CONTENTS

• ACTION of the Month - "Lovin' Fair Trade!"
• Photo's By Caitlin Baron, Berkeley HS and Jeff Martin, Acalanes HS
• "Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fuel Tank" by Melanie Williams, Terra Linda HS and Teen Media Network
• "Ryan Buckley: Environmental Leader, UC Student, EarthTeam Speaker"
  by Sarah Stoller, College Prep HS, Oakland
• "Cancer in a Box" by Meika Hollender, Vermont Commons School, Charlotte, VT
• "Five Simple Ways (You May Not Know About) To Save Your Environment"
  by Nicole Charles, College Park HS, Pleasant Hill
• Book Review of The Dream of the Earth by Thomas Berry - Reviewed by Vrinda Manglik,
  Acalanes HS, Layfayette
• "The Southern Arroyo Toad" by Susan Loshin, Sir Francis Drake HS, San Anselmo
• Answers to February's Question of the Month
• March's Question of the Month
• Request for Letters to the Editor
• Join Now
• The Green Team
• Previous Issues

Mission Statement: Our mission is to strengthen and unify the young environmental community in the Bay Area by sharing interests, information, and calls to action. We seek to inspire participation in projects and events between groups, strengthen journalistic skills, and foster career exploration.

February 2004
Issue 13

Action of the Month

Chosen by students at February Youth Coalition meeting

"Lovin’ Fair Trade!"

Sources: Global Exchange http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/
Transfair USA www.transfairusa.org/

What is Fair Trade?

• Love Chocolate? In 2001, The US State Department and the ILO reported child slavery in the Ivory Coast, the origin of 43 percent of the world's cocoa beans. Follow up research exposed poverty as the culprit . The average West African cocoa farmer earns only $60-$108 per year per household member from cocoa.
• Can’t live without Coffee? The average coffee farmer earns less than $3 a day and receive payments of as little as 2-3% of the value of their product. More than 30 million small coffee farming families depend on this income for their livelihood. When world market prices hit bottom families lose their land or are broken up as husbands leave to find work in the cities while children are taken out of school to work fields.
• High use of agrochemicals and overproduction translate into high crop yields, rock bottom prices, and environmental degradation due to deforestation and ground contamination.

"Fair Trade" vs. "Free Trade": Many products we take for granted like coffee, tea, sugar, and cocoa, to name a few, are linked to social and environmental injustices in the countries they are imported from. This is because under "Free Trade" there are little or no ethical standards set for the buying and selling of these products, while prices are determined by the global market. Numerous middlemen intervene between the small farmers producing the product and the importers who buy them. "Fair Trade" on the other hand means that an internationally-recognized third party inspects, certifies, and regulates the product.

Look for the "Fair Trade Certified" Label, which means:
A fair price is guaranteed. There is Direct Trade and a Long-Term Relationship between buyer and seller. The farmers form democratically organized cooperatives. They have access to credit from importers. Environmental standards are upheld.

What can you do?

1. Make Fair Trade VALENTINES to send to M&M/Mars. Get your school/class, faith-based group, community organization and neighbors to make Valentines telling M&M/ Mars. "Abusive child labor and poverty are heartbreaking. Have a heart and sell Fair Trade!"

2. RAISE FUNDS FOR YOUR GROUP through Fair Trade chocolate and cocoa sales and get STORES to stock them in time for Valentine’s Day. All concerned chocolate lovers can ask local stores to stock Fair Trade chocolate and cocoa. Global Exchange has a product list from 100% Fair Trade companies offering wholesale prices, and have a guide for talking with local retailers.

3. Set up a table outside a supermarket this Valentine’s Day and give away chocolate and literature about Fair Trade to shoppers.

4. Talk to the managers of local cafes and see if they offer fair trade tea or coffee. If they do, ask if you can promote it for them (and get creative!). If they don’t, try to get them to do so.

For information, materials, and help getting started contact Melissa Schweisguth, Global Exchange,
melissa@globalexchange.org
415-575-5538

or

Transfair USA - 510-663-5260
1611 Telegraph Ave. Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612

Educate yourself –

All about Fair Trade - for stores near you that carry fair trad, community development projects going on thanks to Fair Trade, visit:
www.transfair.org

Campaigns - For information about Fair Trade Coffee and Chocolate campaigns:
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/

"Click here to download this action!"

