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Eliminating Allergenic Mold Spores in Your Gardens

Eliminating Allergenic Mold Spores in Your Gardens

Thomas Leo Ogren

Tiny mold spores cause plenty of allergies. Often our gardens are full of molds but luckily there are many things we can do to eliminate allergy-causing mold spores. All molds produce tiny reproductive spores and the trick is to find ways to get rid of the molds themselves. What we plant, and where, has a large influence. I continually see the flat out dumb practice of planting tall evergreen trees and shrubs on the South sides of house. In the winter the sun is low on the horizon and we get most of our light, and warmth, from the sunlight that shines from the South. Our warm morning light comes from the East and it is never a good idea to block that with tall evergreens either. The best place for tall evergreens is on the North side of our houses. There they can act as a windbreak and not rob us of any needed winter sunlight. A house with tall evergreen trees on the Southeast side, is one that will always be cold, and damp, in the winter months. And cold and damp is exactly what mold thrives on. Recently I was at a store, standing outside waiting for a friend of mine to finish up inside. It was a cool wintry day and I was in the full, deep cold shade of a very large Canary Island Pine tree. I walked over about thirty feet and stood in a spot, in between the trees where the sun was shining through. There it was nice and warm. To my left was the big pine shading that store, and just to my right was another huge evergreen tree, a Ficus retusa, the Indian Laurel Fig. The big fig cast a shade even deeper, and colder, than did the pine. I looked down at the sidewalk to my left and right, and sure enough, you could see mold growing in the cracks and along the edges. The north side of the trees, where I was, also had a good deal of mold growing on the tree leaves themselves. Deciduous trees are perfect for these locations. In the hot summer they will be all leafed out and will cool down the buildings behind them. In the cold winter months they will be bare of leaves, and the low sunlight will come through and warm things up. In this day and age of exploding energy costs, it is just plain ignorant to plant evergreens where they don’t belong. For stopping mold spores, deciduous trees on the South-Eastern exposures is the only way to go.

Mulches Many people seem unclear on just exactly what is a mulch. Very simply, a mulch is anything that covers the soil. They can be made of old leaves, straw, rocks, bark, gravel, boards, bricks, even plastic. Mulches are almost always a very good idea but when it comes to mulches and molds, they aren’t all created equally. Bark is a very good material on which to grow mold. Gravel mulches are good because they don’t encourage mold growth. I like smooth gravels, river gravel, and please! No white gravel. Flat stones and pavers work well for this too and in the right spot, they look good as well. Mulch holds down weeds and cuts down on summer water loss. Earthworms often thrive under mulch and in general mulches usually help plants grow better. The one spot where mulches are less effective is in those cold, always shaded areas. Here mulch will keep the soil from ever warming up. Every where else though, mulch is useful. Newspaper mulches by the way, not only look trashy, they also grow lots of mold.

Buggy Plants and Mold Plants that are not being grown right will usually get infested with insects. The insects secrete “honeydew” and on this very nutrient rich gooey substance molds grow quickly. The molds then start producing spores and pretty soon there is a serious allergy situation in the landscape. The insect dander itself is highly allergenic and just adds to the problem. Buggy plants often look dirty and this is because they are covered with honeydew, mold, and yuck! They are dirty. Clean, healthy plants are what we want in our yards.

Why Are the Plants Covered With Insects? If a tree is native to the cold, damp forests of Japan or Minnesota, it just won’t thrive in a place like Los Angeles. It certainly might grow in Los Angles though, and that’s the problem. It will grow there but it won’t thrive. Because it doesn’t have the conditions it needs it will always be somewhat weakened, and pests always prey on the weak. Remember, insect pests equal mold spores. If an area is very deficient in fertilizer the plants there won’t thrive. As they grow weaker, the insects start to prey on them. If plants are getting far too much fertilizer they will also become weak. If a tree is a type that needs regular water in the summer but never gets it, again it will become weak and soon be a target for the white flies, aphids, scale, spider mites, and mealybugs. If shrubs or trees are native to an area with acid soil and you’re growing them in alkaline dirt, sure enough they’ll probably become bug infested. If a tree is simply not tolerant of urban smog and it is planted right smack in the middle of a great metropolis, it will draw the pests. If a row of shrubs are all the kind that loves bright sunshine, but someone has planted a fast-growing tree over them, perhaps a pine, when the whole row of shrubs is now growing in deep shade, if they live, they will certainly become an insect magnet. I know of a hedge just like this near where I live. A large old hedge of lantana, now shaded by a big pine, it is literally covered top to bottom in white flies and mold. It is growing right outside the back entrance to a health clinic! There are many other cultural reasons for plants not to thrive and any one of them can result in weak plants and mold.

A Word to the Wise on Natives Judicious use of natives is often one of the very best ways to avoid many of these weak plants-mold problems. However, make sure the “natives” you buy are endemic to your own particular area. Also, make sure you’re not getting a bunch of male ( pollen- producing ) clones. Many of the native trees, shrubs, and ground covers sold now are male clones.

