Buying Green Electronics Made Easier

I have written several times about environmental impacts of electronics. Occasionally, people need to buy new electronics but how do you find the environmental impact of what you buy? The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool may help.

The EPEAT is a registry of products that meet criteria established with the IEEE which you may know from various electronic standards like the firewire or WiFi. They have companies register their products and certify that they meet the criteria while EPEAT does testing of some products. More details about EPEAT and their criteria can be found on their website. It also appears that they work with the U.S. government on purchasing and in conjunction with the EnergyStar program which adds credibility for consumers. I think this is a great tool and the more information that people have the better purchasing decisions will be.

Higher Food Prices may be Healthy

An article by Sylvain Charlebois in the Globe and Mail this week discusses how higher food prices may be healthy. I can't link to the entire article since it is locked to subscribers so I'll do my best to summarize it. Basically, North America has not felt the impact of higher food prices yet because such a small proportion of spending, 9%, is on food. The food market currently produces cheap food with low nutritional value since consumers have decided to spend money elsewhere. As food prices inevitably rise, so will consumers scrutiny of what they buy. The last few paragraphs from the article:

Yet, if a consumer were obliged to pay more, he or she would ultimately care more about the nutritional value of the foods purchased. It's as simple as that. Consumers these days unthinkingly seek low prices, and don't seek good and safe foods as a matter of course.

As prices increase in time, consumers will need to acclimatize to this new reality. The cost and the value of calories will become more important to them and they will gauge these factors more judiciously.

In turn, with more wealth, the food industry will be better able to contribute to the common good. Assuring the quality of food products, especially their safety and nutrition levels, should be an increasing strategic priority for governments, the private sector and international trade agencies.

Ultimately, with progressively higher food retail prices, consumers' physical wellbeing can only improve.

I agree with the premise of his position and I look forward to watching this play out over the rest of this year. I think other factors will materialize as well. Locally produced goods will become more price competitive as transport costs increase for everything else. Rising corn prices might translate into costlier high fructose corn syrup and increase the prices on foods containing them. Accordingly, consumer demand will shift with the prices and healthier options will become more appealing on price. As gas prices rise convenience foods will be less necessary because nobody can afford to drive anywhere. However, consumer patterns are usually tied to prices and if gas prices drop then people may go back to the bad habits. Only time will tell.

Growing the Lawn

Many people have lawns. A lot of them are obsessed with growing the "perfect" lawn. I had a post last year about lawns and their impact. Recently I watched a short film titled Gimme Green about America's lawn obsession. The film is described as a humorous look at this obsession but it also makes you realize how far we have to go to become sustainable and sensible. We clearly have to change our perception of what is aesthetically pleasing and put it in the context of how it will affect our lives. If you get a chance watch the film and maybe change your lawn care habits or replace your lawn with something else.

Government Money for Environmental Projects

You may be interested in doing some environmental projects. Grants.gov offers a list of government grant programs in the United States. They are sorted by category or agency. Energy, Environment and EPA are some that I browsed.

This may be the kick start your project needs or you may have some free time and expertise to work on these.

Drugs in the Water

Many people drink tap water because it is cheap, plentiful and perceived to be safe. A recent investigative report at Associated Press shows that many pharmaceutical drugs can end up in the water supply. Bottled water is not safer because it is either packaged tap water or untested and unregulated groundwater that can also be contaminated. Great coverage of this can be found on Democracy Now! which aired an interview with one of the AP reporters.

I do understand how these drugs are ending up in the water supply. So many things are prescribed and available on the shelves that that it is inevitable. We are excreting it and some people are flushing unused drugs down the toilet. No regulations exist and the problem was not widely known until this report. I am unclear as to how this affects those of us who drink the water, what can be done to treat waste and the water coming in and how these drugs react with each other in the environment and when they get into our bodies.

Hopefully people take action and start finding available services to properly dispose of extra drugs or reduce their need for them in the first place. Replace cholesterol drugs with fewer bacon cheeseburgers for example. We'll see what happens.

