Plastic Bottles and Their Effect on Wildlife

"Midway Island is an uninhabited island about 2000 km from any other coast line. It lies roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, and almost halfway around the world from England."

 The importance of recycling is vital to the lives of animals all around the world, but this video gives eye-opening detail of the damages that throwing away plastics and recyclables can do to wildlife, even wildlife that is seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

There are many ways we can help stop this awful cycle. Of course, the three R's (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) but even recycling can go so far. Materials can only be recycled a number of times before the density and durability of that material becomes unusable. Reducing the amount of plastics and non-reusable products is one of the best ways of helping this terrible cycle, other than boycotting non-reusable items all together.

Many markets such as the Ashland Food Co-Op have stopped carrying plastic water bottles all together, and only sell re-usable glass water bottles such as Voss water. Pickathon is the first music festival that has boycotted the use of plastics and has gone to a re-usable system of glasses, plates, and even utensils.

By following the footsteps of these organizations, we can also help alleviate the burden wildlife carry in our wake of destruction.

Ecotourism and biodiversity

What is ecotourism?  Ecotourism is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”  Ecotourism can contribute to the safeguarding of biodiversity and ecosystem functions in both developed and developing countries; however, the requirements for ecotourism are extremely difficult. 

These designated areas may consist of abundant wildlife, higher ratios of species diversity, unusual geological formations, unique history in a natural context, and many other varieties of things.  Wildlife and its habitats in developing countries are becoming increasingly popular attractions for international tourism, causing an annual growth in ecotourism of 5% per year, while saving parts of the world that would otherwise be destroyed due to hunting, logging, agriculture, and fishing. 

Many areas have been reserved for nature conservancy, but numerous developing country governments lack the funding required to manage and protect them.  While tourism creates significant costs in emissions, one must also consider the limiting of visitation rates in sensitive areas, and the integration of management, education and control measures.

However, ecotourism has become an important economic activity in natural areas around the world, and the exposure to ecotourist sites increases awareness of the environmental problems we face as a global society.  If managed properly, ecosites can also increase the number of jobs available and promote sustainable living and economic growth.

Monoculture II

MONOCULTURE AND THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY

     According to the World Wildlife Fund the number of monarch butterflies migrating to Mexico has been declining steadily and last year was at its lowest level on record.

     The encroaching monoculture of soybeans and corn has replaced over a million acres of Upper Midwest grassland, home to the milkweed, the only plant monarch larvae will eat.  Biogenetic agriculture giant Monsanto has engineered strains of corn and soybeans resistant to its own glysophate-based brand of weed killer Roundup.  In 2013 83% of all corn and and 93% of all soybeans in the United States were herbicide tolerant.  It is estimated that the presence of milkweed in farm fields has fallen by more than 80%.  According to Iowa State University biologist, John Pleasants, 98% of the milkweed on Iowa farmlands is gone.

    Other causes factor into the monarch's decline, especially early springs brought about by climate change.  In 2012 unusually warm weather caused monarchs to migrate north before most of the milkweed emerged.  Chip Taylor, a University of Kansas ecologist who runs Monarch Watch, a program that monitors monarch populations, has started marketing milkweed seedlings to gardeners to make up for displaced habitat.  He's sold 20,000 seedlings so far and is expected to double or triple that amount this year but it is still a fraction of what is needed if monarchs are to return to their former number.

     Pressure is being put on industry giants like Monsanto to contribute to efforts to plant milkweed elsewhere and preservationist group sumofus.org has a campaign to to pressure them into pulling Roundup from the market until monarch numbers return.  You can sign their petition at http://action.sumofus.org/a/monsanto-is-killing-the-monarchs/?sub=taf

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/01/monarch_butterfly_decline_monsanto_s_roundup_is_killing_milkweed.html

http://www.alternet.org/environment/monsanto-killing-monarch-butterflies-too

Posted by Mark Nuismer for Ecopol

Ecosystem: Working Together

   
     An important aspect of biodiversity to pay attention to is the vast arrays of ecosystems that play a role in maintaining balance on Earth. What is an ecosystem? Well, an ecosystem is a community made of different living species (plants and animals) that live closely together with non-living components of the environment (air, water and soil). It is also important to note that without the vast arrays of different ecosystems we have today on Earth, that we would find ourselves not being able to live properly, and in some cases, could easily have been extinct from the world long ago.

