Recycling and eWaste news

Hazardous waste

2012-01-15T09:32:00.001-08:00

A hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. In the United States, the treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste is regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Hazardous wastes are defined under RCRA in 40 CFR 261 where they are divided into two major categories: characteristic wastes and listed wastes.^[1]

Characteristic hazardous wastes are materials that are known or tested to exhibit one or more of the following four hazardous traits:
- ignitability (i.e., flammable)
- reactivity
- corrosivity
- toxicity
Listed hazardous waste are materials specifically listed by regulatory authorities as a hazardous waste which are from non-specific sources, specific sources, or discarded chemical products ^[2].

The requirements of RCRA apply to companies that generate hazardous waste as well as those companies that store or dispose of hazardous waste in the United States. Many types of businesses generate hazardous waste. For example, dry cleaners, automobile repair shops, hospitals, exterminators, and photo processing centers may all generate hazardous waste. Some hazardous waste generators are larger companies such as chemical manufacturers, electroplating companies, and oil refineries.

These wastes may be found in different physical states such as gaseous, liquids, or solids. A hazardous waste is a special type of waste because it cannot be disposed of by common means like other by-products of our everyday lives. Depending on the physical state of the waste, treatment and solidification processes might be required.

Worldwide, The United Nations Environmental Programme(UNEP) estimated that more than 400 million tons of hazardous wastes are produced universally each year, mostly by industrialized countries (schmit, 1999). About 1- percent of this total is shipped across international boundaries, with the majority of the transfers occurring between countries in the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) (Krueger, 1999).^[3] Some of the reasons for industrialized countries to ship the hazardous waste to industrializing countries for disposal are the rising cost of disposing hazardous waste in the home country.^[3]

Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste

2012-01-07T07:39:00.001-08:00

Watch the Segment »

(CBS) This story was first published on Nov. 9, 2008. It was updated on Aug. 27, 2009.

60 Minutes is going to take you to one of the most toxic places on Earth -- a place that government officials and gangsters don't want you to see. It's a town in China where you can't breathe the air or drink the water, a town where the blood of the children is laced with lead. It's worth risking a visit because, as correspondent Scott Pelley first reported last November, much of the poison is coming out of the homes, schools and offices of America.

This is a story about recycling - about how your best intentions to be green can be channeled into an underground sewer that flows from the United States and into the wasteland.

That wasteland is piled with the burning remains of some of the most expensive, sophisticated stuff that consumers crave. And 60 Minutes and correspondent Scott Pelley discovered that the gangs who run this place wanted to keep it a secret.

What are they hiding? The answer lies in the first law of the digital age: newer is better. In with the next thing, and out with the old TV, phone or computer. All of this becomes obsolete, electronic garbage called "e-waste."

Computers may seem like sleek, high-tech marvels. But what's inside them?

"Lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, polyvinyl chlorides. All of these materials have known toxicological effects that range from brain damage to kidney disease to mutations, cancers," Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist and authority on waste management at the Natural Resources Defense Council, explained.

"The problem with e-waste is that it is the fastest-growing component of the municipal waste stream worldwide," he said.

Asked what he meant by "fastest-growing," Hershkowitz said. "Well, we throw out about 130,000 computers every day in the United States."

And he said over 100 million cell phones are thrown out annually.

At a recycling event in Denver, 60 Minutes found cars bumper-to-bumper for blocks, in a line that lasted for hours. They were there to drop off their computers, PDAs, TVs and other electronic waste.

Asked what he thought happens once his e-waste goes into recycling, one man told Pelley, "Well my assumption is they break it apart and take all the heavy metals and out and then try to recycle some of the stuff that's bad."

Most folks in line were hoping to do the right thing, expecting that their waste would be recycled in state-of-the-art facilities that exist here in America. But really, there's no way for them to know where all of this is going. The recycling industry is exploding and, as it turns out, some so-called recyclers are shipping the waste overseas, where it's broken down for the precious metals inside.

Executive Recycling, of Englewood, Colo., which ran the Denver event, promised the public on its Web site: "Your e-waste is recycled properly, right here in the U.S. - not simply dumped on somebody else."

That policy helped Brandon Richter, the CEO of Executive Recycling, win a contract with the city of Denver and expand operations into three western states.

Asked what the problem is with shipping this waste overseas, Richter told Pelley, "Well, you know, they've got low-income labor over there. So obviously they don't have all of the right materials, the safety equipment to handle some of this material."

Executive does recycling in-house, but 60 Minutes was curious about shipping containers that were leaving its Colorado yard. 60 Minutes found one container filled with monitors. They're especially hazardous because each picture tube, called a cathode ray tube or CRT, contains several pounds of lead. It's against U.S. law to ship them overseas without special permission. 60 Minutes took down the container's number and followed it to Tacoma, Wash., where it was loaded on a ship.

When the container left Tacoma, 60 Minutes followed it for 7,459 miles to Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong.

It turns out the container that started in Denver was just one of thousands of containers on an underground, often illegal smuggling route, taking America's electronic trash to the Far East.

Our guide to that route was Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, a watchdog group named for the treaty that is supposed to stop rich countries from dumping toxic waste on poor ones. Puckett runs a program to certify ethical recyclers. And he showed 60 Minutes what's piling up in Hong Kong.

"It's literally acres of computer monitors," Pelley commented. "Is it legal to import all of these computer monitors into Hong Kong?"

"No way. It is absolutely illegal, both from the standpoint of Hong Kong law but also U.S. law and Chinese law. But it's happening," Puckett said.

Copper Prices Soar: Thefts on the Rise

2011-12-28T08:34:00.001-08:00

http://gma.yahoo.com/video/news-26797925/copper-prices-soar-thefts-on-the-rise-27718424.html

Vietnam on HD

2011-11-09T19:22:00.001-08:00

History channel, now

Mercury Converted to Its Most Toxic Form in Ocean Waters

2011-10-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

University of Alberta-led research has confirmed that a relatively harmless inorganic form of mercury found worldwide in ocean water is transformed into a potent neurotoxin in the seawater itself.

After two years of testing water samples across the Arctic Ocean, the researchers found that relatively harmless inorganic mercury, released from human activities like industry and coal burning, undergoes a process called methylation and becomes deadly monomethylmercury.

Unlike inorganic mercury, monomethylmercury is bio-accumulative, meaning its toxic effects are amplified as it progresses through the food chain from small sea creatures to humans. The greatest exposure for humans to monomethylmercury is through seafood. The researchers believe the methylation process happens in oceans all over the world and that the conversion is carried out by microbial life forms in the ocean.

The research team, led by recent U of A biological sciences PhD graduate Igor Lehnherr, incubated seawater samples collected from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Lehnherr says conversion of inorganic mercury to monomethylmercury accounts for approximately 50 per cent of this neurotoxin present in polar marine waters and could account for a significant amount of the mercury found in Arctic marine organisms. The researchers say this is the first direct evidence that inorganic mercury is methylated in seawater.

The research was published earlier this month online in Nature Geoscience.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110427131935.htm

Don't be scared by Toxics this Halloween!

2011-10-24T16:03:00.001-07:00

Halloween is only one week away. Get ready for the scary fun in your neighborhood but don't get scared by toxics in your costumes.

Three of our coalition partners have great tips on ways to make this Halloween safe for you and your whole family.

Check them out and share the info with friends and family!

CHEJ.org: PVC, the most toxic plastic for children’s health and the environment, has scared its way into some of our beloved children’s costumes. Even scarier is that many vinyl products are laden with harmful phthalates, endocrine disrupting chemicals banned in toys but widespread in many other vinyl products children come in contact with. Read more..

Mom'sRising.org: "In the grand scheme of holidays, Halloween can be costly, complicated, and not traditionally eco-friendly. Luckily, it is also incredibly, ridiculously easy to makeover. Costumes can be found, faces can be painted, and tricks and treats can be dispensed, all at a low-cost, in a green way. Here’s a Tips Tuesday breakdown on how to detox your Halloween: Read more..

HealthyChild.org: "Looking for ways to have a green & healthy Halloween? Just apply this equation: 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) + 3Gs (good for people, good for planet, good for community) = a green and healthy Halloween!Read more...

Have a HAPPY AND SAFER HALLOWEEN!

We believe everyone should be able to enjoy a safer Halloween this year and every year. ALL consumer products should be free from dangerous toxic chemicals, and we need to grow our community of people who are talking about it.

Please share this on Facebook and Twitter to help all

U.S. Adults Recognize Need to Recycle Car Batteries More Than Any Other Kind of E-Waste

2011-10-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

90% of U.S. Adults Want Car Batteries Recycled in U.S.

Miami, FL, October 20, 2011—In conjunction with the opening of the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Annual Conference in Miami, Florida, SLAB Watchdog released the results of its first national survey on the recycling habits and beliefs of U.S. adults.

The survey, which was conducted online on its behalf by Harris Interactive from October 10-12, 2011, surveyed 2,050 U.S. adults on their views and opinions on the recycling of car batteries and other electronic waste in the form of cell phones, televisions, and computers.

The survey showed that by a margin of three to one, American adults recognize the need to recycle a car battery more than any other form of e-waste. The survey also showed overwhelming strength for the idea that car batteries purchased for use in government vehicles with taxpayer money should be recycled domestically instead of sent to foreign recyclers. Some survey highlights: ·

Ninety-five percent believe recycling car batteries is an important way to protect the environment from potentially hazardous materials like lead and battery acid. ·

Eighty two percent agree the car battery recycling industry provides good jobs for American workers. · Ninety percent believe it makes more sense to recycle batteries domestically where stricter regulations better protect workers and the environment. ·

Ninety-three percent of U.S. adults believe car batteries purchased for use in government vehicles with taxpayer money should be recycled domestically instead of sent to foreign recyclers.

For the complete release please click on this link http://bit.ly/o960h4 or go to the News section of http://www.slabwatchdog.com/

Elouise Cobell dies at 65; Native American activist

2011-10-18T07:52:00.001-07:00

Elouise Cobell was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that accused the federal government of cheating Native Americans in its management of Indian land, resulting in a record $3.4-billion settlement.

Elouise Cobell was the treasurer of the Blackfeet tribe who tenaciously pursued a lawsuit that accused the federal government of cheating Native Americans out of more than a century's worth of royalties. (Louis Sahagun / Los Angeles Times)

Elouise Cobell, the treasurer of the Blackfeet tribe who tenaciously pursued a lawsuit that accused the federal government of cheating Native Americans out of more than a century's worth of royalties, resulting in a record $3.4-billion settlement, has died. She was 65.

Cobell died Sunday at a hospital in Great Falls, Mont., of complications from cancer, her spokesman Bill McAllister announced.

Growing up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in northwest Montana, Cobell often heard her parents and neighbors wonder why they weren't being paid for allowing others to use their land, she later recalled.

When she took over as treasurer of the tribe in 1976 she found herself in charge of an accounting system "in total chaos," she told The Times in 2002.

As Cobell attempted to unravel the books, she could make neither "hide nor hair of the trust accounts," she later said, referring to trusts that had been set up as part of the 1887 Dawes Act.

The act tried to erode the tribal system by granting parcels of land to individual Native Americans, but not allowing them to control their new property. Instead, the land was placed in trust with the promise that owners would be paid royalties for oil and gas, grazing or recreational leases.

Yet the Indians received little or no payment, The Times reported in 2009.

Cobell approached the Boulder, Colo.-based Native American Rights Fund about filing a class-action lawsuit against the Interior and Treasury departments, and she was named as lead plaintiff when the suit was filed in 1996. The suit contended that the Dawes Act arrangement allowed U.S. officials to systematically steal and squander royalties intended for Native Americans.

"It's just such a wrong that if I didn't do something about it I'm as criminal as the government," Cobell told the Associated Press in 1999.

Just this June, a federal judge approved the $3.4-billion settlement, the largest payment Native Americans have ever received from the U.S. government.

It provides a $1,000 cash payment to every individual who has a trust account and $2 billion for the federal government to buy back the land parcels, The Times reported when the settlement was reached in 2009. Cobell was to receive $2 million, according to the AP.

In deciding whether to accept the settlement, Cobell said she had to weigh the possibility of winning a greater sum against a harsh reality. The plaintiffs had estimated they were owed as much as $47 billion.

"Time takes a toll, especially on elders living in abject poverty," Cobell said in a 2009 Times interview. "Many of them died as we continued to struggle to settle this suit. Many more would not survive long to see a financial gain, if we had not settled now."

One of eight children, she was born Elouise Pepion on Nov. 5, 1945, on the Blackfeet reservation in Browning, Mont. Her parents owned a 200-acre ranch.

After high school, she attended Great Falls Commercial College and Montana State University in Bozeman but had to leave school after two years to care for her dying mother.

In 1968, Cobell moved to Seattle and worked in the accounting department of a television station. She also met her future husband, Alvin Cobell, a fisherman and fellow member of the Blackfeet tribe.

When her father asked her to come home to help run the struggling family ranch, she returned to the reservation. She had missed the community and the land, Cobell later said.

"Once we got on that ranch, there was no going back," Cobell told the AP. "We just wanted to make sure we held on to our land."

In 1987 Cobell helped found Blackfeet National Bank, the first bank established by a Native American tribe on a reservation.

A decade later she received a $300,000 "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation. Surprised by the windfall, she donated most of the money to the class-action suit's legal defense fund.

The cause also received a $4-million assist from businessman J. Patrick Lannan Jr. and his New Mexico-based Lannan Foundation.

"There was something about her that really impressed us," Lannan told The Times in 2002. "I guess it was her ability to describe what it's been like to be an Indian in this sort of thing."

In a 2000 tribal ritual, Cobell was declared a warrior of the Blackfeet Nation and presented with an eagle feather, an honor reserved in modern times almost exclusively for U.S. military veterans.

Cobell is survived by her husband, Alvin; son, Turk; brother Dale Pepion; sisters Julene Kennerly, Joy Ketah and Karen Powell; and two grandchildren.

Throwing trash all in one bin works in some cities

2011-10-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

At a so-called dirty mixed-waste materials recovery facility, equipment and workers separate paper, glass, plastic, metal and other commodities so residents don't have to sort them into different bins.

It's called mixed waste processing, and it's an alternative way some cities have tried to increase recycling rates. (IgnÃ¡cio Costa)

When South Pasadena homeowners recycle, it's as easy as throwing their tuna cans and soda bottles into the trash can along with their food scraps and meat wrappers. It's called mixed waste processing, and it's an alternative way some cities have tried to increase recycling rates.

In 2000, just 6% of South Pasadena's single-family residential waste was being recycled under a voluntary program that had residents sort recycling into a separate container. That percentage shot up to 25% in 2001 after the city decided to let waste and recycling go into one bin bound for a so-called dirty MRF, or mixed-waste materials recovery facility, where sorting equipment and trained workers separate paper, glass, plastic, metal and other commodities on the back end instead of the front.

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Why recycling in Los Angeles is so confusing

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"We didn't do well with the volunteer system. All the recyclables that went into the trash can were being missed," said South Pasadena public works assistant Diana Harder. "Now the recycling program is automatic. Residents don't have to worry about it."

Nor do they have to pay extra. Single-family households pay $36.49 monthly for the service, about the same as single-family residents in L.A.

The stakes have been high since 1990, when California instituted AB 939, a law that required municipalities to reduce the amount of waste taken to landfills by 25% by 1995 and 50% by 2000 or be fined $10,000 a day. Recycling wasn't mandated, but the law prompted cities to institute source-separation programs similar to the one in effect in L.A., where residents are provided separate bins for green waste, trash and recycling.

"We all started the same way with a two- or three-crate system for newspaper, glass and plastic food and beverage containers. That was it," said Dennis Chiappetta, executive vice president of Athens Services, a waste collection, recycling and disposal company based in the City of Industry that serves 19 cities, including Riverside, West Hollywood and South Pasadena. For all the work that residents did, less than 5% of residential waste was diverted from landfills in 1990, he said.

Now, about 40% of what's put in a mixed-waste bin is recycled, Chiappetta said. With yard clippings separated into a green waste bin, landfill diversion in the cities that Athens services rises to at least 50%, and sometimes almost 80%, he said.

CalRecycle, the state agency responsible for regulating disposal and recycling in California, does not keep track of how many cities process their recyclables as mixed waste. But cities of radically different demographic stripes, from West Covina to Beverly Hills, have adopted the approach.

The latter used to ask its residents to sort recyclables into separate bins, but it switched to mixed-waste processing in 2004. Just 13% of Beverly Hills' waste was recycled in 1995. Now the city has a recycling rate of 35% and an overall landfill diversion rate of 78%.

Still, not everyone agrees that mixed-waste processing is a better system. Critics say higher rates of contamination can decrease the value of the recycled materials. The L.A. Bureau of Sanitation prefers its blue-bin system because contaminated materials such as soiled paper cost more to manage, transport and ultimately deposit in a landfill, a spokesman said.

"It's something we grapple with," said Coby Skye, a civil engineer with the environmental programs division of the L.A. County Department of Public Works, which implements the county's recycling program. "It's a trade-off between contamination and participation. The benefit of having everything go in one bin is you have 100% participation whether people want to recycle or not, or whether they know what goes in the right bin or not."

http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-dirty-mrf-20110813,0,971510.story

Target commits to 100% sustainable, traceable fish by 2015

2011-10-15T10:24:00.001-07:00

The second largest discount retailer in the U.S. announced Thursday that it will sell only sustainable, traceable fish by 2015. Minneapolis-based Target Corp. operates 1,762 stores, many of which are converting to incorporate PFresh markets that sell fresh and frozen foods, including fish.

In 2010, Target stopped selling farmed salmon, Chilean sea bass and orange roughy due to various sustainability issues. It currently sells 50 different brands of fish certified by either the Marine Stewardship Council or the Global Aquaculture Alliance.

"We thought this larger commitment to fully eliminate anything that's not certified by 2015 would be the right thing to do to encourage our guests to make the right decisions," said Shawn Gensch, vice president of marketing for Target's sustainability initiatives.

Target is partnering with the nonprofit marine conservation group FishWise to reach its sustainability goals. According to FishWise executive director Tobias Aguirre, the group will assess all Target seafood products with vendor surveys to understand how the seafood is caught or farmed and will evaluate the environmental impacts associated with each product.

Aguirre said the fish species with the largest such impacts include big eye tuna caught with 50-mile fishing lines that snag high levels of unintended catch, including sharks, turtles and sea birds, and farm-raised shrimp that may have contact with natural bodies of water and spread disease.

Tracing Target's fish from the water to the store is likely to be more difficult because "there is no national traceability policy and the seafood supply chains are incredibly complex," Aguirre said. Supplier audits and a tracking system are among the tools FishWise plans to implement in partnership with Target.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not currently have a seafood tracking database. Just 2% of the seafood eaten in the United States is inspected, according to a seafood fraud report issued earlier this year by the Washington, D.C.-based international ocean advocacy group, Oceana.

RELATED:

Fish often mislabeled as wild salmon or red snapper, report finds

Gov. Jerry Brown signs shark fin ban, sparks protest

Genetically engineered salmon must be labeled

-- Susan Carpenter

Mercury Converted to Its Most Toxic Form in Ocean Waters

2011-10-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

University of Alberta-led research has confirmed that a relatively harmless inorganic form of mercury found worldwide in ocean water is transformed into a potent neurotoxin in the seawater itself.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

•After two years of testing water samples across the Arctic Ocean, the researchers found that relatively harmless inorganic mercury, released from human activities like industry and coal burning, undergoes a process called methylation and becomes deadly monomethylmercury.

Unlike inorganic mercury, monomethylmercury is bio-accumulative, meaning its toxic effects are amplified as it progresses through the food chain from small sea creatures to humans. The greatest exposure for humans to monomethylmercury is through seafood. The researchers believe the methylation process happens in oceans all over the world and that the conversion is carried out by microbial life forms in the ocean.

The research team, led by recent U of A biological sciences PhD graduate Igor Lehnherr, incubated seawater samples collected from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Lehnherr says conversion of inorganic mercury to monomethylmercury accounts for approximately 50 per cent of this neurotoxin present in polar marine waters and could account for a significant amount of the mercury found in Arctic marine organisms. The researchers say this is the first direct evidence that inorganic mercury is methylated in seawater.

The research was published earlier this month online in Nature Geoscience.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110427131935.htm

Baby Mia Baptism 10/8/2011 St Catherines, Laguna Beach CA

2011-10-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Baby Mia 2011 Baptism

2011-10-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

Baby Mia 2011 Baptism

2011-10-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hazardous

2011-10-08T07:09:00.001-07:00

Hazardous waste is just that – hazardous. Many states require that this type of waste is processed and disposed properly. The hazardous waste that you generate is often distinguished as household hazardous waste, or HHW, because industrial hazardous waste is handled in a different manner. Many cities have HHW facilities where you can drop off and pick up safe materials so they don’t end up in the landfill.

Find your local disposal

solution for HHW

Does Gasoline Go Bad?

BARRY ASKED: I received a call from my friend who was cleaning out his garage and came across an old can that had gasoline in it that was likely several years old and spoiled if gasoline spoils. How does he properly dispose of the gasoline and what should he do with the container?

WE FOUND THE ANSWER: It’s true. Gasoline does have an expiration date. Most ethanol-blend fuels have a shelf life of about three months, so chances are that your friend’s gasoline is definitely unusable… in his car that is.

This is because ethanol is hygroscopic, meaning that it will absorb … read more

http://earth911.com/recycling/hazardous/

Take care for your cell phone health!

