CONTENTS

• Quote of the Month – Chosen by Maggie Young, Mercy HS, Burlingame
• Two Photographs - By Jeff Martin, Acalanes H.S. class of 2004
• Action of the Month – Help Clean up Bay Area School Buses
• The Price We Pay for Non-Stick Pan - By Natalie Nava, Monte Vista H.S. Danville, Ca
• Question of the Month for November
• Answers to October's Question of the Month
• Why Did Daniel Quinn Choose a Gorilla to Deliver His Message? - By Ailene Brukman, El Camino Real HS, Woodland Hills CA
• 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.

October 2004
Issue 21

Quote of the Month

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."  - Rachel Carson

Chosen by Maggie Young, the Green Team, Mercy HS, Burlingame

“Early Morning River,” by Jeff Martin,
2004 graduate of Acalanes HS, Lafayette, CA

Action of the Month -

Help Clean Up Bay Area School Buses - Suggested by EarthTeam's Youth Coalition

Millions of students are exposed to toxic soot and smog-forming pollutants as they travel to and from school. Diesel pollution has been linked to increased asthma rates, hospitalizations, chronic bronchitis, heart disease, cancer, and even premature death.

Help replace and upgrade these older school buses with clean, safe alternatives by writing to your State Senator asking him or her to support the Clean School Bus Grant Program.

Need help finding your Senator? Visit www.sen.ca.gov and enter your home address to find out who represents your district.

For sample letters and more info visit: www.cleanschoolbus.org

“Early Morning River,” by Jeff Martin,
2004 graduate of Acalanes HS, Lafayette, CA

The Price we pay for a Non-Stick Pan

By Natalie Nava, Monte Vista HS, Danville

When Teflon was first created, we Americans hailed it as the best thing since sliced bread – sliced bread, which wouldn’t stick to the pan!  However, Teflon apparently has in store for us an even bigger shocker than perfect omelets. Can we say time delay…?

PFOA (Perfluorooctaoic Acid) is the essential ingredient in Teflon and gives the crazy pas their claim to fame.  However, this chemical has been shown not to break down in the environment, and is reportedly in the bloodstream of a large majority of people in the US, Canada, and Europe, even if a person has not been exposed directly to a Teflon-coated cooking appliance. Using these pans may not only pose a threat to ourselves, but to our pet birds as well. Immediate danger lies when Teflon is overheated and becomes toxic; fumes released can cause birds’ lungs to fill with fluid.  Many birds have died rapidly after being exposed to the fumes. PFOA has also shown the capacity to cause cancer and various other problems in animals in the laboratory.

While our feathered friends and other animals are suffering, DuPont, the company that created Teflon, has predictably denied that its product is hazardous.  This is facilitated by the fact that the human reaction to the fumes created by heating Teflon is symptoms similar to the flu (called “polymer fume fever”), which are not terribly unusual. 

Despite petitions from the EPA that DuPont has violated the Toxic Substances Control Act and claims that it illegally suppressed information regarding birth defects and water pollution, DuPont will not confess. At the moment, the EPA does not have enough information to definitively say that Teflon poses a health hazard. While it is difficult to steer clear of all Teflon-associated products as they are everywhere, we should at the very least make sure not leave the pas when we are cooking to stay safe.

For more information see www.epa.gov/opptintr/pfoa/

Question of the Month for November

“Do you connect the hurricanes in Florida and Haiti with environmental issues and if you do, which ones?”

(The Green readers may also respond by writing to editor@earthteam.net We will print your response as a Rant or a Rave next month)

“Do you and your friends think about the environmental impact of how you get to and from school?”

“I do, but some of my friends don’t.  I ride my bike to school, as much as I can.”
Ben Lerch, Washington HS

“ Some people think about it, but few people act on it.  It would be great if my school could coordinate a carpool system.”
Kim Schroder, Acalanes HS

“ Yes, I carpool everyday, however everyone thinks they have a right to drive alone in the largest car possible to school.”
Natalie Nava, Monte Vista HS

“My friend and I both drive hybrid cars and carpool with our siblings to school.”
Erika Martinelli, College Park HS

“Yes we do. We try to walk to school as often as possible. If we can’t walk we try to carpool."
Alexandra Race, Concord HS

“Parents sit and let their cars idle and never think of the environment. Personally, I think about it every day.”
Ashley Clark, Athenian HS, Danville

Why Did Daniel Quinn Choose a Gorilla to Deliver His Message?

