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I suppose it was inevitable that Earth Day, founded 42 years ago in 1970, would be co-opted. I stopped reading the countless emails from company after company I received this week exclaiming “Happy Earth Day!” and offering “free shipping!” “Save 10%!” or “40% off!”

On the one hand, we all want to celebrate the Earth. Yay! But on the other, we want to really celebrate it, not via meaningless hype from companies that throw a few words on their packaging and once a year set up a booth at an Earth Day Fair and yet everything else they do – from production, packaging and disposal – reeks of irresponsibility with profit before practice, irretrievably polluting our precious water, air and land.

With the environment such a hot topic and a marketers’ dream to boot, how do we discern what’s real and what’s “green washing“? Even newer, small companies on the scene boasting “organic” “sustainable” “local” can start to appear less about being authentic and more about jumping on a trend.

How Earth Day Began and What It Meant

The roots of all this began over 40 years ago. On the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2010, author, activist and professor Brian Tokar wrote a piece for the Indypendent, “Reclaiming Earth Day — With Climate Chaos on the Horizon, the Environmental Movement needs Traction” reflecting on its origins:

While environmental awareness has seeped into mainstream U.S. society since the 1970s — the era when 20 million people hit the streets on Earth Day to demand action — the structures of power remain largely the same. The mass mobilizations around the original Earth Day helped spur then-President Richard Nixon to sign a series of ambitious environmental laws that helped to clean contaminated waterways, save the bald eagle from the ravages of pesticides and began to clear the air, which in the early 1960s was so polluted that people were passing out all over our cities. Most environmental victories since then have benefited from those changes in the law, but more fundamental changes seem as distant as ever.

… the original Earth Day on April 22, 1970, was initially a staged event. Politicians like Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) and Rep. Pete McCloskey (R-CA) took the lead in crafting the first Earth Day celebration that unexpectedly brought millions of people out around the country. The events, however, were supported by establishment institutions like the Conservation Foundation, a corporate think-tank founded by Laurance Rockefeller in 1948. Nixon even began the year with a presidential proclamation saying that the 1970s would be the “environmental decade.” …

To everyone’s surprise, Earth Day turned out to be the largest outpouring of public sentiment on any political issue to date. It drew public attention to environmentalism as a social movement in its own right. And it set the stage to pressure Congress to pass 15 major national environmental laws over a 10-year period and establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In addition to the formation of the EPA, in the early 70s, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act were all passed. 

Promise Unfulfilled?

It’s a great history, and yet, with all the uber-focus on the environment currently, it still has not lived up to its promise. Tokar notes that legislation and our government have not made the strides after that first Earth Day, plus the big environmental non-profits have allowed themselves to be co-opted thereby losing their effectiveness and essentially their focus and mission.

Just the other day, eco-writer Jennifer Grayson at the Huffington Post asked, Should we Forget Earth Day? She notes that she started out wanting to publish an optimistic piece but the more she thought about it, the more depressed she became.

Grayson writes:

But here’s the reality: After planting a tree at a local event or recycling their old electronics, the majority of people (companies, our government) will go back to business as usual. They’ll make choices that are beneficial to the environment when it’s convenient or profitable; they’ll look the other way when it’s not.

Why? Because we haven’t set the stakes high enough. In fact, we’ve missed the mark entirely. Save the planet, goes that familiar refrain each Earth Day.

But it isn’t the planet that’s at stake this Earth Day; it’s us.

A Story of Two Earth Days (NYC)

Yesterday, I stopped by an Earth Day event outside NY’s Grand Central Station. A young man was handing out free Honest Tea and Odwalla bars (both now owned by Coca Cola). He seemed enthusiastic but perhaps a bit disenfranchised himself about this task. When he walked away from me and my friends, he said (unironically) “Don’t forget to recycle.” It seemed he knew that it was part of a much larger conversation but he wanted to impart something to us. I was pretty much speechless (is that what it’s come down to?) as he turned and walked away to hand out more Odwalla bars to people with hands out eagerly awaiting them.

Of course, he didn’t know that nine (or ten) years prior, a group I co-founded, Recycle This! held a table at this same Earth Day event (at the time, it was held indoors). As a grassroots activist group, we had qualms about doing so. We were worried it was too corporate an event, but we also felt it was important to get the word out that our Mayor Mike Bloomberg – who has since positioned himself as “green” – had cut recycling of plastics and glass citing that the effort “cost too much.” [We ended up feeling it was a good event at which to table as we reached people we wouldn't have encountered elsewhere and many were not aware and/or glad to voice their opposition via signing a petition and taking information.]

