as I stood in the checkout line with my granddaughter

[onethatcares]

a bottle of dawn dishwashing soap and a bottle of peptobismol for her class to send to the oil disaster, I realized just how futile this clean up is gonna be.

One 14 oz bottle of soap, one 8 or 9 oz bottle of pink stomach coating liquid against 210,000 gallons a day of crude black oil.

This one is gonna hurt big time.

[meegbear]

1. What's the PeptoBismol for?

[DJ13]

2. BP executives

[Bryn]

3. LOL

Clever answer! Very funny!

[BrklynLiberal]

5. dupe!! Unintentional

[BrklynLiberal]

6. LOL. I hope they are aggravated enough to need it...

[revolution breeze]

19. If they aren't

they need to head to my neighborhood. Two of my neighbors are not working right now because they work for BP and BP will not move them to another platform (thankfully they were not on the Transocean rig when this happened), the four fishermen who live on my street are busy laying boom, the other two are sitting doing nothing, two National guardsmen have been down at the Rigolets for a week, and my hubby has been out there working on communications equipment off an one for over a week. And when the winds change and it smells like crude again, I guarantee someone will be ready to go postal!

[BrklynLiberal]

26. I cannot even begin to imagine the horror and sadness that is spreading down there.

I am so sorry that you, your family and friends have to deal with this....The people who are at fault will never really suffer....sad to say. Not one will have to sell his house or move away from the place their family has lived for decades...or even lose their job.
I am saddened and disgusted to believe that they will simply move on..and ruin other people's lives....as long as they can make a profit out of it.

[HERVEPA]

4. For the oil the bird may have swallowed, it helps the digestive system.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. It is good that the children are being made aware of this situation..and what a disaster it is.

[AnArmyVeteran]

22. Right, and when they hear morons saying 'Drill baby drill' they will think "Idiots!"

As horrible as this disaster is, it will be a learning lesson for millions of young people. When they hear ignorant politicians or radio hosts mindlessly chanting 'Drill baby drill' they will think they are mindless idiots.

If the democratic party leaders woke up they could have a field day in November's elections against anyone who is conservative. If they fail to use all of the piles of ammunition they have been handed by conservatives they deserve to lose. But they had better wake up and start to be aggressive. If I ran the campaigns of all the democrats running for office they would slaughter their opponents, burying them in the failed and even insane conservative beliefs. And I would dig up their god Reagan and destroy the image he has, because it's all built on illusion, lies and distortions. We need to bury all of the evil policies started by Reaganomics once and for all. But to do that we need to savagely attack him and teach people what he really did to the middle class, the poor and our country. It's a legacy of complete disaster, but democratic leaders seem terrified to dare say anything bad about the conservative 'god'.

[marions ghost]

8. pathetic...

This is what I with do with that stuff:

Put the bottle of blue Dawn on an altar at home or church. Imagine that it represents a cleaned-up Gulf. Pray.

Then have a spoonful of Pepto Bismol to stop the queasy feeling that comes from knowing that it will take decades to begin to repair the damage.

Tell them to send some Pepto to the executives at BP et al. No joke.

I think it's misguided to tell children they are doing something by buying some consumer product that really will do no good.

[murray hill farm]

10. For the children...

it may be that their contribution may save one bird and that is enough reason to send their bottles of Dawn and Pepto. Maybe it should be enough for us to do the same.

[marions ghost]

16. Ridiculous

Sorry, I come from a family of marine scientists.

You'd be better off NOT buying the chemical & dye-laced soap and the plastic bottle from petroleum it comes in.

And as for sending Dawn and Pepto being "enough" for adults to do :crazy: -- all
it's doing is just making you feel better. More important to figure out how to positively push for cleaner energy solutions. Drive and shop as little as possible = much more to the point.

Fine if you want to teach kids to "do something," but not so good if you want to teach kids to do something effective. That involves reality.

I understand the feeling of helplessness, as that's the way I feel too, but let the soap companies donate the soap and save your resources for better purposes.

It's time for parents to get REALLY serious--for the sake of the children.

[revolution breeze]

18. If there was anything more effective for cleaning the oil

I am certain it would be used. But Dawn is cheap and effective and gentle. I does not remove the protective oils from the marine birds feathers and skin. It also does not damage the feather or skin. Proctor and Gamble hs donated truckloads of Dawn and if it makes the kids feel better to do this, I applaud these collections! Yes, long term we need clean energy but that isn't going to save the otters today!

