Green World Digest

In addition to our normal original content, we will now also occasionally feature articles from E-The Environmental Magazine, like the one below.

Dear EarthTalk: I don’t hear much about the environmental impacts of our consumer culture any more, but it seems to me that our “buy, buy, buy” mentality is a major contributor to our overuse of energy and resources. Are any organizations addressing this issue today? – M. Oakes, Miami, FL

There is no doubt true that our overly consumerist culture is contributing to our addiction to oil and other natural resources and the pollution of the planet and its atmosphere.

Unfortunately the tendency to acquire and even horde valuable goods may be coded into our DNA. Researchers contend that humans are subconsciously driven by an impulse for survival, domination and expansion which finds expression in the idea that economic growth will solve all individual and worldly ills. Advertising plays on those impulses, turning material items into objects of great desire imparting intelligence, status and success.

William Rees of the University of British Columbia reports that human society is in a “global overshoot,” consuming 30 percent more material than is sustainable from the world’s resources. He adds that 85 countries are exceeding their domestic “bio-capacities” and compensate for their lack of local material by depleting the stocks of other countries.

Of course, every one of us can do our part by limiting our purchases to only what we need and to make responsible choices when we do buy something. But those who might need a little inspiration to get started should look to the Adbusters Media Foundation, a self-described “global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age.”

Pictured: A "Buy Nothing Day" activist leaflets in San Francisco.

Among the foundation’s most successful campaigns is Buy Nothing Day, an international day of protest typically “celebrated” the Friday after Thanksgiving in North America (so-called Black Friday, one of the year’s busiest shopping days) and the following Saturday in some 60 other countries. The idea is that for one day a year we commit to not purchase anything, and to help spread the anti-consumerist message to anyone who will listen, with the hope of inspiring people to consume less and generate less waste the other 364 days of the year. The first Buy Nothing Day took place in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1992 with a few dozen participants, but today hundreds of thousands of people all over the world take part.

In recent years some anti-consumerists have added Buy Nothing Christmas to their agendas as well. Some ideas for how to leverage Buy Nothing Christmas sentiment without looking too much like Scrooge include giving friends and family “gift exemption” cards and asking shoppers in line at a big box store, “What would Jesus buy?”

Beyond Buy Nothing Day and Buy Nothing Christmas, the Adbusters Media Foundation stokes the fire of anti-consumerism throughout the year via its bi-monthly publication, Adbusters, an ad-free magazine with an international circulation topping 120,000. Do yourself a favor and subscribe…and cancel all those catalogs stuffing up your mailbox in the meantime.

CONTACTS: Adbusters, www.adbusters.org; Buy Nothing Day, www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E – The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

With the current disaster in the Fukushima prefecture of Japan, fears of nuclear energy have reemerged in a world where there is an emerging energy crisis. The danger of radiation is a major concern when considering nuclear energy as an energy source, but technology has advanced in containing radiation during the 60 years of nuclear reactor use.

The Fukushima-Daiichi reactors had several countermeasures for shutting down the reactors, but the severity of the earthquake and tsunami disabled many of the countermeasures including the diesel back-up generators for their cooling pumps. In the United States, the construction of the last nuclear power plant was in 1977. The technology behind the containment and use of nuclear material has improved dramatically. There is always the danger of radiation, but it is a manageable danger.

Another con of nuclear power is that the spent fuel has to go somewhere. Approximately 2,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste are produced per year by nuclear reactors. This left over fuel can take thousands of years to reach safe levels of radiation. Used fuel can sometimes be re-enriched and used again and reactors known as breeder reactors can create fuel that can be used again in other reactors. Currently in the United States, nuclear material is stored in pools near power plants. This fuel currently has no use, but in the future, nuclear scientists may find ways of using this leftover fuel. A pro is that the amount of waste produced by nuclear plants is less than that of coal powered plants, and nuclear plants produce no greenhouse emissions.

Another pro is that nuclear fuels like uranium, plutonium, and thorium are plentiful. Nuclear fuel is extremely energy dense. It takes a much smaller amount of nuclear material than coal or natural gas to produce the same amount of energy. Nuclear power provides many native sources of energy and is a step towards energy independence.

Another argument against nuclear power is the cost. It costs billions of dollars that have to be financed and subsidized by governments to create a nuclear power plant. The components required to build the reactor are expensive due to the lack of demand for those components. This problem can be remedied by building more nuclear plants creating a higher demand at a lower cost. By using one or two different models of nuclear power plant, you greatly reduce the cost by placing orders for many of the same components.

Is Ethanol The Answer?
There is a growing controversy over the use of ethanol as a fuel additive in the U.S. On the one hand, ethanol is renewable, can be produced domestically, and burns cleaner than gas. On the other hand, ethanol production requires a lot of energy (often from fossil fuels), uses a lot of water, and has a ripple effect that drives up food prices.

Ethanol is grain alcohol. It is made from the fermentation of sugar and is the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It can also be used as fuel. Indeed, Henry Ford designed the first mass-produced automobile, the Model T, to run on pure ethanol.
Ethanol is derived from plants through a fairly straightforward process. In the U.S. corn is the most widely used ingredient. It is first ground into a fine powder, mixed with water, and then heated.

An enzyme is then added to convert the mixture into sugars before yeast is added to ferment it. The resulting liquid, called “beer,” is about 10% alcohol. A distillation process then separates the alcohol from the rest of the mixture before the remaining water is removed. The result is essentially pure alcohol. A small amount of gas is added to render the liquid undrinkable. Then the fuel can be used by itself or as a supplement to gasoline to power cars.

The Benefits of Ethanol

Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline and thus causes less air pollution. It is increasingly be used as a replacement for the gasoline additive called MTBE (for methyl tertiary-butyl ether) which is used to oxygenate gasoline, but can contaminate drinking water. Ethanol is biodegradable and doesn’t directly harm the environment.

Ethanol can be produced domestically, lessening our reliance on imported fuels. Unlike petroleum, it is also renewable as it is made from plant sources.

The Drawbacks

Ethanol requires a substantial amount of energy to be produced. Many contend that ethanol production (including the use natural gas based fertilizers, farm equipment, transformation from corn or other materials, and transportation as energy inputs) uses so much energy that it actually leads to a net energy loss. Furthermore, ethanol production calls for excessive quantities of water both in the growing of corn and in the fermentation process.

Government subsidies for corn growers and ethanol production also cause problems. The boom in corn production for ethanol is leading to excessive fertilized use. Each year, spring runoff washes nitrogen-rich fertilizers from farms in the Mississippi River basin and carries them into the river and the streams that feed it. The nitrogen eventually empties out of the mouth of the Mississippi and into the Gulf of Mexico, where tiny phytoplankton feed off of it and spread into an enormous bloom, thus worsening the so-called “dead-zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

Additionally, these subsidies have caused the price of corn to soar producing a ripple effect that has driven and continues to drive up the cost of food in general worldwide.

All in all, it would seem that the drawbacks of using corn ethanol for fuel outweigh the benefits.
For further reading on ethanol see:

Ethanol’s
Growing List of Enemies

Ethanol:
Myths and Realities

For
Ethanol, The Future is Now (National Public Radio)

In situations like Deepwater Horizon disaster, we get to view the power and force of humanity joining hands together to help save the environment and human lives.

Here is a list of certain charities and organizations working to clean up the mess:

1. Gulf
Restoration Network

2. Florida
Philanthropic Network

5. Green Living Energy
Education

6. Mote Marine Laboratory

9. Oxfam America

10. National Wildlife Federation

13.
The Nature Conservancy

14. IBRRC International Bird Rescue
Research Center

17. Waterkeeper Alliance

18. Community Foundation
of Sarasota County

21. Greater New Orleans Foundation

22. Gulf Coast Community
Foundation of Venice

Donating For BP Oil Spill

The list above is not an exhaustive list on charities involved in donation. If you want to donate, visit their respective websites and fill their online form or contact their representatives personally at their address. Be careful of fraudulent charitable organizations. The organizations above are trustworthy.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the largest offshore oil spill in the history of Unites States. The oil spill began in April 20, 2010, with an explosion in the Deepwater Horizon rig stemming from the sea floor oil gusher and it resulted in the untimely death of 11 platform workers and injury of 17 others. Knowing the exact spill flow rate is difficult and it has been estimated that almost 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil flow into the water every day. The intensity of the problem is beginning to be realized in terms of environmental sabotage that the oil spill has incurred.

Environmental Hazard

The oil spill will have extensive impact on the marine ecosystem and wildlife habitats, as experts perceive. Though volunteers and rescue works continues to happen, the extent of the oil flow increases day by day and all relief operations seem inadequate. The United States government has blamed BP as the culprit and demands that they be held accountable for the clean – up process.

Currently, the Gulf fishing and tourism industry is vastly affected and volunteers are working to protect lands along the northern Gulf coast with the help of floating containment booms, sand filled barricades, anchored barriers and skimmer ships. Undoubtedly, it will take years to regain the normal marine and wildlife habitat as the effect of the oil spill grows more intrinsic as time passes in the relief operations.

Political Repercussions

Political maneuverings are everywhere! In view of the BP spill, current poll results have shown Barack Obama ratings drop to the lowest level in his presidency term. The common masses have disapproved Obama’s handling of the oil disaster as unsatisfactory, as claimed by the Wall Street Journal. While BP promises to contain the oil flow by building two relief wells, the US authorities have shown their displeasure by not relying on BP’s promises.

Safety Issues

BP oil spill has once again questioned the safety and security issues with BP. Since Tony Hayward took on leadership in 2007, the oil spill is the latest in a string of accidents and death at BP facilities. It seems that the company violated the prescribed standards of oil exploration beyond its permissible limits of managing the business safely and with integrity. In 2009, the US Labor Secretary Hilda Solis slapped $87.4 million in fines upon the company for disregarding safety issues and taking chances with people’s lives. Previous reports by OSHA also suggest that the BP deliberately ignored known hazards and denied fixing them. Even consultation reports before and while the oil rig was established had warned that the Texas City was unsuitable or dangerous place for oil rigging.

Conclusion

Though what has been done cannot be undone now, stress should be upon rectifying and adopting safety standards so that disasters like BP oil spill do not happen in the future. The current relief operations and volunteering work is helping recover what remains from the disaster. We can only hope that BP is made to pay for its wrongdoings and that the disaster finally gives us the push we need to get serious about adopting alternate sources of energy.

Why spend money on store-bought cleaning chemicals when you can use natural ingredients, such as lemons or vinegar, to make your own effective cleaners? Here are a few recipes.

All Purpose Household Cleaner

1/2 cup of ammonia
1/3 cup vinegar
2 Tbsp. baking soda
1 gallon water

Mix these ingredients together and put them in a spray bottle.

Baking soda can be used as an abrasive to scrub dirty surfaces.

Vinegar, either undiluted or mixed half and half with water makes a good glass cleaner.

To freshen a dishwasher, pour 1 cup of baking soda into the washer and run it through the rinse cycle.

Squeeze some lemon juice on countertop stains and let sit for a few minutes.

Computers contain toxic materials, carcinogens, and heavy metals. One of the worst places for an old computer is the landfill. Old computers should either be donated for continued use or recycled properly.

Over 1,000 materials, including chlorinated solvents, brominated flame retardants, PVC, heavy metals, plastics and gases, are used to make electronic products and their components — semiconductor chips, circuit boards, and disk drives. It is irresponsible to simply through this toxic mix into your local landfill.

Here are just a few of the potential hazards from improperly disposed of computers:

Lead
The health effects of lead are well known; lead exposure causes brain damage in children and has already been banned from many consumer products.

Mercury
Mercury is toxic in very low doses, and causes brain and kidney damage. It can be passed on through breast milk; just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury can contaminate 20 acres of a lake, making the fish unfit to eat.

Cadmium
Cadmium accumulates in the human body and poisons the kidneys.

BFRs
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) may seriously affect hormonal functions critical for normal development. A recent study of dust on computers in workplaces and homes found BFRs in every sample taken. One group of BFRs, PBDEs, has been found in alarming rates in the breast milk of women in Sweden and the U.S.

So, what should you do with your old computer? If your computer is in working condition and less than five years old, you should donate it. Perhaps you know someone who could use it? Maybe a local non-profit organization or school? Click here for TechSoups’ handy website where you can find a non-profit recycler in your area.

Equipment more than five years old or not in working order should be recycled. Click here for a handy website where you can find a computer recycler in your area.

Chemicals can enter your body through your skin. This process is called osmosis. Think about this and read the ingredients of your favorite bath soap. What are those ingredients and do you want them entering your body? Kiss My Face soaps are made from natural organic ingredients like olive oil.

Most store-bought soaps contain harsh detergents like sodium lauryl sulfate, a chemical often manufactured from petroleum, which the EPA considers a probable carcinogen. Kiss My Face soaps are based on olive oil and sodium chloride (table salt). Some also contain other natural fragrances and moisturizers such as lavender, honey, or chamomile. The end result is clean, healthy skin. These soaps are especially good during the winter or for anyone who suffers from dry skin.