What we realized shortly after forming our group was that it was not just about recycling which can become sort of a ‘feel good’ effort but isolated from everything else. A larger look at the big picture was imperative; one which included reducing, reusing, & re-THINKING and also altering our consumption patterns. (Also, we realized much of the problem lies outside of the individual as companies use excess packaging without considering its disposal; the life cycle of a product is purposefully shortened so consumers need to buy more, and commercial businesses need to be taking a look at their disposal methods to keep items out of the landfill.)

There was also another lesson there — the repercussions of that bad decision by NYC’s Mayor: 10 years later, with recycling reinstalled, the program still has not regained the levels of recycling rates it had achieved in 2002 (the halting and starting again caused much confusion and the media repeated back endlessly the mayor’s viewpoint on the “costs” involved) and New York City lags behind most other cities.

So What Do *We* Do?

The environment IS us. It reflects our care for, and the ways in which we inhabit, the earth. Our actions (and inaction) impact other species and it all interrelates. It’s sort of simple in that way.

Right now, so much (or, in many instances, all) emphasis by marketers and media is being placed on the individual — you and me. What WE buy; our environmental consciousness is being promoted as key to the salvation of the environment. But, as Grayson writes in her piece, the problems are “the powers that be (Big Oil, Big Ag, Big Chem)” and the co-opting of our elected officials by lobbyists and big corporate money. We are not going to find corporate America or our government – at least right now – doing the right thing. But they can be pressured to do so ultimately.

The thing is — this is beyond a debate over purchasing Seventh Generation* vs. Tide. While that is important, it’s also SO much larger than that. It is important is to be as informed and authentic and active as possible. As any and all of these identities: as a person, business owner, consumer, parent, member of your community and perhaps most importantly inhabitant of this world.

Independent, local, sustainable, fair trade, organic, petrochemical-free – those are ALL important. But, to me, what’s equally or more important is that people are INVOLVED in their lives – in the decisions in their lives and in what’s going on around them. That first Earth Day – even if initially a politically contrived “staged event” – changed things. But we need things to change faster, bigger and smarter. We’re at the mercy of a political system that is largely rigged and inefficient. But we – each one of us – can be doing things and, in effect, making that change happen.

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“Who Owns Your Food” by Rachel Cernansky (my former co-hort in Recycle This!)/Planet Green/Discovery.com

A professor at Michigan State University put together these charts illustrating Who Owns What in the Organic Industry

Mother Nature Network looks back at the environment in the U.S. over the last 42 years (warning: this chart is a bit depressing)

*Seventh Generation is one of the few independent successful companies which has not been subsumed into a larger corporate entity.

How to Avoid Being Sad, Volume II

Ed. note — It’s the holidays and sometimes it can be joyful; sometimes sad. A perfect time for this piece!

Did you know a Me&Ro bracelet could inspire a friendship? Apparently, it can. About five years ago, I emailed Giving Tree Jewelry co-owner Rachel Leigh Smith trying to decide on a color – black or red – of a bracelet I was perusing on her web site which led to an interchange via email. She’d mentioned on the site that she’d written a book, “How to Avoid Being Sad.” Her enthusiasm about it leapt off the screen; I inquired how I could read it. Voilà! Next thing I knew, the pocket-sized volume appeared having made its way from Cape Cod to my mailbox in Brooklyn.

“How to Avoid Being Sad, Volume I” is the book you pick up and it immediately becomes your friend. The wisdom within it is witty, thoughtful, and comforting. The book was inspired by Rachel’s own chance encounter with a young man named Max she met at the LAX ticket counter. She was about to head out on a red eye flight from Los Angeles (where she had stayed at the Chateau Marmont!) to Boston. They sat next to each other on the plane and talked “straight without stop for the next 6 hours.” (She does not like to fly so meeting Max – along with some red wine – was a fortuitous encounter, in more ways than one .) Due to a travel mix-up, Max ended up coming back with her to Cape Cod until he could depart the next morning to his next destination. Those discussions with Max were the inspiration for the first book. I spoke to Rachel recently as she was driving from NYC (where she now lives) back to Cape Cod.

Rachel Leigh Smith

“How to Avoid Being Sad,” which was sold in her gallery and given to her “favorite customers,” would have ended with Volume I, if not for a customer, N.B., who became a great friend. N.B. (to whom Volume II is dedicated; Volume I was for Max) pushed Rachel to embark on publishing Volume II. With that encouragement, knowing “at least one person” would be interested, she moved forward on making it happen. As Volume I had, the idea was calling to her.

She embarked on a successful Kickstarter campaign (she told me I introduced her to the concept of Kickstarter) earlier this year to raise some funds to print Volume II and develop some web site ideas.

The How To Avoid Being Sad website is now operational and offers “sadness fighting” tips each day.

