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For centuries, practitioners of traditional
medicine in Asia have recommended combining
seahorse powder with herbs to treat impotence
as well as respiratory ailments such as
bronchitis and asthma. But during the late
1990s--perhaps not coincidentally following
Pfizer’s introduction of Viagra--the
international trade in seahorses jumped
more than 75 percent. Indeed, millions of
people throughout Asia and elsewhere are
turning to compounds incorporating seahorse
powder as a natural and inexpensive alternative
to Viagra for curing impotence, despite
mixed reports about its effectiveness.
Project Seahorse, which maintains offices
in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia,
Hong Kong and the Philippines, reports that
more than 24 million seahorses are sold
each year around the world for traditional
medicinal purposes. The principal importers
are China and Singapore. Meanwhile, millions
of other seahorses continue to be bought
and sold each year to stock aquariums around
the world, further jeopardizing wild populations.
Currently all 34 known species of seahorses
are listed as threatened under the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES), a global treaty signed by 166 countries.
Under the treaty, businesses that engage
in the seahorse trade are required to show
that their actions do not jeopardize wild
populations at risk. International seahorse
traders now need permits, and a minimum
size limit has been imposed to guarantee
that juvenile members of populations can
reproduce.
Nonetheless, keeping tabs on the international
seahorse trade and prosecuting violators
is a major undertaking. Project Seahorse
coordinates a network of marine conservation
organizations--including Chicago’s
Shedd Aquarium, the Zoological Society of
London, the World Wildlife Fund’s
TRAFFIC program, the University of British
Columbia, and the University of Tasmania--to
share findings and help police the trade.
But researchers admit that only a reduction
in demand through increased public awareness
will save this unique and peculiar creature
from extinction.
CONTACTS:
Project Seahorse, www.projectseahorse.org
Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES),
www.cites.org
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Dear EarthTalk:
I've heard that some European countries
require cars to be recycled.
Is this true?
—
Glen Palmer, West Palm Beach, FL
Back in February 2000, in response to the
realization that discarded autos accounted
for a tenth of the hazardous waste spilling
out of Europe’s landfills, the European
Union (EU) decided to shift the burden of
environmental responsibility squarely onto
the carmakers themselves. Now until 2007,
in all 25 EU member countries, carmakers
must recycle 80 percent of the vehicles
they manufacture; in 2015, the percent increases
to 85. In addition, the law requires all
automakers selling their products in Europe
to stop using toxic heavy metals, such as
the mercury sometimes found in auto trunk
light switches.
The recycling law also applies retroactively;
forcing carmakers to pick up the full tab
for disposing of every auto they ever produced.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association,
a trade group, believes the measure will
cost industry around $23 billion, based
on a recycling cost of around $155 a car
and an estimated 150 million cars currently
on the European roads.
In response, automakers across Europe are
redesigning their new models with recycling
in mind. Germany’s Volkswagen, for
example, conducted extensive research on
how to maximize efficiency in recycling
its fleet. The company concluded that extensive
dismantling of vehicles before crushing
significantly cut down on waste, and then
designed its most recent Golf with a dashboard
built for easy and complete removal by a
dismantler. And to facilitate ease in recycling
auto plastic, VW replaced potentially contaminating
adhesives with clips and now uses a standardized
plastic wherever possible. In another example,
BMW now makes instrument panels out of a
standardized plastic that can be broken
down and re-molded back into the same instrument
panels with 99.5 percent purity.
The world’s major non-European automakers,
including Ford, General Motors and Toyota,
sell many vehicles throughout Europe and
have begun building networks of recycling
facilities tailored to their respective
vehicle lines. Toyota, for instance, has
set up almost 600 recycling sites in four
European countries.
Although American automakers are not subject
to such strict regulations at home, they
have been recycling cars since the first
Model T rolled off Henry Ford’s production
line. Today, American-made cars are among
the most recycled consumer items. According
to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers,
a U.S. trade group, approximately 82 percent
of an average vehicle’s weight gets
recycled. Ford and General Motors are pioneering
the use of recycling-friendly design on
their new lines of automobiles, going so
far as implementing environmentally-friendly
“closed loop” manufacturing
systems and distributing End-of-Life-Vehicle
(ELV) dismantling manuals listing parts
and their material content.
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