EcoLink Archive
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Events
'Beyond Sustainability' Meeting
Learn to track and reduce your carbon footprint at Beyond Sustainability! You've heard about it in the news, around town, and from us: climate change is here, and we have to do something about it. Conserving energy, recycling, and reducing consumption are all good personal steps to help the environment, but how do you integrate these actions and others into your life? Which actions are really effective in cutting greenhouse gases, and which aren't? Come learn with Beyond Sustainability about how to track your household's impact on the earth through unlocking your "carbon footprint," and different ways to reduce that footprint for the better. Join us Thu., Nov. 1 from 6-8 pm at the Arbor Brewing Company in Ann Arbor for the second installment of "Low Carbon Diet: How to Reduce You Carbon Footprint." Newcomers always welcome!
For more information, call 734-761-3186 x120.
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2nd Annual Ecology Center
Fall Fundraiser
THURSDAY, NOV. 8:
Please join us for dinner at the Michigan Union ballroom on the University of Michigan campus featuring special guest speaker, L. Hunter Lovins. Named a "Hero for the Planet" by Time Magazine in 2000, Lovins is author of "Natural Capitalism" and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute. $100 per ticket ($75 for Ecology Center members). Dinner, beer and wine included; RSVP by October 29.
For more information and tickets, contact Stephanie
or call 734-761-3186 ext. 110.
News
Ecology Center Challenges
TV Personality Colbert to an Eco-Duel!
New car smell expert and Ecology Center staffer Jeff Gearhart was sitting in a new car recently, sniffing the fumes for a new study, and paging through a copy of Stephen Colbert's newly released book I Am America (And So Can You!). He almost fell off the phthalate-infused, outgassing vinyl upholstery when he noticed the Ecology Center disrespected in the pages of this best seller!
It appears Colbert came across an article in The Chicago Tribune about the Ecology Center's new-car smell report and was so impressed he devoted the better part of page 166 of his book to plugging it -- which we thank him for! In addition to reprinting a paragraph from the report about car interiors and the presence of bromine, chlorine, lead, arsenic, mercury, etc., and links to allergies, birth defects, liver toxicity and cancer, etc., Colbert included these words: "... the new-car smell we all crave is actually a deadly cocktail of chemical pollutants." Exactly! We couldn't have said it better!
Stephen Colbert is the host of the Colbert Report, a Comedy Central spoof of right-wing talk shows. Now that Mr. Colbert is on the bandwagon, we are concerned that our efforts might be perceived as soft on polluters and in some way aligned with his agenda to weaken democracy, concentrate power in the hands of a few, and make the public as ignorant as possible of these hazards. So, what's up? Is this some kind of diabolical plot by Colbert to gain the good graces of the Ecology Center? Or, given Colbert's penchant for fancy new cars, is the man suffering from vehicle-fume-induced delusions?
The Ecology Center will not be outmanned by Mr. Colbert, so we have decided to challenge him to an Eco-Duel. We'll bring our XRF analyzer -- (the super duper ray gun that reveals the elemental composition of objects), and he'll bring the rhetoric. We'll test the rhetoric, and we suspect the rhetoric will be toxic. But, will it be toxic to brain development like lead or cadmium, or toxic to the immune system, or the hormone or reproductive system like phthalates? Stay tuned... It's hard to say with Colbert.
Take Action!
Help us turn the tables on Colbert!!! We need emails flooding in demanding the Ecology Center get equal time to polish our image as the true polluter-fighting eco-heroes we are! And, we need to get the word out far and wide that the chemicals in consumer products are NOT regulated! We need the Government to actually protect us, and we need companies to stop using these bad chemicals. So please, take a minute to visit this link, scroll to the bottom, and leave a reply... back to topWill Detroit Close Its Massive
Incinerator For Curb-Side Recycling?
