How Garden Centers Are Getting Toxic, Bee-Killing Pesticides Out of Their Plants and Off of Their Shelves
Over the last decade, we've heard the term "colony collapse disorder" a lot, describing the die-off of honeybees, pollinators essential to maintaining our food crops. Scientists have been looking for the cause and have identified one likely source as the neonicotinoids used in pesticides.
Without bees, we'd lose more than just honey.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Fortunately, there has been a lot of pushback on their use. While the Obama administration released its National Pollinator Health Strategy in May, focusing on planting millions of acres of federal land with pollinator-friendly plants and conducting more research but not limiting use of neonicotinoids, millions of people signed petitions calling for stronger rules.
But some businesses aren't sitting around waiting for the federal government to act and are listening to public concerns. Friends of the Earth (FOE) and Pesticide Research Institute are applying some positive reinforcement and giving kudos to those who are addressing the problem in a new report, Growing Bee Friendly: Profiles in Innovation. It spotlights how some businesses are developing strategies and resources to protect bees in response to public demand.
"A growing number number of wholesale nurseries, retailers and institutions have successfully made the shift away from bee-harming pesticides," said Lisa Archer, FOE food and technology director. "We hope this report will be a resource for other responsible businesses as they get toxic, bee-harming pesticides out of their plants, off their shelves and out of the environment as soon as possible."
The report focuses on businesses that have taken steps to remove neonicotinoids, including the world's two largest home improvement retailers, Lowe's and Home Depot, which responded to an intense public pressure campaign after a report called Gardeners Beware 2014 was released last year by FOE and the Pesticide Research Institute, showing that 51 percent of the plant samples purchased at major gardening retailers in 18 U.S. and Canadian cities contained the harmful pesticides. Whole Foods and BJ's Wholesale Club have also begun to remove products containing the pesticide from their outlets.
Just this past week, the Ace Hardware chain announced that it is willing to look into removing products containing neonicotinoids from its stores.
“Ace Hardware will be diligent in working with our vendors to take appropriate action to protect pollinators,” said the company's vice president of merchandising Frank Carroll.
"Along with our allies, we will continue to work with Ace and other retailers to move neonicotinoid pesticides off their shelves and out of garden plants as soon as possible to ensure bees can find save havens in our backyards and communities," said Archer. "Bees are the canary in the coal mine for our food system and everyone, including the business community, must act fast to protect them.”
Photo credit: Friends of the Earth
While national chains get a lot of attention, Growing Bee Friendly also takes a closer look at what some local garden centers are doing.
Among the businesses it cites is Maryland's Behnke Nurseries, which it says was one of the country's first garden centers to establish a policy of reducing the number of neonicotinoid-treated plants it sells. Behnke plant purchaser Larry Hurley said that they have identified growers who can provide the plants they want and that other suppliers tell him they are working on it. The nursery plans to promote pollinator-friendly plants on their display tables to make consumers more aware and make it easier for them to commit to purchasing bee-friendly plants.
"The report profiles some of the first garden centers, nurseries and greenhouse growers who have successfully removed neonicotinoids from their plants," said the Pesticide Research Institute's Rose Radford, one of Growing Bee Friendly's co-authors. "Their stories provide valuable insights and strategies to growers who are planning for neonicotinoid-free plant production, and can help provide guidance for retailers who are working on developing store policies on neonicotinoid-treated plants."
The report also singles out the city of Boulder, which is developing a process for sourcing and purchasing neonicotinoid-free plants for use on city properties. And in May, the city adopted a resolution to ban neonicotinoid application on city properties. It's one of many cities to do so. The governments of Minnesota, Oregon and Ontario have also taken steps to reduce neonicotinoid use.
Growing Bee Friendly suggests that retailers develop a three-pronged policy:
- purchase only neonicotinoid-free plants
- separate plants that are neonicotinoid-free from those that aren't
- label the neonicotinoid-free plants
In addition, it urges them to push growers for verification and testing; to publicize their policies; to train staff to answer consumer questions; and to offer safe pesticide options.
“With a new spring planting season upon us, it’s important for gardeners to be aware that many plants in stores today still contain neonicotinoids," said Archer. "We look forward to the day when we can all buy home garden plants without worrying about harming pollinators. In the meantime, gardeners should choose organic and neonic-free starts, seeds and soil."
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
3 Problems With Obama's Plan to Save the Bees
Thrilling Ted Talk Looks at the First 21 Days of a Bee's Life
Construction workers prepare to remove the Veazie Dam on the Penobscot River in Orono, Maine, on July 22, 2013. Gordon Chibroski / Portland Press Herald / Getty Images
By Tara Lohan
Atlantic salmon have a challenging life history — and those that hail from U.S. waters have seen things get increasingly difficult in the past 300 years.
