BPA doesn't line just baby products - it is in many canned foods and drinks (Source: Tomomarusan at Wikimedia Commons)
Food-packaging executives and
lobbyists for the makers of the
chemical bisphenol-A, often
called BPA, met in Washington
DC last week to come up with PR
strategies. Their message is:
BPA is safe. Lester Graham reports
someone took notes at that meeting
and then leaked them to reporters:
Transcript
Food-packaging executives and
lobbyists for the makers of the
chemical bisphenol-A, often
called BPA, met in Washington
DC last week to come up with PR
strategies. Their message is:
BPA is safe. Lester Graham reports
someone took notes at that meeting
and then leaked them to reporters:
Lyndsey Layton got ahold of those notes. She reports for the Washington Post.
“According to these notes, they called it the ‘holy grail’ spokesperson would be a pregnant, young mother who would be willing to speak around the country about the benefits of BPA.”
Ironic in that many studies associate BPA with birth defects.
John Rost is the Chairman of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance.
He says the reporters got bad notes. He says it only came up because environmental activists used pregnant women to testify against BPA.
“We discussed that as an option and dismissed it and actually find it a little ironic that we are being criticized.”
Some retailers have taken toys and baby bottles made with BPA off the shelf in response to a consumer backlash.
It’s likely most consumers don’t yet realize the chemical also lines beverage and food cans.
Musical instrument companies are a very small part of the demand for old-growth wood, but they can be very influential (Photo source: Arent at Wikimedia Commons)
People who make musical instruments know they have to start with a good piece of wood. Some guitar makers are worried that the woods they need for their instruments are becoming too rare. Tamara Keith has the story of how guitar makers are working with a group that fights to protect trees:
Transcript
People who make musical instruments know they have to start with a good piece of wood. Some guitar makers are worried that the woods they need for their instruments are becoming too rare. Tamara Keith has the story of how guitar makers are working with a group that fights to protect trees:
(sound of a factory)
There are people all over the Martin Guitar plant in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, doing fine detailed work. One man is chiseling out tiny pieces of wood to make the neck and the body of a guitar fit perfectly.
(sound of sanding)
Dick Boak does artist relations for Martin.
“So this is a D-35, this is what Johnny Cash played.”
He says this guitar’s deep resonant sound is all about what it’s made of. It’s a who’s who of rare and exotic species.
“Rosewood from East India, spruce from the Pacific Northwest, and mahogony probably from Peru or Bolivia. Those would be kind of the traditional woods for a guitar.”
Boak says logging is wiping out old growth forests where these types of woods are found.
“We would like it if every single supplier that we used was working in a sustainable fashion because that would ensure that our future as a guitar maker would be you know intact.”
So Martin Guitar has teamed up with the environmental group, Greenpeace.
Scott Paul is the group’s Forest Campaign Director and he’s super interested in the Sitka Spruce used in the Johnny Cash style guitar. We’re talking at the group’s office in Washington, DC. And he shows me where the spruce is used.
“This part on the top. This here is the soundboard. This is the species that really projects the sound.”
That Sitka Spruce comes from South East Alaska. Paul has been crusading to save the forests there for some time. He says Sitka Spruce has been logged as if there were no end in sight. Most of it is used for low-end construction materials. But when he found out the wood was used by the world’s leading instrument makers – he approached them.
“It was a very interesting meeting where you had the CEO of Gibson, and the CEO of Martin and Taylor and Fender all in the same room.”
The competitors said they were concerned about logging practices too. And the told Paul they’d work together on the issue.
“Let’s all go to Alaska and start talking to the logging companies that are providing you this product and figure out if we can do it better.”
So they did. This new Musicwood Coalition went to the Sealaska Corporation, which logs Sitka Spruce. And they’re now working with the company to save old growth trees for really valuable things like guitars.
Musical instrument companies are a very small part of the demand for old-growth wood. Paul says its less than 1%. But they can be very influential.
“They need the wood. They’re not the driving force. But their profile, and to be honest, their sex appeal is perfect. Not everyone likes Greenpeace, but red state, blue state, everyone loves guitars.”