Photos

"Carrotz" By Caitlin Baron, Berkeley HS

"Flower" by Jeff Martin, Acalanes HS

Can recycled vegetable oil be the secret ingredient in the recipe for environmental sustainability? Biodiesel, derived from renewable sources such as soybean oil, is now available in Marin. The alternative fuel, described as "less toxic than table salt" and "as biodegradable as sugar" by the National Biodiesel Board, is the latest constituent in America’s automotive kitchen. Do you want fries with that?

Most people prefer the innocuous smell of biodiesel, similar to a French fry aroma, to the toxic fumes of gasoline, and so does the environment. Biodiesel was approved and designated as a fuel by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Transportation. It is the only alternative fuel to pass the health effects testing required by the Clean Air Act, posing no known threat to human health. Biodiesel emits 75-90% fewer hydrocarbons and other cancer causing components than petroleum diesel. It is free of aromatics and sulfates (the prime element of acid rain).

A United States Department of Energy study showed a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 78.5% in biodiesel compared to ordinary diesel. Even in B20, a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum, particulate matter release is reduced by 31%.

Because it is nontoxic, biodiesel is safer and easier to transport, use, and store. Any vehicle currently powered by diesel, even an SUV with a compression-ignition engine, can easily convert to biodiesel with little or no modifications to the engine. Biodiesel has no effect on the performance of an automobile and no more than a 3% effect on fuel efficiency (mpg).

Biodiesel’s lack of petroleum is also advantageous. It makes the US less dependent on foreign countries for oil and so saves billions of dollars spent annually on oil security, transportation, and taxes.

Naft Gas, a local station in Fairfax, now serves B100 (pure biodiesel) at $2.69 per gallon, a price that many citizens of Marin County are eager to pay.

Sam Ruark, Green Building Program Coordinator at the County of Marin Planning Office, fills his diesel-fueled car with biodiesel. He agrees that the rewards of the environmentally friendly car compensate for the price of gas. Although Ruark is in favor of the growing popularity of biodiesel, he knows that not everyone can rely on used vegetable oil from restaurants for fuel.

"We could not convert to a totally biodiesel society because we lack the acreage to grow the necessary amount of plants," he said. "Biodiesel is one tool that we can use along with solar power, alcohol and hydrogen fuels, natural gas, and different alternative fuel vehicles developing in the next decade."

Marin residents have discovered some of these alternative fuel vehicles.

The most popular current alternative vehicles in Marin are hybrid electric cars. Hybrids combine an electric motor with an internal combustion engine to create substantial fuel efficiency. Lower fossil fuel consumption gives hybrids 33-50% less gas emission that contributes to global warming, according to the Office of Transportation Technologies.

Regenerative breaking capability enables hybrids to stop and decelerate without using extra energy. The 3 models manufactured in the US are all available with automatic transmission. Hybrids are typically twice as fuel efficient as their equivalents in conventional cars. The Honda Insight averages up to 68 mpg, the Honda Civic Hybrid reaches 51 mpg, and the Toyota Prius goes up to 52 mpg. This fuel efficiency also reduces US dependency on foreign oil.

Betsy Rosenberg, host of the environmental radio program Ecotalk, co-founded a campaign of Mothers for Clean and Safe Vehicles called "Don’t Be Fueled," striving to popularize hybrids via an online petition, letters, and consumer awareness.

They increased demand by "educating consumers that their car purchases could make a huge difference environmentally, health wise, and politically," said Rosenberg. "[We are] letting car companies know that if they make more family-friendly, fuel-efficient cars, we will buy them."

The buyers may be receiving a bargain. Though the current models typically cost about $20,000, $1,500 to $4000 more than their conventional counterparts, their gasoline bill is cut in half. The increase in gas prices over the years will further accelerate the redemption of the cost of the car. In addition, there is currently a $2,000 tax deduction for purchasing a hybrid. That alone could balance the extra money spent originally.

When searching for the best alternative vehicle, it can be taken in consideration that no automobile or fuel is a panacea for the world’s environmental problems. They are simply ingredients in the formula for the antidote.

