Natural Environment Blog

You’ve probably heard of the terms carnivore (those who eat meat) and herbivore (those who eat plants). But one term you might not be as familiar with is localvore - a relatively new term being thrown around today.

Localvore a term to describe a person committed to eating food grown and produced locally. Eating local food can have provide many benefits for the person, their community, and for the environment.

Benefits of Becoming a Localvore

Here are some benefits from eating local produce:

• Better for the environment. For example…
  • Less transporting requirements. Your food doesn’t need to be transported thousands of kilometers. This saves fuel and other resources required to transport your food.
  • Less packaging. Most supermarket food uses plastic or tin packaging, thus requiring more fossil fuels.
• It supports the local community. By purchasing local produce, you are supporting your local farmers. More money stays within your local community.
• Healthier food. Local produce doesn’t need to be processed or contain preservatives. This is because the food doesn’t need to travel as far.
• Tastes better. Local food will typically taste better than food that has been mass produced for the supermarkets. Supermarkets will do all sorts of things with their produce (such as inject them with hormones) in order to extend the shelf life of their “fresh” produce.

All or Nothing?

Some people are “die-hard” localvores - they won’t eat anything unless it was grown and produced within say, a 100 mile radius from their home. Others are not as strict - they try to eat locally when they can, but still purchase some groceries from the supermarket.

Depending on where you live, some foods can be difficult to source locally. For example, you might have trouble finding local coffee beans. Local olive oil could be difficult to find too. But of course, I’m sure a true localvore will at least, try their hardest to source everything locally!

Now, unless you’re planning to go on a 100 mile diet or something similar, you’ll probably find yourself eating non-local cuisine most days. Don’t let that deter you though. You can use your awareness of the localvore concept to become more interested in where your food is sourced from. And if you prefer to switch to a local provider for some of your groceries - great!

And if you’re still wondering if becoming a localvore is your cup of tea, the 100 mile diet website offers 13 good reasons to eat locally.

The FSC certification is widely recognized as the most rigorous social and environmental certification program in the forestry industry. Basically, FSC certification helps save the world’s forests by ensuring that land owners manage their forests responsibly.

The good news is that the amount of forest that is being FSC certified is increasing at an impressive rate.

he following chart demonstrates the amount of land that has been FSC certified since 1995:

Furthermore, as of March this year, over 100 million hectares of forest is now FSC certified. To be more precise, 103,456,399 hectares of land across 79 countries is FSC certified.

This represents a significant increase in the amount of forestry land that has been approved for certification. Consider these facts:

• Within 10 years, FSC certified land has increased from less than 10 million hectares to more than 100 million.
• In 2006, FSC certified acreage grew by 33 percent.
• Globally, FSC certified land now represents 7 percent of production forests.

Andre de Freitas, FSC Head of Operations, commented…

The larger the forest area certified to FSC standards, the larger the forest area that is managed socially and environmentally responsibly. Each additional hectare certified to FSC standards brings us closer to achieving our mission: to improve forest management world wide.

About FSC

Established in 1993, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization that brings people together to find solutions which promote responsible stewardship of the world’s forests.

As mentioned, the FSC certification program is a rigorous social and environmental certification program for the forestry industry.

To learn more about FSC, visit the official FSC website.

Last night, the Australian government released its federal budget, which included increased spending for environmental issues.

Included in the budget, is:

• $200 million will be allocated to protecting the Great Barrier Reef
• $180 million will be allocated to new protected areas
• $150 million to be allocated to Indigenous conservation
• $500 million will be allocated to a fund for development and deployment of clean coal technologies
• $300 million to be used for a “green loan” scheme. Under the scheme, households will be able to borrow up to $10,000 to make their homes more green. This could include installing solar panels, rainwater tanks, greywater recycling, insulation, solar hot water heaters and energy-smart lighting. The loan will only be available to low to middle income households - those who earn less than $100,000 per year. The benefit of this loan is that it’s available at a low interest rate - a maximum of 2 percent of the annual gross income.

• Money will be spent on increasing the market penetration of renewable energy. Currently in Australia, only 8 percent of electricity comes from renewable sources. The government aims to increase that to 20 percent.
• $3 billion to be allocated to water buybacks.
• In total, $12.9 billion will be allocated to “Water for the Future Plan” over the next 10 years in order to improve Australia’s water supplies.