(sound of guitar being tuned)
Dick Boak is tuning a guitar that’s just about ready to leave the Martin factory.
“Everybody has a song they use to tune.”
This guitar is part of Martin’s sustainable woods series. The hope is that someday all Martin guitars – and those of Gibson, Fender and Taylor too – will be made from trees grown and harvested in a way that makes sure the wood will be around for the long haul.
Music teacher Maura Volante leading students on her "Woods Walk Singing", a singing hike
(Photo by Karen Kelly)
Music teacher Maura Volante leading students on her "Woods Walk Singing", a singing hike
(Photo by Karen Kelly)
In many cultures, people sing as
they work or as they travel. But in North
America, most of us aren’t comfortable
singing out loud in public. Karen Kelly
reports on a music teacher who’s trying
to change that – by taking her students
into the woods:
Transcript
In many cultures, people sing as
they work or as they travel. But in North
America, most of us aren’t comfortable
singing out loud in public. Karen Kelly
reports on a music teacher who’s trying
to change that – by taking her students
into the woods:
“Ooh, ah. Ooh ah. Here’s another part: aay-oh”
Maura Volante is leading a troupe of six students through a path in the forest.
It’s rainy, buggy and muddy. But everyone quickly gets into a groove – both with their
feet and with their voice.
(sound of walking song)
“There’s lots to look at all the time: the green and the shadows, the lake, the sky and all
the different vegetation. And when I’m feeling relaxed and I’m in my body and I’m
walking along and I’m in nature like that, it just makes me want to sing. It inspires me to
let my voice out.”
Volante teaches singing in Ottawa, Canada. For her, people don’t need a good voice to be
able to sing. Instead, she says singing just comes naturally to humans, like breathing and
walking. Which is why she tries to get people outside where they can experiment and
make mistakes.
“It’s kind of like recreational softball. It doesn’t matter if someone sucks at it. They can
still play. It’s for fun.”
(sound of more singing)
We spend about two hours hiking around the heavily-wooded Mud Lake.
I did some research to see if I could find any other organized singing hikes. I found one
at a bible camp in Virginia. And there’s one at a kibbutz in Israel. And, at Yellowstone
National Park? They recommend singing loudly – or shouting – to scare the bears away.
Of course, lots of people like to sing when they hike. On this walk, Kathy Woodgold
says she sings differently when she’s walking in nature.
“When we’re in the woods, it brings sort of a primitive spirit. Like, I’m thinking, let’s
pretend we’re not civilized, instincts, and so on. And maybe that opens up a creative
spirit. It frees us to sing random notes, instead of having to feel like we have to do a
predefined melody.”
This isn’t really a conservationist group. But teacher Maura Volante says, in some small
way, doing this helps the planet.
“I think there is a benefit to the environment for people to sing more because that gets
them to appreciate nature more and appreciating nature helps you be committed to
preserving it.”
(sound of singing “O Canada”)
The small group stops at a dock overlooking Mud Lake for their only performance of the
day. The audience? Ducks, frogs and mosquitoes.
Members of the Amphibian Conservation Club show the frogs being transferred to their protected habitat from a pond that will become a parking lot later this summer.
Every summer, thousands of people wander through swamps and ditches in search of frogs. They’re frogwatchers— volunteers across North America, who help scientists track the health and movement of amphibians. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly caught up with one group and found they’re no longer just watching frogs, but rescuing them:
Transcript
Every summer, thousands of people wander through swamps and ditches in search of frogs.
they’re frogwatchers – volunteers across North America, who help
scientists track the health and movement of amphibians. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Karen Kelly caught up with one group and found they’re no longer just watching frogs, but
rescuing them:
(sound of frog, “I think this one’s talking now…”)
11-year-old Tyler Degroot shows off two bullfrogs in the plastic
terrarium he’s carrying. He struggles to keep the lid on as they try to escape.
He’s spent all morning combing for frogs in this swampy ditch on
Petrie Island. Not far from Ottawa, Canada’s capital.
It’s pouring rain. But he and his friends have no time for jackets or umbrellas. They run from log
to log dipping their nets in the water.
(“Holy smokes! Look at them all!”)