The best way to understand how great “How to Avoid Being Sad” (both volumes) is to share some gems from Volume II:

1. BE A KINDER, MORE CONSIDERATE, MORE SELFLESS HUMAN BEING.

“There is only one rule I know of, Goddammit. You’ve got to be Kind.” – Kurt Vonnegut

6. PRACTICE GRATITUDE EVERYDAY, FOR EVERYTHING.

The good the bad and the ugly. A tall order, but the lack of sadness you will feel in trying to fulfill it, is worth the effort.

8B. AT LEAST CONSIDER DOING THE THING THAT SCARES YOU THE MOST.

I love this one. Whatever option you go with, I think it leads to a lot of exhilaration, and that is not sad!

For me, the thing that always scared me the most was living in New York City. I was terrified because I was certain I would be overwhelmed every day and that the city would swallow me.

I live in New York City now and it is true, I am often terrified, always overwhelmed, and sometimes swallowed. But I am still here and the mix of fear and exhilaration leaves little time for sadness.

9. SADNESS STICKS TO STILL THINGS.

You gotta move baby move!

10. KNOW THIS TRUTH: LIFE IS ALWAYS RIGHT.

I am learning to make life and its totally beautiful, non-sensical, fucked up randomness my friend and not my enemy.

You can’t win. You can’t force the experience of your life to look the way you want or need it to. I have tried and trust me the fight is exhausting. And sadness loves a tired spirit.

96. FAIL. FAIL AGAIN. FAIL HARDER, FAIL WITH MORE BELLS AND WHISTLES AND CUSTOM DESIGNED LOGOS. FAIL. BUT KEEP GOING.

In this regard, I am the least sad person on the planet! No one matches me with failure! Below is a list of just some of my failed businesses in the last 2 years.

BGG Ed. Note: Okay, I’m not going to give them all away, you have to read the book ! They’re pretty great in the range of ideas the author has had – and tried.

197. IF YOU FIND THAT YOU ARE SAD, GO WITH IT. TRUST THAT IT WILL PASS.

I personally promise it will.

“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” – Rilke

There are 206 tips within Volume II. Even if you are rarely sad, the life-encouraging wisdom within both Volumes makes them happy additions to your library, to carry in your purse or keep by your computer.

Rachel told me she’s been “dreaming of all these kindness revolutions” and considers her move to NYC something that “scares me but it’s necessary.” And she’s found, like many of us know, that, “there’s this code. People look out for you.” And that’s so true. It’s not that Rachel is always happy as she pointed out to me when I asked but what’s apparent is that she perseveres and keeps a sense of play in her attitude.

I was thinking about this fact … she didn’t call her books “How to Avoid Feeling Sad” because sometimes we will feel sad.. it’s just how it is … but it doesn’t mean we have to BE sad.

Rachel’s two books are about “sadness fighting” but they are also about living your life in the fullest way possible. I wonder… maybe one is not possible without the other?

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You can visit HowtoAvoidBeingSad.com (updated every day) and order “How to Avoid Being Sad” Volume I and/or II. One of Rachel’s upcoming projects – sure not to fail – is a children’s book, “Strange and Wonderful Creatures.” She’s also working on two other web-based projects which surely are part of “kindness revolutions.”

p.s. The Me & Ro bracelet was an earlier version of this although it used to be offered in black and red and was a bit less expensive when I bought it but it’s been a few years. It’s the same style. I highly recommend it! You will not feel sad wearing it.

Abandoned Ferris Wheel Chernobyl

When I was in my twenties, I followed a macrobiotic diet. I was incredibly dedicated. So much of how I live now was informed by that time period. NYC had its own Macrobiotic Center at the time, based out of the gorgeous Cable Building at 611 Broadway, off Houston Street in the Village.*

My first appointment with a macrobiotic counselor took place there. I had moved back home with my parents in New Jersey at the time. I remember driving in on the weekend the day of my appointment and parking in the lot across the street in SoHo(that parking lot is no longer there; neither is the Macrobiotic Center tho’ the Cable Building — pictures at the end — remains). I didn’t expect to be put on the strict program the counselor laid out for me but, convinced of the program’s merits and determined, I began following it instantly.

No hamburgers? No problem. Cut out sugar? Next day. Give up dairy and flour products? Done.

Macrobiotics means “great” or “big life” in Greek. (I go into this more in the B-girl Guide.) It has influenced to this day how I live my day-to-day life. It was eye opening – it’s where – and how – I first learned to avoid toxic chemicals in the home; eat locally sourced food and organic products when possible; avoid sugar and dairy; the problems with pesticides in our food and environment; why it’s best to wear natural fibers, and how I came to explore acupuncture, meditation & so much more.

One thing that always stood out to me at the time was hearing repeatedly how after Hiroshima people who followed certain macrobiotic protocols were able to avoid the radiation’s harmful effects.

Of course, we have to know what we’re dealing with to respond properly and that is one of the problems post-Fukushima disaster, as it continues to unfold.

