America's Worst Superfund Site, Still Not a Pretty Picture

It's not such a pretty picture. . . nor is the story behind it, but writer-director Matt Myers, who grew up just 25 miles away, could find no peace until he told it.

Tar Creek is a hard-hitting environmental documentary of a prideful mining community and the Quapaw Indians who call this corner of Oklahoma their home — homes that sit right on top of America's largest Superfund site.

Once the most productive lead and zinc mining site on the planet, now only an environmental wasteland remains.

Set to the guitar twangs of blues legend, Watermelon Slim, Tar Creek follows a complex trail of shady deals, politicians, government agencies, and the folks caught on the front line. Designated a Superfund site in 1983, the EPA spent 30 years and more than $200 million to clean up the area, but ultimately they opted to buy out and relocate the entire community. Even now, the work is far from over.

Watch the trailer and read a short interview with the director below the fold.

 

Is your name Campbell?

It's the time of year to feel "m'mm, m'mm good." Here are a few of our favorite soups to enjoy on winter days spent snuggled up by the fireplace, on the trail, or after getting in some turns.

At home: The best soups are cooked slowly to bring out bold flavors and a thick consistency that will surely satisfy. With a pressure cooker and lots of organic veggies you can create a bowl-licking-good soup. Organic Gardening has a hearty Lima Bean, Barley and Vegetable Soup and tips on using the cooker. 

In the backcountry: If packets of freeze-dried mystery meals make your stomach turn, it's time to try out a few trail recipes that only take a bit of planning at home and patience in camp. Backpacker magazine has a unique soup that will inspire you to forgo the Ramen diet on all future backpacking trips. The Smoky PB Chicken Chili offers a much-needed sensory awakening after a day of GORP and dried fruit. Leaders and participants of Sierra Club Outings also have some recommendations for your backcountry palate.

At the ski lodge: Winter sports can stir up a strong appetite, but satisfying that hunger in the powder house can be tricky. To avoid a hole in your wallet and stomach from the questionable eats in the cafeteria, bring along a pre-made soup to heat up in the microwave. Pacific Natural Foods has small cartons to toss into your daypack, but you'll need a microwave-safe dish. Not into radiating your food? Klean Kanteen's insulated bottle will keep your homemade soup warm while you shred the slopes. 

--Lauren Pope / photo courtesy of iStock/FernandoAH

Green Your Ski Adventure: Offset the Trip

Recent snowfall in some parts of the country has skiers rejoicing. This week's tips will help you carve the slopes in eco-conscious style. 

Tip # 4: Offset Emissions 
Sometimes, mountains are a long drive or even a flight away from home. SkiGreen, a program of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, estimates that American ski travel releases a minimum of 4.1 million metric tons of C0₂ into the atmosphere each year. Its partner resorts offer ride-sharing, group shuttles, and a two-dollar carbon offset that goes toward generating 100 kWh of clean wind energy. You can buy one online or in person at participating resorts. 

Tell us: How long is the trip to your nearest ski area and how do you get there?  

Organic Group Demands Labels for GMOs

Would you want to know if the food on your dinner plate was engineered by scientists? Some organic farmers say that consumers shouldn't be kept in the dark about genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which have been altered to include DNA from other species. A new campaign initiated by a group of "organic stakeholders" urges the FDA to Just Label It.

A slew of nations have similar regulations in place: The European Union, Japan, Australia, and parts of Southeast Asia required GMO labeling back in 2002. They were joined by several African countries and Brazil in 2004; India, Chile and Russia in 2006; and China in 2011. While the FDA has required labeling for transfats for the last nine years and food allergens for eight years, many processed foods on store shelves contain unmarked GMO ingredients. 

Green Your Ski Adventure: Eco-friendly Equipment

Recent snowfall in some parts of the country has skiers rejoicing. This week's tips will help you carve the slopes in eco-conscious style.  

Tip # 3: Choose Greener Skis

A host of ski outfitters offer sustainable equipment. German ski maker Grown uses wood sourced from sustainably managed forests and eliminates the remaining footprint through offsets offered by Swiss non-profit myclimate. Colorado-based Liberty and other producers build cores from fast-growing bamboo. For more ideas, check out Planet Green's Top 10 list.

