Companies are making disposable utensils from things like corn,
potatoes, and sugarcane (Photo by Jessi Ziegler)
Biodegradable silverware has
popped-up in local coffee shops, fast
food joints, and even the Olympics.
But how eco-friendly are biodegradable
utensils? Kyle Norris has this report:
Transcript
Biodegradable silverware has
popped-up in local coffee shops, fast
food joints, and even the Olympics.
But how eco-friendly are biodegradable
utensils? Kyle Norris has this report:
Companies are making disposable utensils from things like corn,
potatoes, and sugarcane. And many brands label their silverware as
biodegradable.
Sarah Burkhalter is a news producer with the environmental
journalism website, Grist.org. She says making silverware from
materials other than plastic is a step in the right direction.
“But I think that the encouragement should not be for people to feel
like they can use a fork for three minutes then toss it in the compost
and be done with it. I think the emphasis needs to be on reusing your
silverware. Whether that be metal or plastic or corn.”
Burkhalter says the other tricky part is that you need to read the
manufacturer’s instructions. She says many of these utensils are only
biodegradable in special composting facilities.
Which means the utensils will not biodegrade if you toss them into a
backyard composting bin.
A study found that moms who ate peanut butter or nuts every day increased the
risk of asthma in their kids by 50% (Photo courtesy of the EPA)
A new study finds pregnant moms
who eat peanut butter every day might be
affecting their babies’ health. Rebecca
Williams has more:
Transcript
A new study finds pregnant moms
who eat peanut butter every day might be
affecting their babies’ health. Rebecca
Williams has more:
The Dutch government has been following a few thousand kids and their moms
for 8 years. They wanted to see if there was a link between the moms’ diets
and whether the kids would develop asthma.
It turns out that moms who ate peanut butter or nuts every day increased the
risk of asthma in their kids by 50%.
Dr. John Heffner is a former president of the American Thoracic Society. He
says these results are interesting – but that doesn’t mean there’s a definite link
between eating nuts and asthma.
“I think that this is a piece of information that confirms a well balanced diet of
mothers is the most important thing to do. But it doesn’t suggest that mothers
oughta take nuts out of their diet if they’re ingesting nuts now.”
Dr. Heffner says there are a lot of factors that could lead to asthma. He says
this needs more study, but in the meantime, pregnant moms should stick to
their doctor’s advice.
Some of the fish caught in the Great Lakes are unsafe to eat due to mercury (Photo courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service)
The government warns people not to eat too
much Great Lakes fish. That’s because some fish are
contaminated with mercury – a toxic chemical. Some
of that mercury comes from coal-burning power plants.
Erin Toner reports more states are beginning to make
power companies cut down mercury pollution:
Transcript
The government warns people not to eat too
much Great Lakes fish. That’s because some fish are
contaminated with mercury – a toxic chemical. Some
of that mercury comes from coal-burning power plants.
Erin Toner reports more states are beginning to make
power companies cut down mercury pollution:
The courts have ruled the federal government has not done enough to reduce mercury
pollution. Now, more states are adopting their own rules.
Illinois and Minnesota require power plants to cut mercury emissions 90% by 2015.
Wisconsin is following suit, but its plan gives utilities more time to get to 90% if they cut
other pollutants at the same time.
Keith Reopelle is with the group, Clean Wisconsin.
He’s happy with the new rule, but says it could be stronger.
“It does require the largest power plants to reach the 90% reduction on average over their
fleet, that’s not really the same as requiring every plant to get a 90% reduction.”
Wisconsin’s largest utility says complying with the new rule will be a ‘technological
challenge’. Power bills are expected to go up between 5 and 12 dollars a year to pay to
reduce mercury pollution.
Wheat farmers are re-considering the genetically modified seed question (Photo courtesy of the USDA)
You’ve probably noticed the price of
bread is a lot higher than just a year ago.
A big reason is higher wheat prices. Bakeries
are trying to figure how to keep costs down,
and farmers think they have an answer: develop
genetically modified wheat seeds. Julie Grant
reports:
Transcript
You’ve probably noticed the price of
bread is a lot higher than just a year ago.
A big reason is higher wheat prices. Bakeries
are trying to figure how to keep costs down,
and farmers think they have an answer: develop
genetically modified wheat seeds. Julie Grant
reports:
Nearly every major US crop is grown with genetically modified seeds – corn,
soybeans, cotton.
