August 2011
27 posts
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LA Times: BPA ban passes California state Senate →
Yesterday the state Senate passed AB 1319, The Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act, which would ban the plastic chemical bisphenol A, also known as BPA, from baby bottles and sippy cups sold statewide. Now the bill heads back to the state Assembly for a vote on the Senate amendments.
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NY Times: Fearing a Planet Without Apes →
“A decade ago, Congress stepped forward with a relatively cheap but vitally important effort to protect these apes through innovative conservation programs in Africa and Asia that combined taxpayer dollars with private money. But attempts to reauthorize the Great Apes Conservation Fund have gotten stuck in Congress and may become a victim of the larger debate over the national...
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Sad Etsy Boyfriends Tumblr →
Your new favorite Tumblr.
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NY Times: Out West, Eye Rolls and Jeers for East →
“We eat 5.9 for breakfast,” says one SF Chron commenter.
In fact, the Bay Area had a 3.6 tremor for a midnight snack last night, and Orange County felt a 2.7 quake this morning.
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Who are the greenest consumers?
Last week, I published an article on a marketing research firm’s report on the greenest consumers — people who say they engage in 10 or more eco-friendly activities on a regular basis such as buying organic food, planning to buy a hybrid car and recycling and using reusable grocery bags.
It wasn’t a total shocker that the study found the greenest consumers tend to be wealthy and...
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That's Parry with an "a"
The LA Times reports that “Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday reaffirmed his view that global warming is an unproven scientific theory that has been advanced, at least in part, by scientists who have ‘manipulated data,’ and he argued that programs intended to limit climate change are costing the nation ‘billions if not trillions’ of dollars that he believes could...
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cnet: The art of climate change →
A new exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences by artist Mary Edna Fraser depicts places around the world that have been or will be affected by climate change: Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa,the Mekong river in Vietnam, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Selenga Delta in Russia and a few places in the U.S. like Alaska and low-lying Boston.
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Will Australia pass a carbon tax? →
The BBC reports that thousands gathered this week in Australia’s capital, Canberra, to protest a proposed carbon tax on the country’s 500 heaviest polluters.
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Happy 40th birthday, Chez Panisse!
Slow Food leader Alice Waters opened one of the Bay Area’s favorite restaurants on August 28, 1971.
Photo: Creative Commons, by Calton
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Yoga and I are getting back together
I started doing yoga and Pilates before Madonna.
That’s right — back in 1996, I took up what would become trendy weight-loss fads as an effort to rehabilitate injuries caused by years of ballet and modern dance.
While a foot injury prevented me from ever doing ballet again (maybe unfortunately, maybe fortunately — see Black Swan), I continued taking yoga classes until the...
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In Micronesia, sharks are worth more alive than...
A single shark can be worth more than $1 million dollars to a local tourism spot, economic studies reveal.
And that’s why the islands in Micronesia have banded together to create a shark sanctuary, to prevent over-fishing caused by Asia’s insatiable appetite for shark-fin soup.
Support California’s bill to ban shark finning here (Whoops - the opposition is lead by my own state...
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I belonged to the Slow Home movement without...
This month, Re-Nest is focusing on Slow Homes — the idea of slowly gathering eco-friendly, useful items you love in your home to support your life, rather than impulsively buying a bunch of trendy, disposable furniture and knick-knacks to fill up your home immediately.
It took the hubby and me about two years after moving into our first home to settle on our design aesthetic and choose...
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LA Times: Pregnant women show high levels of flame... →
“The levels of PBDEs in their blood were among the highest ever recorded, a UC San Francisco study says. PBDEs, mostly banned in California since 2004, are harmful to the liver, thyroid and nerve development.”
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Honey tasting
A few weeks ago I interviewed the president of the Beekeepers Guild of San Mateo County, and I was fascinated to hear that honey is like a fine wine: It can range from light to full-bodied.
I got to do a brief bit of honey tasting this past weekend at the San Bruno Farmers Market - comparing honey produced back in spring with honey produced this summer.
The vendor told me that summer honey is...
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“This isn’t a business. That was the big thing I didn’t get: Reality TV is not a...”
– Spencer Pratt in an interview with The Daily Beast
No s@#*, Speidi.
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NY Times: Chimpanzees Clear Some Doubt After... →
One study finds chimpanzees are remarkably generous, while another finds that chimps are only giving when it’s convenient for them.
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Looking for something to do in downtown San Jose...
This Saturday, I was melting in the heat of downtown San Jose, killing time before a friend’s wedding when I happened upon the City of San Jose’s Clean Energy Showcase. Open to the public for free every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the showcase features the latest in green technology — solar, solar hot waters, wind turbines, electric vehicles and more.
Here’s a preview...
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Who will be affected by climate change?
An upcoming study in the journal “Global Environmental Change” finds that conservative white men are far more likely to deny the threat of climate change than other people - probably because they are less vulnerable to the risks of climate change than other populations.
Meanwhile, the National Wildlife Federation released a study showing that Native Americans will suffer...
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Method to the (packaging) madness
I’ve been buying Method’s hand soap refill pouches for years. According to the company, the environmental footprint of the refill pouch is 83 percent less than that of a rigid plastic bottle.
The only problem? The pouches ended up in the trash since they couldn’t be recycled.
But I just discovered that Method is partnering with TerraCycle to offer a recycling program for hand...
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I'm glad I ran out of stamps...
Because then I could buy these adorable Go Green Forever stamps that feature simple actions you can do to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
Photo: United States Post Office
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Future Buzz: How to Overcome Writer's Block - 15... →
Yeah, I have writer’s block today and this list contains the best tips to overcome writer’s block I’ve found. ::bangs head against desk::
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In case you missed it...
My greatest hits from July…
3 More Plastic Bag Bans Hit the West Coast (Earth911)
Couples Travel the World Without Planes, Cars (Earth911)
A Road Trip Through America’s Thrift Stores (Earth911)
Will Congress Ban Toxic E-Waste Trade? (Earth911)
The Buzz About Beekeeping (Patch)
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I'm adding these books to my reading list
I recently heard about these new environmentally-themed books, and I’m adding them to my reading list. Not to buy, but to check out from the library, of course.
Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit - Expose of tomato production in Florida — its poor treatment of workers, as well as its effect on the environment and - oh yeah - taste
Rat...
