Green Sexy

Plastic Wars: A Man's Struggle to Reduce Plastic Waste at Work

Yesterday at lunch my coworker used not one, but two plastic forks to eat her lunch with---a lunch, may  I add, that came in one of those prepackaged Lean Cuisine meals with the plastic tray.  I really had to suppress the urge to leap across the table to snatch the forks from her hand and replace them with a metal one.  Needless to say, she did not wash the plastic forks, nor did she wash out the recyclable plastic tray and take it home with her to recycle.  No---she chucked them in the garbage.  Ah, but I did have my revenge---I took the basket of plastic forks and spoons and I hid them deep in the cabinet---HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Guess what---today at lunch there was another basket full of plastic silverware!  It felt like that South Park episode when the boys destroyed the "Wall-Mart" one day, and the next day it was there again, as if nothing had changed.  As usual, my coworker used a plastic fork with her lunch, and promptly threw it away when she was done.  Here's what I did today:  I waited until everyone left and I picked her plastic fork from the garbage, washed it, and put it back in the basket. 

Am I one of those "Environmental Wackos" that Rush Limbaugh rails against?  I sure hope so.  I don't think it's too "wacko" to do everything in your power to reduce plastic waste.  It sickens me to think of the amount of plastic waste created in our cafeteria.  I remember using metal silverware in lunch as a kid---why can't students today be entrusted with metal silverware?  Why can't the adults I work with use metal silverware in our faculty room?  Oh, yeah---we live in a "convenience society".  Why, it's too difficult to take 10 seconds out of your day to wash your silverware and put it in the drying rack, right?!?   

Well, what a comfort it is that every time we throw out our plastic silverware, we can rest assured that we are adding yet another nonbiodegradable product to the environment.  Thumbs up... and #@*!!!  

Hey, Charlie Brown, It's the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

On Nightline's March 28th broadcast, I saw a story on the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", which is the largest garbage dump in the world...in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  The name is deceptive---there's actually two garbage patches. The Eastern Garbage Patch exists between California and Hawaii and is twice the size of Texas (And they said that it would be impossible to build a bridge from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii--- fools!). The Western Garbage Patch exists east of Japan and west of Hawaii. 

It is no surprise that the majority of the waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is plastic.  Plastic accounts for 90 percent of the garbage in the ocean, and according to the UN Environmental Program, one square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic.  Discarded plastic products are consumed by various aquatic creatures and by waterfowl, causing the untimely death of many an animal.  Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, states that plastic does break down into smaller pieces, sometimes forming a kind of "sand" on many beaches.  What especially concerns Moore is that "The bigger chips turn to smaller chips...And we eventually get dust. Our concern is that this dust then goes to the molecular level and invades the entire food web in the ocean."  Now that is a prospect that is too frightening to consider!

Hopefully raising people's awareness of such atrocities as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch will begin to change the mindsets of the many people around the world who are unmindful of their "throwaway existence" and unbridled consumerism.  We can do with less, we can repurpose many plastic products in ingenious ways, and yes, we can certainly recycle.  It appears that this garbage dump will never be cleaned up, so let's try our best to not add to it.   

Pharmaceuticals With a Twist of Lemon, Please!

That's what I usually ask my waitress for when I order a water when dining out, don't you?

In a disturbing report, an Associated Press probe found traces of various pharmaceuticals in the drinking water of at least 41 million Americans!  These pharmaceuticals range from common drugs like acetaminophen or ibuprofen to more serious fare like antibiotics, mood-stabilizers and sex hormones! The human body cannot assimilate all of the medicine it intakes, so the rest gets flushed away and into reservoirs,rivers and lakes, and after being treated and filtered, down the hatch and into our bodies!  Other ways these drugs get into our drinking water is through people flushing outdated prescription and over-the-counter drugs and through the waste products of livestock, who are often times injected with a form of anabolic steroids intended to "pump them up" for the market.  These livestock waste products seep into the earth and into the groundwater. 

No one knows for sure what effect long term exposure to small traces of pharmaceuticals will have on the human body, but some studies have found "that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation."  Furthermore, studies on wildlife have discovered that pharmaceuticals can feminize male fish and negatively affect vital creatures like earthworms and zooplankton.

Now understand, the amounts found were measured in parts per billion or trillion, so it's not like you have to go on some crazy bottled-water binge or anything.  In fact, bottled water is often times just tap water wrapped up all nice and pretty in a wasteful little plastic package.  Well, how about water filtration systems?  Sorry, Charlie---they do not filter out pharmaceuticals. 

As usual, we are the cause of our own problems.  According to IMS Health and The Nielson Co., "Over the past five years, the number of U.S. prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion..."  Y'know all those snazzy commercials we see on television that promote drugs that will have a euphoric effect on our lives and cure all our problems and ailments---I think they have a lot to do with this recent trend.  They always seem to end with some actor stating "I'll ask my doctor."  Ah, the power of suggestion: "Hey doc, what exactly does Cialis do again?  Oh, really?  Um...heh...no thanks." 

It is also an undeniable fact that people are, very much thanks to pharmaceuticals, living much longer than they used to.  With a huge ever-aging baby-boomer population comes huge prescription drug sales.   

