Odd & Amusing

When Life Gives you Lemons (or toxic mines), Open up a Tourist Attraction

The Berkeley Pit Mine near Butte, Montana used to be a burgeoning business, employing thousands of workers. Now it’s widely regarded as one of the most toxic mining sites in the western United States. The Pit received national attention as a poster child of environmental damage when a flock of migrating snow geese chose to land and rest on the Pit's toxic waters in November of 1995. They drank the highly acidic water and close to 350 of them died.

But don’t think that’s going to stop the enterprising souls of this rural outpost from turning lemons into highly acidic lemonade.

As Jason Jones of the Daily Show (finally a news show that gets it right) recently revealed, Butte city planners have decided to turn the giant eyesore into a tourist attraction. For a $2 admission fee, you can delight your whole family with the awesome grandeur of a giant death puddle. Apparently some locals even believe the toxins found in the pit’s water could lead to a cure for fatal diseases.

“Some people see contaminated water,” said Butte Chamber of Commerce executive Marko Lucich. “I see wealth.” He added that admission fees brought in about $18,600 between June 15 and Sept. 30 last year.

“Our major attractions in the state continue to be our national parks, our outdoor recreation,” administrator Betsy Baumgart said. “But once people are here, they are interested in understanding the culture ... and mining is very much a part of the history and current culture.”

If you’re tired of Disneyland or need a break from the expense of Hawaii, take the kids to the Berkeley Pit. It’s good, cheap fun for the whole family. Just don’t drink the water.

For more information: Just don’t go.



Burials Au Natural

Some people are so committed to green causes, they want to be environmentally friendly even in the afterlife. For them, a growing trend has become the idea of a “green burial,” where there body is wrapped in a simple shroud and placed in a hole in the ground in a pre-designated (usually a meadow or highly wooded) area. No toxic embalming fluids (which can leak into the ground and water supply) are used, and there’s no wood casket or metal vault to waste. If a casket is used, often it’s made from biodegradable wood and non-toxic embalming fluids. Additionally, going green to your grave saves cash. The cost of a typical standard burial often runs over $6,000, whereas a green burials can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500. A green burial not only saves money, but because the plots used are generally spaced out over many acres of land, open spaces are preserved as well.

For more information: www.memorialecosystems.com



Oh, for the Love of Spinach…

Long heralded as a champion among leafy vegetables — and nowadays even drafted for service in health drinks and herbal gels — spinach consumption has lately been on the rise. The crop even attained first place status in a 2005 Bon Appetite “What’s Your Favorite Vegetable?” survey. Popeye was apparently way ahead of the curve on that one — so let’s celebrate his foresight and the vegetable’s prowess. Perhaps a spinach festival — or three — is in order.

As it turns out, there is a bit of dispute when it comes to laying claim to the weighty title of “spinach capital of the world.” Alma, Arizona; Lexana, Kansas; and Crystal City, Texas all seem to think that their particular town deserves the honor. And each of these proud locales boasts an annual festival to prove its legitimacy. Each event bears its own special charm, but quilt raffles and Popeye-based publicity seem to be popular among them all.

Alma’s fest, an April affair, offers a spinach cook-off, a “Swee’ Pea Photo Contest,” and the ever-anticipated “Spinach Drop,” in which an airplane deposits a bundle of the stuff onto a bingo-style grid. The winner gets $1000; the Boys and Girls Club gets the rest. No word on who gets to keep the produce. Wilted spinach is gourmet, you know.

In Lexana, the September fair will set you back $1.00; it is, however, money well spent. Where else will you have the distinct opportunity to watch Popeye & Olive Oyl — who arrive in style on a vintage 1930s Belgian farm truck — mix “the world’s largest spinach salad?” Children can check out the petting zoo, green rock skipping, Popeye Muscle Man contest, and green bubble gum blowing competition to round out the day.

And in Crystal City, the longest-standing spinach festival tradition kicks off each year during the second weekend in November. The carnival, entertainment, and other attractions draw thousands, and a spinach queen is crowned before the celebration comes to a close. Your guess is as good as ours as to the duties and perks of being named spinach royalty.

Random vegetable festivals are good times, indeed. There does, however, seem to be a bit of rivalry amongst the towns. Let’s just say that a certain Popeye statue at one point went missing and turned up in a Wal-Mart trash bin. But that is a story for another day. In the meantime, if you’re having trouble deciding between all the choices at your local market (the big spinach leaves seem unwieldy; the baby spinach offerings seem wimpy), you will be happy to know that Planet Organics has put out a “teen” variety. No joke. …We only hope the stuff cooperates in recipes.



The Cow Comes to the Rescue. Again

Consider the cow. Here’s a creature whose very existence has nurtured countless millions of people for centuries. They have provided humans with milk and beef, and served as labor animals and leather supplies. And still they can’t get over the knock of being dumb. True, sleeping upright and allowing juveniles to sneak up and tip you over is never going to win you any IQ points, but you’d think they would at least rate somewhere above the pig, an animal that lives in its own filth.

Well, perhaps the cow’s day is finally here. Proving that where there’s a human need, there’s a cow to save the day, a farmer in Vermont has created a system that harnesses the methane gas from the manure of more than 1,500 cows to provide energy for more than 300 homes.

“The girls are now officially producing two streams of income, a milk check and a power check,” said Earl Audet the owner of the Blue Spruce Farm in Bridgeport. “This is one more way to diversify the farm, improve our bottom line, and manage our manure responsibly.”

As the collected manure breaks down over time, it emits a gas that is collected in a generator and turned into electricity that is fed into the utility power grid.

Steve Costello, spokesman for Central Vermont Public Service Corp., the state’s largest utility provider said this is the “first time anywhere in the country that a farm-based generation has been offered to customers as a renewable choice,” spokesman said Friday. Other farms have only generated electricity for their own use, he said.

As you can imagine, the process of acquiring energy though decomposing manure is not pretty or clean, but it is effective. So far about 1,000 people who don’t care if their power comes from a cow, a potato, or a coconut so long as it’s reliable have signed up to receive this unique renewable energy. And they’re willing to spend about 4 cents more per kilowatt than normal. Call Audet the man with the golden cow turds. But at this rate, he’s laughing all the way to the bank.

Down Shift articles were written by Tiffany Coe, Jeremy Lubin, Christine Ra, Jason Rissman, and Aaron Kenedi

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