INFORMATION POST-FUKUSHIMA TO JOURNALISTS HAS BEEN RESTRICTED

Vivian Norris wrote a very comprehensive piece May 9th at the Huffington Post: Deadly Silence on Fukushima. She wrote, “People need answers, data and honest information to help them deal with what is going on. Media blackouts, propaganda and greedy self-interested industries, of any kind, who allow human beings’ health to be affected, and deaths to occur, must be stopped now.”

Alarmingly, she reported how, during the first few months after the disaster (which remains on-going), access to information on the situation for freelancers, internet and “foreign media” has been restricted by both the government and TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company):

… access has been limited in two ways. First, while Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano Yukio holds twice daily press conferences for representatives of the big Japanese media, registered representatives of freelance and internet media are limited to a single press conference per week. Second, in contrast to Japanese media who are briefed regularly by Edano and periodically by Prime Miniser Kan, foreign media are briefed exclusively by administrative staff.

Uesugi also notes that at TEPCO press conferences, which are now being held at company headquarters, foreign correspondents and Japanese freelancers regularly ask probing questions while mainstream journalists simply record and report company statements reiterating that the situation is basically under control and there is nothing to worry about. One reason for this, Uesugi suggests, is that TEPCO, a giant media sponsor, has an annual 20 billion yen advertising budget. “The media keeps defending the information from TEPCO!” “The Japanese media today is no different from the wartime propaganda media that kept repeating to the very end that ‘Japan is winning the war against America,’” Uesugi exclaimed.

Uesugi is a Japanese journalist who has been a bit of a muckraker, revealing much that the Japanese government and TEPCO have attempted to keep quiet. Now some months have gone by and The L.A. Times reported the other day that distrust runs deep by the Japanese people as to whether their government is informing them adequately.

Clearly for our own self-preservation and that of our planet, we need to be on top of this. Here in the U.S., it’s possible food on the West Coast is being affected as well as products we may consume with origins in Japan and elsewhere which need to be monitored (radiation monitoring in Japan is voluntary and conducted by consumer groups and the companies themselves).

MACROBIOTIC FOOD PROTOCOLS

In the Huffington Post piece, Norris references the use of macrobiotics in preventing radiation’s harmful effects from the director of the Department of Internal Medicine in Nagasaki in August 1945 -

Macrobiotic Diet Prevents Radiation Sickness Among A-Bomb Survivors in Japan 

Most patients in the hospital, located one mile from the center of the blast, survived the initial effects of the bomb, but soon after came down with symptoms of radiation sickness from the fallout that had been released. Dr. Akizuki fed his staff and patients a strict macrobiotic diet of brown rice, miso soup, wakame and other sea vegetables, Hokkaido pumpkin, and sea salt and prohibited the consumption of sugar and sweets. As a result, he saved everyone in his hospital, while many other survivors in the city perished from radiation sickness.

“I gave the cooks and staff strict orders that they should make unpolished whole-grain rice balls, adding some salt to them, prepare strong miso soup for each meal, and never use sugar. When they didn’t follow my orders, I scolded them without mercy, ‘Never take sugar. Sugar will destroy your blood!’”…

“This dietary method made it possible for me to remain alive and go on working vigorously as a doctor. The radioactivity may not have been a fatal dose, but thanks to this method, Brother Iwanaga, Reverend Noguchi, Chief Nurse Miss Murai, other staff members and in-patients, as well as myself, all kept on living on the lethal ashes of the bombed ruins. It was thanks to this food that all of us could work for people day after day, overcoming fatigue or symptoms of atomic disease and survive the disaster” free from severe symptoms of radioactivity.”

(Sources: Tatsuichiro Akizuki, M.D., Nagasaki 1945 (London: Quartet Books, 1981); Tatsuichiro Akizuki, “How We Survived Nagasaki,” East West Journal, December 1980)

In addition, this piece from Kushi Institute (one of a few premier Macrobiotic Centers; located outside of Boston) senior teacher and macrobiotic counselor John Kozinski, “Ideas to Protect Yourself from Harmful Radiation,” has some excellent guidelines:

There are some natural foods that will help if you have radiation exposure. Here is a list with some explanations:

Leafy greens: stimulate the colon and help the liver discharge radiation from the body.

Fermented foods: have the same effect as leafy greens. These include miso, natural cucumber pickles, and fermented sauerkraut. The best quality pickles are homemade or found in the refrigerated section of the store. They do not have vinegar as an ingredient.

Avoid or limit sugars. These will ferment in the gut and interfere with elimination.

Eat moderate amounts of grains and cooked vegetables, small amounts of beans regularly and fish along with some cooked fruit, healthy fats and natural seasonings. If you eat other forms of animal foods, be moderate. Excessive amounts will interfere with digestion.

