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A TOUCH OF NATURE
June 15, 2003 Issue

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This newsletter is sponsored by The Herbs Place.com:
Natural Health Solutions for Adults, Children and Pets!
Newsletters, Online Classes & *Herbal Medicine Chest*

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SEARCH previous issues and MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION

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DONNA'S COMMENTS
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To All You Dads! Happy Father's Day!

Hope you're planning on spending some time in nature with your children this weekend. I'm sending this early just in case you don't already have plans to spend some time outdoors with your kids, you might have time to think about making a special memory.

Teaching children about nature, the environment, and gentle care of animals is a lasting investment. Children who learn to treat animals right will treat people better also. We've sponsored classrooms over the years so children can get a copy of KIND NEWS. It's been a very rewarding thing to do. One year an entire classroom sent their individual thank you cards to us and they were all precious! Each child had designed and colored it. I had to cry as I looked through them.

Here's some more information on this opportunity:

SPONSOR A CLASSROOM AND TEACH KIDS TO CARE ABOUT ANIMALS

KIND (Kids In Nature's Defense) News, a monthly newsletter, uses articles, puzzles, celebrity interviews, and project ideas to teach humane lessons and inspire kids to take action for animals. Last year, 98% of elementary school teachers whose classrooms subscribed to KIND News said that it increased their students­ concern about the animal protection. You can help spread the seeds of kindness in the elementary school classroom(s) of your choice by sponsoring a subscription to KIND News. Learn more about sponsoring a classroom.

Nature's Best to You!
Donna

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CRITTER FACTS
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WILD SALMON VS. FARMED: THE REAL STORY

Everywhere you look these days, you see another story about dwindling fish populations and destructive fishing techniques and ten more reasons why avoiding certain fish is the eco-politically correct thing to do. But what's the real story behind the fisheries that harvest salmon from the wild and the booming, worldwide salmon farming industry? You might be surprised to learn that it's more ecologically sound to eat certain stocks of wild salmon than it is to eat the ubiquitous farmed variety. Salmon farming is doing more to threaten our native salmon populations than well-regulated harvests from the wild. Read more.

Early 20th-century naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton wrote that of all the northern creatures, none is more dependent on hares than the Canada lynx. "It lives on rabbits, follows the rabbits, thinks rabbits, tastes like rabbit, increases with them, and on their failure dies of starvation in the unrabbited woods."

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THOSE AMAZING BIRDS!
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BIRD SONGS & IDENTIFICATION

This site includes a listing for nearly every species of bird ever covered in Bird Watcher's Digest. Updated bi-monthly to coincide with each new issue of BWD, each entry includes a description of the bird, full color photograph or illustration, and an audio example of the bird's call. A great resource for bird identification through song and photograph!

PURPLE MARTINS

These bug eaters are always a joy to have around the house. They will eat flies, mosquitoes, wasps, beetles, and other insects, sometimes even ants on the ground. They fearlessly drive hawks and crows away from crops and chickens. They like their structure for nests to be in the open about 20 feet from the ground. There's lots of haggling over the best compartments.

They take a month or more for sporadic nest building with both sexes dragging in grass, leaves, and even rags. 4-5 eggs are incubated for two weeks and both feed the young bugs they catch. In August-September after the young are raised, they often roost in large flocks in city trees. Their winter home is South America, but they will return to the same nest year after year.

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GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE- Restoring the Balance
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MAKING A MEADOW

Feeling ambitious? Try converting an abandoned field into a meadow garden.
What rewards you will have as the butterflies, bees, moths, and birds
entertain you - not the mention the critters below eye level! Here's the way to do it.

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HEALTH FROM NATURE
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CORNSILK

You know those silky, yellow threads that grow between the leaves and ears of corn. The ones you have to pick out of your teeth after consuming a plate full of delicious sweet corn on the cob?

Herbalists use this 'cornsilk' part of the plant. It is gathered when the plant has shed its pollen. Cornsilk has often been used as a tea, but also in a powder, or ointment mixed with corn oil for external applications. It has also been used as a flavor component for some major food products and face powders.

