Environmental Toxins - Mount Sinai CEHC (list w/ links)

Environmental Toxins

Today, children are exposed to thousands of substances in the environment, most of which have never been tested for toxicity to children. Lead is perhaps the best-studied of the environmental threats to children, but there may be countless more that have never been studied. There is strong and growing evidence that exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment contributes to many diseases of children, among them asthma, learning disabilities, certain birth defects and childhood cancer.

• More than 80,000 new chemical compounds have been developed since World War II
• Of these, 3,000 are high-volume chemicals, with annual production exceeding one million pounds. These chemicals are used extensively in our homes, schools, communities, and they are widely dispersed in air, water, soil, and waste sites.
• Fewer than 20% of these high volume chemicals have been tested for their possible toxicity to children.
• Over 2.5 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released to the environment in the US each year.
• Nearly 75% of the top 20 chemicals discharged to the environment are known or suspected to be toxic to the developing human brain. In addition, more than 4 billion pounds of pesticides - many of them neurotoxic - are applied in the US each year in agriculture, on lawns and gardens, and inside homes, schools, day-care centers and hospitals.
• National surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show measurable levels of high-volume synthetic chemicals in the bodies of nearly all Americans, including newborns, infants and in the breast milk of nursing mothers.

References:
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Chemical Hazard Data Availability Study:  What Do We Really Know About the Safety of High Production Volume Chemicals? Washington, DC: Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 1998.
United States Environmental Protection Agency.  Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program. Washington, DC, February 21, 2008.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Atlanta (GA): CDC, 2005.

A:

• Abestos
• Acetone
• Air Polluntants
• Ammonia
• Arsenic
• Artificial Turf

B:

• Benzene
• Bisphenol A

C:

• Carbon Dioxide
• Carbon Monoxide
• Chlorine

D:

• Diesel Exhaust
• Dioxins
• Drinking Water Contaminants

E:

• Endocrine Disruptors (BPA and Phthalates)
• Environmental Tobacco Smoke
• Ethylene Glycol

F:

• Flame Retardants (PBDEs or BFRs)
• Formaldehyde

G:

• Gasoline

L:

• Lead

M:

• Mercury
• Mold

N:

• Natural Gas
• Nitrogen Oxides

O:

• Ozone

P:

• Particulate Matter
• Perchloroethylene
• Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)
• Pesticides
• Phthalates
• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Propane

R:

• Radiation
• Radon

S:

• Solvents
• Sulfur Dioxides
• Sun Exposure

T:

• Toluene

V:

• Vaccinations
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's)

W:

• Water and Soil Contaminants

SOURCE: http://www.mountsinai.org/patient-care/service-areas/children/areas-of-care/childrens-environmental-health-center/environmental-toxins


Additional Resources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
• National Institute of Health Household Products Database
• National Institute of Health Toxtown

Round-Up, Monsanto and the Environment

Study Finds Small Doses of Roundup Weedkiller Kills Frogs
A study reported in Science Daily finds that Roundup, the herbicide thought to be less harmful than most other toxic herbicides in its class, is highly toxic to amphibians at much lower concentration levels than tested previously. The study also finds that the pesticide’s deadly effects are not mitigated by the dilution of soil.

The study published in Ecological Applications finds that 71%  of tadpoles were killed within weeks after being exposed to 1/3 of the maximum concentration level expected in nature. The study also finds that baby frogs, or tadpoles, are not the only stage of amphibian development affected. Tests also show that an application of Roundup® Weed and Grass Killer, a common product marketed to homeowners and gardeners, kills up to 86% of terrestrial frogs after only one day.

Researchers lead by Rick Relyea out of the University of Pittsburgh also find that adding soil to the test study, thought to absorb the pesticide, made no effect on preventing the death of most of the three species of tadpoles. The researchers join others nationwide who increasingly suspect that Roundup along with other common herbicides like atrazine to be primary contributors to the worldwide decline in amphibian species (see photo story). The decline is believed to be a gauge of the toxic pollution adversely affecting the natural state of the environment.