<p>Dubbed the "king of fish," Atlantic salmon once numbered in the hundreds of thousands in the United States and ranged up and down most of New England's coastal rivers and ocean waters. But dams, pollution and overfishing have extirpated them from all the region's rivers except in Maine. Today only around 1,000 wild salmon, known as the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment, return each year from their swim to Greenland. Fewer will find adequate spawning habitat in their natal rivers to reproduce.</p><p>That's left Atlantic salmon in the United States critically endangered. Hatchery and stocking programs have kept them from disappearing entirely, but experts say recovering healthy, wild populations will require much more, including eliminating some of the obstacles (literally) standing in their way.</p><p>Conservation organizations, fishing groups and even some state scientists are now calling for the removal of up to four dams along a 30-mile stretch of the Kennebec River, where about a third of Maine's best salmon habitat remains.</p><p>The dams' owner — multinational Brookfield Renewable Partners — has instead proposed building fishways to aid salmon and other migratory fish getting around dams as they travel both up and down the river. But most experts think that plan has little chance of success.</p><p>A confusing array of state and federal processes are underway to try and sort things out. None is likely to be quick, cheap or easy. And there's a lot at stake.</p><p>"Ultimately the fate of the species in the United States really depends upon what happens at a handful of key dams," says John Burrows, executive director of U.S. programs at the <a href="https://www.asf.ca/" target="_blank">Atlantic Salmon Federation</a>. "If those four projects don't work — or even if just one of them doesn't work — you could basically preclude recovering Atlantic salmon in the United States."</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1Z-AZADo3V74cRXeKprNSsVSe2Xd7wtEE" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<h1>Prime Habitat</h1><p>The best place for salmon recovery is in Maine's two largest watersheds.</p><p>"The Penobscot River and the Kennebec River have orders of magnitude more habitat, production potential and climate resilient habitat" than other parts of the state, says Burrows.</p><p>The rivers and their tributaries run far inland and reach more undeveloped areas with higher elevations. That helps provide salmon with the cold, clean water they need for spawning and rearing. Smaller numbers of salmon are hanging on in lower-elevation rivers along the coastal plain in Maine's Down East region, but climate change could make that habitat unsuitable.</p><p>"There's definitely concern about how resilient those watersheds are going to be for salmon in the future," says Burrows. "To recover the population, we need to be able to get salmon to the major tributaries farther upriver, in places where we're still going to have cold water even under predictions with climate change."</p><p>One of those key places is the Penobscot, which has already seen a $60 million effort to help recover salmon and other native sea-run fish. A 16-year project resulted in the removal of two dams, the construction of a stream-like bypass channel at a third dam, and new fish lift at a fourth. In all, the project made 2,000 miles of river habitat accessible.</p>
<img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" lazy-loadable="true"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAxNTQ5MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjY2ODgzNn0.QbXF6jMHumCCn-EzeIThpRoZ6uO2CUP5C77g8fy2nS0/img.jpg?width=980"
id="cc52a"
width="799"
height="533"
data-rm-shortcode-id="e3e24a7b50328b005e9655fd9858d492" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Veazie dam on the Penobscot River is breached in 2013 as part of a river restoration project. Meagan Racey / USFWS
<p>While there's still more work to be done on the Penobscot, says Burrows, attention has shifted to the Kennebec. The river has what's regarded as the largest and best salmon habitat in the state, especially in its tributary, the Sandy River, where hatchery eggs are being planted to help boost salmon numbers.</p><p>"That's helped us go from zero salmon in the upper tributaries of Kennebec to getting 50 or 60 adults back, which is still an abysmally small number compared to historical counts," says Burrows. "But these are the last of the wildest fish that we have."</p><h1>The Obstacles</h1><p>The Sandy may be good salmon habitat, but it's also hard to reach. Brookfield's four dams stand in the way of fish trying to get upriver.</p><p>At the lowest dam on the river, Lockwood Dam in Waterville, there's a fish lift — a kind of elevator that should allow fish that enter it to pass up and around the dam. But if fish do find the lift — and only around half of salmon do — they don't get far.</p><p>"It's a terminal lift," says Sean Ledwin, division director of Maine's Department of Marine Resources' Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat. "The lift was never completed. So we pick up those fish in a truck and drive them up to the Sandy River."</p><p>That taxi cab arrangement isn't a long-term solution, though, and was part of an interim species protection plan.</p><p>Only the second dam, Hydro Kennebec, has a modern fish passage system. But how well that actually works hasn't been tested yet since fish can't get by Lockwood Dam. As part of a consultation process related to the Endangered Species Act, Brookfield has submitted a plan proposing to fix the fishway at Lockwood and add passage to the third and fourth dams.</p><p>But federal regulators found it inadequate.