Visions of Green and Blue

An Interesting listen: Oceans of Trouble

Labels: fish, garbage island, Interesting people, ocean, plastic

CBC radio one's 'Quirks and Quarks' had an excellent show on September 12th 2009: 'Oceans of Trouble'. The host Bob McDonald talked with Alanna Mitchell, author of 'Sea Sick, the global ocean in crisis', about the impact of climate change on our oceans. They discussed the five main areas that Mitchell sees as the biggest problems for our oceans: dead zones, acidification, coral reef decline, overfishing and marine debris. McDonald also talks with a number of specialized scientists regarding these five problem areas.
It's a great listen for anyone who is interested in the state of our oceans.

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/09-10/qq-2009-09-12.html

Green Living: Avoiding Asbestos. Guest post by James O'Shea.

Labels: Guest post

Going green used to be considered expensive and a luxury for those who could afford the trend. Now it appears that we are learning that not only is adopting more environmentally conscious attitudes good for our economic situation, but also our….health? Yes, if we dig a bit deeper we can see that dirty industries and backwards policy is actually harming the health of the earth for our children and the health of her inhabitants today.

There are two levels of health consequences associated with dirty industry, both direct and indirect. The direct consequences are examples like increased asthma rates in areas with high smog indices. Chlorofluorocarbon release into the atmosphere has shown to decrease the filter of direct sunlight on the planet, resulting in more concentrated ultraviolet light reaching the surface of the earth. Perhaps it is no surprise then that in countries with depleted atmospheric gas, skin cancer rates are among the highest in the world.

The indirect health consequences are harder to see immediately, but closer examination reveals that these are, in fact, perhaps the most hazardous. Bi-products of dirty and backwards industries, such as coal and oil processing, include cancer causing substances like asbestos and benzene. A U.K. study conducted in 2002 indicated that coal and oil industry workers are at a much higher risk of developing mesothelioma and leukemia.

Can we really afford to continue on the path we were on before? Investment in clean industry means not a healthier planet for our children and grandchildren, but also a healthier place for us to live today.

--September 23, 2009 Written by James O’ Shea with the maacenter

USBcell

Labels: recycling

Purchasing regular alkaline batteries can be expensive and they also pose a great risk to the environment. Batteries can be recycled; however, most people dispose of them in their everyday trash. At the landfill site the battery casing corrodes and the toxic chemicals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead leak into the ground polluting the soil and ground water. These chemicals are known to be harmful to human health and in some cases are known carcinogens. It is also important to remember the carbon expenditure factor that occurs during the acquisition of resources to make the battery and its packaging.

An innovative new product has arrived on the market that will hopefully help cut down on our battery waste; the USBcell. It is a rechargeable AA battery that can be used up to 500 times and can be recharged using any USB port. Moixa Energy states that each USBcell saves 3kg of toxic waste. Once your USBcell is exhausted you can send your battery back to the company, Moixa Energy, (free of charge within the UK) and they will recycle the product for you.

A two cell pack ordered online costs approximately $21.50 Canadian (including delivery).

http://www.usbcell.com/

Finding Green Products

I am always trying to find out how green the products I use at home actually are, and yesterday while searching for information about my shampoo I stumbled upon a wonderful website. Good Guide allows you to search by category (ie. food, personal care, household chemicals, and toys) or you can simply use the 'search' button to look for a specific product.

How it works:

The Good Guide provides you with an overall rating out of 10, which is based on a number of factors concerning Health, Environment, and Society. They also provide you with Ingredient ratings and a list of the products certification and listings. When it comes to foods, Good Guide also provides you with a Nutirtion summary (saturated fats, cholestoral, sodium, and sugars), as well as the Nutrition facts.

On top of all of the product information, the website also provides readers with news and recall updates as well as a list of helpful 'GoodGuide Issues'.

If you are interested in finding out a little more information about the safety of the products you use and their impact on the environment, the Good Guide is an excellent place to start.

http://www.goodguide.com/

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Photo by: Alice Smeets

This beautiful, yet terrifying image was awarded 'Unicef's Photo of the Year Award, 2008'. The image titled "Surviving Haiti" was taken by 21 year old, Belgian photographer Alice Smeets. The picture presents us with a young girl in Port-au-Prince, wearing a clean white dress with matching ribbons in her hair, wadding barefoot through filthy water and trash.

This photo not only gives us a glimpse into the horrid conditions in which Port-au-Prince residents live, but is also a visual warning for those lucky enough not living in a slum of what could happen. Landfills and 'developing nations' can only hold so much trash, what will happen when we have filled them?

Alice Smeet's blog: http://blog.alicesmeets.com/2008/12/19/the-unicef-photo-of-the-year/

There are some other fantastic Unicef contest images worth checking out: http://www.unicef.de/foto/2008/english/index_engl_2008.htm

What's in your Exfoliant?

Labels: ocean, plastic

Using an exfoliant can leave your skin feeling great; however, have you ever taken a moment to think about what those tiny 'bits' in exfoliant actually are?

Unless the product is marked 100% natural (even then you have to read the lable), those tiny 'bits' are most likely pieces of plastic. Yes, you are washing your face and body with little balls of plastic that will rinse down your drain, into the sewer system, then into a river, and ultimately into the ocean. Once these pieces of your exfoliant reach the ocean they become bitesize meals for small sea creatures which mistake them for plankton. These plastic particle eventually build up and get lodged in the animals intestines, which most often results in terminal constipation.

The main problem with plastic is that it has not been around long enough to know what the long term issues surrounding it are. As the plastic works itself up the food chain do the chemical properties change or increase enough so, that we are ultimately poisoning ourselves? There have been studies surrounding PCB's (which were banned in the 1970's but continues to leak out of pre-1970's platics) sticking to floating plastic in the ocean. When these platic particles are ingested the poison levels become much higher then when they were floating in the water.

So, if you are an avid user of exfoliants, before you purchase your next bottle read the label. If it contains any of the following ingredients: micro-fine polyethylene granules, polyethylene micro-spheres, polyethylene beads, or polyethylene, return it to its place on the shelf and look for a bottle that is marked 100% natural exfoliant. The natural exfoliants contain granules of walnut shell, jojoba seeds, grape seeds, apricot hulls, sea salt, or coarse sugar. The natural options may cost a little more, but they are easier on the environment and most likely on your face as well. Do you really want to be scrubbing your face with plastic?

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