The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, tops the list as the most widely used herbicide in the U.S., with up to 90 million pounds applied annually in agriculture and up to 8 million pounds in the non-agricultural sector – second only to 2,4-D, the chemical found in most “weed and feed” products. Monsanto, the corporate chemical giant that makes Roundup, also produces genetically engineering plants and seeds to be resistant to the herbicide, which studies show increases the use of the pesticide. Both 2,4-D and glyphosate enter waterways, including small wetland areas where tadpoles develop, due to toxic runoff from agriculture and urban and suburban lawns.

The study adds heavily to the weight of evidence that the inert ingredients used in the retail herbicide, not disclosed on the label due to a “trade secret” loophole, make it significantly more toxic than just its active ingredient glyphosate alone. 

Note from Soutenus --Read this next statement slowly - I had to read it twice for the reality of it to settle in:

The Environmental Protection Agency only evaluates health and environment data submitted by the manufacturer on active ingredients and not on actual pesticide formulations sold on the shelves. 

Several other studies published in peer-reviewed journals over the years have underscored the lethal affects of Roundup to humans and wildlife.

Study Shows Glyphosate and Roundup Pesticide Toxic To Fetus
Study Reveals Common Pesticides Damage Aquatic Communities
Monsanto Wins Plant Patent Rights, Loses Battle With Farmer
Glyphosate Contamination Detected in Humans
Study Shows Glyphosate (RoundUp) May Encourage Toxic Fungi Growth
Colombia Argonomist Reports Effects of Roundup® Exposure

TAKE ACTION: Encourage schools, neighbors, park managers and others to stop using Roundup herbicides and adopt sustainable land care practices that will not adversely effect humans and wildlife. Join the National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns or visit the Beyond Pesticides issue webpages.

SOURCE: (Beyond Pesticides, August 11, 2005)

Toxins Hiding in Everyday Items and How to Easily Eliminate Them

Here is a list of common household products that contain known carcinogens and/or neurotoxins.

It could be overwhelming if you didn't have a ready, easy, safe, affordable alternative. I do and I am ready to share that info with anyone who asks! We have to help each other, you know?

Carcinogens are chemicals that cause cancer. Neurotoxins are chemicals that adversely affect the nervous system reducing emotional well being, mental alertness, coordination and other functions associated with intelligence.

· Lysol disinfectant
· Renuzit Air Deodorizer
· Fantastik All-Purpose Cleaner
· Formula 409
· Pine-Sol Multi-Action Spray
· Pledge Household Cleaner
· Spic & Span Cleaner
· Scotts Liquid Gold
· Lemon Pledge
· Tilex Soap Scum Remover
· Ajax Cleaner
· Gillette Foamy Skin Conditioning
· Speed Stick
· Secret Deodorant
· Johnson's Baby Shampoo · S.O.S. Ammonia Glass Cleaner
· Dawn Sureshot
· Joy Dishwashing Liquid
· Windex Glass Cleaner
· Palmolive Dishwashing Liquid
· Shout Aerosol & Stick
· Sunlight Dishwashing Liquid
· Spray & Wash Stain Remover
· Behold Furniture Wax
· Depend-o Blue Toilet Cleaner
· Endust
· 3M Aerosol Spot Remover
· Formby's Lemon & Almond Spray
· Most Home & Garden Pesticides · Right Guard Deodorant
· Ponds Dry Skin Bar
· Palmolive Skin Bar
· Lady Speed Stick
· Lever 2000
· Irish Spring Deodorant
· Jergens Liquid Soap
· English Leather
· Deodorant
· Ban Roll-on
· Caress Body Bar
· Camay
· Ultra Brite Toothpaste
· Crest Tartar Control
· Listerine Original & Cool Mint
· Arm & Hammer Toothpaste
· Colgate toothpaste
· Scope Mouthwash
· Old English Furniture Spray
· Dove Soap Bars

Begin by thinking of your home as a toxic waste dump. The average home today contains 62 toxic chemicals — more than a chemistry lab at the turn of the century. More than 72,000 synthetic chemicals have been produced since WW II. Less than 2% of synthetic chemicals have been tested for toxicity, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, or birth defects.. The majority of chemicals have never been tested for long-term effects.