</p><p>"Brookfield's proposal was rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee [which oversees hydroelectric projects] and all the [federal management] agencies," says Ledwin. The company now has until May 2022 to come up with a new plan.</p><p>State scientists aren't convinced Brookfield's plan would work either.</p><p>"We have really low confidence that having four fishways would ever result in meaningful runs of all the sea-run fish and certainly not recovery of Atlantic salmon," says Ledwin. "We don't think that it's going to be conducive to recovery."</p><p>In addition to considerations related to the Endangered Species Act, Shawmut Dam, the third on the Kennebec, is currently up for relicensing, which triggers a federal review process by FERC.</p><p>And at the same time the Maine Department of Marine Resources has drafted a <a href="https://www.maine.gov/dmr/laws-regulations/documents/Final%20Amendment_12_22.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new plan</a> for managing the Kennebec River that recommends removing Shawmut Dam and Lockwood Dam. A public comment period on the proposed plan closed in March.</p><p>Brookfield isn't happy with it and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/toronto-dams-fish-salmon-maine-d43d50c2b875fefd85d3de332d847268" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">responded with a lawsuit </a>against the state.</p><p>It was good news to conservation groups, however, which would like to see all four of the dams removed if possible — or at least a few of them.</p><p>"There's no self-sustaining population of Atlantic salmon anywhere in the world that we know of that have to go by more than one hydro dam," says Burrows. He believes that having Brookfield spend tens of millions of dollars on new fishways will just result in failure for salmon.</p>
<img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" lazy-loadable="true"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAxNTQ5Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NjEzMjQyMH0.cPq4N8KfBll0fYhT397LA3E5uMnBR4-MmItuGcRUBPg/img.jpg?width=980"
id="1ec06"
width="786"
height="468"
data-rm-shortcode-id="b9da35552545285d77edd02c84b8024d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Atlantic salmon parr emerging from a stream bed in Maine. E. Peter Steenstra / USFWS
<p>It's partly a game of numbers. Not all fish will find or use a fishway. And if you start with a low number of returning fish and expect them to pass through four gauntlets, you won't be left with many at the end.</p><p>"If you're passing 50% of salmon that show up at the first dam, and then you've got three more dams passing 50%, that means you're left with only an eighth of the population you started with by the end," says Nick Bennett, a staff scientist at the <a href="https://www.nrcm.org/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Council of Maine</a>. "You can't start a restoration program where you're losing seven-eighths of the adults before they even get to their spawning habitat."</p><p>And getting upriver is just part of the salmon's journey. Juvenile salmon face threats going downstream to the ocean as well, including predation and warm water in impoundments. They also risk being injured or killed going through spillways or turbines. Only about half are likely to survive the four hydro projects.</p><p>Atlantic salmon, unlike their Pacific cousins, don't always die after spawning, either. So some adults will also make the downstream trek, too.</p><p>"Just looking at our reality, at least two dams need to go, hopefully three, and it would be amazing if all four would go," says Burrows.</p>
<h1>Ecosystem Restoration</h1><p>The fate of Atlantic salmon hangs in the balance, but so do the futures of other fishes.</p><p>The Pacific coast of the United States is home to five species of salmon. And while the Atlantic side has just the one, it has a dozen other native sea-run species that have also seen their habitat shrink.</p><p>"Those dams are preventing other native species like American shad, alewives, blueback herring and American eel from accessing large amounts of historic habitat," says Burrows.</p><p>Ledwin says removing dams on the Kennebec could result in populations of more than a million shad, millions of blueback herring, millions of eels and hundreds of thousands of sea lampreys.</p><p>"The recovery of those species would actually help Atlantic salmon as well because they provide prey buffers and there are a lot of co-evolved benefits," he says.</p><p>Salmon are much more successful at nesting when they can lay their eggs in old sea lamprey nests, explains Bennett. "But sea lamprey are not good at using fish lifts and we've essentially blocked 90% of the historic sea lamprey habitat at Lockwood dam. We need to get those fish upstream, too."</p><p>Dam removal advocates don't have to look too far to find an example of how well river ecosystems respond when dams are removed.</p><p>The <a href="https://therevelator.org/edwards-dam-removal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">removal of the Edwards Dam</a> on the lower Kennebec River in 1999 and the Fort Halifax Dam just upstream on the Sebasticook in 2008 helped ignite a nationwide dam-removal movement. It also brought back American shad, eel, two native species of sturgeon and millions of river herring to lower parts of the watershed.</p>
<img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" lazy-loadable="true"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNjAxNTU5MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTMxNDYyMX0.1x7N7KNw_v98oRNHphI0yP4ZmHC2Z61AlYqjbQNhzXg/img.jpg?width=980"
id="1618b"
width="680"