2011-10-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.nocellphoneradiation.com/

Orange County city highlights 'green' lifestyle

2011-09-30T09:13:00.001-07:00

The city of Aliso Viejo is in the midsts of a series of workshops designed to implement sustainable living practices.

The latest Aliso Viejo Green City Initiative workshop is set for Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. at Aliso Viejo City Hall, 12 Journey.

The goal is to increase energy efficiency, and reduce energy, water consumption and waste stream flow.

The meeting continues the fall series of workshops that focus on "implementation strategies" for incorporating sustainable living practices into part of our daily lives. The discussion will center on vehicle management and transportation.

For more information, contact Director of Planning Services Albert Armijo at (949) 425-2527. Information about the initiative is also available at http://www.cityofalisoviejo.com.

Yellowstone grizzly bear euthanized for "predatory behaviors"

Southwestern pond turtle making a comeback in San Diego County

Agency seeks to end sea otter relocations, to allow them off SoCal

—Jamie Rowe, Times Community News

In China, what you eat tells who you are

2011-09-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

In a nation reeling from tainted-food scandals, organic products are mostly reserved for the rich and political elite. Chinese government officials have exclusive suppliers, who do not advertise.

Organic vegetables grow behind a 6-foot fence at the Beijing Customs Administration Vegetable Base and Country Club. “Ordinary people can’t go in there,” a neighbor says. (Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times / September 17, 2011)

Reporting from Beijing— At a glance, it is clear this is no run-of-the-mill farm: A 6-foot spiked fence hems the meticulously planted vegetables and security guards control a cantilevered gate that glides open only to select cars.

"It is for officials only. They produce organic vegetables, peppers, onions, beans, cauliflowers, but they don't sell to the public," said Li Xiuqin, 68, a lifelong Shunyi village resident who lives directly across the street from the farm but has never been inside. "Ordinary people can't go in there."

Until May, a sign inside the gate identified the property as the Beijing Customs Administration Vegetable Base and Country Club. The placard was removed after a Chinese reporter sneaked inside and published a story about the farm producing organic food so clean the cucumbers could be eaten directly from the vine.

Elsewhere in the world, this might be something to boast about. Not in China. Organic gardening here is a hush-hush affair in which the cleanest, safest products are largely channeled to the rich and politically connected.

Many of the nation's best food companies don't promote or advertise. They don't want the public to know that their limited supply is sent to Communist Party officials, dining halls reserved for top athletes, foreign diplomats, and others in the elite classes. The general public, meanwhile, dines on foods that are increasingly tainted or less than healthful — meats laced with steroids, fish from ponds spiked with hormones to increase growth, milk containing dangerous additives such as melamine, which allows watered-down milk to pass protein-content tests.

"The officials don't really care what the common people eat because they and their family are getting a special supply of food," said Gao Zhiyong, who worked for a state-run food company and wrote a book on the subject.

In China, the tegong, or special supply, is a holdover from the early years of Communist rule, when danwei, work units of state-owned enterprises, raised their own food and allocated it based on rank. "The leaders wanted to make sure they had enough to eat and that nobody poisoned their food," said Gao.

In the 1950s, Soviet advisors helped the Chinese set up a food procurement department under the security apparatus to supply and inspect food for the leadership, according to a biography of Mao Tse-tung written by his personal physician. Lower levels of officialdom were divided into 25 gradations of rank that determined the quantity and quality of rations.

In modern-day China, it is the degradation of the environment and a limited supply of healthful food that is fueling the parallel food system for the elite.

"We flash forward 50 years and we see the only elements of China society getting food that is reliable, safe and free of contaminants are those cadres who have access to the special food supply," said Phelim Kine of the Hong Kong office of Human Rights Watch.

In the capital, special supply farms are located near the airport, home to wealthier expatriates and many international schools, and to the northwest, beyond the miasma of pollution emanating from the overcrowded, traffic-choked central city.

In the western foothills, the exclusive Jushan farm first developed to supply Mao's private kitchen still operates under the auspices of the state-run Capital Agribusiness Group, providing food for national meetings. A state-owned company, the Beijing 2nd Commercial Bureau, says on its website that it "supplies national banquets and meetings, which have become the cradle of safe food in Beijing."

The State Council, China's highest administrative body, has its own supplier of delicacies, down to salted duck eggs.

"We have supplied them for almost 20 years," said a spokesman at the offices of Weishanhu Lotus Foods, in Shandong province. "Our product cannot be bought in an ordinary supermarket as our volume of production is very little."

Organic farmers say they face pressure to sell their limited output to official channels.

"The local government would like us to give more products to officials and work units, but we think it is important that individuals can enjoy our product," said Wang Zhanli, whose organic dairy in Yanqing, just beyond the most frequented tourist sections of the Great Wall, received certification in 2006.

At his Green Yard dairy, the technology is imported from Holland. The cows graze on grass free of pesticides and are milked in a sterile barn by women in white caps who look more like laboratory aides than milkmaids.

On their organic diet, the cows produce about half the volume of conventional dairy cows, meaning that the supply is never enough, especially since the 2008 scandal in which tainted milk left six Chinese babies dead and sickened 300,000 people. Managers at the dairy say about two-thirds of their product goes to officials, state-owned enterprises, embassies and international schools. A limited quantity is sold at diplomatic compunds and a few select health food stores at prices nearly triple that for regular milk.

"We're not Switzerland. Our population is way too big for everybody to eat organic food," said Hou Xuejun, general manager of the Green Yard dairy.

China Consolidates Grip on Rare Earths

2011-09-18T05:47:00.001-07:00

BEIJING — In the name of fighting pollution, China has sent the price of compact fluorescent light bulbs soaring in the United States.

By closing or nationalizing dozens of the producers of rare earth metals — which are used in energy-efficient bulbs and many other green-energy products — China is temporarily shutting down most of the industry and crimping the global supply of the vital resources.

China produces nearly 95 percent of the world’s rare earth materials, and it is taking the steps to improve pollution controls in a notoriously toxic mining and processing industry. But the moves also have potential international trade implications and have started yet another round of price increases for rare earths, which are vital for green-energy products including giant wind turbines, hybrid gasoline-electric cars and compact fluorescent bulbs.

General Electric, facing complaints in the United States about rising prices for its compact fluorescent bulbs, recently noted in a statement that if the rate of inflation over the last 12 months on the rare earth element europium oxide had been applied to a $2 cup of coffee, that coffee would now cost $24.55.

An 11-watt G.E. compact fluorescent bulb — the lighting equivalent of a 40-watt incandescent bulb — was priced on Thursday at $15.88 on Wal-Mart’s Web site for pickup in a Nashville, Ark., store.

Wal-Mart, which has made a big push for compact fluorescent bulbs, acknowledged that it needed to raise prices on some brands lately. “Obviously we don’t want to pass along price increases to our customers, but occasionally market conditions require it,” Tara Raddohl, a spokeswoman, said. The Chinese actions on rare earths were a prime topic of conversation at a conference here on Thursday that was organized by Metal-Pages, an industry data firm based in London.

Soaring prices are rippling through a long list of industries.

“The high cost of rare earths is having a significant chilling effect on wind turbine and electric motor production in spite of offsetting government subsidies for green tech products,” said one of the conference attendees, Michael N. Silver, chairman and chief executive of American Elements, a chemical company based in Los Angeles. It supplies rare earths and other high-tech materials to a wide range of American and foreign businesses.

But with light bulbs, especially, the timing of the latest price increases is politically awkward for the lighting industry and for environmentalists who backed a shift to energy-efficient lighting.

In January, legislation that President George W. Bush signed into law in 2007 will begin phasing out traditional incandescent bulbs in favor of spiral compact fluorescent bulbs, light-emitting diodes and other technologies. The European Union has also mandated a switch from incandescent bulbs to energy-efficient lighting.

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is running for the Republican presidential nomination on a platform that includes strong opposition to the new lighting rules in the United States and has been a leader of efforts by House Republicans to repeal it.

China says it has largely shut down its rare earth industry for three months to address pollution problems. By invoking environmental concerns, China could potentially try to circumvent international trade rules that are supposed to prohibit export restrictions of vital materials.

In July, the European Union said in a statement on rare earth policy that the organization supported efforts to protect the environment, but that discrimination against foreign buyers of rare earths was not allowed under World Trade Organization rules.

China has been imposing tariffs and quotas on its rare earth exports for the last several years, curtailing global supplies and forcing prices to rise eightfold to fortyfold during that period for the various 17 rare earth elements.

Even before this latest move by China, the United States and the European Union were preparing to file a case at the W.T.O. this winter that would challenge Chinese export taxes and export quotas on rare earths.

Chinese officials here at the conference said the government was worried about polluted water, polluted air and radioactive residues from the rare earth industry, particularly among many small and private companies, some of which operate without the proper licenses. While rare earths themselves are not radioactive, they are always found in ore containing radioactive thorium and require careful handling and processing to avoid contaminating the environment.

Most of the country’s rare earth factories have been closed since early August, including those under government control, to allow for installation of pollution control equipment that must be in place by Oct. 1, executives and regulators said.

The government is determined to clean up the industry, said Xu Xu, chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters, a government-controlled group that oversees the rare earth industry. “The entrepreneurs don’t care about environmental problems, don’t care about labor problems and don’t care about their social responsibility,” he said. “And now we have to educate them.”

Beijing authorities are creating a single government-controlled monopoly, Bao Gang Rare Earth, to mine and process ore in northern China, the region that accounts for two-thirds of China’s output. The government is ordering 31 mostly private rare earth processing companies to close this year in that region and is forcing four other companies into mergers with Bao Gang, said Li Zhong, the vice general manager of Bao Gang Rare Earth.

The government also plans to consolidate 80 percent of the production from southern China, which produces the rest of China’s rare earths, into three companies within the next year or two, Mr. Li said. All three of these companies are former ministries of the Chinese government that were spun out as corporations, and the central government still owns most of the shares.

The taxes and quotas China had in place to restrict rare earth exports caused many companies to move their factories to China from the United States and Europe so that they could secure a reliable and inexpensive source of raw materials.

China promised when it joined the W.T.O. in 2001 that it would not restrict exports except for a handful of obscure materials. Rare earths were not among the exceptions.

But even if the W.T.O. orders China to dismantle its export tariffs and quotas, the industry consolidation now under way could enable China to retain tight control over exports and continue to put pressure on foreign companies to relocate to China.

The four state-owned companies might limit sales to foreign buyers, a tactic that would be hard to address through the W.T.O., Western trade officials said.

Hedge funds and other speculators have been buying and hoarding rare earths this year, with prices rising particularly quickly through early August, and dipping since then as some have sold their inventories to take profits, said Constantine Karayannopoulos, the chief executive of Neo Material Technologies, a Canadian company that is one of the largest processors in China of raw rare earths.

“The real hot money got into the industry building neodymium and europium inventories in Shanghai warehouses,” he said.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/China-Consolidates-Grip-on-nytimes-2650144197.html?x=0&.v=1

Marine is awarded rare Medal of Honor at White House

2011-09-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

Cpl. Dakota L. Meyer of Kentucky defied orders and braved enemy fire in Afghanistan to save his comrades.

President Obama applauds Dakota Meyer after awarding him the Medal of Honor. “I’d rather have all my guys here now than receive the medal,” the 23-year-old Kentuckian said of comrades killed in Afghanistan. (Alex Wong, Getty Images / September 16, 2011)

Reporting from Washington— The desperate call crackled over the radio in predawn darkness: A small team of American and Afghan troops was pinned down in a remote village under withering fire from three sides. A young lieutenant was begging for artillery or air support. Without it, he yelled, "we are going to die out here."

Can't be done, came the reply. It might kill civilians.

Less than a mile away, Marine Cpl. Dakota L. Meyer heard the radio exchange in agony. His buddies were dying, yet Meyer was under orders to stay where he was. Four times he requested permission to go to their aid, and four times he was refused.

After two hours, Meyer decided to defy his superiors. The powerfully built 21-year-old with a soft Kentucky drawl climbed into the turret of a gun truck mounted with a .50-caliber machine gun and, with another Marine driving, raced toward the battle.

On Thursday, Meyer was at the White House to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor, for saving the lives of 36 combatants — 13 Americans and 23 Afghans — and personally killing at least eight Taliban fighters that day, Sept. 8, 2009. He is the first living Marine to receive the award since the Vietnam War.

Meyer, now 23, stood at attention in dress uniform as President Obama recounted what happened in the village of Ganjigal in Afghanistan's Kunar province.

"He drove straight into the line of fire with his head and upper body exposed," Obama said, describing how Meyer and the other Marine went toward the sound of the guns. "They were defying orders, but they were doing what they thought was right."

As Obama prepared to fasten the medal around his neck, Meyer stared toward the ceiling at the back of the room, as if recalling the events of two years ago, a day Meyer calls the worst of his life.

"I'd rather have all my guys here now than receive the medal," Meyer, now a construction worker back home in Kentucky, told CNN. He wears the names of four fallen comrades he could not save on his wrist, engraved on a silver bracelet.

Obama said Meyer had initially refused to take his call about the award because he was working, saying, "If I don't work, I don't get paid." But at Meyer's request, the president shared a beer with the former Marine on Wednesday evening outside the Oval Office.

Trained as a sniper, Meyer volunteered to go to Afghanistan in 2009 because he wanted to see action. His unit, the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment based in Hawaii, was deploying to Iraq, but Meyer had already done a tour there two years earlier and found it too quiet for his tastes. In Afghanistan, he would be part of a sniper team assigned to a unit training Afghan forces in Kunar province, a remote and rugged area near the Pakistan border.

"The main reason I went is because I wanted to fight," he later told the Marine Corps Times.

He'd joined the service to prove a point. In 2006, he'd told a Marine recruiter that he hoped to play college football. "Yeah, that's what I would do, because there's no way you could be a Marine," the recruiter responded, according to the Associated Press. Meyer walked away — but returned five minutes later to enlist.

On the day of the ambush, four Marines from a training team accompanied two platoons of Afghan army soldiers and border police to Ganjigal for what they thought was a meeting with village elders about helping to rebuild a mosque.

But as they entered the village near sunrise, all the lights went out and gunfire erupted as 50 insurgents in houses and in the hills above opened fire.

Once Meyer and the other Marine decided to disobey orders to stay away, it took nearly 10 minutes for the gun truck driver, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, to navigate down a steep, dry riverbed to the village of stone and mud houses at the far end of a valley. They had driven straight into the "kill zone," according to a Pentagon account of their actions. Bullets were bouncing off the vehicle.

Seeing Afghan soldiers lying on the ground, Meyer jumped out and began carrying the wounded to the vehicle, gunfire raging around him, the account said. After Meyer had loaded five men, Rodriguez-Chavez turned the Humvee around and drove out of the village to a casualty collection point, where the wounded could be picked up by a medevac helicopter.

They switched to an undamaged Humvee and returned to the village. Maneuvering in the riverbed, Rodriguez-Chavez called out that they might get stuck. "I guess we'll die with them," Meyer called back from the turret, according to the Pentagon account.

Many of the Afghan soldiers were wounded, allowing the attackers to concentrate their fire on the vehicle carrying Meyer. On his third trip back to the village, he was wounded in the arm by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Don't Bury Your Technotrash

2011-09-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Your electronic castoffs could be someone else's e-treasure.

"E-waste" is the fastest- growing source of consumer trash. But don't dump your old computers, cell phones and other devices in a landfill. Your trash could be someone else's treasure.

Sell It.

Buyers at eBay and Amazon.com are always looking for deals. Mike Hadad, owner of an iSold It outlet in Gaithersburg, Md., says he sells most of the electronics he gets on eBay, but he tends to place new or nearly new items on Amazon, where they usually fetch a higher price. Anyone can become a seller on eBay or Amazon. If you don't want the hassle of listing and shipping your items, find an online trading assistant at http://ebaytradingassistant.com. ISold It franchises usually take about a third of the sale price.

Capstone Wireless buys back all varieties of cell phones, as long as they power up and have a good LCD display. Gazelle.com buys more than 20 categories of electronics. Apple offers a gift card in exchange for reusable Apple computers.

Donate It.

ReCellular resells phones it can find buyers for and recycles the rest. Give desktop computers and peripherals to the National Cristina Foundation and the World Computer Exchange.

To establish the value of donated items, use Its Deductible (free at www.turbotax.com). To clear your computer's hard drive, use a free disk-wiping product, such as Active@KillDisk or Darik's Boot and Nuke.

Recycle It.

Some retailers and many manufacturers take back electronics for recycling or resale. Best Buy stores accept most electronics. Staples stores take personal electronics (such as PDAs, cell phones and digital cameras) free but charge $10 to take back office electronics. Call2Recycle picks up cell phones and rechargeable batteries from many locations, including Radio Shack and Home Depot stores (to find the nearest drop-off location, visit www.call2recycle.org).

For manufacturers' take-back programs, visit the Web site of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition. Dell partners with Staples and Goodwill to collect Dell products in their stores. To find other places to recycle electronics, visit www.earth911.com and search by zip code. Of course, you can always give your e-trash away to someone who wants it. Join your local Freecycle group.

by Pat Mertz Esswein

Monday, September 12, 2011

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/113467/dont-bury-electronic-trash-kiplinger

___

Orange County Register Mobile story - Early morning fire knocked down at recycling plant

2011-09-11T20:24:00.001-07:00

Check out this article:

Early morning fire knocked down at recycling plant

http://www.ocregister.com/news/fire-316596-recycling-beach.html

------Sent from Orange County Register Mobile

Thomas M Abercrombie
Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from eWaste Disposal and Recycling

California Hazardous Waste/RCRA Resources

2011-09-06T08:39:00.001-07:00

http://www.envcap.org/statetools/hzrl/hwr2001.cfm?st=CA

Posted via email from eWaste Disposal and Recycling

South Carolina’s Leftover Food Will Soon Go Here

2011-09-03T10:26:00.001-07:00

Find your local recycling
solution for organic waste

Food waste from University of South Carolina cafeterias and other homes and businesses in Columbia, S.C. won’t be headed to the landfill for long.

Waste 2 Energy (W2E) LLC, a local start-up co-founded by city councilmember at-large Dan Rickenmann, announced this week that it has received the funds to build a $25 million anaerobic-digestion facility in the region.

The 48,000-ton facility will accept all forms of organic waste from the Columbia area and convert it into electricity by utilizing anaerobic bacteria.

Unlike the aerobic bacteria that typically break down waste in landfills, anaerobic bacteria can digest organic waste in the absence of oxygen – meaning plant operators can produce and extract methane in a completely sealed environment without fear of fugitive emissions.

Converting methane produced from the decomposition of organic waste is steadily growing in popularity – thanks in part to the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), which provides assistance to landfills that are good candidates for methane extraction.

But some environmentalists express concern that extracting methane from landfills for energy – called landfill gas-to-energy or LFGTE – may lead to excess methane seeping out into the atmosphere.

READ: Is Landfill Gas-To-Energy a Good Idea?

Proponents of anaerobic-digestion facilities, which have already been operated successfully in Europe, claim the technology solves the fugitive emissions problem by capturing 100 percent of all methane generated during decomposition.

While anaerobic-digestion facilities usually carry a much heavier price-tag than converting landfill methane to energy, the process is said to be much more efficient.

Even the most efficient landfill gas-to-energy systems only claim to capture about 90 percent of the methane produced in a given landfill.

The Columbia facility will use Eisenmann Corporation’s Biogas-GW technology to extract the most methane possible from decomposing waste, while separating unwanted contaminants and keeping the plant safe for the surrounding environment and human health.

Representatives from W2E LLC said construction will begin by the end of the year and expect the plant to be fully operational in 2012. In addition to providing electricity to the local grid, the digestion process will produce soil additives that will be used by local farmers.

Funding for the plant was acquired through the partnership with Eisenmann and additional funding provided by Chicago-based Ciycor LLC.

The plant will be the first of four W2E-operated anaerobic digestors in the Southeast, according to the firm.

Mary Mazzoni

Mary lives and works in Philadelphia, Penn.

South Carolina’s Leftover Food Will Soon Go Here

2011-09-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Like the proposed Columbia plant, this anaerobic-digestion facility - funded through the UK's Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and operated at a family-owned dairy in Devonshire, England - uses local organic waste to produce both electricity and soil additives that are used on the farm. Photo: WRAP, wrap.org.uk

Find your local recycling

solution for organic waste

Food waste from University of South Carolina cafeterias and other homes and businesses in Columbia, S.C. won’t be headed to the landfill for long.

Waste 2 Energy (W2E) LLC, a local start-up co-founded by city councilmember at-large Dan Rickenmann, announced this week that it has received the funds to build a $25 million anaerobic-digestion facility in the region.

The 48,000-ton facility will accept all forms of organic waste from the Columbia area and convert it into electricity by utilizing anaerobic bacteria.

Unlike the aerobic bacteria that typically break down waste in landfills, anaerobic bacteria can digest organic waste in the absence of oxygen – meaning plant operators can produce and extract methane in a completely sealed environment without fear of fugitive emissions.

Converting methane produced from the decomposition of organic waste is steadily growing in popularity – thanks in part to the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), which provides assistance to landfills that are good candidates for methane extraction.

But some environmentalists express concern that extracting methane from landfills for energy – called landfill gas-to-energy or LFGTE – may lead to excess methane seeping out into the atmosphere.

READ: Is Landfill Gas-To-Energy a Good Idea?

Proponents of anaerobic-digestion facilities, which have already been operated successfully in Europe, claim the technology solves the fugitive emissions problem by capturing 100 percent of all methane generated during decomposition.