I firmly believe in buying local, my diet consists of nothing grown/produced more than 150 miles from my home. Guess what? This oil spill is affecting my diet as I eat Gulf seafood four times a week. The man I buy my shrimp from is out laying boom for the past 48 hours! This is MY reality!

[marions ghost]

21. My reality is that survival rates are extremely low

...no matter how much Dawn and volunteers you send, few oil-soaked birds will live. It's a feel-good effort for humans primarily. But OK, since you live near there, can you come back and report to us the success rate of the bird cleaning efforts down there after this mess gets really bad? (Trust me, I am grieving as you are, I'm just talking about efforts to help and where's the best place to put your time).

------------------

This article says it from the scientist's perspective:

"Seabird expert Dee Boersma, a professor of conservation science at the University of Washington, told Discovery News that penguins seem to be one of the best targets for rescue after oil spills near their habitats since "penguins are so hearty and they do feast and famine all of the time" as part of their seasonal cycles.

But Boersma feels penguins are a rare exception, with most treated animals dying after rescue anyway from related problems.

"Many of the animals come in completely covered in oil, which they have ingested, so they are already handicapped," she said.

"I liken it (triage) to how you would deal with a sick human relative," she said. "If your mother has terminal cancer, but there is a two percent chance of saving her with risky, costly surgery, you would have to make a decision" based on the expense, chance of survival, and expected quality of life even if she survives.

Boersma therefore thinks the time and resources spent on animal cleanups after spills should instead be devoted to preventing them from happening in the first place. She suggests that a cost be added to fuel prices to offset the damage oil causes to animals and to the environment. The damage, she says, is not just as a result of spills, but it happens on a daily, ongoing basis.

Warnock admits that some animals cannot be saved at rescue sites. "At that point, they are euthanized," he said.

Due to the danger of people being exposed to oil, which is a toxic substance, he warns that "no one should pick up wildlife by themselves. It's important that you stay away from the oil."

http://news.discovery.com/animals/oil-spill-wildlife-rescue-why-some-animals-receive-priority-care.html

[revolution breeze]

23. I will report back.

The people from the International Bird Rescue Research Center are estimated a survival rate of 50% to 80%. I will take the opinion of someone on the ground from IBRRC over someone at the University of Washington who has not seen the actual extent of the spill. And since some of these species being affected are endangered or protected species, I say we use every means we have available to save these birds.

[marions ghost]

24. Great, please do give us a report from

"on the ground"-- I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would be interested.

But remember this thing is not finite like the Valdez disaster. If the oil keeps spewing out like it is now...well, the whole eco-system will be contaminated and wildlife will eventually die anyway. Bird-washing will become futile if the well is not capped fairly soon. This is a tragedy for the whole country--I don't think it's too strong to call it our "Chernobyl." I live on the east coast, but my heart is there on the Gulf. I am following it.

Good luck.

[revolution breeze]

25. Just to clarify, I am not "on the ground"

Due to health concerns (I have autoimmune dysfunction), but my husband is maintaining communications equipment for our municipality and my daughter's boyfriend and his brother, both Human Society volunteers, are on standby to work with IBR. They spent last weekend in training, both classroom and lab (washing techniques).

[Mojorabbit]

29. On my wildlife rehab list

they state they have cleaned, doctored up, and released some animals and birds and that they are being tagged on release. Hopefully this will give us more info down the road. It depends on how far gone they are when they come in. I have rehabber friends that did the exxon spill and many of the animals they got in there were very far gone to begin with. Hopefully that will not be the case here.

[marions ghost]

30. post-contamination mortality surveys

OK. And useful evidence was gathered from the Valdez disaster from those surveys. I'm not saying that the effort shouldn't be done, but to present it as "saving the birds" is
wrong. It's hospice care. Studies have shown that most die anyway.

I guess you could argue it might be good for people to experience the futility of saving oil-soaked birds at first hand. Let them learn from experience, and then become more aware of the reality of the situation. Let them find out how fragile these ecosystems really are.

