Bee Minus

At least 50,000 bumblebees were killed in less than a week in a single Oregon parking lot. They died just because someone wanted to get rid of some aphids.

According to this article from The Xerces Society, which advocates for the conservation of invertebrates, an insecticide was applied to some non-native, flowering trees in a Target parking lot because the aphids were dripping a sticky substance. After the poison was applied (it is illegal to apply it when plants are in bloom), bees, not sticky aphid residue, began falling from the trees. And they just kept falling.

The Xerces Society is providing ways people can help, and it is also joining scientists in calling for bans on the cosmetic use of insecticides.

How ridiculous have we become? We indiscriminately throw around toxins to stop stickiness from trees that we introduce to habits. At every turn of this story (right up until it sped off the cliff), we see examples of humans' blindness to their impact on the environment. Such negligence gives us a failing grade in our responsibilities to the environment and should be treated as a criminal act.

It's a Gas

We have reached a point where water on fire isn't surprising.

In 2010, Gasland, a documentary about the environmental and health impacts of fracking, showed us how new methods of natural-gas extraction are poisoning water supplies. Despite those revelations, fracking has increased since then.

Now, Gasland Part II, which premiers on HBO July 8 at 9 p.m., tries to explain why the concerns about fracking have made little impact on lawmakers. Watch below to check out a clip of the filmmaker being interviewed on The Daily Show last night:



The main focus of the film is the influence the natural-gas lobby has on elected officials and how that influence trumps the environment and the voice of people whose health is put at risk by fracking.

In the first Gasland film, seeing people's water catch on fire was shocking, but the current political situation makes it more likely that flammable water will become the norm.

Deep Impacts

Trash may leave our homes, but that doesn't mean it goes away.

A video from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute gives new insight into the far reach of human actions on the environment by revealing the trash on the ocean floor. Watch it below:



Chances are pretty good that something each of us once bought and owned now lies at the bottom of the ocean (or floats on the surface). That will be part of our legacy.

Instead of going, going, gone, our trash just keeps going.

Bittersweet

Most films have to create a buzz to draw an audience, but a recent documentary looks at an issue that people are already buzzing about.

More Than Honey examines the worldwide phenomenon of honeybee die-offs and the major implications they have for humans. To view the trailer and learn more about the film, click here.

The honeybee deaths force us to consider our connection with the environment. Pesticides have been identified as a major factor in the die-offs, and the possible extinction of bees threatens our food sources. In other words, we're deeply entwined at all levels of this issue.

By contributing to the buzz around the bee deaths, More Than Honey helps us explore this vital connection.

Sound Buy

Bird sounds have something special about them.

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, one of the works that helped propel the modern environmental movement, took its name from the unnerving quiet that came from DDT's devastating impact on bird populations. An art exhibit in Sydney, Australia, plays the songs of birds that used to inhabit the city. Then, on a personal level, the song or call of a species I am familiar with is enough to give me a smile.

Bird sounds are also important for identification purposes, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a great collection of songs and calls from North American species. The lab is now making the complete set available for purchase as MP3 files. A smaller, less expensive collection is also available. Both can be purchased for a limited time at a discounted rate. For more information, check out this entry from the lab's Round Robin blog.

Bird sounds occupy an important place in our world, and getting to know them makes their impact all the more meaningful.

A Truly Smart Phone

My cell phone is eight years old. In other words, it's from a time before smartphones were all the rage.

I don't like to buy a lot of stuff, and despite all the cool gadgets on smartphones, I have thought the smartest thing to do was stick with my old phone. After all, I really didn't need what a smartphone could give me. In addition, smartphones seem to be another piece of technology that requires, either through software or hardware updates, constant replacement.

Admittedly, smartphones do provide some benefits and can actually eliminate the need for other devices, so if they could be made to last with easy fixing and updating, they might become truly smart options.

FairPhone is a new idea that is taking steps in the right direction. Watch the video below:

Fairphone: Buy a phone, start a movement from Fairphone on Vimeo.

I like that FairPhone is working to put consumers back in control of their stuff. The company is also addressing concerns about resource use, pollution, fair trade, and the entire life of a product. Importantly, the phones are made to be opened up and fixed. For instance, an owner can easily replace the battery when it dies. For more information, visit the company's Web site.

It would be great if the company applied its approach to other devices (like computers) as well.

Hopefully, FairPhone is successful. Maybe it'll be the option I turn to when it's finally time to replace my current phone.

Going Beyond No

As a lover of ideas and the environment, one of the most frustrating things for me to hear is, "No, we can't do that."

That's why I love people who just blow past no, especially when they have the environment at heart, which brings me to Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla Motors. Musk got fed up with major car companies finding reasons why electric cars could not work as products and started making his own, the Tesla.

Even after Tesla began making fully electric cars, people said the company would never work on a large scale. It doesn't seem like Musk and his company are paying much attention to those doubts either because Tesla is enjoying much success lately with the promise of a lot more to come.

First, Consumer Reports called the Tesla Model S the best car it's ever driver (see the video below). Then, Tesla paid off its government loan nine years ahead of schedule.



Additional great news came today with this report that Tesla (1) was expanding the availability of its charging stations and (2) intends to have a model that's half the price of the Model S by 2017. Together, these developments suggest Tesla's cars are on their way to reaching the mainstream.

For Musk, the question about electric cars was never whether they could be done successfully. It was whether they ought to be made. The former question led to a lot of no, the latter to an unequivocal yes, and once Musk realized that, he ignored anyone who told him no and simply did it.

Learning on the Fly

The study of birds isn't just for ornithologists.

Because we interact with them so frequently, birds offer a lot of things to learn about our environment.

One of the best teachers about all things feathered is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The lab provides online courses and webinars on birds and bird-watching. Its newest offerings include webinars on waterfowl identification and tutorials for beginning birders. For more information about this online instruction, click here to read an entry from the lab's blog, Round Robin.

With resources like these, the next time a bird flies by the window might be the start of a lifelong study.

Something Borrowed, Something Green

The impact nature photographs have on us cannot be denied but neither can the effect photography has on the environment.

As a photographer, I am concerned about the resources I use in getting camera equipment and storing photos. For instance, a read through this National Wildlife Federation article on improving landscape pictures reveals the variety of lenses available to photographers. Each lens uses natural resources, and as technology advances, a photographer may need to buy newer versions, magnifying the impact.

Changing our perspective on the things we have can help address the issue of photography-related consumerism. While the NWF article provides some nice tips on better landscape pictures, I think its best idea comes at the end. By introducing BorrowLenses, the writer gives photographers a chance to use the right lens at the right time without buying.

BorrowLenses rents photography and video gear. The equipment is rented through the Web site and shipped or made available at certain pick-up locations. When the rental period is over, the photographer sends the equipment back or returns it to the pick-up site. It is important to note that the company receives an A rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Photography certainly impacts the environment, but equipment sharing through companies like BorrowLenses shifts the effect from consumption to appreciation, where it belongs.

Inside the Void

Nature abhors a media vacuum.

Traditional news media outlets appear ready to abandon environmental reporting. As I explained in an earlier post, despite 2012 being the hottest year on record in the United States, news media coverage of global warming decreased. That post also mentioned the decision by The New York Times to drop its division for environmental reporting.

Different new media have moved in to fill the void. One of those groups, InsideClimate News, provides reporting on energy issues and climate change.

News sources like InsideClimate News have more importance than ever because the media vacuum on environmental issues would be deafening without them.