Solutions for Trees

Paper has a long history of "grass" based feedstock -- think papyrus and even cotton!  Maybe it's time to rethink trees as the best natural resource for papermaking.  The chemicals used to convert wood into pulp requires enormous quantities of very caustic, very toxic chemicals. Green chemistry could be a way of exploring other fibers that require less chemicals and less toxic chemicals for the papermaking process.    

Canopy has launched an online survey to gather information that will help assess market interest in North America for papers made with agricultural residues.

Agricultural Residues such as Wheat Straw

"This study is the first of its kind in North America. Up until now, information about the market viability of non-wood paper has been anecdotal," says Neva Murtha, Second Harvest Campaigner with Canopy. "When done, we'll be able to translate demands for eco-paper into initiatives that help make straw papers a North American reality."

Straw Based Papers

Last year's successful trial of the Wheat Sheet issue of Canadian Geographic showed that non-wood papers pass the technical and quality requirements of the North American market. Also apparent during last year's trial was a significant level of interest by large paper consumers in agricultural residue paper alternatives such as the Wheat Sheet. With environmental concern on the rise, so is support for innovative business solutions that alleviate the stress on intact and endangered forests and the climate. Diversifying North America's paper fibre basket to include agricultural residues rather than carbon and species rich forests is one such solution that could also help ensure a secure supply of fibre for domestic producers.

Environmental Paper

This study is designed to help Canopy identify new and emerging opportunities for environmental paper. The survey will provide further information about what level of support exists for non-wood paper development in North America - a key element in new pulping capacity being developed in the US and Canada.

All survey input shall remain confidential and only used in aggregate numbers, unless otherwise approved by participating companies. Data collection will be targeted primarily at large paper consumers, such as publishers, printers, office retailers, and will capture data such as demand tonnage, priority grades, and how participants would like to engage in further stages of non-wood paper development.

To complete the survey about agricultural residue paper


For more information:
Canopy's work to build a market for agricultural residue papers, please visit their website.
For more information on the Wheat Sheet
CONTACT:
Neva Murtha, Second Harvest Campaigner
604-817-4974 | neva@canopyplanet.org 

American Bird watchers coast to coast are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010.  Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers counting birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges. 

Each checklist submitted by these "citizen scientists" helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,the National Audubon Society , and Bird Studies Canada learn more about how the birds are doing--and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. 

"Taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun, and help birds--all at the same time," said Audubon Education Vice President, Judy Braus. "Even if you can only identify a few species you can provide important information that enables scientists to learn more about how the environment is changing and how that affects our conservation priorities."

Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count,
from novice bird watchers to experts.

Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org. One 2009 participant said, "Thank you for the opportunity to participate in citizen science. I have had my eyes opened to a whole new interest and I love it!"

"The GBBC is a perfect first step towards the sort of intensive monitoring needed to discover how birds are responding to environmental change," said Janis Dickinson, the director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab.

Winter is such a vulnerable period for birds, so winter bird distributions are likely to be very sensitive to change.

There is only one way--citizen science--to gather data on private lands where people live and GBBC has been doing this across the continent for many years.

GBBC has enormous potential both as an early warning system and in capturing and engaging people in more intensive sampling of birds across the landscape."

Bird populations are always shifting and changing.

For example, 2009 GBBC data highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine Siskins across much of the eastern United States. Participants counted 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared to the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops farther north caused the siskins to move south to find their favorite food.

Bird Count Website

On the www.birdcount.org website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special materials for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be featured in the GBBC website's photo gallery. All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.

Canadian Bird Studies Birdcount

In 2010, Bird Studies Canada (BSC) joins the GBBC as the program's Canadian partner. "Bird Studies Canada is delighted to be the Canadian partner for this extremely valuable program," said George Finney, President of BSC. "Participating in the GBBC is an excellent way for Canadians to reconnect with their love of nature and birds."

For more information about the GBBC, visit the website at www.birdcount.org.

Contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473, gbbc@cornell.edu,

Audubon at (202) 861-2242 ext 3050, citizenscience@audubon.org.

In Canada, participants may contact Bird Studies Canada at 1- (888)- 448-2473 ext. 134 or gbbc@birdscanada.org.  

The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in part, by support from Wild Birds Unlimited.  

Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, recently unveiled new software that can actually track and monitor global deforestation. If the software becomes more widely implemented, it could serve as a useful tool in helping to cut carbon emissions and combat climate change.

Google.org worked with Greg Asner of the Carnegie Institution for Science and Carlos Souza of Imazon to develop the deforestation program. To evaluate deforestation in a certain area of the world, the software relies on past, present and future models of satellite image data. 

Handle computation in the cloud
What if we could offer scientists and tropical nations access to a high-performance satellite imagery-processing engine running online, in the "Google cloud"?

And what if we could gather together all of the earth's raw satellite imagery data -- petabytes of historical, present and future data -- and make it easily available on this platform?

Google decided to find out, by working with Greg and Carlos to re-implement their software online, on top of a prototype platform we've built that gives them easy access to terabytes of satellite imagery and thousands of computers in our data centers.