In the work place, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) must accompany any product used. The work place and the outdoors are considered “legal environments” while the air in homes is not. So regulations for outdoor air pollution and toxins in the workplace are much more strict than in the home.

Air Quality Inside Your Home

• · An EPA survey concluded that indoor air was 3 to 70 times more polluted than outdoor air.

• · Another EPA study stated that the toxic chemicals in household cleaners are 3 times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor air.

• · CMHC reports that houses today are so energy efficient that "out-gassing" of chemicals has no where to go, so it builds up inside the home.

• · We spend 90% of our time indoors, and 65% of that time at home. Moms, infants and the elderly spend 90% of their time in the home.

• · National Cancer Association released results of a 15-year study concluding that women who work in the home are at a 54% higher risk of developing cancer than women who work outside the home.

• · Chemicals get into our body through inhalation, ingestion and absorption. We breathe 10 to 20 thousand liters of air per day. 

Health Effects of Chemical Exposure
Chemical exposure presents a real danger to you and your family's health and well-being.

• · Cancer rates have almost doubled since 1960.

• · Cancer is the Number ONE cause of death for children.

• · There has been a 26% increase in breast cancer since 1982. Breast cancer is the Number ONE killer of women between the ages of 35 and 54. Primary suspects are laundry detergents, household cleaners and pesticides.

• · Since 1980, asthma has increased by 600%. The Canadian Lung Association and the Asthma Society of Canada identify common household cleaners and cosmetics as triggers.

• · ADD/ADHD are epidemic in schools today. Behavioral problems have long been linked to exposure to toxic chemicals and molds.

• · Chemicals are attracted to, and stored in fatty tissue. The brain is a prime target for these destructive organics because of its high fat content and very rich blood supply.

• · Chemical and environmental sensitivities are known to cause all types of headaches.

• · Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, circulatory disorders, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and hormonal problems are diseases commonly related to chemical exposure.

• · The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has found more than 2500 chemicals in cosmetics that are toxic, cause tumors, reproductive complications, biological mutations and skin and eye irritations. 

Chemicals in Household Products

There are more than 3 million poisonings every year. Household cleaners are the Number ONE cause of poisoning of children. The top three culprits according to Poison Control: Household cleaners, bleach and medications.

Formaldehyde is one of the largest indoor pollutants in our homes.

Symptoms caused by formaldehyde are allergies, cancer, immune system failings, and asthma.

Products containing Formaldehyde include: antiperspirants , mouthwash, toothpaste, Tupperware, permanent press clothing, floor waxes, furniture polishes, shampoos, cleaners, and cosmetics, just to name a few.

Phenols are a major indoor pollutant. Phenols are absorbed by lungs, and skin. Symptoms include caustic burns, kidney and liver damage and hyperactivity.

Do you think the major products are safe? WRONG!

• Lysol© is even more dangerous than we thought. It contained phenols and dioxin (Agent Orange).

• Bleach must be safe because people have been using it for years, right? WRONG! When using bleach, antiseptics or chlorine in industrial areas, OSHA requires you to wear impervious protective clothing, hard hats, boots, gloves, apron or coveralls, chemical goggles or full face shield and use only in well ventilated areas. There has been a call from the U.S./ Canadian Commission to ban bleach in North America. Bleach is being linked to the rising rates of breast cancer in women, reproductive problems in men and learning and behavioral problems in children.

NTAs were banned in 1970. Lobbying by Proctor & Gamble in 1980 put them back into home products although they are extremely cancer causing. What are they for? ONLY to make more suds in detergents to make you think your clothes are getting cleaner.

