Danger: Mercury in Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulbs
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and big corporations, like Walmart, are aggressively promoting compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs because: 1) a 20-watt CFL provides as much light as a 100-watt incandescent bulb, 3) they are 10 times more expensive than incandescent light bulbs, and 4) they will make a lot of money for corporations and shareholders.
The downfall of CFL's include: the cost, the toxic amounts of mercury, and the lack of proper recycling programs for this toxic product. In addition, if you break a CFL, you will be required to pay thousands of dollars for a hazardous clean up crew because mercury is a potent neurotoxin. Indeed, it is a very toxic chemical, for anyone who gets in contact and breathes the vapor, but even more so for children and babies in the womb. In Britain, the UK EPA urges its citizens to vacate a room for fifteen minutes because of the dangers of mercury.
So what are the dangers of mercury? After only one large breath of mercury vapor, the lungs become the main target of mercury poisoning. Other potential symptoms include: headache, cough, kidney damage, bronchitis, metallic taste, chills, vomiting, mouth sores, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, shortness of breath, swollen gums, weakness, confusion, chest tightness, and pneumonia. In light of these awful health dangers, can you believe the packages don't even mention these hazards?
Corporations must be held accountable for the proper disposal of these toxic CFL's. Why should consumers be required to pay for the hazardous clean up a product made with mercury? Something is seriously wrong here. The least GE and other manufacturers should do is to find a cost effective, safe, and easy way to dispose of their product. Although the EPA is actively encouraging retailers to step up and get involved in the proper recycling of CFL's, only IKEA has such a recycling program in place. Indeed, it is the moral responsibility of retailers of CFL's to provide proper handling and recycling of such toxic materials.
NPR's All Things Considered "CFL Bulbs Have One Hitch: Toxic Mercury" podcast
Algae: A Renewable Source of Diesel Fuel?
When you think of algae what comes to your mind? Your fish tank in dire need of cleaning? A pond after a long dry spell? What about a source of renewable fuel? Yes, fuel! Solazyme, a start-up in Northern California (where else?!) has recently partnered with Chevron to perfect its cutting edge technology of converting algae to fuel . They forecast that within 2-3 years, Solazyme will be able to produce biofuel at a competitive price, even if crude oil drops in 1/2 from the current $89 a barrel.
The idea of converting algae to fuel is not new. In fact, scientists have explored the idea of producing methane gas from algae since the 1950's. Beginning in 1978, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory invested 20 years in the research of more than 3,000 strains of algae to see which one had the most potential of producing significant volumes of oil. After twenty years of intensive research and experiments, they ran out of funding and were forced to shut down. Instead, the federal Energy Department plunked money into the study of cellulose ethanol.
In light of this knowledge, imagine where we'd be if we continued down the road of algae research to a viable alternative energy solution? Wars could have been averted, lives could have been saved, our economy could have been more stable, our planet could be greener, and oil companies and their shareholders would be far less wealthy.
We must ask ourselves why our government and or oil companies refused to continue this research and development of much needed alternative fuel. It is not enough to say that the price of oil was "cheap". We knew then as we know now that oil is non-renewable.
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.
Creationism vs. Evolutionism
The Creationism and Evolutionism debate continues to grow as more and more people question the theory of evolution. I just heard about a new movie called “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” hosted by Ben Stein, an actor, economist, and freelance columnist for the New York Times. The film will be released in February and is described in its online trailer as “a startling revelation that freedom of thought and freedom of inquiry have been expelled from publicly-funded high schools, universities and research institutions.”
The film states that educators who recognize evidence of intelligent design in biological processes have unjustly been denied tenure, lost their jobs, or even suffered other penalties to keep God out of the educational environment, including classrooms and laboratories.
See the clip here.
The following are excerpts taken from the movie blog:
Darwinism, the notion that the history of organisms was the story of the survival of the fittest and most hardy, and that organisms evolve because they are stronger and more dominant than others, is a perfect example of the age from which it came: the age of Imperialism.
