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"I left Earth three times. I found no place else to go. Please take care of Spaceship Earth."

--Wally Schirra (March 12, 1923-May 3, 2007), who flew around Earth on Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions in the 1960s.

Grist Fundraising in Poor Taste

I used to be an avid reader and supporter of the online environmental magazine Grist. However, I eventually came to feel that I couldn't agree with their politics. I felt that their whole approach was ultimately anti-environment and thus counter-productive. I unsubscribed from their service some time ago and removed their news feed from this site.

Recently, Grist has been sending out a grossly offensive fund-raising appeal. I got this appeal even though I long ago asked them not to send me email. In it, Grist makes light of recent attacks against and kidnappings of journalists like Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Journal. They use this base appeal to get you to click on their fundraising links.

We know this email is unexpected, but we need your help. We arrived at work this morning to find that our beloved advice columnist, Umbra Fisk, had been kidnapped, and her captors are demanding a ransom raised by readers like you. No trace of Umbra's notebook, computer, or unicycle remains -- the only thing we found was this note below. Can you help us?

There is little indication, aside from the absurdity of someone capturing a worthless blogger for ransom and the unicycle reference, of this being a joke. This kind of hoax is really out of line when real journalists are actually risking their lives in war zones around the world.

I'd urge anyone who finds this as offensive as I do to write to grist@grist.org and let them know.

Greenpeace vs Apple

Greenpeace has been making a lot of noise about iPods and iPhones recently as if those are the only consumer electronics which contain toxic chemicals. The way I see it, Apple is one of the big manufacturers who is actually doing a lot to transition those toxic chemicals out of their products.

Greenpeace's attacks on Apple are just a ploy to garner them publicity at the expense of a company who is doing a lot of good things. The links below include more information about Apple's environmental policies. Apple has long been a leader in producing Energy Star compliant machines. Their environmental policies have been in place since well before Greenpeace's recent round of press releases.

Apple's Environment Page - http://www.apple.com/environment/
Steve Jobs Letter - http://www.apple.com/hotnews/agreenerapple/

If you are a member of Greenpeace, or are just sick of their practices like I am, please call or write them and let them know what you think of their opportunism. They should not garner publicity at the expense of companies which are already doing a lot to help transition to good manufacturing practices.

E-mail info@wdc.greenpeace.org
Toll Free 1-800-326-0959

Bush Greenwatch http://www.bushgreenwatch.org

This site is dedicated to highlighting Bush's environmental record and broken promises. They have an email newsletter and you can read previous editions in their archives. Supported by MoveOn.org.

34 Million Friends of UNFPA http://www.34millionfriends.org

When President Bush withdrew $34 million in US support for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, he withdrew long-standing support for the world's primary multilateral provider of voluntary family planning services including contraceptives, pre- and post- natal care and HIV/AIDS prevention services around the world.

Americans support these programs - and now are working to find 34 million people to send in at least $1 to help provide women and their families with critical health services.

Apollo Alliance http://www.apolloalliance.org/

A New Apollo Project will tap our ingenuity, our collective spirit, and our competitive drive. It will rebuild cities and create good manufacturing jobs.

There is also an Earth Day Toolkit

Environmental Organizations and Publications

Sierra Club http://www.sierraclub.com

Environmental Defense http://www.edf.org

High Country News http://www.hcn.org

E! Magazine http://www.emagazine.com

Care 2 Environmental Supersite http://www.care2.com

New Dream http://www.newdream.com

Government

Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov

National Forest Service http://www.fs.fed.us

National Parks Service http://www.nps.gov

Find Local Farmer's Markets and Food Coops http://www.localharvest.org

Thrifty Fun! http://www.thriftyfun.com

We host this site which provides thrifty and environmental tips in a fun and friendly user-to-user forum.

ecoCentral.com includes links to sites for environmental news and information. The content in the linked sites is the responsibility of the authors of those sites and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ecoCentral.com.

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