Biotech companies take genes from other organisms and put
them into corn and soybean seeds. This alters the behavior
of crops. One of the most used alters crops to withstand
herbicides. So, when an herbicide is sprayed, it kills the
weeds, but the crops survive.
But wheat producers said thank you, but no, to those genetically altered seeds.
Daren Coppock is chief of the National Wheat Growers Association. He says a
lot of wheat farmers didn’t need the genetically altered traits being offered.
First, weeds just aren’t a big problem in some types of wheat.
And second, Coppock says wheat growers were worried about the export market
in Europe and Japan. In those countries, they call genetically altered crops
‘Frankenfoods’.
“And so, it was something where some of our members would get the benefit, but
everybody faced potential risk of having customers say, ‘we don’t want this in
wheat.’”
Since the farmers didn’t want it, Coppock says Monsanto and the other big seed
companies dropped research into biotech wheat. That was five years ago.
Coppock says turning down biotech has since proven to be a bad move for
wheat growers.
Now, the big biotech companies don’t do as much research on how to improve
wheat, including breeding drought resistant varieties. Drought in Australia and
Canada is part of the reason there’s a wheat shortage now, making prices
higher.
“And so the conclusion that the industry basically has come to is, we have to do
something to change the competitiveness equation or we will end up, wheat will
end up, being a minor crop.”
And that could mean wheat shortages in the future.
So wheat farmers are re-considering the genetically modified seed question.
They think asking for new biotech wheat strains might kick start research on
wheat.
Bakers say something needs to be done – wheat prices are way high. And the
people who bake breads, muffins, cookies, and cakes are concerned.
Lee Sanders is with the American Bakers Association, which represents
Pepperidge Farms, Sara Lee, and many smaller bakeries.
“When wheat prices go up 173% in one year, it certainly effects how bakers can
do business. And how smaller bakers, in particular, if they can keep their doors
open.”
Those rising wheat prices are being passed on to consumers. A loaf of bread
that cost $2.50 last year has jumped to $2.85.
But bakers aren’t convinced biotech seeds will lower wheat prices. They’re more
concerned about how their customers will respond to the idea of genetically
modified wheat.
(supermarket sound)
Shoppers in the bread aisle at this Ohio supermarket have mixed views.
“We buy the cheapest bread we can find, so it wouldn’t make much difference.”
(laughs) “If it’s bread and it’s 70 cents, I buy it. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
“I don’t know, it just doesn’t sound good. I mean, I don’t mind paying a little bit
more for bread. Everything else is more expensive now too.”
“If it would keep prices down, I’d probably actually go with genetically altered
wheat.”
You might not realize it, but you’re already eating lots of genetically modified
foods. They’re added to all kinds of processed foods, from frozen foods to juices
and cereals.
The US government says they’re safe – so they’re not labeled.
But people in many other countries are more aware – and a lot more concerned
about biotech foods.
Doug Gurian Sherman is a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned
Scientists. If American wheat goes biotech, he says farmers will probably lose
their export markets.
“They can go elsewhere and they will go elsewhere. They really are trying to
avoid it for any kind of human food use.”
Even if wheat growers can persuade Monsanto and the others to start
researching genetically modified wheat, it will take at least five to ten years
before anything is in the field.
By then, farmers say, climate change may make
some places so dry that people will need biotech wheat whether they like it or
not.
Environmental activists are calling for
food packagers to stop using a toxic plastic to
line food and beverage cans. Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
Environmental activists are calling for
food packagers to stop using a toxic plastic to
line food and beverage cans. Lester Graham reports:
The thin plastic lining used in many canned foods and soft drinks contains a chemical
called bisphenol-A.
Canada is taking steps to restrict the use of the plastic in baby
bottles and formula can linings. In the U.S., some retailers have removed some
products using plastic with bisphenol-A.
Aaron Freeman is with the Environmental Defense Fund in Canada. He says this
chemical has been linked to too many health problems to ignore.
“Things like breast cancer, prostate cancer, early puberty in girls, attention deficit
disorder, and so on – those are all health effects we’re seeing sharp rises on.”
Freeman concedes cans lined with plastic containing bisphenol-A have not been proven
to cause the diseases. But he says since the canning industry has other plastics it can
use, it’s just a sensible precaution to stop using plastic with bisphenol-A.
