Natural Environment Blog

Being an Amazon associate, I was pleased to receive an email from Amazon regarding their Amazon Green program.

Amazon has designed banners for Amazon associates to promote green products from the Amazon Green catalog.

Amazon describes Amazon Green as:

A cross-category program that includes a list of products that customers have selected as the best green products offered by Amazon.com and a place for customers to discover Amazon’s entire green product selection

With the banners, Amazon encourages affiliates to promote Green cleaning supplies, ENERGY STAR office electronics, high-efficiency lighting and the Amazon Green program.

So being an Amazon associate, it would be remiss of me not to promote the Amazon Green program!

I just read this recent recycling tip of the week on Wicked Local Belmont, recommending five things you should never buy again.

In the post, the Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee, suggests alternatives for each of the five “no-no”products.

The products mentioned are:

• Styrofoam cups
• Paper towels
• Bleached coffee filters
• Over-packaged foods
• Teak and mahogany

Although I don’t plan to buy any disposable cups, coffee filters, or furniture in the near future, I can’t really avoid buying food. It’s a shame that so many products are over-packaged. I’m constantly amazed at how much packaging ends up in my bin every week.

Although I’m well aware that packaging is used for companies to differentiate their products from their competitors, I wish they would consider reducing the amount of packaging they use for their products.

When I wrote about Henry Ford’s hemp car, I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d be writing about another car made from hemp.

Lotus has announced its latest eco-friendly car - made from hemp. OK, the whole car isn’t made from hemp but hemp has played a large role in it’s construction.

Lotus will unveil the Eco Elise at the British International Motor Show later this month.

With the Eco Elise, Lotus is aiming for a car that’s different to most “green” cars. While most of today’s green cars are being measured by how little gas they consume, the Eco Elise goes much further than this.

In fact, the Eco Elise project focuses on the following areas:

• Sustainable materials - using materials such as hemp, sisal, and biodegradable woolen fabrics.
• Cleaner manufacturing processes - by using a totally water-based paint system.
• Renewable energy generation - through the use of two solar panels on the hemp hard top.
• Reducing carbon miles - by using locally grown hemp fibers, as well as recycled packaging.
• Efficient driving techniques - by assisting the driver in driving more economically. A green light informs the driver the most optimal time to change gears for best economic performance.
• Weight reduction - a lighter car means a more economical car. The Eco Elise is 32 kilograms lighter than the (already lightweight) Elise S.

According to the Lotus press release:

The new green materials sourced for this car have been carefully studied to ensure that each technology used reduces the environmental impact of the vehicle. The life of the components has been analysed; during the production stage, in-use and at the end of the vehicle’s life. The technology used aims to offer lower emissions of both solvents and CO2 in the lifecycle of the vehicle, with reductions in energy consumed during manufacture.

Another great environmental achievement for Lotus is that their manufacturing plant has become more eco-friendly. In 2007, Lotus used 14% less electricity, 30% less gas, and 11% less water than it did in 2006. Lotus also recycle 57% of its waste product.

It was great to read that a United States amusement park has encouraged kids to collect almost 40,000 plastic bags.

Playland Amusement Park in Westchester, NY, provided free rides to kids who turned in 100 plastic bags or more on June 28.

Dubbed “Plastic Bag Day”, the event resulted in 39,995 plastic bags being retrieved. This means there are now 39,995 less plastic bags that can harm the environment.

The plastic bags will eventually be recycled into products such as outdoor decks and fencing.

Source: Mid Hudson News

A attempt by the Australian government to revive coral trout numbers in the Great Barrier Reef appears to be doing the trick.

More than 100,000 km² of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was rezoned to be a ‘no-take’ zone. In other words, a third of the Great Barrier Marine Park had a total fishing ban. This represented the world’s largest network of marine no-take zones and was very controversial when it was introduced four years ago. Not surprisingly, the fishing industry in particular had a huge problem with the fishing ban.

Despite the controversy of this fishing ban, it has proved to be very effective at reviving coral trout numbers. Since the ban was implemented, coral trout numbers have increased by over 60 percent in the no-take zones. This is an amazing result considering that, in other areas where no ban has been implemented, trout numbers have remained the same.

On a less-positive note, the population of other species of fish don’t appear to have changed since the ban - only coral trout numbers have increased. Also, it will take up to 15 years before coral trout numbers have had a full recovery.

