Making Biofuel from the Fruit of the Jatropha Tree
In 2001, when petroleum prices began to spiral upwards, Ricardo Asturias in Guatemala saw an opportunity with biofuels. With a background in agribusiness and petroleum, Asturias knew that alternative fuels would be a promising investment and he had just the plant oil in mind, the nonedible fruit of the Jatropha tree (Jatropha Curcas), called the piñon. This small tree grows in abundance in Guatemala and has had little every day use but is known for its success in preventing erosion and deforestation. Asturias is quite confident that the piñon, and other renewable sources of energy, “will result in an agricultural revolution in our countries.”
This amazing non-edible fruit is a strong source of alternative fuel; it is good for consumers and the environment.
Other Benefits of Jatropha Curcas:
- It can grow almost anywhere, with little or no maintenance or water
- It grows in abundance
- Produces year round seed, if watered
- Medicinal and industrial uses, including: soaps, cosmetics, toothpaste, high quality paper, & cough medicine.
References:
http://www.biodieseltoday.com/
http://www.jatrophacurcasplantations.com/
http://www.iadb.org/idbamerica/index.cfm?thisid=4329
Earn Reward Points by Recycling!
Thanks to RecycleBank, you can now do good by reducing your eco-footprint and leave some cash in your pocket. RecycleBank provides homes with a free container to dispose of recyclables. The containers have an RFID chip (radio frequency identification chip) and when picked up, the RFID chip is read, the information sent back to RecycleBank, and then converted to reward points. These points are accrued and then redeemable at Whole Foods, Starbucks and hundreds of other stores. You can keep track of your points on RecycleBank's website.
The service is free for all homeowners; the company generates its revenues by receiving a percentage of money cities save by producing less landfill waste. This enterprising business idea is currently operating in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and will eventually be taken nationally and internationally.
What are your thoughts about this? I really like reducing the landfill but I am not crazy about the RFID chip. Nothing is private anymore.
Go Green on Little Things: Office Spaces
Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.
Today we'll look at Go Green on the Little Things: Office Spaces. Water, electricity, paper, print cartridges, e-waste, disposable packaging, office supply waste, toxins and more all have an impact upon the environment. Let's look at some easy ways you and your colleagues can make the planet greener:
- Coffee or Tea Break: Buy fair trade coffee, pour cream and then coffee into your own mug first so you don't need the plastic or wooden stirrer, and bring your own mug instead of wasting a paper or styrofoam cup.
- Electricity: Turn off lights, printers, computers and all other electronic products when not in use.
- Getting to Work: Consider carpooling, public transportation, bicycling or walking to work (let's not give oil companies more money than necessary).
- Meals: Bring your own lunch to work in glass containers and use silverware and not plastic utensils (good for your waistline and for the environment!).
- Paper and Envelopes: Use recycled paper products so more trees can stay here on earth.
- Pens: Buy refillable as disposables are not recyclable nor biodegradable.
- Printers: Print on recycled paper, double-sided, for tree's sake.
- Rubber Bands: Recycle rubber bands but try to avoid buying them as they are made out of crude oil.
- Stamps: Buy e-stamps and forget the machine, ink and maintenance fees.
This list is clearly not exhaustive. Simply apply common sense and always have the 3 R's in your mind, even at work: reduce, recycle, and reuse. When in need, use Co-op America's Business Network Directory to find green business suppliers and products.
Feel free to let us know another go green at work idea.
Go Green on Little Things: Home Living
Go Green on the Little Things is a 7 part series, providing various tidbits and advice about green living and choices for the following: home living, office spaces, school, shopping, health and beauty, money and finance, and buildings.
Today, we begin our 7 part series with Go Green on the Little Things: Home Living. Did you know that on average, you create 4.5 pounds of trash every day?! In addition, Americans use more than twice the amount of water and energy per person as anyone else in this small world. In order to be better stewards of our limited resources, below are some recommendations to begin living a more eco-friendly lifestyle, right in the comfort of your home environment:
- Compost: Add your scraps of fruit, vegetables and coffee grounds to your garden to help your garden thrive and create a deeper topsoil.
- Food Storage: Store your food in glass or porcelain containers, instead of using plastic. It will be healthy for the planet and for your body, as chemicals from plastic transfer to food.
