Water Supply

Knowing where your food comes from is a popular topic among chefs. They want to know exactly where their potatoes were dug up from and if their beef was fed grass rather than corn. So, it’s no wonder that many chefs are wondering about seafood from the Gulf Coast in the wake of the BP Oil spill. A group of chefs including Chicago’s Rick Tramonto and Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio decided that they needed first hand knowledge of the situation.

The duo were joined by a number of chefs including Susur Lee and sustainable seafood advocate Rick Moonen in Louisiana last week. Their aim was to get as much information from local and federal officials on the safety of the seafood so they could educate their diners who had been asking a lot of questions.

The BP Oil spill has impacted a way of life for the residents of the Gulf Coast for sixty-nine days. Fisherman can’t operate due to safety concerns, hotels aren’t getting their usual flow of reservations, and wedding related businesses are panicking.

Weddings are big business in the US and result in over $80 billion dollars a year for the industry. Just think of all of the people that you need to pull off a wedding like a photographer, caterer, DJ, seamstress, chair rental company, hairstylist, tuxedo rental, and even hotel rooms. On average, a typical American wedding costs about $20,000.

As crude oil continues spewing from BP’s deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico a debate is flickering between two camps in the scientific community. Those who see value in trying to clean oil off of coated wild animals, and those who consider it a waste of time that mostly just helps humans feel better by granting a false sense of accomplishment.

It’s a tangled web, but any way you look at it the numbers are gruesome. 1,282 seabirds have been rescued so far, and only 40 of those have successfully been returned to the wild. Sea turtles have even a worse ratio with 387 rescued and only 3 returned to the wild. All of the dolphins stranded in the oil spill died (statistics via Guardian). It’s no wonder humans want to help, the level of destruction creates an immense sense of guilt and every bit we can do helps, right?

BP is still scrambling to plug its oil spill which has allowed somewhere around 5,000 barrels of oil per day for the last 5 weeks to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Wednesday it’s planning a new tactic which involves pumping drilling fluids into the well. Those fluids are heavier than the crude oil and theoretically would exert enough pressure to stop the leak. So what’s the problem?

This tactic hasn’t ever been tried a mile underwater which adds a certain amount of complexity and imprecision as humans control robots that are doing the work. Also pumping the drilling fluids downward until it meets the upward flowing crude oil will create additional stress on the pipelines. Too much stress and the pipe could rupture, further complicating matters. BP and government scientists are doing what they can to test the procedure prior to moving forward.

For 3 weeks now BP has tried to stop an oil leak that began with an explosion on its Maconda well in the Gulf of Mexico. For 3 weeks, oil has spilled into the ocean at a rate of about 5,000 barrels per day. Not only is it devastating the environment surrounding the oil leak and causing economic repercussions for people who live and work on the coast, it’s also a monumental waste of unrealized energy.

With the fail-safes it had in place defunct and ineffective, BP is now flailing to figure out another way to contain the oil leak. Executive Officer of BP, Tony Hayward has indicated that the company already spent $350 million in trying to cleanup and stop the oil leak, but that’s miniscule compared to the gaping wound this circumstance has left in the Earth which is at the same time destroying the BP brand.

As news of the BP Oil spill spread, many Americans were looking for a way to voice their opinions or lend a hand. Some called for a boycott of BP stations, increased regulation for offshore oil drilling, and others shaved their heads. No, really. An eco-minded non-profit called Matter Of Trust is collecting human hair and animal fur to protect the threatened beaches of the Gulf Coast.

Matter Of Trust’s mission is to “Link ideas, spark action and materialize sustainable systems,” as shown through their unique hair recycling program. Donated hair or animal fur is either made into a mat or booms that one Alabama resident called “a giant hair sausage,” but are actually just hair and fur stuffed pantyhose.

Millions of barrels of oil have already spilled into the ocean and 5,000 more barrels billow upward from a hole in the seabed BP drilled and now can’t close. Deep sea oil drilling sounds like a good concept in theory but just like with many other energy generation processes, it poses risks. The exact cause of the explosion that caused this mess is not yet known, but the degenerating effects on the waters and coasts nearby is rapidly magnifying.

It’s a life changing event for local fishermen who rely on clear waters and healthy ecosystem to generate their faire. The tourism industry in general will also suffer because for the most part tourists generally prefer oil-free beaches.

Director James Cameron can be called a lot of things but wallflower isn’t one of them. He famously shouted “I’m the king of the world!” after winning an Oscar and called Fox News’ Glenn Beck “a f---ing a--hole.” Cameron has toned down his act a bit to save what many are calling a real life Pandora in Brazil.

Cameron freely admits that filmmaking isn’t the greenest profession around but tries to make smart choices in his personal life. He drives a hybrid car, has an organic garden, and his wife wore a sustainable dress to the Oscars. He wanted to use the worldwide attention he got from Avatar to shed light on worthy environmental causes.

If you’ve picked up a glossy magazine or scanned a celebrity gossip blog then you’ve seen then name Lohan in the headlines. From Lindsay’s appearances at Fashion Week to the reality series “Living Lohan,” the family isn’t shy about courting attention from the press. Mom Dina Lohan isn’t the first person you think of when mulling over dental care, but she showed up anyway to tout the “Aqua Freedom Lohan Brush” at the Go Green Expo in New York City today.

Created by UTC Aquafree, the toothbrush works on a cartridge system that supplies liquid toothpaste to the brush head. According to a press release, the system was created in part for people that don’t have access to clean water.

MTV isn’t exactly the home of highbrow television with shows like “The Hills” and “Jersey Shore.” They are trying something different on March 14th by airing a new documentary about the clean water crisis called “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro.” The ninety minute show focuses on a ragtag group of scientists, educators, and celebrities like Jessica Biel and Santigold who dared to climb the mountain to publicize the cause.

It’s easy to take clean water for granted because it’s all around us from bottled water to the nearest tap. Imagine a world where your water supply was also where the local cows defecated or your government had no laws that prevented water pollution. That’s the reality for over one billion people in the world and the cause of 80% of the world’s illnesses.