Source: New Scientist

You may have read my article about hempcrete and its various implementations (such as Hemcrete, Canobiote, Canosmose, Isochanvre).

Hempcrete is basically an eco-friendly alternative to concrete. Not only is hempcrete more environmentally friendly, but it is stronger than concrete, less prone to cracking, and about half the weight of concrete. Using hempcrete in buildings makes sense in more ways than one.

Hempcrete is usually mixed on site, then sprayed directly onto the building frame.

The following video shows hempcrete being sprayed onto a building frame. I decided that, since I’ve already written about hempcrete, I may as well link to this You Tube video.

OK, so we all know about the environmental benefits of recycling. Compared to throwing our trash into a landfill, recycling can have a significantly positive impact to the environment.

But how much trash are we actually throwing into landfills each year?

Here are some figures from the United States and the United Kingdom.

United States Landfill Usage

According to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2006, Americans generated about 251 million tons of trash. Of this, 82 million tons (32.5 percent) was recycled. A further 31 million tons (12.5 percent) was combusted (burned) with energy recovery. That means that 138 million tons (55 percent) was discarded in landfills.

The report also shows that the amount of garbage produced each year is increasing quite rapidly. In 1960, when EPA first started monitoring waste usage, the US produced 88.1 million tons of garbage. This worked out to be 2.68 pounds per day for each American. Now, with the nation producing 251.3 million tons of garbage per year, the average American produces 4.6 pounds of garbage each day!

Here’s a chart showing the increase in garbage since 1960. The blue line represents the total garbage generation each year (in millions of tons). The orange line represents per-capita generation (pounds/per person/per day).

Here’s the full report: Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006 [PDF file]

United Kingdom Landfill Usage

Meanwhile in the UK, the Environmental Services Association (ESA) has found that 434 tonnes of waste is produced in the UK each year. Of this, 30 tonnes come from households. 73 percent of this waste goes to landfill.

ESA point out that of the 73 percent that ends up in landfill, 90 percent could actually have been recoverable. This means that instead of being dumped in a landfill, it could have been recycled, composted, or combusted to generate energy.

Source: Waste Facts - Environmental Services Association

We all know that plastic bags are bad for the environment. And we all know why it’s important to do something about the plastic bag problem. Most plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to degrade. Until now that is.

Daniel Burd, a Canadian high school student has discovered a method for degrading polyethylene plastic bags. He made this exciting discovery during a science project. He wanted to prove that a procedure could be developed to degrade plastic bags.

The discovery won Burd first place prize of $9,800 in the Canada-Wide Science Fair, the Waterloo, Ontario. Burd has also received almost $34,000 in college scholarship offers.

During the project, Burd was able to degrade 43 percent of a plastic bag within six weeks. Burd plans to refine his process so that he can degrade the polyethylene in a much shorter timeframe.

Burd achieved the degradation by isolating microorganisms from soil, then using them to facilitate the degradation process.

This discovery sounds like it has a lot of potential. Of course, it’s early days yet, but wouldn’t it be great if a process could be developed to degrade all the plastic bags already scattered throughout the natural environment? And what if a process could be developed to degrade all the plastic lying in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

Source: Red Orbit

In the lead up to China’s plastic bag ban, which commenced on June 1, there were many reports about mixed feelings. For example, although most people agreed plastic bags are a problem for the environment, many weren’t so enthusiastic about being charged for plastic bags.

Well, if this article from Zhejiang Online is anything to go by, there’s still hope yet.

On the first day of the plastic bag ban, in Hangzhou, supermarkets and free markets both experienced a large decrease in the use of plastic bags. This resulted in a large increase of the sale of environmentally friendly reusable shopping bags. Mr. Yang Juanmei, marketing manager of Huarun Wanjia Supermarket, said sales of eco-friendly shopping bags increased by 200 percent. And at the Yeqingdou Free Market, sales of environmentally friendly shopping bags matched that of the previous 7 days.

Also keep in mind that many people bought their reusable shopping bags/baskets prior to June 1. According to estimates from supermarkets and free markets, more than 50 percent of customers brought their own reusable shopping bags or baskets.

Furthermore, it seems that the elderly were more likely to bring their own shopping bags. Mr. Shen Shuangquan, manager of Yeqingdou Free Market estimated that, in the morning of June 1, 90 percent of shoppers - most of who are elderly - brought their own bags! As the day progressed, many younger shoppers came and purchased plastic bags.

