The Loma Prietan
November 2002
Meandering
by John Maybury
All fall down
A bargeload of toxic incinerator ash from Philadelphia that spent 16 years bouncing from port to port looking for someplace to land finally came to Greencastle, PA, where a rural landfill agreed to accept the 2,500-ton embarrassment. Along the way, most of the original 14,800 tons of ash were dumped in the ocean, in Haiti, and in Florida.
Holy cow
McDonald's recently agreed to donate $10 million to Hindu, vegetarian, and consumer groups to settle lawsuits filed against the fast-food chain for mislabeling french fries and hash browns as vegetarian. Turns out the oil used to fry them was flavored with "essence of beef." You want bad karma with that?
American Dream
Owning a home is called the American Dream, but in the Bay Area it's more like a nightmare. Housing prices are out of sight and still climbing. To the rescue comes Oakland architect Leal Charonnat, champion of the factory-built home. He says his modular construction can cut prices in half and is more environmentally friendly than traditional homebuilding processes. Using sections manufactured by Silvercrest Company in Woodland, CA, he needs only one week to build a new home. Info: 510/757-8934.
Cellvation
By 2005, we may discard 130 million old cell phones a year, adding 65,000 tons of toxic trash annually to an already-overflowing landfill. Sales and marketing practices called "churn" keep consumers switching phones and service providers to get better rates and features.
Why not find out if a local charity, a battered-women's shelter, or a nursing home could use that old cell phone? Check out the cellular industry's Return Outreach Initiative at www.wirelessfoundation.org.
Eco/rec activists
Boat owners and sailboarders at Coyote Point are helping the Sierra Club and Save the Bay fight SFO's scheme to expand across 1,000 acres of the bay. Runway construction would destroy Coyote Point Marina and wipe out one of the best boating and windsurfing areas on the bay. The eco/rec coalition recently held a Paddle Fest to celebrate and and protect the endangered zone.
Sluggo
My yard is overrun with big, yellow banana slugs (ariolimax dolichophallus to you Latin scholars). Scientists have recorded some as long as 10 inches and weighing a quarter-pound (think about that next time you bite into a Quarter Pounder). The banana slug is the official mascot of the University of California at Santa Cruz, has a Web site (www.slugs.com), and is the subject of several books, although sales of those books reportedly are sluggish.
Mythbuster
The U.S. gets only 15% of its oil from the Middle East. We are third in oil production, after Saudi Arabia and Russia, but first in oil consumption. Our biggest oil supplier is Canada, followed by Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico, Nigeria, and Iraq (from U.S. Department of Energy, International Energy Agency, Petroleum Supply Monthly).
Caltrans threatens Mono
Caltrans plans to widen and "improve" U.S. Highway 395 near Mono Lake, but friends of the lake are concerned that the project will harm the majestic water body. They need your help. If you have ever flown over, driven by, or hiked at Mono Lake, you can appreciate the stark beauty of this area.
Contact Mono Lake Committee in Lee Vining, CA, at 760/647-6595 or e-mail actionalert@monolake.org.
Better World
Mechanical engineer Carl Bielenberg's Better World Workshop in Marshfield, VT, is a nonprofit with the simple philosophy that good tools improve people's lives while making them self-sufficient. Bielenberg's main focus is training artisans in Africa to make, use, and market basic tools such as hand-operated oil seed presses and foot-operated irrigation pumps.
Better World's criteria for good tools are performance, durability, affordability, beauty, multi-functionality, and local production and repair. Bielenberg also looks for local applications of indigenous technology: heating with clean-burning wood chips harvested from sawmill waste; rolling mills, wood-fired greenhouse boilers, and root crop harvesters for organic farms; energy-efficient, portable charcoal cook stoves; power plants burning gasified wood or other waste biomass such as cotton stalks. Info: 802/456-8993.
Alphabet fruit
An apple has five grams of fiber, about 20% of your daily requirement. Three apricots give you half of your daily vitamin A. Bananas are rich in potassium, iron, magnesium, and selenium. Blackberries are packed with vitamins A and C. Blueberries are loaded with free-radical-fighting antioxidants. Cantaloupes pack 100% of your vitamin A. Cherries have copper and iron. Grapefruits and oranges have vitamin C and antioxidants. Grapes are full of powerful antioxidants. Kiwis have the most vitamin C. Mangos fight cancer with beta-carotene. Shop locally, and try the three native North American fruits: cranberries, blueberries, and Concord grapes.
The skinny on fat
Fad diets are bad news. Warning signs of bad nutritional advice: promises a quick fix; sounds too good to be true; implies you don't need exercise to lose weight; uses phony before-and-after photos or undocumented case histories. No one food can cause weight loss. The healthiest way to shed pounds is lifestyle changes, including exercise, portion control, and eating a wide variety of food. Eschew gimmicks. Chew real food. Info: www.eatright.org.
Keep in touch with Meandering John Maybury, Mayburrito@goofbuster.com