Conscious Choice: Carping About Invasive Fish

Photo: Susan DeGrane

Don’t Get Mad, Get Active

Global Warming Virtual March
An online march, led by the Natural Resource Defense Council and U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, will demand that Congress and the Bush administration take steps to control warming. Join at: www.stopglobalwarming.org.

Support Sustainable Energy
Help keep the state on the clean energy track by urging Gov. Rod Blagojevich and state lawmakers to make all electricity providers subject to a mandatory sustainable energy standard of 8 percent by 2012. Email petitions .

A Road to Disaster
Don’t let logging companies gain access to the largest unbroken tract of unprotected old-growth forest left in the Tongass. Help preserve this pristine wilderness. Visit www.savebiogems.org/tongass.

Green $ense

Fit to be Tiled
In the city that works, it is often accepted as a fact of life that traffic and factory fumes result in an occasional day of heavy smog. But Chicago started out this summer with five smog warnings in a two-week period. How can we reduce the smog during our hot summers? Maybe the solution can be found in the ground we walk on. Gruppo Ceramiche Gambarelli, an Italian manufacturer of ceramic tiles, designed a tile that is capable of turning car exhaust into harmless salts and nitrate ions through a process similar to photosynthesis. The tiles, made with titanium dioxide, are porcelain stoneware and are designed primarily for outdoor use on urban architecture and pathways. Maybe if the city decides to pave some of Grant Park with Oxygena tiles (above left), we’ll be able to reduce those frightening smog warnings. Visit www.gambarelli.it.

Angels on Oil Drums
Tired of shopping for the difficult person who appears to have everything? Well, bet they don’t have an “Angels on Bike” oil drum sculpture for a cool 33 bucks. Want something more high-end? How about a recycled telephone wire basket woven to keep with Zulu traditions that goes for $120. Still not satisfied? How about the Iringa basket (above right)? It was handmade in Tanzania, where Hehe people plait mlulu grass into artfully woven basketry for $32. All of these items are available on World-Shoppe.com. The Chicago-based online shopping center provides people from the Loop to Alaska with handmade gifts and home accessories crafted by artists and artisans from more than 20 countries around the world. All reportedly are paid fair wages for their labor and skill. The founder of World-Shoppe, Megy Karydes, drew her inspiration from Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade store in Evanston, where she worked as a volunteer. “I learned how much impact people can have by buying fair trade and I wanted to make the great stuff at Ten Thousand Villages available to more people,” said Karydes, who is celebrating the first anniversary of World-Shoppe this month. Visit www.World-Shoppe.com.

August 2005 | Choice News

Carping About Invasive Fish

You could say that retired ironworker Eddie Landmichl is obsessed with non-native aquatic species that threaten Lake Michigan.

For years he’s distributed countless reams of photocopied newspaper articles, photographs and handwritten commentary about zebra mussels, round gobies, ruffes and most recently Asian carp.

But Landmichl, the former president of Perch America, a preservationist group, said he felt he needed to do more because “the Asian carp means death to the perch.”

So one hot summer morning, Landmichl took his protest to the Chicago district office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where an advisory committee was discussing construction of a second electronic barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan.

Landmichl outfitted his walker with a cooler and hooks for displaying bighead carp specimens.

Before entering 111 N. Canal Street, the 71-year-old answered inquiries from curious bystanders. “I want to show people the mouths of these things that can eat 40 percent of their body weight in one day,” Landmichl said.

Asian carp include bighead and silver carp. The non-native fish were cultivated on catfish farms and eventually made their way from the Mississippi to the Illinois River watershed and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. They threaten the forage base for all other fish.

Along the Illinois River, silver carp have proliferated in several areas; exploding from the water when disturbed and occasionally injuring boaters and jet skiers.

Both silver and bighead are poised to invade Lake Michigan via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

In 2002, the Corps built an electronic barrier on the canal to prevent round gobies and other invasive species from entering the Illinois River watershed. The barrier is supposed to prevent invaders like the Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan as well. Landmichl insists the barrier is poorly constructed and malfunctioning, but others disagree.

The barrier is “functioning fine,” according to Mark Pegg, director of the Illinois Natural History Survey’s Illinois River Biological Station. “It was originally constructed to last three to five years. Its third-year anniversary was in April.”

Pegg pointed out that it still remains operational even though some of the barrier’s electrodes have corroded.

During the meeting, Landmichl stored the carp carcasses in his cooler. He sat silent for long periods, then spoke in asides to those nearby, explaining that some fish sneak through the barrier because of the barge traffic. “The Corps hid the study that says this and went right ahead and started building the second barrier anyway!” he said.

Chuck Shea, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers barrier construction projects, confirmed that “barges do seem to absorb some of the electricity and create a dead spot underneath the boats.”

The Corps recorded that one fish tagged with a transmitter shot through the barrier with a passing barge.

“We considered this heavily in the design of the second barrier,” Shea added.

The second $9.1 million electric barrier, located near Romeoville, is scheduled for completion this fall.

In addition, biologists from the Illinois Natural History Survey are studying avenues through which Asian carp and other non-native species might circumvent the electronic barriers. Possibilities include leaking barges, passenger boats, bait buckets, aquariums and flooding of the Des Plaines River.

