Category Archives: Environmental News

Is the Solution to Colony Collapse Disorder Getting Near?

It’s been a while since I’ve written about colony collapse disorder. It’s still out there, still a very scary thing, but I hadn’t seen much interesting news on it. But today I came across two stories on it and the work being done to solve it.

For those unfamiliar with colony collapse disorder, it’s a condition where bee colonies suddenly die off. The bees generally do not die at the colony itself, making it difficult to find out what’s wrong. Given how important bees are, it’s a topic worth paying attention to.

The first is from Science Daily. They quote a study published in Society for Applied Microbiology: Environmental Microbiology Reports that treating two bee colonies for Nosema ceranae allowed the depleted colonies to recover. They found no other pathogens in those colonies to account for their initial collapse.

The second is from Scientific American. It’s a much longer report, and indicates that it is more likely that a wide range of conditions have come together to cause colony collapse disorder. This part, from page 2 of the article I found particularly interesting:

One of us (vanEngelsdorp) performed autopsies on Hackenberg’s remaining insects and found symptoms never observed before, such as scar tissue in the internal organs. Initial tests also detected some of the usual suspects in bee disease. In the gut contents we found spores of nosema, single-celled fungal parasites that can cause bee dysentery. The spore counts in these and in subsequent samples, however, were not high enough to explain the losses. Molecular analysis of Hackenberg’s bees, performed by the other of us (Cox-Foster), also revealed surprising levels of viral infections of various known types. But no single pathogen found in the insects could explain the scale of the disappearance.

In other words, the bees were all sick, but each colony seemed to suffer from a different combination of diseases. We hypothesized that something had compromised the bees’ immune system, making them susceptible to any number of infections that healthy colonies would normally fend off.

Considering how much farming has changed in recent years, that hypothesis doesn’t sound at all unreasonable to me. So much of what is done in farming now really isn’t tested well enough in my opinion, especially in combination with all the other new factors.

Pesticides plus GMO plus different fertilizers… then there’s the notion on page 3 that poor nutrition due to a lack of variety in the wildflowers that bees can pollinate. Makes me regret my weed-filled lawn rather less.

As individuals there are certain things we can do. Organic gardening and planting a range of local wildflowers should be the obvious things on the list. Same for talking with our wallets – buying more organic and from producers we trust.

And any time you see a chance to encourage others to do likewise, or if you see a chance to be politically active on environmental topics, do so. This is one of many areas we need to improve our treatment of the environment for our own sakes as well as for the rest of the planet.

Will Natural Toys Be Almost Illegal?

A new rule from the Consumer Products Safety Commission will bring this awfully close to the truth. The rule is called CPSIA, and I was first alerted to it by this post on Eco Child’s Play.

The problem is that this rule mandates third party testing for all toys, and labeling with a date and batch number. The testing would be up to $4000 per toy.

This is overkill. The problems with lead paint and such haven’t been so much with toys made by individuals, or toys made in the U.S., Canada and Europe. The rules for manufacturing toys in many of these places make such testing unnecessary, and quite burdensome to smaller companies.

What can you do?

Write to your Congressperson here, Senator and the CPSC. Tell them what you think. The Handmade Toy Alliance has a sample letter that I found linked at the Eco Child’s Play site.

All of this is so frustrating to see. We have the FDA doing a lousy job protecting us, and now the CPSC going into overkill, which will be bad for small businesses. Sometimes you just can’t win either way. But you can register your disagreement and try to make a change.

Brita + Preserve = Pitcher Filter Recycling in 2009

Take Back the Filter has a great announcement up right now – Brita has partnered with Preserve so that the Brita Pitcher filters can be recycled starting in January 2009. You can read the entire PDF press release here.

I’m quite delighted, and hopeful that this includes their Brita On Tap filters, as that’s what I have. The release doesn’t mention them at all.

It’s a pretty nice deal. If there’s a Whole Foods near you, there will be a place for you to drop your filters off. Otherwise, you can just mail them in.

While I’m disappointed that my filter isn’t listed as included yet, it’s a nice first step. If the lack of recycling for filters has held you back from buying a Brita pitcher, that limitation is now gone, or at least gone in January, which is near enough for shopping purposes. That’s not long at all to start holding on to cartridges if you haven’t started doing that, as well.

I’m also thinking this could make for a nice combination for Christmas presents if you know anyone still buying bottled water. Get them a Brita pitcher and a reusable bottle (maybe more, depending on family size), with a note about recycling the pitcher filters. Might just work for those who make excuses about their tap water quality.

Are You Recycling Right? What About Reusing?

November 15 is America Recycles Day. It’s a nice concept, but as this article on TreeHugger points out, not quite perfect.

Recycling, quite simply, is not always the answer. Using reusable containers is a better solution whenever it’s practical. The article doesn’t really get into the times when recycling really is the best option, however. There’s only so much paper you can reuse, even with children all too interested in doing crafts.

But when you’re talking about drink containers, reusable is a great idea. That’s why buying reusable bottles is so encouraged, rather than buying bottled water.

It’s more difficult with a lot of other drinks. In my area I can save a lot by buying milk in gallons rather than half gallons. The cartons are more recyclable, of course, but the gallon jugs are at least #2 plastic, and so reasonably recyclable.

The challenge with putting larger quantities of milk into something more reusable or recyclable is that they would probably end up heavier. Glass bottles are great for reusing or recycling, but they’re HEAVY in comparison with plastic or cartons.

Then again, I have read about the new milk jugs Walmart has been distributing since earlier this year. They’re more efficient for storage and transportation. Reusable would be nice, but we can’t have everything every time.

The part we as consumers need to look at, of course, is whether we can encourage more reusable containers where recyclable ones are now preferred. We also need to consider how these containers get back for refills. Should they just go in with the current recyclables for convenience, and then be shipped from a central point? Will enough people bring back reusable containers even to get a deposit back?

It’s rarely so simple a question. But we need an answer.

For now, when you shop, think about not just recyclable containers, but reusable as well. They don’t have to be reused by you, but there’s a reason why reuse is more important than recycle.

Get Out and Vote Today!

If you haven’t already, at least.

I was hoping to vote early, but didn’t quite get around to it so I guess I get to experience any local lines in person. Not especially looking forward to that part. I don’t like standing in line. My sister suggested that I might get ahead in line due to pregnancy, as they would allow for disabilities, but I don’t think I feel that bad. Just achy.

I’m hopeful for the results, although dreading the possibilities of some outcomes. And here in California I know that if things such as Prop 8 (no gay marriage) fail this year, they will return to haunt us year after year. One of the problems with the proposition system is how easy it is for that to happen. I do get tired of seeing certain topics repeatedly.

I don’t pay much attention to the results as they come in. Only results I care about are the final ones. So I’ll probably be avoiding all news tonight, and checking on results early tomorrow morning. Hearing who won what can be exciting, especially in a campaign like this, but it’s just as interesting to hear about a little later as it is right away.

Go vote!