Forest Preserve District

For every plastic bag produced, there is an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases produced. Then, after the use of said bags, they would more often than not be thrown away indiscriminately. These plastic bags would end up clogging the drainage system in a city, pollute wild lands, and place undue risk to the life of aquatic creatures. That is why you should look at www.iTySE.com for reusable bags.

Because of these reasons, more and more people and businesses are clamoring for the reduced use of plastic bags. Legislations both in the US and outside of it have already been passed to cut down the usage of plastic shopping bags and the like. Some laws impose additional tax on the use of these bags while some laws are stricter and require a total ban.

The ban of plastic bags is not as widespread as some parties would like. Not all sectors agree that banning its use would result in the reduction of greenhouse gases produced by manufacturing companies. Some even go as far as arguing that if we make the switch to paper shopping bags, we would not be able to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions as the production of said containers would also mean cutting down trees, shipping them to the factory, and burning fossil fuels to turn them into finished products.

As a business owner, you have to be aware of this ever changing landscape. You might be operating in a state or locality where there is already a… Continue reading →

If you’re new to the wonderful world of recycling, the first thing you need to do is obtain some recycling containers. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area with curbside recycling pick-up, you may not need many–you will at least have one for plastic and maybe one for paper.

http://www.ityse.com

In some areas, like mine for example, you have to get creative. We have to deliver our paper (including cardboard), plastic and metal to the transfer station here. In addition, our local paper has receptacles for paper only, as well as aluminum cans. The money from the paper they recycle there goes to the local food bank and the money from the aluminum goes to the Boy Scouts of America. Unfortunately, no one in our area recycles glass. Hazardous materials are collected once a year on a special day. (Check with your local chamber of commerce to find out where to recycle in your area.)

You should probably start with at least 4 containers. Add a fifth to your backyard (if you have one) for composting. For plastic, some areas will only take certain numbers (check your container for the number encircled with arrows). Others will take it all, (and styrofoam, too).

Make sure your containers are clean. You don’t need to use a lot of water to do this, most of the time a quick rinse is fine. Otherwise, wash the containers at the end of your dishes (if by hand), and some may be placed in… Continue reading →

Not long ago, I got an interesting comment on an environmental article I wrote concerning the “fear factor” purported by global warming alarmists. The comment coming in noted that we should accentuate the positive and not the negative. Right Agreed. False-Fear based scare tactics are not wise, especially when those who purvey such fears do it for less-than-ethical reasons and motives. What is worse is those who blindly follow and refuse to challenge the kings in naked wardrobes.

http://www.enviro-mech.com/

We should all recycle, re-use, repurpose, and promote wise living without excessive waste, that’s the ethical and right thing to do. We should thus, do that for the right reasons and not be forced to blindly follow some fear driven propaganda campaign. My acquaintance making the comment had some thoughts on the future growing of meat in a laboratory rather than an actual livestock animal. She believed that it made sense to grow the animal because that was the natural way to do it, and I might add that it is also the proper evolutionary way that humans are accustomed too.

If we screw around with nature too much without understanding all the biological processes, which as far as science is concerned, well, we still don’t know completely thus, we should be hesitant about playing modification as if we were gods. Yes, I tend to agree that on the animal waste issue mostly I am concerned with stupid things like shark-fin soup in Asia, what a waste to throw away the… Continue reading →

Not long ago, I was talking with an acquaintance, an environmentalist at heart I’d say, and he lives in Arizona. He stated that he wanted to restore a dying river and make it environmentally sound and that people just do not realize the value of a river. Well, I do, and I am also aware of the Technocrats and Howard Scott’s concepts to have manmade rivers for barges to move enormous loads of resources, materials, people, and products throughout the nation. That makes sense, even if I am not so keen on all of his concepts, I tend to agree with the movement by river of goods and services – distribution is a key flow of any civilization.

Now then, my acquaintance said that we ought to use desalination strategies to restore the river outside of Tucson, the Santa Cruz River, something he was adamant about, and yet, I could not understand how come he didn’t already know all about it since it is in the public records (http://arizonapublicrecords.net/). He knew some of the early history from the old farmers in the region, and how their jerry-rigging the river caused it to blow its banks and create a flood region – he wanted that fixed, easier said than done. He also stated we should use desalination.

Turns out the ancient American Indians of the region has a great network of agricultural canals they had built, perhaps the farmers in the region noticed this in the early 1900s… Continue reading →