Austinites, get ready for Earth Day

Austin is known for being a laid-back, earthly kind of place; so naturally with the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day coming up on April 22, Austin is not only celebrating the day, but the whole week.

Starting April 14, there are events planned in order to honor the earth and have a good time while doing it. Because Austin is the music capitol, it would only be right to kicking off the week with a concert. The concert will feature the Old 97’s and Ben Kweller.

Activities throughout the week will also include a farmer’s market with focus on sustainable food, a guided hike along Barton Creek, screening of the academy award winning film, The Garden, Earth Day festival, and Barton Springs cleaning.

The Earth Day festival which will be held April 21 and will feature local green artists, live music and entertainment, vendors and their earth-friendly, sustainable wares, a showing of an episode from the series- Plant Earth, as well as fun and educational activities for kids.

“Give 5% back to Mother Earth” will occur on Earth Day and is a commitment from certain businesses to contribute 5% of gross sales for the day to support seven non-profit organizations that are committed to protect the environment and preserve the culture of Austin. Some of the businesses include Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, Opals Divine, Shady Grove and Trudy’s. You can find the rest of the list at http://www.austinearthday.com/givefive.html

So, for the most part, by shopping or going out to eat on Earth Day, Austinites can contribute to supporting and helping the Austin community and environment. Not a bad deal!

If some want to contribute their time but not their money, there is always the Barton Springs cleaning. This is where volunteers come out on Earth Day and give back by helping clean up the Barton Springs pool.

Ground Zero for Dolphin Slaughtering

Taiji is a small village in the southern part of Japan that extends into the Pacific Ocean. According to the Academy Award winner documentary, The Cove, at first glance of this town, it seems very dolphin friendly. But Taiji holds a secret that many people are becoming aware of- and they don't like it.

Taiji is ground zero for the hunting and slaughtering of dolphins. Most of these dolphins are killed in order to be processed into meat for human consumption.

THE PROCESS: A small group of people take around 13 boats at sunrise to go search for dolphins. When the dolphins are located, the hunters position their boats in a line and place 15 foot long metal poles into the oceans and bang them with a hammer. This creates an unbearable sound that put the dolphins in a panic and survival mode. This drives them together and into shallower water. The sound enables the hunters to navigate them into a killing cove.

Once they are trapped in the cove, it is an easy task for the hunters to "drive hooks, sharp spears and knives into their bodies," according to savejapandolphins.org. The blood from the dolphins stain the cove water red.

The hunters say that dolphin hunting is something they are proud of, and it's a tradition. According to this website, some people have the misconception that whenever something can be labeled traditional or cultural, it automatically justifies the act. But as a time-honored tradition in the Ethiopian country side, a man rapes the woman he wants to marry as a way to "ruin" her so she will have a hard time marrying anyone else but him. Because this is a tradition, does it make the act justified? Definitely not.

The killing of the dolphins is only one part in a two part story. According to The Cove, hundreds of samples of japan dolphin meat have been tested and have shown to be toxic. So toxic that the markets near Taiji was analyzed to have 5000 times more mercury than the health advisory of .4 ppm.

The oceans around China, Japan and the United States are the most polluted in the world due to industrialization.The EPA requires that if fish has more than 2 ppm, it will not be fit for human consumption. To put this in perspective, bottlenose dolphins off the coast of the United States can have up to 6800 ppm.

So this is a health, ethical, and environmental issue. With people gaining knowledge about this issue, hopefully it will put enough pressure on Japan to end this practice.