Good quality saturated fats block the toxicity of radioactive ions such as avocado and coconut oil. Increase these in times of a nuclear disaster.

Fatty fish: fat soluble vitamins in fatty fish like wild salmon or sardines aid elimination. Eat more often in a disaster.

Kelp tablets from clean waters or kombu powder made from kombu from clean waters. The natural iodine can replace the potassium iodine pills. Take a pill every 1-2 hours if exposed to radiation. North American Herb and Spice Company has good quality kelp under the name, PureKelp.

Miso has a substance that will remove radiation from the body. Prepare soups and season with a strong taste of miso if there is nuclear disaster. Drink 3 cups per day.

Umeboshi Plums: Take 1-2 daily. This will stimulate the liver and colon to eliminate radiation.

Supplements for Radiation disasters: organic selenium, 200 micrograms every hour for one week then 600 micrograms daily. Vitamin E: 400 IU every hour for 1-2 days, then 2400 IU daily. Buy Vitamin E as mixed tocopherols and/or tocotrienols.

Chlorella: 2 – 500 mg. capsules 3 times per day or follow directions on the bottle

RADIATION – ALL FORMS THE SAME?

Dr. Christiane Northrup (who wrote a great book, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom) posted this link on her Facebook page on how to avoid radiation dangers from John W. Apsley – Radiation Toxicity Antidotes.

We are often told that radiation from x-rays and daily exposure we get in our day-to-day lives is the same as radiation from this and other sources. However, there is a significant distinction. Apsley explains it here:

… at least one nuclear physicist appearing on a cable news channel on March 18th has already reported that the amount of radiation that has landed on U.S. soil would expose those proximal to it to “about the same amount of radiation we receive when we get a single dental X-ray.”

Well, excuse me, but once we ingest these particles, they continuously bombard us with radiation for days, weeks, months and even years before being eliminated. This is totally unlike that of a single dental X-ray which only exposes us to a one time milliseconds of exposure. Obviously this scientist has not yet taken the time to review The Petkau Effect.

No doubt many scientists will continue to compare apples to oranges by comparing diagnostic X-ray exposures to trace particles entering into our food chain and then our bodies from Fukushima Fall-Out. Or worse, is to hear our officials make statements to the effect that, “Only low levels of radiation have been detected, and these are well within government ‘permissible’ standards which poses no risk to the general public.” All these comparisons or standards are the hallmark of unscientific constructs, since the government readily admits there is no such thing as safe levels of radiation. ^…

You should be concerned about tiny scattered particles that settle into our tissues undetected, and not worry about amounts sufficient to trigger Geiger Counter alarms going off at airport check stations. The tiny amounts of exposure which are more likely to occur give off constant ionizing radiation that burns us at the molecular level over many years before causing a diagnosable issue.

Physicians for Social Responsibility issued a press release of March 23rd which concurred:

According to the National Academy of Sciences, there are no safe doses of radiation. Decades of research show clearly that any dose of radiation increases an individual’s risk for the development of cancer.

“There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources. Period,” said Jeff Patterson, DO, immediate past president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “Exposure to radionuclides, such as iodine-131 and cesium-137, increases the incidence of cancer. For this reason, every effort must be taken to minimize the radionuclide content in food and water.”

“Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If an individual ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the body,”said Alan H. Lockwood, MD, a member of the Board of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “The Japanese government should ban the sale of foods that contain radioactivity levels above pre-disaster levels and continue to monitor food and water broadly in the area. In addition, the FDA and EPA must enforce existing regulations and guidelines that address radionuclide content in our food supply here at home.”

All food contains some radioactivity as a result of natural sources, but also from prior above-ground nuclear testing, the Chernobyl accident, and releases from nuclear reactors and from weapons facilities. The factors that will affect the radioactivity in food after the Fukushima accident are complicated.

CONCERNS AS RADIATION DETECTED IN THE UNITED STATES

The U.S. government downplayed any effect on our water and food supply and yet Reuters reported on March 27th, Low-level Radiation Found in Massachusetts Rainwater.

In addition, Greenpeace in May revealed “seaweed radiation levels [are] 50 times higher than official limits, raising serious concerns about continued long-term risks to people and the environment from contaminated seawater.” (Seaweed also being a food recommended to protect against the radiation – so you have to check the source.)

In September, radiation was detected in rainwater in San Francisco.

We eat products from the West Coast; we certainly have access to products from Japan and nearby where radiation has been detected in rice and green tea. We’re all connected through the global market and our air, water, and soil.

WHAT TO DO

With the lack of information coming through from both the Japanese government and the U.S. media, this is another situation where we must do our own research and educate ourselves. We have responsibility for protecting our lives, our planet and the other species that inhabit this earth with us. In effect, we have to take into our own hands the care of ourselves and the earth by reading up as much as possible, informing ourselves, sharing that information, holding our government accountable, speaking out, and taking action. The doctor from Hiroshima above stated that the radiation they absorbed “may not have been a fatal dose” but this remains information worth learning and keeping in mind.