While anaerobic-digestion facilities usually carry a much heavier price-tag than converting landfill methane to energy, the process is said to be much more efficient.

Even the most efficient landfill gas-to-energy systems only claim to capture about 90 percent of the methane produced in a given landfill.

The Columbia facility will use Eisenmann Corporation’s Biogas-GW technology to extract the most methane possible from decomposing waste, while separating unwanted contaminants and keeping the plant safe for the surrounding environment and human health.

Representatives from W2E LLC said construction will begin by the end of the year and expect the plant to be fully operational in 2012. In addition to providing electricity to the local grid, the digestion process will produce soil additives that will be used by local farmers.

Funding for the plant was acquired through the partnership with Eisenmann and additional funding provided by Chicago-based Ciycor LLC.

The plant will be the first of four W2E-operated anaerobic digestors in the Southeast, according to the firm.

Join the discussion

Mary Mazzoni

Mary lives and works in Philadelphia, Penn.

More articles by Mary

Living without a car

2011-09-03T10:21:00.001-07:00

I live in San Francisco with my husband, a 6 month old baby, and a cat in a one bedroom apartment near the beach. We have no car but don't need one since the public transportation system in this city takes us where we NEED to go (not always where we WANT to go.)

When we need groceries, we walk about 1/2 mile to Safeway or a just few blocks to a small organic co-op market. We have a shopping cart with wheels and a telescoping handle (similar to a wheeled suicase but it's open on top and constructed of mesh instead of thick material) and we take this with us when we need to get heavier things. I walked to the store with this cart through my entire pregnancy and now I put the baby in a carrier or sling and walk, pulling the cart behind me full of groceries. The walk takes about 20 minutes, it's a scenic path along Highway 1 near the ocean, and it's good exercise!

In addition to walking wherever we can, we frequently ride buses and streetcars with our baby. We even took the streetcar to the hospital when I went into labor! Not only is riding transit less stressful than highway traffic, you really get more exposure to different types of people in your community (some admittedly not so savory, but it's a good dose of reality nevertheless.)

I grew up in a spacious house in Texas and drove everywhere since the age of 15, but living carless now isn't as hard as I thought it would be. It saves gas money, insurance, prevents unnecessary shopping excursions to mega strip malls, curbs carbon emissions, etc... In some areas of the world it's much easier to be green, and San Francisco is one of those places. No heating bill, no air conditioning bill, no car bills.

Living in a small apartment (less than 600sf) also has surprising benefits, including avoiding unnecessary stuff that adds clutter. Efficiency, simplicity, diligent cleanliness, frugality...these things I've had to learn just to maintain sanity and a budget on one salary, but they've given me more peace in my life than I expected in return.

How to Recycle Your Old Computer

2011-08-30T11:21:00.001-07:00

http://earth911.com/news/2011/08/02/how-to-recycle-your-computer/

.......'Plastic Waste-to-Fuel System' in China...

2011-08-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/-plastic-waste-to-fuel-system-in-china-1314278051-slideshow/

National Strategy Creates Opportunity for E-Waste Industry

2011-08-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

National Strategy Creates Opportunity for E-Waste Industry

5 years later, Bolsa Chica is thriving

2011-08-19T09:24:00.001-07:00

Click graphic for larger version

It was five years ago this month an ocean inlet debuted at the Bolsa Chica wetlands, and there are many ways to tell the area is flourishing. There is the diversity of wildlife. The picturesque landscape. And of course, the potent scent of bird droppings.

That last attribute might not be pleasant, but it’s a sure sign of a healthy ecosystem, one that’s rebounding at the eleventh hour amid a constant march of urban development.

“I just see this place as like a life raft,” said Kelly O’Reilly, biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. “All these wild things are clinging to this life raft. So many of these species don’t have any other place to go where they can get away from people.”

That doesn’t mean the wetlands are pristine. The low hum of oil pumpjacks is nearly ubiquitous, as is the distant rumble of motorcycles on Pacific Coast Highway. Pipelines crisscross the terrain, and visitors might notice an occasional example of graffiti.

Nonetheless, the land has been rejuvenated. Dozens of nodding-donkey oil wells were removed so hundreds of acres of marsh could be inundated by the ocean. Islands of green pickleweed, banks of brown mud and patches of rust-colored earth commingle everywhere, looking like someone dropped a camouflage blanket over the place. At the center of it all is a vast basin where millions of gallons of silver-blue seawater enter and exit each day.

“That is probably the most striking aspect of it, is visually,” said Flossie Horgan, executive director of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. “What used to be oil roads and derricks is an inland bay. It’s gorgeous.”

A far different vision once was proposed – 5,000 homes and a marina – but environmentalists helped prevent it from becoming reality.

In doing so, they created the crown jewel in Huntington Beach’s wetland crown. Farther down the coast, smaller patches of marsh are being restored all along PCH, from Newland Street to the Santa Ana River.

“The community has done an excellent job of rallying around our wetland areas,” said Connie Boardman, a Huntington Beach councilwoman and president of the Land Trust.

More broadly, there has been something of a renaissance in a state where 90 percent of wetlands have been eradicated.

In Newport Beach, the Back Bay recently completed a $50 million restoration. In Carlsbad, the 600-acre Batiquitos Lagoon thrives roughly 15 years after an ocean inlet was created. And in Marina del Rey, the 600-acre Ballona Wetlands are more vibrant seven years after work to increase tidal influence.

Bolsa Chica’s inlet project, which also involved cleaning contaminated soil and building nesting mounds for birds, cost $151 million. Money came from the Ports of Long Beach-Los Angeles, which paid to offset habitat destruction caused by their expansion, as well as state bonds and interest.

A natural inlet existed nearby at PCH and Warner Avenue before being plugged by duck hunters in 1899, but the new opening would shut itself if not for human intervention. Every two years, it must be dredged to remove accumulated sediment, and engineers are studying whether they can modify the design to reduce clogging.

Though the restored area is largely off-limits to the public, elevated areas afford stellar views, and up-close sightings of feathers and fins are common.

Locals also are free to enjoy a pleasant side-effect, that being improved surfing near the inlet jetties. Sand deposited offshore altered the angle and size of waves to create “one of the best breaks” in Huntington Beach, said Sean Collins, founder of Surfline.com.

“Fishing has (become) really good as well,” Collins said, with halibut and bass thriving in the wetlands and making their way out to sea.

“We’re very, very happy because the marine fishes that are using the full tidal inlet just run the gamut of things that are vital to coastal fisheries,” said Jim Trout, himself not a sea creature but rather an official with the State Lands Commission.

It’s also been a “boom year” for various types of birds, such as snowy plovers, savannah sparrows and least terns, Trout said.

Indeed, visitors to gated-off areas find a world that, with homes and cars visible in the distance, seems remarkably wild.

Caspian terns, circling near a heavily scented nesting site, greet humans with kamikaze-style dive bombs and ceaseless squawking. Stingrays lap at algae-covered water-control gates, just above schools of minnows and just below resting brown pelicans. Crabs dart sideways amid beds of fist-sized oyster shells, and endangered plovers scurry around like turbocharged chicks.

“The more you look,” O’Reilly said, “the more you see.”

For more photos from Bolsa Chica, click here!

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Christopher John Myers Darling

2011-08-18T07:49:00.001-07:00

Christopher John Myers Darling

Christopher John Myers Darling
July 21, 1971 – July 20, 2011

Christopher died unexpectedly on July 20th with his family by his side. He had somehow contracted necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria) and it shut down his body very quickly to the shock of everyone.
Christopher was born in Newport Beach in 1971 and grew up on Balboa Island. He was an avid sportsman during his life. Junior All American and Corona del Mar High School Football, skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding, fishing and most of all surfing.
His work in the culinary field allowed him to travel. He lived on Maui for several years with shorter stays in Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas and Cabo San Lucas.
Chris had many lifelong friends from the Newport area and from his travels. He was known affectionately by the name of “Beanie” to many of his friends. To be his friend was to be a friend for life.
He was an accomplished musician, playing the guitar, bass, drums and singing with several bands. His friends say his smile would light up the room. He was the life of the party.
Chris was a wonderful and devoted father to two beautiful girls, a great big brother, and a wonderful and caring son, always remembering the important occasions. Just a wonderful person. He was very loved and will be deeply missed by his family and many, many friends.
He is survived by his parents, Bill & Penny Darling, brothers, Michael & John Darling, daughters, Gwendolyn & Naomi Smith, their mother , Sarah Smith, Aunt & Uncle, Pamela & Lewis Canfield, Aunt, Stephanie Myers, Cousin, Grayton Myers, Aunt & Uncle, Sue & Dan Naber, Cousins, Amy & Tom Loveless, Cousins, Laurie Naber & Chris Anderson and countless friends.
Services will be held on Thursday, Aug. 18th at 5pm. at the Lighthouse Community Church located at 300 Magnolia St. Costa Mesa. A “Celebration of Life” will follow the services at the Boathouse Collective. There will be a “Paddle Out” on Friday, Aug. 19th.
In lieu of flowers, the family and Chris would appreciate a contribution to a fund being created for the benefit of his daughters and their future needs. Information for this fund can be found on Facebook, R.I.P. Chris Darling or a contribution can be sent to his mother, Penny Darling at 120 Pearl Ave., Balboa Island, Ca. 92662. For further information call (949) 675-2661.

tn-dpt-darling-20110812

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L.A. rethinks apartment recycling in march to zero-waste goal

2011-08-14T08:38:00.001-07:00

Keeping trash from landfills that are quickly filling up is a top priority for the L.A. Bureau of Sanitation. And these days its officials are working on changes to the way apartment dwellers and businesses dispose of their trash. The Home section's latest look at the complexities of apartment recycling delves into the possibilities and obstacles ahead before the L.A. City Council considers a new plan.

Home also has looked at why it's hard to know what can be recycled, and at whether all sorts of things can go in the recycling bin.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Los Angeles Recycling Center. Credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

ALSO:

Recycling: More questions than answers

Throw recycling in the trash? Some cities do

Can I recycle bubble wrap, wine corks, Ziploc bags and ...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/recyclist/

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Mercury converted to its most toxic form in ocean waters

2011-07-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

Mercury converted to its most toxic form in ocean waters

Orange County Register Mobile story - 1st phase of H.B. landfill cleanup nearly complete

2011-07-19T09:38:00.001-07:00

Check out this article:

1st phase of H.B. landfill cleanup nearly complete

http://www.ocregister.com/news/officials-308776-site-landfill.html

------Sent from Orange County Register Mobile

Thomas M Abercrombie

Sent from my iPad

Posted via email from eWaste Disposal and Recycling

Why E-Waste Should Be Kept, Recycled in U.S.

2011-07-06T15:48:00.001-07:00

Newly introduced legislation finally aims to ban the export of old electronics once and for all.

Rather than shipping unloved laptops and TVs to the Third World for a dirty form of salvage, advocates call for keeping e-waste at home for recycling.

As laptops, flat screens and smart phones grow ever more ubiquitous, so does the problematic trash they ultimately become. It’s a quandary for the Information Age that seldom gets the attention of the cool tech tools themselves.

Individual communities in the U.S. have been struggling with how to dispose of electronic waste, who should pay for its recycling and whether companies that manufacture electronics should be responsible for their full life cycle. But much of this e-waste is never disposed of anywhere in the U.S. — whether at local municipal dumps or corporate facilities.

It winds up, of all places, in Africa, or the Philippines, where it’s mined for valuable components as small as copper wiring. And conscientious consumers trying to hand off their old electronics seldom realize this.

“That’s the infuriating part of this — people who are really trying to do the right thing, who haul their big hulking televisions down to an Earth Day collection event in the neighborhood, people who are going to the trouble of taking their old stuff to some place thinking it’s going to be recycled, have no idea that it’s not going to be recycled at all,” said Barbara Kyle, national coordinator of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition.

“Recycling” is not really the best word to describe what happens to this material when it arrives in other countries, and its toxic components pose serious environmental and public health hazards there.

Currently, nothing about this business is illegal. But legislation introduced last week in Washington aims to finally address the booming trade, banning exports from the U.S. of most electronic waste to the countries least prepared to responsibly process it.

Researchers estimate that between 50 and 80 percent of electronic waste from the industrialized world that winds up in the hands of “recyclers” actually goes to a few developing countries: China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Philippines. There, the unregulated materials are crudely handled in acid baths and burn pits, releasing into the air and soil heavy metals and chemicals that are used to make flexible plastics and flame retardants.

Studies of individual scrapping facilities in Ghana and China have measured contaminants and toxic metals like lead present in soil at more than 100 times typical background levels.

And as more of the world uses electronic products — and as their individual life spans shorten in favor of ever-evolving upgrades — the waste is getting worse. Reports have pegged the global e-waste generated each year at 20-50 million tons.

“‘Recyclers’ make more money exporting this stuff, and it’s actually a pretty easy business to get into,” Kyle said. “Really all you have to do is figure out how to hold a collection event — and lots of times they’ll get charities to front for them not even knowing they’re doing it — and you need to have a place where you can bring in a shipping container and load it up.”

Read Entire Article…

Source: Miller-McCune
By Emily Badger

If Table Saws Can Be Safer, Why Aren't They?

2011-06-19T20:02:00.001-07:00

I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/18/137258370/if-table-saws-can-be-safer-why-arent-they?sc=ipad&f=1001

If Table Saws Can Be Safer, Why Aren't They?
by Chris Arnold

NPR - June 18, 2011

This week some of the nation's biggest power tool companies sent their executives to Washington. They came to argue against tougher safety mandates for so-called table saws, the popular power tools with large open spinning blades. NPR's Chris Arnold has this Reporter's Notebook.

Seven years ago, I was flying on an airplane and thumbing through a woodworking magazine. In the back of it, I came across a little ad for a table saw that wouldn't cut off your fingers. That sounded like a good kind of saw to me; I like doing home-improvement projects. And it just sounded interesting. So when I got home, I called up the inventor. It turned out he had a pretty amazing story to tell.

I found out that table saws cause thousands of these really horrible injuries every year. This inventor, a guy named Steve Gass, had actually figured out a way to prevent just about all of those accidents. Over the years, he's proved that it works, too.

"What you have is somebody who has invented a dramatic technology that seems to reduce virtually all the injuries associated with table saws," says Bob Adler, a commissioner at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which was holding meetings on the issue this week.

Gass likes to demonstrate how his saw works by using a hot dog. At one point he showed this to me at a high school shop class out in Oregon.

"I'm gonna put this hot dog on top of the board here, as if it was my thumb misplaced in the path of the blade," he said, "and them I'm gonna shove it into the blade."

Gass' saw uses an electrical sensor to detect when the blade touches flesh instead of wood. Within a few thousandths of a second, the blade slammed to a stop.

But as well as the technology works, the major tool companies have failed to put this kind of device on any of their table saws — even eight years after Gass offered to license it to them.

"They came back and said, 'Well, we've looked at it, but we're not interested because safety doesn't sell,' " Gass says.

SawStop, Gass' little upstart company, has sold tens of thousands of these safer table saws, and lately things have been heating up in Washington. The National Consumers League last month brought in injured woodworkers to meet with lawmakers and regulators. They want to make the SawStop safety brake mandatory on all table saws.

So just this week, I was back in Washington in a hearing room.

"SawStop is currently available in the marketplace to any consumer who chooses to purchase it," says Susan Young, who represents Black & Decker, Bosch, Makita and other power tool companies.

In other words, let consumers decide. Young says many consumers won't want to pay for the SawStop technology, which could add $100 to $300 in cost, depending on which side you talk to.

To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad

Thomas M Abercrombie

Sent from my iPad

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The latest in green fashion: caps and gowns....recycled plastic

2011-06-11T07:01:00.001-07:00

Caltech's graduating class marched across the stage at Friday's commencement ceremony bedecked in more than 12,000 plastic bottles.

And it wasn't a prank.

More than 500 graduates of a school known for elaborate ruses — such as changing the Hollywood sign to read "Caltech" — donned garments made entirely of fabric spun from molten plastic pellets instead of the traditional polyester caps and gowns.

Graduation planners around the country are greening their ceremonies, cutting back on printed materials and balloons filled with non-renewable helium and choosing compostable dinnerware, biodegradable water bottles and campus-grown floral displays.

But to graduates such as Catherine Beni, who at 20 years old is the youngest ever to receive a doctorate from Caltech, the eco-friendly regalia was more an "interesting factoid" than something to brag about.

"It feels exactly the same as the polyester gowns," the Riverside native said. "Maybe on a hotter day, I would notice the difference. And because it's my PhD, I would have preferred a nicer gown that I would want to keep, but maybe for others, this'll be extremely useful because it would all otherwise go to waste."

The environmental movement is growing at schools, which are adding sustainability courses to their schedules and commissioning eco-friendly lecture halls, but skeptics say greening graduation garb might be more a marketing gimmick.

Jostens Inc., a maker of academic products, recently introduced a gown made from wood-based fiber that decomposes in soil. Critics said graduates were likely to rewrap them in the plastic cover before throwing them out, preventing the fiber from biodegrading. The company's outfits now come in packaging that it says breaks down in landfills.

At Caltech, school officials set up special recycling bins around campus for the gowns. The outfits, which were produced by Salem, Va.-based Oak Hall Cap and Gown, are to be reworked into new fabric, perhaps for next year's graduation.

Oak Hall, which has been making cap and gowns for more than a century, introduced the GreenWeaver line of eco-friendly garb in late 2009 and has seen orders nearly triple in the last year. With about 23 post-consumer bottles worked into each outfit, more than 7 million bottles otherwise destined for landfills have instead gone into GreenWeaver products, the company said.

The gowns are more expensive to produce because the technology is still new and the manufactured volumes are small, said Joseph D'Angelo, Oak Hall's president. However, each cap-and-gown set cost $27 for Caltech undergraduates, $35 for master's students and $71 for doctoral graduates — about $2 less than the old polyester prices.

Nearly 30 colleges and universities in California use GreenWeaver, said D'Angelo, who on Friday was at the University of Washington in Seattle, where graduating students are planning to wear his company's gowns this weekend.

The regalia comes in recycled-plastic bags and is shipped in recycled-cardboard cartons. Oak Hall experimented with fabrics made from bamboo and wood pulp before deciding on the GreenWeaver material, which it said was softer and more breathable than traditional gowns — while looking no different.

"A cap and gown is the most recognizable symbol for achievement that we know," D'Angelo said. "All of us are becoming more sensitive to our environment, but this helps make people more aware that they should be recycling."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-green-grad-20110611,0,6067090.story

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california SUP's been around a lot longer than 2005!

2011-05-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

RIP Macho Man

2011-05-20T11:56:00.001-07:00

'Macho Man' Savage dies in car wreck

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/Macho-Man-Randy-Savage-dies-in-car-accid...

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Deepwater Horizon Spill Threatens More Species Than Legally Protected, Study Finds

2011-05-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

ScienceDaily (May 11, 2011) — Marine species facing threats from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico far exceed those under legal protection in the United States, a new paper in the journal BioScience finds. University of New Hampshire professor Fred Short and others found 39 additional marine species beyond the 14 protected by federal law that are at an elevated risk of extinction. These species, which range from whale sharks to seagrass, should receive priority for protection and restoration efforts, the authors advocate.....http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110511134221.htm

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Bond, James Bond......

2011-05-01T18:40:00.001-07:00

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Dont be a dope with our environment

2011-04-29T14:25:00.001-07:00

Overturned truck may have hazardous material

http://www.ocregister.com/news/closed-298463-street-

eWaste Disposal Inc
www.eWastedisposal.net
California Toxic Control 310168
DVBE 1370960

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Benghazi rebels turn waste into weapons

2011-04-24T20:20:00.001-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/04/24/libya.weapons.factory/index.html

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California High-Speed Rail Authority

2011-04-23T13:32:00.001-07:00

Project Vision and Scope

Vision

Inspired by successful high-speed train systems worldwide, California's electrically-powered high-speed trains will help the state meet ever-growing demands on its transportation infrastructure. Initially running from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim via the Central Valley, and later to Sacramento and San Diego, high-speed trains will travel between LA and San Francisco in under 2 hours and 40 minutes, at speeds of up to 220 mph, and will interconnect with other transportation alternatives, providing an environmentally friendly option to traveling by plane or car.

Scope

800 miles of track… up to 24 stations… the most thorough environmental review process in the nation. Due to the large scope of the project, the planning process proceeded in phases: first, program-level review assessing the need and .......http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/project_vision.aspx

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Wooden Surfboards

2011-04-23T13:29:00.001-07:00

http://www.grainsurfboards.com/

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Hawaii may get hit with trash from Japan's tsunami

2011-04-07T07:03:00.001-07:00

April 7, 2011 8:08 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Researchers create a simulation of how the trash will move in the Pacific Ocean
Trash should begin washing up on beaches in Hawaii within a year, the simulation shows
It will then hit parts of Canada, Oregon, Washington and California in 2014, the simulation shows

RELATED TOPICS

(CNN) -- The Hawaiian islands may get a new and unwelcome addition in coming months -- a giant new island of debris floating in from Japan.

Researchers in Hawaii have created a simulation showing exactly how the houses, tires, chemicals and trees washed to sea by the March 11 tsunami will float across the Pacific and eventually hit the U.S. coast.

The team, led by Nikolai Maximenko and Jan Hafner at the International Pacific Research Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa have spent years preparing computer models by following real world observations of floating buoys, according to a statement.