SOME RESOURCES:
Learn more about biodiesel at the National Biodiesel Board website: www.biodiesel.org
Learn more about hybrids at www.hybridcars.com

"Ryan Buckley: Environmental Leader, UC Student, EarthTeam Speaker"

by Sarah Stoller, College Prep HS, Oakland

Ryan Buckley is a student at UC Berkeley who has been very interested in the environment since his childhood. Over the past few years, Ryan has led major environmental efforts at Berkeley focused around energy efficiency, and a large Earth Day celebration.

How and when did you first get interested in environmental work?

I think I was born with some inkling towards environmental stuff. It’s always been a part of me, it seems, and reaches deeper than I can express. I doubt I’ll ever get away from it, and because of that, it’s hard to say how and when this interest first developed. My first memory goes back to riding up to the Sierra Nevada mountains in my grandpa’s truck. I might have been seven or eight. I’d have this uncontrollable urge to stick my tongue out at the logging trucks rolling down the highways with trailers piled with pine trees. This same grandpa, although a Rush Limbaugh-patronizing Republican, also added to my concern by mentioning year after year that he heard fewer birds up there. I doubt it was merely caused by his aging ears; I still notice the changes now. I also remember drawing diagrams of ways to curb air pollution, such as appending smokestacks with pipes that would take the exhaust underground to some super air cleaning station. I was pretty optimistic at eight years old.

Can you explain a little about your project to get schools to become energy efficient? How do you encourage schools to do this? In what ways do you hope that they will adapt to becoming more efficient?

The UC Green Building and Clean Energy standard was developed by a large coalition of University of California (UC) students. This group, the California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC), formed itself out of a Greenpeace-led campaign to get the UC system to commit to green buildings and clean energy. As a result, we now have the most comprehensive policy in the nation and other school systems are looking to the UC policy as a model for their own efforts. And better yet, one of the main CSSC coordinators will be hired by the UC administration to oversee the policy that he helped to spearhead. It’s an incredible success.
The policy basically mandates that all newly-constructed and renovated UC buildings be at a silver LEED level or higher. The LEED standards are basically green building protocols that allow buildings to be rated a level of "green-ness". We also mandated that a full 20% of energy purchased by the UC system be from "clean" sources like wind, solar, geothermal, or small hydroelectric by 2017. These are ambitious requests, especially during the fiscal crisis, but we got it passed by amassing a student movement and being very politically savvy. Greenpeace, bless their hearts, also gave unbelievable support to this campaign. It would have never happened without them.

What challenges have you faced in this work? What have been major accomplishments?

The challenge is always that you’re a student trying to shake up a massive bureaucracy that isn’t responsive unless you know which buttons to push. We as students have a lot of power and influence; we just need to know how to use it, and, perhaps most importantly, how to find our allies within the system. The other piece of the campaign I failed to mention in the last question is the key people inside the UC who helped us navigate the bureaucracy and gave us some major breaks in the course of the campaign. There are always going to be sympathetic people who, for whatever reason, were not able to do what they know to be right. So when you come up to them with your idea, they are extremely grateful, admire and respect you right away, and will do whatever they can to advance the cause. The challenge is to find them and use their tips effectively.

How does the weeklong Earth Day program that you started work? What do you hope to accomplish in that area?

Well, the Earth Day program at UC Berkeley has shrunk over the years. It started big, even too big by some accounts, in 2000 with the efforts of another great activist named Dave Harris, who I think has also given an interview for The Green. Since then, we’ve had an Earth Week 2001, an Earth Weekend 2002, and an Earth Day 2003. It’s looking like we’ll follow the Earth Day model for 2004.

The premise is basically to do something to bring environmental awareness, if only for a day, to the campus. That means having a presence on the main plazas, coordinating with other campus departments to do creek cleanups, and getting other student groups involved as well. In the past, we’ve also used the residential recycling education coordinator network that I set up a few years ago to do a lot of this work. It has been a successful event, and most importantly, we all have a pretty good time doing it.

