Is anyone as appalled as I am by the television ad for Glad ForceFlex plastic bags?

Yes, yes, they’re supposedly stronger than other bags — they have “Stretchable Strength.”  And if you’re going to use a plastic bag in the first place, it certainly makes sense to use a strong-ish one so the thing doesn’t break apart and fly out of the trash truck to become litter.

But I ask you: How often does that realistically happen?

One of the things that got me was the two boys who were watching their mother clean a dish into the trash. These two little snots were sitting there grading their mother like they were judges on American Idol. Why weren't they cleaning up after dinner?

When mom put the item in the trash bag that wasn’t ForceFlex, it collapsed. Horrors! Mom looked dismayed and the kids groaned. Supposedly, ForceFlex stays in place better because it fits more tightly around the rim of the trash container.

In this day and age, don’t we have a little more to worry about than collapsing trash bags?

But let’s take a closer look, too, at what mom was putting in the trash. It looked like food. As in something that could probably be composted instead. (Although to be fair, I couldn’t tell if it had meat, which you shouldn’t put in a backyard composter.) 

Come to think of it, why didn’t the kids clean their plates to begin with? And if not, why was mom throwing it away? If it wasn't compostable, the food could have been saved for lunch tomorrow.

To me, this ad says it all about what’s wrong with our modern throw-away society.
 

Hydropower took a huge step forward yesterday, when a 400-ton test turbine was lowered to the floor of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. By mid-afternoon, its blades were rotating with the tides, collecting data and producing power.

Hydropower is getting a lot of attention these days.

For one thing, the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that seven projects would be getting $30.6 million in recovery act funding.

In a podcast earlier this year, Renewable Energy World’s Stephen Lacey said hydro in the U.S. was poised for another period of major growth. “With states recognizing hydro in renewable portfolio standards, companies getting access to stimulus funds and a range of new players getting into the industry, the environment is looking good,” he said.

Hydropower involves converting the motion of water into electricity. The technology can use the flow of rivers, the action of tides or even the energy of ocean waves. Dozens of projects are either in the planning stages or the works for many rivers.

Just across our border, Nova Scotia has been a leader in the technology. A quarter century ago, North America’s first — and, so far, only — modern tidal plant was built in Annapolis Royal. It sits astride the Annapolis River, on the southern shore of the Bay of Fundy, which sees the highest tides in the world — 30 feet or more each cycle.

Basically, when the tide is coming in, sluice gates are opened so a head pond can be filled. The gates are closed when the tide begins to fall, and when there’s a differential of about five feet between head pond and the river below the plant, gates open and the flow of water begins to turn a turbine. The plant generates enough electricity in a year to power 4,500 homes.

But the technology is old. Today, scientists have set their sights not on the vertical motion of the Fundy tides, but their horizontal motion. Several companies have been designing a way to install huge turbines on the floor of the bay. Fisheries officials and others have expressed concerns about whether the technology will affect aquatic life.

But yesterday, Nova Scotia Power and its partner, OpenHydro, deployed what they said was the first commercial-scale in-stream tidal turbine in the Bay of Fundy.

It took seven days to get the turbine from Halifax to the deployment site — just off the Minas Basin, on the northern side of the bay.

“Today begins a very important period of testing that we believe will demonstrate that tidal energy can be part of Nova Scotia’s renewable energy future,” said Rob Bennett, president and CEO of Nova Scotia Power.



 

(Garmin image)

I never quite believed those studies that contended GPS devices will help people drive greener.  What, so they don’t make as many wrong turns? I can read a map as good as the next person, thank you very much.

But now, GPS-world may be getting somewhere. Garmin is planning to come out with a new add-on cable that somehow communicates not only with the GPS satellites, but also your car’s diagnostics.  Then it gives you all sorts of readouts on your current fuel economy and scores your braking and acceleration.