In Mexico the silky filaments just inside the husk are sold in bulk to anyone desiring safe nutrients for the urinary system. Most of us despise these little strings without realizing that on a fresh ear of corn they are sweet and easy to chew. In folklore they are used to benefit the kidney and bladder. Cornsilk is effective either fresh or dried. We use it in capsule when we have urinary problems and I've used it for our cats who have had an irritated urinary system. It works great! Read more about Cornsilk.

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"GREEN" INFO- Making It a Way of Life!
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1. Precycling is the step before recycling. This is the process of making a conscious choice to purchase or use products and services which will have a less harmful effect on the environment.

2. Know what is recycled in your community. Some items may have special collections and recycling locations (oil & antifreeze at gas stations; plastic bags at grocery stores; six-pack rings and house batteries at
schools; grass and leaves at garden centers; etc....). If the product is packaged in material that is NOT recycled in your community, it becomes GARBAGE and is wasted!

3. Buy products that use less packaging. Product packaging accounts for about 33% of all household garbage. If we refuse to buy products that are overpackaged, the manufacturers will by force to change their packaging to be more environmentally responsive.

4. Close the loop " Buy Recycled". Choose to buy products that are made from recycled material. Its only recycling if you buy recycled products.

5. Buy recyclable products. Choose products that are made of or packaged in recyclable material. Paper bags, cardboard boxes, glass bottles, aluminum and tin cans, and some plastics are easily recycled.

6. Avoid reliance on the word "degradable". A degrade product must be exposed to the element to breakdown. In a land fill these items do not breakdown because they are protected by tons of debris and dirt.

7. Avoid disposable and one-time use products. These are a waste of resources and energy to produce. In most cases their are reusable alternatives.

8. Buy in bulk or concentrated forms when ever possible. This usually saves money and reduces the amount of waste that is thrown away.

9. Reuse items. Try to reuse items as many times as possible. If you do not have a use for items that are still good or operational, donate them to a local charity or environmental organization. Ask to see their wish list, you may have something they need. Many items can also be used for other things than what they were first purchase for. Be creative! A plastic bottle can be made into a/ Funnel by cutting off the bottom. Liner for a planter or flower pot. Bird feeder. Container for storing nails, screws, washers and nuts. Etc...

10. If you are not happy about the packaging you see, speak up. Let manufactures and store managers know that you are not happy with the way a product is packaged.

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MUSINGS: POETRY & PROSE
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"To waste, to destroy, our natural resources,
to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it
so as to increase its usefulness, will result in
undermining in the days of our children the very
prosperity which we ought by right to hand down
to them."

-- Theodore Roosevelt, message to Congress, December 3, 1907

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GOOD NEWS ABOUT OUR PLANET
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WILD ANIMAL DISEASE INFORMATION NETWORK CREATED
by Sherry Morse and Elizabeth Caunter

More than 100 zoos in the United States recently joined a network created by the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL to provide up-to-date information about diseases being contracted by wild animals.

The creation of the network was primarily prompted by deaths of flamingos, owls, hawks, penguins and emu in zoos that were caused by the West Nile virus. Since 1999, the year in which the virus was first discovered in the United States, more than 150 birds in zoos throughout the country have succumb to the disease. The members of the network hope that by sharing information, they will be able to help prevent illness and save animal?s lives.

"It's all about getting (information) as soon as possible so you can act," epidemiologist Dominick Travis told a National Public Radio reporter.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc

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DISCLAIMER:

The content, suggestions, and web links in this newsletter are for informational purposes only and not necessarily endorsed by our sponsor "The Herbs Place.com" This is a personal publication by Donna Watkins. The ideas and information expressed in it have not been approved or authorized by anyone either explicitly or impliedly. In no event shall Donna Watkins or "The Herbs Place.com" be liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from any action arising in connection with the use of this information or its publication, including any action for infringement of copyright or defamation.

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