height="453"
data-rm-shortcode-id="7ea6f714da4e679d8e29f0a69cfc8c5f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Alewives returned by the millions after the Edwards and Ft. Halifax dams were removed. John Burrows / ASF
<p>"We've got the biggest river herring run in North America now due to the dam removals," says Ledwin. "And the largest abundance of eel we've ever seen on the lower Kennebec."</p><p>The resurgence of native fishes helps the whole ecosystem. When they returned, so too did eagles, osprey and other wildlife.</p><p>"When people see all those fish in the river and the eagles overhead, it just kind of blows their minds because they never realized what had been lost for so long in our rivers," says Burrows.</p><p>Rebuilding key forage fish like herring also benefits species that live not just in the river, but the Gulf of Maine and even the Atlantic Ocean. The tiny fish feed whales, porpoises and seabirds. They're also used for lobster bait and can help rebuild fisheries for cod and haddock, which has economic benefits for the region, too.</p><p>"We have to rebalance the scales if we want to have marine industries and commercial fishing industries and if we want the ecological benefits of what sea-run fisheries do for us," says Bennett.</p><h1>The Path Ahead</h1><p>The process to determine whether any — or all — of the four Kennebec dams that stretch from Waterville and Skowhegan are removed will take years, a diverse coalition, financial resources and agreements to meet the concerns of communities and the dam owner.</p><p>"These things come down to compromise, so there may be situations where one of those dams might not be a candidate for economic or social reasons," says Burrows. "But it will be interesting to see if in the next couple of years we can get to a place where we can have meaningful conversations with federal agencies, the dam owner and continue to engage the communities about the potential of removal at some of these sites."</p><p>And if removal of the four dams did happen, it wouldn't open up the river all the way to its headwaters. Another nine dams still lie upstream in the watershed that obstruct fish passage.</p><p>"Some of those are major dams in terms of power, production and economics," says Burrows. "So we're not calling for those to be removed."</p><p>The four lower dams provide just 46 megawatts of power — enough to supply about 37,000 homes and 0.43% of the state's annual electricity generation. It's a small amount of power relative to the damage they cause sea-run fish, says Bennett.</p><p>"By comparison we expect to add 1,200 megawatts of solar generation in the next five years," he says. "So these four dams aren't particularly important in our climate fight." And removing them would open up substantial amounts of habitat to aid salmon recovery that seem worth the tradeoff in lost power.</p><p>That's not the case, he says, for the nine larger dams upstream.</p><p>"We need those dams. We need hydroelectric power in Maine," says Bennett. "But we made big mistakes in our past use of our rivers. And we went way overboard in favor of hydroelectric power at the expense of fish."</p><p>Outside of the rivers, Atlantic salmon still face a tough road. Climate change is warming ocean temperatures, changing salinity and altering food webs. But having so many unknowns in the marine environment in the coming decades provides more reason to focus efforts on restoring rivers where scientists already know what works, says Burrows.</p><p>And if that's done right, the benefits will extend far beyond salmon.</p><p>"It's not just about salmon — it's about these other native fish, it's about the wildlife, water quality, economic opportunity for ground fishermen and lobstermen, and more sustainable forms of recreation and community development," says Burrows. "If we remove a dam or two here and rebuild these fish populations to pretty big levels that really impacts a whole bunch of different parts of society. That's what we want to try to do here on the Kennebec."</p>
<a href="https://therevelator.org/author/taralohan/" target="_blank"><em>Tara Lohan </em></a><em>is deputy editor of The Revelator and has worked for more than a decade as a digital editor and environmental journalist focused on the intersections of energy, water and climate. Her work has been published by The Nation, American Prospect, High Country News, Grist, Pacific Standard and others. She is the editor of two books on the global water crisis.</em><p><br/><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/kennebec-atlantic-salmon/" target="_blank">The Revelator.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Did the Solar Eclipse Cause Farmed Salmon to Stage a Massive ... ›
- Hard Evidence Shows Farmed Salmon Is Destroying Wild Salmon ... ›
- Atlantic Salmon Is All But Extinct as a Genetically Eroded Version of ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Wildfires burned across the Midwest and Great Plains over the weekend as dry, windy conditions induced 'Red Flag' warnings across the Central Continental U.S.
<p>The entire western portion of North Dakota faces either 'severe' or 'extreme drought' and the entire state is under a statewide fire emergency. On Saturday, shifting winds there destroyed a fire truck near <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Williston,+ND+58801/Medora/@47.5160663,-104.2705086,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x53215b60037038eb:0xe0fc0dfcfeb0f1e3!2m2!1d-103.6179745!2d48.1469683!1m5!1m1!1s0x532678a3634608a9:0x1c8bd2bf522c0994!2m2!1d-103.5243536!2d46.9139028!3e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Willison</a>, about 100 miles north of Medora, which was <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/top_story/snowpack-measurements-portend-dry-conflagrated-year/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8qmd3BJwNuvyRWESlrbk2UB-82TW8J8FbUs_Gam4wo98zBr369rkKGUOJXRsF8tTlDcLe-3n1VuHMp45WA89BDx3xgvA&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">forced to evacuate due to a separate fire last week</a>. </p>
