Article: GM Crop Trial Locations May be Hidden from Public

I will not go into a full entry here on my opinions on Genetically Modified (GM) Foods because I fear I will never stop writing.

The Guardian in the UK reports that there are plans for GM crop trials out of the public eye. The companies behind GM organisms and food are well aware of the public backlash against this attack on their foods, their privacy and their freedom of choice.

Another story, perhaps more shocking/disturbing, on the consequences of GM crop contamination, something we're all too familiar with here in Canada.

I strongly suggest you learn more about the terminator seeds, the campaigns to ban them around the world, and what you can do to help stop this. The future of our food is at stake.

Roll Up Your Sleeves, America!

http://www.relocalize.net/u_s_oil_dependencies


By the wonderful Art Spiegelman

Environ-mental

Great article here about a book on greening your life, without the depressing serious 'tude.

Excerpt from the article:

And if if you think you're pretty eco-conscious already, there is still some fun facts to learn. Here's some of my favorites:

• "Some 20 billion diapers are buried in US landfills per year, representing about 7 billion pounds of garbage."
• You can flush dog poop down the toilet but not cat poop (and ironically, it seems you can potty train cats, but not dogs -- drat!).
• "There is a Green Wi-Fi project, which has developed a solar-powered wireless router that can run for up to four weeks even in prolonged periods of gray skies."
• Burning a single gallon of gas produces 20 pounds of C02.
• Lunch boxes are hipper than tupperware.
• "Americans are said to throw away enough aluminum in three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet."
• "The average dishwasher uses about 15 gallons of water per load, while the average dish-washer (that would be you) uses about 5 gallons of water per minute at the sink.
• The US airline industry uses 53 million gallons of jet fuel each day.

I don't see it on the Octopus Book website yet, but Chapters and Amazon have it if your local indie book store doesn't.

Stop Your Junk Mail

What a great idea!

STOP YOUR JUNK MAIL

Did you know more than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail? About 28 billion gallons of water are also wasted, and the energy used to produce and dispose of junk mail exceeds 2.8 million cars.

For $41, 41 Pounds will do all the leg-work to reduce your junk mail by 80-95% for five years, and will donate $15 to a charity of your choice. When you sign up, 41 Pounds will contact direct marketing organizations to remove your name from their lists. This includes credit card applications, coupon mailers, sweepstakes entries, magazine offers and insurance promotions, as well as any catalogs you specify. Save time! Save trees! Save the planet!

Event @ Octopus Books

Adria Vasil author of Ecoholic
Thursday May 3, 7:00 p.m
Arbour Environmental Shoppe
800 Bank St (between Third and Fourth Ave)
This event is free and accessible (please note the washrooms are downstairs)

Octopus Books and Arbour Environmental Shoppe are excited to invite you to an evening with Adria Vasil and her much anticipated book - Ecoholic. Filled with helpful tips on everything from which seafood is safe to eat and where to find organic clothes that don’t look like a burlap sack to which green cleaning products actually do the job, Ecoholic is a witty and informative companion on the road to sustainability. Don't miss this great event and learn how to make your world a greener place.

Adria Vasil has been writing the Ecoholic column for NOW Magazine since the spring of 2004 and has covered environmental issues for NOW’s news section for four years. Vasil has a degree in development politics and cultural anthropology from the University of Toronto and a degree in magazine journalism from Ryerson. An advocate for the earth, women’s issues and human rights since her teens, Vasil has appeared on MTV Canada and CBC’s Newsworld to promote environmentalism.

Questions - please call Octopus Books at 613-233-2589