This year for Earth Day we’ll also put on a Campus Sustainability Summit with all of the top administrators at which the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS) will report. We’ll also have a section for the CSSC to present their latest accomplishments. As co-chair of the CACS, I’ll organize an awards ceremony at which we’ll present awards for campus departments that are already taking strides in the area of environmental sustainability. It will probably be our biggest and most important Earth Day event.

What are some of the careers that you discuss in your presentations in high schools? Do you see a lot of interest from students?

I have a list of about 25 careers related to the environmental field that I distribute to the students after we brainstorm some environmental issues. These careers include marine biologists, agricultural scientists, lawyers, meteorologists, city planners, engineers, and science writers. I go over their respective academic concentrations, degrees required, and salary ranges. Then we place the issues we brainstormed with careers in the list. It’s a pretty helpful exercise, I think, and the students are usually pretty engaged. We usually spend the last fifteen minutes doing Q&A about life in college. I really enjoy giving these presentations, so let me know if you’re interested.

What encouragement would you have for high school students who are trying to make a difference environmentally?

My advice is always to have fun doing it. There is no need for prolonged stress, although a few hectic days or even weeks is probably okay. Just realize that it’s in the best interest of the Earth to have happy people. Stressed out activists tend to burn out by the time they’re 30 and that’s not useful for anyone, except maybe a political official or two. Definitely, be ambitious and stay abreast with environmental literature, but don’t forget to breathe and have a good time with friends and family. It will make your environmental work more rewarding and offer a broader perspective on why this work is so important.

Photos

"Flora" by Jeff Martin, Acalanes HS	"Peppers" By Caitlin Baron, Berkeley HS
"Bison" by Jeff Martin, Acalanes HS

"Cancer in the Box"

by Meika Hollender, Vermont Commons School, Charlotte, VT

Microwaving food has long been an American pastime; now the "microwaving" of people is fast becoming a new American trend. The sun has become passé while visiting tanning salons has become as regular as the weekly trip to the gym. With this new obsession of having darker skin, also comes the baggage of risking your health. Although many woman are probably contemplating whether tanning is really worth the health risks while they stand in a cell lined with UVA light bulbs, their cosmetic conscience seems to overrule good sense. The social and cosmetic benefits of tanning have turned women's heads away from the potential dangers of this extremely popular activity, putting the health of woman, worldwide, at a great risk.

Twenty thousand salons nationwide claim the dollars of over one million women everyday. Entering the glistening and upbeat tanning madhouse, employees greet you with tanned flesh and perfect smiles. Ten minutes later you stand naked in a cell where ultraviolet A light penetrates your skin. Spending around ten to twenty minutes each week in this cell makes a woman susceptible to hazardous burns, immune system suppression, drug and cosmetic induced photosensitivity, cataracts, and an increased risk of malignant melanoma, especially if you are very light skinned to begin with. Malignant melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer. Studies show that it most commonly develops in consequence of exposure to high intensity UV radiation or exposure to solar radiation at a young age. The UVA light that we are exposed to in tanning salons is on average two to three times more dangerous than the UVA rays we receive from the sun. These statistics force me to ask the question, are you willing to buy yourself cancer?

The federal government is aware of this issue, but has not yet publicly announced the severity of this issue. A few age restrictions have been enforced, such as no children under 10. Yet it is teens, not adults, who are at the most critical age for UV exposure that ultimately leads to skin cancer. A recent study compared youth tanning to smoking. Once the government began enforcing laws preventing minors from purchasing cigarettes, youth smoking decreased by 40%. 2.3 million teens in the U.S. tan on a regular basis, due to a lack of knowledge of the dangers and the teen cravings of keeping up to date in a fast paced, appearance-based society. Is government regulation needed here, too to protect the public health?

The fact that twenty minutes of tanning is equivalent to a day at the beach should be reason enough to steer clear of this moneymaking, cancer-causing industry, but if you still feel the need to darken your skin there is a milder, safer alternative. Self-tanning lotion is a slightly safer alternative to tanning salons. Even though these lotions contain a lot of chemicals, they are still proven to be less harmful. Once again our desire to fit in has overpowered danger, the "drop-dead" aspect of gorgeous, and this time we are making ourselves more vulnerable than ever before.

