct the decision making. However, with a B-Corporation the shareholders, the environment, and the social cause are equally given authority in the decision making process. While a B-Corporation can only be registered in few US states, there are now over 600 B-Corporations.

The negative component of a B-Corporation is that it opens social enterprises up to even greater legal liabilities than their business counterparts who are ironically less socially responsible than they are (B-Corporations being legally responsible for environmental and social stakeholders as well as shareholders). Will any of the social enterprises’ legal council really agree to opening their client to greater opportunities of being sued? Only time will tell.

Whether or not a B-Corporation becomes the salvation for social enterprises moving forward – the story of a once small ice cream company can remind us of how delicate the situation is for sustaining a social mission in a for-profit enterprise.

Ice cream scoop photo via Shutterstock

A female Culex Pipiens, the main vector for West Nile Virus, taking a bloodmeal from a unsuspecting host.

I remember the first West Nile outbreak in the United States, in 1999. I lived in the New York area at the time and the first thing I remember was people being terrified by the mysterious bird die-offs. Following the identification of West Nile Virus in humans, the fear that a potentially fatal illness may be lurking in the ever too prevalent mosquito population scared people to the point that they were afraid to go outside. This first year resulted in 62 positive human cases, including 7 fatalities (all of these cases were in New York).

 Much has changed since 1999. Since 1999 there have been over 30,000 reported cases of West Nile reported in 48 States, causing cities, states, and counties to successfully implement programs to monitor and control mosquito populations. Also, bird populations have developed immunity to the virus and there are no longer birds dying off from West Nile. Despite the prevalence of West Nile, the general public has begun to relaxing its fear of the outdoors and mosquitoes.

Unfortunately, this summer a West Nile outbreak has developed in Texas, relighting Americans fear of the disease.  According to the Center for Disease Control(CDC) as of September 4, there have been 1,993 confirmed cases of West Nile Virus in the United States,  45% of these cases have been reported by Texas.  People have once again started to wonder if it’s safe to go outside.

Though fall is just around the corner here in the Northeast, mosquito “season” is far from over, especially in the south. I have put together a brief list of advice for reducing your risk from being bitten by mosquitoes and potentially acquiring West Nile based on my experience doing mosquito and other vector-borne disease research and prevention.

1.       Personal Protection

Species of the genus Culex (the genus of mosquitoes responsible for human cases of West Nile Virus) prefer to feed at dusk, night, and dawn. By wearing long sleeves and pants you can try to protect yourself from skeeters without the use of repellants (though I do recommend usage of repellants because I have been bit through clothing on numerous occasions).

The use of repellant has been deemed safe and effective by the CDC,  which recommends the use of “conventional repellants” like DEET and Picardin and “biopesticide repellants” like Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, PMD and IR3535 as active ingredients in repellants.

2.       Source Reduction

Source reduction is an important and ecological approach to reducing mosquito populations. Removing standing water and open containers from your property eliminates potential breeding grounds for Culex mosquitoes (and also for container-breeding mosquitoes like the invasive Tiger Mosquito Aedes Albopictus). Standing water like inflatable pools and birdbaths should be checked regularly because there is no such thing as a tadpole in a birdbath. As we used to say “Check  it or Chuck it”.

3.       Attempt to Mosquito Proof Your Home

 During the summer heat, open windows are an efficient way to cool down your house. Not all species of mosquitoes come indoors, but to protect yourself from those who do its important to maintain your window screens and seal all possible entry points.

I have always found the epidemiology and ecology relating to vector borne diseases like West Nile Virus fascinating. There are so many factors (e.g. temperature and rainfall) that can lead to an outbreak or change in disease distribution. As the climate (theoretically) continues to warm surveillance and control of mosquitoes will become more and more important. Hopefully my prevention advice will help you take some control over your risks factors for West Nile.

Note: Despite the current outbreak the chances of acquiring West Nile Virus and getting sick are still very low.  Chances of getting ill are higher for those older than 50 years and the immune compromised. Also, not everyone infected with West Nile will develop symptoms. According to the CDC only 1 in 5 infected experience symptoms;  and of those infected less then 1% develop severe neurological symptoms.

Culex via Shutterstock

The newest aviation technologies are really helping scientists across a wide variety of fields complete research that otherwise could not be done. Whether it’s in space or just in the upper atmosphere, researchers are always trying new and innovative ways to get up above to see what’s going on.

For instance, NASA is using the active 2012 hurricane season to experiment with its newest meteorological technology. The national science and technology laboratory has chosen this week to fly an unmanned Global Hawk aircraft over the dangerous waters of Tropical Storm Leslie. The day-long flight from California to Virginia was part of NASA’s Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission.

