Air Date: Week of January 1, 1993

Letters and calls on our features on banana growing, Christmas tree mulching and pollution-free flying reindeer-powered vehicles.

Transcript

CURWOOD: And now, comments from you, our listeners.

(Music up and under)

CURWOOD: In a recent interview, Lester Brown cited bicycle production as a significant economic indicator, prompting this call.

REID: My name is Brett Reid. I live outside Asheville, North Carolina. Those of us who could use our energy to pedal here, there and yonder on two wheels must get some worthy support. Something must be done to make the roads that exist now, and the drivers, good and healthy for the bicycle or we cannot use our bikes except off-road.

CURWOOD: Margaret Noll is retired and listens to us on WOI-AM out of Ames, Iowa. After hearing our piece on the negative impacts of commercial banana production in Costa Rica, she wrote: "One is told constantly not to be so concerned about things like this. But it happens (the) banana is one of the only raw fruits I can safely eat, but I don't want to eat it at the expense of lives lost in Central America."

Our 'Seasons Greetings' show sparked a few suggestions. Peter Tafuri is an amateur historian and food writer from La Plume, Pennsylvania. After hearing our interview with Marian Weinstein on the history of solstice rituals, he pointed out that the ancient celebration of the solstice was not limited to Anglo-Saxons. He writes: "The solstice was celebrated by all the peoples of the temperate zones. Our own continent is dotted with locations where Native Americans went to great lengths to create alignments to mark the solstices and equinoxes, and similar sites are to be found throughout the old world which antedate the Angles, Saxons and Jutes."

Another listener had a few words about our piece on Christmas tree mulching.

RABINOWITZ: Hello, Living on Earth, this is Mark Rabinowitz calling from Tacoma Park, Maryland. Why did you suggest that people continue to kill trees for Christmas instead of planting them? You cannot make organic mulch out of most Christmas trees, since they are sprayed with highly toxic herbicides that obliterate all other plant life. Why not encourage people to plant trees everywhere? After all, that is what we need to absorb the carbon emissions of the industrial age. Hope you get a little deeper coverage in the New Year. Bye-bye.

CURWOOD: And finally, an entrepreneur from Arkansas sees a bright future for our low-emission reindeer sleighs.

BEASLEY: This is Maryann Beasley in Vadeville, Arkansas. I listen to KAUF. I am extremely excited about these reindeer vehicles. I am a salesperson by profession, I believe that I could market this vehicle and there are certain details I need to know: what color are they going to come in, what sizes, I need to know if they're going to have air bags installed, and I need to know if the air-conditioning is going to be free of CFC's. I'm ready to go on this, I think I could earn a real good living selling reindeer vehicles. Bye-bye.

CURWOOD: So if you have any comments, questions or concerns, give us a call on our listener line, as 617-868-7454. That's 617-868-7454. Or you can write to us at Living on Earth, Box 639, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02238. That's Living on Earth, Box 639, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02238.