In the USA the #1 cause of accidental poisoning is Dawn Dishwashing Detergent©. WHY? Because it is the #1 seller. Tide contains Lye and is the #1 polluter. It is also the #1 seller.
Deep Woods and Off have an ingredient called DEET. DEET causes seizures in children and adults.

. . . . . . . and so you can see why I don't use any of these!

The Unique Vunerability of Children to Environmental Toxins

Children are not simply "little adults." Four fundamental differences between children and adults contribute to children's heightened susceptibility to environmental toxins.

This is a crucial reason to look at all sensible ways to de-tox their environments.  It is imperative to find solutions and these are just a few reasons why . . . .

    * Children have disproportionately heavy exposures to environmental toxicants due to their greater intake pound-for-pound of food, water, and air, coupled with their unique behaviors - in particular, hand-to-mouth behavior.
    * Children's metabolic pathways, especially in the first months after birth, are immature. In many instances, they are less able than adults to deal with toxic compounds.
    * Children are undergoing rapid growth and development. These developmental processes create windows of great vulnerability in which the course of development can be permanently disrupted by environmental toxins.
    * Because children have more future years of life than adults, they have more time to develop chronic diseases that may be initiated by early exposures.

*National Research Council. Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2000.

“Monsanto Bill,” HR 875

Will the so-called “Monsanto bill,” HR 875 take away your access to healthy organic food? Find out the truth behind the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 and what YOU can do to protect your health.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) agree that food safety needs to improve. However, both are concerned about whether new control measures would really be effective without severely hurting small, local agriculture.

In the meantime . . . .

Buy organic whenever possible. If you cannot buy organic, it’s important to know that some foods are more likely to be contaminated than others. Here’s a list of foods that are highest in pesticide residues and therefore, especially important to buy organic

• Peaches – Considered the worst! Contain high residues of iprodione, classified as a probable human carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and methyl parathion, an insecticide and endocrine disrupter. 3
• Apples
• Bell peppers
• Celery
• Cherries
• Spinach
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Lemons – especially if zesting!
• Green beans
• Oats & Grains
• Dairy and Eggs
Worth the read:
We Don't Buy It

Surviving the Middle Class Crash

Melange

Natural Aphid Control

I highly recommend Garden's Alive's Lady Bugs. Here is their information:

Adult lady beetles and their larvae are an excellent, non-chemical way to control aphids, Colorado potato beetles (egg stage) and other insect pests in your garden. But unlike the lady beetles sold by most other companies, ours are:

• screened to remove patasitoid-infested beetles
• ready to lay eggs the day you release them
• hungry for pests!

Up to 20% of the lady beetles shipped by other companies are parasitized. So, not only will their lady beetles die shortly after you receive them, but they'll also release parasitoids that will kill any lady beetles previously in your garden.

Our Sta-Home lady beetles arrive healthy and ready to feed on pests! Females immediately lay eggs, which provide a second wave of pest-eaters within a week. And these larvae, which can't fly, have an even bigger appetite than the adults!

• We precondition our lady beetles by feeding them a healthy diet to encourage egg laying. We also remove all parasitoid-infesting beetles so they don't attack your purchased or existing beetles.

• One package of about 900 Sta-Home adults will produce more than 10,000 pest-eating larvae in your garden within 30 days! We ship at the proper time for your area or on the date you specify.

Note: We take great care to ensure that your insects arrive safely and in good health, ready for your garden. We normally ship them on Monday or Tuesday so they arrive before the weekend.

Pricing? Here it is. Go to Gardens Alive to order. This is just a cut and paste. :-)

1 pkg of Sta-HomeTM Lady Beetles (covers 1,000 sq ft)
1+	$13.95	Qty
1 of 3 pkgs of Sta-HomeTM Lady Beetles (1 package each of 3 shipments at 3-week intervals)
1+	$35.95	Qty

Cross-posted @ Coffee Grounds and Egg Shells

French Documentary

This is a must --- please take the time to watch this even if you do it in sections.
This is a documentary aired on French television - a documentary that Americans won’t ever see. The gigantic bio-tech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years



H/T: Nicene Truth

Transportation

Since I can't yet afford the deisel that I am going to buy and then convert to a recycled vegetable oil fueled machine I am thinking of alternatives.

