Label of The Day
Green Christmas: Holiday Greenery and Christmas Trees Should Come From Local Sources
Published December 19, 2011
Buy green, buy local!
Buying freshly-cut evergreen trees and greenery to decorate during the holiday season is a time-honored and favorite tradition. Unfortunately, harmful non-native insects and diseases can hitchhike on these trees and branches, starting new infestations in communities that were previously pest-free. This has become such a serious problem that federal and state governments now regulate the movement of Christmas trees, holiday wreaths, and related material. Buying locally cut trees from established vendors is better for the economy and the environment.
More than 450 non-native forest insects are now established in the United States. Federal and state regulations require certain conditions be met in order to move Christmas trees and wreaths out of areas quarantined due to pest infestations. These regulations are aimed at stopping the spread of gypsy moth, pine shoot beetle, sudden oak death (a tree disease), and other forest pests, which can be transported on holiday plant material.
Florida Rep Seeks Fee From Bottled Water Companies
Published December 16, 2011 Bottled Water has ballooned into a hundred-billion dollar industry with consumers regularly paying hundreds of times the price for a drink in a plastic bottle than they do at their kitchen sink. But while removing water from local aquifers comes at a heavy environmental cost, these companies are often allowed to do so without paying that community for the product. One Florida legislator would like to see that change.
State Rep. Franklin Sands (D-Weston) has filed new legislation aimed at collecting a modest fee from bottled water companies that often reap huge profits after pumping millions of gallons of water daily from Florida’s springs and other water bodies.
Pesticide Pollution in European Waterbodies: List of Chemicals to Be Monitored Should Be Updated Immediately, Experts Urge
Published November 7, 2011Pesticides are a bigger problem than had long been assumed. This is the conclusion of a study in which scientists analysed data on 500 organic substances in the basins of four major European rivers. It was revealed that 38 per cent of these chemicals are present in concentrations which could potentially have an effect on organisms.
Florida Keys Ecosystem Threatened by Multiple Stressors
Published November 4, 2011NOAA scientists have found that pressure from increasing coastal populations, ship and boat groundings, marine debris, poaching, and climate change are critically threatening the health of the Florida Keys ecosystem. Many historically abundant marine resources such as green sea turtles and coral habitat continue to be at risk with low rates of recovery.