- Junk Mail: Stop the insanity of unwanted junk mail by going to www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist.com and registering your information. Recycle your remaining mail.
- Dry Cleaning: Tell the cleaners to hold the plastic and when you pick up your clothes, bring your own hangers.
- Grow Your Own Garden: Fruits, vegetables and herbs are so much better fresh and you can save money and gas! If you can't grow your own garden, consider buying your produce at a Farmer's Market.
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: From paper to aluminum cans to clothing, do the right thing and reduce, reuse, recycle.
Happy planting & eating from your fresh and luscious garden!
E-Waste, Recycling and the Environment
What comes to your mind when you think about technology? Do you ever ponder what happens to electronics once they are discarded? In 2005, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that between 1.5 and 1.9 million tons of electronics, or e-waste, were thrown out, including: monitors, keyboards, hard drives, televisions, cell phones, and VCR's. Per year, it is estimated that the world produces as much as 50 million tons of e-waste! The EPA believes that 30 to 40 million PC's will be destined for "end of life management" for each of next few years.
The EPA estimates that 70% of discarded computers and monitors and 80% of TV's end up in the US garbage dumps. Such e-waste continues even though many states prohibit such toxic dumping. What kind of toxins are produced from e-waste? Mercury, lead, chromium, barium, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, and more. At the same time, valuable metals, like gold and silver, can be found in items such as motherboards. Indeed, for these precious metals alone, it makes environment and economic sense to recycle the motherboard, all the time.
If you take your used electronic equipment to a US recycling center, be aware that it doesn't guarantee that your technology will be properly disposed. Instead, your e-waste may be sold to a broker who ships it to China, the world's largest electronic graveyard. In 2001, the Basil Action Network produced a powerful documentary, Exporting Harm, exposing the environmental and human impact of exporting e-waste to China. We are polluting China with our e-refuse.
It is astounding to me that technology manufacturers are not held accountable for the environmental impact of their products. Don't you think they should be on the front lines of green e-waste recycling, given they produce it? I do! Corporations should be just as concerned of getting their product to market as much as how the eventual disposal of their products impact the environment. Instead, shamefully, many manufacturers are more interested in the short-term pleasing of shareholders than caring for the environment. A balance, in my opinion, is clearly needed.
Today, we are in desperate need of a globally socially responsible process for recycling e-waste. We are far from this, though companies like Creative Recycling Systems in the US are making headway.
In the midst of our e-waste export to China, we are outraged about the lead found in our Chinese imports. What is the difference? They give us lead, we give them toxic e-waste. Take your pick.
Go Green with Eco-Friendly Diapers!
When one thinks of babies, a common image is a baby swaddled in disposable diapers, a $5.7 billion dollar industry. Recently, however, cloth diapers are taking the market by storm amongst eco-friendly, socially conscious consumers. The new cotton diapers hitting the market have velcro, buttons, and snaps instead of the old pins that would invariably pierce you every now and again. They also come with elastic around the openings (so you don't need to worry about messy spillage), as well as water-resistant covers made of soft merino wool, nylon or polyurethane laminate. Cost: $6-18.
The Real Diaper Association estimates that 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used in the US every year. According to research done by the Environmental Protection Agency (1998), this translates into over 3.4 million tons of waste filling our dumps. Such waste is problematic for our environment in the US, and even more so in the developing world as human waste often pollutes rivers and drinking water. As if these were not enough reasons to use eco-friendly diapers, the production of disposable diapers requires a significant amount of petroleum, chlorine, wood pulp and water (and we wonder why babies get rashes!).
So what are the most eco-friendly diapers out there? We recommend gDiapers found at Wholefoods or online. They are fashionable, washable and made with disposable inserts. See a nifty video here and buy gDiapers here.
(Click here to see the ecological breakdown differences between eco-friendly diapers and disposable diapers.)
Happy swaddling!
The Wonders of Creation
What does it mean for us to steward the earth and the wonders of creation? Stewardship means humans have dominion over creation, a mantle of responsibility, to tend to the earth and the maintenance of it. Obviously, I am a big advocate for stewarding the planet, including the awesome animal kingdom, flora and fauna. Along with many of you, I find great pleasure enjoying God's playground and stepping into His creative work. Clearly, when God designed creation, He did so with brilliant and majestic creativity. In fact, all of creation declares the glory of God and speaks of His wonder and power. I marvel how intricate the world is, how God crafted all the ecosystems and life to work so beautifully together, in rhythm and balance. Yet, with its amazing glory, we also see the results of human degradation.
