Bart’s Blinky? Three-eyed Fish Found Near Nuclear Plant

3 eyed fish

¡Ay, caramba! A three-eyed fish was caught in a reservoir in Argentina, reported Cadena 3, an Argentine news service.

The fishing hole where the mutant fish was caught may be more of a fission hole. The reservoir, named “Chorro de Agua Caliente,” receives water from a nuclear plant in the province of Córdoba.

“Simpsons” fans will remember the same thing happened in Springfield. Bart caught Blinky, a three-eyed fish, in the pond fed by Monty Burn’s nuclear power plant in the episode “Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish,” from the second season of the hit series.

For More -> Bart’s Blinky? Three-eyed Fish Raises Nuke Fears : Discovery News.

Is Our Technolust Actually Greener?

Sarah and I have been discussing the environmental impact of gadgets and if our technolust is indeed greener. So I set out to find out what I could and this article sums it up pretty well. If you were to buy a iPad and use it for nothing but reading books, you would have to read 60-70 books over the lifetime of the gadget to balance out the environmental impact. The study doesn’t account for everything such as the energy used by lightbulbs while reading paper books is actually greater than the power consumed by the iPad. Nor does it note the use of the iPad for other activities such as emailing and watching movies would help offset the impact. It also doesn’t account for reading news and magazines which would definitely offset in my case.  It does account for transportation, production, and resources used to make the corresponding products.

It does put the greening of gadgets into perspective, considering the average person in the U.S. reads 9 books a year. A fact that may raise other questions about how technology affects our society.

for more check out Is Reading on Your iPad More Green Than Paper Books? — Apple News, Tips and Reviews.

Lower Fox River Basin

The Lower Fox River Basin is located in the northeastern part of the state which includes Brown, Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago counties. The rivers basin empties 6,349 square miles of water northeast to the Bay of Green Bay which then empties into Lake Michigan, which is surrounded by large industrial, commercial, agricultural, and urban areas. This creates many nonpoint sources that greatly affect the water quality.

The Fox River Appleton Watershed holds 39 square miles of land that include the city of Appleton. Much of the land contains glacial deposits as a result from the WI Ice Age that happened over 10,000 years ago. The soil is rich with remains of limestone. The land’s natural habitat once had prairie, oak, savanna, and maple-basswood forests. Much has changed over the years because of human practices, the forests have lost density and agriculture has decreased. In the 1600’s Europeans used the Fox River for fur trading, fishing, crop maintenance, and transportation. People began to settle in Green Bay and then along the river where a large timber industry began, which led to larger industries and urbanization.Within the last century an extremely large amount of raw waste was running into the river. In 1931 Green Bay formed a Metropolitan Sewage District and its first sewage treatment plant. The Federal Clean Water Act began in 1972 to help limit pollution. WI then created its own Pollution Discharge Elimination System, which required businesses to reduce their organic waste that runs into the river.Now the water is known as a warm river with impaired water conditions. There are advisories of fish consumption since 1976 because of PCB’s that settled along the riverbed.  Various programs that cost millions of dollars are working together to restore the Fox River. NCR Corp. and Sonoco- U.S. Mills spent about $30 million on a project that removed 130,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment.

Within the watershed lies 100.87 acres of the Fox River Lock Channel-Appleton, it is located within the Fox River and the Plum and Kankapot Creeks. Agriculture takes up most of the watershed use with a high of 64.15% while residential use is 12.56% and forests use is 7.92%. The watershed has a “high” level of groundwater and streams.


There have been many monitoring projects within the Fox River Lock Channel-Appleton. After looking at the most recent reported data in July of 2002, I discovered that out of the water collected 80% was sand, 71% silt, and 21% clay. There were also reports of 129000.0 UG/G dry of organic total carbon, 93.0 UG/G dry of PCB 1242, while many additional results were reported to have been insufficient sample, reports approximate. Much of this data was received by gathering physical, chemical, and biological data from the habitat. There are 6 point (known) flows of discharge into the river. The Appleton City, Heart of the Valley Sewerage District, Anchor Foods, Foremost Farms USA, and Thilmany International Paper are all known discharges. The Fox River Watershed may now be selected as a “priority”  by the WI Nonpoint Source Pollution Abatement Program. There are also plans under way by the WI Administrative Code NR 121 to help protect the water quality. There have been a variety of grants offered to restore the different areas of the Fox River watershed. The most recent proposed project is to hire a County Aquatic Invasives Coordinator. These projects encourage improvements of the Fox River Basin and its habitat in the future.

Lower Fox River Basin – WDNR.

Our Environment- US EPA

This is a very informative link to the EPA’s energy consumption site in Wisconsin. Here you can learn what sites are emitting pollutants such as mercury, etc. You can also track your air, water, and land quality. Based on a 2008 Energy Production vs. Consumption Graph, our state consumed the least amount of nuclear gases compared to other energy sources.

OurEnvironment | US EPA.

Just Act Natural Green Market~ Downtown Appleton

This Saturday, tomorrow, Just Act Natural will be hosting the Green Market as an addition to the Farmers Market. This will be going on from 8am-12:30pm.

There will be many environmental vendors available which include: information about composting, solar panels, organic lawn care and much more. Diane and J.c. from Just Act Natural will be there to help you get started with a green lifestyle.

I will be volunteering with Sustainable Fox Valley. Sustainable Fox Valley is a non-profit organization that encourages being able to satisfy present human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. I will be helping the children from the Fox River Academy with the “Wonder of Worms” activity. This will be a fun and educational opportunity for the children and their families of the FRA. Decorated rain barrels made by the students of the Fox River Academy will also be on display.

This is a wonderful addition to the Appleton Farmers market and is filled with such great content to help our communities continue to grow. I hope you enjoy the article written by J.c. of Just Act Natural by following the direct link below.


Just Act Natural Green Market

Milwaukee’s Rock the Green Music Festival


Rock the Green Music Festival is a non-profit festival that encourages sustainable and healthy lifestyles for communities near and far.

Veolia Environmental Services is a large sponsor of the event. The company will provide on site composting and recycling. There will also be eco friendly programs, emerging green technologies,  and tips to reduce your carbon footprint.

The festival will be powered by clean energy sources such as: biomass, solar, wind and bio-diesel powered generators. All disposable items will be replaced with their compostable equivalents, while a Green Team will manage waste recovery stations throughout the grounds. Finally, free water stations will replace the usual individually sold, plastic water bottles.

There will be locally grown food and beverage vendors, a bike tour before the concert, and 6 bands to fill the stage. Many interactive areas will focus around our 4 main elements: earth, water, fire, and air. These elements reflect the various sustainable and renewable technologies.

Milwaukee’s Rock the Green Music Festival

Community Garden Partnership- Fox Cities

Most of the food my family and I eat has come from our garden or local farms. Yesterday, we stopped at a Community Garden in Appleton. I picked a leek and 2 heads of romaine lettuce. To give back to the garden I trimmed the flowers of the purple basil and pulled out weeds and dead leaves.

The Community Garden Partnership is a program of the Goodwill NCW. The partnership provides opportunities for diverse groups to share their gardening experiences. The link below will take you directly to the Community Garden Partnership site.

Community Garden Partnership