The mission is the first time that the unmanned Global Hawk aircrafts are being used on the eastern coast of the United States. NASA will also fly out two more Global Hawks as part of the month-long HS3 mission out of Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The aircrafts will be operated on the ground from Wallops and Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The planes can fly over tropical systems at elevations above 60,000 feet and can stay in the air for 28 hours.

Courtesy of NASA.gov

The specific mission was ordered by the federal government to assist both researchers and weather forecasters unearth information about how tropical storms and hurricanes not only form in the Atlantic Ocean, but intensify over warm waters. The data that the aircrafts receive will be used by the teams to determine intensity change. Global Hawks will also measure temperature, water vapor, precipitation and winds from the surface of the storm all the way up to the lower stratosphere.

This interesting information just reminded me of something one of my friends from school said last year in a forecast discussion: Whether the weather is hot, or whether the weather is dark and stormy, remember the weather forever because it’s always high in the sky.

Do you turn off the sink while you brush your teeth? Do you do all your bills online so you don’t produce wasteful paperwork? Is reduce-reuse-recycle your life motto but your upset because after making years of sustainable decisions you have nothing to show for it?  Well your now in luck, the website Recycle Bank has created a system that allows people to get rewarded for their green decisions

Recycle Bank was founded with the mission “to motivate individuals and communities to realize a world in which nothing is wasted”.  Recycle Bank was originally focused solely on increasing recycling rates but has since expanded to include curbing energy and water consumption, encouraging smarter transportation, and strengthening local economies. By using a carrot only approach RecycleBank has expanded to over 3.7 million members since it was founded in 2004.  

Reaping RecycleBank’s rewards is easy. Users can create can create an account through their email or facebook. After signing up, you are given the option to take green pledges, educational courses and pledges for which you earn points. When you are happy with how many points you earn, you can then cash them in for a range of prizes including discounts, gift certificates, and magazine subscriptions. According to RecycleBank, members on average earn over $130 in rewards a year.

In order to provide rewards, RecycleBank partners with a large range of organizations and businesses. RecycleBank partners with both local and national businesses, including Coca Cola, SC Johnson, Johnson & Johnson. These partnerships not only help RecycleBank provide rewards but they also work with RecycleBank on education programs.

 For the beginning of the new school year RecycleBank has put together EcoAcademy. EcoAcademy focuses on sustainable choices relating to going to school but also covers other topics including home maintenance.  EcoAcademy includes quizzes and other challenges which can be counted towards your points and you can also be entered to win $5,000.

RecycleBank’s idea of rewarding members for attempting to practice sustainability is a slightly flawed system. RecycleBank’s users can collect rewards from RecycleBank without actually committing to the changes they pledge to make.  What RecycleBank hopes is that through the pledging and other educational tasks users will have a greater understanding of sustainability options available and will make changes on their own.

Since theirs no loss joining RecycleBank I think I’m gonna join. What’s the worse that could happen? I learn a few new sustainability tips and get rewarded for it?

Open Gift via Shutterstock

When a person goes hiking or camping out in the obscure wilderness, many things come to mind. Whether it is roasting a weenie and a marshmallow on a stick over an open fire or getting so far away from civilization that you can actually see the stars without any light pollution whatsoever.

But a man from the sandy beaches of San Diego unfortunately passed away last week when he came across a common sight in the Alaskan wilderness: a bear. An image of the northern woodlands, the bear mauled the man not for food, but out of fear. However, people need to be prepared for spur-of-the-moment animal attacks, just in case they do happen. Here are some tips from the United States Forest Service on how you can scare away a bear if one approaches you in its native habitat.

Image Credit: Octavarius.com

– Store food and garbage securely. When camping in the woods, many animals are searching for their native food whether it be berries, tree sap or other small creatures; however, human food is quite a rare delicacy for some animals. When you camp in the woods, store your food and garbage in a backpack or bag that blocks odors. Tie a rope to that bag and then throw it into a tall tree (about 30 feet tall) and then tie the other end of the rope to the tree to keep it secure.

– Yell, clap or bang pots to scare a bear away. When a bear comes near you or any creature, they expect it be to be scared because it is a predator. In order to get the bear away, the best thing to do is to be loud and crazy which will scare the bear. Use camping supplies like a whistle or pots and pans to assist you because sometimes, your voice is not enough.

– If you feel threatened, don’t run, but back away slowly. Even though bears are afraid of loud noises, they capitalize on running for their prey. In order to protect one’s self, always face the bear and breathe normally. Back away slowly like nothing’s happened and remain calm, cool and collected.