Air Flow In every place there are prevailing winds. The breeze generally blows mostly from one direction. Many landscapes are so plugged up, so crowded, that the breeze simply can’t penetrate the mess. A landscape with no air flow is one where molds will thrive. Molds grow best in conditions with poor air circulation. If your own yards are over-grown and choked for lack of fresh air, then get out the pruning saw and start thinning them out. Clean, fresh air, free to move about, equals less mold and fewer mold spores.

Sunlight and Molds Bright light and fresh air are the enemies of mold. Many landscapes have huge trees overhead that let in little light. Consider hiring a tree trimmer to thin out some of the branches overhead. Open the trees up so that the sunlight can come through. Perhaps it would be a good idea to actually remove a tree or two if they’re growing too close. Let the light shine! When planting any new tree, consider the shade that it will cast when it is full-grown. Certain trees always develop very thick canopies while others will be light and airy.

Watering and Irrigation Perhaps as important as any other single mold factor is the watering. Too little water makes for weak plants that attract insects. Too much water will also always produce weak plants. Automatic irrigation systems, on clocks, are responsible for a great deal of mold growth. Allergists in desert areas often find very high mold spore counts, in the middle of the summer! Much of this is being directly caused by irrigation systems that are not being monitored closely enough. Often they are set to irrigate lawns that are already still soggy from the last watering. Over-watered lawns will quickly become mold factories and will shower everyone near them with an abundance of mold spores.

Plant Diseases and Spores Many pests of our plants are not insects but are fungal type diseases such as mildew, rust, black spot, scab, and leaf blight. These organisms also produce allergenic airborne spores. The very best way to avoid these diseases and their spores is by planting disease resistant plants. The second most valuable approach is to keep plants growing cleanly and strongly. Insect-attacked plants will often later be attacked by fungus diseases, and visa-versa. Healthy plants go a long way to keeping our air clean. Certain plants if grown in the wrong area can almost be counted on to harbor disease. Evergreen viburnum growing in the shade will certainly get moldy and full of mildew. Crape Myrtle trees grown in an area that doesn’t have hot summers will always have mildew. A cold, wet spring frequently brings out a huge flush of both mildew and anthracnose on the leaves of California Sycamore trees. In areas with cool, foggy nights and warm days, rust will surely grow on any roses, hollyhocks, or snapdragons that are not rust-resistant. Most roses grown in too much shade will quickly mildew. Actually almost any plant that thrives in full sun will run into problems in too much shade.

Insecticides and Fungicides When you see a plant covered with insects or fungus, fight the urge to go get out the chemical sprays. Many chemical sprays will themselves trigger allergies. They may also weaken your immune system. A shrub full of insects can often be helped immensely by just blasting off the bugs with a strong jet of water from the garden hose. Spider mites on plants can also often be brought under control with this same stiff spray of water. Many insect pests can be killed with a simple, non-toxic homemade spray of vegetable oil, water, and liquid dish soap. For a gallon of water add two tablespoons of vegetable oil and two to four tablespoons of soap. I like Ivory Liquid. For fungus diseases spay them with a mix of baking soda and water. I use from two to six tablespoons of baking soda per gallon of water, depending on how bad the infestation of disease is. This often needs to be repeated all summer long. The baking soda will also kill some aphids. If you like you can just add some baking soda to the insecticide mix of soap and oil and have an all-around insecticide-fungicide spray mix. Do not expect these homemade sprays to be just as effective as the most powerful chemical killers. Often they’re not. But they do work and they are much safer and a whole lot less likely to cause allergies.

IPM This stands for Integrated Pest Management and one of the basic themes of IPM is that we are not looking to eliminate insect pests, just to control them. Using beneficial insects such as ladybugs, mealy bug destroyers, tiny parasitic wasps, and green lacewings is always worth a try. It would be worthwhile for any gardener interested in allergy control to read a book or two on organic pest control.