For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.
Garlic mustard ranges from eastern Canada, south to Virginia and as far west as Kansas and Nebraska (Photo courtesy of the National Parks Service's Plant Conservation Alliance)
An invasive plant called Garlic Mustard is
taking over forests in the Eastern half of the country,
and it could be causing long term damage. Julie Grant
reports that some people are getting smart in their
efforts to get rid of Garlic Mustard:
Transcript
An invasive plant called Garlic Mustard is
taking over forests in the Eastern half of the country,
and it could be causing long term damage. Julie Grant
reports that some people are getting smart in their
efforts to get rid of Garlic Mustard:
Brad Steman spends a lot of time in the woods. He likes the serenity.
But as we walk through this park, he winces. The entire forest floor is
carpeted with one plant and one plant only: Garlic Mustard.
Thousands of them. The thin green stalks are as tall as our ankles.
Steman calls it “the evil weed.” Its triangle-shaped leaves shade out
wildflowers, so they don’t grow. Even worse, Steman says Garlic
Mustard poisons baby trees.
“So a forest filled with Garlic Mustard you will see very little
regeneration of that forest, very few seedlings, small trees. So
looking down the line, once those large trees start dying off there’s
nothing to replace them. And that now is the greatest threat to our
Eastern forests.”
Steman says every year Garlic Mustard is spreading farther into the
woods. Anywhere the ground is disturbed.
“So here’s a big stand of it along a trail. This is typically where it
starts. This is thick. This is a healthy stand. There’s potential there
for an explosion. So we should probably pull some. I’ll pull some;
you don’t have to pull any.”
Thank goodness he’s doing it – that looks it looks like tedious work.
Steman crouches down and starts pulling them out of the ground,
roots and all. He sprayed herbicide on some of it, and so far this
season he’s filled 35 big garbage bags with Garlic Mustard plants.
He’s sick of weeding. But it doesn’t look like he’s made a dent here.
All along the Eastern half of the US and Canada people are pulling up
Garlic Mustard from parks and just throwing it away. But some
people don’t like this approach.
“All these people are very shortsighted when they’re doing that.”
Peter Gail is a specialist in edible weeds.
“They’re not looking for other alternative uses – creative ways to use these plants that would be
profitable, that would be productive.”
Gail says: “If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em.” People brought Garlic
Mustard to the US in the mid-1800s because they liked it, to eat. And
they even used it for medicine. Yep. That same nasty weed.
Gail says today Garlic Mustard just needs an image makeover.
Some weeds have become big stars in the cooking world. A few
years ago Purselane was just an unwanted vine, with its fleshy, shiny
leaves matted to the ground. Now it’s known as a nutritional
powerhouse, and is the darling of New York and LA eateries. Gail
wants that kind of fame for Garlic Mustard.
“This is a Garlic Mustard Ricotta dip, Garlic Mustard salsa, stuffed Garlic Mustard leaves – these are all things you can do with this stuff. It’s fantastic!”
Garlic Mustard seeds taste like mustard, the leaves taste like garlic
and the roots are reminiscent of horseradish.
Gail says people should go after Garlic Mustard in the parks, but then
they should take it to farm markets to sell.
“My normal statement is that the best way to demoralize weeds is to
eat them.
Because when you eat them they know you like them and they don’t
want to be there anymore, and so they leave.”
(blender sound)
Today Gail decides to blend a pesto using the early spring leaves.
He picks every last Garlic Mustard in his yard to make a batch.
“Well there it is, garlic mustard pesto. And it isn’t bad, is it?”
Julie Grant: “It’s delicious.”
For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.
Gail: “I’ll use that on ravioli tonight.”
New research shows the infectious material believed to cause Chronic Wasting Disease can be found in the meat of infected deer. Previously, it was thought that only the brain and central nervous system areas of deer or elk carried the fatal disease. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Christina Shockley reports:
Transcript
New research shows the infectious material believed to cause Chronic
Wasting Disease can be found in the meat of infected animals.
Previously, it was thought that only the brain and central nervous system
areas of deer or elk carried the fatal disease. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Christina Shockley reports:
The authors of the study at the University of Kentucky say anyone
handling or eating deer infected with CWD may be inadvertently
exposed to the disease.
