Coal; iPod

Lay off the Bottled Water

The following excerpts come from the National Geographic's Green Guide. The bottom line: water bottles are are terrible for the environment. Carry a reusable water bottle, or drink tap water. Plastic water bottles take over 1,000 years to disintegrate, and over 86% of bottles are not recycled.

Personal Health

Americans spend more than $10,000 a minute for something that is readily available for free: water. Why do we shell out from 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than we do for tap water? Perhaps we've given in to the marketing and advertising hype that bottled water comes from pristine springs and lakes. Or maybe because of the taste or the perception that bottled water is better regulated, safer or purer than tap water.

However, according to government and industry estimates, about one fourth of bottled water is bottled tap water (sometimes, but not always, with additional treatment).

Environmental

Usually water is bottled in plastic packaging. Plastics are made of petroleum, a non-renewable resource that requires new fossil reserves to be extracted all the time. By choosing to drink tap water, we can conserve this valuable resource and reduce our dependence on oil. The plastic manufacturing process is also associated with toxic byproducts, such as styrene and benzene, which are released in the air and cause not only pollution, but respiratory problems and may cause cancers as well.

Most bottles will be incinerated or will end up in our already overcrowded landfills. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that about 1.5 million tons of plastic are used worldwide to make water bottles and according to the Environmental Protection Agency, plastics are the fourth largest category of municipal solid waste.

Obtaining water from an underground pipe is more energy efficient and uses far fewer natural resources than bottled water because of the transportation of bottles in trucks across the country or by ships around the globe.

Choose water in glass bottles over watter in plastic bottles.

Water Filtering Systems

At 30 to 50 cents per gallon, filtering your tap water is not only more cost effective, but it also gives you control over what chemicals or substances are removed from the water you drink. Compare this to 89 cents to more than $2 per gallon for bottled water delivery to your home and the cost and environmental benefits of an at-home water filtration system become apparent. Additionally, filtered water keeps the plastic used for bottled water out of our landfills.

"A Real Man on the Moon Plan"

Bill Richardson just released this video on his energy plan. Read the previous entry about Gov. Richardson as well.

50% decrease in all US oil demand in 10 years.

Yeah, Bill. That's what I'm talking about! Finally someone speaking the truth.

Global Climate Change Summit 2007

You may have heard about the Global Climate Change Summit where local government leaders from over 30 large cities worldwide are meeting to discuss climate change. The summit is sponsored by C40 Cities and the Clinton Foundation among others.

This morning, I jumped to the sight after hearing about it on NPR and wondering if Charlotte representatives were attending. They aren't.

Los Angeles, U.S.– Renewable Energy Credits
I did find a list of exciting initiatives in the attending cities that can easily be replicated in the U.S. The first is the renewable energy option LA offers consumers on their electric bills. Citizens can pay an additional 20% per kilowatt to use electricity generated from renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. For a bill of $58, this would mean a $3.30 additional charge–a small fee with historic implications. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) gives each participant 2 compact florescent light bulbs (CFL). Using just 2 CFLs
saves approximately $1.39 a month in energy usage. That leaves the net cost of using green power at $1.91. $1.91 a month for using renewable energy! Every city in the US should offer this green option.

Woking, United Kingdom – De-Regulated Energy Generation
For a post fossil fuels world, we should de-centralize energy generation so that U.S. energy is created by tens of thousands of small energy generating stations rather than large power plants. Solar pannels on top of my house would constitute one such energy generating station. In the second case study, Woking, UK has created 18 small-scale renewable energy "plants," which create 524.42 kWp of photovoltaic capacity. These sites have reduced CO2 emissions by 82% and energy consumption by 52%. Moreover, Woking have saved 5.4 million pounds (English money) up to 2005. This project foreshadows a revolutionary change in energy distribution and offers a model other cities can mimic now.

Melbourne, Australia
There are many more case studies on the site, but I have to mention the solar energy project in Melbourne. The roof of Queen Victoria Market supports the largest urban solar installation in the Southern Hemisphere. With more than 1,300 photovoltaic panels, which will last for at least 30 years, the QVM will save 369 tons of greenhouse gas a year. That is equivalent to energy usage of 46 houses or 82 cars a year. While this is a small dent, I think solar energy is the real future of renewable energy.

To start, there is unlimited solar energy. The main problems with solar are our ability to capture and store the energy with sufficient efficiency and to sell panels at an affordable price. In the early days of cars, on one would have thought 45 mpg was possible. Over time, technology improved. Solar energy is not a single source solution, but putting research money and government subsidies into solar energy, just as we have put hundreds of billions of dollars in to the car industry and wars to secure oil, will drastically increase our ability to use solar energy.