Calvin DeWitt, Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes seven magnificent mechanisms God created to manage and maintain the world. DeWitt likewise contrasts these with seven damaging contributors to the environment. Let's take a look at DeWitt's analysis of the earth and its degradation.
Seven Provisions of Creation
- Regulation of earth’s energy exchange with the sun: Keeps earth's temperature at a level to support life and protects life from sun's lethal ultraviolet radiation by filtering sunlight through the stratospheric ozone layer. We'd all be burned to bits without this protection.
- Biogeochemical cycles and soil-building processes: Oxygen, carbon, water and other vital materials are cycled through living organisms and habitats, building life supporting soils and soil structure. Indeed, even our living waste is important to the eco-system.
- Ecosystem energy transfer and materials recycling: This continually operates to energize life and allocate materials. Why did it take humans so long to understand the value and importance of recycling?!
- Water purification systems of the biosphere: The earth has its own method of cleaning water. If we could only harness the earth's natural filtering system, clean water would always be available.
- Biological and ecological fruitfulness: Supports and maintains the rich biodiversity on earth by means of responsive and adaptive physiologies and behaviors. The ability to reproduce is astounding!
- Global circulations of water and air: Distributes oxygen, water, carbon dioxide and other vital materials between living organisms. We are literally dependent upon trees and plant life to breathe!
- Human ability to learn from creation and live in accord with its laws: Making it possible for people to live on earth.
Seven Ways Mankind Degrades the Earth
- Alterations of earth’s energy exchange with the sun: Global warming is contributing to the destruction of the earth's protective ozone shield. This is very controversial, yet I do think that man has contributed to the depletion of the ozone layer, but in conjunction with the natural cycle of the earth.
- Land Degradation: Erosion, salinization, and desertification reduces the land available for crops and livestock.
- Deforestation: The removal of forests degrades the earth and living organisms.
- Water-quality pollution: Defilement lakes, rivers, oceans and groundwater.
- Species extinction: The elimination of plant and animal species.
- Waste generation and global toxification: Resulting from atmospheric and oceanic circulation of the materials that people inject into the air and water.
- Human and cultural degradation: Threatens and eliminates communities, plants and food.
The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof;
the fullness and everything it contains. (Psalm 24:1)
Virgin Earth Challenge, Gaia-Capitalism, & Religion
The Virgin Earth Challenge, a joint partnership formed by Richard Branson and Al Gore, is a prize of $25 million for "a commercially viable design which results in the removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases so as to contribute materially to the stability of Earth’s climate." There is a panel of five judges - all "world authorities" in their respective industries: Al Gore, Sir Crispin Tickell, Tim Flannery, Jim Hansen and James Lovelock. Interestingly, the birth of the Virgin Earth Prize* is one of a several initiatives investing in renewable energy research, development and production as part of Virgin Group's "Gaia Capitalism" project and a $3 billion dollar Clinton Initiative pledge (Sept 2006).
Amongst many intriguing issues related to this initiative, is why Virgin chose the term "Gaia Capitalism"? Gaia or Gaea, a term from ancient Greek mythology, means earth goddess and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology. Capitalism, or private enterprise system, is an economic system based on private ownership of the production and distribution of goods. I think it is very interesting that Branson and his group would coin "Gaia Capitalism" in light of what both words mean and the agenda of Gore, Lovelock and friends. More and more, I see the hardcore preaching of global warming rooted in a cult-like, enviro-religion of worshiping the so-called mother earth instead of the Creator God.
James Lovelock is the man behind the Gaia Theory (now called "Earth System Science") and frequently quoted in Al Gore's book "Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit". In a discussion on BlogCatalog, I posted my blog post "Nobel Peace Prize 2007: Gore, Climate Change & Religion" and opened it up to the BlogCatalog Community, resulting in over 400 responses. In the thread, I asked the community if Gore thinks climate change is a religious issue, based upon Gore's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech and interview where he claimed the following: "It is time to make peace with the planet" and "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, multi-billionaire and founder of the Virgin megabrand, Richard Branson, was recently dubbed United Nations' Citizen of the Year for his eco-advocacy. (Click here to learn more about his recent interview with Time Magazine, what inspired me to dig deeper with his cause).
