Does George Will work for ExxonMobil?

Post has moved to my new blog at E Journal

Documentary "Food, Inc" - you'll never shop at the supermarket again

I think this doc is a must see but if you can't stand the idea of buying from a health food store or becoming a vegetarian then maybe you shouldn't watch it as you may not want to go back to the supermarket.
Food, Inc. is available for download on Netflix.

Chilean sea bass is actually Patagonian toothfish

I thought it was interesting that the fishing industry renames species to make them more palatable to the consumer. I would agree that Chilean sea bass sounds better than Patagonian toothfish.

Dissostichus eleginoides
Patagonian toothfiss aka Chilean sea bass

Slimehead was renamed orange roughy and now Asian carp is being renamed silverfin.

Hoplostethus atlanticus
Slimehead aka orange roughy

At least in the case of the Asian carp re-branding is hopefully a good thing. It seems these fish have become an invasive species in Lake Michigan. They were introduced in the South 1970s to devour algae in catfish ponds and eventually escaped and made their way up the Mississippi River. So by eating silverfin consumers can help reduce the numbers of this invasive fish, or so the theory goes.
See Seafood Watch for info on fish not to eat.

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Why George Will is dangerous

This post has been moved to my new environmental blog:  E Journal

The most persuasive documentary on climate change

It's unfortunate but the people who need to see the movie The 11th Hour are not the people who will be watching it. I highly recommend it however. It makes the point that the problem we face is a problem of perception. The public needs to be educated on the reality of climate change and just how significant a change is coming.

Facts about burial and "green" burial

Buried in each acre of a typical cemetery is over 1,000 gallons of formaldehyde-based embalming fluid, 97 tons of steel, 2,000 tons of concrete and  56,000 board feet of wood.
Cremation releases about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide as well as soot particles, sulfur dioxide, and trace metals, including mercury from fillings.
Modern burial practices date back to the Civil War era when embalming was developed to preserve soldier's bodies so they could be shipped home. However embalming is not necessary and neither is a concrete vault or a steel casket. There is a new trend in burial to return to earlier natural methods of burial without the use of toxic chemicals pumped into the body after the bodily fluids are drained. Instead the body is simply placed in a cloth shroud or wicker or softwood casket for burial, dust to dust.
More information can be found at Mark Harris' website, Grave Matters.

"green" caskets
clockwise from top left, a coffin made of pandanus, or wild pineapple; a casket made of hand woven water hyacinth; a stylish biodegradable "Ecopod"; and one made of sustainably grown pine.

source: Audubon magazine

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• Dust to dust, with zero carbon footprint (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Looking for a greener kind of death (salon.com)

Vinyl is bad for you

There is a lot of information available now about the dangers of vinyl (PVC). Below is my collection of articles on PVC and other top toxins in our consumer products.
Plastics ingredients may shrink babies 
The lowdown on some plastics
 Child Obesity Is Linked to Chemicals in Plastics
Brominated flame retardants 

5 toxics that are everywhere: Protect yourself