7gen Bloc

Our Sage of Scent, Eva Marie, sent us this great bee article yesterday. It’s an excellent recounting of the general state of affairs where our pollinating friends are concerned. It appears things are so broken so many ways it’s simply a wonder that honeybees survived this long without a major malfunction. That’s the what’s really surprising about colony collapse disorder. Not that it happened. But that it didn’t happen sooner.

Peter Senge, MIT lecturer and sustainability systems thinker (Fifth Discipline) was at 7th Gen recently and spoke candidly about the fervorishly growing sustainability movement. WR

Last month’s issue of the Non-Toxic Times reviewed the new book from investigative journalist Mark Shapiro, Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power. This is an important work not because it outlines the many ways Americans are being harmed by toxic products and the laissez-faire regulatory climate that places corporate protectionism ahead of consumer protections but becauase it addresses what this means for our economic future and American influence in the world.

It’s going to be a little quiet around here during the next couple of days as most of the staff heads to the hills outside Stowe for a two-day retreat. That makes it a perfect time to dump my virtual in-box out on the table and see what seems post-worthy.

Over the weekend, the Times of London reported on a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine by the American Thoracic Society. The results are not surprising and speak for themselves. “The relative risk rates of developing adult asthma in relation to exposure to cleaning products could account for as much as 15 per cent, or one in seven, of adult asthma cases.” In fact, the study found that subjects who used household spray cleaners at least once a week increased their risk of developing asthma symptoms by an incredible 30 to 50 percent.

Who owns the water? It’s a good question, and once we get past the whole planet-melting-into-a big-squishy-puddle thing, it could end up being be the key query of our time. Indeed, a lot of experts think that water is likely to become the main wellspring at the center of future international conflicts. Here on the home front, the situation is not that extreme, but we’ve got our own issues, one of which is that corporations are slowly assuming control of this necessary resource and reselling it in bottles for big profitable bucks.

I would now to pause to throw some serious love Step It Up’s way. I’m crazy for this group. They’re taking it to the streets and making some good solid noise about the climate crisis. Demanding attention in ways than cannot be ignored by even the highest and the mightiest no matter where it is they’re sitting on their hands. That’s what I’m talking about, Willis. Getting in their faces. Refusing to back down. And not taking no for an answer.