The first wave should begin washing up on beaches in Hawaii within a year, the simulation shows.

After it passes Hawaii it should begin hitting beaches stretching from Vancouver down through Oregon, Washington and to the tip of Baja California in 2014, before bouncing back toward Hawaii for a second impact.

That second impact five years from now could be even more concentrated and harmful to Hawaii's beaches and reefs, the researchers found.

The flotsam and trash eventually makes its way into what's called the North Pacific Garbage Patch, a sort of circulating whirlpool of garbage hundreds of miles in diameter.

There it eventually decomposes and breaks up in collisions over many years.

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Unrecycled new light bulbs release mercury into the environment

2011-04-07T07:01:00.001-07:00

The manufacture of incandescent lightbulbs is being phased out in the United States. (Willis Glassgow, AP / April 7, 2011)

By Suzanne Bohan

April 7, 2011

Reporting from Walnut Creek, Calif. —

The nation's accelerating shift from incandescent lighting to a new generation of energy-efficient bulbs is raising an environmental concern: the release of tons of mercury every year.

The most popular new bulb — the compact fluorescent light bulb, or CFL — accounts for a quarter of new bulb sales. Each contains up to 5 milligrams of mercury, a potent neurotoxin that's on the worst-offending list of environmental contaminants.

Demand for CFL bulbs is growing as government mandates for energy-efficient lighting take effect, yet only about 2% of residential consumers and one-third of businesses recycle the new bulbs, according to the Assn. of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers.

As a result, U.S. landfills are releasing more than 4 tons of mercury annually into the atmosphere and storm water runoff, according to a study in the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Assn.

A San Francisco hardware store owner is all too familiar with the bulb issue.

"They're promoting them and giving them away, but there's nowhere to drop them off," said Tom Tognetti, co-owner of Fredricksen's Hardware.

The federal Clean Energy Act of 2007 established energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs that dimmed the future for old-fashioned incandescents, which don't meet those standards. Incandescents are to be phased out by 2014 in the U.S., and California passed even stricter rules, calling for store shelves to be cleared of them by 2013.

The old-style bulbs are just too wasteful, converting to light only 10% of the energy they consume. The rest is squandered as heat.

Sales of energy-efficient alternatives like CFLs, halogen bulbs and LEDs have been growing steadily, with the low-cost CFLs the biggest sellers.

If every California household replaced five incandescent bulbs with CFLs, the move would save 6.18 billion kilowatt-hours and prevent the annual release of 2.26 million tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, according to the California Energy Commission. That's equivalent to taking 414,000 cars off the road.

But no federal law mandates recycling of household fluorescent lights. Federal rules exempt some businesses, based in part on the number of bulbs used, said Paul Abernathy, executive director of the Napa, Calif.-based recycling association.

Several states, including California, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and Minnesota, do require that all households and businesses recycle fluorescents. Abernathy's group thinks compliance is low because of a lack of convenient drop-off options.

Tognetti's store is part of a pilot project run by San Francisco to increase recycling of fluorescent bulbs and other hazardous waste. Since 2009, a city-financed truck has regularly stopped by his store and about a dozen other independently owned hardware stores to pick up consumers' toxic discards.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Assn. in Rosslyn, Va., offers information on fluorescent light bulb recycling at http://www.lamprecycle.org. Home Depot, Ikea, Lowe's and many Ace Hardware stores, among other outlets, offer free recycling, even for noncustomers.

The website Earth911.com provides a list of recyclers by ZIP Code; or consumers can call 800-CLEAN-UP (253-2687).

CFL bulbs actually have fewer mercury concerns than incandescent lights, according to the California Energy Commission. Although the older bulbs contain no mercury, they're often powered by coal-fired electricity plants, which release mercury as a pollutant. The result is about 40% less mercury emissions per bulb with CFLs, according to Environmental Protection Agency figures.

But CFLs aren't the only energy-efficient alternatives to incandescents, said Brad Paulsen, national lighting merchant with Home Depot Inc.

"You really have three options," he said. "Halogens, LEDs [light-emitting diodes] and CFLs."

Halogen bulbs are essentially energy-efficient incandescents. "They're very similar to a person's experience with incandescents," Paulsen said, and are 30% more efficient.

Paulsen, along with many others, sees LEDs taking center stage in coming years. The lights contain no mercury, are 85% more energy-efficient than incandescent bulbs, and burn for 25 years.

The main drawback now with LEDs is cost — sometimes $30 or more per bulb — but Paulsen says prices are sure to plunge as demand and production grow.

"LEDs, in my mind, are the way of the future," he said.

Bohan writes for the Contra Costa Times.

Around the Web

Bright Ideas: Photo |blogs.courant.com

Comments (3)

Add / View comments | Discussion FAQ

lighthouse10 at 4:51 AM April 07, 2011

Besides,

All the major light bulb manufacturers support a ban!

Why would they do that?
Why do these manufacturers welcome being told what they can make?

Profits of course:
The removal of the unprofitable cheap simple safe and popular bulbs so
that major manufacturers can make bigger profits from expensive
inferior products
that people otherwise would not to buy in sufficient quantities.

Instead:
Increased - not decreased - marketplace competition gives good energy
saving bulbs that people want to buy – since manufacturers then have
to try to satisfy them.
New businesses with local American jobs, whatever the type of bulbs made.
Worried governments can give research grants towards energy saving alternatives.

lighthouse10 at 4:50 AM April 07, 2011

The mercury release shows just how problematic the ban on simple bulbs is..

It is of course a ban:
Yes, energy efficient halogen incandescent replacements are
temporarily allowed, but
have whiter light type etc differences with regular bulbs, apart from
costing much more for the small savings, which is why neither
consumers or governments really like them, since they have been around
for a while now without being sold much

LEDs are not yet suitable for all-round use,
and regarding the pushed CFLs,
the so-called power factor alone means that common CFLs use twice the
energy compared with what your meter says ( http://ceolas.net/#15eux
with Sylvania, DOE and other references, and with more on why supposed
savings from banning simple incandescents don't hold up ).

Much more relevant savings of actual “energy waste” comes from power
plant and grid changes, and from preventing the unnecessary usage of
products eg night lighting in buildings,
rather than from preventing the personal choices of what products
people can use.

Max Plank at 5:14 PM April 06, 2011

The law of unintended consequences. Personally I plan to stock pile a lifetime supply of incandescent light bulbs.

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Unrecycled new light bulbs release mercury into the environment

2011-04-07T06:57:00.001-07:00

Energy-efficient CFLs are increasingly popular but few people recycle the bulbs. As a result, U.S. landfills are releasing more than 4 tons of mercury annually into the atmosphere and storm water runoff, a study says....
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lightbulb-mercury-20110407,0,3406825.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29

Climbers launch expedition to clear Everest trash

2011-04-06T09:35:00.001-07:00

KATMANDU, Nepal – A team of mountaineers led by a veteran Sherpa guide flew Wednesday to Mount Everest on an expedition to clear away tons of trash left on the world's highest peak.

Since Everest was first conquered in 1953, thousands of people have climbed it, leaving behind the empty oxygen bottles, ropes, tents and other garbage that made their journey possible.

Nepal has since required climbers to bring down everything they take up the mountain or lose their deposit, but debris from past climbs still litters the slopes.

The team that left Katmandu on Wednesday — led by Apa, a Sherpa who has climbed Everest a record 20 times — plans to bring down 11,000 pounds (5,000 kilograms) of garbage during the spring climbing season.

"I want to do this for my country, my people and for Everest," said Apa, who uses only one name.

The team hopes to clear 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of garbage from the lower part of the mountain and another 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) from near the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) summit.

Expedition members, porters and guides of other expeditions will carry the garbage down the mountain, receiving 100 rupees ($1.40) for every kilogram they haul out.

Ang Tshering, organizer of the Eco Everest Expedition, said this is the fourth year a cleaning expedition has been held.

Apa first climbed Everest in 1989 and has repeated the feat almost annually. He has campaigned about the degradation he has seen on the Himalayan peaks due to global warming and other issues.

He said when he first began climbing Everest, the trail to the summit was covered with ice and snow. Now, it is dotted with bare rocks. The melting ice has also exposed deep crevasses, making expeditions more dangerous.

Apa grew up in the foothills of Everest and began carrying equipment and supplies for trekkers and mountaineers at age 12. He moved to the United States in 2006 and lives in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_as/as_nepal_cleaning_everest

Go team

2011-03-29T19:30:00.001-07:00

Thomas M Abercrombie

Sent from my iPad

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Bob Marley's 8 Simple Ways to Go Green with Power

2011-03-27T09:17:00.001-07:00

http://www.atbatt.com/blog/73.asp

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The Libyian power hand over has began.....we're all going to be OK!

2011-03-25T07:37:00.001-07:00

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OCC complex campus' first LEED-certified building

2011-03-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

Orange Coast College has announced the completion of a new $52-million classroom facility, the largest on the campus.

The buildings, which were opened at the beginning of this year to service spring semester students, will be officially introduced to the public at a grand opening tour Thursday.

The Allied Health Sciences, Biological Sciences and Consumer Sciences and Design Complex features 32 instructional rooms, eight standard lecture classrooms and 24 labs, according to a press release.

The three-building complex totals 72,000 square feet. It was designed by Irvine architectural firm LPA, which met with faculty last year and worked with them in creating the designs.

"When the end users are part of the design process, it's a formula for success," said Richard Pagel, vice president of administrative services.

The complex is also the campus' first LEED-certified building, Pagel said of its environmental certification.

The complex replaces an older row of buildings, which were built in the 1950s and were at the "last of their useful life," Pagel said.

They were demolished about three years ago to make way for the project. The new complex is outfitted with $6 million in state-of-the-art lab equipment.

The buildings continue to service the same departments as they had before, said Kevin Ballinger, dean of consumer health and sciences, who oversees allied health programs as well as consumer sciences and design.

Ballinger had himself sat in the old dilapidated classrooms, first as a student and then as a teacher, in the 1970s.

The new labs and equipment in each of the buildings match what the students will find in their chosen fields, better preparing them for life after college, he said.

"I'm pleased as I can be," Ballinger said.

Information: http://www.orangecoastcollege.edu

If You Go

What: Grand Opening of Orange Coast College's ABC Complex

When: 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday

Where: 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa

http://www.dailypilot.com/news/education/tn-dpt-0319-occ-20110318,0,977209.story

Nuclear Reactors: A Look Inside: Slide Show

2011-03-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

http://news.discovery.com/tech/nuclear-reactors-japan-crisis-110317.html

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Fake Recyclers Profit Off E-Waste

2011-03-07T17:09:00.001-08:00

Recycling your electronic waste is a noble idea, but here's the dirty little secret: even if you drop off your old electronics for recycling, it may never get recycled.

As OSNews' Howard Fosdick describes some people fall victim to a scam called "fake recycling," and just describing it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Fake recyclers are organizations that approach well-meaning community groups like the Boy Scouts or the Make-a-Wish Foundation to help run a local "Recycling Day." The idea is that people from the community will bring in their old electronics to the legitimate organization's Recycling Day event. The fake recycler will then haul that e-waste away, and export it to another country with lax environmental regulations.

What's in it for them? According to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, "Recyclers can make more money by exporting than they can by actually responsibly recycling. This is particularly true for recyclers who are collecting televisions, because it costs money to properly recycle old televisions. But they can get paid for exporting them."

This story from the Basel Action Network details how Cartoosa, OK-based company, EarthEcycle allegedly conned the Humane Society and several other groups into running a "Recycle Day" Event, and then exported the goods to Hong Kong and South Africa. Last year, the EPA filed charges (download EarthECycle complaint) against the company for violating at least seven federal hazardous waste management regulation.

The EPA found other companies located in the state of Washington and Texas as well as in New Jersey illegally disposing of electronic waste.

Most people have never heard of a fake recycling organization like EarthEcycle, but plenty of people know all about the Boy Scouts or the Make-a-Wish Foundation. And that's exactly why fake recycler organizations need the help of legitimate groups, which lend the good name and publicity to the event.

The crazy thing is that none of this is illegal, but it's definitely destroying the environment. Here are a few tips from Electronics Takeback Coalition to keep a lookout for fake recyclers to make sure that you (or a group you represent) don't get scammed.

First off, remember that responsibly recycling an item is not free, especially when it comes to electronics. If it's not you forking over the cash to recycle an old computer, find out who is. Some electronics companies now take your old electronics back when you buy a new one, as are some state and local governments.

If you really want to do right by the environment, seek out an e-waste recycler on your own. You can find plenty of them on e-Stewards. There are also eclectic groups like FreeGeek Chicago that refurbish your old computers for people who can't afford their own.

Both of those options sound a lot better than letting your old computer sink into a landfill.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/fake-recyclers-profit-off-e-waste.html

Brushes Painting

2011-02-14T20:34:00.001-08:00

Thomas M Abercrombie

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O.C. classrooms saving troubled abalone?

2011-02-09T16:05:00.001-08:00

Check out this article:

O.C. classrooms saving troubled abalone?

http://sciencedude.ocregister.com/2011/02/09/o-c-classrooms-saving-trouble

Thomas M Abercrombie

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Surfer Anastasia Ashley on Big-Wave Surfing Hawaii's Waimea Bay

2011-02-08T17:41:00.001-08:00

Photographs courtesy Daniel Russo

January 20 and 21 saw the biggest waves of the winter to pound Hawaii so far. Those surfers who were skilled enough and brave enough waxed up their big boards and headed to spots like Jaws in Maui, Outer Log Cabins, Oahu, and, of course, the spiritual home of big wave surfing, Waimea Bay. While big-wave surfing has traditionally been a masculine activity, a few women join the lineup those days, including Adventure favorite Maya Gabeira and 23-year-old Anastasia Ashley. Ashley was born on the North Shore and now divides her time between the islands and California. Adventure got a hold of her for a first person account of what it’s like to paddle out and catch a few monsters at such a legendary spot.—Tetsuhiko Endo

ADVENTURE: When did you know you wanted to start riding Waimea?
Anastasia Ashley: I actually didn't start surfing out there 'till last year, when I found an old board under my house that was left by someone—an old 7'10’’ big-wave board. Out of curiosity I wanted to try riding it because I’d never ridden a board that big. I took it out on a small day at Waimea and felt super under gunned, so I then decided I needed a bigger board. I ordered one from Rusty and have been stoked to surf the bay ever since.

What was it like paddling out for the first time?
It was definitely surreal seeing the waves from the water—they’re so big!

How do you mentally prepare yourself for any big swell?
Definitely by just being physically prepared. I always get a good night’s sleep and make sure to eat some healthy food to keep me powered.

Walk me through surfing a wave at Waimea Bay.
Being out at Waimea is pretty crazy. The paddle out is actually pretty minor, besides the initial shore break. but if you mistime that you can be very much screwed. The most intense part, on the other hand, is the drop. It feels like you’re dropping in forever! The wave behaves one way around 15 feet, but it definitely changes once the swells hit the 18-foot plus mark. It jacks up out of the deep water and turns really, really intense.

Maya Gabeira once told me that there is a certain loneliness to being a woman who rides big waves because you are constantly surrounded by men. What is your take on that?
I agree. I feel like that is true in any aspect of surfing, big waves and small waves. It's definitely a man's lineup. But I also think it's definitely changing!

Are you considering doing any more big-wave surfing this year?
Yeah, of course! It's all swell dependent, so I’ll hopefully surf a few more days out at Waimea, and some outer reefs.

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Battery Recycling Just Got Easier

2011-02-08T17:38:00.001-08:00

The iRecycle Kit from Battery Solutions makes it easy for everyone—from households to corporations—to environmentally and economically recycle spent dry-cell batteries.

Each iRecycle Kit includes everything you need to recycle your batteries and handheld electronics. You simply collect all dry-cell battery types and hand-held electronics together—without separating—and mail them to us. We do the sorting, logistics, shipping, receiving, and recycling.

This is our no-hassle solution to help you ensure batteries and electronics are recycled properly. And easily.

How to Get Started

It’s easy! To get your iRecycling Kit - Purchase Now

iRecycle Kit Features

Fully-Inclusive Recycling Product
Pre-Paid Shipping Included
UN-Approved Collection Containers
Two Attractive Boxes And Two Pails From Which To Choose

How It Works

Purchase the size of recycling kit that’s right for you.
Receive your recycling kit in the mail.
Fill the kit with all types of dry-cell batteries and handheld electronics.
Once your kit is filled, ship it pre-paid to our recycling center. It’s as easy as that.

Benefits Of Recycling

It’s the safest way to recycle batteries
It helps you remain in compliance with any applicable environmental laws
All hazardous materials are recycled properly
The plastic and metal materials reclaimed are reused
It saves landfill costs
It saves natural resources
It’s the right thing to do

Materials We Accept

Household batteries, both rechargeable and non-rechargeable, such as
- D-cell, C-cell, AA, AAA, 9-volt, and button cells
Rechargeable battery packs from:
- Cell phones, cameras, laptop computers, power tools, etc.
Handheld electronics:
- Cell phones, iPods, PDAs, pagers, and so on
Any other dry-cell batteries

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Your Future Battery-Powered Life

2011-02-05T13:42:00.001-08:00

http://search.earth911.com/article/irecycle/?url=http://earth911.com/news/2011/01/17/your-future-battery-powered-life/

Thomas M Abercrombie

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The Snow is Plowed, Then What? - Earth911.com

2011-02-04T14:44:00.001-08:00

http://search.earth911.com/article/irecycle/?url=http://earth911.com/news/2011/01/27/the-snow-is-plowed-then-what

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For Valentine's Day, Try This - Earth911.com

2011-02-02T18:40:00.001-08:00

http://search.earth911.com/article/irecycle/?url=http://earth911.com/news/2011/01/31/for-valentines-day-try-this/

Thomas M Abercrombie

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Man arrested in copper theft at Irvine park, bright guy

2011-02-02T16:39:00.001-08:00

A Yorba Linda man was arrested on suspicion of stealing copper wiring from an electrical box Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Terry Alan Lee, a 50-year-old resident of Yorba Linda, is alleged to have taken $2,000 worth of copper from Homestead Neighborhood Park, according to a statement released by the Irvine Police Department.

An Irvine police officer noticed a suspicious vehicle parked in the park's lot at about 5 a.m., according to the statement.

The officer stepped out of his patrol car and began to search the park, which is near Jamboree Road and Robinson Drive. The officer found a man removing the wire, but the man took off.

Lee was taken into custody a short time after the chase. According to the statement, he was still holding the wire.

Authorities believe the wiring was taken from an access panel for the park lights.

Lee is in custody in lieu of $20,000 bail

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E-mail is too slow and wristwatches are pointless for college freshmen

2011-01-30T10:08:00.003-08:00

For most college freshmen starting school this fall, e-mail is passe and wearing a watch on your wrist is, well, unnecessary, according to the Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014, most of whom were born in 1992.

The list was first created by the Wisconsin school in 1998 to remind professors what cultural factors have gone into shaping the lives of their students.

While e-mail was revolutionary for their parents, today's college freshmen find it terribly slow, instead choosing to use their opposable thumbs to send dozens of text messages a day on their smartphones, which they use for telling time rather than strapping on a watch and surfing the web.

Home computers have always been a part of their lives, although the ones they first played on in preschool are now in museums. The PCs and Apples of the early 1990s had hard drives with smaller capacities than today's flash drives, used monochromatic monitors and were not connected to the internet.

Check out the Beloit College Mindset List

And technology is not the only thing that has changed, either.

In the world of entertainment, Snoop Doggy Dogg is just Snoop Dogg. Ice-T is an actor who plays a New York police detective on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," instead of a rapper stirring controversy with his song "Cop Killer."

And Clint Eastwood is a sensitive Oscar-winning director, not a tough-as-nails detective known as Dirty Harry.

The Class of 2014 now has hundreds of channels to watch with nothing on, while their parents had at most a few dozen when they were growing up. Nirvana is now classic rock. And their parents' favorite TV shows have always been showing up as movies -- "The Brady Bunch," "The A-Team" and "The Addams Family."

Beethoven has always been a big drooling dog, not a classical composer. Fergie is a pop singer, not a former English princess. Barney is a purple dinosaur, not a deputy sheriff in Mayberry.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been on the Supreme Court since today's freshmen started crawling. Bill Clinton was elected president the year most of them were born.

The Iron Curtain is something they know about from history books and Czechoslovakia has never existed during their lifetimes.

In the world of sports, Bud Selig has always been the commissioner of Major League Baseball. Tiger Woods has been golfing professionally since they were 4, and Michael Jordan is better known for his underwear commercials than he is for playing basketball.

And finally to the medicine cabinet, where the Class of 2014 can find toothpaste tubes that stand on end and bandages that have always come in multiple colors.

"The college class of 2014 reminds us, once again, that a generation comes and goes in the blink of our eyes, which are, like the rest of us, getting older and older," the college said in announcing this year's list.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/08/18/college.mindset.list/index.html?iref=NS1

Designed for the dump: The Story of Electronics

2011-01-29T07:21:00.001-08:00

Designed for the dump: The Story of Electronics

Video: Conceptually, e-waste is a simple concept. Businesses and consumers buy up gadgets that nowadays cost more to repair than re-acquire or upgrade. This causes mountains of toxic-laden trash to pile up in landfills or “recycling” centers overseas. Obviously, not a good thing. The issue becomes more complex when when you take into account how [...]