77% Decrease in Plastic Bags!

And most importantly, if my interpretation is correct, in Wanshouting Free Market, the number of plastic bags provided decreased by 77 percent. As many as 100,000 plastic bags were provided in the old days, but on June, this number was closer to 23,000 (3-4000 sold to customers and 20,000 sold to vendors for fresh food, deli, and bakeries).

In other markets, the plastic bag reduction was less pronounced, but still significant.

I know it’s still early days, and Hangzhou has a relatively small population (6.5 million), but if this trend continues around the nation, China’s plastic bag ban will play a major part in worldwide efforts to reduce our plastic bag consumption.

New Zealand Environment Minister congratulated local communities today for taking such an “enthusiastic interest” in World Environment Day 2008.

World Environment Day 2008 is being held around the world today, June 5.

The main international celebrations for this year’s event are being hosted in Wellington, New Zealand. According to the United Nations’ World Environment Day website, the agenda for the day is:

…to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership, which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

The theme this year is:

Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy

The theme also includes the role of forest conservation and sustainable forestry in achieving domestic and global climate change goal.

There are many ways you can participate in World Environment Day 2008. Here are some suggestions from the official World Environment Day website:

• street rallies
• bicycles parades
• green concerts
• essay and poster competitions in schools
• tree planting
• recycling efforts
• clean-up campaigns

You could also check out the World Environment Day Alphabet - 80 Ways to Celebrate.

World Environment Day is an annual event that was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

Previous Cities

Previous Cities to host World Environment Day include:

• 2008 - Wellington, New Zealand
• 2007 - Tromsø, Norway
• 2006 - Algiers, Algeria
• 2005 - San Francisco, USA
• 2004 - Barcelona, Spain
• 2003 - Beirut, Lebanon
• 2002 - Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
• 2001 - Torino, Italy and Havana, Cuba
• 2000 - Adelaide, Australia
• 1999 - Tokyo, Japan
• 1998 - Moscow, Russian Federation
• 1997 - Seoul, Republic of Korea
• 1996 - Istanbul, Turkey
• 1995 - Pretoria, South Africa
• 1994 - London, United Kingdom
• 1993 - Beijing, People’s Republic of China
• 1992 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• 1991 - Stockolm, Sweden
• 1990 - Mexico City, Mexico
• 1989 - Brussels, Belgium
• 1988 - Bangkok, Thailand
• 1987 - Nairobi, Kenya

Previous Themes

Previous themes for World Environment Day are (including this year’s theme):

• 2008 - Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy
• 2007 – Melting Ice – A Hot Topic?
• 2006 – Deserts and Desertification – Don’t Desert Drylands!
• 2005 – Green Cities – Plan for the Planet!
• 2004 – Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive?
• 2003 – Water – Two Billion People are Dying for It!
• 2002 - Give Earth a Chance
• 2001 - Connect with the World Wide Web of Life
• 2000 - The Environment Millennium - Time to Act
• 1999 - Our Earth - Our Future - Just Save It!
• 1998 - For Life on Earth - Save Our Seas
• 1997 - For Life on Earth
• 1996 - Our Earth, Our Habitat, Our Home
• 1995 - We the Peoples: United for the Global Environment
• 1994 - One Earth One Family
• 1993 - Poverty and the Environment - Breaking the Vicious Circle
• 1992 - Only One Earth, Care and Share
• 1991 - Climate Change. Need for Global Partnership
• 1990 - Children and the Environment
• 1989 - Global Warming; Global Warning
• 1988 - When People Put the Environment First, Development Will Last
• 1987 - Environment and Shelter: More Than A Roof
• 1986 - A Tree for Peace
• 1985 - Youth: Population and the Environment
• 1984 - Desertification
• 1983 - Managing and Disposing Hazardous Waste: Acid Rain and Energy
• 1982 - Ten Years After Stockholm (Renewal of Environmental Concerns)
• 1981 - Ground Water; Toxic Chemicals in Human Food Chains and Environmental Economics
• 1980 - A New Challenge for the New Decade: Development Without Destruction
• 1979 - Only One Future for Our Children - Development Without Destruction
• 1978 - Development Without Destruction
• 1977 - Ozone Layer Environmental Concern; Lands Loss and Soil Degradation; Firewood
• 1976 - Water: Vital Resource for Life
• 1975 - Human Settlements
• 1974 - Only one Earth