But it would be better for well-meaning, concerned people to put their time and money into fighting for real energy solutions, and for putting real controls on the oil industry. Buying a bottle of Dawn and thinking you've helped (!?)--this is ONLY therapy for humans who can't quite tell their children the adults have created a disaster of BP--Biblical Proportions (as Countdown show called it). This makes individuals recycling their motor oil into a joke--when we let corporations destroy the environment on this scale.

And the well isn't even under control. :(

[Hannah Bell]

33. " devoted to preventing them from happening in the first place. " -- exactly.

it's cheaper for the corps to let the schoolkids send "dawn" when they fuck up.

BP makes about $93 million PER DAY in profit.

They offered $350 M in damages, & they shake down schoolkids for DAWN & peptobismol.

Death penalty (for the corporation) long overdue.

[murray hill farm]

32. Sure...in the big picture, it is time for parents to get really serious..

for the sake of the children. I agree! But the birds and sea life needs help now. It seems you are saying that because the problem is so big, we should see only things we can do for the big problem...and that doing any little thing we can do to help now is somehow ignoring the big picture. This is not true. You do what you can do for the big problem...AND you do what you can now to help the birds and sea animals in immediate danger. It is not a matter of doing one or the other. This schools program will have both an impact now on the children and their awareness, but it also has a really strong possibility of their views about the environment in the future. You do what you can do...even if it sometimes futile..everything one does to help is important. Every small measure of help and the act of caring is whatever measure is important.

[NeedleCast]

9. But if we could get 1% of the country to contribute

We could send three million bottles of soap and pepto.

[revolution breeze]

17. My daughter's school had a collection day today.

Six hundred bottles of Dawn dishwashing liquid and four hundred bottles of Pepto Bismol. Winn Dixie has agreed to match whatever we collected. That's one school!

[liberal N proud]

11. Of all the doomsday scenarios published and made into movies...

None of them ever considered killing the oceans.

Doomed isn't the word for our future, more like damned.

[revolution breeze]

12. Not trying to be Pollyanna

But with all the dishwashing liquid and Pepto being sent from all over the country, plus the hundreds of people in St Tammany Parish alone who are standing by waiting to help, we may have a chance to save many birds and animals. They key is will the birds adapt to being released on the east coast of Florida like the two released earlier this week. Will they come back here next year? What will be the condition of the estuaries then? My fear is the sea life, oyster beds take years to recover, shrimp, creel, redfish .....We can't move them out!

[AngryOldDem]

13. This is not a futile effort.

Two birds are much better than none, and not doing anything at all. And yes, the true tragedy is the sea life, which may take centuries to fully replenish.

[revolution breeze]

14. The people here is southern Louisiana

have been through so much. Most people I know are going to fight this thing, however they are able. Even if it is buying Dawn and Pepto, or laying out boom, maintaining communications equipment for the entities coordinating efforts, or standing by ready to wash birds. We will worry about blame later, right now we are just trying to maintain our way of life and save of estuaries and lake!

[AngryOldDem]

27. I can't imagine how this is impacting you.

Economy aside, it just has to hurt -- deeply hurt -- to see your environment so degraded.

[revolution breeze]

28. I moved back home in 2006

Hubby retired from the Navy and we moved back. There were seven FEMA trailers on this street alone and several "blue roofs". We were lucky, we were not it the hardest hit area of the Parish. The last FEMA trailer left our neighborhood just over a year ago. When Gustav was heading this way almost two years ago, we were so scared people were cutting down any trees which might land on their house. There are still areas here in town where houses have been gutted and that is it! And now this? I am not whining but it is getting to be a bit much!

[onethatcares]

15. more dawn and pepto then.

:hi: if that helps. than I'll help.

[bobburgster]

20. I think it is a great way to introduce the seriousness of the topic.

If it helps the clean-up, that is even better. When teaching children the damage caused by oil disasters, how to help, and brainstorming preventative solutions age appropriateness must be kept in mind.

[mmonk]

31. Reminds me of elementary school when we were told to

get under our little wooden desks to protect ourselves for the "nuclear bomb" drills during the Cuban missile crisis.

[Odin2005]

34. Waste of time, only 1% of washed birds survive.

You are simply teaching the kids to do "feel-good" things that don't help anything.

[murray hill farm]

35. Not a waste of time for....

for that 1% that survive! If we cannot save 100%, we should just chuck it? To hell with the 1%? What a philosophy!