Read more Designed for the dump: The Story of Electronics

Environmental Enforcement: EPA Issues Cleanup Order to Honolulu Landfill Operator

2011-01-28T10:07:00.001-08:00

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued an order to Waste Management, Inc. to take immediate steps to clean up recent releases of waste and contaminated storm water and prevent future releases from the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill on Oahu.

Waste Management, the contractor operating the landfill for the City and County of Honolulu, agreed to comply with the EPA’s order.

On January 12 and 13, heavy rains caused extreme flooding at the landfill. A section of the landfill’s property filled with storm water, causing waste to be released and resulted in beach closures.

According to the EPA, the agency promptly dispatched an emergency responder and engineers to assist the Hawaii Department of Health and the City and County of Honolulu with the response at the landfill. The responders are monitoring ocean water and any water released from the landfill. In addition, the agencies are monitoring the stability of the landfill, and cleaning up waste that reached nearby beaches.

The EPA administrative ......http://bx.businessweek.com/e-waste/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.environmentalleader.com%2F2010%2F03%2F03%2Froom-for-improvement-in-e-waste-recycling%2F

Wave

2011-01-26T16:41:00.001-08:00

Thomas M Abercrombie

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@outsidemagazine, 1/24/11 7:46 AM

2011-01-24T19:03:00.001-08:00

Outside Magazine (@outsidemagazine)
1/24/11 7:46 AM
Our ode to the godfather of #fitness, #Jack LaLanne. A classic profile by Donald Katz. http://bit.ly/eqlcBE #longreads

Thomas M Abercrombie

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An old man or a jets fan

2011-01-23T20:26:00.001-08:00

Thomas M Abercrombie

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The Leaf Blower Wars

2011-01-14T12:14:00.001-08:00

As autumn sweeps across the land, so does the grating whine of leaf blowers—and in some cities, peace-seeking citizens are campaigning to restrict use of the devices. New Yorker writer Tad Friend infiltrates both sides of this conflict in the Oakland bedroom community of Orinda, California, emerging with a vivid and often hilarious portrait of a pitched turf battle in which many of the combatants harbor a certain strain of righteousness. Neat gardens and trees are a treasured status measure in Orinda, writes Friend:

Any challenge to a property’s routine maintenance thus becomes a threat to self-worth, net worth, and an entire way of life. A lot of people here will give up their leaf blowers only when you pry them from their cold, dead hands (or, more precisely, from their Hispanic gardeners’ cold, dead hands).

The story describes a faceoff between a leaf-blower opponent and a gardener over the gardeners’ allegedly illegal blowing on a holiday—an encounter that a neighbor, Susan Kendall, captured on video:

Kendall pulled over and got out her Flip camera to videotape the encounter, and the gardener advanced on her, with his blower roaring, saying, “Get the police, I want to hear this from them!” By the time the police arrived, however, he had thought better of his position and peeled off in his truck.

The tale suggests that leaf-blower ordinances based on sound levels are impossibly hard to enforce, whereas demonstrating a public health threat—from particulate matter blasted into the air, for instance—is more enforceable but tougher to pull off. That hasn’t stopped an increasing number of cities—including, very recently, Coral Gables, Florida—from moving toward leaf-blower restrictions.

In the meantime, blower foes can humiliate their enemies by citing a city of Los Angeles study that “showed a grandmother using a rake and broom took only 20 percent longer to clean a test plot than a gardener with a blower.”

Read more: http://www.utne.com/Wild-Green/The-Leaf-Blower-Wars.aspx#ixzz1B2hLxCJY

Move over, Cow!

2011-01-12T16:48:00.001-08:00

By ANNE MARIE CHAKER

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

Got almonds? Almond milk makes a mustache, too.

The new darling on the dairy shelf is almond milk.

Two brands—Silk Pure Almond, from Dean Foods Co., of Dallas, and Almond Breeze, from Blue Diamond Growers, of Sacramento, Calif.—are waging a Coke-and-Pepsi style market-share battle in the supermarket. Almond milk's appearance in the refrigerated dairy case in 2010 helped fuel 13% growth in milk alternatives, a category where sales were flat the year before, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago market research firm.

Coke vs. Pepsi

Almond Breeze, from Blue Diamond Growers, and Silk Pure Almond, from Dean Foods Co., are battling it out in the dairy case.

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

Dean Foods (Silk)

Milk alternatives—creamy liquids derived from non-dairy sources—are on the rise, especially in households where people are lactose-intolerant or dairy-allergic. The food industry is quickly ramping up the options, offering milks derived from soybeans, rice, coconut, hazelnuts and even hemp. The sales growth follows decades of slow, steady decline in consumption of cow's milk in the U.S.

Almond milk has shot up from nowhere, appealing to shoppers like Tammy Wade, of Calvin, Okla., who first tried it about a year ago as part of an effort to eliminate dairy products from her diet. When she and her husband go grocery shopping, they often have to visit three different supermarkets to find it.

"A lot of times we find it's totally gone off the shelf," she says. "We try to buy it two at a time." They like to add almond milk to breakfast cereal and coffee, and they use it to make everything from mashed potatoes to chocolate cake.

Barry Lovelace, a fitness trainer and owner of a gym in Allentown, Pa., sometimes has difficulty finding almond milk in stores, and so he loads up when he can. He and his wife go through as many as six half-gallon containers a week. "It is such a hot item now," Mr. Lovelace says. "We will buy three vanilla and three chocolate at a time, as long as they have it."

Almond milk is made when roasted almonds are crushed to make almond butter, then mixed with water plus vitamins, stabilizers and, in some cases, a sweetener, such as evaporated cane juice. Compared with other alternatives, almond milk is especially low in calories: A cup of original-formula Silk Pure Almond contains 60 calories, compared with 90 calories for a cup of original-formula Silk soymilk and 130 calories for a cup of 2% milk. "It tastes incredible," says Mr. Lovelace, who used to drink rice milk and soymilk.

Consumers are paying premium prices for almond milk, in contrast to regular milk where grocers often cut prices, sometimes below their own cost, to lure shoppers. And dairy beverage consumption has been in a slow and steady decline in recent decades, with the average consumer drinking 20.8 gallons of cow's milk in 2008, down from 24.3 in 1994, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.

Milk substitutes are tiny compared with the estimated $13 billion in retail sales of regular milk. Lower calorie and fat profiles are helping sales of some substitutes, as is the increasing attention to dairy allergies and vegan lifestyles.

Almond milk may also be able to draw consumers who drink the most established milk alternative, soymilk. Soy contains estrogen-like chemicals, called phytoestrogens, and heightened exposure to estrogen has been linked with increased risk of breast cancer. Researchers haven't established a direct correlation between phytoestrogens and breast cancer, and some studies even point to the possibility that soy-based phytoestrogens may decrease breast cancer formation, says Barbour S. Warren, breast cancer research associate at Cornell University. Still, given the uncertainty, Dr. Warren says women should consume soy-based foods in moderation.

Many Milk Mustaches

View Full Image

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

Soy Milk

View Full Image

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

Rice Milk

View Full Image

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

Coconut Milk

View Full Image

F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal

2% Cow's Milk

Almond milk in shelf-stable packages has been around since at least the late 1990s, when low-fat foods were in vogue and nuts were perceived as high in fat. Then, almond milk had a low consumer profile, but sales picked up in 2003 as low-carb eating became fashionable and snacking on nuts was encouraged.

Still, until almond milk was sold alongside traditional milk in the refrigerator case, "we knew our opportunity was limited," says John O'Shaughnessy, general manager of the consumer products division at Blue Diamond.

That's what happened by the end of 2009. The resulting consumer demand has surprised many supermarket chains, which normally track every nuance of consumer purchasing. Wegmans Food Markets Inc., headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., began stocking refrigerated almond milk last March. "It is outpacing the growth of every other non-dairy milk alternative we sell," says spokeswoman Jo Natale.

Whole Foods Market, of Austin, Texas, rolled out its own private-label organic refrigerated almond milk to stores in August. Errol Schweizer, senior global grocery coordinator says almond milk and coconut milk are both strong sellers. "The growth on both has been really surprising," he says.

Among the top 20 brands in the milk substitutes category, Almond Breeze and Silk Pure Almond currently rank fourth and fifth respectively, according to SymphonyIRI, which tracks food sales at major retail chains, except Wal-Mart. "The beauty of the almond milk category is that almonds are so familiar to consumers, and there's an expectation of great taste there," says Brooke Hansen, Silk brand manager. Silk Pure Almond's success is all the more striking during a period of subdued consumer spending. "It's a more challenging time for consumers to take risks" and try new products, she says.

Blue Diamond Growers began testing Almond Breeze in late 2008 in Florida markets with large Hispanic populations, a group with higher-than-average incidence of lactose intolerance. "It went gangbusters," Mr. O'Shaughnessy says. Encouraged, Blue Diamond rolled out Almond Breeze nationally in 2009 and today it is in more than 90% of U.S. grocery stores, Blue Diamond says.

By January 2010 there was a new refrigerated almond milk entrant—from Silk, a brand already known for soymilk. In March, it kicked off an advertising and promotion campaign, including TV and print ads and coupons offering 55 cents off a half-gallon of Silk Pure Almond. Sales were soon nipping at the heels of Almond Breeze, hitting $47.1 million in 2010, compared with $57.8 million for Almond Breeze, SymphonyIRI says.

Ever since, couponing and discounting has been fast and furious in a race to win new customers and build brand loyalty. "It's a dog fight," Mr. O'Shaughnessy says. If a customer buys some Silk Pure Almond, she may receive a coupon for Almond Breeze at checkout, he says.

Silk is already looking at the next potential milk alternative: This month, it has launched coconut milk in the refrigerated section of supermarkets and grocery stores nationwide. "We have high hopes," says Brooke Hansen, Silk brand manager.

None of this has escaped the notice of the dairy industry. Last spring, the Arlington, Va.-based National Milk Producers Federation, which lobbies for dairy farmers, wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking for a crackdown on use of the word "milk" on dairy alternatives.

In the letter, the federation president, Jerry Kozak, called almond milk and other alternatives "plant-derived imitation products." The letter says the products aren't as nutritious as cow's milk because they don't typically contain as much calcium naturally, but instead are calcium-fortified, and the body may not absorb as much of it.

"Soymilk is not an imitation," says Nancy Chapman, executive director of the Soyfoods Association of North America. "It has been used intentionally for hundreds of years" in cultures where dairy products aren't typically consumed.

Andrea Giancoli, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, says while the body may absorb less calcium from a fortified product, it still absorbs "a substantial amount." "The difference is usually not enough to change your dietary choice," she says. She advises consumers shake the carton of a milk alternative well before drinking, because calcium can settle at the bottom.

Who's the Milkiest of Them All?

Based on a one-cup serving.

Almond milk, F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal (5)

Almond Milk*

Calories: 60

Fat: 2.5 grams

Sugar: 7 grams

Vitamin D and Calcium: 25% and 30%**

Taste: Pleasantly sweet and nutty; nice almond notes

In Coffee: Smells great. Turns ordinary coffee into almond coffee.

On Cereal: Oh yes. Enhances but doesn't overpower a bowl of raisin bran.

Dunking Cookies: A sweet-on-sweet experience. Improved the cookie by adding the flavor of a nut.

Price***: $1.80 for 32 ounces

Soy milk

Soy Milk*

Calories: 90

Fat: 3.5 grams

Sugar: 6 grams

Vitamin D and Calcium: 30% and 30%**

Taste: Slightly sweet with a slightly bitter, some say 'beany,' aftertaste

In Coffee: Very close to cow's milk, with similar taste and heft.

On Cereal: Dark-beige color makes it a tough sell for kids.

Dunking Cookies: An above-average cookie foil, close to cow's milk. Not too sweet.

Price***: $1.90 for 32 ounces

Rice milk

Rice Milk*

Calories: 120

Fat: 2.5 grams

Sugar: 10 grams

Vitamin D and Calcium: 25% and 30%**

Taste: Pleasantly fragrant if a bit watery and sweet, with clear rice notes

In Coffee: Didn't quite hold its own against the coffee. Not very creamy.

On Cereal: Had a look and taste similar to skim cow's milk, added a not-unpleasant starchy note.

Dunking Cookies: Absorbed quickly, making for a soggy cookie.

Price***: $2.99 for 32 ounces

Coconut milk

Coconut Milk*

Calories: 80

Fat: 5 grams

Sugar: 6 grams

Vitamin D and Calcium: 30% and 10%**

Taste: Strong coconut notes with a dairy-like tang. 'Tastes like coconut yogurt,' one taster said.

With Coffee: Seemed to separate, leaving a bit of a sheen on top. Not recommended.

On Cereal: Adhered well to flakes, but the thicker texture and tart flavor didn't marry well with raisin bran.

Dunking Cookies: Interesting flavor combination.

Price***: $2.55 for 32 ounces

2% cow's milk

Cow's Milk (2%)*

Calories: 130

Fat: 5 grams

Sugar: 12 grams

Vitamin D and Calcium: 25% and 30%**

Taste: Rolls beautifully across the tongue. And the buttery shade adds to its appeal.

With Coffee: Transforms black coffee into something creamy without overpowering it.

On Cereal: A little plain-Jane next to cereal with almond milk.

Dunking Cookies: Still the gold standard

Price***: $1.25 for 32 ounces

NOTES:

* Brands compared: Blue Diamond Almond Breeze, original; Silk Soymilk, original; Rice Dream Enriched; So Delicious, original; Giant Food brand 2%. Results may vary by brand.

** Percent daily values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.

***Retail prices in effect on Jan. 11, 2011, at Giant Food in Silver Spring, Md.

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Move Over, Cow

2011-01-12T16:44:00.001-08:00

By ANNE MARIE CHAKER Got almonds? Almond milk makes a mustache, too. .The new darling on the dairy shelf is almond milk. Two brands—Silk Pure Almond, from Dean Foods Co., of Dallas, and Almond Breeze, from Blue Diamond Growers, of Sacramento, Calif.—are waging a Coke-and-Pepsi style market-share battle in the supermarket. Almond milk's appearance in the refrigerated dairy case in 2010 helped fuel 13% growth in milk alternatives, a category where sales were flat the year before, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago market research firm. Coke vs. Pepsi Almond Breeze, from Blue Diamond Growers, and Silk Pure Almond, from Dean Foods Co., are battling it out in the dairy case. F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal . Dean Foods (Silk) ..Milk alternatives—creamy liquids derived from non-dairy sources—are on the rise, especially in households where people are lactose-intolerant or dairy-allergic. The food industry is quickly ramping up the options, offering milks derived from soybeans, rice, coconut, hazelnuts and even hemp. The sales growth follows decades of slow, steady decline in consumption of cow's milk in the U.S. Almond milk has shot up from nowhere, appealing to shoppers like Tammy Wade, of Calvin, Okla., who first tried it about a year ago as part of an effort to eliminate dairy products from her diet. When she and her husband go grocery shopping, they often have to visit three different supermarkets to find it. "A lot of times we find it's totally gone off the shelf," she says. "We try to buy it two at a time." They like to add almond milk to breakfast cereal and coffee, and they use it to make everything from mashed potatoes to chocolate cake. Barry Lovelace, a fitness trainer and owner of a gym in Allentown, Pa., sometimes has difficulty finding almond milk in stores, and so he loads up when he can. He and his wife go through as many as six half-gallon containers a week. "It is such a hot item now," Mr. Lovelace says. "We will buy three vanilla and three chocolate at a time, as long as they have it." Almond milk is made when roasted almonds are crushed to make almond butter, then mixed with water plus vitamins, stabilizers and, in some cases, a sweetener, such as evaporated cane juice. Compared with other alternatives, almond milk is especially low in calories: A cup of original-formula Silk Pure Almond contains 60 calories, compared with 90 calories for a cup of original-formula Silk soymilk and 130 calories for a cup of 2% milk. "It tastes incredible," says Mr. Lovelace, who used to drink rice milk and soymilk. Consumers are paying premium prices for almond milk, in contrast to regular milk where grocers often cut prices, sometimes below their own cost, to lure shoppers. And dairy beverage consumption has been in a slow and steady decline in recent decades, with the average consumer drinking 20.8 gallons of cow's milk in 2008, down from 24.3 in 1994, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. Milk substitutes are tiny compared with the estimated $13 billion in retail sales of regular milk. Lower calorie and fat profiles are helping sales of some substitutes, as is the increasing attention to dairy allergies and vegan lifestyles. Almond milk may also be able to draw consumers who drink the most established milk alternative, soymilk. Soy contains estrogen-like chemicals, called phytoestrogens, and heightened exposure to estrogen has been linked with increased risk of breast cancer. Researchers haven't established a direct correlation between phytoestrogens and breast cancer, and some studies even point to the possibility that soy-based phytoestrogens may decrease breast cancer formation, says Barbour S. Warren, breast cancer research associate at Cornell University. Still, given the uncertainty, Dr. Warren says women should consume soy-based foods in moderation. Many Milk Mustaches View Full Image F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal .Soy Milk View Full Image F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal .Rice Milk View Full Image F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal .Coconut Milk View Full Image F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal .2% Cow's Milk.Almond milk in shelf-stable packages has been around since at least the late 1990s, when low-fat foods were in vogue and nuts were perceived as high in fat. Then, almond milk had a low consumer profile, but sales picked up in 2003 as low-carb eating became fashionable and snacking on nuts was encouraged. Still, until almond milk was sold alongside traditional milk in the refrigerator case, "we knew our opportunity was limited," says John O'Shaughnessy, general manager of the consumer products division at Blue Diamond. That's what happened by the end of 2009. The resulting consumer demand has surprised many supermarket chains, which normally track every nuance of consumer purchasing. Wegmans Food Markets Inc., headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., began stocking refrigerated almond milk last March. "It is outpacing the growth of every other non-dairy milk alternative we sell," says spokeswoman Jo Natale. Whole Foods Market, of Austin, Texas, rolled out its own private-label organic refrigerated almond milk to stores in August. Errol Schweizer, senior global grocery coordinator says almond milk and coconut milk are both strong sellers. "The growth on both has been really surprising," he says. Among the top 20 brands in the milk substitutes category, Almond Breeze and Silk Pure Almond currently rank fourth and fifth respectively, according to SymphonyIRI, which tracks food sales at major retail chains, except Wal-Mart. "The beauty of the almond milk category is that almonds are so familiar to consumers, and there's an expectation of great taste there," says Brooke Hansen, Silk brand manager. Silk Pure Almond's success is all the more striking during a period of subdued consumer spending. "It's a more challenging time for consumers to take risks" and try new products, she says. Blue Diamond Growers began testing Almond Breeze in late 2008 in Florida markets with large Hispanic populations, a group with higher-than-average incidence of lactose intolerance. "It went gangbusters," Mr. O'Shaughnessy says. Encouraged, Blue Diamond rolled out Almond Breeze nationally in 2009 and today it is in more than 90% of U.S. grocery stores, Blue Diamond says. By January 2010 there was a new refrigerated almond milk entrant—from Silk, a brand already known for soymilk. In March, it kicked off an advertising and promotion campaign, including TV and print ads and coupons offering 55 cents off a half-gallon of Silk Pure Almond. Sales were soon nipping at the heels of Almond Breeze, hitting $47.1 million in 2010, compared with $57.8 million for Almond Breeze, SymphonyIRI says. Ever since, couponing and discounting has been fast and furious in a race to win new customers and build brand loyalty. "It's a dog fight," Mr. O'Shaughnessy says. If a customer buys some Silk Pure Almond, she may receive a coupon for Almond Breeze at checkout, he says. Silk is already looking at the next potential milk alternative: This month, it has launched coconut milk in the refrigerated section of supermarkets and grocery stores nationwide. "We have high hopes," says Brooke Hansen, Silk brand manager. None of this has escaped the notice of the dairy industry. Last spring, the Arlington, Va.-based National Milk Producers Federation, which lobbies for dairy farmers, wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking for a crackdown on use of the word "milk" on dairy alternatives. In the letter, the federation president, Jerry Kozak, called almond milk and other alternatives "plant-derived imitation products." The letter says the products aren't as nutritious as cow's milk because they don't typically contain as much calcium naturally, but instead are calcium-fortified, and the body may not absorb as much of it. "Soymilk is not an imitation," says Nancy Chapman, executive director of the Soyfoods Association of North America. "It has been used intentionally for hundreds of years" in cultures where dairy products aren't typically consumed. Andrea Giancoli, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, says while the body may absorb less calcium from a fortified product, it still absorbs "a substantial amount." "The difference is usually not enough to change your dietary choice," she says. She advises consumers shake the carton of a milk alternative well before drinking, because calcium can settle at the bottom. Who's the Milkiest of Them All? Based on a one-cup serving. Almond milk, F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal (5) .Almond Milk* Calories: 60 Fat: 2.5 grams Sugar: 7 grams Vitamin D and Calcium: 25% and 30%** Taste: Pleasantly sweet and nutty; nice almond notes In Coffee: Smells great. Turns ordinary coffee into almond coffee. On Cereal: Oh yes. Enhances but doesn't overpower a bowl of raisin bran. Dunking Cookies: A sweet-on-sweet experience. Improved the cookie by adding the flavor of a nut. Price***: $1.80 for 32 ounces Soy milk .Soy Milk* Calories: 90 Fat: 3.5 grams Sugar: 6 grams Vitamin D and Calcium: 30% and 30%** Taste: Slightly sweet with a slightly bitter, some say 'beany,' aftertaste In Coffee: Very close to cow's milk, with similar taste and heft. On Cereal: Dark-beige color makes it a tough sell for kids. Dunking Cookies: An above-average cookie foil, close to cow's milk. Not too sweet. Price***: $1.90 for 32 ounces Rice milk .Rice Milk* Calories: 120 Fat: 2.5 grams Sugar: 10 grams Vitamin D and Calcium: 25% and 30%** Taste: Pleasantly fragrant if a bit watery and sweet, with clear rice notes In Coffee: Didn't quite hold its own against the coffee. Not very creamy. On Cereal: Had a look and taste similar to skim cow's milk, added a not-unpleasant starchy note. Dunking Cookies: Absorbed quickly, making for a soggy cookie. Price***: $2.99 for 32 ounces Coconut milk .Coconut Milk* Calories: 80 Fat: 5 grams Sugar: 6 grams Vitamin D and Calcium: 30% and 10%** Taste: Strong coconut notes with a dairy-like tang. 'Tastes like coconut yogurt,' one taster said. With Coffee: Seemed to separate, leaving a bit of a sheen on top. Not recommended. On Cereal: Adhered well to flakes, but the thicker texture and tart flavor didn't marry well with raisin bran. Dunking Cookies: Interesting flavor combination. Price***: $2.55 for 32 ounces 2% cow's milk .Cow's Milk (2%)* Calories: 130 Fat: 5 grams Sugar: 12 grams Vitamin D and Calcium: 25% and 30%** Taste: Rolls beautifully across the tongue. And the buttery shade adds to its appeal. With Coffee: Transforms black coffee into something creamy without overpowering it. On Cereal: A little plain-Jane next to cereal with almond milk. Dunking Cookies: Still the gold standard Price***: $1.25 for 32 ounces NOTES: * Brands compared: Blue Diamond Almond Breeze, original; Silk Soymilk, original; Rice Dream Enriched; So Delicious, original; Giant Food brand 2%. Results may vary by brand. ** Percent daily values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. ***Retail prices in effect on Jan. 11, 2011, at Giant Food in Silver Spring, Md. .Write to Anne Marie Chaker at anne-marie.chaker@wsj.com

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Electronics recycling for cash at www.ewastedisposal.net

2011-01-12T09:53:00.001-08:00

CASHING IN: An old iPhone can garner you some cold cash. (Photo: ZUMA Press)

Thanks to improved technology recycling programs across the U.S., disposing of broken, unwanted, or outdated electronics in an eco-friendly way has become much less of a hassle in recent years.

