Whenever you’re in the sun, remember the mantra above: SLIP on a shirt – SLOP on sunscreen – SLAP on a hat, and – WRAP your eyes in sunglasses. After that, go have fun!

Why did we ever think tanning was good?

In 1923, fashion icon Coco Chanel vacationed on a yacht near Cannes. When she returned to shore, Coco glowed with sun-kissed skin. Almost immediately, fashionable people flocked to southern France to lay in the sun. During the 1920s, people didn’t know much about sun damaged skin, though as years passed there was growing awareness that light-skinned people with dark tans also developed wrinkled, leathery skin.

Though I cringe to think of it, when I was a teen-ager, my friends and I basted ourselves with cocoa butter and spent summer days sizzling in the sun. The result: tan skin, sun-kissed hair, and the beginning my present battle against seborrheic keratosis, an itchy, ugly but thankfully non-cancerous skin growth. Did I mention it itches?

The High Cost of Tanning

Skin cancer cases in the United States rise every year. Out of every five people, one develops skin cancer. There are two types of skin cancer. Basal cell skin cancer is the most common with about 3.6 million cases diagnosed every year. Basel cell cancers grow slowly and are the easiest to treat and cure.

Squamous cell skin cancer is far more serious. About 1.6 million cases are diagnosed annually. It grows rapidly and can metastasize if not detected and treated in its early stages.

Avoid Skin Cancer by Taking Precautions in the Sun

The sun shines on everyone, whether they lie on a beach, swing a golf club, or mow the lawn. If the sun is out, we all need to take precautions.

The sun’s rays are strongest between 10:00 in the morning, and 2:00 in the afternoon. Try to avoid direct exposure during those hours. And during all sunny hours, stay in the shade as much as possible.

Sun protective clothing is now available in the form of light weight, long-sleeved shirts; and long pants. Clothing should be labeled with an ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) label. Wear a broad brimmed hat, particularly one with ultraviolet protection.

Wear sunglasses with UV protection. The label should read UV400 or 100% UV protections. These provide the most protection from UV rays. Wrap-around glasses provide more protection.

And WEAR SUNSCREEN. Wear it everywhere including the back of the neck, the tops of the feet, the back of the knees, the ears, and the top of the head. I once had a sunburn where my hair parted. Ouch! Should have been wearing a hat. If skin is exposed, slap on sunscreen. Most adults need enough sunscreen to fill a shot glass to cover their entire body. And don’t forget, it takes 15 minutes for skin to absorb sunscreen.

Be sure to protect young children. Plopping them under an umbrella isn’t enough. They need the same protection as adults.

What type of sunscreen offers the most protection without harming coral reefs?

Broad Spectrum Sunscreens protect the skin from both Ultraviolet A Rays (UVA) and Ultraviolet B Rays (UVB), and they should be water resistant with an SPF rating of SPF 30 or higher. Be sure to select MINERAL-BASED SUNSCREEN. These contain zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide, deflect the sun’s rays away from the skin, and when they wash off in the lake or ocean, they won’t harm coral reefs or other sea life.

Globally, up to 6,000 tons of sunscreen wash into ocean reefs and other popular bodies of water. Mineral-based sunscreens won’t harm coral reefs.

Chemical sunscreens are highly toxic to juvenile corals and contribute to coral bleaching. Sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate are banned in the State of Hawai`i. Some sunscreens proclaim they are “reef safe,” but there is no regulatory body. When in doubt, read the ingredients on the label.

Coral reefs need clear water and sunlight to survive. Coral reefs support more marine species than any other habitat. Chemical sunscreens are killing coral reefs. The reef at Kahalu`u Bay on the Big Island of Hawai`i is suffering. On the island of Maui, several coral reefs lost 25 percent of their living coral populations between 1994 and 2006. In this photo, coral bleaching is visible in comparison to healthy colorful coral.

Protect yourself and coral habitat around the world by only wearing mineral-based sunscreen. Good Housekeeping recommends nine zinc oxide sunscreens for face and body which are listed below.

Dr Niraj Lal explains how sunscreen works and offers good reminders for fun in the sun in his quintessential Australian accent.

Good Housekeeping list of zinc oxide sunscreens : Sunforgettable Total Protection Body Shield SPF50; Coppertone Pure & Simple SPFG 50 Sunscreen; Eryfotona Acinica Sunscreen SPF 50+; Bare Republic Mineral Face Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30; Sun Bum Mineral SPF 30 Non-tinted Sunscreen Face Lotion; MD Solar Sciences Mineral Moisture Defense Sunscreen SPF 50; Bare Republic Mineral Gel Face Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30; Australian Gold Botanical SPF 50 Mineral Lotion, and for children Neutrogena Pure & Free Baby Sunscreen SPF 50.