Now, we can't exactly tell grandma to lay off the drugs, so what can we all do to try to reduce the drugs in our drinking water?  Here's some food for thought:

1.  Eat livestock products from animals that were fed only organic feed and were not injected with hormones or antibiotics.  The more profitable it becomes for livestock farmers to go organic, the less drug-riddled runoff we'll have polluting our water.

2.  Try (gasp) homeopathic remedies or at least take a less conventional route when treating simple ailments.  Every sniffle doesn't require antibiotics.  Try drinking more fluids and relaxing a bit.  Every muscle ache doesn't require acetaminophen or ibuprofen---get a massage, either from the one you love or from a licensed massage therapist.  Etc, etc, etc.

3.  Be a rabble-rouser and get in the ears of your local Water Authority and question them regarding their filtration and purification practices to know exactly what's in your local drinking water.  Treatment plants that add chlorine to clean the water often times make some pharmaceuticals more toxic.  Does your local treatment plant use chlorine?  Heck---call Erin Brockovich!

The way I see it, this is just one more piece of evidence that we're not slowly making a descent to hell---we're hurtling there with ever-increasing speed.  Ironic, isn't it---the very drugs that we use to enhance our quality of life, are, in small and nearly undetectable doses, a factor that is potentially destroying our quality of life at the same time.

Well... on that note, raise a glass and say "Cheers!"

Is the EPA M.I.A. On Regulating Vehicle Emissions?

The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is charged with protecting the environment, per their name, no?  That's why I'm totally puzzled why the EPA has failed to comply with the April 2007 Supreme Court directive that the agency determine whether carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles pose a danger to public health and whether these emissions should be regulated.  You see, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA had authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases.  EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson claimed, in an exchange with Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, that he didn't know how many people at the EPA were "directly working on the issue now". 

Why is the Environmental Protection Agency not living up to their namesake?  Does this agency not want to be burdened with the task of regulating vehicle emissions, even if the public health or welfare is endangered?   Perhaps there are more nefarious forces at work here.  The Bush Administration, true to form, has claimed for years that carbon dioxide need not be regulated because it is not identified as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.  Could it be that George Herbert Walker Bush has influenced the EPA to "stonewall" (as Senator Feinstein accused Stephen L. Johnson of doing) on this issue, hoping that they would somehow be absolved of this great responsibility?  Is the Bush Administration afraid of the potential costs of having to regulate vehicle emissions?  Well, they never seemed to have much issue with dropping billions into other foolish ventures, so there's no need to be Scrooge-esque here, eh?

I'm no scientist, but it is difficult to deny, with tangible evidence like the smog in Los Angeles, that emissions from vehicles have negatively affected the health and welfare of that city's residents to an extreme degree, despite recent efforts to improve the situation by California politicians.  With the driving culture that we have here in the United States, we should be proactive about vehicle emissions so that we don't create more smog-choked urban areas, and one of the keys to moving forward in this venture is to have the EPA leading the charge.  Hopefully they'll stop dragging their feet and quicken their pace to help clean up the air we breathe!    

Indoor Pollution?

We're all concerned with the quality of the outside air, but the air inside our homes can be much more polluted!  According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities."  The EPA also states that "people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors."  That means that most of us are breathing in a good amount of toxic air in an environment where we usually feel the safest.  Health effects could range from cold or flu-like symptoms to dire illnesses like cancer. 

I know what you're saying:  Aaarrgh!  Is NOWHERE safe?  Well, before one can apply some remedies to help solve the problem of indoor pollution, one has to first know what the main causes of it are.  According to the EPA, "Indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles into the air are the primary cause of indoor air and quality problems in homes."  Great---so, what does that mean?  Well, "combustion sources", such as oil, gas, kerosene, coal, wood and tobacco are one source of indoor pollution.  A "geological" source like Radon could also pollute your space.  Other sources are things such as:  insulation that contains asbestos, wet or damp carpet, pesticides, central heating and cooling systems, and humidification devices.  And yet other sources of indoor pollution may seem innocuous, but can be just as harmful; these sources are:  cabinetry or furniture made of certain pressed wood products, air fresheners, materials used in hobby activities, cleaning products, personal care products, pets,  plants and even ourselves!!! 

Before you run out of your house and move to the North Pole to go live in an igloo, let me suggest some remedies to lessen or negate the effects of indoor pollution.  First of all, you  could increase the ventilation in your home.  Systems similar to the fans in bathrooms could be installed in other strategic locales in the home or you could open the windows on warmer days.  Air ducts can be cleaned by a professional cleaning service.  If you or someone in your household smokes, smoke outside or even better---QUIT!  Clean/change all filters in your furnace or air-conditioning unit on a regular basis and keep up with the regular maintenance schedule.  Get your chimney swept every fall.  Vacuum your house more often and buy a bagless vacuum with a Hepa filter on it.  Sweep and wash all uncarpeted floors and dust furniture and ledges (yeah, right!).  Remove lead based paints.  Keep the humidity of your house at 40%-60%.  Comb your pet's fur on a regular basis.  Also consider that older appliances tend to emit more harmful pollutants than newer ones---so when economically feasible, replace your oldest appliances, even for a refurbished appliance.

Try out some of these measures and research other methods for cleaning up the air inside your home! Sometimes, before we can tackle "saving the world", we might need to try to save "our world" first.