The response to the budget? Mixed. Although more money is being spent on environmental issues, many green groups believe too much is being allocated to the wrong areas, and that not enough is being done about climate change.

Here are some responses from various environmental groups:

• WWF-Australia’s response - Generally happy with the budget, but more action is required.
• Greenpeace’s response to the budget - Disappointed with the lack of measures to attack climate change. Renewable solutions have been sidelined whilst dirty coal is bankrolled.
• The Greens Party’s response - Budget utterly fails climate and oil challenge.

China has officially released its new standards for plastic bags. The standards, which will be implemented in June, are an attempt to help eliminate the devastating impact that plastic bags are having on the environment.

The new standards prevent supermarkets and other retailers from handing out colorized plastic bags. These bags are usually made from wasted plastics, which pollute the environment.

The standards also ban plastic bags less than 0.025 millimeters thick. The theory behind this is that, by having thicker bags, people are more likely to reuse their plastic bags. Many bags in China are currently only 0.001 to 0.020 millimeters thick.

As encouraging as it is to hear this news, it would be better if China could encourage larger eco-friendly shopping bags - such as reusable jute bags. Reusable bags like these can hold much more than plastic bags, and they can last for many years.

If you’re interested in seeing some beautiful photos of nature, check out the winning photos from the Rainforest Alliance’s Picture Sustainability Photo Contest.

The purpose of the photo contest was to raise awareness about conservation issues while allowing the Rainforest Alliance to expand its collection of photos for use in its publications and on its web site.

Winners were chosen from the following categories:

• Wildlife on farms, forests or other natural habitats
• Landscapes (forests, waterways, flowers and plants, beaches, wetlands)
• Eco-tourism in Latin America (bird watching, hiking, surfing, scuba diving, kayaking and other nature-based activities)
• Macro (a technique of close-up photography — here, applied to insects, flowers and plants, leafy vegetation, birds, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, textures)
• Conservation in action (people working to protect natural resources, including water, flora and fauna)

You can check out the photos here.

I recently read this article from Dallas News about the reactions from some checkout operators when customers bring their own reusable bags.

Here’s how some of the checkout operators reacted when the customer refused plastic bags:

Case 1:

When I plopped my cloth bags onto the counter and asked the cashier to use them instead of the plastic, he looked at me as if I weren’t speaking English. After a pause, he reluctantly put a few items in my bag. Then he stopped bagging my items altogether. So I did it.

Case 2 (customer put items straight back into the trolley):

The cashiers at the Tom Thumb by my house have been thinking I was nuts for years now.

Case 3:

I have to be sure to hand my bags over before the scanning starts or the baggers will start stuffing things into their plastic bags.

I suppose it’s something I never really think about anymore - how the checkout staff will react when I present my reusable bag. I’ve been using reusable bags for 4 or 5 years now, and I can’t think of one instance where the checkout operator didn’t know what to do.

I admit that I can relate to case 3. I’ve learned to place my reusable bag on the conveyor belt in front of my groceries. Otherwise the checkout operator will start placing my groceries straight into a plastic bag. This is to be expected though - if I don’t present a reusable bag how can I expect the checkout operator to know that I have one?

I suspect this checkout experience is different for each country, and even in different states within those countries. The Australian government has been discouraging plastic bags and encouraging reusable bags for many years. They even introduced the “green bag” which is sold at most, if not all, supermarkets.

The green bag resulted from a campaign in 2003 to discourage retailers from giving away plastic bags.

So, it appears that if nothing else, the government campaign from 2003 has instilled an awareness in Australian checkout operators, so that they know what to do when someone presents them with a resuable bag.

Further to my article about eco-friendly shopping bags, here’s a list of six websites that offer reusable/eco-friendly shopping bags.

By using any of these reusable bags instead of plastic bags or paper bags, you will be doing your bit to reduce the devastating impact of plastic/paper bags on the natural environment.

Here’s the list:

• GreenHemp.com - Provides hemp shopping bags and other hemp products.
• JuteBags.com - Jute carry bags and various jute products.
• ReusableBags.com - Various reusable shopping bags and other bags etc.
• FairGoTrading.com.au - Hemp bags and packs.
• CleangreenBags.com - Various reusable grocery bags.
  
• Amazon.com - View the search results for reusable shopping bags.

Note that you may need to check some of these sites for availability/deliveries in your area.

Purchasing a reusable bag has more benefits than you might realize.

