Earth Share of Washington - News

Mithun's Dave Goldberg Joins Earth Share of Washington Board

Earth Share of Washington, a Seattle-based environmental non-profit organization, today announced the election of David Goldberg to its board of directors.

Mr. Goldberg is a Senior Associate at Mithun, an architectural, design, and planning firm known nationwide for creating environmentally sensitive buildings. In his eight years at Mithun, he has worked on projects as diverse as Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI's) stores in Redmond, WA and Bloomington, MN; Woodland Park Zoo's Family Science Learning Center and Zoo Offices in Seattle; and the Teton Science School in Jackso...Read the full story

May 28, 2004 | Comments Off

The Paper Chase

The paperless office is still a distant dream. In the interim, we should be recycling more and developing alternatives to wood-based paper.

While many futurists predicted that we'd be enjoying the paperless office around this time, Americans are still at the epicenter of a paper blizzard. Were you under the impression that the electronic age would free us from all that? According to The Myth of the Paperless Office, a company's use of e-mail causes an average 40 percent increase in paper consumption. The demand for ream after ream of white paper is putting a huge st...Read the full story

May 27, 2004 | Comments Off

Putin U-turn could rescue Kyoto Protocol

Russian President Vladimir Putin has surprised the world by promising to move quickly on ratification of the Kyoto climate change treaty.

One environmentalist called it "a very welcome and positive signal" which could breathe life into the protocol.

Mr Putin made the concession after the EU backed Russia's bid to join the WTO.

The EU had made its support dependent on Russia ratifying Kyoto. Since the US rejected the treaty, Russia's backing has been vital to bring it into force.

Long process

Mr Putin said: "The EU has...Read the full story

May 24, 2004 | Comments Off

The Price of the Next Trip

Courtesy of Northwest Environment Watch - Cascadia Scorecard Weblog

Gasoline prices are at their highest in recent memory and they appear likely to stay high for months. Is this a dream come true for climate defenders and transportation reformers? Far from it.

Short-term price spikes, such as the one we're enduring now, have surprisingly little impact on driver behavior. But they constitute a massive drain on the economies of fuel-importing regions such as ours. And they enrich oil companies, strengthening their capacity to resist reform. The only silver lining on t...Read the full story

May 19, 2004 | Comments Off

Bald eagle leaving threatened species list

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The American bald eagle - the national symbol whose decline helped spur the Endangered Species Act and a ban on the pesticide DDT - will be off the threatened species list this year, a top Bush administration official said Saturday.

Craig Manson, the administration's point man on the Endangered Species Act, said it's time to concentrate recovery efforts on more needy species.

"It's no longer endangered, but it's still deserving of special protection," Manson said in an interview.

The birds still would be safeguarded under the federal Bald Eagle ...Read the full story

May 18, 2004 | Comments Off

Northern spotted owl still faces extinction

The northern spotted owl continues to die out despite curtailment of old-growth logging on federal lands throughout the Pacific Northwest, according to a draft report on population trends between 1985 and 2003.

Evidence of the owl population decline is worst in Washington. Owl numbers in some parts of the state have declined by half, an average of 7.5 percent annually, with the steepest drops during the survey's final 10 years, the report shows.

No one knows exactly how many owls live in the region. Scientists base their conclusions in part on counts of banded owls, whose co...Read the full story

May 13, 2004 | Comments Off

Biodiesel - Available Now Around Puget Sound

Reducing the use of petroleum fuels in our vehicles, boats, and homes saves energy and reduces the environmental problems associated with its use. One alternative fuel option available is biodiesel. It’s clean, green and readily available in the Puget Sound area!

What is Biodiesel?
Biodiesel is a diesel-like fuel derived from vegetable oil or other renewable resources. It can be made from soy or canola oil, waste cooking oil, and even animal fats. Biodiesel is made by combining the vegetable oil with alcohol [usually methanol but occasionally ethanol] in the p...Read the full story

May 11, 2004 | Comments Off

What can you do about tent caterpillars?

Courtesy of KOMO TV News

BOTHELL - They're back! Tent caterpillars are creeping all around invading Western Washington once again.

Some people use pesticides to kill the pesky caterpillars. But there are side effects to that. But we found there are greener ways to get rid of them.

For Ladd Smith, the battle against tent caterpillars requires hand-to-hand combat.

He prefers clippers to chemicals; a "green" approach to ridding the seasonal pest.

Experts say this year's infestatio...Read the full story

May 10, 2004 | Comments Off

Dwindling snowpack threatens water supplies, forests

An unusually dry spring has melted snowpack in Washington's mountains and throughout the West at a troubling rate, causing heightened concern for drought conditions and forest fire danger, according to government officials and climate experts.

This week's snowpack measurements in the Cascades show little or no snow in areas that usually have several inches, hydrologists say. While it may give hikers a jump on the season, it does not bode well for water supplies, stream flows, fish, agriculture or forests, many say.

"It is extremely dry out there. The level of concern is very...Read the full story

May 06, 2004 | Comments Off

Stories of a Wildlife Rescue - "Answering the Call"

by Naturalist Kevin Mack from Earth Share of Washington member PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, published in the May 5, 2004 edition of Wild Again

If you were to spend a day answering the telephone in the PAWS Wildlife Center, you would quickly realize that our work with wildlife reaches far beyond the walls of the center. During the spring and summer, we may receive 50 or more calls per day, and many of them involve animals that we will never see firsthand. The calls are varied, to say the least, a...Read the full story

May 05, 2004 | Comments Off

Heavy Use of Pesticides Found at Washington Schools

Report Calls for Schools to End Use of Hazardous Pesticides

A majority of Washington's children attend school in districts using pesticides that could cause serious long-term health problems such as cancer and nervous system damage, finds A Lesson in Prevention, a new report by the Washington Toxics Coalition. The report documents pesticide use by 50 of the state's largest school districts (50 of 58 districts with more than 5,000 students).

"Our children can't succeed in school where there are poisons on the playground and chemicals in the classroom that can harm th...Read the full story

May 04, 2004 | Comments Off