The research shows that for the first time the mutated proteins – called
prions – can be present in deer muscle.
Officials in states with CWD in wild deer say their message to hunters
won’t change:
Get deer tested for CWD, and don’t eat deer that test positive.
Jim Kazmierczak is Wisconsin’s State Public Health veterinarian.
“What this demonstrates is that the CWD agent does occur in deer
muscle. What it does not address is the question of human
susceptibility to Chronic Wasting Disease.”
Kazmierczak says it’s still unclear how – or if – Chronic Wasting Disease
could be transmitted to humans.
A new study has found high levels of mercury in fresh swordfish at major grocery chains. Environmentalists say the results should be a wake-up call for the Food and Drug Administration. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:
Transcript
A new study has found high levels of mercury in fresh swordfish at
major grocery chains. Environmentalists say the results should be a wake-up
call for the Food and Drug Administration. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:
The Mercury Policy Project tested fresh and frozen swordfish from stores in
twenty-two states. The average amount of mercury in the swordfish was one-point-one parts
per million.
That’s higher than the amount the FDA considers safe for
pregnant and nursing women. Michael Bender is with the Mercury Policy
Project, which organized the study. He says the FDA isn’t doing enough to
protect people.
“Why aren’t they removing the swordfish from the marketplace? Over fifty percent of samples are over one part per million, the FDA’s action level, where they can take action… why doesn’t the FDA take action?”
Bender says the FDA should also require warnings posted where the fish is
sold. An FDA official who asked not to be named says the agency is
educating the public about the risks of eating swordfish. She says states
can take additional action such as posting notices if they wish.
Now that the river otter's population is recovering, some worry that they are plundering fish farms. The proposed solution to this problem is stirring up some debate. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
There have been many wildlife success stories in the region. For instance, the numbers of white-tailed deer and Canada Geese have rebounded so strongly that many consider them pests. Now, another animal is being added to that list. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen reports on the rebound of the river otter:
Transcript
There have been many wildlife success stories in the region.
For instance, the numbers of white-tailed deer and Canada Geese
have rebounded so strongly that many consider them pests. Now,
another animal is being added to that list. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Bill Cohen reports on the rebound of the river otter:
In the late 1980’s river otters were so rare in Ohio that wildlife officials imported 123 of the animals and released them along rivers and streams. Now, it’s estimated that Ohio has more than 4,000 river otters. Dave Scott helps track the Ohio numbers for the Natural Resources Department.
“River otters are a really neat success story. And like some other wildlife things, they’ve done better than anticipated.”
In fact, so much better that the otters in Ohio are now being blamed for eating up fish in stocked ponds and in farm lakes where fish are raised for sale. That’s why wildlife officials are now proposing a trapping season here next winter. Trappers value river otters for their fur and back the idea of a trapping season but animal protection activists oppose it. They say the foothold traps that are used are inhumane.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Cohen in Columbus.
The EPA has rescinded some safety constraints on rodenticides. Some fear this may harm children, because they might now be more likely to ingest rat poison. (Photo by Geovani Arruda)
Plaintiffs in a case before a New York Federal Court accuse the
Environmental Protection Agency of being too soft on protecting children
from poisonous rat pellets. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny
Lawton reports:
Transcript
Plaintiffs in a case before a New York Federal Court accuse the Environmental Protection
Agency of being too soft on protecting children from poisonous rat pellets. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny Lawton reports:
The poisonous pellets aren’t just tough on rats. Some environmentalists say they’re
injuring young children as well. The Natural Resources Defense Council says more than
fifty-thousand children in the U.S. below the age of six have been sickened by rat poison
this year. In 1998, the EPA made a rule that required manufactuers to put a bitter taste
and a special dye in the pellets to keep children from eating them.
But three years later, the agency rescinded that mandate.
It said it had come to a “mutual agreement” with the rodenticide industry that those precautions
might be making the pellets less effective. But critics say that has put kids back in harm’s way.
Especially those living in low-income areas where rat infestation is a common problem.
Although the EPA won’t comment directly on the case, an agency report from 2001 argued that
when rodenticides are used correctly, and children are supervised around them, fewer accidental
ingestions happen.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jenny Lawton.
Companies are making disposable utensils from things like corn, potatoes, and sugarcane (Photo by Jessi Ziegler)
