A Small Request
If you are the guy I saw outside of your house the other evening with the fancy plastic Round Up spray bottle attachment on your hose, I thought you might like to know that I was just swimming at Huntington Beach. And, if you want, I could come over and roll around on your lawn and apply a second coat of your weed killing chemicals, if you think it’ll help.
The problem with swimming at the beach and then coming home and reading about water quality in the ocean is that you find out that you were frolicking in sewage discharge and urban runoff, which doesn’t come as a surprise, because, duh, you flush your own toilet uphill from there. But all the same, this realization is not exactly classifiable as “heartening.” It does, though, explain why you couldn’t see your feet.
You probably saw the Sunday Los Angeles Times with its front page toxic ocean article. Did it make you all itchy, too? The article (by Kenneth R Weiss) explains that the millions of tons of chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides and the burning of fossil fuels that we are pumping into the ocean on a daily basis are causing all kinds of nasty consequences: algae blooms, tumors on sea turtles, the disappearance of kelp and coral, and the creation of these so called “dead zones.” There are now 150 of these low oxygen areas in the oceans of the world, areas where organisms that can leave do so, and those that can’t leave die. If you looked at the graphic, you probably noticed the little red dead zone square right on top of southern California. That’s where all the sea stars suffocated.
This article made me curious about the Huntington Beach water that was still stuck in my sinuses, so I made the mistake of looking for more information. A couple of highlights: I found a 2005 Associated Press article describing a UC Irvine Study that determined that swimming at Huntington and Newport Beaches costs people (conservatively) 3.3 million dollars per year (No, not each. Total - parking is not that expensive). This amount was based on lost wages and medical treatments for over 74,000 incidents of stomach illness, respiratory disease, and eye, ear, and skin infections due to exposure to polluted water. And, even more frightening, according to the Surf Rider Foundation 2005 “State of the Beach” Report, male fish with female characteristics are showing up in beaches off of Southern California. Scientists believe that treated sewage is disrupting fish hormones and deforming the sex organs of these fish. That’s when I decided, enough research. I went and took a long, long shower.
So, just a small request; if you wouldn’t mind, like, whacking those weeds (string trimmers are fun!) and/or eating only organic food produced with no pesticides, and walking to work (a bike would be OK, or even roller skates), and becoming vegetarian, and wearing hemp, and powering your house with solar panels or an exercise bicycle, I’d really appreciate it. I might feel comfortable about body surfing again, too, if that’s something you happen to care about.
If you are the guy I saw outside of your house the other evening with the fancy plastic Round Up spray bottle attachment on your hose, I thought you might like to know that I was just swimming at Huntington Beach. And, if you want, I could come over and roll around on your lawn and apply a second coat of your weed killing chemicals, if you think it’ll help.
The problem with swimming at the beach and then coming home and reading about water quality in the ocean is that you find out that you were frolicking in sewage discharge and urban runoff, which doesn’t come as a surprise, because, duh, you flush your own toilet uphill from there. But all the same, this realization is not exactly classifiable as “heartening.” It does, though, explain why you couldn’t see your feet.
You probably saw the Sunday Los Angeles Times with its front page toxic ocean article. Did it make you all itchy, too? The article (by Kenneth R Weiss) explains that the millions of tons of chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides and the burning of fossil fuels that we are pumping into the ocean on a daily basis are causing all kinds of nasty consequences: algae blooms, tumors on sea turtles, the disappearance of kelp and coral, and the creation of these so called “dead zones.” There are now 150 of these low oxygen areas in the oceans of the world, areas where organisms that can leave do so, and those that can’t leave die. If you looked at the graphic, you probably noticed the little red dead zone square right on top of southern California. That’s where all the sea stars suffocated.
This article made me curious about the Huntington Beach water that was still stuck in my sinuses, so I made the mistake of looking for more information. A couple of highlights: I found a 2005 Associated Press article describing a UC Irvine Study that determined that swimming at Huntington and Newport Beaches costs people (conservatively) 3.3 million dollars per year (No, not each. Total - parking is not that expensive). This amount was based on lost wages and medical treatments for over 74,000 incidents of stomach illness, respiratory disease, and eye, ear, and skin infections due to exposure to polluted water. And, even more frightening, according to the Surf Rider Foundation 2005 “State of the Beach” Report, male fish with female characteristics are showing up in beaches off of Southern California. Scientists believe that treated sewage is disrupting fish hormones and deforming the sex organs of these fish. That’s when I decided, enough research. I went and took a long, long shower.
So, just a small request; if you wouldn’t mind, like, whacking those weeds (string trimmers are fun!) and/or eating only organic food produced with no pesticides, and walking to work (a bike would be OK, or even roller skates), and becoming vegetarian, and wearing hemp, and powering your house with solar panels or an exercise bicycle, I’d really appreciate it. I might feel comfortable about body surfing again, too, if that’s something you happen to care about.
posted by kyle at 9:54 PM
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