Yep, I am thinking something along the lines of this means of transportation if gas prices keep rising . . . . .

Buy to Save the Environment

Fuel Options?

Click on the picture to watch this clip about fueling a car with vegetable oil. I apologize for the commercial at the begininng. The story is worth waiting through the silly commercial.
This information has been labeled quirky by some of my friends but I think "quirky" is not bad in many cases!

Arrogance and Impunity - Coca-Cola in India

I'd like to buy the world a coke and keep it company. . . . remember that? If not, here is a YouTube to get you up to speed or jog your memory - whichever you need.



By Amit Srivastava
India Resource Center
August 10, 2006
How long will it take before the powers that be in India refuse to allow multinationals to treat Indians as guinea pigs? In what can only be characterized as arrogance and impunity, we are learning that Coca-Cola and Pepsi have continued to sell soft drinks in India with dangerously high levels of pesticides - three years after even the government of India confirmed that these products were dangerous.

Perhaps the cola companies know something that we do not? Are Indians immune to high levels of pesticides? It is time for the cola companies to provide details of the studies they must have conducted to convince themselves that the average Indian can consume pesticides safely at levels 24 times the average American and European.

Coca-Cola Quit India

It is difficult to fathom the business logic of a company that boasts of having one global standard, yet three years after being rapped by the Indian government, continues to sell products in India without making any improvements.

The pesticides in soft drinks in India is a classic case of double standards, one for Americans and Europeans, and another for Indians. Coca-Cola products made in India could never be sold in the European Union markets or the United States.

On at least 10 occasions since January 2005, the US Food and Drug Administration has rejected the shipment of Coca-Cola products made in India coming into the US, on the grounds that they do not conform to US laws and that they are unsafe for the US public. Both the cola companies' excuse that they have met the (non-existent) norms for soft drinks in India falls flat in its face.

In this day and age of globalization, standards are also globalized. The onus is upon the global companies to provide a product that is safe for consumers. Period. If a product is unsafe for Americans, it is also unsafe for Indians. It is the responsibility of Coca-Cola and Pepsi to clean out the contaminants from the raw materials before bringing it to market.

It is indeed ironic that on the one hand, these very companies argue for global rules for trade and corporate investment, but when challenged for their misdeeds, try to invoke local and national laws. Unfortunately, the cola companies' transgressions run much deeper in India, both figuratively and literally. In various parts of India, from Plachimada in south India to Mehdiganj in north India, communities living around Coca-Cola bottling plants are experiencing severe water shortages. The communities accuse the Coca-Cola company of creating water shortages because of over extraction of water and pollution of the scarce remaining water.

And the communities have the numbers to back it up. Tests conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board, for example, found excessive levels of lead and cadmium in all of the Coca-Cola waste it surveyed in bottling plants across the country, leading the CPCB to order the Coca-Cola company to treat its waste as hazardous waste.
Prior to the CPCB study, the Coca-Cola company was distributing its toxic waste to farmers around its bottling plants, as fertilizer! Test results released just two weeks ago have confirmed that the water is also polluted, making it unfit for human consumption.

In Plachimada, Kerala, one of Coca-Cola's largest bottling plants has been shut down since March 2004 because of the intense community opposition to the plant. The Kerala State Pollution Control Board has also issued a stop order notice to the company's bottling plant because of the pollution by the plant. In a highly irresponsible practice, the Coca-Cola company has located many of its bottling plants in India in "drought prone" areas, areas that were already experiencing severe water crisis.
In Rajasthan, for example, a study by the Central Ground Water Board found that water tables had dropped 10 meters in just five years since Coca-Cola began its bottling operations in Kala Dera.