<p>"We're just getting started into a tough fire season," North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum warned Friday. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">Climate change</a> makes <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires">wildfires</a> worse by heating air temperatures and worsening <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">droughts</a>. Firefighters also battled a wildfire in <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Menomonee+Falls,+WI+53051/@42.8508698,-89.2170955,7z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8804fe198cb3991f:0xf6b63703e5b5ea59!8m2!3d43.1788967!4d-88.1173132" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Menomonee Falls</a>, northwest of Milwaukee on Friday. A wildfire also forced evacuations of <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Willard,+KS/Maple+Hill,+KS/@39.1278728,-95.841339,9.08z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x87bef6d227059c99:0x6434d58b0b966efb!2m2!1d-95.9419336!2d39.0933327!1m5!1m1!1s0x87bef480bf144353:0x267cd2f799c7186b!2m2!1d-96.0282195!2d39.0845812!3e0?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8bqXToOh0Tr8GR5zdrkh3xCKJoskoyOUMnrU4Yvry0AgntQWpCgSsFnpfD3_Qyeo2TUJfxJA0XkluPH_jN0IiZed4LXg&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">two towns near Topeka, Kansas</a>, and another burned more than 300 acres at <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Indiana+Dunes+National+Park/@41.633472,-87.8430897,8z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x33ab95f9d65d070e!8m2!3d41.6505655!4d-87.07082" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Indiana Dunes National Park</a>.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p>Red Flag Warnings: <a href="https://wildfiretoday.com/2021/04/02/red-flag-warnings-in-seven-great-plains-states-april-2-2021/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--GyWyD6bctAYfWA_s72PjTnA1_jx8_Wygxh2FpC1vGpeOQ9FtgU76TDTnwnFqH-cSGrl5L3dEOcaugNgaTB22iD0yJow&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wildfire Today</a>; North Dakota: <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VWQrlP1QbhXxW4l0kJD6w5_6kW1YzZHS4q10NfN76MZ_G3p_b1V1-WJV7CgBwPN3z3V8Z-Vxy4W5DkLvq7vYKWvW1jlV8P1cYMGsW97Bm7426BW5GW8QBS3L4BsXG4V4k_Ys7sZv9fW7KZ1gD9jGhshW9bY_wQ6bpsPbW1lvc-F3bdxL_W2dgKST2s55jQW88_PbR6dHy4SN1YkvkjnPk46W8pXcrz1gbd8lW2745SR6yHYWJW8P99cG5QxHC-W4MHXzk2dVWkRW7J6xnp9flL8nW6DP20w5YmqS1W1df_H94-02YMV_41wV96992NW7lNgtl61Cn9SW17Q_Qk1NJF3ZW93s8QN2pK8_6W6WZNdy17HXjLW5ZVH5m4GNmTRW1j6fBK6VLYMPW3PL63W6-https://apnews.com/article/williston-fires-wildfires-28596c01e8943f6028774579dfc6e2c9?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_oMaUIYAVlUwG8YtXE8iDRYJob4jhFLMZpMR0qjgz5-xkUoT9eUmFxPGUu2st_YX95M4gc2__dfOk8tcTelKKZF4zZCA&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>; Burgum: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/doug-burgum-fires-north-dakota-wildfires-a1aca0e12569bb8fd7a56af203a492b1?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9HceigqxfkW5RX0QzHQmrjrZqgKmzks_BNPCyXPaIyrrn-95me35Wwd6WcPuQ0_9BhkwIyBLzwt4Vf7cXGgUIBqg_GGQ&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>; Wisconsin: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-wisconsin-fires-a105f4baf695e761ebcf5296cc8c7d09?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--J4gGBnfZXudbclj-rwyDDCcgsu47Y9p3yc-bSFQQZJiDo4tE2kBp0lIJ3wWbLh3sgOYfoeFJJswiAcLdZ15-rhaWUgg&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>; Kansas: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-evacuations-fires-weather-topeka-bd5f97efaeca573102415b9bd49c8247?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_HWn9jVZsnEbJr_ipBMhxmyChK2UZrJ6JCWKD0pnR1IK7nR9m8rIIfwli6UVWzUYLnJT0H6RwFZ9_AeSL6lF88-m74Nw&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>; Indiana: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-lake-michigan-fires-gary-indiana-8b9bf0e04201304999b101e295e34dc4?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8VeNU6-X3WlLX5-FUGv0xfogP1Ye-RSXJzUrFupkw-7WajCj0ycdqAGhXnIdTzomxQZXXyZxxkPOntE-zhgV7HaYjOiA&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AP</a>; Climate Signals background: <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/climate-change-wildfires?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--SCdA-VfnzZqS7E9_-1sBuinsgEhfPUtLFWV8fetw7lXn-vhPUaPr0uDs_nTxDFqJjerGe88nNtJIS0IZzm77klTJ1xQ&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wildfires</a>; <a href="https://www.climatesignals.org/climate-change-drought?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=119663402&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--s6oYAn9Ga6XzIqANKAo8i7GY41ZedUDfw8iupSz5kr1KyCvB-KfeC566z8ezpe3wx3x5I2pjeYN81lNVv-tO7EFZaMg&utm_content=119663402&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Drought</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
Read More
Show Less
Trending
In his latest documentary, 27-year-old British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi calls out the commercial fishing industry for harming the oceans in the pursuit of fish. Since its release, the polarizing film has gone viral and climbed to Netflix's top ten across the globe. The exposé has sparked countless questions about and investigation into the seafood industry's claims and practices.