But how to get cash for old electronics remains a mystery to many folks, who often would rather just throw out old laptops, TVs, and iWhatevers than try to recoup a reward for recycling them. Specifically, figuring out how much an item is worth and how to get the most for it continues to trip up many would-be recyclers.

Since the weeks after the holidays are a prime time for discarding old electronics and replacing them with newer, trendier ones — all those e-presents sitting under the tree! — here are a few things to keep in mind when you want to make a quick buck off your old gadgets.

So what can I get?

Don't bother unloading your e-waste at a pawn shop, where you'll be left wondering if you've gotten a fair deal or not. Companies such as Gazelle, Nextworth, and YouRenew will gladly take a variety of old electronics off your hands and offer cash in return — or in some cases, gift cards or charitable contributions — based on market data and the condition of whatever you're trying to part with. If the item in question is in rough shape and cash isn't an option, they'll still help you recycle it.

If you ultimately decide not to sell through one of the above companies and would rather sell an e-castaway yourself via a website like Craigslist or eBay (or at a garage sale), it's still worth exploring their sites to figure out the worth of an item.

Based on information taken from Gazelle, below is what you can get for a variety of pre-owned items that are in functional condition and come with all accessories. These rates reflect the condition of the item, "poor" indicating serious wear and tear while "perfect" means the item looks brand new.

Smart phones: iPhone 3G 16GB: $25 (poor condition) to $125 (perfect condition). Blackberry Pearl 8100: $0 (poor condition) to $24 (perfect condition).
Digital cameras: Kodak EasyShare M580: $11 (poor condition) to $54 (perfect condition). Canon PowerShot SD600 Digital ELPH: $4 (poor condition) to $20 (perfect condition).
Pocket video camera: Flip Video Mino: $6 (poor condition) to $30 (perfect condition).
Laptop computers: MacBook Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz 13.3" 160GB Super Drive: $45 (poor condition) to $223 (perfect condition). Dell laptop with Celeron D processor, 11GB hard drive: $0 (poor condition) to $49 (perfect condition).
Gaming system: Microsoft Xbox gaming console: $4 (poor condition) to $20 (perfect condition).
E-readers: iPad 32GB WiFi + 3G: $71 (poor condition) to $354 (perfect condition). Amazon Kindle 2 Wireless Reading Device: $11 (poor condition) to $57 (perfect condition).
Video player: Roku Netflix HD Digital Video Player: $1 (poor condition) to $38 (perfect condition).

What affects the price?

The going rates for used electronics may drop significantly if you don't include things like the original packaging, cords, cables, cases, and instruction manuals. For example, the price of a pre-owned iPhone 3G in pristine condition drops from $125 to $115 if the original cables and AC adapter are not included.

And as evidenced above, the physical condition of an item plays heavily into how much you'll get back for it. A few deep scratches or a couple of dents can drastically lower the resale worth of an item, so it helps to take good care of your stuff if you're thinking about reselling it later on.

What about sensitive data?

Apprehensive about reselling used electronics, specifically cell phones and computers, because of all the data that are still alive and well inside them?

The companies mentioned above will erase any sensitive information on an item for you before it's resold, so no need to fret about doing it yourself. If you decide to sell an item through other channels, erasing data yourself can be an easy and inexpensive effort using free security programs (and no, deleting files won't make them completely disappear).

For cell phones, check out ReCellular's Data Eraser, and for computer hard drives, watch this excellent instructional video over at PCWorld. If you doubt your own data-erasing abilities, pay a quick visit to your local computer specialist.

What if I can't get cash for an item?

Have an old item that's beyond repair and won't sell on the secondhand electronics marketplace? In addition to recycling through Gazelle or other online companies, many retailers including Best Buy offer free or low-cost recycling programs that ensure an item won't be landfilled. For cell phones, the Environmental Protection Agency maintains a list of mobile providers that also have individual take-back/donation programs.

And if you can't get cash for an item because it doesn't work or is in complete disrepair, that doesn't mean you should just unload it at a nonprofit organization like the Salvation Army or Goodwill. These organizations are not e-trash depositories — their goal is to resell what's given to them, so if you donate an item, make sure it works. Otherwise, they'll have to pay to recycle it.

More from Mother Nature Network:

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Etta

2011-01-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

Philadelphia Eagles go greener with eco-friendly stadium

2011-01-09T09:36:00.001-08:00

Regardless of how the Philadelphia Eagles fare in the National Football League playoffs, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie already has received a congratulatory phone call from the president.

President Obama's comments a few weeks ago commending the team for giving a "second chance" to quarterback Michael Vick drew more attention, but the president actually phoned Lurie to praise the Eagles for their pursuit of an environmentally friendly stadium.

Lurie and his wife, Christina Weiss Lurie, are retrofitting Lincoln Financial Field with wind turbines, solar panels and a biodiesel-reliant power plant with the goal of making it the first major U.S. sports facility to be self-sufficient on renewable fuel.

The Luries' ambitious timetable calls for everything to be ready at the 67,000-seat stadium by next season's NFL opener.

Eighty wind turbines along the upper rim of the stadium, 2,500 solar panels on an overhang and facade, and a 7.6-megawatt power plant in a parking lot are the latest examples of the team's greening effort. But it's a mission that began when the facility opened seven years ago and extends deep into its daily operations.

Nearly everything that can be recycled, from tarps to cooking oil, is repurposed. Much else is composted, including the unexpected, such as beer cups made of corn-based plastic.

Thanks to efficiencies, the stadium uses far less power now than it did when it opened, all from renewable sources — though some is purchased from outside.

"It's smart business because it saves money and protects us against a rate hike," Lurie said. "But in owning and managing an NFL team that's on national TV, to have that kind of iconic symbol converting to renewable energy, we hope it can be a good example and encourage other businesses to do even better than us."

Utility costs are the second-biggest expense for the team, behind payroll, said Don Smolenski, the Eagles' chief operating officer. The Eagles' power project is a partnership with a Florida company called SolarBlue. The company will invest $30 million to install the panels, turbines and power plant, which will run on biodiesel but can use natural gas as a backup.

In return, the Eagles have agreed to buy all their power from SolarBlue at a fixed rate for the next 20 years, saving the team about $60 million in energy costs. The Eagles estimate that the project will bring annual reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that are equivalent to taking 41,000 cars off the road.

The wind turbines will be the most visible part of the project. The team ordered a sleek helix design, rather than the typical propeller model, to reduce noise, protect birds and challenge the complaint that turbines are eyesores.

Such attention to detail, verging on the obsessive, marks the Eagles' "Go Green!" campaign, which despite its scope has largely been under the public's radar, according to local environmentalists.

"It's implemented each and every year with integrity, not just a flash in the pan, and it's not an effort to do one important thing and milk it for decades," said John Hanger, Pennsylvania's outgoing secretary of environmental protection. "They looked at just about every part of the operation at Lincoln field, at the behavior of their fans and employees."

The Eagles started small when the stadium opened in 2003, with blue bins next to trash cans in the offices. Now, 80% of the stadium's trash is recycled; 20% goes to the landfill — and the goal is zero.

The team takes its recycling bins and compostable tableware on road trips. It even tries to offset carbon emissions from its travel by planting trees outside Philadelphia and, more recently, in Louisiana.

If the team replaces a carpet, the contractor must explain how the old carpet will be recycled and specify how much recycled material is in the new one. The team is working with the restaurant that sells French fries at its concession stands to develop a compostable plastic cup for its melted cheese.

The grass clippings from the field are composted. Old cooking oil and grease are converted into biodiesel, which is brought back to power the stadium's lawn mowers. Leftovers from the kitchen are donated to local shelters, and food waste is composted.

Recycling bins are everywhere, but getting fans to change habits is difficult, said Kevin Hughes, the stadium's facilities manager. So all garbage bags are opened and waste is separated from recyclables. "Once someone throws it away," Hughes said, "we touch it again."

The Eagles are at the forefront of the NFL's greening effort. There's a monthly "green" conference call that about a dozen teams take part in to share best practices. The Super Bowl has a large-scale recycling and reuse effort.

Other teams have been in touch with the Luries, who never stop looking for new efficiencies.

"People are developing skins for buildings that can consume carbon dioxide," Christina Lurie said. "If that kind of thing becomes commercial, we want to be there for that too, continuously improving."

By Neela Banerjee, Washington Bureau

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After Dump, What Happens To Electronic Waste? : NPR

2011-01-05T10:22:00.001-08:00

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/21/132204954/after-dump-what-happens-to-electronic...

Thomas M Abercrombie
Sent from my iPad

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Newport beach sunset

2010-12-28T17:05:00.001-08:00

Thomas M Abercrombie
http://tomabercrombie.posterous.com

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How to Set Up Recycling at Your Workplace

2010-12-23T13:28:00.001-08:00

Form a “green team” – Approaching recycling as a team can help ensure the success of your recycling program. A “green team” is a group of employees interested in recycling and helping to set up a program.
Determine materials you will recycle – Performing a waste audit can help. A waste audit is an inventory of the amount and type of solid waste (trash) produced at a location.
Commonly recycled business items:
- Office paper
- Magazines and catalogs
- Newspaper
- Cardboard
- Aluminum cans
- Plastic bottles
- Toner and ink jet cartridges
Contact your property manager – Find out if there are any recycling programs in place. Ask them to provide office paper, cardboard, aluminum can and plastic bottle recycling as a service to building tenants. Remind them that recycling can reduce waste disposal costs.

On your own – If your property manager cannot provide recycling, or you are a small business, meet with your green team and decide what materials you want to recycle.

Contact a recycling company – Interview multiple companies and get price estimates for providing a dumpster and pickup services. Most recycling companies provide rebates on materials collected.

These companies provide recycling pick up services in the Kansas City region. They will provide a dumpster and establish a regular pick up schedule to meet your needs.

Abitibi-Consolidated Recycling

Allied Waste

Batliner Paper Stock Company

C & H Transfer

Deffenbaugh Recycling

National Fiber Supply

Paper Stock Dealers

Smurfit-Stone Recycling

Drop-off Recycling – If pickup services are not an option, another option is to take your recyclables to a drop-off recycling center.
Coordinate collection – with the recycling service provider, janitorial crew and/or staff. Think about:
- Small bins – You can provide durable recycling containers to each staff person or ask them to use copy paper boxes or something similar at their work stations. Decide what type and size of bin to locate next to printers, fax machines and other machines that generate paper.
- Central bins – Locate large recycling bins in copy rooms or break rooms.
- Collection – Create a regular schedule and determine who will pick up recycling from the small and central bins. It may be staff, janitorial crew or a combination.
- Drop-off recycling – If your staff is using a drop-off collection center, set up a team and schedule for taking recyclables to the center. You may also need to determine a place to store recyclables.
- Communicate all this information to your entire staff and janitorial crew.
Educate staff
- Distribute fact sheets describing the new recycling program for employees and janitorial staff and post updates on your company's intranet site.
- Provide bins and collection containers as mentioned above.
- Mark containers with signs labeled by item. It is helpful to use the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol.
Plan a fun kick-off event
- Send a memo from management to all employees encouraging participation.
- Fun events, giveaways and refreshments could be provided.
- Distribute fact sheets, signs and containers.
- Schedule orientation sessions for each department.
Let others know about your efforts
- Write articles for the employee newsletter, intranet, and building and industry newsletters. Acknowledge people for changing their habits and keep people informed of the results of their efforts. Seek staff’s suggestions.
- Send out press releases to the local media. You may also want to include information in customer or client mailings.
- Include your recycling efforts in company promotional pieces.
Maintain your program
- Have your green team meet regularly to evaluate your recycling program’s progress. A successful program will continue to grow in volume recycled. The team can also address other green issues such as energy consumption and alternative transportation.
- Stay in contact with staff. Update your staff regularly on the program’s progress. Send out periodic recycling reminders. Train new employees about the recycling program.
- Identify a recycling point person to handle tasks such as answering staff questions, managing the green team and program oversight.

Helpful links

Bridging The Gap – has detailed waste reduction manuals available to businesses. Includes employee surveys, sample kick-off manuals and detailed, step-by-step instructions for a business waste reduction program.
Environmental Excellence Business Network – local group that meets four to six times a year to share nonproprietary information, techniques and benefits of environmental improvements and stewardship. Members host workshops, seminars and tours.
Byproduct Synergy project – focuses on turning one company's waste into another company's resources. It applies the principles of industrial ecology in which companies work together to match unwanted by-products as resources for new products and processes.
Hazardous Waste disposal

For more information, call 714 553 4735 or email info@ewastedisposal.net

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Dad killed in crash with son to be honored by state recycling agency

2010-12-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

A celebration of life is being planned for Steven Uselton by the state agency for which he worked.
Uselton, 44, and his son Douglas, 17, a student at Oxford Academy in Cypress, were killed in a crash early Saturday. The Buena Park residents were on their way to a debate tournament at the school.

Douglas Uselton, 17, and his father Steven Uselton, 44, both of Buena Park, were killed early Saturday when the car in which they were traveling was struck by a suspected drunken driver, police said.SHEIKH

Related Links

•Tribute for student, dad will last lifetimes
•Teen charged in crash that killed student, father
•Oxford Academy mourns popular student
•School remembers athlete, dad lost in crash
•O.C. athlete, father killed; driver arrested

More from Buena Park-Cypress-La Palma-Stanton
•Kids and family weekend events in Orange County (Dec. 24-26)
•Teen charged in fatal crash had learner's permit
•Ex-councilman's wife charged with shooting at police

Steve Uselton was a longtime employee of state agencies overseeing recycling and disposal efforts. Oxford students held a memorial Monday in honor of Douglas and his father, and a fund has been set up for the family through the school.

Rafael Lopez, 18, of Anaheim, faces two counts of vehicular manslaughter in connection with the high-speed collision. Authorities say he had a 13 blood alcohol level at the time.

The Useltons died at Knott and Crescent avenues in Buena Park when their 2000 Buick LeSabre was hit by a 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer driven by Lopez, prosecutors said. Lopez allegedly sped through a red light.
Steve Uselton grew up in Long Beach, where he attended Millikan High School.

Here is the text of a statement issued by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) about Steven Uselton, who worked in its Long Beach office:

In Memory: Steve Uselton 1966-2010

Steve Uselton, longtime state agency waste management professional, died unexpectedly in a tragic car accident Dec. 18 that also killed his teenage son. Steve was a loyal employee of the California Integrated Waste Board since 1990, and continued his work with the same co-workers and stakeholders in the newly formed Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) in 2010.

Beloved and respected within the Board and CalRecycle, Steve began as a landfill inspector, and throughout the years, made many significant contributions in helping local jurisdictions and industry divert and reduce waste under the mandate of AB 939 (the Integrated Waste Management Act). He lent his professional expertise to create new programs, such as the School Diversion Program in Southern California, helped local government and industry understand and implement a new disposal measurement system, and worked tirelessly to support communities in expanding diversion programs. Most recently, Steve served as the Branch Manager for the southern California office of Local Assistance and Market Development.

"Steve was a real leader in the true sense of the word and the heart and soul of our Southern California branch. He stood strong in carrying forward the goals of CalRecycle and in understanding the needs and challenges of stakeholders," said CalRecycle Director Margo Reid Brown. "Steve was a wonderful colleague, friend, and devoted father. We will miss him so very greatly."

Steve was as highly regarded by local government and industry professionals as he was within his own department. He took time to listen and understand his own employees, as well as the perspective of stakeholders in the solid waste industry. He was truly a fair and knowledgeable resource for anyone seeking his expert opinion. After any meeting, Steve gave a handshake and a smile to let the parties know that he was on their side and that they would be moving forward together.
Steve made his staff a priority, offering support, guidance and mentoring, while considering personal and professional needs. Steve was the first to volunteer, at work and in his personal life, to offer help wherever it was needed. No matter what he was working on, his face would light up with a smile when somebody stopped by to seek his opinion or just to chat.
Steve was a devoted husband and father and was incredibly proud of all of the accomplishments of his wife, son and daughter. He made a point to attend school activities, and was on his way to one of his son's events when the terrible accident occurred. Steve and his family enjoyed camping and sports activities, and were highly regarded in the community for their involvement in many activities.

Steve is survived by his wife, Desiree and daughter, Erin. His son, Douglas, a senior at Oxford Academy in Cypress, California, was also killed in the accident. Steve will be deeply missed by all of his friends and co-workers at CalRecycle.

Memorial services are being planned for early next week. CalRecycle is also planning a celebration of Steve's life, to be held in Southern California in mid-January.

Donations for the family can be sent through the Oxford Academy fund:
Oxford Academy Boosters Inc.
Douglas Uselton Memorial Fund
5172 Orange Avenue
Cypress, CA 90630

Contact the writer: rgonzales@ocregister.com

#5: THE END OF STUFF by Truedogblog.com

2010-12-21T07:30:00.001-08:00

In light of our bubble’s deflation, perhaps it’s time to rethink how we’ve been generating our wealth.

For the last fifty years, of course, we have doing so by purchasing Stuff, lots and lots of Stuff:

Stuff for the home; Stuff for work; Stuff for the car; Stuff for yourself; Stuff for your mother, your father, your wife, your husband; Stuff for the dog; Stuff for the lawn; Stuff to make you look like you are 26 years old; Stuff to demonstrate your importance and let you feel good about yourself; Stuff you just can’t resist; Stuff to eat and eat and eat and eat; Stuff to be seen with and Stuff to use in private; Stuff that looks way cool; Stuff you can throw out and replace with Stuff twice as neat; Stuff you put on the back porch and now can’t remember how to use; Stuff that gives you an erection that might last for more than four hours, in which case you should call your doctor or go straight to the emergency room; Stuff that famous people talk about; Stuff that brings to mind childhood memories or sunsets over the horizon or beautiful women with big breasts riding bicycles; Stuff that proclaims itself to be unlike anything else in the history of humankind; Stuff that will surely make people love you.

And the economics of Stuff has worked. We’ve spent the last half century consuming our way to the top of the world’s heap and pulling a raft of other nations upward on the strength of our buying binge. But now, simply put, we can no longer afford to buy enough Stuff to keep all of us afloat.

The first two decades of that half century of Stuff were fueled by an enormous burst of disposable income in the aftermath of World War II and with it, the rise of the pursuit of Stuff as a principal of social organization. In those days, men supporting a wife and two children could buy enough new Stuff on a single paycheck to make the economy grow. Then it took both husband’s and wife’s income, then husband and wife working overtime, then husband and wife working overtime plus a line of credit borrowed against all the Stuff they already owned. Then we woke up one morning in 2008 and there was no value left to borrow against. So the credit crashed and the edifice of culturally mandatory, often desperate consumption came down on our heads.

“It’s a Ponzi scheme,” Judy exclaimed when I ran into her at the supermarket. The store was about to fold and everything was marked down. Judy had been a banker before she fled finance for something slower and less hierarchical. “Our consumption cycle has all the features of a pyramid scam,” she insisted. “It requires an ever expanding supply of new wealth to keep purchasing the Stuff that drives the economy forward. Eventually that requirement to buy outstrips the resources available to sustain it. Then constant growth collides with limitations it can’t breach and when it does, people inevitably start falling out the bottom of the economy, just like they are now. We can’t just buy more as a long term economic strategy. It won’t cut it.”

