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.
How Safe is Bottled Water?
We have all been tricked (brainwashed) into believing bottled water is more pure and fresh than tap water; a brilliant yet deceptive tactic of corporations to fatten their profits. Streams, fountains, and other "fresh" landscapes on their labels further convince us that the water is really pure. In 1999 the NRDC tested 1000 bottles of 103 brands of water (most recent major report of water bottle safety) and the organization discovered that:
- At least one of the samples of 1/3 of the brands contained chemical or bacterial toxins, including carcinogens exceeding state and industry standards.
- Samples of two brands were contaminated with phthalates, exceeding the EPA standard for tap water!
So what should we do? We recommend the following:
- Get a water-quality or consumer-confidence report from your local water utility. If you have well water, get it tested every year. You can also call the EPA's toll-free Drinking Water Hotline at 800.426.4791. or visit the website for the Campaign for Safe and Affordable Drinking Water at www.safe-drinking-water.org.
- Reconsider drinking from the office watercooler. First, it is rarely, if ever, cleaned. Second, they are made of polycarbonate and have the nasty potential to leak bisphenol (BPA), a chemical that causes neurological and other problems. Recent research linked the BPA to a variety of disorders, including breast cancer and obesity, and one disturbing 2007 study, published in the journal PLoS Genetics, found that BPA exposure can cross generations.
- Get a reusable stainless steel container and fill it up with your own tap or filtered water. Check out Klean Kanteen, SIGG, Greenfeet, and New Wave Enviro.
- Never drink bottled water exposed to hot temperatures.
- Buy only bottled water when necessary and make sure it has the NSF logo on it.
Happy drinking fresh water, right from your tap!
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 this Christmas: Gift Wrap and Gift Ideas
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans increase their trash by 25% between Thanksgiving and Christmas, resulting in 25 million tons of garbage a year! With these staggering statistics in mind, let's agree to a be more green this Christmas simply by giving or wrapping presents in a more globally minded, earth friendly manner. Here are some ideas to get you going:
1. Forget the traditional gifts of things, simply give love! Volunteer, spend quality time with your loved ones and be the present to another!
2. Give gift cards: This reduces environmental waste substantially while making your loved ones thrilled. Gift cards can be for book stores, movie tickets, museums, music stores, spas, manicure, coffee stores, and more.
3. Give plants: This great gift is inexpensive and enjoyable all year long.
4. Wrap oversized items with just a bow. Save paper and time.
5. Wrap boxes or presents with brown garbage bags and decorate the outside using markers, ribbon, or other creative decorations.
6. Stuff boxes with newspapers and/or shredded paper.
7. Give a homebaked pie, cookies and/or fudge, instead of buying a gift.
8. Buy online gift certificates.
9. Make a homemade gift (calendar, recipe book, photo book, etc.)
10. Buy fair trade gifts online and multi-ship to save money.
11. Use reusable gift bags.
12. Buy unique gifts at a thrift store (something novel, not dated!).
When it comes to gifts, be socially responsible, eco-friendy and globally minded. Buy fair trade and give fair trade gifts. Make a difference today!
Cooking Oil into Biodiesel = Greener Planet
Did you know that you can convert your used cooking oil into soap or biodiesel? Think of it this way, cleaner bodies and a cleaner planet, simply by recycling and processing used vegetable oil (and, of course, using it!). Imagine if all of us recycled our used cooking oil into biodiesel? This includes all the fast food chains, restaurants and homes across the board. It is beyond the time where all of us should be using this method as a source of fuel for diesel engines, creating a greener planet, reducing the consumption of oil, and decreasing our dependence upon oil rich nations.
There are 6 steps to creating used cooking oil into biodiesel:
1. Preparation: Pour vegetable into processer and heat to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Reactor: Blend lye (alkaline base) and methanol (alcohol) together and then mix into the oil.
3. Settling: Separate oil into glycerine and unwashed biodiesel. Remove glycerine.
4. Washing: Mix biodiesel with water
5. Purification: Remove water from biodiesel and then pour into a container.
6. Distribution: Store biodiesel and allow to settle before using as fuel.
For more information, visit:
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.