“Allergies, asthma, lung cancer and heart problems have all been linked to poor indoor air quality.”


~ U.S. EPA


rine, with large concentrations in bleach. Inhalation of chlorine can irritate the respiratory system; prolonged exposure can lead to lung disease and asthma. Healthier choices: Purchase chlo- rine-free cleaning products, especially chlorine-free bleach. Or make inexpen- sive solutions of white, distilled vinegar mixed with a little lemon for scent for a multipurpose, multi-surface cleaner; try baking soda as a scrubbing powder.


Volatile organic compounds. VOCs are emitted as harmful gases by a wide array of products including paints, lacquers and paint strippers; cleaning supplies; pesticides; carpets and furnishings; office copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper; plus graphics and craft materials that include glues and adhesives, permanent mark- ers and photographic solutions. The EPA calculates that, “Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher [up to 10 times] indoors than outdoors.” Healthier choices: Look for


VOC-free products and consider using organic clay paint, which has the added benefit of acting as an absorbent of toxic gases.


Most people spend up to 90 per- cent of their time indoors, where the air quality can be two to five times (and even up to 100 times) more polluted than the air we breathe outside, accord- ing to the EPA. “A simple solution is to open windows for a portion of each day or night to let in fresh air,” advises Loui. Making these choices enables us to pro- tect ourselves better at home.


Gail Griswold-Elwyn is founding president of Rethink Renovations, of St. Louis, MO, which offers green design/build and construction services, including cabinetry and furniture that minimize environmental impact. Connect at 314-323-8845 or RethinkRenovations.com.


inspiration Earth Music


Saving Nature’s Wild Symphony by Bernie Krause


W


e may be drawn to the sounds of waves or woodland streams or beguiled by the


subtle winds and creature voices of the desert or mountains. Whatever captures our imagination, as we actively listen, something in a wild animal’s repertoire will cause us to catch our breath. Nature teems with a vigorous resonance that is as complete and expansive as it is delicately balanced. Every place on the planet populated by plants and wild animals is a concert hall, with a unique orchestra performing an unmatched symphony. Each resident species possesses its own preferred sonic bandwidth—to blend or contrast—akin to how stringed, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments stake out acous- tic territory in an orchestral masterpiece. Into Earth’s daily round are embed-


ded the dawn and daytime, evening and nighttime choruses. Whatever the purpose of a creature’s aural signal— mating, protecting territory, capturing food, group defense, play or social contact—it must be audible and free from human acoustical interference if the species is to successfully function. During the last half of the 20th cen-


tury, I recorded the wild sounds of more than 15,000 species and 4,500 hours of natural ambience. Nearly 50 percent of these land, sea and sky habitats have since then become seriously compro- mised, if not biophonically silent. The loss of representative habitats due to human presence and noise has resulted in declines in the density and diversity of creatures large and small that contribute to healthy natural soundscapes. Fortunately, in the absence of human habitation, these places can


become lively again. Fellow British soundscape ecologist Peter Cusack wrote of the restoration of wildlife 20 years after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in the Ukraine: “Animals and birds absent for many decades— wolves, moose, white-tailed eagles, black storks—have moved back, and the Chernobyl [human] exclusion zone is now one of Europe’s prime wildlife sites. The species-rich dawn chorus is one of Chernobyl’s definitive sounds… its night- time concerts equally spectacular.” In 1968, 45 percent of the old-


growth forests in the contiguous United States were still standing; by 2011 it was less than 2 percent. Before the forest echoes die, we may want to step back for a moment and listen carefully to the chorus of the natural world where rivers of sound flow, ranging from crickets, frogs and insects to wrens, condors, cheetahs, wolves— and us. Otherwise we are denying ourselves the fullest experience of that which is essential to our spiritual and psychological health. The whisper of every leaf and crea-


ture’s song implores us to love and care for the delicate tapestry of the biophony that was the first music our species ever heard. It told us that we are part of a single, fragile biological system; voices in an orchestra of many, with no more important cause than the celebration of life itself.


Adapted excerpt from The Great Animal Orchestra, by Bernie Krause, used with permission of Little, Brown and Company. Listen in at WildSanctuary.com and learn more at NatureSounds.org and WorldListeningProject.org.


natural awakenings April 2013 15


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