Sources used in writing this article may be found at
http://www.uchsc.edu/news/bridge/2003/May%202003/tanning.html
http://www.personalmd.com/news/tanning_salons_031300.shtml
http://www.aeinstitute.net/institute/infocenter/dangers.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/14/health/main578006.shtml

"Five Simple Ways (You May Not Know About) To Save Your Environment"

by Nicole Charles, College Park HS, Pleasant Hill

Sure, you love the environment. You pick up trash off the ground, recycle, and take short showers. All those simple everyday things really do make a difference. But there’s so much more you can do! I’m not saying you have to slash the tires of every Hummer you see, or plant a tree every morning. We live in a busy world and not everybody is as environmentally aware as Smokey the Bear. So here are some things you may not know, or maybe some things you just forgot that can contribute to doing your part in saving our environment. And if you already know these things, pass the list on to someone you think can use it! (We ALL know somebody who can use a little encouraging I’m sure.)

*1. WORM COMPOSTING-Sound gross? Well, it’s not so bad and can even result to a more healthy, beautiful garden! Worm composting (in a nutshell) is creating a pile or bin with soil, black and white newspaper, old food scraps, a little water, and some special worms to create some super healthy soil for your garden. Now there is some work and knowledge involved: you have to harvest your compost every once in a while, no meat or dairy, and you have to buy special worms. But trust me, if you’re an avid gardener, it’s all worth while.

For more information check out www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html.

*2. LOW PHOSPHATE SHAMPOO/SOAP- Yes, even the simple act of taking a shower can result in damage to the environment. All that shampoo and soap has to go somewhere, doesn’t it? And yes that place could potentially be our bay. So read the labels! Try using shampoo with less phosphates, or better yet, organic shampoo! Check out GNC for some good ones.

*3. LADY BUGS- This is a pretty common one, but still great! Instead of using all those crazy pesticides, go buy some ladybugs. They’ll do the job for you and are pretty dang cute. Home Depot and gardening stores should sell them.

*4. NALGINE WATER BOTTLES- Let’s face it, everybody is obsessed with bottled water these days. And sure, recycling the bottles is great. But did you know that recycling companies receive enough water bottles a year to reach the moon and back 98 times? That’s a lot of bottles! So using a Nalgine bottle (or just about any other re-usable water bottle) can help save some plastic. Stores such as Any Mountain or REI carry the heavy-duty bottles, but you can pick up a cheapie at your grocery store.

*5. IF YOU SMOKE, DON’T THROW YOUR CIGARETTE BUTTS ON THE GROUND (Hopefully few that read this will have to deal with this problem, but this is a good one to pass around) It seems obvious, but many smokers seem to disregard it. (Take a walk and count how many filters you can find, you would be surprised) Cigarette filters are NOT environmentally friendly! They end up in the bellies of fish, birds and other unsuspecting creatures. Yes, this is why ashtrays were invented. Let’s use them, smokers!

So there you have it. Five simple ways you can do your part. If you knew about these five things and actually do them, good for you! But if not, spread the word! Being environmentally aware really isn’t as hard as it seems, is it?

Book Review

By Vrinda Manglik, Acalanes HS, Layfayette

Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth, Sierra Club Nature and Natural Philosophy Library, 1988.

To be connected with the Earth is deep, spiritual. The Dream of the Earth (Thomas Berry) reminds us of that mystical guidance and healing which nature provides. This book falls in the category of Ecopsychology, putting an emphasis on the earth-human relationship.

This book is good. Definitely. Thomas Berry clearly pours his heart and soul into every page. But it’s not something that you can cruise through in a weekend. It’s dense. It’s one of those books that cannot be appreciated without patience. That, however, could also be its greatest appeal.

It’s a series of essays, discussing both logical and creative matters. It covers just about everything: agriculture, religion, Native Americans, spirituality, overpopulation, imagination, alternate energy sources, technology, water disposal, Christianity, economics, etc. All of which are presented with their relationship to the Earth in a clear and logical argument. So for the logical: It is a collection of essays pertaining to various aspects of the Environmental Movement. For the creative: It discusses the spiritual connection that humans have with the Earth. For example:

"The Southern Arroyo Toad"

by Susan Loshin, Sir Francis Drake HS, San Anselmo

The Southern Arroyo Toad lives in Southern Coastal California. This small and unique creature is a necessity to healthy diverse ecosystems in many of the streams and reservoirs that lie in Southern California. Unfortunately, in 1994 the Southern Arroyo Toad was added to the endangered species list, mostly due to habitat destruction.