Environmental Disclosure for Public Companies

Environmental disclosure for public companies is becoming a formal policy for companies subject to regulation of the Ontario Securities Commission (link to PDF of report). Probably not an exciting topic to most people.

The basics of the policy are that companies must explain their potential environmental liabilities in their financial statements and commentary to investors. In my opinion, this could change investment decisions. Investors who may not understand the risk or be willing to accept it look to other investments. Ethical funds may need to change where they put their money. Household brands may report environmental liabilities that tarnish their image.

According to lawyers interviewed by the Globe and Mail, one of the main problems is that nobody really knows how to quantify the risk. I can see this being a problem and if you know how you can make fortune. They also say that the risk of lawsuits will increase if these companies do not make adequate disclosures to investors. I guess the possibility also exists that if people don't know that a company has an environmental liability that is harming their health or neighborhood they could find out and sue as well.

I do see an upside for companies and the public. If environmental liabilities are difficult to quantify and improper valuation or disclosure creates serious liability then one solution will unfold: sustainable practices. If companies operate in a sustainable manner then they will not be generating environmental reporting issues that they can't quantify. Might be wishful thinking but if they don't do it I'm sure many class action lawyers will be scouring those financial reports.

Recycling by Mail

The U.S. Postal Service launched the "Mail Back" program. The program provides free envelopes to mail small electronics, like MP3 players and PDAs, so they can sent to Clover Technologies Group for refurbishing or recycling. The program is available in 10 areas around the U.S. like D.C. and Chicago but I'm sure as the program grows they will expand it.

A simple and easy way to save some electronics from the landfill. I keep getting amazed by the simple solutions to these problems. If you live near one of these post offices go and get some envelopes and send your unused/unwanted items for recycling. Just make sure you delete everything before you send them off!!

Earth Hour

Earth Hour - On March 29, 2008 at 8:00 p.m., cities all across the world will be turning their lights off for one hour to raise awareness against global warming and climate change. Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, and quickly gained global recognition creating a powerful message.

I hope that this event inspires others to do the same and will continue for years to come.

I have pledged my commitment to turning the lights off for one hour, will you?

Genetically Modified Foods

I'll admit that I don't know a lot about genetically modified foods. I'm not sure what they really are or what it really means. I think more foods than we think are genetically modified to increase production and to fit into current industrial farming practices. Some dangers of genetically engineered foods according to PSRAST are:

• Animals have become seriously ill or died from Genetically Engineered (GE) foods
• Hazardous genes from GE foods that you eat can become inserted into your own genes
• An unexpected poison killed 37 persons eating a food supplement produced by GE bacteria. This disaster was not coincidental:
• Top researchers confirm that genetic engineering is inherently unsafe and unpredictable. It may therefore generate unexpected harmful substances in GE food
• The present procedure for assessing the safety of GE foods is not designed to detect unexpected substances
• Therefore, harmful substances may appear in GE food approved as food
• Still, GE foods are sold in most food stores in the US and in many other countries
• In the US and Canada, they are not even labeled

I'm not sure as to this science behind this but if it were totally false I'm sure somebody would have been sued by now. If you want to avoid genetically engineered foods look at the list at Greenpeace.

Environmental Impacts of Smoking

The health effects of smoking cigarettes are widely known. But walking around you still see many people smoking. What are the environmental impacts? I haven't really looked into it in great detail but I have some ideas.

An obvious one is packaging. Little bits of foil and plastic blow everywhere. Another one is the butts all over the place. Each one is loaded with chemicals after it is used and that stuff could leach into the water supply. The growth and processing of tobacco uses many resources and chemicals as well. The energy that goes into the harvesting, processing and retailing of tobacco has to be huge. Add to this the extra stuff people are exhaling and it adds up to a serious environmental impact. If you smoke a pack a day you're probably contributing a fair bit to environmental degradation.