I wasn’t up for a lengthy encounter around the subject so I moved on as soon as it was polite to do so. But Judy started me once again contemplating the End of Stuff.

I soon came up with my five favorite reasons to root for such an outcome:

The dynamic of Stuff has distorted our needs to the point of dysfunction. Economies were engines of survival before they became engines of wealth. In those days, need was defined by the stark physical reality of our biological selves. Since the advent of Stuff, however, need has increasingly serviced our psychological selves, transforming requirements into impulses defined by commercial motives manipulating our emotional confusion. We are left with little idea of what we really need and what we don’t really need, and that inability cripples our capacity to adjust to the new reality.

The manufacture of Stuff is a cavalier use of diminishing resources. Our Stuff syndrome is a remnant of when the world seemed endlessly bountiful and we had plenty to spare. That is no longer so. Instead, all the readily available materials of the Industrial Age are being exhausted at a steady pace and we desperately need to make collective decisions to husband what remains. You can’t do that and chase endless Stuff at the same time.

The sociology of Stuff has warped our culture. We are now a people linked together in a communal identity that is largely shaped by advertisements engineered to get us to purchase maximum Stuff. Thirty second television spots teach most of us who we are and who we ought to be as well as what to buy. The result is a set of self images that bind us to consumption and keep us trapped in a virtual world that is shallow, restrictive, and ultimately manufactured out of whole cloth.

The hegemony of Stuff has set the world on a path that might well destroy it. When Stuff was an American monopoly, it was hard to see the threat it posed. But now the heretofore “undeveloped” world has begun to Stuff itself, gearing up to consume in force. And when they do, not only will materials disappear or inflate in cost, but millions more tons of carbon will be added to the atmosphere, compounding our planetary climate dilemmas, perhaps beyond relief.

And finally, our addiction to Stuff has promoted values that fall far short of what the situation requires. Implicit in making consumption a national commandment has been the nurturing of materialism and obsession—attributes of our lesser selves. If we are to rise to our better selves, as the approaching transformation requires, our reliance on Stuff will be an anchor tied to our feet. We need to value making more out of less, not making less and less out of more and more.

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This entry was posted in economy, identity, social philosophy, social policy, social psychology and tagged consumption, economic bubble, how we spend, social change, the future. Bookmark the permalink.

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Going With the Grain – Surfer’s Path Article

2010-12-20T10:18:00.001-08:00

The folks at Grain Surfboards are involved in an ecosystem of thought and action.
by Hef Martin (reprinted with permission of Surfer’s Path)

The metallic brown commuter jet began her descent to the New England coastline. Below, thick black river water twisted liberally and without intent amidst dense forests of peeling birch, Adirondack pine, curly white cedar, and crimson oak. Few towns, houses, or barns dare encroach on these northernmost stretches of the Appalachian Mountain range along which we now skidded. I folded an old Stephen King novel under the tuck of my peacoat pocket, slugged down the soupy dregs of my Irish coffee, and made to set heel to tarmac.

Portland International Jetport hosts 10 gates and stretches for maybe, generously, 150 yards. As a faded red windsock danced listlessly against a hemlock backdrop, half a dozen passengers and I embraced the bewildering smell of ocean and the unnatural silence on the runway. The most obtrusive element was the thick fog licking in off the Atlantic. Seagulls squakwed overhead; I could hear them crisply now without the engine growl and customary annoying sounds of an ‘international jetport’.

But the silence gave me vertigo. I felt off-balance. I went wall-eyed from confusion. Was this a dream? A different dimension? Was I back on that grass runway swath cut into the Bolivian Amazonian basin? I glanced back at the plane to see if it was a South American military envoy. No. I checked my pockets for remnants of coca and scribbled antics on cigarette rolling papers. None. Is this really America? How come I don’t feel a bleak and repressive malaise? Where are the fat people?

As I pondered my new place of being on this planet I watched an older gentleman welcome his family back to the Northeast. He wore a straw barbershop-quartet hat with a gray-and-navy Sunday suit, all highlighted with a bowlined red tie. The family seemed to be a father, uncle, and son. All groomed their facial hair in the same style as Kevin Costner, and when they noticed my neckbeard, they all grimaced like they were sniffing cheesy feet. All four of us forced smiles.

Portland proper is the focal burg of Southern Maine, but there didn’t seem to be any structures taller than four stories. The place is boatyards and lighthouses, connected with cobblestone and sloped antique brick single-lane motorways. Colonial architecture and interesting rooflines of cedar shake blend in with abandoned naval bases in blue blood tradition down the coast, as license plates whisper italically, “Vacationland…”

The smell of cedar
spread a smile wide
upon my face. I cackled
hideously, slurped at
some fire-roasted beans
and swilled moonshine
brew out of a glass jar,
thinking out loud, “This
place is f*cking perfect.

One hour south, I found the Grain Surfboards barn, a shaping, glassing, and boutique wooden surfboards operation situated in the foothills of smoky blue mountains, idyllic pastures of hobby farms, and pacifist communes turned artisan produce markets. The barn is not 20 minutes from a number of decent beachbreaks that swamp the coves, chasms, and open coastline all the way down to the Outer banks of the Carolinas.

I set up camp in the dark, loading resilient tree branches with mini-lanterns, pitching my tent under the starlight with the large north wall of the Grain barn beside me. Tall grass scratched the side of my canvassed domicile, which lay in a graveyard of mechanical skeletons. Trailer chassis and snowmobile hoods grew thick with weeds, cows lowed approvingly from beyond, and the moon shimmered without border, spreading a vagueness cloaked opaquely by wet mist and dewy foreground. The smell of cedar spread a smile wide upon my face. I cackled hideously and slurped at some fire-roasted beans, pausing to swill moonshine brew out of a glass jar, thinking out loud, “This place is fucking perfect.”

Peeling my eyes from my book and donning my flannel jacket, curiosity revealed itself to me. Would I be here right now if Clark foam hadn’t closed its doors and effectively changed the surfing industry on December 5, 2005? Would the general niceties and hopeful vagaries of surfing culture exist without companies like Grain? I doubt I would find this lasting peacefulness outside of a pop-out factory in Malaysia. Excited to meet the people beyond the name of the company, I clicked off my headlamp to get some sleep.

Above: Brad Anderson and Mike LaVecchia roll home after a Northeastern Seaboard tour with their custom boards.
The grumble and growl of an open throttle startled me awake. It was 7a.m., already hot, and sunny, I was sweating and wanted to barf. I hung my stinky head out of the tent and was greeted by two hoodlums on black motorcycles – a snaggle-toothed man grinning wildly on a hog and a large brute manhandling a decrepit World War II-era military bike and sidecar parked, on the grass adjacent to some unimpressed heffers. They were Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider. They were butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the Argentinian altiplano. They had six surfboards strapped to their machinery and had driven through the night from an east Coast demo tour. They were Mike LaVecchia and Brad Anderson, owners and operators of Grain, and immediately I knew we would get along in splendid perversion.

I was still early for the course. Myself and five others were slated for attendance at Grain’s third weeklong surfboard-shaping workshop. The first had been done in collaboration with the Wooden Boatbuilding School of Brooklin, Maine; the second was held at their shop, just as ours would be. Neither Mike nor Brad showed any sort of hesitation in welcoming me to the barn and allowing me to put my hands to work. I was chomping at the bit to wrap my knuckles around machinery and make a surfboard. Japanese saw or a jack plane, I came to mow wood. After a few hours Mike, friends, and I went out to test some different products and prototypes at Long Sands beach.

I am already a devout participant and chronicler of riding the wood variety of surfboards. I don’t think I could ever go back to foam, carbon fiber, epoxy-skinned, or kevlar boards. Squishy fun, they belong in Air Mall catalogs, right in between laser-guided electronic dog leashes and solar-paneled home-theatre cotton-candy dispensers – tacky, misguided relics that only made mass production and the overcrowding of surf lineups possible.

On the other hand, there are many talented riders and shapers out there who helped the sport progress through innovation due to the mass availability, forgiveness, and easy workability of foam. Many feel that they are right to lament the mysterious closure of Clark foam. But when examined in critical light, those blanks were soft, disposable, nonbiodegradable, overgrown boogie boards. Foam toys.

Wood has been used as the central tenet of surfboard construction for thousands of years. It is one of the basic proteins of our sport. So it is quite natural that some of Grain’s experimental projects have been focused on the recreation of ancient Hawaiian designs. In fact, Grain’s entire line is constructed using the same basic logic that waterman and surfboard visionary Tom Blake employed when he began building hollow wooden boards in Hawaii in the 1920s. Correspondingly, each product I was privy to rode with the grace and royalty of its ancestors. Long glide and infallible craftsmanship.

As they explained during our third day together, Brad and Mike both came to this job earnestly. LaVecchia was heavily involved with Burton Snowboards for a dozen years, when it was going through its ‘hoo-ha’ era as a change agent for the wintersports industry. He moved on to his predominant passion shortly thereafter, testing to become a US Coast Guard licensed captain, while operating and captaining the construction of large wooden sailing vessels. His collective knowledge shines through as a problem-solver, carpenter, designer, and benevolent owner.

Grain has managed to create, without external financial backing, a forum
for innovation, where people, ideas, and talents collide with dangerous
implications … an ecosystem of thought and action.

Brad has been a keen waterman for decades, sailing the globe and working in marine construction and carpentry since his teens. He and his lens-jockey girlfriend, Alex, have been winter caretakers of two islands – totally off the grid and off the New Hampshire coast – for the past 11 years. Brad has worked in numerous nonprofits; he says he nearly expatriated when Bush was re-elected. He had moved back from Scotland with a plan for real, definable positive change when LaVecchia and him were introduced.

Brad and Mike move with uncanny deliberation and reverent knowledge through woodshop or sea. Generous, hilarious, and full of terrific stories, they and their crew connect with the people around them. They openly share a personal, political, social, and environmental ethos that is transmitted throughout all aspects of the Grain operation.

I have a dossier of observations that would make any farmer John Canadian rightfully proud of this American company, but I’ll spare you the onslaught of a litany on their products, because it is peripheral to what amazed me most about their operation (and you’ve read it before): limiting electricity, using hand tools, eliminating waste, planting cedars, using low-VOC epoxy, using local and sustainable-yield wood sources.

Before I continue on in worship from a seemingly totally biased perspective, let me announce that I personally sell wood boards for a different company and consider Grain something of a lead competitor. So when I tell you that they seem like the kind of people to cut down their trees with axes and drag them out of the forest by oxen, I mean that they literally are the Paul fucking Bunyon of the surf industry. And they hold the affirmative power to let the cleancut, cold face of enterprise grow a big, ginger beard.

Grain’s greatest asset (and what impressed me the most) were the people making it work so naturally: John, the tobacco-spitting Colorado native and his two young skateboarding boys; Molly and her phenomenal vegetarian dishes; operations experts Sarah and Josh, Jill and Jack of all trades. Everyone had a symbiotic place in the embryonic consortium.

Grain has managed to create, without external financial backing, a forum for innovation, where people, ideas, and talents collide with dangerous implications. They are successfully bringing cedar-strip, canoe-style hand-crafted surfboards to the forefront of our industry. The people of Grain Surfboards are involved in an ecosystem of thought and action. The term is used too often (but not often enough correctly), but what Grain is set out to do is wholly ‘organic’ in design.

On our last evening we enjoyed a starlit and wine-soaked lobster dinner, as former employees and friends and families and farmers all came out in support of the Grain crew and of us, for our support of them. This is an experience I can’t recommend highly enough.

And so, rooted deeply in northeastern maritime heritage, I have taken one sapling away with me. I’ll feed her reeling pointbreak after pointbreak, spreading the seed of cedar, adventure, and knowledge for decades to come.

When I’m a gruff old man with a smile that smells of aluminum and gin, gliding on a wave at Jordan river on a wood board I built four decades earlier, I will proudly think that I was there that summer in 2008, in that movement that pulled the surf industry out of its narrow focus on destructible, polluting, and foul foam thrusters.

Jeff (aka Hef) Martin is a 24-year-old carpenter and freelance writer from Vancouver, Canada. He would like to thank his friends and family for helping to send him to the Grain workshop, saying,
“It was the most thoughtful thing that anyone has ever done for someone in the history of the planet.”
Original Surfer’s Path article

How Electronics are Recycled

2010-12-19T17:04:00.001-08:00

So you’ve just returned from an electronic waste recycling event after unloading your old computers, cell phones and televisions. But what happens next to ensure that these products avoid the landfill?

While some products, such as aluminum cans, do not require sorting or separation, e-waste is not composed of just one material. Electronic devices are constructed with many different materials, so recycling e-waste is a more complex process.

Recycling E-Waste
To understand the e-waste recycling process, it’s important to understand that e-waste recyclers are interested in both saving these devices from landfills as well as getting the most value out of these materials. Electronics such as computers and televisions are made with some valuable metals, including copper and gold, which can be sold and then reused in alternative capacities.

From an environmental standpoint, the fact that these items are reused is far more important than any monetary benefits of recovering these valuable materials. However, e-waste recyclers are also recycling and reusing materials that aren’t nearly as valuable.

In general, as much as 99 percent of all materials from electronics are reused in a different capacity or sold. The vast majority of these materials are used for new electronic items because some of the material, such as the plastic, is already the right grade for electronic devices.

The material from electronics can be used for other products, such as plastic components that are used in the manufacturing of lighters or wood composites.

Putting the Waste in E-Waste
If 99 percent of the material is recycled, that still leaves a small percentage that will end up in the landfill because it has no reuse value. So what materials fall into this category?

One example of this waste is wood paneling, such as on some of the older models of television sets. If you are looking to recycle an item like this, recycling is still a great option, as 1 percent of waste is better than 100 percent. Today, many of the televisions and other electronics in circulation do not have wood paneling on the front. In fact, wood paneling is not even listed on Panasonic’s page on the components of a television.

Hazardous Waste Disposal
The other big issue regarding e-waste recycling is the end result for its hazardous materials, including mercury. While e-waste only accounts for two percent of the U.S.’ garbage in landfills, it accounts for 70 percent of overall toxic garbage.

For e-waste recyclers, removing toxic materials is just as important as removing the most valuable materials, like gold and copper. For example, to remove the lead in computer monitor glass, the glass is placed in a furnace where the lead can be taken out.

The Big Long Beach Motorcycle show

2010-12-18T22:07:00.000-08:00

Etta, 1 year old next week, enjoying Newport Beach

2010-12-16T12:41:00.000-08:00

Siobhon' birthday

2010-12-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

Cancun delegates reach climate change deal

2010-12-11T07:54:00.001-08:00

Nature and the Environment

Cancun, Mexico (CNN) -- Delegates at the United Nations climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, approved an agreement early Saturday morning despite objections from Bolivia, whose government claimed rich nations "bullied and cajoled" other countries into accepting a deal on their terms.

Protesting the overrule of its country's vote, Bolivia's Foreign Ministry called the Cancun text "hollow" and ineffective in a written statement.

"Its cost will be measured in human lives. History will judge harshly," the statement said, adding that developing nations will face the worst consequences of climate change.

The agreement includes plans to create a $100 billion fund to help developing nations deal with global warming and increase efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon hailed the deal -- the culmination of an overnight marathon session at the end of two weeks of talks.

"It begins a new era of cooperation in climate change. They are the first steps in this long and renewed campaign," he said.

Christiana Figueres, the UN's chief negotiator at the conference, said the results had "reignited" hope in climate change talks.

"Nations have shown they can work together under a common roof, to reach consensus on a common cause. They have shown that consensus in a transparent and inclusive process can create opportunity for all," she said in a statement.

But Bolivia said Saturday's agreement did not go far enough.

A key sticking point was the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012 and sets greenhouse gas emissions targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European Union.

"For us, this is not a step forward. It is a step back, because what is being done here is postponing without limit the discussion on the Kyoto Protocol," Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solon told delegates early Saturday.

The agreement does not specify what will happen once the Kyoto Protocol expires, postponing the debate until the next scheduled climate talks in South Africa in 2011.

But despite Bolivia's objections, Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, who chaired the summit, said a decision had been reached and swiftly banged her gavel, saying the text had been approved.

"It is less than what is needed, but it represents a significant step in the right direction," Calderon told delegates.

CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet and Mario Gonzalez contributed to this report

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Sperm Whales Full of Pollutants

2010-12-06T14:14:00.001-08:00

By Jennifer Viegas

Pacific Ocean sperm whales carry evidence of exposure to several man-made pollutants.
Evidence for the highest pollutant exposure was detected in sperm whales from the Galapagos Islands area.
Sperm whales may be important sentinels of ocean health, including specific ocean regions.

enlarge

A sperm whale underwater. Research shows these mammals carry high levels of man-made pollutants in their bodies. Click to enlarge this image.
Chris Johnson, Ocean Alliance

Sperm whales throughout the Pacific Ocean carry evidence within their bodies of exposure to multiple man-made pollutants, according to a new Environmental Health Perspectives study.

In a surprising finding, researchers found that whales living near the Galapagos Islands appear to have higher levels of pollutants than those in other areas of the Pacific. The Galapagos Islands are a UNESCO-protected site and had been considered pristine.

The pollutants include the pesticide DDT, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's, which can also have natural sources, such as volcanoes), hexachlorobenzene, and 30 types of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's).

"Ingestion is the main route of exposure for whales, via contaminants present in their diet," study co-author Celine Godard-Codding said, adding that absorption through skin, such as after an oil spill, is another significant route of exposure.

She and her colleagues biopsied skin and blubber from 234 male and female sperm whales in five locations across the Pacific: the Gulf of California, Mexico; the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador; Pacific waters between the Galapagos Islands and Kiribati (Pacific Crossing); Kiribati; and Papua New Guinea.

The scientists analyzed the tissue samples for expression of CYP1A1, an enzyme that metabolizes certain aromatic hydrocarbons. According to the researchers, the more a whale has been exposed to the pollutants mentioned in the study, the more it will express this enzyme.

CYP1A1 presence was highest in whales from the Galapagos Islands, second highest in those from the Gulf of California, and lowest in whales from waters farthest from the continents (Kiribati and Pacific Crossing.)

"We were surprised by the highest levels of the CYP1A1 biomarker seen in the Galapagos," Godard-Codding told Discovery News. "Whether this actually reflects higher levels of pollutants in the Galapagos waters, or in the food chain in these waters, remains unknown."

She explained that the studied pollutants "are mainly man-made" and "end up in the oceans upon release into the environment."

"The oceans are considered the final sink for most persistent environmental contaminants," she said. "It's a global pollution issue with pollutants potentially distributed worldwide by atmospheric or oceanic currents."

Godard-Codding and her team were not able to do a detailed study on the health of the biopsied whales, since the whales were in the wild. Prior research on laboratory animals, including captive aquatic carnivorous mammals, has shown that the pollutants "can cause deleterious effects," she said.

For years, scientists have suspected that sperm whales are likely to accumulate fat-soluble pollutants because the whales are massive -- weighing up to 50 tons -- and can live up to 70 years. This makes them potentially more susceptible to chronic toxic exposure.

Given the present findings, it's now thought that sperm whales may be important sentinels of ocean health, revealing what organic pollutants persist in the marine environment. They may also provide information on specific regions of the Pacific, especially because females and juveniles tend to stay within a 621-mile range.

Sierra Rayne of the University of Victoria and colleagues conducted earlier research on free-ranging orcas, also known as killer whales, and found evidence that they too retain pollutants. In this case, chemical markers for flame retardant compounds were detected in killer whale blubber biopsy samples.

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Nontoxic Nanotech Uses Cinnamon

2010-12-06T08:17:00.001-08:00

A dash of spice makes everything nice, including nanotechnology. Scientists at the University of Missouri have a way to make gold nanoparticles using cinnamon instead of toxic chemicals.

Nanotech has all kinds of potential, including as a tool to fight cancer. Small particles -- ones that are much, much smaller than a human cell -- can do what chemicals can't. Gold, in combination with active chemicals, turns out to be ideal for targeted cancer treatment and detection. The problem is that making gold nanoparticles involves toxic chemicals.

A University of Missouri team led by radiology and physics professor Kattesh Katti developed a greener alternative. The researchers took cinnamon, mixed it with gold salts in water and successfully produced gold nanoparticles. Sounds kind of like alchemy at first glance, but the scientists found that cinnamon and other kinds of plants contain naturally occurring chemical compounds called phytochemicals.

Related Links:

Here I was thinking the spice was great for mulled wine, when it turns out to be great at converting metals into nanoparticles. Katti told the university that their ecologically benign nanoparticles "are biologically active against cancer cells."

To study the cinnamon process, the team tested the nanoparticles on mice. They found that cancerous cells took up significant amounts of the nanoparticles, which were then detected with photoacoustic signals. The scientists published their findings in the journal Pharmaceutical Research (abstract) this fall, concluding that their nanoparticles "may provide a novel approach toward tumor detection through nanopharmaceuticals."

I've been as excited about nanotechnology as I have been wary of its potential detrimental effect on the environment. My concern is that we'll be creating more problems in the process of addressing the ones we already have. If Katti and his team can develop their plant-based nanoparticles into a viable option for cancer treatment and detection, they deserve a celebratory cake. A spicy one.

Photo: Cinnamon is the key ingredient for making gold nanoparticles nontoxically. Credit: S. Diddy.

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Fake Recyclers Profit Off E-Waste

2010-12-03T08:34:00.001-08:00

Recycling your electronic waste is a noble idea, but here's the dirty little secret: even if you drop off your old electronics for recycling, it may never get recycled.