By processing a decades  of historical images, it is able to extract scientific information on how the size and shape of tree cover has changed over the years. Google hopes that by arming scientists and forest managers with this valuable data, they can better protect the world's forests.

Start with satellite imagery
Satellite imagery data can provide the foundation for measurement and monitoring of the world's forests. For example, in Google Earth today, you can fly to Rondonia, Brazil and easily observe the advancement of deforestation over time, from 1975 to 2001:

Restoring devastated rainforest is a noble goal...but is it possible? 

Yes, says ZERI founder, Gunter Pauli.  Their organization turned waste into a productive, living, sustainable community.  It's a demonstration of natural systems-based environmental and economic development.

The Las Gaviotas reforestation project is not only about planting trees for climate stabilization; it is, primarily, about catalyzing a development program that will pave the way for creating a sustainable future for our children where society is able to provide for the basic needs of all in terms of water, food, health care, shelter, energy, jobs and education with local resources. Las Gaviotas is poised to do nothing less than reshape the face of sustainable development and, consequently, the world.

Aerial view of the 8,000 hectares, replanted with Caribbean Pine.

Imagine miles and miles of desolate savannah in Eastern Colombia, without a tree or bird or child in sight, a veritable no-man's land. For Paolo Lugari this was the perfect place to implement a vision: if a sustainable community could be created in such adverse environmental, social and political conditions, it could be done anywhere on the planet. Las Gaviotas has done just that, and much more.

In 1992, in conjunction with the Kyoto Protocol and the Japanese government, the Environmental Research Center at Las Gaviotas began substantiating the concept of carbon sinks to sequester carbon dioxide and stabilize the climate. Based on the cash generated by its renewable energy project, complemented with funding secured through the Japanese government, Las Gaviotas, founded and directed by Paolo Lugari, planted 8,000 HA of Caribbean pine trees in a savannah that had been unproductive for centuries. It was considered impossible to plant trees in such acidic, inhospitable soil (pH 4) but thanks to the innovative use of mycorrhizal fungi which acts as the saliva for the tree, the forestation was successful. More than just successful, this initiative to initiate economic activities and to validate carbon sinks unleashed a chain reaction of positive effects that surprised even the initiators of the program...

Today, more than a decade later, the forestation of 8,000 HA has resulted in 10 percent more precipitation (some 110,000 m³ per day), converting Las Gaviotas into a net supplier of drinking water, a crystalline water of superior quality. With the cost of drinking water exceeding the cost of petroleum, Las Gaviotas demonstrated that reforestation allows us to address one of the most critical issues the world is facing: access to natural potable water!

For a case study, visit the article "The Renaissance of the Rainforest" by Gunter Pauli.

New Science Estimates Carbon Storage Potential of U.S. Lands
Nation's Forests and Soils Store Equivalent of 50 Years of U.S. CO2 Emissions

The first phase of a groundbreaking national assessment estimates that U.S. forests and soils could remove additional quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere as a means to mitigate climate change.

The lower 48 states in the U.S. hypothetically have the potential to store an additional 3-7 billion metric tons of carbon in forests, if agricultural lands were to be used for planting forests.

This potential is equivalent to 2 to 4 years of America's current CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels.

"Carbon pollution is putting our world--and our way of life--in peril," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar in a keynote speech at the global conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.  "By restoring ecosystems and protecting certain areas from development, the U.S. can store more carbon in ways that enhance our stewardship of land and natural resources while reducing our contribution to global warming."

U.S. Geological Survey scientists also found that the conterminous U.S. presently stores 73 billion metric tons of carbon in soils and 17 billion metric tons in forests.

This is equivalent to more than 50 years of America's current CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels. This shows the need to protect existing carbon stores to prevent additional warming and future harm to ecosystems.

Habitat Carbon Absorption = 30% of Fuel Emissions

America's forests and soils are currently insufficient in soaking up the nation's accelerating pace of emissions. They currently absorb about 30 percent (0.5 billion metric tons of carbon) of the nation's fossil fuel emissions per year (1.6 billion metric tons of carbon). Enhancing the carbon storage capacity of America's and the world's ecosystems is an important tool to reduce carbon emissions and help ecosystems adapt to changing climate conditions.

Biologic carbon sequestration

"The tools the USGS is developing--and the technologies behind those tools--will be of great use to communities around the world that are making management decisions on carbon storage," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "The USGS is conducting a national assessment of biologic carbon sequestration, as well as an assessment of ecosystem carbon and greenhouse gas fluxes, which will help determine how we can reduce atmospheric CO2 levels while preserving other ecological functions."

To determine how much more carbon could be stored in forests and soils, USGS scientists analyzed maps that represent historical vegetation cover before human alterations, as well as maps of vegetation that might occur if there were no natural disturbances, such as fires, pests and drought. These maps were compared to maps of current vegetation and carbon storage.

The next phase of this work will assess the additional amount of carbon stored in Alaska's ecosystems, including its soils and forests. The USGS plans to collaborate with U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies to examine potential carbon storage in soils.