This is why I feel the importance of trying to link our daily behavior and consumption patterns to the world around us. It is really tough and we'll all be guilty but we need to think about it and see where we can change.

Go Online, Save a Computer

Recently I have discovered the wide array of services and tools offered by Google. I have started using a lot of them. One I find particularly helpful is the Google toolbar for Firefox. I use Firefox and have done so for a few years now. What I like about the toolbar is that I can import all my bookmarks. Now I can have all the things I have found online anywhere. Now you're asking what does this have to do with the environment?

If you have an old computer you can save it from the landfill and use it without having to get the latest operating system. We know electronic waste is very harmful and we should try and minimize it. I think I have a solution which is not new but I would like to share it nonetheless.

Linux is a much less cumbersome operating system and can even be run from a CD so you don't need massive hard drive space. With a Linux based computer you can still access the internet. You access the internet and have all of your things online with Google. They have email, calendar, blogs, books, photos, documents and spreadsheets, and more. Add an online storage service and you can have it all with an old computer and no cash outlay for upgrades or a new one and save it from the landfill. I'm in the process of doing something similar as I'm getting tired of rebuilding and reloading my desktop PC. I've started using more of the Google services and I'm hooked. I'm finding new things I like about it everyday. Give it a try and save a computer from the dump.

Pets and the Environment

I was doing some reading and came across the fact that millions of people have pets. That made me wonder about pets and their impact on the environment. It is known that pet excrement can create harmful runoff but what about other impacts?

Food being diverted to create pet food. Packaging and transportation of pet food. Antibiotics and other drugs given to pets which are passed in their urine and into the soil. Plastic toys being discarded after use. Pets are generating the same kind of waste that we are except pet owners control the waste generated. Maybe we need to rethink our relationship with pets and try and determine the impact on the planet. Some people have advanced arguments about not having children to minimize the environmental impact. Maybe it is time to consider the same thing for pets.

Help Save Our Planet

This is my first attempt at making an online video. I know it needs some improvement but let me know what you think.

Crude Reality

Crude oil prices continue to go up without any end in sight. Some decrease in gasoline demand is starting to materialize in the U.S. The crude reality is that no alternative exists. I know we have biofuels and fuel cells but they are not deployed on a mass market scale and do not totally solve the problem. We need to realize one fundamental point: we cannot drive everywhere we want, whenever we want cheaply and without polluting.

I saw a BP commercial that highlights their investments in new energy sources and alternatives. One of the people in the commercial basically says that nobody is talking about where the next energy source is. BP, and really all the large energy companies, don't talk about the real problem because it will put a serious dent in their business. One of the arguments against making investments to curb environmental damage is that we don't want to sacrifice "our way of life". Maybe our way of life is the problem.

The Morning Coffee

Like many people I'm hooked on a good cup of coffee in the morning. This morning ritual for millions of people has a large impact around the world. The way it is grown, the shipping, the trading and the grinding and brewing all use resources along the way. I haven't tried to stop because I do enjoy it. That is one of the problems with our economy is that we get used to products and take for granted the amount of resources that goes into us getting it. In the meantime, there are a few ways to minimize the waste associated with that cup of joe.

Use permanent coffee filters in your coffee maker to minimize wasted paper and the possible intake of chemicals from the bleached paper. Carry a travel mug that is stainless steel inside so you reduce the amount of coffee cups in the garbage. Stainless is better than plastic because of the way plastic can react to the heat. Buy coffee in bulk to minimize the packaging associated with your coffee buying. Finally, try and buy organic and fair trade where possible. The documentary Black Gold is quite informative and will make you think about your morning cup differently.

Green Technology

Information technology and consumer electronics have become so pervasive in our lives. Most of the time environmental impacts are not taken into consideration when we buy them or when they are designed. At a European technology show in Germany the trend has been towards green(er) technology.

Sooner than later we will have to produce goods that consider cradle to grave implications. This is a step in that direction but I feel we have a long way to go.