Lauryn Hill and Microplastics
I edited a paper about the ecological impact and human health risks of microplastics in aquaculture ecosystems. My daughter is currently doing microplastics research at Eckerd University, so it was a rare instance where I had a personal interest in the subject matter. During my subsequent trip down the wormhole, I learned that each time you use a microbead-containing facial or body wash (which, for years, has been most of them), up to 94,000 plastic microbes can be flushed down the drain - each time.
AJR, Snow, Certitude and Sludge
“We wrote ‘BANG!’ about the weird middle-ground between being a kid and becoming an adult; a time when we’re doing all the things adults are supposed to do, but we don’t yet feel grown up,” says AJR. "The fact is, adulthood is bound to hit us at some point, so the plan we made in the song is to ‘go out with a bang.’" I'm at least twenty years older than these boys, and the sentiment applies to all of us, just the same.
Robert DeLong, Mark Ruffalo, Barkhad Abdi, and Pope Francis
While learning about shrimp and prawns, I also came across the following quote:
"When no one is to blame, everyone is to blame." ~Pope Francis
... which has given me something to think about for the remainder of my last gray afternoon at Carolina Beach.
Statistician's Blues and Being Ordinary
"They say 3 percent of the people use 5 to 6 percent of their brain
97 percent use 3 percent and the rest goes down the drain
I'll never know which one I am but I'll bet you my last dime
99 percent think with 3 percent 100 percent of the time"
~Todd Snider
What Exactly Do I Stand For
In April, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency calculated that fifty-five percent of monitored waterways in the United States are impaired by pollution, meaning they are too polluted for healthy recreation, public drinking water and subsistence fishing. Twenty-five percent of the nation’s beaches are under advisories or closed at least once per year due to water pollution.
Sustainably 'Wrapping' Your Christmas Presents
Here's a great way to get rid of some stuff that’s accumulated in your house, while saving money and reducing your contribution to the 2020 load of Xmas wrapping paper that will soon be stuffing our landfills. It’s also a great craft project for kids of all ages, and you don't have to worry about what to do with your creations once they're finished…
Elementary Plants Rotation, Days 3 and 4: Roots!
Last week, I introduced our Plants Rotation (for advanced 1st and 4th graders) with two lessons covering the evolution of plants and life, in general. Days 3 and 4 were spent on the parts of the plant, particularly the ROOTS. Here is a pdf of my *Roots* PowerPoint presentation…
Coronavirus Homeschool Week 3: Plants, Days 1 and 2
This week, I am in charge of the 11AM-1PM interactive educational component of our Coronavirus Homeschool each day. The stormy skies of the last two weeks have made all 3 elementary-school kids itchy with cabin fever. After taking a water sample from my miniature backyard pond, I began our Plants rotation with the following 5-minute BBC video about the origin of complex cells and life…
Citizens Must Demand Transparency
…Jim Wise’s “Curious Eye” toward Durham County’s disappearing transparency (Durham News, Mar. 7) shouldn’t be taken lightly. The backroom dealings could set a dangerous precedent for NC, especially Triangle jurisdicSons and Jordan Lake. Let me elaborate.…
Why I'm Voting (Again) for Durham County Commissioner Wendy Jacobs
…Unlike me and since I first encountered her, Wendy has responded to situations that don’t make sense to her with calm, objectivity, and pragmatism: “How can we make this better for all of us in the long run, even if it takes time and a lot of work, and even if it's not perfect?” She also has stick-with-ed-ness…
Real Good and For Free
… Over the last ten years, I have attended many wonderful and free children’s programs, including story-times, craft and drawing programs, and music and theatre performances, many occurring through Durham County Library.…
Hands-On STEM Curricula: Make a Portable, Indoor Water Garden for $0-10
Plan B has been to make water gardens at home with whatever big, clear plastic containers I can accumulate and give these to teachers at the elementary school. Two more teachers requested water gardens for their classrooms this week. I thought I'd take photos while I make them, so teachers, homeschoolers (aren't we all?), and kids of all ages can see how easy (and inexpensive) it is to do.
SCBWI BookStop: Educational and Inspirational Holiday Shopping
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators has posted their Holiday BookStop, and it features The Fate Of The Frog, which reinforces concepts (rhyme and meter, alliteration, camouflage, life-cycles) that your kids are learning in school, while also giving them the hands-on opportunity (and an easy one for their parents) to experience solar power and a "best stormwater management practice" (a tiny pond) right in their own backyard.
Algae, Red Tide, and the Future of our Water (includes links to lesson plans)
Last Night's PBS News Hour story on the Red Tide that's killing millions of marine life off the southern Florida Coast is yet another harbinger of the dangerous stormwater neglect occurring in North Carolina and across America. Anyone who walks around my inner-city Durham neighborhood during a big rain event will quickly see how much our little municipality, alone, is contributing to the communal problem…
Machu Picchu and the Incas: Re-Learning What We Already Know
As a self-proclaimed water spirit and sustainable storm-water management advocate, I actually teared up when I saw the construction diagram of the vegetated terraces the Incas clearly used to manage more flash floods per annum than my stormwater-ridden city of Durham, NC, can imagine. At least in "progressive" areas, we now have 'rain gardens' and 'cisterns', though we employ these primarily to reduce pollutants…
City of Durham Avoids Municipal Stormwater Responsibilities while Inhibiting Affordable and Sustainable Private Solutions
I have written this article to demonstrate the City of Durham's irrational and uncooperative approach to drainage issues like the one I am dealing with at 613 Canal Street - note that this is a separate drainage issue from the flooding occurring at neighboring 611 Canal Street (the subject of my last Stormwater blog post).
Why the White House Sinkhole Isn't Funny
The sinkhole in the White House lawn is no joke. It is glaring evidence of a serious threat to American infrastructure and drinking water. As temperatures rise and the population continues to grow, urban, suburban and, heck, even rural stormwater runoff is becoming a serious problem throughout the entire country…
Water Problem solved on historically low-income Canal Street (Durham, NC) - For Now
Knowing this neighbor could not afford to rent a commercial sump-pump (anything less burned out quickly) and fearing the damage the flooding would cause her home otherwise, I went straight to the Planning Department to identify the location of any drainage pipes on my property that may be clogged. When Planning Department staff could not identify the location of such pipes, I was directed …
Why You Should Have a Pond
Pond installation can be back- and time-consuming work, and a long-lasting one like mine can cost over $1000.00 (liner, pump, filter, rocks). But it doesn't have to be this way. You can purchase inexpensive, small-pond kits, or you can build a pond out of a plastic toddler swimming pool simply by…
Advanced Reader's Copy: *Eddie the Electron Moves Out*
I received my ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) of Eddie The Electron Moves Out (the sequel to Eddie the Electron) today! I got tears in my eyes when I read it - seriously. I can’t get over the incredible quality of every aspect of the book. Harry Pulver's illustrations are PERFECT…