First of all, reusable bags are usually much larger than the plastic bags or paper bags that supermarkets supply you with - you don’t need as many.

Secondly, every time you reuse your bag, think how many plastic bags you’re preventing from entering the environment. I’ve been using the same reusable bag for years and it feels great every time I do my shopping!

Plastic bags are particularly nasty to our oceans and marine life. Read about the environmental impact of plastic bags on our oceans.

Earth Day is an annual observance aimed at raising an awareness of and an appreciation of Earth’s natural environment.

Actually, there are two different observances called Earth Day. Each have the same aim, but they are held on different days. The two different Earth Days are:

• The United Nations’ International Earth Day (or the “Equinox” Earth Day)- This is held each year on the March equinox (around March 20), and was founded in 1969 by John McConnell.
• The April 22 Earth Day - held each year on April 22nd in many countries around the world. Founded by Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in. This version of Earth Day has been held annually around the world since 1970.

There are a number of different websites dedicated to the different Earth Days. For example, the US has an Earth Day website providing info about Earth Day and how to live in a more sustainable way. Here’s what it says about Earth Day:

Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. Earth Day is a time to unite around new actions. Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet.

There is also the International Earth Day website, which includes the Earth Charter, as well as a plea from John McConnell, the Earth Day founder for there to be a singular Earth Day.

Whichever Earth Day you celebrate, it’s a good opportunity to think of the progress we’ve made so far, as well as consider the new ways we can help protect our environment.

Most people, when they think of NASA, think of space exploration. And fair enough too. That’s primarily what NASA was set up to do - to study space. And after all, NASA does stand for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

But what many people don’t know, is that NASA also studies earth - from space. Ever since its creation in 1958, NASA has been studying the earth to some degree.

NASA’s Earth Science Program

In 1991, NASA got more serious about its earth studies and launched a program specifically to address this area. The program, which is called Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), includes the Earth Observing System (EOS) - a system for studying the earth comprehensively.

The purpose of ESE is:

To develop a scientific understanding of Earth’s system and its response to natural or human-induced changes, and to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards.

The program consists of three main components:

• A series of satellites - These can be used to obtain high resolution imagery photos of the earth.
• An advanced data system - With the ability to support the satellite system.
• And teams of scientists - These teams study the data captured by the satellites and stored in the data system.

The key areas that the program studies include:

• clouds
• water and energy cycles
• oceans
• chemistry of the atmosphere
• land surface
• water and ecosystem processes
• glaciers and polar ice sheets
• the solid Earth

ESE aims to “expand our perspective of the global environment and climate”. In doing so, they hope to find out whether and how Earth can sustain the pressures we’re now placing on it.

For more info, see NASA’s Earth Science page.

What is the Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance is a member based organization dedicated to helping people, wildlife, and the natural environment.

Based in New York City, the Rainforest Alliance has offices throughout the United States and the world. The Rainforest Alliance works with people who depend on the land for their livelihood. It aims to help them become more sustainable in the way they work the land. In particular, the alliance helps these people grow food, harvest wood and host travelers.

The Rainforest Alliance has programs in many environmental areas such as forestry, agriculture, and tourism. It also offers third party certification and verification for forestry companies who opt for sustainable forestry.

Rainforest Alliance’s Approach

The Rainforest Alliance believes that it is possible to create a sustainable society. A society that protects the planet and provides sustainable livelihoods for its people.

To achieve this, it aims to transform the current destructive market system into one that values sustainable production, sourcing, consumption and equitable trade.

The Rainforest Alliance believes that the sustainable management of all businesses requires the following:

• Clean air and water
• Healthy biodiversity and wildlife habitat
• Reduction of waste and toxicity
• Reduction and mitigation of global warming
• Dignified and safe living and working conditions, with adequate food, education and health care for workers and their families
• Equal opportunity for all

Furthermore, it believes that the following is required in order to achieve a sustainable market:

• Sustainable sourcing, supply chain management and public accountability are standard practice
• Products carry prices that reflect their real environmental, economic and social value
• Sustainable producers, small and community-based businesses have equitable market access
• People demand and have access to high-quality, sustainable and healthy products and choices
• Financial and insurance sectors support sustainable operations and penalize unsustainable ones
• Governments support sustainability through procurement, incentives, and regulations
• Civil society sources sustainably

To learn more about the Rainforest Alliance, check out the official website.