Ants, Aphids and Scale Ants will farm out aphids and scale and will protect them from their natural predators. When the aphids and scale have ruined one part of a plant, the ants will move them to another fresh spot. Frequently we can’t seem to get rid of the insects because there are so many ants on the trees and to kill the ants I use a slow-acting but effective mix of powdered sugar and borax. Look for the borax in a box in the grocery store where they sell laundry products. Mix the sugar and borax fifty-fifty. Sometimes I like to flood the area under where the ants are thick with a hose and then when they’re all over the place, I sprinkle the sugar and borax mix. A few types of ants don’t much care for sugar and for these try mixing corn meal and borax. This bait mix will also kill some other garden pests such as slugs, earwigs and roaches. I have also had good luck killing ants with a mix of non-dairy creamer and borax. Cockroaches by the way, inside the house cause plenty of allergies and the best way to kill them is with a mix of boric acid and powdered sugar as a bait. Sprinkle this powder down where the roaches will walk through it. You can buy boric acid in almost any drug store. These baits are cheap, safer than other poisons, and they work. Out in the yard don’t put these baits where the dog will eat them. Sometimes it works well to hide them under old boards or flat rocks. A Note about Ferns Ferns don’t produce mold spores but they sure can produce fern spores. Often these spores from the ferns can be just as allergenic as the mold spores. Fern spores usually shoot out and land fairly close to the fern. Small ferns growing in a shady part of the garden rarely trigger much allergy. But people love to grow ferns in hanging baskets and then they often hang these over patio chairs, tables, right where someone will be sitting. When these overhead ferns cast off their miniscule spores, they will land directly on the unsuspecting victim underneath. Hanging basket ferns are fine, but watch where you hang them! Tree ferns are handsome creatures but again we need to watch where we plant them. All too often they are planted right next to front doors where with their added height, they can shower spores on the people coming and going. Another consideration with tree ferns is that they have millions of tiny reddish-brown colored, needle-sharp hairs on their trunks. These little fern hairs can make you itch and they can also cause plenty of irritation of the throat and nose when they’re inhaled. Plant tree ferns back away from most human traffic.

Thomas Ogren is the author of Allergy-Free Gardening, Ten Speed Press.

Will Soy Candles be the Leader to Light the Future?

Ahhhh, the scent and sight of a burning paraffin wax candle and the appealing ambiance that it floats throughout a room! One may think that this scenario is innocence in its purest sense. There is, after all, that cozy feeling which makes one give thought to everything that’s good in this world. That is until you take the time to get acquainted with the darker side of the world of paraffin wax candles.

Did you know that paraffin is a petroleum by-product which means that paraffin wax may be a risk to the well-being of your health? How is that, you ask? Well after petroleum is processed into gasoline, kerosene, motor oil, diesel and other fuels, the excess waste is then used in the production of paraffin which contains harmful toxins and carcinogens. Hmmmm.

The black soot buildup on your walls, ventilating system, furniture and so forth after burning paraffin wax candles is similar in composition to diesel soot. This dirty matter makes a deposit of unwanted and dangerous pollutants into our homes that endangers the health and welfare of family, pets, and ourselves when breathed into our collective lungs. Studies have shown that cancer-causing agents released by paraffin wax candles are just as toxic as second hand cigarette smoke and can cause damage to the heart, lungs, circulatory system and nervous system. This is not a good thing.

Why then have scented candle sales increased to over 2 billion dollars annually over the last decade according to the National Candle Association? I’m not sure but I’d hazard a guess that the mesmerizing glow and soothing fragrances are part of why seven out of every ten households burn candles regularly.

Here’s a question, though, that I’d like to pose to anyone that subscribes to the rules of common sense. It’s the one that your parents or teachers of yesteryear asked when the majority was acting in an intellectually challenged way. I’ll paraphrase it here : “If everyone was jumping off a cliff, would you do the same thing?” The same thing holds for paraffin wax candles but what alternatives are there to break this dangerous habit?

I’m glad that you asked. The answer is Soy Candles. Why the joy for soy? Soy wax is 100% vegetable by-product and not a petroleum by-product. Soy is completely non-toxic and non-carcinogenic and soy candles produce little or no soot to damage the surrounding room or to those with allergies or breathing problems. Soy wax is environmentally safe, biodegradable and is easily cleaned up with just soap and water.

Hold on, I’m not finished yet….Soy candles burn cleanly and evenly leaving very little to zero excess wax on the sides of the jar to eliminate waste. They also burn cooler than most paraffin wax candles which will lessen the risk of serious burns from melted wax. These babies also burn 30 to 50 percent longer than paraffin wax candles which makes them more economical to use. They also seem to hold their fragrances extremely well compared to the naughty petroleum by-product kind.

Ok, Ok just one more reason to think soy. These candles are made from 100% soybean wax made from soybeans grown right smack here in the USA. So what? Well, this not only benefits our environment but also supports our local agricultural industry. It appears that soy candles beat those bad-boy cousins on every level.

Ya gotta get the facts before indulging in the pleasure of enjoying the world of candles. Think outside the box and do the right thing. Your life and others may very well depend on it!

About the Author

Brian is a partner in E-Connors Enterprises which builds and promotes various websites. He enjoys the world of candles and feels strongly about the health benefits of soy candles and the beauty of gel candles. Go to HeavenlyGelCandles.com for more info.

Thirty positive actions for a sustainable Earth

There are many ways we can use our human energy to lighten the load on natural resources and tread lightly on our home planet. Check how many of these you do already:

1. Recycle and re-use
Wherever possible, separate waste into compost material, bottles, tins, paper, clothing etc and make sure that these get recycled. See if your local council has a policy for recycling, food reclamation to fuel or even methane extraction from waste. If they don’t - start one. Ask your neighbours to contribute to a local composting station.