     Now, why are should we be concerned with the ecosystem? The importance of the ecosystem is that it provides us with goods and services which we depend on and if we allow biodiversity to greatly affect these areas, then we will soon lose those goods and services that have been provided to us for so long. Also, we should look to the ecosystem as a whole to helping solve the problems of biodiversity instead of singling out one particular species. If we can look at the bigger picture, then we can do a better job at understanding how to fix the bio-diverse issues that have been arising as of late in many of these ecosystems.

Written By: Darius Brodeanu
Website(s):

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem
     http://eschooltoday.com/ecosystems/what-is-an-ecosystem.html

Banish the Blues with GREEN: The Mental Health Benefits of Biodiversity

We have all experienced the power that a simple walk outside on a beautiful day has on our mood. It turns out there are several studies that support the connection between the beauty of nature and emotional well-being. 

According to J. Nurse from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, (who recently conducted a study on the mental health impacts of climate change), “Evidence, from psychology and neuroscience, suggests that the perception of being disconnected from our inner selves, from each other and from our environment has contributed to poor mental and physical health.”

In another study done in the UK, the reported psychological effects of outings to public parks were measured. According to the study participants, they felt better after a walk in parks that featured greater diversity of plants and organisms, than those who took walks in places with less biodiversity. Something in us is hardwired to respond not only to nature itself but to a natural environment that is thriving.

To read more, click here.

Biodiversity and the importance honeybees play in that role.

Honeybees are not just about pretty flowers, they play a vital role in biodiversity that directly impacts our own food crops and economy. Honeybees contribute to food sources, trees, nuts, edible oil crops, and much more. They provide food sources for most living beings on the earth and provide the means of reproduction of the shrubs and trees that produce fruits and seeds and nuts living beings eat on the planet.  Economically, bees contribute to more than $200 billion worth of global crops. 

The photo above is from the movie "Bee Movie" and shows a scene of a bee overlooking central park: a dead, desolate place depicting what the world would look like without bees. I think it gives a very good description of what the world would be like without them.

Currently the bee population is mysteriously vanishing, leaving the queen bee and the hive to die. It is called Colony Collapse Disorder, and farmers have not been able to figure out the reason behind this. Experts say this could be due to pesticides, loss of habitat, beekeeping practices, electromagnetic radiation from electronic communication devices or a combination of these.

There are several things that we can do to help the bee population such as buying from local farms that practice ethical beekeeping, making sure to research larger companies ethics behind the honey we buy, or even boycott honey altogether.

Biodiversity and Portland State University

Photo courtesy: lionrose.com

            For decades, Portland, Oregon has been revered as one of the most environmentally friendly, or “green” cities in the United States (some might argue the world!). The same goes for Portland State University, nestled in downtown Portland amidst the heart of the green movement. Judging from this well-known characteristic of the city, one might draw assumptions for what its citizens are like. But what happens when Portland State students are polled about one of the leading topics of the environmentally friendly discussion, Biodiversity? What will they say when asked the question, “What does biodiversity mean to you?” and “What do you think threatens healthy biodiversity?”

Having had the privilege of polling 200 Portland State students, our team was able to get a rough idea into whether not they really live up to the reputation behind their school and their city.

When polled what they think matters the most when it comes to the discussion of biodiversity, an overwhelming 70% of responders said “sustainability.” What does this mean? The short and simple definition of biodiversity is the degree of variation in life. When 70% of respondents are saying that sustainability is what matters, they’re saying that maintenance of a healthy diversity of species is important. What do they think exists as threats to the maintenance of healthy biodiversity, then?

From what the poll results tell us, the big four threats to biodiversity as told by our respondents, are the growing human population, hunting, logging, and invasive species, respectively. The students we were able to poll are just a handful of the several thousands of Portland State-enrolled students (200 out of about 29,000 or roughly 0.07%), so it may not fully grasp how the students of “one of the most green universities, in one of the most green cities in America” as a whole feel about biodiversity. However, it does work to show that the majority, if not all, of Portland State students have been educated, even if just from a flyer or event, on the topic of biodiversity.

So, what does this mean? It means that if you are a member of Portland’s community and are deeply concerned with maintaining a healthy diversity of life on our planet, you know of a resource for support and rallying you can take advantage of: Portland State University and its students.