Green News

Biodegradable Plastic Bags - Hope or Hoax?
(source = OxoBiodegradable Plastics Institute - oxobio.org)

Plastic Bags, the Environment and Alternatives
(source = Michael Blochs - greenlivingtips.com)

Plastic Bag Bans - World Update
(source = Kit Parks - ecoroot.com)

What is Global Warming?
(source = Krysta Cardinale - encyclomedia.com)

Today's press is replete with stories about the environment and specifically about the ways that modern society mistreats the world in which we live. One only need turn on the television, open a newspaper or surf the web to find stories about depletion of the ozone layer, misuse of non-renewable natural resources, extinction of species, stockpiling of garbage, poisoning of groundwater, littering, marine pollution, etc, etc. The good news is that we are talking about these problems and in the past few decades have taken massive steps to reduce the impacts of human habitation on the planet. Much of this has happened through the development and implementation of new technologies.

At the same time, however, technological developments have created their own "collateral environmental damage". New technologies permit the feeding of an ever-growing, polluting global population. New, more affordable products enhance the quality of life for growing numbers of people but cause problems at the end of their useful life. Even antibiotics, the wonder drugs of the 1950's, have led to more virulent strains as micro-organisms have adapted to and are immune to them. Our response to these changes is to continue to update and develop new technologies to deal with these issues and this is a perpetual process.

Plastic packaging, and specifically plastic bags, is a subject of an increasing amount of public debate. Plastics became generally available in the 1950's and have changed the way we live, generally for the better. With reference to plastic packaging, these materials provide major health benefits by, for example, inexpensively protecting foods from spoilage. They provided convenience and economic benefits by providing the means for people to inexpensively contain products for transport. And they provided environmental benefit by replacing much larger quantities of mainly cellulose-based (trees) packaging that were used.

Their excellent properties also, however, caused problems for the environment. Because they were strong, light, resistant to attack by the elements, inexpensive and easy to form into products, they were ideal for single-use packaging applications. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the attributes that made them useful also made them problematic - they persisted for a long time when they were discarded. The following is a discussion of one of the technologies, oxo-biodegradation, that has been developed to manage this property and specifically to bring some perspective to some of the claims and criticisms made regarding products which use this technology and whose makers are represented by OxoBiodegradable Plastics Institute (OPI), their industry organization.

(Download the entire article PDF)

(source: OxoBiodegradable Institute - oxobio.org)

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Plastic Bags, The Environment And Alternatives

by Michael Bloch

When my parents were growing up, plastic bags were somewhat of a luxury. I remember my mother telling me stories of weekly plastic bag washing - they really made the most of them.

As the plastic bags became cheaper, well, we ended up with the situation we have today. Literally billions of plastic bags discarded that won't break down in the environment for hundreds of years.

Most plastic bags are mainly made from Polyethylene, which is a by-product of the petroleum industry. Not only are there issues with the rate at which these bags breakdown, but the chemicals released as part of the decomposition process; organo-chlorine (highly toxic), methane (a greenhouse gas contributing to global warming) and nitrous oxide.

There are alternatives; but even some of the options touted as being earth-friendly have issues that negatively impact on the environment; although not to the degree of polyethylene bags.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic: Oxo-biodegradable plastic is still made from petroleum by-products, but doesn't give off the above toxins. Bacteria break down the plastic into CO2, water, and humus.

Hydro-biodegradable bags: Hydro-biodegradable bags are made from starch-based plastics; i.e. plants. But it's not as earth-friendly as it sounds. Aside from expense and strength issues, in order to break down they must be in an environment with a lot of bacteria and during the decomposition process they give off a great deal of methane and carbon dioxide.

Multi-use bags: Of course, the best bags are the ones made from organic materials that you can reuse. A huge industry has started up in the production of reusable bags, but unfortunately, many of these products are only good for so many uses and then they are discarded. The problem is that in some cases, the bag contains as many harmful chemicals as the sum total of the disposable bags it is meant to replace!

Wherever possible, buy earth friendly bags made of hemp or other renewable materials that aren't harsh on the environment in their production.