The city of Detroit will likely decide by the end of 2007 whether to close the incinerator that burns more than 700,000 tons of garbage a year. While the more than $1 billion debt on the facility should be paid by July 2009, the planning for what to do next takes years. At the end of July 2007, the Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Authority (GDRRA) made available to the public the Strategic Operating Alternatives Report prepared by Dvirka & Bartilucci Consulting Engineers and Urban Engineering Solutions, P.C. GDRRA is the public authority responsible for overseeing the Detroit incinerator. The Ecology Center is making available the Executive Summary of the report along with our initial comments submitted to GDRRA during the brief public comment period in August 2007. GDRRA is preparing a short version of the report (estimated at 10 pages). Residents should contact both GDRRA and the Detroit City Council to call for public meetings to solicit your desires for solid waste management that is affordable, supports neighborhoods, and protects public health. The full report is available from the GDRRA Web site.
For more information, contact Brad van Guilder, Ecology Center Community Organizer at 734-663-2400 x114.
Learn more
back to topAmazon.com Ecology Center Bookstore
We're extremely happy to direct your green shopping impulses to our new cyber store, the Amazon.com® Ecology Center Bookstore, where you'll find a great selection of books, movies, clothing, and accessories. Not only are the products eco-friendly, from organic cotton clothing to fair-trade items, but a portion of your purchases will support the eco-friendly work of the Ecology Center (especially during the upcoming holiday season).
Here are a few of our featured items:
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins.
The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide
to Hope in a Time of Fear from Basic Books.
Good News for a Change: How Everyday People Are
Helping the Planet by David Suzuki and Holly Dressel.
An Inconvenient Truth directed by Davis Guggenheim.
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price directed by Robert Greenwald.
Recycled Aluminum Cans Handbag "Can Do" -- Fair Trade Gifts
Hand-knit recycled silk sari scarf.
Be sure to check back often as we are updating the store with new items on a regular basis. Looking for something that isn't listed? Please contact Melissa or call 734-761-3186 x112.
Shop now!
back to topMeet Ecology Center Policy Director Mike Shriberg
As the first ever Policy Director of the Ecology Center, Mike Shriberg uses his knowledge of state policy and politics to help advance the state legislative agendas of the Ecology Center's campaigns, particularly the Environmental Health and Auto Project Programs.
Mike first became aware of the Ecology Center while he was in graduate school at the University of Michigan, where he received a PhD in Environmental Policy from the School of Natural Resources and Environment. "My friend in graduate school was an intern for the Ecology Center and had a very positive experience with the organization. She helped organize a protest of Dow Chemical Company, where I met Environmental Health Director Tracey Easthope. It was a great experience."
Drawn by the reputation of an incredibly talented staff and an amazing atmosphere, Mike is, "excited to join a staff with such experience and depth of knowledge." As the former director of Environment Michigan, an organization primarily devoted to advancing state-level environmental policy, and as a former faculty member and Director of Environmental Studies at Chatham College, Mike has a lot of experience in environmental protection. He is currently serving as vice chairman of the board for the Michigan Environmental Council and previously served as vice chair of the board of the Rachel Carson Homestead Association.
The Ecology Center's fight against toxic chemical pollution is one that is particularly important to Mike. "The regulation of chemicals on the national and state levels is a broken system. The public doesn't know how toxic everyday chemicals can be because the government allows the use of chemicals when we don't know their potential harm and long term effects."
"People can really make a difference by where they live, what they drive, and what they eat," Mike adds. "Minimizing the distance driven to work each day is important in minimizing energy consumption. In addition, eating lower on the food chain uses less resources: energy, water, waste products, and minimizes pesticide usage."
Mike likes to spend his spare time with his wife, Rebecca, and their 20-month-old daughter, Sarah. He is also an avid backpacker and hiker, and enjoys bike riding and playing basketball.
By Lauren Darmanin (Ecology Center work-study intern)
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EcoLink — November 2007
An online publication of the Ecology Center
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Please send to EcoLink Editor
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