Amina Lake Avdelrahman & Birnur Aral. ” Best Zinc Oxide Sunscreens of 2021.” Good Housekeeping. June 17, 2021

Basal Cell Carcinoma Overview. Skin Cancer Foundation.

Julia Calderone. “The Truth About Reef Safe Sunscreen.” Consumer Reports. April 29, 2021.

? ? ?

Illustrations

Slip-Slap-Slop-Wrap

Coppertone

Woman in sun hat on Bondi Beach

Sun glasses by Susanne Nilson

Applying Sunscreen. National Cancer Institute.

Sun Safety for Infants

Snorkelers with sea turtle at Kahaluu Bay by Vlad & Marina Butsky

Coral Reef Bleaching b y Jay Galvin

The post SLIP – SLOP – SLAP : Pick the Right Sunscreen to Protect Yourself & Coral Reefs first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

Although gardening takes place all year round, it comes to mind most readily in the spring. April is a good month for planting trees, shrubs, and annual flowering bulbs that bloom in summer. These might include dahlias and gladiolas. It’s also time to plant seeds for marigolds and zinnias. If you go to your local garden center, you’ll find all sorts of items to get your garden started, including plants, pots, seeds, soil . . . The list is exhausting.

But did you ever pause to wonder how this spring time ritual started? In many ways the man who started our desire for our own plot of grass and flowers was known as “Capability” Brown (1716-1783). The name “Capability” seems no more unusual than his given name of Lancelot Brown. He acquired the nickname because as he assessed large landholdings for their landscaping potential, he often informed his client that the land had capability for improvement.

Capability was the fifth child of Sir William Loraine’s land agent. His mother was in service at the main house. He worked as the head gardener’s apprentice in the kitchen gardens until he was twenty-three years old. He then joined Lord Cobham’s gardening staff at Stowe as an under-gardener, working under the direction of William Kent, founder of the English landscape garden. Tastes were changing. Formal gardens like those at Versailles had fallen into disrepair. Walls were missing. The strict geometric patterns had become a bit sloppy.

Capability’s style clicked. Three years after joining Lord Cobham’s staff, Capability was head gardener. He introduced a new approach to the land. No longer was the focus on dominating nature. Brown saw nature as a source of inspiration. His gardens were both appealing and practical. Common features included serpentine water features stocked with fish and inviting for boating. Trees at the outer edges were both aesthetic and a source of timber. Lord Cobham’s friends hired Brown to design their own landscapes.

In 1751 Brown got his first big commission. He redesigned Croome Court, a project that included remodeling the house, relocating the church, and draining marshy ground so the water could be utilized as a lake.

Brown saw his work like a sentence: “there I make a comma; and there, where a more decided turn is proper, I make a colon: at another part, a parenthesis—now a full stop; and then I begin another subject.” Brown shaped the landscape to his vision. Small brooks were damned to become lakes. Valleys were dug; hills, mounded. Trees placed at appropriate intervals.

Visitors to an estate didn’t go directly from the gate to the house. They took a circuitous drive through wooded areas, open fields, lakes, and controlled wilderness. Brown also gave the landscape a theatrical touch. As the carriage rolled on its way, passengers saw a glimpse of a folly, bridge, or other feature

Among Brown’s commissions are the gardens at Chatsworth House, Blenheim Palace, and Highclere Castle – known to many Americans as the site of Downton Abbey.

At the height of his career in the 1760s Brown earned about £6000 a year (£753,000—about a million US dollars—in 2016). His ideas tricked down to smaller landowners. Everyone wanted their house surrounded by undulated green lawns with artistic clumps of trees.

Landscape fashions have changed over the centuries, but the perfect green lawn remains a goal for many gardeners.

If you have about eight minutes to spare, this aerial video of Blenheim Palace’s 2,000 acres demonstrates Capability Brown’s landscape vision of a perfectly designed natural garden.

???

Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons.

Aerial View of Blenheim Palace by Blenheim Palace. Creative Commons Attribution.

Capability Brown by Nathaniel Dance. Public Domain.

Stowe Gardens by David M. Jones. Creative Commons Attribution.

Chatsworth House View by Chris Page. Creative Commons Attribution.

Chatsworth House by Rob Bendall. Creative Commons Attribution.