The USGS is conducting research on a number of other fronts related to carbon sequestration. These efforts include evaluating the potential for storing carbon dioxide in geologic formations below the Earth's surface, potential release of greenhouse gases from Arctic soils and permafrost, and mapping the distribution of rocks suitable for potential mineral sequestration efforts.

For more information about this assessment, visit http://pubs.usgs.gov/ofr/2009/1283.

Scotty Claus is an innovative tree entrepreneur who provides rental, living Christmas trees in their community.  "Our mission 'to change the way California celebrates Christmas' began the year I spent my Christmas vacation delivering trees for Bob's Nursery in Manhattan Beach. Gleefully singing Christmas carols in a silly Santa hat, I was amazed at the sheer magic and merriment created by the simple act of bringing a Christmas tree into the house. The tree delivery signaled that Christmas in the home had truly begun.

"Contrasting that intense happiness was the sadness I felt in seeing that same tree discarded by the curb in the weeks that followed Christmas.

"It seems wrong that a tree that symbolized hope, joy and new life could be so easily abandoned. From this, the idea for The Living Christmas Company was born," and that's the story of Scotty! 

Living Christmas Co. is located in the heart of the beach communities of Los Angeles -- in Redondo Beach -- a most non-North Pole kind of community.  But Christmas spirit is just as strong, and it is very feasible to raise these Christmas trees locally in the robust nursery industry that takes advantage of the year-round growing conditions of Southern California.

Add to that natural growing advantage, a smart business model, and you have a delightful entrepreneurial venture that brings delight, service, and renewable resources to the community.

Families can rent a living tree, enjoy it and return it for another season of growth in prime nursery conditions.

Living Christmas trees can be displayed in retail businesses and enjoy cross-marketing opportunities, customer discounts, and a percentage rebate of all sales generated. Retailers may also choose to carry the line of Fair Trade and eco-sensitive ornaments on consignment or as a vendor.

The Living Christmas Company helps non-profit organization reach fundraising goals by sharing revenue from members who rent their Living Trees from the company.

Mature Tree Adoption Program: The rented Christmas trees are well loved, but sometimes, because of their size or condition,  are forced into retirement from active rental duty. These retirees are donated for urban reforestation programs and non-profit landscaping projects. Organizations can request adoption of mature trees.

Eco-Advocacy: The Living Christmas Co.  supports local environmental groups that share their environmental goals of raising awareness and participating in the community.

They have supported Global Green by donating trees for their millennium event and supporting their annual pledge drive. By attending local green events, such as Earth Day events and environmental fairs, they support local green organizations such as VOICE (Volunteers and Organizations Improving the Community's Environment) in their mission to educate and increase awareness about the Earth's environment.

Possibly the Living Christmas Company's most important initiative is challenging the general public to re-evaluate their practices by offering a dynamic alternative to artificial and cut trees.

"This is not your grandmother's tree; this is your children's tree"

For a calendar update of nursery visits and opportunities to meet the "elves of the trees", check out the blog for The Living Christmas Co.

Christmas trees are big business in the United States.  Here are a couple slideshows that can help you make sustainable choices regarding your holiday use of real and artificial Christmas trees.
 


If you do indulge in harvested Christmas trees, here are some tips to prevent Christmas Tree Fires:

Pacific Northwest temperate rainforests can attain the greatest biomass per acre of any ecosystem on earth.  Wow!  Did you know that?  I didn't.  Temperate and boreal forests are very extensive and currently serve as net carbon sinks.  And that's a good thing --  a very good thing!

Carbon storage by forests is complementary with other important ecosystem services provided by forests.

• Clean Water
• Fish and wildlife habitat
• Soil conservation
• Economic diversification
• Capture, storage and release of water, nutrients and sediment
• Air filtration
• Mediation of urban heat islands
  

Kyoto Protocols limited the credits given to established forests, but that approach to carbon sequestration and carbon offsets is changing.  Mature trees are storage tanks for high levels of carbon and particulates. 

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute provides comparative  data for construction materials including wood, steel and concrete that takes a total energy use approach that includes total energy use, above grade energy use and CO2 emissions.   Wood is a superior material in this life-cycle inventory of large office building applications.

Carbon Dioxide in Forests

Tree growth sequesters considerable quantities of carbon:

• Dry wood is 49% carbon by weight
• For each pound of carbon stored, 3.7 pounds of carbon dioxide are removed from the atmosphere.
• For each pound of carbon stored, 2.7 pouds of oxygen are produced.
• Carbon is also stored in the soil, the litter, and in the trunks, branches, twigs, leaves, and roots of trees.

Trees also provide valuable habitat and food for biodiversity that converts plant matter into protein, which is vital for the animal kingdom.  Caterpillars and birds are key players in this highly productive food conversion process.

• Air filtration of regional pollutants

• Sequestration of carbon dioxide

• Restoration of soils

• Replenishment of underground fresh water storage and aqufers

• Reduction of mountainous flooding, and storage of snow pack for water supplies

• Habitat for wildlife and biodiversity preservation

• Outdoor recreation places and spaces

• Temperature moderation with moisture, shade and the cooling effects of solar absorption