A formidable movement has emerged in India from these communities to challenge the Coca-Cola company for its indiscriminate exploitation of water resources and pollution. As with the pesticide issue, the Coca-Cola company has challenged every study that has been produced implicating it for its wrongdoings. The company has also hired a high-priced lobbyist in New Delhi whose job, according to the International Herald Tribune, was to "ensure, among other things, that every government or private study accusing the company of environmental harm was challenged by another study."

Arrogance? You bet. Impunity? No doubt.

Communities in India impacted by Coca-Cola's practices enjoy tremendous support internationally, and the global movement to hold the company accountable for its abuses in India is having a major impact.

The prestigious University of Michigan, for example, has placed the Coca-Cola company on probation until it is able to convince the administration that it is taking steps to rectify its wrongdoings in India. The Coca-Cola company has been forced to acknowledge the growing discontent around its operations in India, but it is doing too little, too late. It has, instead, revved up its public relations machinery, a far cry from what the communities are demanding. As India grapples with setting standards for soft drinks to ensure consumer safety, it should also urgently act to protect communities across the country reeling from water shortages, courtesy Coca-Cola.

It may surprise many to know that Coca-Cola and Pepsi pay nothing for the water that they use in India, which runs in the hundreds of millions of liters every day. It is also a very wasteful industry, particularly when it comes to the valuable resource of water.
It takes Coca-Cola nearly four liters of freshwater to produce one liter of product. In other words, the company converts seventy five percent of the freshwater it extracts into wastewater, which in turn has contaminated the scarce remaining groundwater and land. The entire life-cycle of Coca-Cola - from the extraction of water to the delivery of the pesticide laden product- is wrought with problems. In India, Coca-Cola uses the slogan in Hindi -Life ho toh aisi - Life should be like this. We don't think so. For more information, visit www.IndiaResource.org

Amit Srivastava is the coordinator of India Resource Center, an international campaigning organization working to challenge abuses by multinational corporations.

FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. India Resource Center is making this article available in our efforts to advance the understanding of corporate accountability, human rights, labor rights, social and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Up to date information: March 17, 2008 - By India Resource Center (www.indiaresource.org)

The Coca-Cola company has continued to accuse us of making erroneous statements "not based on facts" and have claimed that the only reason they are targets of the campaign is because they are a well known brand. Earlier this year, however, Coca-Cola got a rude awakening when an assessment of their operations in India that they paid for and conducted by an ally of Coca-Cola validated what the communities have been saying all along.

sources:
www.IndiaResource.org
http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2006/2009.html
http://asksistermarymartha.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-deadly-sins.html

Catholics on the Environment

One must take into account the nature of each being
and of its mutual connection in an ordered system,
which is precisely the ‘Cosmos’.

- On Social Concern (Solicitudo Rei Socialis) 1988, No. 34

_______________________________________________________________

The image of the creator must shine forth ever more clearly, not only in his creature man, but in all of his creation in nature.

- Pope Paul VI to the Council of the World Wildlife Fund, 1969

_______________________________________________________________

Pope John Paul II invited some 4,000 people gathered in the rain to praise God and see the imprint of His love in the beauty of creation. He called the beauty of creation the first book that God has entrusted to the mind and heart of man. The beauty of nature impels the soul to recall God’s goodness, (the Pope) told the crowd that gathered to pray the angelus with him.

- Pope links beauty of creation to God’s love,
Angelus Address given in the Italian Alps, 15 July 2001

_______________________________________________________________

Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment, people everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to use the goods of the Earth as we have in the past.

The public in general as well as political leaders are concerned about this problem, and experts from a wide range of disciplines are studying its causes. Moreover, a new ecological awareness is beginning to emerge which, rather than being downplayed, ought to be encouraged to develop into concrete programs and initiatives

Introduction to the Message of His Holiness Pope John Paul II for the celebration
of the World Day of Peace, 1 January 1990

_______________________________________________________________

The ecological crisis is a moral issue... Respect for life and for the dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of creation... we cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well-being of future generations.