Darwinism is still very much alive, utterly dominating biology. Despite the fact that no one has ever been able to prove the creation of a single distinct species by Darwinist means, Darwinism dominates the academy and the media. Darwinism also has not one meaningful word to say on the origins of organic life, a striking lacuna in a theory supposedly explaining life.
Alas, Darwinism has had a far bloodier life span than Imperialism. Darwinism, perhaps mixed with Imperialism, gave us Social Darwinism, a form of racism so vicious that it countenanced the Holocaust against the Jews and mass murder of many other groups in the name of speeding along the evolutionary process.
I find these thoughts quite interesting and ones to ponder. What do you think? Do you believe in creationism or darwinism? What do you think about this film and do you think you will see it?
Click here for more links about the creation and evolution debate.
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!
"Life After People" - A World Without Humans
Have you ever wondered what the world would look like without people? This coming Monday night, January 21st, the History Channel will premier "Life After People", a 2 hour movie painting such a scenario. Similar to "Earth Before People", an article in Discover magazine (2005), the movie portrays a world where people disappear and, as a result, nature and wild animals take over. In order to create a realistic setting, the movie was produced with the help of expert engineers, archeologists, geologists, botanists, ecologists, climatologists, and biologists.
Over the course of centuries, civilizations have disappeared because of diseases, like the Ancient Maya in Guatemala, or because of "accidents", like Chernobyl. In fact, the area around Chernobyl is a strong illustration of what the world would be like without humans, even after 20 years. "From a distance, you would still believe that Pripyat is a living city, but the buildings are slowly decaying," says Ronald Chesser, director for the Center for Environmental Radiation Studies, "The most pervasive thing you see are plants whose root systems get into the concrete and behind the bricks and into doorframes and so forth, and are rapidly breaking up the structure. You wouldn't think, as you walk around your house every day, that we have a big impact on keeping that from happening, but clearly we do. It's really sobering to see how the plant community invades every nook and cranny of a city."
I find the concept for this movie a bit harrowing and pessimistic, though there seems to be growing rhetoric that the world would fair better without so many humans populating the earth.
What do you think?
Fair Trade: Equitable Empowerment for the Poor
Immigration, or border crossing, into the US is becoming a hot political issue. Republicans are intent upon closing the borders and enforcing immigration law, while democrats discuss guest worker programs and citizenship for illegal immigrants. Mexico and Central America account for 3/4 of the 12 million undocumented people in the US. To the shame of Mexico and other Central American countries, they fail to create enough jobs for the population. As a result, its citizens cross borders to work in the US to send money home to their families. Although both sides of the border must work on the issue of migration, Mexico and Central America must build a better economic situation so people don't feel the need to migrate the US.
Paul Rice, the founder and president of Transfair (the only fair trade certifying organization in the US), promotes fair trade coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, rice, flowers, and other agricultural products from Mexico and other developing nations. Rice states that Transfair's goal is to to "give people the tools and market access to lift themselves out of poverty."
Globalization has increased trade and economic growth, but often the poor receive no benefit. A viable means for economic development in impoverished nations is fair trade, the equitable empowerment for the poor. Fair trade helps to make free trade more just for farmers and artisans living in poverty. When you buy fair trade products, including handcrafts, you can rest assured that the farmers and/or artisans are receiving a livable wage for their work.
With Valentine's Day coming, buy Globally Minded fair trade jewelry on Amazon and fair trade flowers for your loved ones!
Cloned Animals: Healthy for Consumption?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently declared that cloned animals and their offspring, such as cows, goats, and pigs, are safe to enter into the food supply chain. In addition, the FDA has not made such labeling of products mandatory, even though it has been documented that cloned animals have a greater tendency of birth defects. Therefore, I can't help to wonder, along with immediate health implications, if the consumption of byproducts from cloned animals could result in birth defects and diseases in humans? I'm just not convinced that such byproducts from cloned animals are healthy. How can anyone be sure that eating meat and milk from cloned animals are safe at this point? I'll choose only organic foods from now on.