In other words: Pretty much the same stuff that I get on my Prius, which I can attest has changed my driving significantly. Nothing like setting up a little competition with myself, monitored on the dashboard, to make me drive more sensibly.

The system is called Eco-Route. Apparently — and I can’t figure how — the system will also steer you to the route that will save the most gas, not just the one that’s the shortest or fastest. The folks at Treehugger have previewed it here. 

Update Note: After this blog item appeared, the Soap and Detergent Association sent out its response. I've copied it at the end of the post.

Most people use disinfectants to keep from getting sick.

A report released yesterday by the national environmental health group, Women’s Voices for the Earth, contends they may actually make you sick.

The report, “Disinfectant Overkill: How Too Clean May Be Hazardous to Our Health,” cites more than 40 peer-reviewed reports and scientific studies that illustrate the health impacts of chemicals found in household disinfectants. The group contends that disinfectants are linked with chronic illnesses and conditions such as asthma, hormone imbalance, and immune system problems.

The industry has maintained that its chemicals are safe to use. Within reason, of course. Many products also list warnings about breathing the vapors or letting the substance come into contact with your skin or mucous membranes.

Chemicals reviewed in the report include chlorine bleach, ammonia, Triclosan and Triclocarban, ammonium quarternary compounds, and nano-silver.

Not that they don’t work on household surfaces. It’s just that they have other effects as well, the report finds.

“Just as you wouldn’t use a sledgehammer to kill a fly, we’re advocating for people to use disinfecting products only when the situation calls for them,” WVE Executive Director Erin Switalski says in a statement. “Consumers need to know that the harsh chemicals found in disinfectants are simply too strong for everyday use all over the house.”
Yet use them we do. According to WVE, the disinfectant market is growing steadily and will reach $2.5 billion in sales by 2012.

WVE suggests using alternatives like borax and vinegar and simply washing your hands more often with hot water and regular soap.

“Antimicrobial chemicals available in the home today were initially developed for hospital and clinical settings, but for the vast majority of people, the home does not need to be as sterile as an operating room,” says registered nurse Susan Luck, director of the Integrative Nursing Institute, in the WVE announcement about the report.

The report includes an index of cleaning products that contain the disinfecting chemicals of concern. It’s  available at www.womenandenvironment.org. 

Here are excerpts from the Soap and Detergent Association's response:

"SDA expressed disappointment that Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) would discourage the use of beneficial cleaning and disinfecting products, especially during the middle of the H1N1 pandemic and at the start of cold and flu season. The concerns WVE cites in its attack are not supported by science but the benefits of the products are. Discouraging the use of these products at a time when they are more critical than ever is irresponsible.

"Scientific and medical experts understand that proper surface cleaning and disinfecting are important factors in reducing the spread of infectious diseases.

"When it comes to everyday cleaning products and disinfectants, the most important advice for consumers is: use as directed. Use the right product for the right job.

"The product label provides information on proper use and storage and appropriate warnings that the consumer needs to use them safely. EPA-registered disinfectant products provide details on what bacteria or viruses the product is effective against."

"For factual, science-based information on the safety and effectiveness of cleaning and disinfecting products, visit CleaningProductFacts.com.

"SDA also offers an online fact sheet on the benefits and proper use of sanitizing and disinfecting product at www.cleaning101.com/Hard_Surface_Hygiene.pdf."

Mini LED lights from HolidayLEDs.com

Last year about this time, I wrote a GreenSpace column about how much energy regular incandescents holiday lights use, and how the new bulb technology using light-emitting diodes -- LEDs -- is a great way to reduce your lighting footprint. Indeed, the national Christmas tree in Washington, the tree in New York's Rockefeller Center, and the Times Square New Year's ball have all gone LED. Longwood Gardens has, too.

In my view, the lights do look slightly more metallic, less warm. But they're pretty all the same, and improving all the time. And the way some people light up this time of year -- and isn't it lovely! -- we could use the energy break. 

