The Loma Prietan - November/December 2009

Save Coral Reefs

SaveNature.org, a conservation nonprofit based in San Francisco, and TONIC, a for-profit based in Palo Alto, have partnered to protect fragile coral reef habitat in Palau, Micronesia, designing and selling beautiful new T-shirts to raise money for the cause. Check them out online.

Unlikely Hero

Sidney Bazett was a Republican representative in Oregon who sponsored the state's famous Beach Bill (HB 1601) back in 1967. His legislation kept Oregon's nearly pristine coastline safe from creeping development, fences, and "No Trespassing" signs. Bazett sacrificed his political career to get HB 1601 passed; his own party and many of his friends abandoned him in retaliation for his embracing the open-space cause. But Bazett was really a man of the people as much as an environmentalist. Explaining his support of the Beach Bill, he said, "The people of this state who can only afford a tank of gas and a picnic basket have the right to spend a day with their children on the beach without having to rent a motel room or pay a toll." Incidentally, Bazett was originally a Southern Californian who had moved to Oregon. ("One Man's Beach," by Matt Love, Oregon Coast Today)

Better Bulbs

If every one of 110 million American households installed a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) in place of an ordinary 60-watt bulb, the energy saved would be enough to power a city of 1.5 million people. In terms of oil not burned or greenhouse gases not blasted into the atmosphere, one CFL bulb per household is equivalent to taking 1.3 million cars off the road (Fast Company). Stop global warming one light bulb at a time. CFL bulbs save up to $90 over the lifetime of one 26-watt lamp. And they last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. (pge-cfl.com)

Spice for Mice?

Try these safer alternatives to commercial pesticides:
• Ants: cinnamon, bay leaf, cayenne pepper, baby powder (along baseboards, windowsills)
• Cockroaches: equal parts of baking soda and confectioner's sugar (in problem areas)
• Mice: cotton dipped in peppermint oil; used kitty litter (in problem areas)
• Flies: small sachets of crushed mint; potted sweet basil plants (around the house)
• Mosquitoes: 2 tsp. cider vinegar in glass of water (on deck or balcony); lavender oil (wrists, elbows)

Green Inside

AARP Bulletin (bulletin.aarp.org) is full of tips for detoxifying your indoor environment (e.g., open windows, air-purifying indoor plants, electronic air purifiers) and buying guides to cleaner, greener products for the home.

Ravenous Hordes

Ravens have begun flocking together and attacking livestock in Britain, eating the animals' eyes, tongues, and underbellies, then leaving them for dead, according to Earthweek.com. British farmers say that government-required removal of downed farm animals to licensed disposal facilities has deprived ravens of their natural food supply. The large black corvids are scavengers that normally feed on animal carcasses and small mammals. They may be smart and sassy, but ravens are not friendly to small songbirds that we love to feed in our back yards, so please don't feed the ravens — just the sparrows, finches, and towhees.

Bounce in Your Walk

More and more American cities are installing rubber sidewalks to save their trees and sidewalks. While tree roots can crack or buckle conventional cement sidewalks, roots can grow without causing damage to rubber sidewalks— and that means that trees are spared the ax and the chainsaw. Richard Valeriano of Santa Monica came up with the idea of rubber sidewalks after he dreamed about ficus tree roots destroying city sidewalks. When he realized the next morning that the rubber flooring at his gym was the perfect solution, the invention was born. (USA Today)

Old Oil

Biofuel is nothing new: 19th-century soapmakers messed around with vegetable oils to create clean-burning fuel. Rudolph Diesel (yes, that Diesel) experimented with whale oil, peanut oil, and coal tar before coming up with the idea for a fuel and an engine that carry his name today. Henry Ford fooled around with ethanol (corn) and hemp oil as alternative fuels. The Philippine government has long made use of biodiesel refined partly from coconuts. (Grist Magazine)

Email Meandering at Mayburrito@goofbuster.com