a whole bevy of news...

[Guest guest]

1.

GREEN WASHING?

With eco-friendly marketing all the rage, companies are increasingly

exploiting the term "organic" to sell their products -- regardless of

how good those products are for consumers or for the environment.

That's especially true when it comes to soaps, shampoos,

conditioners, scrubs, lotions and the like, whose labeling practices

(unlike those of food products) aren't regulated by any government or

independent agency. Some of the products hawked as organic contain

petroleum derivatives and other synthetic or chemical compounds;

these substances, which are prohibited in organic foods and frowned

upon by environmental and health advocates, can be absorbed into your

system via scalp, skin, or hair. That doesn't stop Avalon, Jason

Natural Cosmetics, Kiss My Face, Nature's Gate, and other companies

from continuing to tout the virtues of their "organic" wares. So

caveat emptor: A shampoo billing itself as "80 percent organic"

could contain 80 percent water -- and 20 percent synthetic detergents

and preservatives.

 

straight to the source: New York Times, John Leland, 18 May 2003

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1133>

 

only in Grist: Good, clean fun -- how to clean your house without

hurting the planet -- by Green Guide staff in Earthly Possession

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/possessions/possessions031803.asp?source=daily>

 

 

 

2.

SEEDY

Members of Brazil's Landless Peasant Movement occupied a test farm

owned by biotechnology giant Monsanto last week, in a bid to expel

the company and establish an organic farm on the site instead. The

protestors say neither the people nor the government of the Brazilian

state of Parana support genetically modified (GM) crops, such as the

transgenic soybeans and corn grown on the Monsanto test site. Brazil

allows experimental planting of transgenic crops but has banned

commercial planting since 1998. Nonetheless, Monsanto's Roundup

Ready GM soy enjoys a thriving black market, with as much as 30

percent of the nation's total soy output estimated to be grown from

illegal GM seed. Antonio Volochen of the Forum of Rural Workers says

that's a problem for which Monsanto shares the blame: "We have big

assets of biodiversity in Parana and Monsanto represents a threat."

 

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Inae Riveras, 19 May 2003

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1134>

 

do good: Take action to fight Frankenfoods

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/food.asp?source=daily#frankenfood>

 

 

 

3.

SADDER DAY IN THE PARK

Summer is just around the bend, and with it, people all over the

country will begin their annual pilgrimages to U.S national parks.

Unfortunately, the parks aren't ready for them: They are

underfunded, over-crowded, and in disrepair. The National Park

Service budget has declined almost 20 percent in the last 25 years,

while the park system itself has grown in size, number of parks, and

number of visitors. Ken Mabery, president of the Association of

National Park Rangers, says, "We're running from crisis to crisis."

And the evidence is on his side: Wyoming's Yellowstone has had to

turn away 60 percent of school tours because of lack of staff; the

visitor center at Death Valley in California is in such bad shape

that part of its roof fell in, injuring a visitor; and the roads in

Montana's Glacier National Park need more money than exists in the

entire national park budget for road repairs. Meanwhile, Arizona's

Grand Canyon is facing such a budget crunch that it has no geologist

on staff, no way to solve its terrible traffic problem, and, most

alarmingly, not enough employees to adequately protect the famed

ecosystem.

 

straight to the source: Arizona Republic, Judd Slivka, 18 May 2003

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1135>

 

straight to the source: Arizona Republic, Mary Jo Pitzl, 19 May 2003

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1136>

 

do good: Take action to increase funding for national parks

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/dogood/forests.asp?source=daily#natlparks>

 

 

 

4.

MONEY FOR NOTHING AND YOUR TREES FOR FREE

As many as one in 10 trees removed from national forests in the U.S.

is cut down illegally, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The

problem plagues the entire nation, from the Adirondacks to the

Olympics, and is not restricted to public forests: Tree theft is

also common on land owned by lumber companies and other private

owners. Most often, the thieves are unemployed former timber workers

who resent the environmental measures that restrict logging

practices. Because the USFS tree theft unit was disbanded in 1995,

it is difficult to catch the perpetrators on public lands -- and even

more difficult to convince them that their actions were wrong.

Daniel Hughes, one of the few thieves to be caught and convicted,

said, "To me it's like, 'This land is your land and this land is my

land.' I'm taking my share."

 

straight to the source: Salt Lake Tribune, Associated Press, Martha

Mendoza, 18 May 2003

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1137>

 

 

 

5.

GROWL

Along with whales and pandas, grizzly bears are among the most famous

and most beloved poster children of the environmental movement. But

that hasn't deterred the Bush administration from consistently making

land-use decisions that environmental activists say threaten the

animals. The administration's actions -- most notably, the halting

of a hard-won, Clinton-era plan to reintroduce grizzlies to central

Idaho and the removal of some populations from the Endangered Species

List -- have undermined a fragile alliance among federal experts and

enviros working to protect the bears. The latest blow came last

week, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that a

silver and copper mine beneath Cabinet Mountain Wilderness would not

harm a small grizzly population at high risk of extinction. That

decision could pave the way for the Rock Creek mine to become the

first major mining project permitted to operate beneath a wilderness

area.

 

straight to the source: Washington Post, Blaine Harden, 18 May 2003

<http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=1138>