“The UK has one of the worst recycling records in Europe (12.4%) compared with 64% in Austria, 52% in Belgium, 50% in Germany and 47% in the Netherlands.
In the UK we bury 80% of our rubbish in landfills, compared to the Swiss who only landfill 7% of their rubbish.” (The Observer 2004)

2. Shop locally or order a veg box
Give your local farmers a boost by buying direct - either by visiting farms, farmer’s markets or through vegetable box schemes - which are usually organic. This saves transport costs in ‘food miles’ and guarantees, fresh, local, un-polluted and healthy, in-season food. Try and avoid supermarkets and shop locally when possible to enhance your own local micro-economy.

“The average household [in UK] spends £470 a year (or one sixth of its total food budget) on packaging. In a typical Asda or Tesco shopping basket only 26% of the cost is accounted for by food; the rest is packaging, processing, transport, store overheads, advertising and the mark-up of supermarkets which is sometimes as high as 45%.” (National Farmers’ Union)

3. Make more of your own food from fresh
Stop buying ready-meals and throw away your microwave. Take the time to make healthy, balanced and delicious meals and condiments from wholesome raw ingredients. Be like the French and live to eat - rather than eat to live ! Eating food is the only activity apart from sex that involves all of our senses.

4. Promote community exchange
If you can exchange skills, items or energy direct with other people without the use of money - this makes your activities more efficient. If you can share resources with people around you - then you don’t have to earn so much to buy things and you don’t have to work as much.

5. Improve local diversity of nature
See what you can do to provide the right ecosystems to promote local biodiversity. Bring butterflies, moths, birds, wild flowers and so on into your local environment by providing the resources they need.

6. Review domestic energy use
Check whether you can save energy by cutting down consumption or being more efficient. There are government schemes in the UK to help with heating efficiency and insulation. Even switching off at the plug at night saves power -those little red ‘power on’ lights add up to over £4 million of electricity used in the UK each year ! Look at how your home uses energy and where it can be saved, even if it means putting a jumper on occasionally.

7. Start a local investment scheme
If you want to save for a future - doesn’t it make sense to invest in something you can see and touch - like a local investment system that brings a return on your money and improves your own locality ? Invest money where you can see what it is doing - and where you can lend a hand if needs be. Community companies, local co-operatives and credit unions are a growing resource for sustainable local investment. What better way is there than to invest your energy directly into your local micro-economy where you can cherish it ?

8. Use an ethical banking system
Just what does your money do when you invest it a bank? Do you invest in the land mines that blow off children’s legs ? Do you support armaments manufacturing, the over-exploitation of rainforests, globalised cartels intent on raping the planet ? Does your default investment in a bank endorse child slavery and prostitution, international drug running and money laundering ? Check the investment policies of your bank to see just where they are putting your energy as an investment. If you
don’t like what you see, at least consider using an ethical bank that might invest in things you want in the world. Even better - reach for a lifestyle that doesn’t include a bank account at all.

Did you invest in this ?
“Japanese physicist Professor Yagasaki calculated that the 500+ metric tonnes of depleted uranium (DU) that the US unleashed on Afghanistan was the radioactive equivalent of 51,875 atomic bombs of the size dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
During the 2003 Gulf War the amount of DU used was the equivalent of 103,750 atomic bombs the size of that dropped on Nagasaki. DU fallout will travel from the Middle East to the UK, US and parts of Asia.” (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War)

9. Review car use and petrol consumption
The real price of petrol, if you apply economic principles to its production - that includes the time the earth has taken to make it - comes in at over £1 million per gallon. Its use produces awful chemical pollution and extreme noise. Most internal combustion engines run at an incredibly low efficiency (usually about 20%). The logic of having something that weighs over a ton to transport a single person defeats me. Yes, I know they’re incredibly convenient compared to the alternatives and that many motors have cult status but - come on - there has to be a better way than this ! Boy am I looking forward to hydrogen / oxygen fuel cells. Cycling is great!

10. Start a local energy collective
Your roofs are a resource ! Take a look at some of the rooftop energy panels available today. Chat with your neighbours about a collective approach to local energy needs. Sell your excess energy back to the grid ! Intermediate technology combined with modern technology in wind, solar or water power has come of age so start your own power supply.

11. Learn more about the nature in your local environment
Which wild animals and plants live in your environment? Share some time with them and see what they can teach you. Become a direct ‘friend of nature’ and explore how other species see the world we share. You could even adopt some wild nature near you and ‘look out’ for it.

12. Make things from found or recycled materials
Do you remember the fun you had whittling wood when you were younger? Keep an eye out for interesting wood you can prepare to make useful things. So much stuff is just thrown away or destroyed that could be useful again given a little T.L.C. Wild wood can make attractive coat hangers, boxes, shelves, even furniture.
Waste skips often have objects that can easily be given a ‘new life’. Working with your hands to make things ‘new’ can be a deeply satisfying experience.

