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permaculture - [Fwd: Biodiversity v. Product Diversity]

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  • From: miekal and <dtv@mwt.net>
  • To: permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu, dreamtime@onelist.com
  • Subject: [Fwd: Biodiversity v. Product Diversity]
  • Date: Sun, 01 Nov 1998 09:04:42 +0000

--- Begin Message ---
  • From: priley@dircon.co.uk (Peter Riley)
  • To: poetryetc@listbot.com
  • Subject: Biodiversity v. Product Diversity
  • Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 13:03:20 +0000
poetry etc - a list administered by John Kinsella -
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Square/8574/

The following anonymous satire was sent to me recently and I thought a lot
of our correspondents would find it, er, stimulating..... /PR



>WASHINGTON, DC--According to an EPA study conducted in conjunction with
>the U.N. Task Force On Global Developmental Impact, consumer-product
>diversity now exceeds biodiversity.

>According to the study, for the first time in history, the rich array of
>consumer products available in malls and supermarkets surpasses the
>number of living species populating the planet.

>"Last year's introduction of Dentyne Ice Cinnamint gum, right on the
>heels of the extinction of the Carolina tufted hen, put product diversity
>on top for the first time," study chair Donald Hargrove said. "Today, the
>Procter & Gamble subphylum alone outnumbers insects two to one."

>The sharp rise in consumer-product diversity--with more than 200 million
new purchasing options generated since 1993--comes as welcome news for
those upset over the dwindling number of plant and animal species.

>"As more and more species fall victim to extinction, we face a grave
>crisis of decreased diversity, not only in America but across the globe,"
>Hargrove said. "But the good news is, these losses in biodiversity are
>more than offset by a corresponding rise in consumer-product diversity.
>Though flora and fauna are dwindling, the spectrum of goods available to
>consumers is wider than at any time in planetary history. And that's
>something we can all be happy about."

>Scientists are calling the current decrease in biodiversity one of the
>worst episodes of mass extinction in the Earth's history. The rate at
>which species are currently vanishing approaches that of the "K-T Event"
>that ended the Age of Dinosaurs 65 million years ago and resulted in a
>loss of 76 percent of the world's species. The current era of biodiversity
>depletion, however, is unique in that it is the first mass extinction to
>occur in conjunction with an expanding industrial society, and thus, the
>first in which consumer-product availability can function as a "balancing
>factor" to help keep global diversity thriving.

><Picture>Above: An example of the planet Earth's rich abundance and
>seemingly limitless diversity of consumer products.

>"Any healthy system needs diversification in order to flourish,"
>University of Chicago biologist Jonathan Grogan said. "Any complex system,
>whether we are talking about the Amazon Rainforest or the Mall of America,
>needs a rich array of species/products if it is to survive. That is why,
>in light of thecrumbling global ecosystem, it is increasingly vital that
>we foster the diversification of the global marketplace by buying the
>widest range of consumer products possible."

>According to Grogan, because of the interdependent nature of systems like
>the Amazon Rainforest and the Mall of America, the disappearance of any
one species/product can lead to the disappearance of countless others.

>"The extinction of the Borneo hooded tern was an indirect result of the
>disappearance of the native species of sea snails upon which it fed,"
>Grogan said. "This kind of vicious cycle, once begun, is impossible to
>contain. Fortunately, though, the process can function the same way in
>reverse: The successful introduction of a new item can lead to additional
>items later on.

>For example, the proliferation of Love My Carpet-brand carpet cleaner in
>hall closets across America would not have been possible without the
>introduction of the affordable, easy-to-use Hoover 5.0 upright vacuum
>cleaner. And thus, the cycle of life goes on."

>According to science writer David Quammen, much of the rise in
>consumer-product diversity is a direct result of the decrease in
>biodiversity.

>"When a species vanishes, the world loses not only that species, but the
>wide range of highly specialized physical and biochemical functions that
>species served. These ecological losses necessitate the creation of new,
>synthetic products capable of serving the same functions," Quammen said.
>"So, for example, when we lose a strain of microbe that filters the water
>we drink, we compensate by developing the amazing Brita water filter, with
>its patented filtration technology. When we lose a plant in the jungles of
>Indonesia whose berry bears an extremely rare nutrient, we develop in its
>place fruity, fun-to-eat Flintstones chewable vitamin supplements."

>Read the EPA report: "The planet Earth stands on the brink of one of the
>most devastating global extinctions in history. By the year 2040, nearly
>two-thirds of all current species will be extinct. Rainforest habitats
>that were once lush canopies of life, sustaining millions of highly
>specialized and interdependent species of plants and animals, have been
>reduced by upwards of 95 percent in some areas. Thankfully, however,
>retail outlets which, as little as 50 years ago, were the domain of only a
>handful of basic staple goods, have evolved into lush, highly developed
>supermarkets and department stores with a nearly limitless abundance of
>consumer goods."

>Environmental and business leaders cheered the report's optimistic
>findings, but they warn that consumers still have their work cut out for
>them.

>"As our ecological resources continue to disappear, we must all do our
>part," Quaker Oats CEO Reuben McCall said. "That means diligent,
>conscientious commitment to increased consumption of new products. If
>these products are not bought, nobody will manufacture them. And if this
>were to happen, the damage to the precious diversity of our consumer
>landscape would be disastrous."


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