Getting back to the Virgin Earth Challenge, let's look at what each of the judges said at a press conference:
Al Gore - “Carbon dioxide levels already are far above anything measured in the prior 650,000 year record, and just last week in Paris scientists gave us their strongest warning yet of the consequences of inaction. So the dangers are clear. But the opportunities, if we take action now, are innumerable, and Sir Richard’s initiative to stimulate exploration of this new approach to the climate crisis is important and welcome.”
Sounds like Gore thinks humankind has the ability to stop global warming. Yet, climate change is part of the earth's natural cycle. Evidence is coming out almost daily to prove this and yet Gore and his groupies continue to preach about a man-caused global warming. Check out this great resource here about "Global Climate Change Facts: The Truth, The Consensus, and the Skeptics", as well as an NPR podcast called "Three Views on Global Warming".
James Lovelock - "To escape the consequences of global heating we need far more than Kyoto, far more than renewable energy and sustainable development. What we need is a near miracle to undo the harm that we have done. Sir Richard Branson's hugely generous prize could sow the seeds for a miraculous invention that would let us make a sustainable retreat to that lush and comfortable world we once knew. We have all spent far too long sleepwalking towards extinction."
Lovelock founded the Gaia Theory (now called a branch of Science!). According to Wikipedia, "The Gaia hypothesis is an ecological hypothesis that proposes that living and nonliving parts of the earth are viewed as a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism. Named after the Greek earth goddess, this hypothesis postulates that all living things have a regulatory effect on the Earth's environment that promotes life overall." Many people, including me, think that the Gaia hypothesis is rooted in a neo-pagan new age (old age) religion.
Sir Crispin Tickell - “We need a significant, lasting and harmless reduction in the volume of green house gases in the atmosphere. To this technology can make an important contribution. This Prize is a marvellous encouragement to all who have bright and practical ideas on how best to tackle one of the major problems of our time.”
Tackle? Humankind will never be able to stop the natural cycle of the earth, no matter how many endorse this silly thought. Certainly, we have the God-given responsibility to steward the earth, but we will never be able to control the earth and stop its natural cycle.
Dr James Hansen, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies - “I think we have a very brief window of opportunity to deal with climate change ... no longer than a decade, at the most. This is why I am supporting the Virgin Earth Challenge as a judge – we must explore all means, both known and unknown, to help alleviate this crisis.”
Sounds like Hansen is rallying the gullible masses to respond immediately to their rhetoric and enviro-fanaticism, to do what they say because they are in the know.
Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers - “If we continue as we are, humanity will so pollute our atmosphere this century that we will create another world, the likes of which has not been seen for 50 million years. And we will destroy human civilisation in the process.”
Flannery seems to be declaring a global warming, fear campaign (like the rest of his enviro-religion groupies).
Sir Richard Branson - “We would also like to call on governments and members of the international community to join us in The Virgin Earth Challenge by matching or adding to the prize pot available to encourage the greatest number of entrants of those who could come up with a solution which could save our planet. If the greatest minds in the world today compete, as I’m sure they will, for The Virgin Earth Challenge, I believe that a solution to the C02 problem could hopefully be found – a solution that could save our planet - not only for our children but for all the children yet to come.”
"Save our planet" is over-used and loaded. We are not responsible for "saving" the earth. We are responsible for stewarding the earth, not saving it. Man, my friends, contrary to growing rhetoric, is not the savior of anything or anyone, let alone the planet. Can't you see how this religion is spread throughout this campaign? It is the foundation of this global warming movement, to worship and serve the creature instead of the Creator.
The evidence is all pointing to a greater agenda and people need to wake up and begin questioning facts instead of being fed information and blindly accepting it as truth. Gore's enviro-evangelical message is gathering momentum, capturing many and filling minds with rubbish about man's responsibility to "save" the earth. We are called to steward the earth, my friends, not to save it. We will never save this earth.
*(The Virgin Earth Challenge judges will meet for five years to review designs submitted the previous year. If they find a design they think is worth the award, they can aware the prize before the 5 year term and discontinue the challenge. If they don't award the prize, they will "roll the prize forward" for a another date.)