<p>Tabrizi opens the film with scenes from his childhood. His love of the ocean came from watching <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/orcas" target="_self">orcas</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dolphins" target="_self">dolphins</a> perform in marine theme parks. As an adult, he came to understand the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/robot-dolphin-aquariums-theme-parks-2648436623.html" target="_self">harm associated with captive mammals</a>. The storyline quickly progresses to cover <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bottlenose-dolphins-endure-brutal-capture-and-slaughter-in-taijis-infa-1882134167.html" target="_self">mass dolphin killing in Taiji, Japan</a> along with overfishing for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tuna" target="_self">tuna</a>. Everything is connected, and the chain of destruction goes on until "the documentary loses its shock factor" because "the bleak statistics cease to surprise," reported <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/seaspiracy-review-netflix-documentary-fishing-b1824324.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Independent</a>. The message is clear: "we are destroying sea life at rapid speed."</p>
<img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" lazy-loadable="true"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTk3MjcyMy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTM5ODUyM30.zYcQdrregiK2g4Np24C2z9xCiD2Ivkg-r-uXjikERR0/img.png?width=980"
id="3dbe8"
width="1582"
height="894"
data-rm-shortcode-id="edabc4174db5274987c1efeb32ce0540" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Seaspiracy alleges that overfishing for tuna helps keep demand and prices high. Netflix
<p>In the film, Sylvia Earle, famed marine biologist and ocean explorer, warns that since humans excel at extracting enormous amounts of marine life from the sea, commercial fishing itself will go extinct because eventually there will be no fish left.<br></p><p>A <a href="https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/seaspiracy-netflix-documentary-review" target="_blank">Thrillist</a> review said <em>Seaspiracy</em> connects all of the dots between commercial fishing, ocean destruction and slavery with a "wobbly line" and the "indictment of the myth of sustainability."</p><p>With each new scene, Tabrizi reveals the fraud, corruption and greed currently destroying the oceans. Through figures and expert cameos, he claims:</p><ul><li>Discarded plastic fishing gear accounts for most ocean debris and is killing whales and other animals;</li><li>The oceans will be emptied of fish in 27 years;</li><li>Safe seafood labels are compromised by "pay-to-play" profit structures and lack enforcement;</li><li>Overfishing is more damaging to the environment than deforestation;</li><li>Farmed fish are disease-ridden, pollution-creating and resource-intensive;</li><li>Thai fishing fleets use slave labor to remain profitable;</li><li>"Sustainable seafood" is a myth; and</li><li>The only solution is to stop eating fish.</li></ul><img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" lazy-loadable="true"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTk2NTUzNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTM1ODAxN30.mPZSkZX9HNvJN1beBlEAqLWLmIDtWikxRnW3SJ2jNjw/img.jpg?width=980"
id="5fd8d"
width="1200"
height="675"
data-rm-shortcode-id="5ba15b1253293bfd7a39b6b1f6451422" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Shark bycatch is seen being dumped overboard in West Africa. Sea Shepherd
<p>Tabrizi's takeaway is a scathing condemnation of the multibillion-dollar seafood industry and the governments, groups and companies complicit with the ocean's destruction. <em>Seaspiracy </em>calls for a collective shift away from eating seafood and toward <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vegan" target="_self">vegan</a> and plant-based alternatives.</p><p>"The amount of fish being taken out of the ocean is absolutely stunning — five million fish a minute," <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/u/seashepherdconservationsociety" target="_self">Sea Shepherd Conservation Society</a> Founder <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/slater-watson-shark-attacks-2289047452.html" target="_self">Capt. Paul Watson</a> told EcoWatch. "We're strip-mining life from the sea. There is no sustainable fishery anywhere on the planet."</p><p>The marine conservation organization, known and sometimes criticized for its direct action techniques, features prominently in Tabrizi's film. Tabrizi films from Sea Shepherd ships as they confront an illegal Chinese fishing vessel and encounter starving artisanal fishers in West Africa who have <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/shark-finning-africa-sea-shepherd-2608107454.html" target="_self">lost their jobs and food source to industrial fisheries</a>.</p><p>When asked if the state of the oceans is as dire as depicted in <em>Seaspiracy</em>, Watson told EcoWatch, "I think it's actually worse than presented in this film. For the most part, these problems are out of sight, out of mind. And, if the ocean dies, we die."</p>
<img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" lazy-loadable="true"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTk2NTU3Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjI3NTQxNn0.4My0i9HtnzS7-QVGlc8SZjhbINM2aBxxipd5cTFKa4o/img.jpg?width=980"
id="0550e"
width="4879"
height="3250"
data-rm-shortcode-id="633ba186382dad6866377a6afa5dcc06" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The Sea Shepherd fleet of ships patrols the world's waters. Thomas Le / Sea Shepherd
<p>To date, millions have watched the documentary, and reactions from viewers and marine organizations run the gamut.</p><p>"I think it was a brilliant film," Watson said. "It's the first opportunity to get the message out about what's happening in our oceans. Many people are being confronted with information that they never paid attention to before."</p><p>One Twitter<a href="https://twitter.com/MrMatthewTodd/status/1376298775464017924" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> user</a> agreed, saying, "So modern fishing with nets large enough to sweep up cathedrals is wiping out ocean ecosystems which we rely on to regulate the planet. We are literally killing ourselves...." Another <a href="https://twitter.com/Taruneswar9/status/1376261449098485762" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">user</a> urged, "Do watch it if you care about oceans/fish. I'm gonna stop eating fish, starting today. A must watch."</p><p>Critics of the film have also been vocal, denouncing the underlying facts presented, the film's possible vegan agenda and its reductionist and sensationalist approach, <a href="https://www.aquaculturealliance.org/advocate/seaspiracy-film-assails-fishing-and-aquaculture-sectors-that-seem-ready-for-a-good-fight/" target="_blank">Global Aquaculture Alliance</a> reported. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/movies/seaspiracy-review.