next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
tion.</div><div --000000000000105259058b87e860 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Hello again, Good point about "poison". To add more to this thread, the study quoted used only cigarettes with filters. According to the Wikipedia article on cigarette filters, they have many poisonous substances in them including glues and plastics (in fact TerraCycle recycles the plastic recovered from them). The filter was simply a marketing tool; even the way it changes colour to make one believe the toxins were filtered out is just marketing. TerraCycle is the Toronto-based company that makes the "high end fertilizer" out of the butts - after screening out all the toxins, they say. The company is worth a second look in my opinion. Nancy On Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 12:25 PM Parker Donham <parker@donham.ca> wrote: > Clarification: > > People seem to have reached the conclusion that I am advocating the > introduction of cigarette butts into birds' nests, or even more remarkably, > that I support cigarette smoking. For the record, I sat with my mother as > she died a cruel death from emphysema due to a lifetime of smoking. I > detest smoking, and if it were up to me, cigarette company executives would > serve long prison terms. I also know that hassling people addicted to > cigarettes is not a productive strategy. > > I was responding to a few emails in which group members recalled, but > could not put their fingers on, a study about birds incorporating butts in > their nests, and the possible insecticidal effect thereof. I linked to a > number of stories in the popular press, and to the abstract of the original > Mexican study. > > I wasn't advocating anything, merely trying to fill an information hole in > the conversation. > > Now for some actual advocacy: To echo what Don MacNeill said, countless > substances are beneficial in small doses but harmful in large amounts. > Paracelsus > <https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/meet-philippus-aureolus-theophrastus-bombastus-von-hohenheim/72579/>, > aka Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493-1541), > known as the father of modern toxicology, famously declared: *Dosis sola > facit venenum*, or more fully, in English, "Everything is poison; nothing > is poison. Dose alone makes the poison." Toxicity is not a binary concept > but a sliding scale; knowing the dose is critical to assessing safety. It > is a point environmentalists often miss. > > > On Sun, Jun 16, 2019 at 8:21 PM Mary Macaulay <marymacaulay@hotmail.com> > wrote: > >> Please note that birds and other wildlife also directly ingest these >> highly poisonous butts - another way in which this highly toxic trash >> contributes to environmental harm. Hope no one on the list is excusing >> themselves from littering in this way thinking they are helping out >> wildlife ..?? >> >> With kindest regards >> >> Mary (Macaulay), P.Eng. >> CEO Insect Recovery Project >> Social Enterprise - Tatamagouche Remember Adventures & Caper Cafe >> Bed & Breakfast, Pedal Buggy, bike, kayak, coaster & snowshoe rentals, >> great bird friendly coffee, organic baking, breakfast & pasta, soups, >> stews, vegan curries & chili, pollinator meadow, games & more!! >> (Cafe/Buggies Open Wed to Sunday: 8:00 am - 3 pm; Tatamagouche B&B phone >> me directly , Angevine Lake Chalet - book via Airbnb) >> RememberAdventures.ca & InsectRecovery.org >> 1-902-293-1533 >> Twitter @RememberTata & @InsectRecovery >> >> On Jun 16, 2019, at 6:27 PM, Parker Donham <parker@donham.ca> wrote: >> >> I asked Prof. Google about this, and she directed me to the following. >> >> - From Scientific American:* Cigarette Butts in Nests Deter Bird >> Parasites >> <https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/culturing-science/cigarette-butts-in-nests-deter-bird-parasites/>* >> - From the Economist: *Some birds use discarded cigarettes to >> fumigate their nests* >> <https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2017/09/30/some-birds-use-discarded-cigarettes-to-fumigate-their-nests> >> - From Nature: *City birds use cigarette butts to smoke out parasites >> <https://www.nature.com/news/city-birds-use-cigarette-butts-to-smoke-out-parasites-1.11952>* >> - From the New Scientist: *From the New Scientist Birds use >> cigarette butts for chemical warfare against ticks >> <https://www.newscientist.com/article/2138655-birds-use-cigarette-butts-for-chemical-warfare-against-ticks/>* >> >> These reports in the popular press all seem based on a single study by by >> three Mexico City researchers published in Biology Letters. The Royal >> Society has an abstract (but the full paper is behind the usual >> unconscionable academic paywall): >> >> - *Incorporation of cigarette butts into nests reduces nest >> ectoparasite load in urban birds: new ingredients for an old recipe?* >> <https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0931> >> >> >> >> >> On Sat, Jun 15, 2019 at 12:17 PM Ken J MacAulay <kenmacaulay@eastlink.ca> >> wrote: >> >>> John there was a recent article on-line about wild bees using plastic to >>> line their nests. That article also mentioned birds using cigarette >>> butts >>> in their nests to kill mites etc. Like you, though, I can't remember if >>> it >>> was on a news feed or a FaceBook article. Here is a link to an article >>> that >>> mentions the butt use at the end of the piece. >>> >>> >>> https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/06/wild-bees-building-homes-from-plastic/ >>> >>> Ken MacAulay >>> Port Mouton, NS >>> >>> >> >> -- >> *Parker Donh**am* >> +1-902-565-5555 >> parker@donham.ca >> Contrarian.ca >> >> >> > > -- > *Parker Donh**am* > +1-902-565-5555 > parker@donham.ca > Contrarian.ca > > > -- Nancy Robinson 514-605-7186 --000000000000105259058b87e860 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div dir=3D"ltr"><div><div><div>Hello again, <br><br></div><div>Good point = about "poison".=C2=A0 <br></div><div><br></div>To add more to thi= s thread, the study quoted used only cigarettes with filters.=C2=A0 Accordi= ng to the Wikiped