People complained about the cost, however. Why buy new when you can use old? At least two companies are offering rebates to customers who bring in their old strings of incandescents for recycling.

The e-commerce company, www.holidayLEDs.com , is offering 15 percent discount coupons for each string someone sends in. The company then sends the lights to a recycling facility in Michigan where they are first placed in a commercial shredder and then separated into the various components that make up the light sets including glass, metal, and plastic. The components are then recycled separately.

Last year, they recycled 5,000 pounds of lights. So this year, to make it even more eco-friendly, the company is encouraging participants to consolidate shipments with friends, neighbors, church groups, co-workers or other groups in an effort to maximize the environmental benefit of the program.HolidayLEDs.com

Information is here on the company website, but basically, send the lights to the company, Attn: Recycling Program, 118 Rosehill Dr. Suite 118, Jackson, MI 49202. And don't forget to include a clearly printed note with an email address (not a mailing address) of where the coupon should be sent.

Better yet, said Holiday's Philip C. Curtis, look for a local recycling effort. There may be others, but one I know of is Home Depot, which is offering people $3 coupons for every string of old lights, whether they work or not. 

LED lights consume about 90 percent less energy, which should help on the bill. This is another fun fact from Home Depot: Because the LED strings have superior connectivity, you can link up to 87 strands -- about a quarter mile -- and plug the end into one outlet without overloading most circuits.
 
 

A still from the film, "Eating Alaska"

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival -- for activists, by activists -- is naturally a West Coast baby. But some of the group's best films have gone out on tour, and they were quite a hit when they came to Chester County about a year ago.

Now, some of the tour films are going to be shown this Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The Academy is teaming up with Greener Partners, an organization that promotes farming, large and small, within the greater Philadelphia region.

The event will be from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the $35 admission includes a selection of short films from the Patagonia Wild and Scenic Collection, plus refreshments, live music (by the bluegrass band, "The Treats") and a raffle with sustainability-style prizes. 

In addition to supporting Greener Partners, proceeds also will support the Academy's Center for Environmental Policy, including its popular public science programs like Town Square -- more than 100 of these alone in the past five years. 

Speaking of which, tonight's program, from 6 to 8 p.m., is a federal policy briefing on climate change.

Nov. 17 brings a talk by polar explorer Lonnie Dupree, who earlier this year led a team of explorers on a 54-day trek to the North Pole.

The program Nov. 19 is an Urban Sustainability Forum on transportation reform. How apropro, in light of the SEPTA strike. All are free.

I always knew cigarette butts were nasty, but now it seems they're even worse than I thought. New research -- albeit funded by anti-cigarette groups -- suggests they could qualify as toxic hazardous waste.

The research comes from San Diego State University (SDSU); the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and consulting groups Oxford Outcomes and the Varda Group. It's part of the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project funded by the California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program of the University of California.

Their findings are being presented Monday at the 137th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, held in Philadelphia. 

Meanwhile, here's a preview of the findings and project activities, provided by San Diego State University: 

 • According to SDSU Public Health Professor Richard Gersberg, cigarette butts allowed to soak in both fresh and salt water kill half the exposed fish in a standardized hazard assessment at a concentration of about one butt per liter. Further research is planned to identify the organic and inorganic chemicals in the cigarette butt that are lethal to fish and may be identified in natural environments.

• The tobacco industry fears an alliance among environmental and tobacco control groups that would demand that the industry take responsibility for discarded cigarette butts, according to Elizabeth Smith, associate adjunct professor at UCSF. Smith studied tobacco industry documents and found that, to avoid this responsibility, tobacco companies developed numerous anti-litter efforts. However, the companies’ own research revealed that smokers litter cigarette butts for complex reasons, including disgust at the butts and guilt about their addiction, and industry programs have had little success at changing smoker littering behavior.

• Richard Barnes, of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, described regulatory policies that may help reduce cigarette butt waste. These include levying litter fees on tobacco products, strengthening the enforcement of existing penalties for illegally disposing of cigarette butts and possibly bringing lawsuits against the industry to recover costs to communities of cigarette butt blight and butt cleanups.