Nobel Peace Prize 2007: Gore, Climate Change & Religion
Former Vice President Al Gore won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to "build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." There is growing rhetoric that climate change could have a devastating impact on living conditions for animals and mankind, including a mass exodus from areas deficient in natural resources to areas rich in natural resources. This type of migration has the potential of inciting wars and conflict within states and between countries.
During Gore's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, he said "It is time to make peace with the planet". On Friday, Gore attended a news conference stating, "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Sounds to me like Gore thinks climate change is a religious issue. Thoughts?
Nobel Peace Prize 2007: Gore, Climate Change & Religion
Former Vice President Al Gore won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to "build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." There is growing rhetoric that climate change could have a devastating impact on living conditions for animals and mankind, including a mass exodus from areas deficient in natural resources to areas rich in natural resources. This type of migration has the potential of inciting wars and conflict within states and between countries.
During Gore's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, he said "It is time to make peace with the planet". On Friday, Gore attended a news conference stating, "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
Sounds to me like Gore thinks climate change is a religious issue. Thoughts?
The Floating Landfill: Plastics in the Ocean
On the cover of the SF Chronicle this morning, was the headline Floating Mass of Trash: Can it be Cleaned Up? The news piece covers the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a shape shifting, huge mass of plastics and other refuse floating approximately 1000 miles west of the California. Scientists disagree of the scope of the mass, but Charles Moore, a marine scientist with Algalita Marine Research Foundation, believes it is twice the size of Texas and 3 million tons.
The trash gathers in a region called North Pacific Gyre, due to the clockwise trade wind that circulates around the Pacific Rim. A plastic bottle that begins in a SF storm drain will eventually be pulled into the gyre and make the journey to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Along the journey, it will not biodegrade but photodegrade, causing the bottle not to disappear but become brittle and crack into tiny pieces. The most disturbing part of this plastic mess is that the marine life is consuming the particles of plastic, some of which are turned to dust. Imagine the impact of this on our entire food chain? Disgusting.
This is where I get so upset with the corporations that irresponsibly manufacture plastics. They should be investing in research and product development to find the best biodegradable bottles. I am really disgusted by this lack of social responsibility by corporate titans who line their pocketbooks yet care so little for how their business practices impact the environment and, ultimately, the health of mankind.
So what can we do to make a difference until these corporate giants become socially responsible and produce biodegradable bottles? Easy - let's agree to do the following:
1. Reduce the use of plastics. In fact, buy a water filter so you stop buying the plastic water bottles.
2. Use reusable shopping bags (I have several of them!)
3. Dispose of your refuse at the beach (stop littering!)
4. Double knot your garbage bags and keep your trash lid on.
Promise?
Going Green Around the World
The first time I went to a third world country, I was blown away by the amount of refuse that littered streets, fields, and rivers - plastic bags, candy wrappers, plastic furniture, and everything else you can imagine. Forget the idea of public dumps in the developing world - one either burns their garbage (including plastics) or dumps the refuse "under the coffee trees". To top this off, toilet paper doesn't get flushed so this too gets burned.
I lived in a remote village in Guatemala, on the shores of lovely Lake Atitlan. Every Thursday we would burn our garbage; I dreaded those mornings as the smell was awful, I coughed repeatedly, and my eyes would sting from the smoke. Recycling has been virtually non-existent amongst the Mayan people. I don't blame them for the garbage problem, really. I blame the corporations for not being socially responsible as they market their products in the developing world. The Maya lived off the land for centuries and then our western world introduced them to the "wonderful" world of plastics; this was one of the worst mistakes ever made. The poor don't have the technology and resources to set up sophisticated recycling programs. Many of rural poor in Guatemala are illiterate and those who are educated may only have a third grade education.
The good news is that there are "gringos" living around the Lake who are very interested in the environment and teaching them about recycling. One of the projects around the Lake is making a tremendous impact: Pura Vida. They take old plastic shopping bags, batteries, candy wrappers and other refuse and place them into old plastic drinking bottles. They use these plastic bottles as insulation when they build homes, walls and buildings! This is a very novel way to help green the planet, while teaching the locals how to care for their environment.
By the way, if you venture down to San Marcos La Laguna, stay at one of the most eco-friendly hotels around the lake: Hotel Acculaax, owned and built by a German guy named Nicholas. The honeymoon suite is awesome with exquisite sunrises and sunsets, and views of the volcanoes and Lake Atitlan. Yes, make it a plan.