So, stock up and support yourself – good any time – with particularly miso soup, seaweed and green vegetables! Stay informed and involved.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

Dr. Mercola, How to Protect Yourself from Nuclear Radiation

Helen Caldicott, After Fukushima, Enough is Enough (On Nuclear Power)

Part I here at B-girl Guide: Update on Fukushima, Japan, The Rest of Us – Afterwards, Now

Photos Chernobyl 1984-2009: Then and Now A before and after, totally jarring, surreal, sad. One commentary of particular interest within this photo essay  …

As an aside, here are some photos of 611 Broadway, the Cable Building, today (Nothing, thankfully, to do with radiation. Just my personal interest.):

view from across Houston Street

above entrance on broadway

up close

*The Cable Building (home to the Macrobiotic Center) was built in 1893. Stanford White, who designed the structure, was a principle in renowned period architecture firm McKim, Mead & White. I first learned of him in writing my Washington Square Park Blog as he also designed the Washington Square Arch.

Chernobyl Top Photo: Tim Suess

Photo (full Cable building): New York Daily Photo

Other two photos: New York Architecture Images

Japan Cat Network

Via The Telegraph Fukushima Pets to be Rescued from No-go Zone (December 6, 2011):

The government has granted permission to animal welfare groups enabling them to enter the no-go zone in order to rescue abandoned cats, dogs and other pets who are still alive.

Countless residents were forced to leave pets behind as they fled their homes during emergency evacuations following the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

As a result, many animals are believed to have starved to death, although animal welfare groups believe that several hundred cats and dogs remain alive and are running wild across the nuclear exclusion zone.

The Environment Ministry has now given permission to the groups to rescue surviving pets, although they will only be able to pick up animals whose owners have requested it and must prove they will be housed in secure shelters.

Also in The Telegraph, from yesterday, is an article, “Wild Monkeys to measure radiation levels in Fukushima.” At first, I thought they were placing the monkeys there but it seems that “as many as 14 groups of monkeys are believed to reside in the mountains forests to the west of Minamisoma city.” Apparently, to “measure” the radiation, it will “involve monkeys being fitted with collars containing radiation meters and GPS transmitters.” (Involve, eh? Funny choice of words.) These collars will then detach “remotely.” No specific details in the piece as to how the monkeys will be rounded up initially. Not sure what to make of that exactly – it’s a good thing that the radiation is being measured in some way but a bit skeptical / concerned when animals are used in these ways. Particularly in light of the government’s severe lack of interest of the other animals left behind there.

Animal groups have been lobbying the government for months to allow them to rescue people’s animal companions who were left behind. Imagine if your animal, part of your family, was left behind and you could not go back to get him or her – to even be certain if he was alive – until 9 months later? This attitude by our governments (similar to what transpired around Hurricane Katrina) has got to change.

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Some background reading –

Amazing blog post of a volunteer who helped animal rescue groups look after animals in Fukushima back in April here at One Day in Fukishima via Against the Stream – a Contrarian’s Blog.

Via International Best Friends Org.: Japan: Setting out to Save Animals. (This was posted back in March right after the area was evacuated.)

I didn’t really intend this to be Part II but the news is timely!

See Part I at B-girl Guide: Japan, Fukushima, The Rest of Us – Afterwards, Now

The Fukushima nuclear disaster took place after the Japanese power plant could not withstand the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, causing a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials, and the evacuation of a 20 kilometer zone (12 miles) around it, displacing at least 180,000 people. It is a continually unfolding story. Yet the catastrophe has received little attention over the last 9 months since initially capturing non-stop worldwide news and public attention. CNN’s Anderson Cooper was on the ground there risking his health. Updates have been sporadic at best; however, in the few months, there’s been a smattering of new articles – from which the information released is important to be aware.

Via Wikipedia: “The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant … following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.^[5][6] The plant comprises six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric (GE), and maintained by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The Fukushima disaster is the largest of the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents and is the largest nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.^[7]“

Many people believe that the Fukushima will surpass Chernobyl in its ultimate impact and tragic effects.

How can we live in a world with nuclear power – already a problematic energy source -  if those in charge of it are irresponsible both before such a horrendous incident – and in the aftermath?

In addition to the devastating impacts to the lives and health of the people in Japan, animals and wildlife were left to fend for themselves. Provisions were not made to accommodate animals’ lives and people were forced to leave them behind, as well as, livestock. (Wonderful JEARS – Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support – volunteers went into the zone afterwards. That may have to be its own post.)

Surely, we are at the point where people and animals are fully taken into consideration, and information, even if difficult, is communicated properly. What happened to birds, squirrels, other animals on the ground and in the air?