As OSNews' Howard Fosdick describes some people fall victim to a scam called "fake recycling," and just describing it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Fake recyclers are organizations that approach well-meaning community groups like the Boy Scouts or the Make-a-Wish Foundation to help run a local "Recycling Day." The idea is that people from the community will bring in their old electronics to the legitimate organization's Recycling Day event. The fake recycler will then haul that e-waste away, and export it to another country with lax environmental regulations.

What's in it for them? According to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, "Recyclers can make more money by exporting than they can by actually responsibly recycling. This is particularly true for recyclers who are collecting televisions, because it costs money to properly recycle old televisions. But they can get paid for exporting them."

This story from the Basel Action Network details how Cartoosa, OK-based company, EarthEcycle allegedly conned the Humane Society and several other groups into running a "Recycle Day" Event, and then exported the goods to Hong Kong and South Africa. Last year, the EPA filed charges (download EarthECycle complaint) against the company for violating at least seven federal hazardous waste management regulation.

The EPA found other companies located in the state of Washington and Texas as well as in New Jersey illegally disposing of electronic waste.

Most people have never heard of a fake recycling organization like EarthEcycle, but plenty of people know all about the Boy Scouts or the Make-a-Wish Foundation. And that's exactly why fake recycler organizations need the help of legitimate groups, which lend the good name and publicity to the event.

The crazy thing is that none of this is illegal, but it's definitely destroying the environment. Here are a few tips from Electronics Takeback Coalition to keep a lookout for fake recyclers to make sure that you (or a group you represent) don't get scammed.

First off, remember that responsibly recycling an item is not free, especially when it comes to electronics. If it's not you forking over the cash to recycle an old computer, find out who is. Some electronics companies now take your old electronics back when you buy a new one, as are some state and local governments.

If you really want to do right by the environment, seek out an e-waste recycler on your own. You can find plenty of them on e-Stewards. There are also eclectic groups like FreeGeek Chicago that refurbish your old computers for people who can't afford their own.

Both of those options sound a lot better than letting your old computer sink into a landfill.

Posted via email from eWaste Disposal and Recycling

We are here to help you , Fluoresent Tubes , Asbestos, Electronics

2010-12-01T06:06:00.001-08:00

http://www.wmorangecounty.com/ and www.ewastedisposal.net

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Josh found Egg Nogg! After 35 years

2010-11-29T19:16:00.001-08:00

Thomas M Abercrombie
http://tomabercrombie.posterous.com

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The Story of Electronics’ By The Story of Stuff Project

2010-11-29T08:10:00.001-08:00

The Story of Stuff Project has released a new animated movie, The Story of Electronics. Hosted by Annie Leonard, the creator of the hit viral video The Story of Stuff, the film takes on the electronics industry and e-Waste. The movie champions product take back to spur companies to make less toxic, more easily recyclable and longer lasting products.

The movie is co-produced with the Electronics TakeBack Coalition – a national partnership of over 30 environmental and public health organizations—and Free Range Studios.

Last year, the Story of Cap and Trade, from the makers of “The Story of Stuff,” got mixed reviews from the media.

http://bx.businessweek.com/e-waste/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.environmentalleader.com%2F2010%2F03%2F03%2Froom-for-improvement-in-e-waste-recycling%2F

Posted via email from eWaste Disposal and Recycling

‘The Story of Electronics’ By The Story of Stuff Project

2010-11-29T08:07:00.001-08:00

The movie is co-produced with the Electronics TakeBack Coalition – a national partnership of over 30 environmental and public health organizations—and Free Range Studios.

Last year, the Story of Cap and Trade, from the makers of “The Story of Stuff,” got mixed reviews from the media.

http://bx.businessweek.com/e-waste/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.environmentalleader.com%2F2010%2F03%2F03%2Froom-for-improvement-in-e-waste-recycling%2F

Posted via email from eWaste Disposal and Recycling

Green Ideas That Made Millions

2010-11-27T08:09:00.001-08:00

As more and more Americans go green, environmentally sustainable innovations are translating into big bucks for entrepreneurs.

Sure, going green feels great, but these five eco trailblazers are living proof that green business can also mean money in the bank, not to mention a lighter footprint for all.

Green moving with Spencer Brown

Five years ago, product designer Spencer Brown was stunned after spending more than $800 on cardboard boxes and packing material to move his home office. After the move was finished, he was stuck with nothing but a pile of trash.

After being turned away from a recycling center because there was too much packing tape on his boxes, Brown was forced to drive to the landfill and toss his moving waste onto one of the many 40-foot piles of cardboard.

Through this shocking experience came Rent-a-Green Box, a zero-waste pack and move solution that is taking the nation by storm.

Brown’s ‘green’ boxes, called RecoPacks, are made of 100 percent post-consumer plastics and can be reused up to 400 times.

Rent-a-Green Box also distributes several other post-consumer moving necessities, including zip-ties made from bottle-caps and dollies made from aluminum cans.

Rent-a-Green Box rents, delivers and picks up the RecoPacks, which are now available in three sizes and four colors, and the company that once employed only Brown has gained international distribution and has recently begun franchising.

“If someone told me five years ago that I was going to own a franchise training facility, I would have laughed,” Brown says. “No one thought the idea of renting a green box would work, but I knew that people would love a convenient, cheaper and better way to move their stuff.”

Lyndon and Peter Rive bring solar to the city

SolarCity makes solar power accessible to everyone by eliminating up-front cost through a leasing system. Photo: SolarCity

South Africa-born brothers Lyndon and Peter Rive knew they wanted to get into green business, but they wanted to choose the application that would make the greatest impact. Once they zoned in on solar power, there was no turning back.

They launched SolarCity in 2006, and immediately set out on their mission to make solar power accessible to everyone by eliminating up-front cost through a leasing system.

The Foster City, Calif. company has made a huge splash, expanding to five states and installing more than 8,000 systems in four years. To put that in perspective, only 75,000 systems have been deployed in the entire United States over the past 30 years, the brothers say.

With so many solar panels already installed, it’s time for a break, right? No way. The Rive brothers hope to install more than a million solar systems and have plans to expand SolarCity to the East Coast by 2011.

“At the current rate of adoption we’re not going to move the environmental needle,” says Lyndon Rive. “If we want to make an environmental impact, we have to do this fast. So, we want to keep expanding and bringing affordable solar power to even more people.”

Kyle Berner and his all-natural ‘feel good’ flip-flops

After returning to the states from a one-year backpacking adventure in Thailand, recent college grad Kyle Berner knew he wanted to stay connected to the country. While he was visiting Bangkok for a wedding in 2007, fate stepped in – literally.

Feelgoodz operates its business through the triple bottom-line model of People, Planet, Profit. Photo: Kyle Berner

As Berner was crossing a busy Bangkok market, the strap of his flip-flop broke. His search for a new pair brought him to a vendor with a rubber tree display and a curiously comfortable flip-flop.

“When the vendor told me they were made from rubber trees, I was amazed, and I immediately tracked down the manufacturer and set up a meeting with them,” Berner remembers. “The next thing you know, I secured the exclusive distribution agreements for these flip-flops to be sold in America.”

Rights secured, Berner returned to his hometown of New Orleans, La. and started Feelgoodz in 2008 out of a shed in his parents’ back yard.

The company has since moved out of mom and dad’s house and has grown exponentially, selling more than 50,000 pairs of flip-flops in more than 200 retail locations in its first year.

The cradle-to-cradle business model of Feelgoodz ensures that the Thai rubber farmers harvesting the flip-flop’s natural material are paid fair wages and that disposal is sustainable through a grassroots recycling program that recycles any brand of flip-flop.

Feelgoodz also hopes to expand its recycling program in partnership with Soles 4 Souls and plans to launch a new sub-brand of boutique items made by Kenyan craftsmen from recycled foot-ware.

“There’s no end to this flip-flop,” says Berner. “We’re just going to keep running with it.”

Margarita McClure turns diapers into dollars

New mom Margarita McClure hardly had visions of grandeur when she began sewing cloth diapers for her son in 2005. When her husband suggested she turn her diaper designs into a business, McClure decided to give it a try.

Margarita McClure is out to clean up the mess the 27.4 billion disposable diapers leave behind annually. Photo: Margarita McClure

She sewed about a dozen diapers and put them up on eBay to gauge interest. When the first diaper sold for $26, McClure realized she had found something special.

After launching a website and finding an American sewing contractor, Swaddlebees was born.

“At first I thought I could sell a few hundred diapers per month and justify staying home with my son,” says McClure. “In the first month, we sold 2,000 diapers.”

The Knoxville, Tenn. company now sells its nontoxic and reusable diapers in more than 100 retailers, and although McClure has been approached by big-name retailers such as Walmart and Target, she prefers to sell her diapers in stores and baby boutiques owned by entrepreneurial moms like her.

“Over the years, I realized that we’re not just selling diapers,” McClure says. “We’re actually helping other women create revenues for themselves, and we’re helping other moms stay home to watch their babies by selling diapers.”

With Swaddlebees booming, McClure has also launched Blueberry Diapers, a fun and funky diaper line sure to please even the chicest eco-baby, and Pink Daisy, a premium line of reusable feminine hygiene products.

Eric Hudson’s passion for toothbrushes

Eric Hudson had an idea to redesign the toothbrush since he was a teenager, and when he coupled it with a desire to make a quality product out of recycled materials, there was no stopping him.

Preserve products are made from 100 percent recycled plastics and 100 percent post-consumer paper. By using recycled materials, saving energy, preserving natural resources and creating an incentive for communities to recycle. Photo: Eric Hudson

Hudson left his job as a management consultant to launch Preserve (aka Recycline) and take it straight to retail stores.

Preserve has since expanded to a full line of razors, kitchenware and food storage, all made from 100 percent recycled material.

Through Preserve’s take-back program customers can return Preserve toothbrushes and razors, which are reused to make park benches or porch decks through its Plastic Lumber program.

The company also recycles more than 100,000 pounds of plastics #5 every year through its Gimme 5 program and turns the plastic waste into kitchenware.

The total waste Preserve converts into personal care products and kitchenware each year is almost 10 times that, and Hudson partners with about five companies to secure the 1 million pounds of pre and post-consumer recycled plastic he needs annually to produce Preserve products.

Since launching in 1996, Preserve has seen a steady growth of about 50 percent per year, on average. Not too shabby for a company with a former staff of one.

“Ultimately we think we can be a global brand,” says Hudson. “It’s exciting to be where we are now, and it’s a real testament that people out there have an interest in products that reduce human impact on the earth.”

Mary Mazzoni

Mary is a student at Temple University in Philadelphia, Penn. She is an Editorial Intern for Earth911.com.

Cadmium, lead found in drinking glasses

2010-11-22T10:25:00.001-08:00

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Justin Pritchard, Associated Press – Mon Nov 22, 1:56 am ET

LOS ANGELES – Drinking glasses depicting comic book and movie characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman and the Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz" exceed federal limits for lead in children's products by up to 1,000 times, according to laboratory testing commissioned by The Associated Press.

The decorative enamel on the superhero and Oz sets — made in China and purchased at a Warner Brothers Studios store in Burbank — contained between 16 percent and 30.2 percent lead. The federal limit on children's products is 0.03 percent.

The same glasses also contained relatively high levels of the even-more-dangerous cadmium, though there are no federal limits on that toxic metal in design surfaces.

In separate testing to recreate regular handling, other glasses shed small but notable amounts of lead or cadmium from their decorations. Federal regulators have worried that toxic metals rubbing onto children's hands can get into their mouths. Among the brands on those glasses: Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Burger King and McDonald's.

The Coca-Cola Co., which had been given AP's test results last week, announced Sunday evening that after retesting it was voluntarily recalling 88,000 glasses over concerns regarding the mainly red glass in a four-glass set.

The AP testing was part of the news organization's ongoing investigation into dangerous metals in children's products and was conducted in response to a recall by McDonald's of 12 million glasses this summer because cadmium escaped from designs depicting four characters in the latest "Shrek" movie.

The New Jersey manufacturer of those glasses said in June that the products were made according to standard industry practices, which includes the routine use of cadmium to create red and similar colors. That same company, French-owned Arc International, made the glasses that Coca-Cola said it was pulling.

To assess potential problems with glass collectibles beyond the "Shrek" set, AP bought and analyzed new glasses off the shelf, and old ones from online auctions, thrift shops and a flea market. The buys were random.

The fact it was so easy to find glasses that appeal to kids and appear to violate the federal lead law suggests that contamination in glassware is wider than one McDonald's promotion.

The irony of the latest findings is that AP's original investigation in January revealed that some Chinese manufacturers were substituting cadmium for banned lead in children's jewelry; that finding eventually led to the McDonald's-Shrek recall; now, because of the new testing primarily for cadmium in other glassware, lead is back in the spotlight as well.

AP's testing, conducted by ToyTestingLab of Rhode Island, found that the enamel used to color the Tin Man had the highest lead levels, at 1,006 times the federal limit for children's products. Every Oz and superhero glass tested exceeded the government limit: The Lion by 827 times and Dorothy by 770 times; Wonder Woman by 533 times, Superman by 617 times, Batman by 750 times and the Green Lantern by 677 times.

Federal regulators will decide whether the superhero and Oz glasses are "children's products" and thus subject to strict lead limits; if U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission staffers conclude the glasses to fall outside that definition, the lead levels would be legal.

Judging by the agency's own analysis, obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act, the Oz and superhero glasses appeal to kids.

"Licensed characters based on action superhero themes or friendship themes are very popular" with children ages 6 to 8, CPSC staff wrote when explaining why the "Shrek" glasses, which featured the cartoon ogre and his friends, would end up in children's hands.

Warner Brothers said, "It is generally understood that the primary consumer for these products is an adult, usually a collector."

However, on Warner Brothers' website, the superhero glasses are sold alongside kids' T-shirts with similar images and a school lunch box. An online retailer, http://www.retroplanet.com, describes the 10-ounce glasses as "a perfect way to serve cold drinks to your children or guests."

The importer, Utah-based Vandor LLC, said it "markets its products to adult collectors." The company said less than 10,000 of each set had been sold and that the products were made under contract in China.

The company said that superhero and "Oz" glasses both passed testing done for Vandor by a CPSC-accredited lab, including the same lead content test that ToyTestingLab did for AP — a test only required of children's products. Spokeswoman Meryl Rader did not answer when asked why a test specific to children's products would be performed on glasses the company said were not intended for kids.

"The results were well within the legal limits" of 0.03 percent lead, Rader wrote in an e-mail. The company would not share those results.

Informed in general terms of AP's results, CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said that the agency would pursue action against any high-lead glasses determined to be children's products. The agency has authority to enforce lead levels for glasses going back decades, he said.

AP's testing showed Vandor's Chinese manufacturer also relied on cadmium. That toxic metal comprised up to 2.5 percent of the decorative surface of the Oz and superhero glasses, nearly double the levels found in the recalled "Shrek" glasses. But the CPSC only limits how much cadmium escapes from the designs, not how much cadmium the designs contain. Even that regulation is new: The CPSC used the "Shrek" glasses to establish a standard for how much cadmium coming out of children's glassware creates a health hazard.

Five of the glasses that AP tested, including one ordered from the online Coca-Cola store, shed at least as much cadmium as the CPSC found on the "Shrek" glasses. While those five could have been deemed a health hazard under the CPSC guidelines used for the recall, recent revisions tripled the allowable amount of cadmium and the agency may no longer consider them a problem. The agency has said its upward revision means the "Shrek" glasses did not need to be recalled.

The all-red Coke glass shed three times more cadmium than the Puss in Boots "Shrek" glass that worried federal regulators the most last summer. Coke Zero and Diet Coke glasses from the same set did not exhibit the same problem in AP tests.

In announcing that it was voluntarily recalling 22,000, four-glass sets "for quality reasons," the company said the glass designed to look like a red can of Coca-Cola "did not meet our quality expectations. While recent tests indicated some cadmium in the decoration on the outside of the glass, the low levels detected do not pose a safety hazard or health threat." It said the three other designs in the set — Coke Zero, Diet Coke and Sprite — did not cause concern.

"The Coca-Cola Company has an unwavering commitment to quality, and at times we may withdraw products from the market for quality reasons, even if there is no safety concern or legal requirement to do so," the company said. "We apologize to our consumers for the inconvenience."

The company said consumers who purchased the glasses from Coke's online store will receive an automatic credit; customers who bought the glasses in retail stores will be instructed on what to do starting Nov. 30.

The glasses were "designed for the general adult population," were manufactured in the United States and have been on the market since March, the company said. Last week, Coke said previous testing showed the glasses "complied with all relevant regulations, including with respect to cadmium."

In all, AP scrutinized 13 new glasses and 22 old ones, including glasses sold during McDonald's promotion for a 2007 "Shrek" movie. The used glasses date from the late 1960s to 2007, mostly from promotions at major fast-food restaurants. Thousands of such collectibles are available at online auction sites; countless others are kept in American kitchen cabinets, and used regularly by children and adults.

First, AP screened them using a state-of-the-art Olympus Innov-X gun that shoots X-rays into a glass and delivers an estimate of how much lead, cadmium or various other elements are present.

The glasses were then sent to ToyTestingLab, which is accepted by the CPSC as an accredited laboratory for a range of procedures.

The glasses were tested according to the procedure that the safety commission used in the "Shrek" recall. The decorated surface of each glass was stroked 30 times with water-soaked wipes, with each stroke representing a hand touch. The wipes were then analyzed for how many micrograms of lead, cadmium or other elements they collected.

Finally, for seven of the superhero and Oz glasses the lab extracted samples of the decorations. That colored enamel was analyzed for its total lead content.

"I was extremely surprised at the levels," said Paul Perrotti, ToyTestingLab's director, of the total content test. He said his lab has seen glasses that fail to meet government standards, "But not 30 percent lead."

Despite what Perrotti described as "grossly high" levels, the wipe testing picked up very little lead coming out from these seven glasses. His staff had to use a diamond-tipped grinder to remove the colors, suggesting the enamel was strongly bonded to the glass.

Perrotti and glass engineers interviewed by AP said the surface of the glasses AP tested could break down with repeated use, scouring and trips to the dishwasher, making the metals more accessible.

Following a cascade of problems with products manufactured in China, Congress in 2008 passed strict new limits that effectively ban lead in any children's product. The underlying materials in these products — including the baked-in enamel — cannot be more 0.03 percent lead.

Lead has long been known to reduce IQ in kids; recent research suggests cadmium also can damage young brains. Cadmium also is a carcinogen that can harm kidneys and bones, especially if it accumulates over time.

Cadmium, however, also happens to be an indispensable pigment for an important part of the color palette — without it there is no "fire engine red" (think Superman's cape and Dorothy's slippers). Lead on the other hand is not essential.

A lot of a toxic metal in a glass does not necessarily mean a health hazard. Most of the 35 lab-tested glasses were safe under normal conditions — their decorations shed very low or no detectable amounts of lead or cadmium. Among those that did release higher levels in the wipe test, none gave off nearly enough to make someone immediately sick, according to AP's analysis of the results.

Instead, the concern is low levels of exposure over weeks or months, whether kids also are eating a sandwich or licking their fingers.

In addition to the seven contaminated Oz and superhero glasses, 10 others raised concern over longer-term contact — two for both lead and cadmium, five for lead only and three for cadmium only. According to widely used computer modeling, the contamination that came off three of the glasses could measurably increase a child's blood lead level.

If half of what gets onto a child's hand enters their mouth, as the CPSC calculates, seven of the glasses would require fewer than 20 hand touches for kids age 6 and under to exceed U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines for the maximum amount of lead they should ingest in a day.

Most of the 10 additional glasses were released before 2000, including a Disney "Goofy" glass distributed by McDonald's that shed lead and cadmium, and three "Return of the Jedi" glasses from 1983 released by Burger King. One of the "Jedi" glasses hit the FDA lead level for 6-year-olds after just eight touches.

Both fast food chains said in statements that their glasses met applicable safety standards at the time they were manufactured. Disney, which ran several promotions with McDonald's for glassware AP tested, had no comment.

Using computer modeling, nationally recognized toxicologist Dr. Paul Mushak, who has advised government agencies including the CPSC and now operates a consulting practice in North Carolina, concluded that if half of what came off the glasses was ingested, it could raise a 5- to 6-year-old's blood lead level by 11 percent on the high end and 4 percent on average.

The blood level changes didn't alarm Mushak, but he expressed concern because lead from the glasses would be absorbed into the bones, only to be released much later in life, for example in menopausal women.

Mushak suggested that the safety commission's wipe test could underestimate real-world exposure, because it uses water on the wipes, a very mild approach. AP's testing showed that when glasses were subjected to a wipe wetted with artificial sweat, the amounts of lead or cadmium that came off were up to four times higher than water wipes.

Members of the association representing the U.S. glassware industry say the glasses are safe and strongly protest that the wipe test does not accurately reflect how much lead or cadmium escapes in the real world.

Myra Warne, executive director of the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorated Products, said she is frustrated that the CPSC used it, rather than a more commonly used method developed by the FDA.

"As we are aware, government agencies don't always (or perhaps often) share their insight and knowledge with one another which is likely why CPSC and others are fixated on improper test protocol for our products," she wrote in an e-mail.

___

Posted via email from eWaste Disposal and Recycling

Getting to look slot like Christmas in Newport beach

2010-11-21T18:13:00.001-08:00

Thomas M Abercrombie
http://tomabercrombie.posterous.com

Posted via email from eWaste Disposal and Recycling

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