Michael Bloch is the author and owner of Green Living Tips.com, an online resource powered by renewable energy offering a wide variety of earth friendly tips, green guides, advice and environment related news to help consumers and business to reduce costs, consumption and environmental impact on the planet.http://www.greenlivingtips.com

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Plastic Bag Bans - World Update

by Kit Parks

In the last two years, there has been a striking momentum to reduce or eliminate plastic bags in the US as more Americans become aware of the environmental hazards of these bags. While the US movement is in its infancy, much of the world has already taken action.

In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country to outright ban plastic bags. The bags were credited in large part for the massive floods in 1988 and 1998. Enormous amounts of plastic bag litter clogged sewer lines and flooded upwards of two-thirds of the country during these devastating floods.

The litter from plastic bags was so bad in South Africa that the Minister of the Environment and Tourism jokingly named plastic bags the national flower because so many bags decorated their trees. Free bags are now illegal and there is a 3 cent levy on all plastic bags.

Paris banned the bags in 2007, and all of France will follow suit in 2010. Other countries with outright bans or free bag bans include: Bhutan, Eritrea, Rwanda, Somalia, Taiwan and Zanzibar. China banned free bags last summer and estimates that it will save 34 million barrels of oil each year.

Countries that tax plastic bags include Ireland, which saw an immediate 90% reduction in plastic bag use after enacting its PlasTax. Ireland saves 400,000 barrels of oil each year due to the tax. In Germany, most stores charge 5 to 25 cents per bag. Hong Kong has proposed a 50 cent tax for 2009. Israel adds a surcharge for plastic bags unless they contain meat, fish, poultry or produce. Sweden also taxes the bags.

Spain is working on its National Plan of Integrated Waste which would include a ban in 2010.

In the UK, the retailers took the lead. Many have eliminated plastic bags and encourage reusable bags. IKEA and Whole Foods are two US chains that have been leaders in the reusable bag movement.

2008 will be remembered as the year US retailers began to regularly stock reusable bags. The mostly non-woven polypropylene bags are becoming standard fare in most stores today. However, people often forget the bags, leading to the surge in popularity of new bags that fold into a pocket so that they can be stored in purses, eliminating the need to remember.

Plastic bags are considered environmentally incorrect because they never fully decompose, are often littered, which causes significant harm to wildlife, and due to the staggering 100 billion used in the US each year, unnecessarily clog our landfills.

Surprisingly, paper bags are worse environmentally. Lack of air and moisture in the landfills prevent proper decomposition, they take more energy to manufacture and deliver, and they cost retailers, and thus consumers, significantly more to produce than plastic bags.

Many Americans now realize, as have many of our European and Asian neighbors, is that reusable bags are the solution to the plastic and paper bag problem.

Kit Parks is the president of Ecoroot, a reusable products company which donates 20% of its profits to environmental education programs. She writes about environmental and lifestyle issues. Parks can be contacted via the Ecoroot website http://www.ecoroot.com

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What is Global Warming

by Krysta Cardinale

Global warming is the increase in average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere. In the last few decades this increase has been relatively significant

Causes of Global Warming
The general scientific belief for global warming is the increased burning of fossil fuels and thus increases the emission of greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere. Some greenhouse gases are produced naturally while others are the direct result of human activities. Natural greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and water vapor. Human activities then increase the amount of these gases produced naturally. Greenhouse gases that are man-made include sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs), which are created in a number of industrial processes. An increase in greenhouse gases increases the temperature of the Earth because they are transparent to short wave radiation from the sun, while they have the ability to absorb the cooler infra-red radiation from the Earth. This fact alone describes how greenhouse gases make it more difficult for the Earth the cool itself off.

Human activities are considered one of the main causes of global warming. Several human activities increase the emission of certain greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. When fossil fuels such as oils, natural gas, and coal, in addition to wood, wood products, and solid waste are burned they emit Carbon Dioxide. Methane is emitted during such activities as the production and transportation of certain natural gases, coal, and oil. The raising of livestock and the decomposition of organic wastes in solid waste landfills also have resulted in the emission of Methane. During both industrial and agricultural activities and the combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels nitrous oxide is emitted. The actual percentage of Carbon dioxide recorded is and increase by 31% since 1750 and about ¾ of this increase is from deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.
Besides greenhouse gases, forest destruction and population are two other causes of global warming. Advances in technology have increased the human population thus resulting in damaging Earth’s resources. For example, the Industrial Revolution caused a rapid growth in population. In turn, oils and gas were subjugated to our use. Carbon dioxide increases are in a direct relationship to population growth. The overpopulation of Earth and the increasing use of technologies are only destructive to the limited natural resources that Earth holds. In addition, forests play an important role in the cycle of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trees are the largest known natural mechanism for removing carbon dioxide from the air. This is because they possess a large storage space for carbon dioxide in their structures. As the process of deforestation continues, the more and more carbon dioxide is unable to be stored by the existing trees. Thus, forest destruction only creates more heat.

