Paul,

I didn't say there was net gain in stored carbon (or by any human activity) but still stand by my premiss.

I will continue shell collecting anyway.

John Timmerman

Wilmington, North Carolina  

-------------- Original message from Paul Callomon <[log in to unmask]>: --------------


> I couldn't resist this one. Shell collecting as a way of sequestering
> carbon and thus reducing global warming! Scientific illiteracy is a
> major problem nowadays.
> A standard container weighs between 10 and 20 tons. To crane it onto a
> ship and move it from the Philippines to the USA consumes a considerable
> amount of marine diesel. To then truck it to the distribution center
> requires many further gallons of regular diesel. To then deliver the
> packet of shells to your home takes some regular gasoline. Let's not
> mention manufacturing and transporting the packing materials (the bubble
> wrap, the box etc.) or the resources used by the original fishermen.
> That shell you buy for your collection is dragging be hind it a ton of
> carbon dioxide that would have remained tied up in hydrocarbons lurking
> deep underground if you hadn't placed your order in the first place.
> Cheez. What do they teach people nowadays?
>
> Paul Callomon
>
> >>> John Timmerman <[log in to unmask]>12/31/2007 10:51 AM >>>
> Maybe a bit of a tangent, but here goes.
>
> Mollusk shells are calcium carbonate.
>
> Carbon dioxide is one of the green-house gases.
>
> Carbon in mollusk shells is unavailable to the environment.
>
> Shell collectors by the very act of amassing and preserving shells in
> collections remove and prevent carbon from returning to the environment.
> Thus they are helping mitigate the proliferation of one of the
> byproducts of burning fossil fuels.
>
> Conclusion. Should not those who would outlaw the collecting of shells
&g t; dead or alive be then be seen as detractors to the health of the planet
> as well?
>
> I fully agree with Tom and others that shell collecting inspires (me)
> the very way that art does. It is a pursuit that makes our journey
> through this life so much more enjoyable.
>
> I do propose the above line of thought to those who detract what I do
> for inspiration.
>
> John Timmerman
> Wilmington, North Carolina
>
>
>
> -------------- Original message from "Samuel S. Tuttle"
> <[log in to unmask]>: --------------
>
> This thread could undoubtedly be used by the Town Council to get votes
> for local legislation to stop all shelling. You can't walk the beach
> any more and pick up a specimen that is recently-dead. In some places
> you can't pick it up if it's been dead for "ten million years".
>
> I think believing that the indi vidual collector makes a "dent" in the
> mollusk population is humorous; but deadly. Pharmaceuticals that came
> from mollusks? Curiosity that began with a kid picking up a shell?
> Love of nature promulgated by holding a shell in one's hand?
>
> Some of today's teachers border on teaching "worship the earth" without
> considering the validity of the claims presented in their materials.
>
> Surely this group shouldn't support the demise of the pursuit of the
> thing we love, should we? Stop collecting? Ban or discourage shell
> clubs? Teach our children to "look, but don't touch"?
>
> Is your hobby/passion destroying the earth?? I don't believe it.
>
> Sam in Delaware
>
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