- Pope John Paul II, 1990

_______________________________________________________________

God made man the steward of creation

1. In the hymn of praise proclaimed . . . (Ps 148:1-5), the Psalmist summons all creatures, calling them by name. Angels, sun, moon, stars and heavens appear on high; twenty-two things move upon the Earth, as many as the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, in order to give an impression of fullness and totality.

The believer, in a sense, is “the shepherd of being”, that is, the one who leads all beings to God, inviting them to sing an “alleluia” of praise. The Psalm brings us into a sort of cosmic church whose apse is the heavens and whose aisles are the regions of the world, in which the choir of God's creatures sings his praise.

GENERAL AUDIENCE
Pope John Paul II, Wednesday 17 January 2001

_______________________________________________________________

In this rediscovered harmony with nature and with one another, men and women are once again walking in the garden of creation, seeking to make the goods of the Earth available to all and not just to a privileged few, as the biblical jubilee suggests (cf. Lv 25:8-13, 23).

Among those marvels we find the Creator’s voice, transmitted by heaven and Earth, by night and day: a language “with no speech nor words; whose voice is not heard” and which can cross all boundaries (cf. Ps 19[18]:2-5).

_______________________________________________________________

The Book of Wisdom, echoed by Paul, celebrates God’s presence in the world, recalling that “from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator” (Wis 13:5; cf. Rom 1:20). This is also praised in the Jewish tradition of the Hasidim: “Where I wander – You! Where I ponder – You!... In every trend, at every end, only You, You again, always You!” (M Buber, Tales of the Hasidim [Italian ed., Milan 1979, p 256]).

Pope John Paul II, 2001

______________________________________________________________

Our Personal Consumer Choices

“Our personal consumer choices have ecological, social, and spiritual consequences. It is time to re-examine some of our deeply held notions that underlie our lifestyles.”

~David Suzuki
(Canadian environmentalist, scientist and broadcaster)

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

This one has been posted at We Blog Cartoons and can be freely re-used on blogs.
Of course, the reality of the situation is one that makes me sad.
Take this post on Exigency In Specie about ‘Christianity, Christians and the Environment‘:

…the amount of carbon dioxide produced by a flight to Greece for a family holiday is equivalent to all the carbon dioxide produced by all the car journeys the average family undertakes in a year.
…the amount of carbon dioxide produced to air freight 1kg of perishable fruit and veg to the UK is 6kg - whilst transporting 1kg of UK produced produce is 0.002kg.

See also:
Guardian Unlimited Travel | News | Oops, we helped ruin the planet
It’s your responsibility before God on climate, says Williams - Britain - Times Online
Please try to buy vegetables that are made in your own country rather than on the other side of the world. If you are going to Europe please use the Eurostar rather than the plane if you can. I cannot blame you for wanting to go and see other parts of our wonderful world but please do not do it overly often.
Update: Archbishop Rowan talks about global warming as reported in the Times.
Hat tip for this post to: http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/2006/03/

Contracepting the Environment

When EPA-funded scientists at the University of Colorado studied fish in a pristine mountain stream known as Boulder Creek two years ago, they were shocked. Randomly netting 123 trout and other fish downstream from the city’s sewer plant, they found that 101 were female, 12 were male, and 10 were strange “intersex” fish with male and female features.

It’s “the first thing that I’ve seen as a scientist that really scared me,” said then 59-year-old University of Colorado biologist John Woodling, speaking to the Denver Post in 2005.

They studied the fish and decided the main culprits were estrogens and other steroid hormones from birth control pills and patches, excreted in urine into the city’s sewage system and then into the creek.

Read the full article at The NC Register (Boulder, Colorado)
Source:
1. article by BY WAYNE LAUGESEN; NC REGISTER CORRESPONDENT from the July 15-21, 2007 Issue
2. click on the graphic for more info on How Modern Chemicals May Be Changing Human Biology (Male infertility on the rise and excessive environmental estrogens leading to breast cancer)