July 28, 2011: Sustainable Seafood, Consumer Choice and the Global Fisheries Crisis

Nearly 75% of the world’s fisheries are fished to capacity. Most fish available today in the United States is imported, frequently from places where health, safety and environmental standards are weak or non-existent. Because many popular wild fish populations are on the verge of collapse, seafood watch guides, like the one produced by the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, have become popular for conscious consumers. But are supermarkets and restaurants taking note? With ocean health hanging in the balance, Martha Baskin decided to take a look.

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July 21, 2011: What's a Toxic Colorless Chemical Doing in My House and How Is It Harming the Environment?

Over 80,000 synthetic chemicals are used in products from shower curtains and laundry detergent to vinyl flooring and shampoo. It’s well known that toxic chemicals pose a major threat to the health of Puget Sound. But how do they get from products in our homes to water and wildlife? In this episode of Green Acre Radio Martha Baskin looks at some of the mysterious pathways for phthalates (pronounced thalate), a family of chemicals that causes problems with male reproductive development and the survival and reproduction of aquatic organisms.

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Links for this episode:

safecosmetics.org
watoxics.org
pugetsound.org

July 14, 2011: Carbon Saturated Seas, The Food Web and the Future of Marine Life

As oceans absorb ever more carbon dioxide, pH levels of the world’s seas have been dropping. Biologists at the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle are doing some of the most sophisticated work anywhere to see how the marine world responds to a major side effect of fossil fuel emissions, increasingly corrosive seas. Martha Baskin recently joined scientists on a research vessel in Puget Sound.

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July 7, 2011: Toward a Fair, Sustainable Economy: Interview with Sarah van Gelder, Editor of Yes! Magazine

Discussions about building a sustainable economy rarely make connections between an economy dominated by military and corporate interests – the current US model – with climate change and record high joblessness. This week Green Acre Radio interviews YES! Magazine’s Sarah van Gelder. Van Gelder believes moving toward a fair and sustainable economy could go a long way to address three major crises facing the nation.

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