April 2006 | Choice News
Lizards and Turtles and Snakes, Oh My!
Quick! What’s the official Illinois state reptile? How about the official state amphibian? Well, even if you knew it was the painted turtle (reptile) and the Eastern tiger salamander, (amphibian), you still might want to stop by to congratulate them in person at the 13th annual ReptileFest in Chicago, hosted by the Chicago Herpetological Society on April 8-9, on the University of Illinois, Chicago Campus.
At 40,000 square feet, the ReptileFest is one largest showings of reptiles and amphibians in the country, and includes live alligators, crocodiles and caimans.
At the fest, you’ll have the opportunity to feed many different kinds of tortoises and turtles, and “try on” a snake or lizard, as local conservation groups and private collectors will be on hand to supervise the handling of live animals.
Brave souls can even have their photo taken with a giant snake.
And if you find that turtles draw you out of your shell, you can learn more about these rapidly disappearing creatures by joining the Turtle Club for the Chicago Herpetological Society’s monthly get-together on April 30, at North Park Village Nature Center.
Times are tough for turtles. In the U.S., encroachment on turtle habitats is a big problem.
And turtles are rapidly disappearing in Asian countries, mainly due to over-consumption. Less than 12 years after the Roti Island snake-necked turtle was declared a new species, it has all but disappeared from its homeland near Jakarta, Indonesia, according to TRAFFIC a wildlife trade-monitoring network and joint program of the World Wildlife Federation and IUCN-The World Conservation Union.
In several East Asian countries, the demand is up for turtles as food, as ingredients in traditional turtle-based medicines, and as materials for combs, eyeglass frames, buttons and jewelry, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Southeast Asia is estimated to export 13,000 metric tons of live turtles to East Asia annually, according to the society. Consequently, at least half of the 72 turtle species in Southeast Asia are endangered and many of these are considered critically endangered.
Fortunately for the turtles, the Cuc Phuong National Park’s Conservation Project in Vietnam was established in 1996 and it has been studying, rehabilitating and relocating tortoises and freshwater turtles confiscated from the wildlife trade.
The program includes educational outreach to 35 schools and 15 communes in Vietnam and an online workbook that serves as an educational resource for children all over the world. Called Green Forest: Turtles, the book introduces readers to Vietnam’s endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles, while suggesting practical ways students can help protect their turtle friends.
For more information, visit the website.
The Turtle Club for the Chicago Herpetological Society’s monthly get-together, is from 1 to 4 p.m. April 30, at North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago. Call 312-744-5472 or visit chicagoparkdistrict.com.
ReptileFest runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 8-9, at the University of Illinois Chicago Campus, Physical Education Building, 901 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for children 3-11. This is an educational event. There are no live-animal sales. For more information and discount coupons, visit the website or call 773-281-1800.
— CC
Berries for Brain Food
EATING BLUEBERRIES, currants, boysenberries, strawberries, concord grapes and other richly pigmented fruits may help to protect your brain cells. Consumption of these fruits may also prevent and possibly reverse Alzheimer’s, according to James Joseph, a researcher in the Neuroscience Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston.
Joseph, 62, has conducted numerous age-related diet studies, but perhaps the most significant to date indicates that compounds in blueberries — anthrocyanins and polyphenolics — may actually diminish the progression of Alzheimer’s by regenerating brain cells.
“There does seem to be some re-genesis going on,” he said, meaning that the substances encourage new cell growth.
Joseph said his findings also show that berry compounds have strong antioxidant properties associated with the prevention of cancer and aging. His findings are in line with more general medical observations about human populations with a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, he added.
“Think of the Okinawa diet, the diet of the Seventh Day Adventists,” Joseph said. “They tend to suffer less incidents of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. You can also figure, a diet that’s good for your brain is good for your heart and your eyes too.”
There may be still other benefits in eating berries.
For a NASA study, Joseph fed lab rats a diet of blueberries for eight weeks before exposing them to radiation levels representative of what astronauts might encounter in outer space. His results suggested that an antioxidant diet could protect against neurological damage resulting from exposure to radiation.
Joseph, who said he eats a semi-vegetarian diet that includes small quantities of fish and lots of colorful fruits, is co-author of The Color Code: A Revolutionary Eating Plan for Optimum Health with Anne Underwood and Daniel Nadeau, published by Philip Lief Group, Inc., 2002.
— Susan DeGrane
Toxic at Any Speed
LOVE THAT NEW car smell? Well, you might want to hold your nose the next time you climb into a new vehicle.
Much of that new car smell comes from chemicals used on seat cushions, arm rests and plastic parts that pose serious health risks, according to The Ecology Center, a non-profit environmental organization based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Those chemicals include polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDES), which are flame retardants, and phthalates, commonly used to soften plastics and on dashboards. Both chemicals have been linked to various health problems such as birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity, and premature births in laboratory animals.
“Concentrations of PBDES in dust and windshield film samples were up to five times higher than those found in homes and offices in previous studies,” according to a summary of the center’s report, “Toxic at Any Speed: Chemicals in Cars and the Need for Safer Alternatives.” The center’s report also states that “Since the average American spends more than 1.5 hours in their car every day breathing in these chemicals, the inside of a car is a significant source of indoor air pollution … currently one of the top five environmental risks to public health.”
