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Sleeping Trees

5/24/2016

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This past week, there was some very big news about trees from scientists in Europe. Using laser scanners to study the circadian rhythms of trees, they discovered that trees go to sleep just like we do. It’s not surprising. We’ve all watched flowers close up and reopen with the setting and rising of the sun, so why shouldn’t trees do the same thing?

Even Darwin recorded the nighttime motion of the leaves and stalks of plants and called it ‘sleep’. But interestingly,  this new study is the first of its kind to take place in a completely natural setting. All other research in the past was apparently done with small plants grown in pots. This study found that trees’ branches sag or droop after the sun goes down.


"Our results show that the whole tree droops during night which can be seen as position change in leaves and branches," says Eetu Puttonen (Finnish Geospatial Research Institute), "The changes are not too large, only up to 10 cm for trees with a height of about 5 meters, but they were systematic and well within the accuracy of our instruments."

Using laser technology changed the way plants’ circadian rhythms are studied because laser scanners use infrared light. Infrared light has very little affect on plants. Regular photography, on the other hand, uses visible light, and since it has a big effect on plants, it has gotten in the way of accurate studies.

The next step in this European study will help to measure the way trees use water on a daily basis, and how trees affect climate.

For more information:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160517083552.htm

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/22697/20160522/trees-slumber-new-study-shows.htm

https://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/2016/05/19/trees-sleep-night-new-study-reveals/

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Plastic Bag BanĀ 

5/16/2016

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If you’re from New Jersey you may have read some of the articles or heard the news about the remarkable group of Girl Scouts from Teaneck who have been working for two years to ban single-use plastic bags in their town. They’ve researched the subject, shared what they’ve learned, and even hosted a summit with guest speakers to urge attendees to help spread the word that plastic bags are killing animals and destroying waterways and oceans. They want local businesses to help them reach the goal of becoming the first town in Bergen County to enforce the plastic bag ban. 

Plastic bag recycling bins are a fixture in most grocery store entryways, and lots of Bergen County residents have the misguided notion that our local grocery stores are doing a good job of recycling plastic bags for us. It’s simply not true.

The most environmentally responsible thing to do, of course, is to bring your own reusable bags, but as cities all over the country begin to ban plastic bags, they are met with lots of resistance from the plastic bag manufacturers. 

Almost two years ago, I tried to find out what actually happens to the bags we take to the supermarket for recycling for an article I was writing for the Suburbanite. Trying to get information from grocery stores was difficult, and several grocery stores refused to talk to me.

There is no doubt that plastic bags are causing an enormous amount of death and destruction, so it’s heartening to see Teaneck’s Girl Scouts working to have them banned.

SOME PLASTIC BAG FACTS:

Over 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year, globally - that amounts to about 2 million every minute.

According to the EPA, about 32 million tons of plastic waste is produced annually, much of it plastic bags.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an average American family brings home 1,500 bags each year, and it takes about 12 million barrels of oil to produce them.

According to The Ocean Conservancy, plastic bags are consistently in the top 10 kinds of trash picked up on beaches everywhere.

Because plastic bags take so long to decompose, they wind up drifting on ocean currents for an unknown number of years, slowly breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. These tiny bits of plastic wind up being eaten by fish and other animals who mistake the bits for food. When we eat these fish, we are eating the toxins from that ingested plastic. It’s way past time to ban plastic bags.

If you’re interested in my findings from two years ago, the article is archived, and here’s the link:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/environment/are-your-bags-being-recycled-1.1064015

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Earth Festivals

5/9/2016

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My family and I spent this past Saturday in a booth at the Secaucus, NJ Earth Fest at Exchange Place. It was a gray and drizzly day, but the families that stopped by for a song and a story were great fun to interact with and we all had a good time.

Earth festivals help to educate people about the many things we can all do to think more sustainably, but the people who put them together deserve lots of applause for mounting these enormously important events.

Not only are these organizers tasked with getting the unpleasant word out that we're trashing our home - they have to make these events entertaining! People won't come if you don't offer them a good time.  From where I stood, it was very clear that everyone was having a great time in Secaucus.

Next Saturday we'll be at another Earth fair - the EarthFest Overpeck for The Hackensack Riverkeeper and Bergen County Parks. 

Come on by and I'll sing you a song or read you a story.


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    Brenda Cummings

    The Green Machine

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