boulderganic
eco-briefs
by Boulder Weekly staff RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK HOSTS PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
David Gilbert / RAN
together leading activists in a In an effort to further the converleading sation on “the most effective, cutactivist town ting-edge, out-of-the-box solutions to to discuss this the climate conundrum” and initiate important actions they see as increasingly topic: We urgent in the face of the pending believe that effects of global climate change to strength in our ecosystems, food and water supcommunity plies, economies and biodiversity, the inspires true, Rainforest Action Network is hosting a Destruction of primary rainforest to effective panel of local environmental activists make way for palm oil plantations in change.” West Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, on June 3. Panelists for “Radical is in 2009. Rainforest Reasonable” will be Lindsey Allen, Action executive director of Rainforest Network’s Action Network; Sam Schabacker, current Mountain West Region Director for Food & achievements include securing commitWater Watch; Myriah Conroy, senior producer at Idea Trading Company; and polar ments from major snack food producers, Mars, Kellogg’s and General Mills, to reduce explorer Eric Larsen, spokesperson the use of palm oil, a contributor to carbon for Protect Our Winters (POW). pollution and deforestation, and from nine “There is an urgent need to hold the of 10 major print publishers, including world’s largest corporations accountable Disney, to stop hardwood fiber sourcing. for the massive environmental destruction, A VIP reception for the event begins at human rights violations and climate pollu5:30 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m., on tion they cause,” Lindsey Allen, executive Tuesday, June 3, at the Rembrandt Yard, director for Rainforest Action Network, said 1301 Spruce St., Boulder. Tickets are $125 for in a press release. “Rainforest Action VIP, $35 for general admission and $10 for Network specializes in taking on these big students. More information on the Rainforest fights, but we can only win them with a Action Network is at www.ran.org. strong base of people who are fired up to —Elizabeth Miller make it happen. This is why we’ve brought
SUSTAINABLE FASHION
Levi Strauss & Co. has a new idea for increasing the eco-friendliness of their jeans: They suggest wearing dirty jeans. At the Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Green conference in Laguna Niguel, Calif. on May 20 about sustainable fashion, Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh told audiences that not washing jeans not only is better for the environment, but also helps keep them in newer condition. While the Levi company can make changes to the environmental impact of making jeans, Bergh noted that the impact lasts throughout the lifetime of the jeans. Only half of water use in the jeans business is from the production process itself, according to Fortune. So Bergh called for the reduction of water usage on the customers end, simply by not washing their jeans as often. Bergh noted that the jeans he was wearing at the time had not being washed in over a year, and said he has yet to get a skin disease. Levi’s VP of Women’s Design Jill Guenza has previously mentioned in an Elle magazine article that sticking jeans in the freezer can kill many of the bacteria, but not all of them, and curb the odor of the unwashed jeans. — Steven Kreimendahl
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WATER from Page 23
the degree that there ever could be one, it’s the last tool out of the box.” Neubecker goes further to say there simply is no water left to divert in the Colorado River Basin. Already, aquatic ecosystems are struggling in streams affected by existing diversions. Taking more water could push them over the edge. Recent studies show a big shortage looming within just a few decades, up to 3.2 million acre feet under moderate climate change scenarios. If there’s any common ground, it’s
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that the shortages will be equally painful across the state. If, as projected, the Front Range population nearly doubles by 2050, it’s all but certain that those new residents won’t all be able to have bluegrass lawns. Already, 85 percent of the state’s population lives in the South Platte Basin, which is pushing for the new transmountain water diversion option. The South Platte Basin produces about 1.4 million acre feet of water annually, and already supplements that with 400,000 acre feet
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of water from the West Slope, with 85 percent of the water used for agriculture. Whether all of Colorado’s ranches and farms will survive is questionable. Every day, water providers along the Front Range field inquiries from agricultural water users seeking to sell their irrigation allocation — at city prices. According to Neubecker, it’s an unspoken fact that the Front Range cities could meet most of their projected supply gaps with transfers from agriculture, but that there’s tremendous political
pressure to prevent the decline of the traditional industry. The pending showdown over the state water plan (a draft is due in about three months, with a fall 2015 deadline for the final version) shows once again the need to connect the dots between water planning, land-use planning and social, economic and cultural values associated with agriculture — not to mention the ecological values of healthy streams and rivers. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
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