13. Make your own Christmas and birthday presents
Take time out to make things that you enjoy and give them away to people you love. These have a value way over anything you can buy. If you have a creative hobby - use it to make gifts instead of buying them. If you don’t - find a hobby or activity that puts you in touch with natural things.

14. Stop using pharmaceutical drugs and chemicals and go natural
We are in a culture where medical consumerism is the norm. Explore some of the alternatives like using your food as preventative and curative medicine, or learn about the herbs and spices that have traditionally boosted mankind’s health for millennia. There are many gentle ways to find, promote and maintain health and you will find some excellent examples at the StarFields Network.

15. Join an environmental group
Express your energy in a collective way by joining a group that voices your concerns. Put your energy into changing the situation for the better by directly sponsoring a specific environmental cause.

16. Use natural materials from a sustainable source over synthetic materials
The more natural a product is - the less pollution is usually incurred in its production. Support your environment by valuing natural materials over synthetic, for example (organic) cotton over polyester. Think about where building materials or other resources have come from and the processes it takes to make them.

17. Feed your neighbour
A quick story based on Dante’s Inferno:
Dante (or someone like him) visits Hell and finds a room of ‘food torture’. The inhabitants are glued to chairs round a large table covered with food, but they all have their arms replaced by 10 foot chopsticks. They lift bits of food high over their heads and drop it down onto their faces in a pathetic attempt to feed themselves.
Later, our hero visits heaven and finds exactly the same situation except for one thing. The people in heaven are feeding each other across the table !

18. Dance, sing and laugh. Look after yourself and have fun
If you are happy, fulfilled, in good humour, enjoying life’s journey and so on - the chances are that others around you will be able to feel that way too. This moves us all along.

19. Don’t fly in airplanes
If possible, take a ship or train for long hauls or holidays. Aircraft are extremely expensive in pollution terms. Enjoy the sensation of travelling more slowly. Accept the journey as part of the trip.

20. Take an action holiday
Why not donate your energy to a cause like helping indigenous people set up sustainable economies ? There are many companies offering the experience of useful voluntary work overseas. This is a most direct way to contribute to a sustainable world and gives you face-to-face contact with other cultures.

21. Grow more plants indoors
Enhance your pact with nature by turning your home into a plant haven. Even simple spider plants can improve your space by bringing nature in and cleaning the air.
Plants are pretty undemanding compared to pets and they bring life in and produce air. Go the whole hog and grow some trees.

22. Consider changing your employment
What does your ‘means of income’ do in energy terms ? If the ‘ethics’ of your employment is distant from your own values then you have essentially sold your soul for money. Think carefully about the consequences of your employment. Consider finding employment that is near to your core values and you will find a more
fulfilled ‘you’.

23. Review how you are investing in your own future
Concerned about pensions ? It is certainly looking like someone has pulled the plug on that one. Anyone under 45 should be looking to exactly what they want in older years and finding ways to achieve it that may not involve money. There are serious flaws in our investment systems that are becoming more and more evident.
Co-operative or communal solutions to support in older years will be an increasing solution to lack of money.

24. Review your usage of water
If you have metered water, review how much you use and where savings might be made. For example bath water (without chemicals) can be used to water plants, a brick in the water cistern saves flush water. Can you use the water that lands on your roof that you pay for the privilege of having removed ? Water butts are cheaper than ever and some local councils offer price reductions to residents.
There are many water filters on the market that improve the quality of tap-water and water is a key issue in health, we are mostly made of it ! Water is a key issue on planet earth in the 21st century.

” Nearly 97% of the world’s water is sea water or otherwise undrinkable. Another 2% is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. This leaves 1% to meet all of humanities growing needs, including agriculture, manufacturing, community and personal household needs. Of that 1%, one quarter of the world’s fresh water is found in Canada’s lakes, rivers and streams.” (CPS June 2004)

25. Cut down on noise and light pollution
Many birds in cities sing at night as it’s the only way they can make themselves heard. Generally birds in cities have to sing louder and the stress this causes gives them shortened life spans.
Listen for a moment now - what can you hear beyond the hum of computer fan? How much of this noise is really needed? Wouldn’t just some ‘quiet times’ be nice?
Get together with your neighbours and see if you can negotiate a local ‘quiet time’, like a Sunday morning.
Unnecessary light also interferes with wildlife and even worse - it blocks out the stars - a source of wonder till the end of time.

26. Start your own herb garden
Grow your own medicinal and culinary herbs. Many of these are easy to grow on a windowsill, in a window box or tub somewhere. The direct growing and use of plants ties you into natural cycles and rhythms - you could even learn about ‘moon gardening’ cycles and biodynamics !

27. Grow your own food
Even simple growing such as mustard cress or delicious sprouting seeds contributes to a good diet. A surprising amount of your own food can be grown in a little space by using ‘potato stacks’ or climbing fruits. There is no better feeling than harvesting your own crop and eating it with friends. There are many dwarf bush varieties of fruit, some even have more than one fruit type on the same bush.

