Carl Setzer

Just discovered this video by Sofia Ashraf about Unilever's "response" to mercury poisoning in Kodaikanal, India . I found it powerful. I, being me, did a little digging through this. Here's a piece describing the background , and why Ashraf was recruited to the cause. The global pressure seems to be working, as Unilever today announced efforts to resolve the situation . We'll see. 

Sustainability has been a significant part of my journey for years. Perhaps the most obvious element was my time at Starbucks working in environmental affairs , but that's really only a piece. Also, my time with the Episcopal Church, where I interacted closely with the Earth Ministry greatly expanding my learning. Just two of the more significant parts of my life. I've been exploring this idea for decades. My goal is greater than just understanding sustainability, but finding ways to live it. Really, defining it is the easy part. It's living it that's tough. I'm paraphrasing my friends Brian and Mary Natrass with this definition: a sustainable society is one that takes no more then it returns to the ecosystem. Balance. And though the term "sustainble" gets thrown about a great deal nowadays, I'm not aware of any element or system in modern society that meets that description. Our consumer economy is, actually, the exact opposite. Continued exploitat...

I love innovative design. Besides the sustainability elements, I think it's quite ascetically pleasing. 

I was recently engaged in an online debate about sexual shaming  as a response to "disagreement", or a dislike for reporting. In the discussion, the focus, Amy Harmon with the NYTimes asked me to look at her GMO story with fresh eyes . And so I tired. A bit of background is important at this point. I have years of experience on the "con" side of this issue. I've worked in environmental affairs, been involved with myriad environmental action groups; hell, I drive a Prius. And I've read over the years the stories about increased cancer risk, Monstanto's seed police, contaminated soils, and myriad other concerns. Yet I also recognize science evolves, that what we understand about any particular subject gathers more information, different analyses; that the scientific consensus may change. Plus, I'm willing to admit that I am often within an political echo-chamber, where truly hearing other voices can be rather difficult. With that, I decided to re...

I first became involved with Green Drinks when I worked as part of the Starbucks Environmental Affairs team. It's a loosely affiliated national group providing networking opportunities for the Green crowd. I've thought a lot about reconnecting with the Seattle group when into my inbox comes an invite from the Snohomish County chapter. They're meeting tomorrow and I plan to be there. If you're in Everett or nearby, I hope you come by. More details at this link: http://greendrinkssnoco.blogspot.com/2012/02/green-drinks-february-8th-sno-isle-food.html#comment-form

Today a group consisting of my family and friends, took to the highways and ventured out to the Big Four Ice Caves . I’ve been hearing about this place for years, and it seemed a great time to venture out there. It’s about 14 miles east of the Verlot ranger station, in eastern Snohomish county.  A nice hike. Not too intense, not much in the way of elevation gain. There were a few folks in flip-flops, some in sandals (like Tevas) and most in tennis shoes. I wore my hiking boots. With my ankle's history of injury, I opted for extra protection. The terminus of the hike was packed snow, which formed the ice caves in the name. There were other caves further along the small valley, but we didn’t venture farther. Some of us went up onto the snow/ice (the ice is compacted snow, formed mostly from avalanche fallout). I, with my boots, was the only one really equipped for that. I stopped everyone once we got to the point where the rocks that fell were big enough to cause serious harm. ...

The brilliantly irreverent folks at Grist say it better than I could. Enjoy!   http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2007/06/06/5/#comments   That's It, We're Not Washing Our Undies Anymore Groups ask U.S. EPA to ban chemical in detergent that feminizes fish Your detergent gets your clothes clean, sure -- but does it feminize your trout? Five green groups and a labor union are petitioning the U.S. EPA to ban a family of chemicals used in cleaning products that have been linked to gender changes in fish. Each year, the U.S. produces about 400 million pounds of nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates, much of which ends up in waterways by way of sewers. In lab tests, the endocrine disruptors have been shown to cause male fish to develop female characteristics; finned fatales have also been found in the wild. While the effects on humans aren't known, the groups -- led by the Sierra Club -- say the environmental risks are "unreasonable." Some major companies,...

I felt a compelling need to respond to John Kay ’s piece, “ Green lobby must be treated as a religion ”, from the Financial Times earlier this week. (To be clear, I’m simply responding to the most salient portions.) Environmentalism embraces a myth of the Fall: the loss of harmony between man and nature caused by our materialistic society. Al Gore recounted the words of Chief Seattle, as his tribe relinquished their ancient lands: "Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother?" Perhaps one component of the environmental community does. “Environmentalism” captures a wide group of people. Environmentalists include animal rights types, members of many faith traditions (Christian, Buddhist, etc), as well as a core group of SCIENTISTS, who are the ones who have done most of the heavy lifting until recently. Many within the environmental movement (most by my experience) are actually scientists who would find Kay’s allusion si...