The Fight For Pesticide-Free Christmas Trees |
From Stephanie Feldstein, Population and Sustainability Program Director |
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There are up to 30 million live Christmas trees sold in the United States every year. For centuries Christmas trees were grown without intensive pesticides, but after World War II chemical-intensive agriculture and large-scale Christmas tree farming converged. Christmas-tree farms in six states that produce nearly two-thirds of U.S. Christmas trees have reported spraying 270,000 pounds of pesticides each year. Many of these pesticides are highly toxic, are banned or restricted in other countries, and are known to disrupt children’s brain development.
The holiday season shouldn’t come with hidden harms to kids. That’s why the Center petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Make America Healthy Again Commission to address the health risks to children from lingering pesticide residues on Christmas trees.
Read on to learn about simplifying the holiday season, how beef recipes drive climate change, and more. |
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Crowded Planet: New research out of Poland shows that the sound of people talking can induce panic in wolves. Scientists found that wolves were twice as likely to abandon an area when they heard people talking than when they heard birds twittering. The findings prove that “there is no ‘big bad wolf’ unafraid of the human ‘super predator,’” said Liana Zanette, a coauthor of the paper.
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Sustainable Diets Ignored in Climate Journalism |
Animal agriculture is responsible for 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it’s almost always left out of climate media coverage. A new analysis by the Center found that 99% of climate journalism fails to cover sustainable diets. In fact coverage would have to increase sixfold to accurately reflect the proportion of animal agriculture’s responsibility in the climate crisis.
“Big Ag is following in the footsteps of Big Oil when it downplays its climate impact,” said Alexandra Tey, an independent journalist who led the Center’s research effort. “Climate journalists have published excellent reporting on how the energy industry suppressed evidence of climate change, but we’re still missing out on compelling stories by overlooking food issues.”
Here’s one thing you can do: Learn how to write a letter to the editor to ask your local news outlets to improve their coverage of food and climate issues. |
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State Emergency Preparedness Lists Miss Sexual Health |
Taking care of your sexual and reproductive health during an environmental disaster is just as critical as caring for your other medical needs. But a new report by the Center found that 96% of state emergency preparedness checklists ignore sexual health.
The report analyzed emergency preparedness checklists across all 50 states for the inclusion of menstrual products, medications, personal hygiene products, and sexual and reproductive health items. Only two states — Maryland and Rhode Island — specifically included sexual and reproductive health products such as condoms, pregnancy tests, and birthing supplies on their emergency preparedness checklists. Check out our recent webinar and podcast interview to learn more about sexual and reproductive health emergency preparedness.
Here’s one thing you can do: Help fill the emergency preparedness gap in your community by distributing your own sexual and reproductive health preparedness kits. |
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Recipe Outlets Cook Up Climate Change |
Recipe outlets have a powerful influence on what people buy, what they eat, and which ingredients end up in grocery carts. When the recipes they promote are beef heavy, this influence comes with a steep environmental footprint. A new Center analysis found that the top 10 U.S. food-media outlets push enough beef in one month to match the pollution of nearly 3 million cars.
The report calls on recipe outlets to stop promoting beef, provide climate-friendly substitutions for archived beef content, and increase the visibility of plant-based recipes. These aren’t novel ideas. In 2021 Epicurious announced its decision to stop publishing beef recipes, citing sustainability as the primary motivation. Here’s one thing you can do: Share our report, A Recipe for Climate Disaster, with your favorite recipe outlets and social media accounts to urge them to stop posting beef recipes. |
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A bill that would fund a pilot program to increase the availability of healthy plant-based food — including nondairy milk — in U.S. public schools was recently reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and is quickly gaining widespread support. School districts that enroll in the pilot program could use the funds for any activities that support expansion of plant-based entree options. The National School Lunch Program serves a whopping 5 billion meals annually to 30 million students. Getting nutritious, plant-based meals into the hands and bellies of students doesn’t just provide immense nutritional benefits — it could also save tens of millions of tons of emissions per year.
Here’s one thing you can do: If you live in the United States, read more about the Plant Powered School Meals Pilot Act and then tell your representatives to support the bill.
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Simplify the Holidays on Instagram |
Our Simplify the Holidays campaign helps Americans shift wasteful holiday traditions toward what really matters: spending time with family and friends, having fun, and relaxing. We believe life’s big celebrations should come wrapped in more meaning and less stuff. To help spread the Simplify the Holidays message year round, we’ve launched a new Simplify the Holidays Instagram account.
Help us spread the word about our new home on Instagram and follow along for tips to simplify the holidays all year long.
Here’s one thing you can do: Check out our Simplify the Holidays gift guide for handmade, experiential, and food gift ideas. |
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Wildlife Spotlight: Yarrow’s Spiny Lizard |
Yarrow’s spiny lizards have lived on a single mountain range in southern Arizona’s Sky Islands for about 3 million years. They’re only a few inches long, with subtly multicolored scales and a complete black collar. Rapidly warming temperatures have forced Yarrow’s spiny lizards to higher elevations in recent years — they now have only about 272 feet of elevation left for habitat. If the rate of warming continues, the lizards will be pushed to extinction.
Last month the Center petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Yarrow’s spiny lizards under the Endangered Species Act. Protection would result in a recovery plan to help safeguard the lizard’s habitat from human-caused threats. |
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States |
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