Effects of Global Warming
The predicted effects of global warming not only impact the environment, but human life as well. Effects of global warming on the environment include glaciers, ecosystems, ocean currents, and sea level. Impacts on the human level include financial matters and the spread of disease.
The most popular effect of global warming is its’ impact on glaciers. Global warming has so far and will continue to have negative effects on the glacier mass balance. From 1900-1980 there has been a recorded decline from 144 to 142 mountain glaciers. From 1980 to 2002 there has been a recorded net decline in all but a few mountain glacier masses. The biggest concern would be the failure of the glaciers in Hindu Kush and the Himalayas. These glaciers are the main water supply for China, India, and most of Asia. The complete melting of these glaciers would result in a major flow for several decades, however after that the most populated areas in the world could potentially run out of water.
Other effects of global warming include predicted impacts on the ecosystems and ocean currents. The continued increase in temperature will scientifically lessen the snow cap, create a rise in sea level, and produce weather changes. The combination of the effects of global warming will cause a change in the ecosystems. This change can potentially force animals out of their habitats endangering their existence and possibly even forcing them into extinction, while other animals may flourish. There is also the belief that global warming can affect ocean currents. An example of this would be the slowdown and likely shutdown of thermohaline circulation. This would lead to the localized cooling in the North Atlantic region such as Scandinavia and Britain who are warmed by the North Atlantic Drift.
In addition to the environment, human life will also be greatly affected by the increasing average temperature of the Earth. Global warming has the ability to increase the areas that bread such diseases as malaria, bluetongue disease, Hantavirus infection, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, tularemia, and rabies. Increases in several of these diseases have already been recorded in the north Mediterranean region and Russia.
As previously mentioned, global warming will in turn increase the height of sea level. A slight increase in sea level will make some densely populated coastal areas completely uninhabitable. For example, if the sea level raised a total of 4 meters practically every coastal city in the world would be drastically impacted creating major impacts on the world’s trade and economy. Within the next millennium a predicted 200 million people will be devastated with loss due to an irreversible glacier melt and rise in sea level. By 2100 the sea level is probably to rise 1 meter.
Between the rise in sea level and the prediction of severe weather conditions, there will be a significant increase cost in insurance, disaster relief, tax payers, and industry. The world’s two largest companies, Munich Re and Swiss Re have already been warned in 2002 that the effects of global warming will cost them 150 billion US dollars each year in the next decade. If the causes of global warming, such as carbon dioxide emission were limited the amount of tropical cyclones will decrease by almost 80% in the next 75 years. The Past year alone has been proven to be the most costly year yet due to natural disasters.

Prevent the Causes of Global Warming
The causes and effects of global warming maintain both a direct and indirect relationship. They are directly related because the causes of global warming result in the effects. However the causes and effects of global warming are inversely related because one can prevent and fix the causes, but cannot reverse the damage/effects once they are already done.
Now that you have a better understand of what is global warming, the next would be how to prevent it? There are simple things that an individual can do to decrease the causes and effects of global warming. The world’s electricity is based primarily on the burning of coal, so one should decrease the amount and their demand of electricity or try and use other methods such as solar powered. By simply decreasing the electric power use, one is not only reducing the global warming problem but also breathing in cleaner air and saving money. The second decrease should be in the use of one’s car by perhaps joining a carpool or using public transportation. There are also fuel-efficient cars that are being mass produced. By either decreasing the overall use of one’s car or replacing it with a fuel-efficient or hybrid automobile, one is not only helping in the reduction of greenhouse gas emission but is also saving money on parts, repairs, gas, and oil. The third and easiest prevention method would be to simply recycle.

(source: encyclomedia.com)

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