BULLETIN BOARD Blackbird 2648 Stuart Street Berkeley, CA 94705 Dear Rainpeople: Some of us here are working on creating a bio-centennial road show, a combination of news and music from the standpoint of natural rather than national history. We expect to be working on bookings for the show in a couple of months. P.S. Enclosing a poster ("Living Creatures," spontaneous ceremonials, music from the rapture circuit, 609 p.m., Malvina Coffee House, Union St. near Grant in North Beach). We did an all-night solstice ceremony recently and now are doing an earth environmental news and music show at United State Cafe in S.F. Arrakis Propane Conversions Rt. 2, Box 96C Leslie, AK 72645 We're the only outfit I know devoted to making it possible for earth-minded folk to convert their own vehicles to propane at the least possible cost, saving money on fuel and maintenance costs, while reducing pollution 70%. We're homesteaders, and so far as I know, the only place in the country where people can get any conversion equipment at discount, together with do-it-yourself instructions. Formally: Point Arena Volkswagen or Arrakis Volkswagen. (Jerry Friedberg) Chlorination and Ozone Depletion Not Man Apart Letter, Sept. 1975 Herbert Schwartz, Ph.D. Vineland, NJ Dear Editor: Although aerosol propellants are being blamed for damage to the ozone layer, I feel that greater blame should be placed on chloroform. Chloroform is produced by the haloform reaction in waste and drinking water by chlorination according to the following equations: Cl2 + H20 t HCL + HOCl 3HOC1 + CH3 COR + RCOOH + 2H20 + HCCl3 The volatile chloroform thus produced enters the atmosphere and reaches the ozone layer where it could react in the following manner: HCC13 + uv HCC1 2 e Cle + 0 3 + 02 + Cle When one realizes the amount of chlorine used for water treatment, the amount of freon-type aerosol propellants used to date becomes almost insignificant by comparison. Chlorination of municipal drinking water was also the primary cause of the crippling epidemics of polio in the '40s and '50s. The vast sums spent on the development of polio vaccines were spent purely because chlorination of drinking water prevented people from contracting a very mild form of polio previously universal in early childhood, which provided their bodies with antibodies that prevented their being stricken later by the dangerous form of polio. Chlorination of water-like all our violent, and in the long run ineffective and dangerous means of dealing with other endemic life forms-also has proven to be merely a means of speeding the evolution of more resistant and dangerous varieties of the disease vectors they attempt to control. To a point you can play ping-pong with larger and larger doses of drugs and chemicals against more and more resistant bugs, but such games forget that our bodies are innocent bystanders that don't evolve that fast and are the recipients of ever more violent and dangerous diseases and drugs. In the not-toolong run the odds are also that the winner of the ping-pong game will be the bugs, as the resources we can devote to such games-like all our games-are becoming more and more limited, and we are reaching the levels of toxicity that our bodies can stand. There's really no lazy-man's shortcut to doing things properly. All we really have to do is keep our water sources clean and stop dumping our sewage into them (which we ought not do anyhow)! (T.B.) Small leaks Small leaks add up to big losses. The surest way to prevent the loss or water or other liquid commodity is lo slop leaks. ~ one drop per second ~ drop breaking to a stream ~ 1/8" stream As figures here show, the cumulative effect or even small leaks can add up to large volumes: in an hour = 6 ounces in a day= 1 gal. & 1 p,n1 in a week = 8 gallons in a month = 34 gallons in an hour= 1 gallon in a day = 24 gallons in a week = 147 gallons in a month = 588 gallons in an hour = 11 gallons in a day = 260 gallons in a week = 1,512 gallons in a month :;; 6,636 gallons I think this would be good to put in RAIN. (Ken Smith) Sept/Oct 1975 RAIN Page 29 Learning About the Built Environment National Association of Elementary School Principals 1801 N. Moore St. Arlington, VA 22209 $3.00 The educational facilities laboratory has put together this source book in environmental education for elementary and secondary levels. It's hard to imagine anyone active in the field not being aware of most of these resources (books, organizations, films & games), but if you're new to the subject you '11 probably find it helpful. Andy Uehara Heliotrope Natural Foods 2060 Market N .E. Salem, OR 97301 I'd like to participate in a conference/ dialogue with other people involved in small business alternatives/cooperatives. Also we're interested in setting up an alternative power demonstration involving the store, i.e., running one of the store's lighting or refrigeration systems via solar power, etc. We need info or a resource person who can tell us what's feasible, what technology is available, cost estimates, etc. Will King NW Regional Foundation Have you seen John Brainerd's Working With Nature: A Practical Guide? One of the most delightful books I've seen in years. For the steward/user of the earth and its bounties, on macro and micro scale. Ecologically maximizing ways to do cross-fauna, build homemade mulverts for home and trail, and much more. Praise be to Brainerd. Excellent 589 item bibliography and beautiful index. continued on page 30
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