Archive for the 'pollution' Category

Palm Oil Sucks

Published
by
JB
on May 27, 2008
in global warming and pollution
. 6 Comments

OK, OK, so palm oil itself doesn’t suck… but many aspects around the production of palm oil does.

So what’s palm oil? It’s a type of vegetable oil that is harvested from the fruit of an oil palm tree. It’s used in a number of products – go to any supermarket and you’ll find it in food and household products. In many poor and rural countries (such as those in SE Asia, Africa and Central America), palm oil production is a big business, providing a source of income for many people. For example, in Indonesia alone, about 1.5M farmers grow this crop.

Unfortunately, demand for palm oil is increasing. Great for producers, especially in those third world countries, or so one would think. It’s also very, very bad for the environment. Why? Let’s take a look, shall we?

  • Tropical rainforests are being cleared to make way for new palm plantations, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions.
    • More fossil fuels need to be burned to help clear away rainforests.
  • Many plant and animal species, including endangered ones such as the orangutans in Borneo, are losing their habitats.
    • Some species, as a result, may become extinct if nothing is done soon.
  • Many indigenous people are suffering – big agribusinesses are coming in and essentially stealing the land right underneath them.
    • Some are pushed off the land.
    • Others are allowed to stay, but their land and water have become so polluted due to all the industrial activity.
    • Laborers often face abuse and exploitation, not to mention exposure to a high level of pesticides.

It’s pretty depressing and a sad state of affairs. More to come in my next post, including the names of offending companies which use palm oil, some of the products they produce (and may be in your homes today), and ways you can help.

Get your spandex out

Published
by
JB
on May 15, 2008
in action, global warming and pollution
. 1 Comment

Bike to Work weekApologies for the somewhat late posting – I don’t know how this one escaped us, but this week is Bike to Work Week! Ride your bike to work tomorrow and pat yourselves on the back for doing a great environmental deed.

Here are some environmental benefits to biking to work (courtesy of this site):

Fewer people cycle per capita in the U.S. than in many other parts of the world, and the U.S. is a leader in petroleum consumption. These high levels of consumption are leading to many negative effects on the environment, such as increased emissions of harmful gases, including:

  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Carbon Monoxide
  • Methane
  • Nitrous Oxide
  • Volatile Organic Compounds
  • Hydrofluorocarbon
  • Perfluorocarbon
  • Sulfur hexafluoride

Good stuff. I probably won’t ride my bike to work (I’m paranoid of getting hit by a car) but I’m definitely going to do my part by walking to work.  Hope to see you on the road!

Hey smokers, cigarette butts are litter.

Published
by
Paul
on May 13, 2008
in pollution and waste
. 0 Comments

Many of my friends are smokers or were once smokers, so I say this with only the greatest of respect: stop littering you idiots!

GreenHL wrote a great post yesterday about various negative effects that producing cigarettes has, so I won’t get into it, but one point that he makes only obliquely is that the problems with cigarettes are exacerbated by the fact that most smokers seem to think that their butts somehow magically disappear from the sidewalks and roads like magic.

butts.png As this trashcan in Japan illustrates poetically, they don’t.

Air pollution kills

Published
by
JB
on May 12, 2008
in pollution
. 0 Comments

I had no idea that this was true, but I recently read that air pollution can cause strokes and heart attacks.

Well on top of that, there is a new study that was just published, indicating that long-term exposure to tiny particles in polluted air can also cause deep vein thrombosis – or blood clots in your legs.

This is only one study, so don’t jump to any quick conclusions.  But I’m sure there will be many more… in the meantime, this only points to a further need for us to take care of our environment.  By doing so, not only do our surroundings benefit, but so will our health.

Smoking the Earth Away

Published
by
greenhl
on May 11, 2008
in carbon, pollution and waste
. 4 Comments

earth_on_fire

We’ve all heard about the harmful effects of smoking, whether it’s lung cancer, emphysema, or the dangerous effects of second hand smoke. This is all on top of yellow teeth, smelly skin / clothes, yellow ceilings in your house, depreciating your car’s value, or the monetary effects of purchasing packs of cigarettes. What hasn’t really been highlighted are the environment effects of smoking.

Globally, there are over 1.2 billion smokers who consume an estimated 6 trillion cigarettes – equivalent to about 900 cigarettes per person on the planet. Approximately one third of North Americans smoke, and the percentage is even higher in Europe and developing countries. Although the sheer effects of burning that many cigarettes is detrimental to the air, the harm cigarettes cause do not stop at our lungs or the air. Each year, enormous amounts of cigarette butts are discarded improperly, not only starting fires, but also creating a huge amount of pollution and chemical waste when they decompose (filter-tipped cigarettes do not decompose).

On top of this, producing cigarettes also consumes huge amounts of energy and resources. Because tobacco plants are sensitive, up to 16 pesticide applications are required each growing season, leading to a large amount of chemical runoff, ozone pollution, and land toxicity. Nearly 600 million trees are used each year to provide the necessary fuel to dry tobacco, which equates to approximately one tree for every 300 cigarettes. About 4 miles of paper is used per hour by manufacturing machines, and nearly 6 billion pounds of solid waste is produced annually on top of the over 500 million pounds of chemical waste. There are also huge amount of toxic releases such as ammonia, hydrochloric acid, sulpuric acid, and toluene (just to name a few examples) into the environment directly associated with tobacco manufacturing. Finally, to top this all off, tobacco related medical expenses and lost productivity accounts for over $150 billion annually in the U.S. alone.

It continues to baffle me that more is not done to help people quit smoking. I know nicotine addiction is strong, as are the tobacco lobbies in Washington. However, given the huge economic, social, and environment costs, when will we have enough? In this case, it’s good to be a quitter.