“How to Spot a Capability Brown Landscape at 100 yards.” The Telegraph.

Eleanor Doughty. “Everything you need to know about Capability Brown.” The Telegraph. Aug. 30, 2016.

Ambra Edwards. “Gardens: How Capability Brown Transformed this Green and Pleasant Land.” The Guardian. July 23, 2016.

Laura Latham. “Capability Brown, The Master of the English Garden.” New York Times. April 14, 2016.

Mitchell Owens. “Capability Brown is the Landscape Designer Behind England’s Most Iconic Gardens.” Architectural Digest. April 5, 2016.

Vic. Maintaining the Grounds of a Landed British Estate: Georgian Gardening. Jane Austen’s World. August 30, 2012.

The post The Landscape Gardens of Capability Brown first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

The experience of being in close proximity to elephants has never left me. The most awe inspiring event was the day we stopped on the road to watch elephants grazing, when the matriarch decided it was time to cross to the other side of the road. Chomping grass as they went, the herd meandered across the road, entirely uninterested in several vehicles filled with stunned people snapping pictures. It was like watching the event in slow motion, entirely quiet except for the steady munching of grass. To my surprise, the elephants did not step heavily – of course, they weren’t in any particular hurry either.

I remembered this special moment when my calendar reminded me that Thursday is Elephant Appreciation Day. My first thought was, well, of course elephants should be appreciated, preferably in their natural habitat. Elephants have long been a symbol of good luck, wisdom, fertility, and long life.

Environmentally, elephants are an important part of Africa’s ecosystem. A single elephant can weigh up to eight tons. Herbivores, elephants consume up to 330 pounds of food and 11 gallons of water daily, cutting a swath through vegetation as they move through it. 

Elephants move six to twelve miles daily in their quest for food. In times of drought, the waterholes they dig with their tusks benefit smaller animals as well. Their digestion of plants means their dung is filled with seeds that produce new growth. On the savannah, elephants feeding on tree sprigs and shrubs keep the plain open for other inhabitants.

That being said, elephants and humans don’t always have positive interactions. As they move across open land, elephants frequently destroy crops. Turned another way, the increase of villages impacts elephant feeding areas. And then there’s the ivory trade.

The biggest conflict of elephants and humans is based in greed.

Between 1979 and 1989, half of Africa’s elephants were lost to the ivory trade. In 1989, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned international trade in elephants tusks. The elephant population began to recover. By 2007, the population was estimated between 470,000 and 690,000. And then in 2008, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, the United Nations body that regulates the international wildlife trade, declared that China was an Approved Ivory Trading State. This allowed a one time legal sale of ivory to China from four Saharan African countries which were judged to have healthy elephant populations. Sixty-two tons of ivory were sold to China from stockpiles held in Africa. It was a one time legal sale. Illegal sales continue.

In Hong Kong, the amount of seized illegal ivory rose from 3.2 tons in 2010 to 7.9 tons in the first ten months of 2013. One thousand six hundred seventy-five elephants died to produce the 7.9 tons of ivory. China is not the only market. Other export destinations are Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress recently held its meeting in Honolulu and passed Motion 007 calling on all governments to ban the domestic trade in elephant ivory. Though the Congress can’t enforce the motion, its decisions carry considerable weight. Prohibition of domestic ivory sales is an important step to ending the international ivory smuggling. The struggle continues.

???

All Pictures by Author. All Rights Reserved.

For More Information:

Elephants. Good Luck Symbols

Save the Elephants

Wildlife Conservation Network

World Wildlife Federation

Cathy Bussewitz. “Group Plans Vote on Urging Leaders to Close Ivory Markets” Hawaii Tribune Herald. Sept. 10, 2016. Page 1

Guy Dinmore. “Conservation Congress Votes to Ban All Domestic Trade in Elephant Ivory.” Inter Press Service. Sept. 11, 2016.

Joshua Hammer. “The Race to Stop Africa’s Elephant Poachers.” Smithsonian Magazine. July 2014.

Alastair Leithead. “The War on Elephants.” BBC News. April 28, 2016.

Matt McGrath. “Poaching for Ivory Stabilizes but Elephant Decline Continues.” BBC News. March 3, 2016

Alex Shoumatoff. “Agony and Ivory.” Vanity Fair. July 7 2011.

Sarah Zielinski. “As IUCN votes on ivory trade, elephants’ future looks bleak.” Science News. Sept 9, 2016.

The post Elephants, Ivory & Conservation first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.