This impacts all of us. Our water, air and soil are all connected. Products we consume come from Japan and food from the West Coast has been affected. Even if there are people saying not to worry, perhaps we should be doing just that.

In the Media:

The Japan Times reported in late November that the Fukushima nuclear power plant that experienced a series of failures after being subjected to an earthquake and tsunami was built under the assumption by TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) that the facility would not have to withstand a tsunami greater than 5.7 meters high. This, despite the fact, that as recently as 2008 an in-house study projected a tsunami “as high as 10.2 meters” was likely. Officials dismissed this risk as “unrealistic” yet the March 11th tsunami was “as high as about 15 meters .. [and] knocked out the reactor cooling systems, leading to three meltdowns. The waves easily overran the plant’s sea wall.” The company back in 2008 “ruled out an immediate need to bolster defenses against the sea.”

On November 17th, the Wall Street Journal reported Radioactive Rice in Fukushima as “radioactive cesium exceeding the government limit was detected for the first time in rice harvested in Fukushima prefecture.” In addition, “The detection is likely to fuel consumer anxieties already rife with concerns that products such as beef and green tea tainted with unsafe levels of radioactive contaminants have made their way onto store shelves.”

The comments section at the article were particularly illuminating –

Frank Snapp wrote:

Detected for the FIRST TIME”…Yeah right! Contrary to the ridiculous implication of this article, I’m certain that all agricultural products in Japan are highly contaminated from ongoing aerosolized emissions–quadrillions of bequerels–from Fukushima and fallout surely reaches probably every corner of Japan and most parts of the Northern Hemisphere. This “first time” contaminated rice detected in Japan article is a minimization propaganda faux news piece meant to disempower, misinform and to distract the citizens of Japan. Don’t settle for this pablum. Demand the reality because in this you are going to pay the price for going along to get along!

NoWorries wrote:

Don’t worry, they’ll just do what they did with the milk and mix it with less contaminated rice so the the average radiation reading comes under the government limit.

In September, ABC News asked the question: Fukushima Fallout in California Waters: A Threat?:

The radioactive fallout from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant accident has spread as far as California waters, according to scientists from the University of California, Berkeley.

But although the level of radioactivity in the water was higher than normal, they said, it was still very low and not harmful to humans.

“The levels of fallout we have observed in San Francisco Bay area rain water pose[d] no health risk to the public,” wrote the study authors, led by Eric B. Norman of UC Berkeley’s Department of Nuclear Engineering. Additionally, he said, people don’t generally drink rain water.

Scientists also found radioactive material in samples of weeds, vegetables and milk sold in the area, but those levels were also very low.

While people have no reason to fear these findings, Elsayyad understands why people worry when they hear about elevated levels of radiation. The health effects of being exposed to radiation can be very serious, and include organ damage and cancer.

“It’s deeply ingrained in our culture that radiation is harmful,” he said.  ”I wouldn’t blame people for being worried, but it’s important to make it clear that these results show the water is safe.”

Again, illuminating in the comments:

John c -

Just because the levels aren’t harmful doesn’t mean we should not be alarmed and disapproving of measurable nuclear contamination of our environment. Pollution is pollution. The scale of any nuclear disaster is so large! A moderate change in lifestyle is not impossible.

James commented:

Since when is the water we all get from lakes and reservoirs not “rainwater”? In fact, they actually are concentrated forms of rainwater in that all precipitation that falls everywhere around the catchment area eventually runs off and collects in them. So all the Cesium that is falling in the hundreds/thousands of square miles around these catchments would eventually end up floating in them!

They admit that there is Cesium in the rain but fail to mention there will actually be more Cesium in the lakes as it continues to accumulate over time. With a half-life of 30-years, it sure isn’t going away anytime soon – just the opposite of what this feel-good story indicates with its “everything is back to normal” levels comment. Clearly a bunch of double-talk meant to misinform the public about where all this Cesium is actually ending up – which is EVERYWHERE like a blanket over everything not just a few selected items like this or that they so conveniently decide to randomly test to say it’s OK. If its in the milk, then its in the cow. If in the cow, its in the grass. If in the grass, then in the air and rain which means everything everywhere is covered just the same and not just that random sample of milk!

The November 2nd New York Times in Fears of Fission wrote, “The disclosures raise startling questions about how much remains uncertain at the plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The Japanese government has said that it aims to bring the reactors to a stable state known as a ‘cold shutdown’ by the end of the year.”

Previously, The Times story, Citizens’ Testing Finds 20 Hot Spots Around Tokyo (10/14), revealed:

It has been clear since the early days of the nuclear accident, the world’s second worst after Chernobyl, that that the vagaries of wind and rain had scattered worrisome amounts of radioactive materials in unexpected patterns far outside the evacuation zone 12 miles around the stricken plant. But reports that substantial amounts of cesium had accumulated as far away as Tokyo have raised new concerns about how far the contamination had spread, possibly settling in areas where the government has not even considered looking.