Consumers take out loans for cars and spend thousands of dollars a year for gas and maintenance. Electric cars require no gas and very little maintenance (because they have few moving parts), so we can all transfer that savings into home solar panels or paying more or green tags or Renewable Energy Credits on our electric bills. Remember that your electric car can be "fueled" by energy from solar panels. Technology alone will not save us from our dependence on fossil fuels, but a Manhattan Project or Man on the Moon initiative for Green Energy is long overdue.

I hope you will take a couple of minutes to click through the Global Climate Change Summit website. It will connect you with the current green movement and give you a glimpse into your renewable future.

Approved Labor and Environmental Rights for New Trade Deals

After my previous post today, I serendipitously found this news that the White House and Democrats have reached agreements regarding future trade deals. These new agreements will be attached to future deals to protect labor rights and environmental right, thus making the approval by Congress easier. The following is from today's New York Times:

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN

Published: May 11, 2007

WASHINGTON, May 10 — The Bush administration reached agreement on Thursday with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats to attach environmental and worker protections in several pending trade accords, clearing the way for early passage of some pacts and improving prospects for others.

The unusual agreement, which came after weeks of negotiations, would guarantee workers the right to organize, ban child labor and prohibit forced labor in trading-partner countries. It would also require trading partners to enforce environmental laws already on their books and comply with several international environmental agreements.

While the understanding was a victory for Democrats, it also represented a shrewd compromise by the White House. The agreement is the first major bipartisan economic deal to emerge since Democrats took control of Congress in January. It has immediate importance for four countries — Colombia, Panama, Peru and South Korea — that are seeking to enter into trade pacts with the United States.

But officials in Washington predicted that the agreement’s effect would go beyond those countries and could be a template for all trade deals, including a possible worldwide accord.

Administration officials are hoping that the agreement will cause many Democrats to support future trade deals. They hope that enough Democrats will join with Republicans, who generally support such measures, to make passage of the agreements probable, if only narrowly. read more

NAFTA's Effect on Immigration

Wednesday evening was pretty exciting due to two long conversations about illegal immigration in the U.S. Look for my opinion on the issue in the near future, but for now, I want to share a very interesting article I found this morning.

We all know that immigration issues involve economic policy, human rights, national security priorities, and domestic public opinion. This article does a good job of discussing the U.S.'s history of immigration and refugee policy, major factors regarding immigration, and possible solutions to salient issues.

It's pretty long, but take a look. Also, scroll to the end to read some of McBride's suggestions. It deals with immigration and asylum issues. I am also interested in how NAFTA has impacted Mexican farmers and U.S. immigration. If you can give me some insight into these issues, please comment.

The evolution of US immigration and refugee policy: public opinion, domestic politics and UNHCR by Michael J. McBride (download pdf)

Gore to testify before Congress

On March 21, Al Gore "will testify before Congress on the immediate action that needs to be taken to end the climate crisis."

Learn more about this event at his website. You can also sign a petition to show your support of his global warming campaign. Please take a second to sign the petition.

If you have not seen An Inconvenient Truth, rent it or buy it.

The Miraculous Honeybee – In Crisis

"One third of everything that reaches the American table owes a debt to the honey bee," according to The Honeybee Project.

Bees are much more than honey makers: They pollinate. I recently learned of the Honeybee Project and will quote from its website for the rest of this article.

Few people are aware of the vast importance of the honeybee to our everyday lives. While most think of honey, it is estimated that thirty-three percent of everything that reaches the American table owes a debt to the honeybee. Over 90 fruits and vegetables including apples, melons, nut crops, cherries, berries, avocados plus alfalfa and clover seed for cattle feed are dependent upon honeybee pollination. The economic importance in North Carolina alone is $80 million and the national economic impact closer to $15 billion.

Honeybees in Crisis

During the past twenty years, populations have declined worldwide with U.S. populations declining by approximately fifty percent. Imported and pesticide-resistant pests, shrinking habitat, and diseases have devastated the honeybee despite the best efforts of beekeepers. Farmers that have traditionally relied on both wild and domestic honeybees to pollinate orchards and fields are now dependent on the managed hives of beekeepers to successfully pollinate their crops.

Collony Collapse Syndrome
Moreover, researches, beekeepers, and farmers are currently in shock by the unexplained disappearance of millions of bees colonies. "We have seen a lot of things happen in 40 years, but this is the epitome of it all," Dave Hackenberg, of Lewisburg-based Hackenberg Apiaries says. Apparently, this disorder affects the immune system of bees and kills practically the whole colony.

Normally beekeepers would find dead bees on the ground around, as worker bees carry their dead companions outside the hive. But with CCD, no bees are to be found. They just disappear. Another confounding aspect of of CCD is that the affected colonies are not over taken by other colonies. Normally larger colonies takeover dying colonies.




More on CCD
Podcast from Penn State


Quick Links
Interesting Honeybee Facts
B-Eye
Enter the Hive

Make a Difference
Please support honeybees by making a donation to The Honeybee Project. Your support will increase awareness of honeybees in children. Debra Roberts, the founder, is a good friend and an all around amazing being in this world.

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