28. Downsize
Think about how you can work less and keep a good quality of life. Balance quality of life with standard of living. Contribute less to GDP and the national/global economy and more to a wholesome local and global ecology. Think global and act local.

29. Go organic
Whatever you consume, source it from a place that values natural processes over industrial ones. There are many enterprises providing organic food, drink, clothing or materials from sustainable sources. Take pride in tracking these down and using them in preference to more exploitative practices.

30. Spend time with nature
Take the time to visit nature and spend time relating with it. Find and adopt special places where you can go to feel the cycles and forces of nature and know that it is an aspect of you, and you of it. Many people are forming ‘collectives’ to protect or improve special places they value.

About the Author

SECRETS OF CREATIVITY by Simon Mitchell
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Nagging Doubts

There’s always that nagging doubt isn’t there? The nagging doubt that they just won’t get it.

I went to the Post Office yesterday, the small local one round the corner, to draw a relatively large amount of money out of my account. Whilst in the queue, I saw a packet of refill cartridges going cheap. Half-price. Which in consequence meant it was around 50p to keep an ink pen running for a good year or so.

Thinking they might come in handy, I procured some and when I was at the head of the queue, placed them on the counter, saying casually to the postmistress that I sincerely hoped that the money I was drawing out would indeed cover the cost of the cartridges.

As I was drawing out in excess of £300, there was a strong chance really and my comment was merely meant to make her smile.

“Yes, it will,” she said. Indeed, it appeared that she had done some quick mental arithmetic to make sure. The whole transaction was rather icy, in retrospect.

It could almost have been a precursor to the BBC2 programme I watched later, where on Horizon, it has been predicted that Britain could well, before long, be plunged into another ice age. (Postmistresses roaming the streets, doing unnecessary mental arithmetic, unsmilingly.)

That aside, Horizon proved compulsive viewing. At present, Britain enjoys its temperate climate due to the warm air brought to us from the Gulf Stream. But, due to global warming, were the ice sheets to continue to melt, we would have some major problems. It wouldn’t get hotter, as you’d think. It would, conversely, get a hell of a lot colder here in Britain.

You see, the North Atlantic is an incredibly important area. From a meteorological point of view, you could say it is “strategic.” It is the point where the Gulf Stream sinks to join what is known as the Atlantic Conveyor, a massive rotating belt which takes cold water back along the ocean floor to the tropics, where again, it rises, to begin the journey again.

This whole process relies on the salinity of the water. As salt water cools, it’s density increases, causing this drop to the floor I just mentioned. What could bugger this up?

Well, naturally, fresh water from the melting ice-sheets, along with the huge Siberian rivers, which are flooding more than ever, contributing to this fresh water being thrown into the Atlantic.

Put simply, diluted salt water will not sink, the Gulf Stream would call it a day and it would get bloody cold. No, really cold.

Dr Terry Joyce, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute believes there is a 50% chance of this happening within the next 100 years. “The likelihood of having an abrupt change is increasing - global warming is moving us closer and closer to the brink” he warned.

(It was sobering stuff. Again, vitriolic thoughts about the world’s leaders who continue to allow global warming to happen bombarded my brain, as the Atlantic continues to be bombarded by this fresh water.)

It’s been cold recently, more so since the central heating has decided to pack up and the damned landlord has taken aeons to sort it. So, it was a case of watching this programme whilst huddled round my Zippo.

I’m relatively new to this town, so whilst I was on the playground today, picking up the kids, I got talking to this chap that I have begun to know. In the past, it has merely been a case of exchanging pleasantries. I was telling him about the central heating having shut down. Turns out, he’d seen Horizon last night as well.

“Knowing my luck” I said, ” this forecasted ice age will hit us tonight before the landlord gets the boiler sorted.”

“Oh no, I think it would take around 10 years to fully hit us. It wouldn’t happen overnight.”

Is he related to the postmistress? I’m beginning to get nagging doubts about this town.

About the Author

Freelance Journalist. 2004 has seen pieces published in The Guardian and pieces also accepted by Jack magazine. More articles available at my site: http://www.articles.me.uk

Conserving for whom?

The west is in a drought. Along with other measures being recommended or required, we’ve been asked to conserve water. Great. It’s good to conserve. After all, being frugal, dependent on less, and keeping one’s environment uncluttered and unpolluted do far more to enhance quality of life than do frantic consumption and the over accumulation of stuff.

But I have two questions.

First, for what and for whom are we conserving?

The drought has forced many communities to issue mandatory water restrictions. Some have even had to truck in bottled water to meet basic needs. But not everyone is truckin’ in the same direction.

