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Green Living Now News, Edition Fourteen

1. Just when you thought it was safer to eat veggies…

Most of us eat veggies because we know that they are healthy for us, and most of them really taste good. At least we thought they were healthy for us. Well, guess what? A recent University of Minnesota study published in the Journal of Environmental Quality found that antibiotics given to animals could end up in your veggies (gasp!).

Here's the problem:

Raw and/or lightly composted manure is often used as fertilizer on conventional farms. In contrast, manure used on organic farms must be composted or applied at least 90 days before harvest. No such requirements exist on conventional farms.

In the study, researchers found that corn; cabbage and green onions all absorbed the antibiotic, chlortetracycline from the manure fertilizer from pigs that were given the antibiotic. Chlortetracycline is a member of the tetracycline class of antibiotics used in human medicine. It's used to treat upper respiratory tract infections and other illnesses. When humans ingest antibiotics, especially unnecessary ones, it can make bacteria in the intestines become drug resistant. So, if you really needed that antibiotic at some point, it wouldn't be effective. Also, all antibiotics (as I understand it) kill off both the good and bad bacteria in our bodies leaving us more vulnerable to yeast infections, and other health issues. Beyond the immediate effects to our bodies, resistant bacteria created on a farm can contaminate air, water and soil, and travel significant distances.

Did you think antibiotics were just used to treat disease? I did. Apparently they are also fed to animals to make them grow faster and to compensate for overcrowded, unsanitary conditions on industrial scale farms. Not good for the animals, and not good for the consumers of those animals either.

Sadly consumers have no idea that they are consuming antibiotics in their food, there isn't any label requirement to reveal this information. I guess it's just like genetically engineered organisms, pesticides and other toxins in conventional food. That's not to say that it's impossible for antibiotics to appear in organic food too. It would seem unlikely though due to the requirement to compost the manure and apply it 90 days before harvest. But who knows? I'll continue to put my money on the organic stuff, what about you?

P.S. Occasionally I get asked what a person can do who cannot afford organic food. I usually suggest the following: (1) grow it yourself and freeze and can it for the winter. No land? Grow your own in a community garden plot, or in a neighbor's garden (get the soil tested for heavy metals. Call your local extension service for more information). Shop at local farmer's markets (fresher and usually more affordable). Join a community supported agriculture group (perhaps some farmers will barter your share of the harvest for something of value to them). I've heard that big box stores, like Costco's and Big Lots, carry some organic food. So, if you already shop there, choose the organic.

2. Investors Are Demanding the "Green".
Not Money, Greener Technologies.

It's December 7th (2005), and here in Huntington Vermont we woke up to 1 degree Fahrenheit. Eek! Everyone is talking about the high cost of heating oil this season, and the Farmer's Almanac says December and January will be very cold in the Northeast. What's does this have to do with investors and green technologies?

Well, many people believed that companies would start to spend money on research and development of greener technologies due to the spike in oil prices. Not true, apparently. For instance, DuPont has been slowly replacing petrochemicals with ingredients like corn since 2000. Currently about 83% of their products use petrochemicals, but they expect that number to decrease to below 75% by 2010. Not a huge reduction, but it's a start.

Similarly, the oil company, Chevron, created "Chevron Energy Solutions" in 2000 to promote energy conservation products. It seems that being "green" is in. The President of Chevron Energy Solutions said that some of their clients were interested in energy efficiency not because their electric bills had increased, but because they wanted to project a greener image. For example, several Universities wanted to "green their campuses" for prospective students, faculty members and donors.

A very powerful motivator seems to be the avoidance of negative publicity. CSI Leasing Company, which leases personal computers, was worried that their discarded equipment would find its way into a landfill and leach toxic chemicals. So, a subsidiary of CSI began collecting the used CSI computers and others and stripping them into steel, plastic and other materials to sell as scrap. Companies want to create goodwill with consumers.

Wal-mart, the target of a large activist campaign (http://walmartwatch.com/) needed some good news to show that they were environmentally friendly. They've never been seen as a leader in the environmental realm. Walmartwatch says, "Wal-Mart has a long history of breaking environmental laws that its high-priced green-washing campaign can't hide. Its record of environmental abuse was described by one top law enforcement official as "widespread, systematic, repeated" and has incurred millions in fines from state and federal agencies.

Now Wal-Mart is starting a program to recycle their plastic shrink wraps, shopping bags and other plastic items. A good baby step. In more exciting news...Wal-Mart also has some experimental stores where it's testing the use of trees and grasses (particularly in parking lots) to absorb carbon dioxide emissions and tainted water, wind and solar energy to generate electricity, use of recycled materials for outdoor pavements, formaldehyde-free store flooring; and ways to recycle construction debris. Wow, that's impressive, particularly because where Wal-Mart goes, others will follow. Also, new jobs can be created in the environmentally friendly industry. For example, Rocky Mountain Recycling, who showed Wal-Mart how to compact it's plastic sandwich bags and used plastic between layers of cardboard making it easier to transport, has grown the number of employees and trucks. After Wal-Mart signed on they went from 90 workers to 140, and 7 trucks to 26. The company is expecting to become a $100 million company in the next three to five years. Though I have a number of issues with Wal-Mart, at least they are making some progress in this area.

So, even though the United States did not sign the Kyoto Treaty, which is designed to regulate greenhouse gases, U.S. companies are starting to do the right thing anyway. They figure that the regulations will find there way to the U.S. since U.S. companies do business in other countries that did sign, according to Judi Greenwald, director of innovative solutions at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, a nonprofit research group.

Shareholders are pressuring the companies they invest in to disclose what they are doing environmentally. Research analyst, Stanley G. Deutsch, from Babson Capital Management said, "Pension accounting, legal problems, and these days, environmental problems, all can be claims on cash flow." Well, whatever it takes…

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/business/22enviro.html?ei=5090&en=ale281733267

3. The Red Marbles

(I don't know who wrote this, but I thought it was lovely and wanted to include it for you this month.)

Babs Miller was bagging some early potatoes for me. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising a basket of freshly picked green peas. I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas.
I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller and the ragged boy next to me.

"Hello Barry, how are you today?"

"H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas, sure look good."

"They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?"

"Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time."

"Good. Anything I can help you with?"

"No, Sir. Just admirin' them peas."

"Would you like to take some home?"

"No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with."
"Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?"

"All I got's my prize marble here."
"Is that right? Let me see it."

"Here 'tis. She's a dandy."

"I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red.
Do you have a red one like this at home?"

"Not zackley, but almost."

"Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble."

"Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller."

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile she said, "There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, perhaps."

I left the stand smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado, but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering. Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently, I had the occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died.

They were having his viewing that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary, we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could. Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts...all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes. Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and mentioned the story she had told me about the marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

"Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about! They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim "traded" them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size...they came to pay their debt."

"We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world," she confided, "But right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho." With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

Moral: We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds.

Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.

Today, I wish you a day of ordinary miracles...
A fresh pot of organic coffee you didn't make yourself.
An unexpected phone call from an old friend.
Green stoplights on your way to work.
The fastest line at the grocery store.
A good sing-along song on the radio.
Your keys right where you left them.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but an entire lifetime to forget them.

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