BT Edmonton Blogs

Today I’m at the Valley Zoo here in Edmonton covering Robert Bateman’s GET TO KNOW Contest! The morning is sure to be packed with great stuff about the program and meeting the awesome staff at the zoo and some really cool kids who are inspired by animals to paint, and draw…but i’m REALLY hoping to catch a glimpse of my favorite ZOO animal…the CAPYBARA!

About 4 years ago, I went there for remote and found tremendous interest in the CAPYBARA – the world’s largest rodent…i stood there in front of their ‘area’ and giggled and giggled…i wanted to share my passion with you!!!

Capybara Facts

Order: Rodentia 
Family: Hydrochoeridae 
Genus and Species: Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris

Capybara are the largest rodents in the world. Three male capybaras live at the Zoo’s Elephant House.

Description: Capybaras have heavy, barrel-shaped bodies with short heads. Their fur is reddish brown on the upper parts and yellowish brown underneath. Adult capybaras may be as long as 130 centimeters (more than four feet) and 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) tall, and weigh more than 100 pounds.

Range and Habitat: The capybara is found in Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas and Peru, south through Brazil, Paraguay, northeast Argentina, and Uruguay. Semi-aquatic, they frequent dense vegetation surrounding lakes, rivers, swamps, marshes, and ponds.

Diet: The capybara is a grazing herbivore, eating mainly grasses and aquatic plants.

Behavior: Capybara are highly social and live in groups controlled by a dominant male.

Conservation Status: Capybara populations are considered stable through much of their range, but hunting in some areas has reduced their numbers.

Fun Fact: Capybara dive and may remain underwater for as long as five minutes.

hee hee…..he makes me giggle…or she, maybe it’s a she…not sure…but get to know the capybara….what a character!!

Yesterday was Earth Day and boy o’ boy…is the world in good hands with the students from Westglen Elementary School!! This school is the leading environmental school in the province because it has completed over 3200 projects thus far on creating a greener earth!! HURRAH WESTGLEN!!! Thanks for an awesome AM!

Okay by now most of you have watched the amazing Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent on the Youtube.

I admit she is pretty good, but is she this good?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFyP2yP-FWU&feature=related

Edarem is talented and not afraid to help you.

So True

I love this little blue planet third from the sun – and I am sure you do too!   If you are cruising around the web – looking for something to do, here are a few Earth Day related sites.  This link is to the Global Footprint Network.   http://www.ecofoot.org 

There is a quiz (A Footprint Calculator), to let you know how big or small your impact is on the earth.  I liked it, BUT I must warn you, there is no option for “Canada”, only the U-S.  I took the quiz anyway.  Turns out I am not as squeeky clean as I think!

And now …..

FUN FACTS ABOUT ALUMINUM!!  ((I know I know,…I NEED to get a life!!!))

Did you know:  Aluminum recycles in no time at all. When you send a can to a recycling depot, it’s processed, recycled, and back on the shelf again in about a month.   http://www.professorshouse.com/your-home/environmentally-friendly/recycling-aluminum-cans.aspx               

  AND — still with me???  Here are reasons Why we should recycle:                          

http://www.professorshouse.com/your-home/environmentally-friendly/why-everyone-should-recyle.aspx

See, we can make a difference!  Can,..get it???(tee hee)  I made an enviro-joke.  Happy Earth-mirth Day!

No gas masks please

California Dreamin

Welcome to Huntington Beach, California.  Grayson and Kira are about to dip their toes in the ocean.  Thank you to their mom Vanessa who captured this kodak moment — complete with footprints in the sand — and sent it in.  The family was in California for Christmas holidays.         

We would love to show off your pics.  Please upload your Fresh Air Photos soon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7rNYzSH-BA  This link gets you to a report by CNN on their show called “News to Me”.

 http://vimeo.com/3251574  This link is to a 12-part video.  Viewing time is a little more than an hour.  It was shot by an online broadcast network VBS.

   This story may not be new to you, but here’s hoping it will stir a new emotion.  In this case, plastics are the root of all environmental evil.

    Six years ago, a sea captain noticed an enormous stretch of garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean.  He, Charles Moore, was more than a thousand miles off shore.

   It’s not a dumping ground in the sense that people are flying or boating by and throwing their refuse into the heap.

   The garbage is trapped in a circular course by winds and currents, and is getting bigger.

It’s in an area called:  the North Pacific Gyre (pronounced JIRE).

    A Gyre is a giant rotating area.  The gyre’s rotation is drawing in the waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean, including the coastal waters off North America and Japan.

The actual size is unknown,…but some estimate it’s twice the size of Texas, and is floating between California and Hawaii.

   The garbage has been given a name of shame.

   The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 80 percent plastic, and has been estimated to weigh more than 3 million tonnes.

   In some of the video, you see a toothbrush, bendy straws, and lots and lots and lots of pieces of plastic bags.

   Scientists are not totally surprised by the Great Garbage Patch.

   Back in 1988, it was predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.     Researchers were measuring the amount of plastic in the North Pacific Ocean, and predicted that someday ……there would be more.

In fact, they were even said the area hit would be the North Pacific Gyre.

On Earth Day, may we learn from Gandhi who said:

“Be the change you want to see in the world”.

Trashed & Dashed!

Not so Sweet

Guess who did this?

Here are a few phrases for you:

“A picture is worth a thousand words”.

and then, in a line from a Rod Stewart song:

“Every picture tells a story don’t it?”

I cannot resist pointing out, that a garbage can was well within sight of this trash, so I didn’t have too far to walk to toss it in.  I always carry a garbage bag with me when I go for a walk because I like to:  TAKE ONLY PICTURES ~~ and ~~ LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS.  Wish these jokers felt the same.

Once the path had been cleared, I found a clearing, and had a nice clear shot of a beautiful clear day!

Happy PlaceRiver of Dreams

TIMELINE OF:  BREAK DOWN AND BIODEGRADE: 

Two to five months for paper to biodegrade.

Five years for a plastic-coated paper cartons.

Up to 12 years for cigarette butts.

50 to 100 years for tin cans.

200-500 years for aluminum cans.

One million years for a styrofoam container or plastic jug.

But the GOOD NEWS:   it only a few minutes to pick it up – and carry it to the nearest garbage bin.

www.earthday.ca

As I write this, I watch a plastic bag try to untangle itself from a tree in the park.

I actually wonder how it got there, who threw it away, and what I would say to that person, if I saw him or her — “in the act”. 

For all I know, that bag may have escaped on its own – and is innocently being whipped around by the wind,….the victim of circumstance.

But then I see the paper coffee cup rolling down the sidewalk, and the person who just threw his cigarette butt on the sidewalk.  Hmmm — not so brave now,…am I?
   
Happy pre-Earth Day.  Save a tree.  Hug a tree.  Try to use less of all those wonderful resources we have at our finger tips.  I love using my travel mug.  It’s second nature (hey – I actually made a joke),…to throw it in my knapsack.

Let’s make being environmentally friendly … Cool!

Grab your travel mug