Meanwhile, Shea insists the barrier provides the first line of defense in protecting Lake Michigan from the Asian carp. “We know the fish can travel many other ways, but if the barrier wasn’t there, the fish would just swim through,” he said.
— Susan DeGrane

Soap and Solar Shine at
the County Fairgrounds

Want to go green but don’t know how? Ever wondered about the family behind Dr. Bronner’s magic soaps? Well, head about 90 miles west of Chicago to the Ogle County Fairgrounds for the fourth annual Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair on Aug. 13 and 14.

Ralph Bronner, son of the famous Emanuel Bronner soapmaker, will perform sing-along songs on his guitar both mornings of the fair.

“He’s good with kids. Any adult that would like to revert to their inner child should come and see him,” said Sonia Vogl, who along with her husband, Bob, coordinated the fair on the fairgrounds just west of Oregon, Ill.

There’s also a more serious side to the fair. Among the scheduled speakers are Hunter Lovins, the president of Natural Capitalism Inc., and Bob Lieberman, coordinator of the Illinois Commerce Commission, who will talk about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s energy plan. Also slated to speak is Charles Hopkins, of Toronto’s York University, the UNESCO environmental education chairman.

New to the fair this year is an expanded focus on sustainable living and how to incorporate into daily life. “We’re focusing on green homes and buildings, green materials for decorating like paints and rugs and bamboo floorings,” Vogl said.

While most of the products are not for sale, fairgoers will find plenty of samples and information about where to find the products closer to home. Samples include over 2,300 tea bags donated by Celestial Seasons and bookmarks by a woman who makes her own paper. Children will be able to build solar ovens.

Last year’s gathering drew 2,000 people, but the Vogls expect even more this year. They organized the first fair four years ago after retiring from Northern Illinois University’s outdoor/environmental education program in 1999.

The Vogls manage a 180-acre farm that includes 20 acres of restored prairie, 13 acres of bottomland forest, a 3.2 kilowatt solar electric system, a 1 kW wind generator, and an oak woods savanna. “Our woods are considered a model to emulate,” Vogl said.

The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Commonwealth Edison are sponsors of the fair.

The Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair opens at 9 a.m. Aug. 13 and 14. Admission is $5 for adults; $3 for children ages 12-16 and free for those under 12. For more information visit www.illinoisrenew.org, or call 815-732-7332.
— Darcy Garrett

Bio-Bus: Motor City Or Bust

The members of San Francisco-based Energy Action are on a cross-country road trip to raise awareness about fuel-efficient vehicles. Their journey’s final destination is “Motor City,” Detroit where organizers of the activist group will convene with leaders of peace, justice, agriculture and labor and faith organizations in August. Their mission is to encourage the American auto industry to produce cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Energy Action recently cruised into Chicago behind the wheels of hybrid cars and a biodiesel bus to draw support from Earth-loving Chicagoans to help them “On the Road to Detroit.”

Members of the student-lead coalition met with local advocacy groups including Illinois Public Interest Research Group and the Apollo Alliance in Pilsen to help gather momentum for the road trip.

“The youth of today will not accept the narrative of dirty energy that has been handed down to us. This summer, we will create a new story to inspire a nation ready for change,” said Sarah Trapido, spokeswoman for Energy Action. For more information, visit www.Roadtodetroit.org.
— Erin Meyer

Soul Food

Health benefits are not the only reason people go vegetarian.

Some believe that the cultivation and consumption of plant life is the best and most responsible use of the Earth’s resources. Others, such as members of Naperville’s Science of Spirituality Center stress vegetarianism as a fundamental part of a person’s spiritual development.

“The food a person consumes forms a part of their body and also influences their thoughts,” said Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, an internationally known spiritual leader who resides in the far western suburbs. “When people eat the flesh of dead animals, their consciousness is affected.”

Sant Rajinder Singh will talk about how vegetarianism nourishes the soul at a daylong vegetarian festival from 1 to 8 p.m., Aug. 27 on the grounds of the Science of Spirituality Center, 4S 175 Naperville Rd., Naperville.

The culinary carnival will provide farm fresh ideas for everyone from veteran vegetarians to those whose diets consist of plentiful portions of red meat. Demonstrations will feature tofu and raw food preparation, growing sprouts, juicing and Indian culinary tips, among others.

Great thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi followed vegetarian diets, according to Rajinder Singh who explained that laws of the universe state that for every action there is a reaction: “In the East this is called the law of karma.”

Arran Stephens, founder of Nature’s Path, an organic cereal company, avid vegetarian and chairman of the Science of Spirituality Center in Canada, attributes much of his personal and professional success to the vegetarian lifestyle.

“I began to make the connection between diet, health and spirit in the 1960s, in my early teens,” Stephens said. “I realized my diet had a powerful effect on my meditation. Meat made it difficult for me to concentrate but the vegetarian diet helped me come in contact with my inner light.”

During the festival Stephens will share his life story, starting with his 1950s childhood on his parents organic berry farm on Vancouver Island, Canada to today the founder of the largest certified organic cereal company in North America which began out of the back of his restaurant The Golden Locust, one of Canada’s first vegetarian restaurants.

The Science of Spirituality Center is an international non-profit with 750 locations around the world that help people gain inner and outer peace through meditation. The international organization is based in Delhi, India with the North American headquarters in Naperville.
— Erin Meyer

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