E. Fudd

From Care2:

Success! Plastic Bag Maker Ends Lawsuit Against ChicoBag

Hilex Poly, a South Carolina-based manufacturer of plastic bags, has agreed to settle a lawsuit that it and two other plastic bag manufacturers had filed against ChicoBag, a California company that makes reusable bags. Along with the two other plastic bag companies (Superbag Operating, LTD., and Advance Polybag, Inc.), Hilex Poly had sued on the grounds that a “Learn the Facts” page on ChicoBag’s website was “false and misleading” and had caused the companies “irreparable harm.”

As noted in a press release, ChicoBag’s “Learn the Facts” page contained “widely accepted third party statistics regarding the impact of single-use plastic bags on the environment.” When ChicoBag requested that the three plastic bag companies back up their claims about the actual recycling rate of plastic bags, Superbag Operating and Advance Polybag withdrew from the lawsuit. Now the lone plaintiff, Hilex Poly has agreed to settle.

It’s a victory for the environment and environmental advocates that Care2 members helped to make happen. ChicoBag Founder and president Andy Keller presented Hilex Poly with 25,000 signatures from petitions including this one from Care2. Other grassroots organizations that submitted signatures were the Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, Earth Resource Foundation, Environmental Working Group and Green Cities California.

The settlement is not only a victory for ChicoBag. It also means that the public will be accurately informed about the environmental impact of single-use plastic bags. According to the settlement agreement, Hilex Poly and ChicoBag have agreed to a number of provisions including:

* Both parties will provide citations and dates for all facts and statistics on any web page or advertising, excluding labels and hangtags.
* Hilex Poly agrees that to the extent permitted by customers and in the normal rotation of plate replacement, it will include a statement on its products: “Tie Bag in Knot Before Disposal.”
* Hilex will include statements on a website that discuss ways to prevent windblown litter.
* ChicoBag will stop any countdown list for Hilex to dismiss the litigation.

ChicoBag had already updated its website in regard to Hilex Poly’s earlier concerns.

In a statement, Keller, who dons 500 plastic bags as the “Bag Monster,” commented on how the lawsuit, which had “started as a bullying tactic,” has “morphed into two wins for the environment” by requiring plastic bags manufacturers to provide accurate information about the impact of single-use plastic bags:

“First, Hilex Poly can no longer inflate plastic bag recycling numbers by including non-bag wrap and plastic film. And they have also agreed to acknowledge that plastic bags can become wind-blown litter despite proper disposal and to better educate the public.”

“Ultimately, I hope this settlement will encourage Hilex Poly and the rest of the plastic bag industry to refrain from filing any future frivolous lawsuits, stop attacking reusable bags, and instead invest their dollars into reducing unnecessary single-use bag consumption and litter, while developing solutions to meet the growing consumer demand for more sustainable products.”

To all who signed the petition, thank you!

E. Fudd

Public Sector Use of Biodiesel Fuel

Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

@ Phinney Community Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98103

Are local and state governments using biodiesel fuel to lower their carbon footprints? If so, who is using biodiesel fuel, how much are they using, and whom are they purchasing from? How are these decisions made and why?

The NW Biodiesel Network’s September Education Forum is pleased to present a panel of representatives from state and local governments to discuss how the public sector is using biodiesel, and answer your questions. Our panel will include:

Allen Mitchell, Snohomish County
Fred Chun, City of Tacoma
Steve Krueger, WA State General Administration
Dave Seavey, Director, Seattle’s Fleet Services Division

Learn about public sector use of biodiesel and get your questions answered! 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Seattle Phinney Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N, Seattle WA 98103. Cost is Free. Information, including speaker biographies, at www.nwbiodiesel.org/.

yesterday I saw something I’d never seen before. I was crossing the street to see where all these chirping birds I heard were (whether in a big hedge or nearby tree) – and I saw a hummingbird zip out of nowhere. I watched him instead – and I saw something new – he was hovering by the hedge, where there were no flowers, at about head-height. He then spotted a spider web and hovered in front of it, carefully adjusting position, then sprang forward and ATE the spider! He took a couple extra stabs to obviously get whatever he might have missed but pretty wild – I never knew they ate spiders!

E. Fudd

E. Fudd

Sign the Avaaz petition noted below, and thanks!:

Our oceans are being systematically destroyed and we have 48 hours to raise the alarm. The seafood industry uses long chains of heavy metal disks to drag nets across the sea floor in search of fish, crushing everything in their path. This bottom-trawling is like clear-cutting a forest to catch a parrot — and only our outcry can stop it.

In two days, UN policy-makers are meeting to review the impacts of this deadly practice. Pacific island nations are fighting to save the oceans and have appealed to Avaaz members to stand with them. This is our chance to win — if enough of us speak out now, it will strengthen their hand against big fishing countries, and will embolden serious players like the US and Australia, who have already banned bottom-trawling in their waters, to push for protection everywhere.

Let’s build an urgent call to stop the senseless destruction of our oceans — and delegates will deliver our voices directly to the UN meeting. Sign now and help us reach half a million voices in the next 48 hours:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_ocean_clear_cutting/?vl

Massive fishing trawlers systematically move from one deep-sea ecosystem to another, crushing coral reefs, sucking up all living creatures and leaving vast deserts behind them that won’t regenerate for hundreds of years. In a single swoop, some boats are capable of clearing an area the size of 5000 football pitches. Canada, Russia and Spain lead the world in spreading this destruction throughout our most diverse and precious waters.