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> likened the tone to "a cheap imitation of hard-hitting investigative journalism" full of "conspiratorial thinking." Some accused the film of perpetuating a "white savior complex," <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/seaspiracy-netflix-fishing-environment-reaction-b1823860.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a> reported.</p><p><span></span>Leading seafood certification group Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a target throughout the documentary, refused Tabrizi's numerous interview requests. After the documentary's release, MSC agreed that, "There is a crisis in our oceans, and an urgent need to end overfishing." The organization also rebutted, "... it is wrong to claim that there is no such thing [as] sustainable fishing and that the only solution is to stop eating fish. Some of the problems that the film highlights — bycatch, overfishing and destruction of marine ecosystems — are precisely the issues the MSC certification process is designed to address."</p>
<img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" lazy-loadable="true"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTk2NTYxMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODQ4Mjk5M30.3y4Fh7ntKG2jQ-U6Gn5OthYHdx3tPAKZB86uXm-mfMs/img.jpg?width=980"
id="287ad"
width="3370"
height="2564"
data-rm-shortcode-id="927c9db4e10ea068c0039cad9485f720" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Sea Shepherd Founder Paul Watson considers commercial fishing the biggest threat to the future of the oceans. Sea Shepherd
<p>Mark J. Palmer, who is connected to the Earth Island Institute, the firm that manages the "dolphin-safe" label for tuna, is featured in a pivotal scene in the film. On camera, Tabrizi asks Palmer whether he can guarantee that all tuna cans labeled dolphin-safe caused no harm to dolphins. The latter responds, "Nope. Nobody can," and justifies his answer by saying, "Once you're out there in the ocean, how do you know what [fishermen are] doing? We have observers onboard — observers can be bribed and are not out on a regular basis."</p><p>Palmer has since tried to dampen his statement and suggests that <em>Seaspiracy</em> took his remarks out of context, <a href="https://www.intrafish.com/tuna/dolphin-safe-group-alleges-seaspiracy-left-out-critical-details-from-executives-interview/2-1-989370" target="_blank">IntraFish</a>, a seafood news site, reported. <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-seaspiricy-dolphin-safe-labels-guaranteed-1579804" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> fact-checked the film's claims and Palmer's defenses and concluded that "[b]ased on comments made by the Earth Island Institute and other experts, it is not possible to say whether all canned tuna that is labeled 'dolphin-friendly' is guaranteed to have not harmed dolphins in the fishing process."</p><p>Regardless of whether or not they are fans of the film, most conservationists and scientists agree that the oceans matter in the fight against the climate crisis, both for providing food security for millions worldwide along with protecting cultural ways of life.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/31/seaspiracy-netflix-documentary-accused-of-misrepresentation-by-participants" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, Callum Roberts, a marine conservationist featured in <em>Seaspiracy</em>, offered this conclusion for the film's critics: "My colleagues may rue the statistics, but the basic thrust of it is we are doing a huge amount of damage to the ocean and that's true. At some point, you run out. Whether it's 2048 or 2079, the question is: 'Is the trajectory in the wrong direction or the right direction?'"</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CM-XC1jJMs-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CM-XC1jJMs-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CM-XC1jJMs-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by SEASPIRACY (@seaspiracy)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
Read More
Show Less
By Natalie Marchant
- Wood accounts for 10% of yearly waste material in the US.
- The Baltimore Wood Project salvages wood from buildings to repurpose and resell locally to create a circular economy.
- The initiative also has social benefits, by creating job opportunities in a post-industrial city that has an 8.5% unemployment rate.
An initiative in the US city of Baltimore wants to salvage and reuse as much wood as possible, while also creating jobs.
<p>The <a href="http://baltimorewoodproject.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Baltimore Wood Project</a> works with partners such as the US Forest Service to rethink and reclaim wood in the city in order to reduce landfill waste, rejuvenate disused land and engage local communities.</p><p>The pilot project salvages wood from abandoned buildings and urban trees before repurposing it and reselling it locally, thereby creating a closed-loop system or circular economy which has a host of environmental, economic and social benefits.</p>
Reducing the City’s Waste
<p><span>Wood accounts for more than </span><a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/how-baltimore-urban-wood-project-reclaiming-wood-lives-and-communities" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">10% of the annual waste material</a><span> in the US and, in some years, more tree and woody residue has been generated from urban areas than was harvested from national forests, according to the US Forest Service. This waste is costly for businesses that have to pay for its collection and disposal.</span></p><p>Post-industrial Baltimore is a particularly relevant base for the scheme, as it is estimated that there are <a href="http://baltimorewoodproject.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">16,000 empty properties, with some 4,000 of them marked for demolition</a>. Some estimates even put the number of <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/how-baltimore-urban-wood-project-reclaiming-wood-lives-and-communities" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vacant lots in the city at well over 40,000</a>.</p><p>By reclaiming both freshly-cut wood and that from abandoned properties, the Baltimore Wood Project can reduce waste; provide green materials for construction, furniture making and other sectors; and help restore and reclaim neighborhoods.</p>Deconstruction Instead of Demolition
<p>In addition to its obvious environmental benefits, the project also has valuable economic and social advantages. With a population of nearly 600,000, Baltimore has an <a href="https://www.dllr.state.md.us/lmi/laus/" target="_blank">unemployment rate of 8.5%</a>, compared to a <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf" target="_blank">nationwide rate of 6.2%</a>.</p><p>The Baltimore Wood Project helps tackle the city's joblessness problem by focusing on deconstruction rather than demolition, arguing that the former <a href="http://baltimorewoodproject.org/" target="_blank">creates six to eight more jobs than the latter</a>.</p><p>This enables those with barriers to employment to gain a valuable skill set and eventually a career, and also helps revitalize the neighborhoods in which they live.</p>The Benefits of a Circular Economy