Take Douglas County, Colorado, development capital of the nation, where recently there was some exciting news. Mammoth bones were unearthed at an excavation site. But what was also uncovered was the fact that the frenzied addition of water taps continues unabated. People were encouraged in the reports to contemplate the extinction of the woolly mammals. My guess is that it was early DougCo hominids’ plundering of the mammoths’ water supply to green up acres of proto-bluegrass that caused the beasts’ extinction, not climate change or overhunting.

While we’re dealing with a near-empty glass, developers want to sell more straws. One thing is certain. As water shortages become a way of life, we will be forced to find new water sources. Politicians will wait for the right time to propose it waiting, perhaps, until drinkable water becomes scarce. Then they’ll throw up their hands and “reluctantly” offer a solution: more dams and reservoirs. They know that public sentiment can waffle, but the profit and pressure to continue growth, as well as the need to finance elections, remain constant.

Question number two: “Then what?” After we build more containments, build more houses to suck up any additional water, and confront the inevitable next drought, then what?

We’re driving around on a tire with a slow leak. We could stop and put some air in the tire, but then what? Do we continually refill the tire while the leak gets bigger and bigger? Or do we stop the continuous drain? At least we can find air to fill the tire. Additional containments of little or no water provide little or no long-term solutions. No matter. They represent more major development projects, greased with a little campaign support.

There’s a bigger lesson here, though. Continuing development during droughts demonstrates that conservation on one level may only serve to encourage waste and the exploitive use of resources on another level. Consider that when we recycle, instead of reducing the need for landfills, we might just be opening up more acreage for Wal-Marts and subdivisions. When we push for more public transportation, instead of alleviating congestion, we might just be creating more available volume capacity for land speculators.

The problem may be that we see conservation only as a personal choice or fashion. But to be truly effective, we might have to apply it throughout all levels of society, not as fashionable behavior, but as internalized ethic. We might need to think beyond personal recycling and every-third-day-watering to such notions as conservation of land use, conservation of quality of life, conservation of surface and ground water, and conservation of climate. We might need to value restraint in physical expansion, restraint in personal transportation, restraint in gratification, and restraint in resource consumption.

Do we dare consider freezing the addition of new water taps and making future taps conditioned on sustainable supplies? What a bold notion: to use conservation not to put the squeeze on individuals to cough up resources for industry, but to make our lives easier.

It’s always difficult to draw a line at a particular point, but that doesn’t mean a line shouldn’t be drawn at some point. After all, the west’s land and resources are not unlimited. If we use them up, then what? Have we reached the point where we consider drawing that line? While there are still some things left to conserve?

About the Author

Harv Teitelbaum writes about the environment, politics, social issues and ethics, from a systems perspective. Visit his website at http://www.thequestioner.com

Another Doomsday, Another Dollar: Shifting Science Towards P

In his book, Our Final Hour, Cambridge professor and Britain’s “Astronomer Royal” Martin Rees predicts humanity has no more than a 50/50 chance of survival into the next century and that by 2020 a million people will perish due to scientific error or terror. Some would call him prescient, while others would interpret his words as alarmist, resembling a layer cake with environmental fears on top of nuclear fears on top of chemical and biological threats, ad infinitum. With a sci-fi flare, he warns of runaway technology, human clones and an ability to insert memory chips into the brain.

Doomsday predictors get much the same respect as the “toxic fumes” sign at the local service station; they impart their wisdom, yet we yawn. Situations which seem grim and overwhelming, even potentially lethal, tend to be ignored. Attention on more immediate and “American” concerns, such as consumer goods and personal advancement, monopolize our daily thoughts. This is arguably foolhardy and indicative of the “another doomsday, another dollar” mentality.

Rees is not a lone voice on the scientific stage. The “Bulletin of Atomic Scientists” reports we have seven minutes until our final bow at midnight. Other reputable experts surmise that a “gray goo” or nanotechnological catastrophe poses the greatest threat. This involves the invention of miniature, self-replicating machines that gnaw away at the environment until it is devoid of life. It need not be deliberate sabotageas in technological warfare by one nation against another–but could result from a laboratory mishap.

Astronomers speak of fugitive asteroids that could destroy major sections of our planet within the next 30 years. Others point to atom-crashing tests and their potential for a lethal strangelet scenario. Strangelets are malformed subatomic matter, which could distort all normal matter and dissolve the earth in seconds.

There are streams of alerts from environmental experts who tell us natural disasters are on the rise. They warn of climatic change and tell us the world’s species die at a rate 1000 times greater than they did prior to human existence due to habitat destruction and the introduction of non-indigenous species into the ecosystem. Their conclusion? If we do not reverse the damaging trend, Earth itself will be extinct.

Should we open our minds to doomsday predictions? And if we accept them, what is the next step to insure or increase our chance of planetary survival?

In his book, Science, Money and Politics, Daniel Greenberg follows a trail of suspicion. He condemns what he believes to be the self-serving, greedy scientific community with its bungled research, conflicts of interest and findings that never see the light of day due to suppression by corporate sponsors. But this seems to be an overly cynical, embellished perspective; there are surely many scientists dedicated to discovery and social responsibility, apart from any personal gain. And we should not forget that offering controversial insights can be at a cost; proponents of “radical” theories often expose themselves to public and professional ridicule.