By Ailene Brukman, El Camino Real HS, Woodland Hills, CA

(The following essay is a response to the book Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn. It is a philosophical fiction – not actually a novel as there is hardly any plot. Others of you who have read this book may want to write to us about it. –– editor@earthteam.net)

Daniel Quinn used a gorilla as the teacher of a human, and the messenger to the human beings in Ishmael for many reasons. Since gorillas represent nature Quinn suggests that if nature had a mouth to talk with it would teach us what we do right and wrong to it and how to treat it. This pairing of a human and a gorilla affects the story; many other things would have happened if Ishmael hadn’t been a gorilla. This is the best way to tell the story in a sense of what Quinn is trying to tell his audience.

The reason Quinn paired a human with a gorilla is because according to evolution the human line started out from the same branch. Quinn wants us to learn from them, the starting point of humanity where they wouldn’t harm the world like the “taker”, are doing today. According to Ishmael just because the “Takers” the civilized people, consider the “leavers” not civilized doesn’t mean they are not. Gorillas live without a need to control the earth, they live loving the earth, nature, and appreciate when the rain falls down on them. Quinn pairs a human with a gorilla to give the symbolism of this picture – be like me, be a citizen of the world, of the earth, not of the human “system.” A gorilla was also paired with a human because Quinn wanted us to get the message from nature. When Ishmael is speaking to the human he is speaking for nature. Nature wants to save it’s self from what the takers are doing to it, torturing it by polluting it in every sort of way. Air pollution, water pollution, waste production, biodiversity depletion, and food supply problems are some of those problems. For example Ishmael says, “…Irreplaceable resources are being devoured every year and they’re being devoured more greedily every year. Whole species are disappearing as a result of your encroachment and they’re disappearing in greater numbers every year.” This is an obvious message from earth to the “takers”.

The pairing of a human with a gorilla affects the story by many ways. This pairing gives the story a funny mood to it and draws the audience into the book while Quinn describes in details the ape’s different emotions and faces he makes. It also portrays a human emotion showing the reader that the ape is a lot like us, the only difference being that a gorilla lives life with appreciation and no greed, and not wanting more and more from life. It also portrays to start all over again: “…immediately set about it all over again, exactly the same way.” (110) If we start all over again we might know how to do it this time without any errors and live while not harming earth and at the end our selves. “…Trial and error isn’t a bad way to learn how to build an aircraft but it can be a disastrous way to learn how to build a civilization.”(110) If Quinn had chosen a wolf or any other animal he wouldn’t be able to give out his message as well as he does with a gorilla. We are willing to believe that a gorilla could communicate to us. Also, if it had been a scary animal (to us), the human might have run away from fear and the story would not happened. “Without Gorillas will there be hope for men?” In other words, without nature is there hope for men?

“Ishmael bestirred himself, and to be perfectly honest, my stomach clenched as the half ton of him brushed past my chair. If you don’t know how gorillas make their way from place to place on the ground, you can visit the zoo or rent a National Geographic videotape; no words of mine will make you see it.” (170) This quote makes a reader want to know more about the gorilla, draws you into the book, and gives the book a funny twist. As Quinn writes, the gorilla, Ishmael, tells, what is going on between him and the human, and the story draws a reader closer and closer. It makes you want to learn more about Ishmael’s point of view. A human being could not tell this story because according to Ishmael a human being is in the system, is a “taker”, and would not know he is hurting our earth. “…They have to proceed by trial and error, because they don’t know the relevant laws and don’t even know that there are laws….” A gorilla is a perfect species to put as the teacher.

At the end Quinn becomes attached to Ishmael and that is symbolism of attachment to himself becoming closer to the person he is inside. He recognizes what he really knew, thanks to Ishmael. Gorillas are creatures that stayed themselves while humans are creatures with a need to have more accomplishments, to control. Once Ishmael passed away Quinn really wanted to make a difference and so do many of Quinn’s readers. Once a reader of Ishmael passes a gorilla it should be a reminder for them to save the world. Quinn used a gorilla as the teacher because it symbolizes what we know within us and since gorillas are a symbol of nature it shows that human kind is also a part of nature; we are nature. So if we go on killing nature we are killing ourselves. Without trees we can’t breath. If we kill the environment of many animals that live within it we kill ourselves because we kill the food chain, and we are at the end of that food chain. “The green plants are food for the plant eaters, which are food for the predators, and some of these predators are food for still other predators. And what’s left over is food for the scavengers, who return to the earth nutrients needed by the green plants. It’s a system that has worked magnificently for billions of years.” (p.117) We, people made our own destructive system which is nothing like this balanced food system and we need to go back to that system and not try to control it. Quinn put the ape as the teacher to represent all the rest of the species out there asking us to be in the “community of life.” s

"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