Tool Pool Farmers Share Farm Machinery


Instead of buying or renting expensive special- ized machinery, farmers in Maine can now join a “lending library” of farm tools on short-term loan by using the Shared-Use Farm Equipment Pool, a partnership between the Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gar- deners Association. There are already equipment co-ops and joint machinery owner- ships around the country; now the sharing economy being established in urban areas seems to be catching on in rural America, too. For a $100 annual fee, members can gain access to a seedbed cultivator, two- shank sub-soiler, plastic mulch layer, tine weeder, and strip and ridge tillers. The 1,200-pound mulch layer, for instance, retails for more than $2,000. Each piece is undeniably useful, but pricey, especially given the cost per use. Farmers have a three-day window to use the tools. The pool came about when Mike Gold, an MFT staff member, saw the need


to lower costs for both new and seasoned farmers. Currently, most of the tool pool members are newer vegetable farmers, but Gold says there’s appeal for established land stewards, too: “They see the opportunity to use that one piece of equipment that they may only need once a year or once every few years.”


Source: ModernFarmer.com


Persistent Pacers Women Marathoners Better at Maintaining Speed


Danish researchers studying almost 2 million marathon results from 131 marathon races over a period of five years have concluded that women are 18.6 percent better than men at maintaining a consistent pace overall, compared to the first and the last parts of the distance. Among the popu- lation studied, 68.5 percent were men and 31.5 percent were women. The research further suggests that both men and women “burn out” en route and could improve their marathon results significantly simply by starting slower.


Source: Consumer.HealthDay.com


EPA Blooper Bee-Toxic Pesticide Approved


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved cyantraniliprole, a new systemic pesticide that is toxic to bees, for agricultural use and has set allow- able residue limits on almonds, berries, leafy vegetables and milk. The EPA also approved it as a seed treatment, so it may show up in GMO (genetically modified) seeds in the future. Cyantraniliprole has been proven to cause liver toxicity, and the EPA notes that it also alters the stability of the thyroid as tested on laboratory rats. Although the agency maintains that the pesticide is not a direct thyroid toxicant, any indirect effects on this glandular function are likely to disrupt the endocrine system. As its current endocrine disruptor screening program is still in the process of validating tests, EPA registration of the new active ingredient is questionable.


Source: EcoWatch.com 14 Pocono, PA / Warren Co., NJ www.healthylehighvalley.com


Eco-Eating Town Eateries


Embrace Sustainability


The city of Maplewood, Missouri, outside St. Louis, has teamed up with the Green Dining Alliance to become the area’s first Green Dining District, with at least 25 percent of all of its in- dependently owned businesses certified by the Green Dining Alliance (GDA). The GDA helps businesses with sustain- ability and green business practices while also helping them save money. So far, eight restaurants in downtown Maplewood are GDA-certified. Green Dining Alliance’s Olivia


Engel says, “It’s a win-win that makes sense for businesses and communi- ties.” The city is also encouraging the program by subsidizing Green Dining Alliance membership fees.


View updates at GreenDiningAlliance.org.


Enflamed Water Home Flame Retardants


Found in River


Scientists with the Wash- ington Toxics


Coalition tested house- hold dust and laundry wastewater from 20 homes in the state’s cities of Longview and Vancou- ver and took samples of incoming and outgoing flow from two wastewater treatment plants that discharge into the Columbia River, the Northwest’s biggest waterway. They detected flame retar- dants in all the tests. The conclusion of the study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, is that flame retardants are sloughing off household products such as couches and TVs and collecting on people’s clothing, wash- ing out in the laundry and passing through wastewater treatment plants into local waterways.


Source: WaToxics.org


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