Regardless of skepticism, the “Pascal’s Wager” game plan seems a good bet. This essentially means we should not gamble with eternity, but instead urge the scientific community to take precautions since Armageddon allows no second chance. Better to err on the side of life, even if it means some black holes will go unexplored and some research grants will be pulled.

Precaution means building contingency plans–such as shields and containment measures–into emerging technologies so that if an experiment goes awry, a safety net will kick into place. It means the scientific community should better police itself. It means committees or boardsboth local and internationalshould be established for oversight and regulations, much like Albert Einstein proposed in 1947 to maintain worldwide peace. Many nation-states and multinational corporations are known for fighting even minimal efforts to regulate dangerous technology, and they must be countered.

There are pragmatic hurdles to be negotiated when trying to impose rules on private parties or on authorities in renegade lands, but the ozone hole “near disaster” demonstrates how the world can cooperate when it comes to life-and-death matters. As cultures dovetail, as communications rise, as borders become more porous, and as the world figuratively shrinks, it will be easier to impose structure and scientific parameters on nations that seem combative today

Science must shift its course and find new mountains to climb. It looks to us for cues. Due to our materialistic bent as a culture, our cursory endorsement of “progress” and our captivation with the Prometheus-like aura of technology, we subtly ask the scientific community to scale those mountains that are the highest (great accolades can be received), the easiest (the path of least resistance) or the most profit-oriented (grant money from special interests or an emphasis on reducing labor so companies can realize greater proceeds) rather than those that are the most ecological and peace-enhancing.

The research community has rivers of creativity and forests of energy that could instead be directed towards rivers and forests. It could move towards ecological preservation and restoration, peaceful alternatives to conflict and a furthering of life on this planet.

We will know a cultural transition is underway when news reports following fires, earthquakes and other disasters address the impact on natural systems and nonhuman species, rather than just the human and economical consequences, such as the number of homes lost. Our capitalistic culture thrives on the fact that nature is cost-free, which in turn, reinforces the notion that it is expendable and devoid of value. This reality must change. Our reality must change. And science must change. It must shift towards peace and ecology. It’s as plain as doomsday.

About the Author

Charlotte Laws is a nationally syndicated columniust, councilmember in Valley Glen, California (GVGC) and the President of the League for Earth and Animal Protection (LEAP). She has attended Oxford University and earned a Ph.D. in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California. Her political website is www.ValleyGlen.us and her nonprofit website is www.LEAPnonprofit.org

Arctic Ice May Melt Completely within Ten Years

There are worrying reports that the Arctic sea ice is melting at a faster rate than last year, despite the colder weather. Information from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that the year began with ice covering a larger area than at the beginning of 2007. However by the beginning of summer the ice had diminished to the same levels as June last year - breaking the records for sea ice loss. The ice is melting easily as it is so thin and scientists are now predicting that the Arctic seas may be ice-free during the summer within five to ten years.

Despite NASA’s reports in March, that the area covered by sea ice had increased slightly from 2007, most of the ice is thin, formed during the previous winter. It is more fragile than the thicker, less saline floes that have been around for several years. A few years ago, scientists were predicting that the Arctic ice would have melted in the summer by about 2080. Then computer models started projecting earlier dates, around 2030 to 2050. In the summer of 2007 the Arctic sea ice reduced to the lowest amount ever recorded; 4.2 million sq km from 7.8 million sq km in 1980. By the end of last year, a research group had predicted the ice melting entirely as early as 2013.

“I think we’re going to beat last year’s record melt, though I’d love to be wrong,” said Dr Stroeve. “If we do, then I don’t think 2013 is far off any more. If what we think is going to happen does happen, then it’ll be within a decade anyway.”

Despite this eminent loss off ice being environmentally catastrophic, countries surrounding the Arctic are seizing up the economic opportunities that melting ice could expose. Canada and Russia are exploring sovereignty claims over tracts of Arctic seafloor, while President George Bush has recently encouraged more oil exploration in US waters, possibly with intent to extend the exploration to reserves off the Alaskan coast.

In their rush to maximize the situation economically, countries are not reflecting enough upon the climatic problems this will cause. Greenland has already lost ice into the ocean, contributing to the gradual rise in sea levels. The Arctic ice cap could increase sea levels globally by about seven metres if it all melted. Natural climatic cycles such as the Arctic Oscillation play a role in year-to-year variations in ice cover. Many scientists feel that the ice is now so thin there is little hope of preventing the melting cycle.

“If the ice were as thick as it was in the 1970s, last year’s conditions would have brought a dip in cover, but nothing exceptional. But now it’s so thin that you would have to have an exceptional sequence of cold winters and cold summers in order for it to rebuild,” said Dr Ian Willis, from the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge.