August 4th, 2008 Frank
I was away for a week or so, but I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground, sort of, and catching stories online that are worth talking about.
Rock Port, Missouri is the first town in the United States to be powered completely by wind!
From the article:
The U.S. Department of Energy wants to make wind energy the source of 20 percent of the country’s electricity. Officials admit this could take decades. So how did Rock Port do it? Mayor Helen Jo Stevens says she still wonders “how did this ever happen to a little old town like ours?”
The turbines were the brainchild of resident Eric Chamberlain, who used to work at a mortuary. He says the idea came to him as he was driving to a funeral in northern Iowa. On the way, he passed some wind turbines and thought, “Why can’t we do this? We’ve got wind.” He began researching the technology and eventually started recording wind data.
It’s a nice start, but of course there’s much more to be done to make the US less dependent on coal- and oil-derived power. It is just one town, after all, and there’s so much more of the US to cover.
And there’s not just wind to rely on, either - I’ve checked out a few studies that say a huge array of solar panels the size of some US states could power all of the US, and in-depth articles like this one (from geek site Extreme Tech) about converting a home completely over to solar power encourage others to think about doing the same, either partially or all the way.
Part of the problem right now is that the technology is still new (well, new compared to coal and gas power) so it’s still relatively expensive. A good analogy might be that boiling water over a burning piece of wood is one thing; using the sun’s rays to boil the same amount of water is something else. Even with significant advances in solar tech just in the last year or so (printing solar cells, cheaper production costs through increased manufacture, etc.), there’s still quite a way to go to make it more affordable for the average homeowner.
Here’s hoping more towns work to make up the first wave of energy-independents in the US!
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July 24th, 2008 Frank
One of the great things about this new era of eco-awareness is that many things that save energy, money or materials are being ‘discovered’ - or rediscovered is probably the more correct term. Even more correct: people who knew about these techniques and habits long ago are sharing them now with people who are more willing to listen, because of the present concerns about the climate and energy.
‘Rain gardens’ are one of the more unique ways to help the environment in developed areas. A rain garden is basically a bit of landscaping that absorbs rainwater runoff before it gets into drains or flooded creeks. The idea is to reduce the amount of water and added stress that goes into normal city drains or into suburban runoff creeks. The ideal spot for rain gardens in suburban areas are right next to sidewalks and driveways, where they will help stop water from flowing onto the road, and also under the eaves of houses, where the garden will catch water runoff from the roof.
It seems many municipalities are getting into the act in the US and encouraging the creation of rain gardens, as well as using them in road construction plans, which helps reduce the load on drainage systems, lowering overall costs. Another benefit is that runoff water going through a mulched rain garden with shrubs and layers of soil and gravel can remove up to 99% of the toxins in the water - good news for people who live in an aquifer recharge zone and worry about acid rain.
For many people, doing DIY landscaping work around their home is a fun weekend project, and creating a rain garden is another great way to get dirt under your fingernails and bring insects (and therefore birds) closer to home.
A really good overview of rain gardens is shown on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden website, and also take a look at the huge Rain Gardens of West Michigan site, with loads of guides about what to plant and how to go about making your first rain garden.
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July 23rd, 2008 Frank
Wow!
This is pretty interesting. The International Herald Tribune reports that “soaring food prices may yet achieve what the United States has spent millions of dollars trying to do: persuade Bolivian farmers to sow their fields with crops other than coca, cocaine’s raw ingredient.”
The IHT article goes into the details of the United States farm subsidies to entice farmers to not grow coca plants (the base ingredient of cocaine) as well as the past politics of Bolivia’s president, but basically the farmers are more willing to grow crops to feed the rest of their country, instead of coca, which gets eventually exported anyway. The US subsidies encouraged the farmers to grow export items like bananas and pineapples (putting the farmers up against big fruitcentric corporations, but now the rice can at least be sold at local markets to feed local people.
One of the facts about the coca growers that I had no idea about was that, strangely, farmers across Bolivia are basically allowed and encouraged to grow the coca plants by the government.
The Treehugger site puts it pretty well: “It is an interesting demonstration of what happens when cheap fuel and subsidies no longer distort the marketplace: prices rise to a level to where it is possible for farmers to make a living growing food for the local market, rather than being forced into growing commodities.”
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July 22nd, 2008 Frank
Alternet has a good post totally debunking the reasons why the GOP want off-shore oil drilling:
1. Newt Gingrich, for some reason, is running a 527 organization, American Solutions, is promoting a “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less” campaign, collecting signatures to present to Congress…however, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has explained, “access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.”
2. China is already drilling near Cuba, “stealing America’s oil”…Cheney has admitted that “no Chinese firm is drilling“ off Cuba’s coast.
3. No oil was spilled during hurricanes Katrina or Rita…in fact, the hurricanes caused 124 offshore spills for a total of 743,700 gallons, six spilling 42,000 gallons or more.The largest of these spills dropped 152,250 gallons, well over the 100,000 gallon threshhold considered a “major spill.”
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July 21st, 2008 Frank
Wikipedia defines “greenwashing” as “a term that is used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.”
Also, companies that attempt to portray an aura of environmentalism and concern for green issues without actually changing business practices are saddled with the term “green sheen“.
I know a lot of people these days are tired of the whole “green” movement, bemoaning treehuggers and hippies as pariahs that shovel Toyota Priuses down people’s throats and force them to recycle or pay extra for grocery bags at the till. I personally think there’s a growing backlash to companies in all industries that attempt to promote themselves as environmentally friendly, whether they are or not. (I chuckle to myself every time I see a dumpster collection truck drive past my window at work, ‘Rainbow Waste’ emblazoned on the side, with ‘The environments (sic) choice’ underneath - I’d love to know how they are environmental in the slightest!)
Right now it is very cool to be green. The fact that the (anti-immigrant, basically racist) British National Party, of all people, are using the green argument as a reason to keep out immigrants (they say “our countryside is vanishing beneath a tidal wave of concrete” as a result of house-building for immigrants) is all the evidence needed there.
On the plus side of this greenwashing, loads of companies have started up or expanded into the ‘green’ industry, and this gets the eco-attitude out to more people in the long run. In my view, better to have it be a funky trend than not be around at all. I remember the Woodsy the Owl adverts from way back when, so that kind of thing sticks in your mind (sometimes), so hopefully a couple of generations down the line regular people will be ‘kinder to the planet’ than we are right now.
For more reading about greenwashing, including how to easily spot it, check out these links:
How To Spot Greenwash
Beware of Greenwashing: Not All Environmental Claims are Meaningful
As another example of the amount of greenwashing there is in the marketplace, just look at the “organic” cosmetics market. According to Mercola.com, many labels that call themself organic (like Jason, Giovanni, Nature’s Gate and Kiss My Face, some of the biggest organic cosmetic labels out there) use definitely NOT organic chemicals (such as 1,4-Dioxane) in pretty much all of their products; this is one reason I almost exclusively use Dr. Bronner’s organic soap for hair washing and showering. Dr. Bronner’s use recycled plastic containers that are themselves recyclable, soy ink printing on the bottles and fully organic ingredients in the soaps and moisturizers they make. Burt’s Bees, some Alba products, Avalon and Teressentials are some of the brands that also don’t have this Dioxane chemical, according to this study by the Organic Consumers Association.
The shortcut for things like cosmetics and food is don’t put anything on or in your body that you can’t pronounce, of course, but in the long run you should be wary of any company that is suddenly ’super green’ or ‘eco-friendly’. A leopard doesn’t change its spots overnight.
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July 18th, 2008 Frank
Well I didn’t even know about these new jugs, and I’ve just recently been back to the States for a visit. I found out about these from EcoGeek, where they lamented that customers are finding the new shape difficult to pour fro:
EcoGeek says:
Yes, they’re shaped kind of weird and you have to pour a little differently, but so what? If it equates to taking trucks off the road and saving massive amounts of water because the crates that old-style cartons are shipped in (which birds roost in and poop on) have to be washed, then it seems to me we should quit crying over spilled milk and learn how to pour.
You know, I have to completely agree with this sentiment. If you can save half the cost of labor, 60-70% of water bills, ship about 3.5 times the amount of packaged milk in a truck compared to the old jugs, get fresh milk out to customers within a few hours instead of a day or so, all while cutting the rising cost of milk, I think it’s totally worth a little re-training on how to pour a damn jug of milk.
The New York Times has a more in-depth article about the new jugs, which started to appear last year in November and have been making their way through Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart and Costco stores.
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July 17th, 2008 Frank
The Daily Galaxy website has an interesting article about past and present extinctions of species across the Earth, which makes for really in-depth reading.
Here’s just a sample of what’s in the article, which argues that humans are the main direct cause for the latest range of extinction:
Biocide is occurring at an alarming rate. Experts say that at least half of the world’s current species will be completely gone by the end of the century. Wild plant-life is also disappearing. Most biologists say that we are in the midst of an anthropogenic mass extinction. Numerous scientific studies confirm that this phenomenon is real and happening right now. Should anyone really care? Will it impact individuals on a personal level? Scientists say, “Yes!”
Critics argue that species disappear and new ones emerge all the time. That’s true, if you’re speaking in terms of millennia. Scientists acknowledge that species disappear at an estimated rate of one species per million per year, with new species replacing the lost ones at around the same rate. Recently humans have accelerated the extinction rate to where several entire species are annihilated every single day. The death toll artificially caused by humans is mind-boggling. Nature will take millions of years to repair what we destroy in just a few decades.
Give it a read, it should give some pause for thought.
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July 16th, 2008 Frank
BoingBoing has a nice little piece about The Fresh Air Fund, which has been around since the late 1800’s and takes city kids to the country to experience what real life on a farm is like.
Can you imagine what it’s like for a young kid (6 to 9 years old) from the city, which they may have never left, into the country for the first time?
From the Fresh Air Fund site:
“Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund, a not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations in the country to more than 1.7 million New York City children from disadvantaged communities. Each year, thousands of children visit volunteer host families in 13 states and Canada through the Friendly Town Program or attend one of five Fresh Air Fund camps.”
These guys are are based around NYC, but what a great thing to do! As a suburban child, I got to experience summer camp-type stuff in the 70’s and 80’s, and I’m sure I would have loved it even more if I were growing up in a big city. Post about some similar plans you know about around the US or around the world.
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July 11th, 2008 Frank
It looks like plans are in progress for Seattle to ban disposable shopping bags from grocery stores and even restaurants:
“The proposal was be enacted in a two stage process. Beginning in January of 2009, all foam products would be banned, but restaurants and grocery stores would be allowed to switch to plastic products if they hadn’t found a biodegradable replacement. The second stage would go in to effect by 2010, at which time all plastics would be banned, leaving only biodegradables.”
from Eco Localizer and the Environmental News Network
Wow. That’s pretty far-ranging, and it goes into effect over a long time, so it’s not a shock to the system.
Why is it that it’s the West Coast of the US that is doing these things? San Francisco banned plastic grocery bags last year, and Los Angeles is also on the road to banning them.
Is there anywhere else in the US that is looking into doing this? All around the world, cities and countries are banning plastic grocery bags…get with the times, people!