Already, major fishing nations have had 6 years to study the effects of bottom-trawling and move towards more sustainable practices. Most have failed to live up to their commitments to ocean protection and continue to direct huge subsidies — over 162 million dollars a year — to ocean clear-cuts.

This week’s meeting is our moment to turn the tide on this destruction. An international team of marine scientists recently called for a permanent end to deep-sea fishing, and the EU Fisheries Commissioner has spoken out against government subsidies to deep-sea trawlers. The momentum is growing, but it will take a massive global outcry to turn the UN meeting into an important accountability moment. Join the call to save our oceans, sign the petition now, and forward to your friends:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_ocean_clear_cutting/?vl

Just last year, Avaaz members provided crucial backing for the UK to create the world’s largest marine reserve. We also helped thrust a meeting on whales into the international spotlight, winning an extension on the global whaling ban. When we work together, we really do make a difference in preserving our seas and the rich diversity of our world’s creatures! Let’s stand together now with Pacific nations and all ocean-defenders to usher in a new era of conservation and protection.

With hope,

Stephanie, Iain, Antonia, Emma, Ricken, Alice, Wissam and all the Avaaz team

More information:

Scientists call for an end to deep-sea trawling (Washington Post)

Deep-Sea Fishing: Marine Scientists Call For Sustainable Alternatives (Huffington Post)

Marine Scientists: Ban Deep-Sea Fishing (Newser)

Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

E. Fudd

From Care2 – very cool!

New Bird Species Discovered in Hawaii

For the first time since 1974, ornithologists have discovered a new bird species in the United States. The small Hawaiian seabird, thought to be an undersized Boyd’s shearwater, proved to have enough unique genetic traits to separate it from the other species. Researchers and avian enthusiasts are thrilled by the discovery.

“It’s very unusual to discover a new species of bird these days and especially gratifying when DNA can confirm our original hypothesis that the animal is unique,” Rob Fleischer, of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, said in a press release. “This bird is unique, both genetically and in appearance, and represents a novel, albeit very rare, species.”

Ornithologist Peter Pyle found the new species in a stuffed collection while conducting research in Honolulu’s B.P. Bishop Museum. The specimen had been collected during the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program in 1963, tagged as a little Boyd’s shearwater and set aside until it attracted Pyle’s attention. Pyle noticed that the preserved specimen had unusually small wings and short tail feathers. His observations led to the subsequent genetic analysis.

Dubbed Bryan’s shearwater (Puffinus bryani) after the museum’s curator, the bird is black and white with a black or dark blue-gray bill and blue-gray legs. DNA evidence suggests that Bryan’s shearwater may have branched off from other species of shearwaters as far back as 2 million years ago. However, little else is currently known about the petite seabird because scientists have yet to encounter a live specimen.

Unfortunately, this means that the new species may be very rare or even extinct, but experts are optimistic. According to Pyle, other varieties of shearwaters are known to be fairly elusive and scientists can’t predict where they breed. Individual seabirds have also been known to fly great distances from their existing colonies to “scout” for new breeding ground. Since no one has been looking for Bryan’s shearwater until now, the species could be living almost anywhere in the Pacific Ocean basin.

Wired Science reports that a second specimen may have been tagged and recorded on Midway in 1990, and sightings of small, unidentified seabirds have been periodically reported from California, Japan and the southern Gulf of Alaska. Hopefully, the official declaration of this new species will increase vigilance among coastal birdwatchers. For now, Bryan’s shearwater remains a small, winged mystery.

E. Fudd

Sign the online petition to President Obama here.

E. Fudd

From Care2:

California Shark Fin Ban One Step Closer To Law

A bill that would make it illegal to sell, trade, or posses shark fins in California passed the State’s Senate Appropriations Committee today on a 5-2 vote. The bill, officially known as AB 376, will now move to the Senate floor, where a vote is expected within the next few weeks.

During the finning process, the fins and tails are cut from living sharks, and the remainder of the fish, which is often still alive, is thrown back into the ocean.

Most of the demand for shark fins comes from Asian countries where it is used to make a gelatinous soup that often sells for more than $80 a bowl. The Associated Press reports that at a large specialty market in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, dried triangular fins are selling for $299 to $699 a pound.

Proposed by Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-Cupertino), who is himself of Chinese descent, the bill has been at the center of divisive controversy among California’s Chinese-American community.

“Fins in California come from all over the world. California is estimated to be the largest market for fins outside of Asia, and a significant point for imports and exports, including the re-export of foreign fins,” said Assemblymember Fong. “Whether these fins are obtained through the cruel practice of finning or by other means, there are simply not enough sharks to meet the demand for shark fin. Shark fins, not other shark products, drive the overfishing of sharks because other shark parts are far less valuable than shark fin.”

“We have a role in helping our seas recover their balance – a role shared by our friends in Washington state, whose governor signed a similar ban into law two weeks ago, and Oregon, which is considering a ban in its Legislature as we speak. Sharks belong at the top of the marine food web, and we can help restore them by passing AB 376,” said the bill’s co-sponsor, Assemblymember Jared Huffman.

E. Fudd

E. Fudd