Many factors are prevalent in the toad’s habitat destruction. Dam’s destroy the water flow and quantity, thereby altering the habitat, making it difficult for the Arroyo to breed in the conditions they require. Without careful awareness of the reasons for the Arroyos loss in habitat, we could lose this species forever.

Vehicles are a horrendous disruption for the Arroyo. Many toads are run over daily leaving them flattened and killed in the middle of streets and highways. Nasty deposits such as petroleum and silt are also a major concern. These deposits run off into streams and reservoirs, killing larvae and eggs. Without their offspring, there’s no chance for their survival.

Exotic species are also a major threat to the Arroyo Toad. Many foreign species have become very competitive for food with the Arroyo. Exotic species also prey on this helpless little toad. With exotics such as the catfish and bullfrog, the Arroyo faces an even larger population decline.

Human "invasion" into Southern California leaves the toad almost no chance of survival. Everything from freeways, shopping malls, and fast food, to golf courses, has hurt the Southern Arroyo Toad. As Arroyos mature, they venture onto upland habitats, beyond the streams and reservoirs. Most all of these habitats have literally been completely destroyed. It’s extremely unlikely the build up of "So-Cal" will decline or reach a plateau.

Currently there are only 22 drainages left in Southern California for the Arroyo. This beautiful creature, so far, has lost 75% of its habitat. The remaining 25% of the Arroyo’s habitat will be depleted with proposed dam sites for Southern California. In 20 years the Arroyo will be extinct.

I encourage you as a reader, an environmentalist, and a human being to get involved. If you are visiting arroyo toad habitat, observe trail and campground closures posted by the U.S. Forest Service, and be careful to stay out of arroyo toad areas. The Planning and Conservation League (PCL), National Wildlife Federation’s California Affiliate, is working to support California state legislation that would protect state parks from damaging construction projects, hurting the Arroyo. All Californians can visit PCL’s website at www.pcl.org/LEG/environmental_bills_abr.html look under "Parks and Recreation" (SB 1277) or call Rachel Dinno at (916) 313-4512, to find out more information on how your vote can help. You can write, donate, or volunteer for this organization. I also encourage you to write to your local or national representatives, putting pressure

Answers to February's Question of the Month

"What unique impact do young activists bring to the environmental movement?"
Submitted by Yvea Eaton, I-Yel Student Group, San Francisco

"Young environmentalists bring a youthful energy to the environmental movement. Older people can be jaded, at this age the world is fresh to us, we see this as a responsibility, because some day it will be our world to take care of. Older generations have left this huge responsibility to us."
-Meghan White, College Prep HS, Oakland

"There are many impacts that young activists make theat adults don't, but I think one aspect of it is that young activists bring a kind of hope to the movement. Have you ever noticed how excited adult activists get when they meet you - a kid eager to help? Young people rekindle activist movements."
-Jonathan Wachter, College Prep HS, Oakland

"Younger activists bring a fresher and creative impact where they can affect
people (peers) through schools, while still having fun."
-Meghan Hesket, San Ramon Valley HS, San Ramon

"They can share a healthy attitude towards the environment with older people
& set about change in the future by exhibiting roles of leadership."
-Jillian Halliwell, San Ramon Valley HS, San Ramon

Question of the Month for March - Let’s hear your answers!


"If you could ask any company to make a positive environmental change, which
company would you choose, and what change would you address, and why?"

Send your answer by February 25 to TheGreen@earthteam.net

"The Green" is 100% student written and edited. We're looking for anything about the environment - what your class or club is doing, opinion pieces, facts, actions and more. The students who commit to monthly or every other month articles receive a small monetary compensation. To find out more, contact TheGreen@earthteam.net

Please send your responses to anything in the Green or anything environmental. We'll print it in the next issue. Also, send us your answers to the Question of the Month by the 25th of the month. It would be great to hear from you. Contact TheGreen@earthteam.net