Tell us: What's your favorite ski brand? 

What the Frack?

Hey Mr. Green,

In your recent blog about the best clothes dryer options, why didn’t you talk about the environmental damage from hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) to extract natural gas from shale, instead of pushing natural gas. Fracking poisons people and their water.

—Tyler, in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Thanks to you—and other smart readers—who have reprimanded me for failing to note the downside of fracking for natural gas. For those unfamiliar with the fracking process, it involves drilling way down—sometimes two miles or more—and injecting massive amounts of water along with chemicals to bust up layers of shale rock to release natural gas (methane) trapped by it. This technique has raised a number of serious concerns, because it requires massive amounts of water; may pollute groundwater with the chemicals; damages the surface environment; and leaks methane, a major global warming gas. Consequently, bans on fracking have been debated or enacted in places as disparate as New Jersey and Bulgaria, while a number of regulations have been proposed in different states to address these issues—so many, that the Sierra Club has a list of them  so you can track what’s going in your own location, and get involved if you wish.

Among the common chemicals the industry admits using are hydrochloric acid, glutaraldehyde N,n-dimethyl formamide, petroleum distillates, ethylene glycol (antifreeze), and naphthalene (mothballs). They don’t tell us what else is in the fracking stew, and claim that chemicals are safely stashed way below the water table. But water still containing the chemicals after recovery from drilling sits in giant open ponds that hold millions of gallons too toxic to release.

Green Your Ski Adventure: Bite This Bar

Recent snowfall in some parts of the country has skiers rejoicing. This week's tips will help you carve the slopes in eco-conscious style.  

Tip # 2: Bring a Sustainable Energy Bar 

Before you're tempted to gorge on unhealthy cafeteria snacks, pack some homemade trail mix or a few energy bars to sate hunger while you're navigating the powder. A number of eco-friendly brands, like Olympic Granola, are tastier than they look and will likely keep you going longer than chili nachos. For more sustainable snack ideas, check out the results of our energy-bar taste test. 

Tell us: What's your favorite snack on the slopes? 

Snowy Owls Swoop into the U.S.

Birders, grab your binoculars — 2012 may be the year of the snowy owl. This winter, increased numbers of these birds of prey have ventured farther south than usual, say researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

After summers spent hunting and nesting in the northern tundra of the Arctic, snowy owls normally migrate through Canada and the northern U.S. during the winter months to search for food. An abundance of lemmings and small rodents last summer may allow the snowy owl population to grow; now facing greater competition for food, the birds have to travel farther from their usual habitat, which is lucky for bird-watchers.

Snowy owls are impressive hunters, snatching their prey from the ground in open fields or occasionally grabbing fish from the water. They have even been known to catch other birds in mid-flight. One of the largest owls on the planet, they can often be seen perched motionless on outbuildings or telephone posts overlooking open fields. Keep an eye out for them through late April as far south as Texas.

--Cyndy Patrick / image by rpbirdman/istock

Watch a snowy-owl video below the fold.

Green Your Ski Adventure: Responsible Resorts

Recent snowfall in some parts of the country has skiers rejoicing. This week's tips will help you carve the slopes in eco-conscious style.  

Tip # 1: Check the Ski Area Environmental Scorecard. 

The Ski Area Citizens' Coalition produces an annual Ski Area Environmental Scorecard, which grades western U.S. ski resorts on habitat and watershed protection, efforts to address global climate change, and environmental policies. The goal is to differentiate between resorts that merely pay lip service to ecological stewardship and those that make the protection of the mountain environment their top priority. The latest report rates Squaw Valley in California with the highest score. 

Tip #2: Sustainable Energy Bars. 

Tip #3: Eco-Friendly Equipment.

Tip #4:Offset Emissions.

Tell us: Which ski resorts do you think should make the grade? 

"We Miss You," Love, Nature

WE MISS YOU from fireapple films on Vimeo.

 "We Miss You" is a beautifully-shot short film and social campaign by three German film students that was launched in 2010. The urgent message to reconnect with nature may be a bit gruesomely displayed; nevertheless, "We Miss You" has now garnered over a million hits throughout the web, not to mention it has won several young filmmaker awards, including three from Cannes. We suggest you check it out for yourself.

 --Justin Cohn