<p>Wood reclaimed and recycled by the project can be used for sustainable building, furniture and energy, among other uses.</p><p>Indeed, the project is intended to help the city achieve its aim of a sustainable future and serve as a model for creating a circular, self-reinforcing economy in urban areas.</p><p>Globally, it is estimated that transitioning to a circular economy – which promotes the elimination of waste and continual safe use of natural resources – could<a href="https://www.weforum.org/projects/circular-economy" target="_blank"> generate $4.5 trillion in economic benefits by 2030</a>.</p><p>The World Economic Forum is supporting moves towards creating a worldwide circular economy through collaboration on<a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o00000vOnfaAAC/the-circulars" target="_blank"> The Circulars Accelerator 2021 program</a>.</p><p>The accelerator is a collaboration with <a href="https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UpLink</a>, the World Economic Forum's innovation crowdsourcing platform, and is led by professional services company <a href="https://www.accenture.com/gb-en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accenture</a> in partnership with <a href="https://www.angloamerican.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anglo American</a>,<a href="https://en-uk.ecolab.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Ecolab</a>, and <a href="https://www.se.com/uk/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Schneider Electric</a>.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from the </em><em><a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/baltimore-us-wood-recycling-project/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
JASON REDMOND / AFP / Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
A pair of Indigenous land defenders locked themselves to equipment at a fossil fuel pumping station in British Columbia on Saturday, vowing to continue resisting a government-owned oil pipeline that is harming the climate, the environment, and First Nations peoples whose unceded lands it traverses.
<p>The pipeline protesters — self-described on social media as "accomplices" of the Braided Warriors and Tiny House Warriors — locked themselves to a crane at Trans Mountain Corporation's Blue River pumping station.</p><p>The Trans Mountain Pipeline — which is owned by the Canadian government through subsidiary Trans Mountain Corporation—carries crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta to the British Columbian coast. It is widely considered the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/alberta-canadas-tar-sands-is-growing-but-indigenous-people-fight-back" target="_blank">world's dirtiest oil</a>. </p><p>In addition to the harm done to the climate and environment, the pipeline has grave social costs. According to First Nations advocates, it desecrates sacred Indigenous land, and transient workers housed in man camps are often perpetrators of crimes against Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people. Murder, rape, human trafficking, and other crimes abound, contributing to the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people <a href="http://www.groundworkforchange.org/missing-and-murdered-women-girls-and-two-spirit.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(MMIWG2S)</a>. </p>
<div id="71173" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7eb79cdd850f245f16adc3d6b1522eba"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1378349963726352388" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Two accomplices of Tiny House Warriors and Braided Warriors are locked down to equipment at TMX pumping station in… https://t.co/kCXQwAfrTj</div> — Braided Warriors (@Braided Warriors)<a href="https://twitter.com/BraidedWarriors/statuses/1378349963726352388">1617459214.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Secwepemc land defenders have strategically built tiny houses along the route of the 518 km (321 mile) pipeline "to assert Secwepemc law and jurisdiction and block access to this pipeline."</p><p>"We have never provided and will never provide our collective free, prior, and informed consent—the minimal international standard—to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project," the Tiny House Warriors <a href="http://www.tinyhousewarriors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">website</a> declares. "The Tiny House Warrior movement is the start of re-establishing village sites and asserting our authority over our unceded territories."</p><p>Kanahus Manuel, a Secwepemc land defender and Tiny House Warrior, <a href="https://sparrowmedia.net/2021/04/tiny-house-warriors-and-braided-warriors-accomplices-lock-down-on-trans-mountain-site/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> <em>The Sparrow Project </em>— a nonprofit grassroots public interest newswire focused on amplifying stories from struggles for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice — that Trans Mountain does "not have consent from the Secwepemc and failure to recognize Secwepemc title, land rights, and Indigenous jurisdiction will only result in more conflict, direct actions, blockades, and Indigenous land occupations, which will increase the risks and economic uncertainty for Trans Mountain and its construction deadlines."</p><p>The Braided Warriors, an Indigenous organization that promotes First Nations rights and sovereignty in the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, and Musqueam territories, <a href="https://www.castanet.net/news/Kamloops/329931/Two-protesters-say-they-ve-locked-themselves-to-Trans-Mountain-equipment-in-Blue-River" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> on its Instagram page that "we are in solidarity with the Secwepemc people in their fight to stop foreign invasion of their lands and protect their lands, waters, animals, and peoples."</p>
<p>"It is our role to be accomplices to Indigenous land defenders and put ourselves on the line to stop the ongoing colonization of Indigenous territories and peoples," said Braided Warriors. "This pipeline will affect all of us and all future generations, but first and foremost will impact the nations and peoples along this route, including Secwepemc people."</p><p>"Today we stand on unceded, unsurrendered, illegally occupied Secwepemc land to show that we will not stop until the pipeline is terminated and the land is returned to the rightful title holders," they added.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/04/03/we-will-not-stop-first-nations-land-defenders-take-direct-action-against-trans" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em></p>
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less