It might sound like fun, but they’re here on serious business.
The bulldozers in the distance are a constant reminder. Soon, this ditch – the frogs’ home – will be
turned into a parking lot.
11-year-old Ingrid Weinhold says they’re here to save as many
frogs as they can.
“We want to make sure the frogs stay on Petrie Island
and we want to make sure that people can see frogs later and so
that they don’t all die when the ditch gets filled with sand.”
Weinhold is a member of the Amphibian Conservation Club. It’s a group of homeschoolers who
meet once a month to study and discuss amphibians. They started visiting Petrie Island last year
to conduct frog watches.
It’s part of an annual census of frogs led by Environment Canada,
a government agency. The students count the number and species of frogs to find out how
many are in a given area. And that’s when they discovered that some of the resident
amphibians were in danger.
(“I just saw a whole bunch of frogs over here, okay? They went in all different directions.”)
11-year-old Gabrielle Felio is the club’s founder.
She hesitates to leave the ditch until every frog has been picked
up.
As she talks about them, her eyes look worried behind her
rain-splattered glasses.
“It’s just that they help the environment a lot. That’s
probably why we like them a lot and we want to help them. Because
it’s going to help the area and it’s going to help a lot of other
animals if we help the frogs.”
(walking)
With their terrariums full, the frogwatchers hike through the woods to a pond that they’ve
adopted. They’ve saved more than 30 frogs today. There are green frogs, bull frogs and leopard
frogs.
When they reach the pond, the rescuers open their terrariums.
(“There they go!”)
Some reach in and pull the frogs out one by one. Others just tip the terrariums upside down.
(“Woo! He’s a slippery one. I’ll get him. You did a cannonball!”)
Tyler DeGroot watches his bullfrog kick away from the shore.
He looks satisfied.
“I feel good…I think the frogs feel good, too, cause
they’ll probably have a nice little happy pond that’s not polluted
so they can just swim around and have fun.”
Each student carries a notebook to keep track of how many frogs
they moved from the ditch to the pond. Then, at the end of the summer, the group will compile
all their observations. They’ll send them to Environment Canada’s Frogwatch.
Elizabeth Kilvert is the director of the program. She says the reports from these amateur
scientists are invaluable.
“When we have people out there observing in their backyards
at different locations, we’re getting really good geographical
coverage that Environment Canada could never provide by going and
working out in the fields.”
Kilvert says it’s important to track frogs. That’s because they’re sensitive to changes in the
environment. And researchers see them as an early warning system.
Frogwatcher Ingrid Weinhold says she’s happy to help.
“I feel pretty good cause then they can figure out stuff with
the information… like if there’s too much pollution in one spot
and if the frogs have too many legs or something they can figure
out if there’s something wrong with the water.”
Before long, the frogwatchers are catching frogs again – in the
same pond where they just released them.
(“Let me see him!”)
This time, it’s just for fun.
Soon, they’ll head back to a classroom to compare notes… and make plans for their next rescue
effort – before the bulldozers move in.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.
A group that usually spends its time counting frogs, is now rescuing frogs. It recently learned that the frogs’ habitat is being filled in and paved over for a parking lot. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:
Transcript
A group that usually spends its time counting frogs, is now rescuing
frogs. It recently learned that the frogs’ habitat is being filled in and paved
over for a parking lot. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly
reports:
(sound of kids)
The Amphibian Conservation Club meets at Petrie Island, outside of Ottawa,
Ontario, once a month. These young homeschoolers usually come to the island to study
frogs. But they recently discovered one of their favorite ponds is going to be
turned into a parking lot.
So, the kids have embarked on a rescue mission – moving as many frogs as
they can. 11-year-old Frank Ogilvie says they’re motivated by their love of
amphibians.
“I really, really, really like frogs. Yes I do. And I think that
they’re a great habitat indicator and that they are one of my favorite
animals.”
The group is inviting family and friends to join them in a last minute
blitz to save the animals before the bulldozers cover up the frogs’ home.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.
BPA doesn't line just baby products - it is in many canned foods and drinks (Source: Tomomarusan at Wikimedia Commons)
