Thursday, May 6, 2010

More random links on sustainability

Evolution strikes another blow to industrialized farming as round-up resistant weeds proliferate:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-05/roundup-resistant-superweeds-invade-us-fields

The article ties in Monsanto's "RoundUp Ready" GMO crops and speculates that GMOs in general will take a hit. That's probably taking it a bit too far. The problem is not the GMOs, but the proliferation of a single pesticide which these particular GMOs aided. On the plus side, the weeds are a more easily handled side-effect than a virulent pest specific to some RoundUp Ready crop would have been. 90% of a single year's crop of soybeans could have been destroyed in such a nightmare scenario.

Meanwhile, Target and Walmart are fighting to be (among other things) the most eco-friendly big-box store:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1634995/hip-scorecard-faceoff-walmart-vs-target

Walmart seems to have the edge, but the encouraging point is that big-box chains, long time foes of environmentalists, are doing more than green-washing a few products.