Q - L i V I N G
EarthTalk
. . 140,OOO-square-mile stretch of
from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine open ocean northwest of
Dear EarthTalk:
What is the status of Hawaiian monk seals
and how will the new national monument desig
nation in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands
affect them?
— Polly LaBarre, New York, NY
Easily exploited by hunters, whalers and
fishermen in the 19th century, Hawaiian monk
seals essentially never recovered. As early as
1976, the Hawaiian monk seal was listed as
endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species
Act. The species is also on the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (lUCN’s)
Red List of Threatened Species, and trade in the
species or its parts is banned under the
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES).
According to statistics from the U.S. National
Marine Fisheries Service, beach counts of popu
lations of Hawaiian monk seals declined by
some 60 percent between 1958 and 1996. Today
only 1,300-1,400 of the animals exist in the wild
and their populations have declined about four
percent annually in recent years.
What makes marine biologists and envi
ronmentalists so sad to see Hawaiian monk
seal populations dwindle is the fact that the
charismatic mustachioed creatures are one of
the few mammals known to science to have
evolved very little from their ancestral begin
nings some 15 million years ago. In a sense, the
monk seals are living fossils, and provide scien
tists with a window to days long gone by.
In June 2006, the Bush administration creat
ed the Papah Naumoku Kea Marine National
Honolulu. The area is dotted with uninhabited
islands and reefs that provide perfect habitat for
some 7,000 different species of marine wildlife,
a quarter of which, like the monk seal, are
found nowhere else on the planet. The estab
lishment of the monument ensures that no
development or resource extraction will take
place in the area, which is roughly the size of
California and is the largest protected marine
area in the world. Meanwhile, public access is
restricted. And commercial and sport fishing
will be phased out there within five years.
The establishment of the new national mon
ument is key to saving the monk seals, as habitat
loss is currently their chief threat, given that
hunting is no longer allowed. Other threats
include incidental capture in fishing gear, inges
tion of fisheries debris or toxic substances, a
decrease in prey availability — monk seals are
carnivores — and even intentional kills, in some
cases by misguided fishermen thinking that the
seals are competing for their catches. These fac
tors, along with an inherently slow reproductive
rate, continue to threaten the remaining
Hawaiian monk seal population.
Dear EarthTalk:
We will need to replace our house gutters
soon. What are our best options from an environ
mental perspective?
—Jodie Green, Dallas, TX
First understand clearly why your gutters
need to be replaced. Are they rusted or broken?
Are the fasteners no longer holding them in
place? Or, have the gutters leaked and failed to
-'-.d
keep water out of your house? Answers to these
questions will help you decide which type of
gutter to choose.
Use a material that is the most durable for
your climate; ultimately the longer your gutters
last, the less environmental cost there will be in
the product lifecycle, from manufacturing to
recycling. A cheaper produdt that degrades
twice as fast as another would not be the best
choice, even if it does have a greener produc
tion process: The extra cost of having to fix
your water-damaged home — and the health
problems that could arise from exposure to
mold — would make a “cheaper” gutter in
reality much more costly.
“Galvanized steel, copper and aluminum
are preferred gutter materials,” reports Austin
Energy, the Texas capitoTs community-owned
electric utility. Copper is a more expensive,
high-end gutter material, as are stainless steel
and wood, although wood is used mostly in
historical restoration.
According to home improvement expert Don
Vandervort, who writes for This01dHouse.com,
steel and aluminum each have big pluses. Steel
is sturdy, while aluminum will not rust. Copper
and stainless steel are sturdy and lasting, too,
says Vandervort, but they can cost three to four
times as much as steel or aluminum. “Steel gut
ters can stand up to ladders and fallen branch
es better than aluminum,” he says. “But even
thick galvanized steel eventually rusts.” He
advises buying “the thickest you can afford.”
Austin Energy says that gutters should be a
minimum of 26 gauge gdvanized steel or 0.025
inch aluminum.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is also used for gut
ters, but “can get brittle with age or in extreme
cold,” says Vandervort, and cannot carry as much
snow load as metal gutters. PVC is also not a very
green-friendly choice. The Center for Health,
Environment and Justice (CHEJ) calls PVC plas
tic “one of the most hazardous consumer prod
ucts ever created.. .dangerous to human health
and the environment throughout its entire life
cycle.” When produced or burned, says CHEJ,
PVC plastic releases dioxins, a group of potent
synthetic chemicals that can cause cancer and
harm the immune and reproductive systems.
Replacing your gutters can be an unfortu
nate expense, but it can provide an environ
mental opportunity, because the way you han
dle your roof’s water is important. Consider
linking your gutters to a “rooftop catchment
system” that captures rainwater in a cistern or
rain barrels and can then be used to water
non-edible plantings. Efficient water use is a
guideline in the U.S. Green Building Council’s
FEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) for Homes standard for
certifying green-built homes.
Finally, if you have a problem with debris,
consider a RainTube. This recycled-plastic gut
ter insert (which won the 2008 Sustainable
Product Award from Green Building Pages)
keeps gutters clear of debris, preventing over
flow into your house. Of course, cleaning your
gutters now and then is probably the best envi
ronmental option in that it may head off any
need for replacement or modification.
Send your environmental questions to:
EarthTalk, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, Q 06881;
earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at
www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. EarthTalk
is now a book! Details and order information at
www.emagazine.com/earthtalkbook. I
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