Conservation · Eco-Chick

Browsing all posts tagged with conservation

Success for the Sea Shepherd; Japanese Whalers Head Home Short

In a statement made yesterday by the Institute of Cetacean Research, Japan announced that it made it back to the mainland with only 679 whales slaughtered, as opposed to their annual minimum of 985 killed. The Japanese fleet pointed to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as the primary cause for their failure in the annual hunt.

Criticized for their tactics, mocked for their motley crews, and adored for their perseverance, the Sea Shepherd holds true to the course, regardless of public intrigue. Paul Watson, noted demagogue, eco-anarchist, and purported “eco-terrorist” (a creative use of language in our opinion), leads activists out to sea on anti-whaling campaigns to intervene in the unlawful acts of poaching. Animal Planet has been recording the campaigns for the past two years, producing the popular television show Whale Wars. The show has brought international attention to the Japanese whaling fleet that slaughter the approximate one thousand whales annually in the name of ‘research.’

Regardless of opinion and conjecture, the Sea Shepherd and her crew place themselves in harm’s way to act on behalf of mammals that are unable to avoid the nets and explosive harpoons that determine their existence. According to the Japanese, the direct interventions of the Sea Shepherd are what caused the fleet’s inability to meet their quota this year. The whales are supposedly killed for scientific research but it is well known that the meat is packaged on the ships at sea and sent back to Japan for consumption.

According to Watson:

“We continue to speak the one language these whale pirates understand,” said Captain Paul Watson. “Profit and loss: we need to keep their losses up and their profits down. We will eventually beat these killers with aggressively applied economics.”

Go Sea Shepherd!!! Congratulations.

conservation, consumption, farm, Home, meat, opinion, Outdoors, tv, whales

Smart Garden and Lawn Watering

8 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 07/16/08

What are your recommendations for keeping a garden quenched without wasting water?
—Rachel Carter, Ludlow, VT

You can forget juicy tomatoes this summer if you don’t give your plants enough to drink, but the fact is, most people water their gardens wrong. Each year, from May to September, water use nearly doubles in parts of the country (mostly for keeping our backyards green), and about half of it is wasted through evaporation, runoff, and overwatering.

You may not need to water at all if you use native plants, because they’re already adapted to a region’s climate. But if you are going to water, the first thing to do is assess how much your yard and garden really need, says Bernd Leinauer, a turfgrass specialist for New Mexico State University’s extension service. He suggests contacting your local university extension office for advice, since most people use too much water.

Next, audit your sprinklers, which are often inefficient. “They throw water in the air, and you hope that it eventually lands where you want it,” Leinauer says. “It often doesn’t.” (For easy-to-follow instructions on how to do an irrigation audit, visit Austin’s site.)

Furthermore, using a drip irrigation system instead of sprinklers can cut your water use by a third or more, while other systems, including bubblers, microsprayers, and soaker hoses, work well for watering specific trees or plantings in a small area. Drip irrigation uses a grid system of hoses buried three to four inches deep, with holes every 12 inches, so water is delivered slowly and directly to the plants at root level, where they can use it most efficiently.

Your plants will be happier and healthier, too; watering at the roots ensures the plants receive consistent moisture and makes them less susceptible to disease. Drip irrigation also keeps topsoil intact and nutrients in place so they can do their job. In the end you’ll have more time to lie back in your hammock and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Originally printed as Starre’s “Green Guru” column for Audubon Magazine.

conservation, gardens, lawns, water

UN Eco Conferences

1 Comment

by Courtney Tenz · 06/15/08

Pardon my absence the last few weeks, but this month has been an unbelievably busy one in the green arena here. Bonn, Germany’s former capital city and the current seat of many NGOs and UN divisions has seen back-to-back conferences and I’ve been inundated trying to keep up with the conference happenings.

First, we had the UN Conference on Biodiversity – something that seemed really exciting at the time, with delegates from nearly 200 countries gathering to decide on ways to conserve habitats, develop across-the-board rules on GMO food, and find ways to prevent the extinction of endangered species.
More »

biodiversity, conservation, Germany, kyoto protocol, preservation

For the Birds

1 Comment

by Starre Vartan · 05/01/08

When I was a little girl I would watch the songbirds that alighted on the birdfeeder deep in the woods of my Hudson Valley, NY home. I learned their names, counted them for the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, and even learned to identify individuals (birds look less alike than you’d think).

These pretty hand-painted songbird lockets from Tryst by Kerry are a reminder that our colorful feathered friends share our environment too.

Songbird populations are in decline due to loss of habitat (so support open-space initiatives in your community) and pollution (a culprit–bits of plastic that end up in their stomachs, so buy glass or use paper instead).

The lockets are made from repurposed vintage pieces, so no new destructive gold or silver mining went on to create them. Choose from a Cardinal, a Robin or a Blue Jay, or a silhouette of a flying swallow. The little lockets are so inexpensive you could easily buy two or three to wear together—your own little birdie menagerie.

[Originally written by Starre for Elle.com]

birds, conservation, Ecofriendly Jewelry, Jewelry

Roam If You Want To (But Not if You're a Bear)

3 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 01/08/08

This map, scanned from Patagonia’s latest catalog, details a grizzly’s 50-mile journey, which in the world of a bear, isn’t even really that far of a trip- they’ve been known to travel 500 miles or more as part of their natural movements.

“For many wild animals, to roam means to survive.” I can relate. I’ve lived all over the world, and feel the deep desire, seemingly necessary to my well-being, to travel to far-off lands (or at least a couple states over) on a regular basis. For people, it’s easy to get around; we just have to choose the method. Car, plane, bike, train, snowboard, rollerblades, or feet?

Us humans are even guaranteed the Right to Roam in many countries. Animals? Not so much.

Since our furry brethern don’t have such rights, there is less land for them as we expand over the landscape. Not only less land overall, but the land that is so munificently set aside by us humans is usually fragmented, conserved in chunks separated from eachother by highways and roads, fences galore, angry humans, and housing developments.

Big animals need big spaces. If territories are balkanized by highways, energy development and housing, the long-term survival of large mammals – as well as the multitude of smaller creatures connected to them – is jeopardized. Imagine it this way: As writer David Quammen has noted, if you cut a beautiful, handwoven Turkish rug into 36 pieces, you don’t end up with 36 Turkish rugs. You have instead 36 worthless remnants.

If you’re a large animal like a bear, moose, or wolf, you’re screwed. Even though you need to roam- to migrate, find new food sources, to find new mates to increase your line’s genetic hardiness…in short, to survive and propagate- you are faced with being run over by a semi or shot for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just for doing what comes naturally to you.

But there IS a solution. Greenways, or wildlife corridors are recognized by conservation biologists as a means by which animals can move from one protected piece of land to another, letting the animals do their thing, with the added bonus of keeping them out of our garbage. I love bears, but I don’t really want to come face-to-face with them in my yard, I must admit.

Freedom to Roam is a partnership of conservations organizations, recreation groups and companies dedicated to establishing migration corridors between protected areas. Patagonia is supporting the organization with the sale of these organic t-shirts, above.