The government’s failure to act quickly, a growing chorus of scientists say, may be exposing many more people than originally believed to potentially harmful radiation. It is also part of a pattern: Japan’s leaders have continually insisted that the fallout from Fukushima will not spread far, or pose a health threat to residents, or contaminate the food chain. And officials have repeatedly been proved wrong by independent experts and citizens’ groups that conduct testing on their own.

“Radioactive substances are entering people’s bodies from the air, from the food. It’s everywhere,” said Kiyoshi Toda, a radiation expert at Nagasaki University’s faculty of environmental studies and a medical doctor. “But the government doesn’t even try to inform the public how much radiation they’re exposed to.”

The reports of hot spots do not indicate how widespread contamination is in the capital; more sampling would be needed to determine that. But they raise the prospect that people living near concentrated amounts of cesium are being exposed to levels of radiation above accepted international standards meant to protect people from cancer and other illnesses.

Japanese nuclear experts and activists have begun agitating for more comprehensive testing in Tokyo and elsewhere, and a cleanup if necessary. Robert Alvarez, a nuclear expert and a former special assistant to the United States secretary of energy, echoed those calls, saying the citizens’ groups’ measurements “raise major and unprecedented concerns about the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.”

The Australian (December 2nd) reported:

MOLTEN nuclear fuel in one reactor at Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant burned through the steel pressure vessel and three-quarters of the surrounding concrete containment vessel that formed the reactor’s last substantial internal barrier.

The revelation of the near “China Syndrome” meltdown is yet another revision of the severity of the disaster following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Helen Caldicott in the International Herald Tribune 12/2/2011 via Common Dreams:

Studies in Belarus found that in 2000, 14 years after the Chernobyl disaster, fewer than 20 percent of children were considered “practically healthy,” compared to 90 percent before Chernobyl.

Now, Fukushima has been called the second-worst nuclear disaster after Chernobyl. Much is still uncertain about the long-term consequences. Fukushima may well be on par with or even far exceed Chernobyl in terms of the effects on public health, as new information becomes available. The crisis is ongoing; the plant remains unstable and radiation emissions continue into the air and water.

Recent monitoring by citizens groups, international organizations and the U.S. government have found dangerous hot spots in Tokyo and other areas. …

Many thousands of people continue to inhabit areas that are highly contaminated, particularly northwest of Fukushima. Radioactive elements have been deposited throughout northern Japan, found in tap water in Tokyo and concentrated in tea, beef, rice and other food. In one of the few studies on human contamination in the months following the accident, over half of the more than 1,000 children whose thyroids were monitored in Fukushima City were found to be contaminated with iodine 131 — condemning many to thyroid cancer years from now.

Children are innately sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of radiation, fetuses even more so. Like Chernobyl, the accident at Fukushima is of global proportions. Unusual levels of radiation have been discovered in British Columbia, along the West Coast and East Coast of the United States and in Europe, and heavy contamination has been found in oceanic waters.

Fukushima is classified as a grade 7 accident on the International Atomic Energy Agency scale — denoting “widespread health and environmental effects.” That is the same severity as Chernobyl, the only other grade 7 accident in history, but there is no higher number on the agency’s scale.

Last week’s New York Times‘ revealed “radiation [has been found] in infant food.” This information only became public when “a citizen’s group in Fukushima first detected the radiation in Meiji’s baby formula and pressed the company for tests.” You’d think, in light of this disaster, Japan’s policy of not testing foods would be changed. Meiji, the maker of the formula, responded to the test results, stating babies could still “drink the formula every day without any effect on their health.”

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Part II will feature things we can do to protect ourselves somewhat, while also remaining informed on the true extent of this disaster and the fact that information is being released sketchily at best. Similar to the climate post-9/11, people in downtown Manhattan were told the air was “safe” – by government officials and echoed by the majority of the media – while myself and others worked to raise attention to this issue, protested school children being allowed back to schools nearby, knowing this was not the truth*. (Many “first responders” and residents are now sick, dying or have died.) We all deserve better.

That’s what this blog and (forthcoming) book are about – keeping ourselves informed and knowing what to look out for.

* See this great FAIR (Fair and Accuracy in Reporting) from 2006 holding the media accountable regarding 9/11 air safety, “Gullibility Begins at Home: New York Times accepted false reassurances on Ground Zero safety“

Pictured: Lonelyville Coffee storefront, a coffee shop which resided across from Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Some of The B-girl Guide was written here (and in many other coffee shops) before it closed (2 years ago?). Great ambiance inside.

It is now a vintage / antique store. The sign remains.