• An economic study based on a litter audit in San Francisco found the annual cost to dispose of cigarette butts was more than $6 million. Dr. John Schneider of Oxford Outcomes said this justified the imposition by the City Council of a litter fee of 20 cents per pack of cigarettes sold in San Francisco.

• Finally, Clifton Curtis, of the Varda Group, described how an alliance of environmental and tobacco control groups and other supporters might develop an innovative public information and advocacy campaign to reduce cigarette butt waste at the local, state, and national levels.

The project (www.cigwaste.org) seeks to unify its environmental efforts against butt waste with public health efforts against smoking.

Alas, the scenario is all-too-familiar: A family buys a new, energy-saving refrigerator. So far, so good. But then they put the old one in the basement or the garage. And then they PLUG IT IN!  Aieee. Total energy use goes up, not down.  And often, that second fridge is mostly empty. It's just used for extra drinks or parties or some such.

Now, PPL is following the lead of other utilities companies. Today, it's going to inaugurate an appliance buy-back program by picking up the old refrigerator of Mary Anne Smeltz, who lives in Dalmatia, north of Harrisburg.  PPL is offering $35 for any old -- but working -- refrigerators, freezers or room air-conditioners their customers have.

And they'll come pick the aged appliances up to boot. Customers can schedule a pick-up by calling 1-877-270-3522 or visiting www.pplelectric.com/recycle  The $35 comes as a rebate.  The electric company says it will recycle 95 percent of the materials in the old appliances.

In Smeltz's case, she realized the old fridge was costing her $150 a year to run, just to store a few drinks and frozen foods.

PECO customers, your turn is coming. Just wait a few months.

Yesterday, the company announced a few more details about a suite of energy efficiency programs that they say will save their customers $1 billion. One of the programs is, yep, $10 million in customer incentives to part with older, inefficient appliances. Not to mention $42 million in rebates for buying newer ones.

Other programs, all of which begin in March, 2010,  include $28 million in weatherization programs for low-income customers plus $112 million in rebates and energy efficiency programs for non-profit, educational, governmental and business customers. A $20 million program discounting compact fluorescent light bulbs at more than 800 PECO-area stores has already begun.  And that's not even a rebate. The clerk gives customers the cheaper rate at the register.

Both the PPL and PECO programs are a response to a state law that requires all state electric utilities to reduce energy use by one percent by May 31, 2011. The PECO programs are estimated to cost residential customers $1.50 a month on their bills, so "selling" the utility your old appliance is a great way to get that money back, as well as seeing a reduction in your bill without that old think sucking up so much energy. Plus, you get to feel great about helping the environment.

Not sure exactly what constitutes a green home? Me, neither. The insulation should be top-notch, of course. Likewise the windows. Leaks should be sealed. But there's so much more to it than that.

This Saturday, the Warminster Township Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) will host a free seminar on green building presented by the Delaware Valley Green Building Council. One of the organizers, Larry M. Menkes, reports that although a lot of people have heard about green building, "few have a clear understanding about what it is, what it can do, what it costs, and why it's become the most important movement in the building industry in modern times. This event is tailored for municipal officials that are charged with administer building codes that are often at odds with the needs of the community, financial responsibility, and the environment."

He says that it will be a basic, non-technical seminar. Attendees will learn about fundamentals of green design; how to identify green-washing, how to lower municipal and personal utility bills, be more comfortable and productive in a healthier workplace or home, and other benefits of green design.

The event is sponsored by the council and the Bucks County Sustainable Building Alliance. It will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Warminster Township Administration Building, 401 Gibson Ave. Lunch will be provide. To RSVP, the link is: https://dvgbc.org/civicrm/event/register?id=51&reset=1

And to find out more about green homes yourself, visit the U.S. Green Building Council's green home website, www.greenhomeguide.org