Links:
NPR podcast: FDA Finds Meat, Milk from Clones Safe to Eat
NPR podcast: How Safe is Cloned Meat
US Food and Administration: CVM and Animal Cloning
Corporations: Whose Interest?
The Corporation is a fantastic Canadian documentary(2003), revealing the sinister side of the modern day corporation. Did you know that corporations have the same legal rights of a person? They can buy, sell, and sue. However, they have no moral conscience and, as Baron Thurlow states, "Corporations have neither bodies to be punished, nor souls to be condemned; they therefore do as they like." Corporations bother me because they tend to only be interested in the bottom line and ignore their responsibility for the greater good. They focus on the accumulation of wealth for their shareholder's over the well being of community stake holders. Corporations do not have the interest of you, me or small businesses. They want to rule, reign and dominate.
Go to the official site here and see a trailer below.
In the documentary, Dr. Robert Hare draws frightening parallels between a psychopath and the modern corporation, including:
* Callous unconcern for the feelings of others
* Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships
* Reckless disregard for the safety of others
* Deceitfulness: Repeated lying to and deceiving of others for profit
* Incapacity to experience guilt
* Failure to conform to the social norms with respect to lawful behaviors
Corporations will do whatever it takes to save money and achieve their goals. With no conscience, they are ruthless in their pursuit to reign. My advice: Don't place your faith in a corporation, no matter how good, stable or enticing it looks. They'll be your friend one day and ignore you the next. Who needs a "person" like that in one's life?
Think about it. What has your experience been? Do you think corporations have your best interest in mind? Why or why not?
Go buy the movie here.
Fair Trade Federation Approved our Application!
Excerpt from our acceptance email:
"Congratulations! I am delighted to welcome Globally Minded as a new member of the Fair Trade Federation. Your membership with FTF is an annual contract. FTF agrees to promote your business and your business agrees to adhere to each of our Fair Trade criteria. In accepting this membership, you're committing to following FTF's fair trade criteria in your business transactions. If you begin to work with any new suppliers, you are obligated to follow these same criteria, including establishing long-term rather than one-time trade partnerships, ensuring producers earn fair wages and have healthy working conditions, supporting environmental sustainability, and offering fair employment opportunities."
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)
Converting Trash to Alternative Energy
Did you know your rubbish can be a potential source of alternative energy? Integrated Environmental Technologies (IET) has created a system that converts any waste material into valuable commercial products, including eco-friendly fuels to generate electricity, a glass-like substance used to create building materials and more. IET can vaporize about one ton of garbage into approximately five cubic feet of glass! Scientists at IET placed a rubber shoe in the system and the shoe was evaporated into a small glass pellet that can be used a filler for the construction of roads! In addition, this process created nearly four gallons of gas, which can be used for alternative energy.
Their Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM) system address two major issues: 1) waste treatment and disposal, and 2) eco-friendly sources of energy. It converts hazardous and waste material to renewable energy!
The PEM system is now being used in Washington, Hawaii, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia. It is a cost effective, environmentally safe and efficient way to convert trash into treasure! My question is why has this technology not been implemented all over the nation?
Wouldn't you rather use this form of alternative energy than going to war? I think of the ridiculous cost of gasoline, the diminishing quantity of oil, innocent lives lost, and our dependency upon oil rich nations; I know this method is a viable way around such insanity.
See a video about their system here.
From their site:
Integrated Environmental Technologies, LLC ("IET") (www.inentec.com) provides high-tech solutions to the problems of waste accumulation and the need for clean renewable fuels. Through its proprietary waste recycling system, the Plasma Enhanced Melter ("PEM™"), IET transforms municipal (household), commercial, medical, and most industrial and hazardous wastes into clean renewable products, such as ethanol, methanol, syngas and hydrogen, with minimal environmental impact and low costs. The system exceeds the EPA’s standards for comparable facilities in all areas including: air emissions, water discharges, and solid waste generation, and comes closer to 100% recycling of waste than any other such commercially available technology.