The report also provides the results of tests on various car brands, giving a breakdown of the lowest and highest levels. But the problem goes beyond the carmakers, according to Jeff Gearhart, Ecology Center Campaign director. The center is calling for federal and state government bans on the use of the chemicals. In Illinois, a bill was recently passed that prohibits manufacturers from selling products in the state with some of these chemicals, but it did not include a concentration known as Deca-BDE. Environmental activists are still pushing to ban Deca-BDE products as well. In addition, automobiles were specifically exempted from the state bill, according to the Illinois Public Interest Research Group.
In the meantime, there are a few things you can do. Because chemical emissions are typically released into the air by extreme temperatures and exposure to UV rays, you can decrease your exposure by rolling down windows, using solar reflectors and parking in the shade. Visit the website or ecocenter.org.
— CC
Eco-Palms For April
FOR HUNDREDS of years, palm fronds have been used in the Christian observances of Easter and Palm Sunday as well as in floral arrangements and wedding services all over the world. And it’s estimated that at least 308 million palm fronds will be used in the U.S. this year. But not too many people give much thought to where they are grown.
This year, the Rev. Clare Butterfield, director of the interfaith organization Faith in Place in Chicago, will be purchasing fronds from Eco-Palms, a cooperative project set up last year to help harvesting communities in Guatemala and Mexico.
“We like to have the integrity of using things that are grown in a way that cares for the Earth and helps better peoples lives,” said Butterfield.
Some of the eco-palms are produced by the Guatemalan cooperatives of Carmelita and Uaxactun, which support up to 300 families and help make accessible medical care, health insurance, and funding for school construction.
The cooperatives also offer a social justice component for women workers.
“Because of the recent social justice reforms, women have begun to take a stronger place in society and usually manage the money for the cooperatives,” says RaeLynn Jones-Loss, a research specialist for the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota. Jones-Loss recently visited the cooperatives in Guatemala, where the concept of equal rights for women is relatively new, she said.
The Eco-Palms project is a collaborative effort of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the University of Minnesota Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management, the Rainforest Alliance, Smartwood, and TransFair.
Visit the website or call 773-235-4640.
— Christen DeProto
Illinois Bird Count
WHILE BIRD WATCHERS in other states may have counted more birds, Illinois bird watchers broke their own previous count records in February’s ninth annual Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. The total bird count for Illinois was 176,051, up almost 20,000 from last year and more than 16 times the 1998 count of 10,840.
Of the 126 species recorded in Illinois, the most counted birds were the Canada goose at 31,246, followed by the common grackle at 22,408, the snow goose at 19,275, the European starling at 13,721, the house sparrow at 13,006, and the dark-eyed junco at 8,376.
Across the U.S. and Canada, the count set new participation records. Bird watchers tallied 623 bird species and 7.5 million individual birds during the four-day event.
While some bird populations appear to be fading, others are becoming more visible. For example, in Illinois, there were nearly 3,000 more dark-eyed juncos in this year’s count compared to last year. However, only 189 rusty blackbirds were counted from 17 different sites in Illinois in 2005. This year, only 109 were spotted.
Visit the website.
— CC
Banking on Green
COMPARED WITH giant national banks, ShoreBank is relatively small. But it has big ideas.
Established in 1973 on Chicago’s South Side with a goal to “reverse the decline of inner-city neighborhoods coping with disinvestments and discrimination,” ShoreBank has successfully expanded to other states.
And now it is banking on the expectation that ShoreBank’s own green-building practices will attract new business from clients looking for loans for environmentally friendly and energy-conservation construction projects.
ShoreBank is building a new branch in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood on the South Side that, according to the bank, will be “the first and only LEED-certified bank building in the city and one of the first of its kind in the country.” LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, a green-building rating system.
Slated to be completed later this year, the new one-story banking center at 79th and Racine will measure 4,000 square feet — that is, if an oval shape can actually be measured in square feet.
Composed of bricks made from fly ash and other recycled materials, the walls will be curved to prevent heat loss, and numerous skylights will minimize the use of artificial light.
A garden planted with the groundcover sedum on the roof, or at least part of the roof, will absorb rain and keep it out of the storm sewers. Rainwater from other parts of the roof will be diverted to “water-efficient” landscaping that includes native plants that won’t require special attention. The City of Chicago provided a $5,000 grant for the green-roof project.
The new branch also will feature a geothermal system, a heating and cooling apparatus that will pump a mixture of 70 percent water and 30 percent food-grade glycol 150 feet into the ground, where the temperature is about 55 degrees year-round, then bring it back up to equalize air temperatures in the building with heat pumps, compressors and fans.
The geothermal system is expected to pay for itself in about eight years and, because the equipment is mostly underground and away from the elements, it requires less maintenance, said Joel Freehling, manager of Triple Bottom Line Innovations for ShoreBank.
If Freeling’s title sounds rather unusual, that’s because “Triple Bottom Line” refers to banking institution’s business ethos that includes three bottom lines or goals: community development, conservation and, last but not least, profit.
ShoreBank hopes its newest bank branch will “serve as inspiration for people to try doing these green things themselves,” said Brian Berg, bank spokesman.
For more information on the bank, visit the website.
— Susan DeGrane
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