Month: April 2018

Article 3: Plastic Eating Enzyme

gillj7 Sustainable Energy ,

Article 3: Scientists develop ‘mutant’ enzyme that eats plastic

Last quarter I had a finance class and I got into the habit of checking stocks and financial news on CNBC. And when I saw this title on their Most Popular stories last week my curiosity was piqued. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is found in plastic bottles and can last for hundreds of years. Teams of scientists from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), part of the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.K.’s University of Portsmouth developed an enzyme that may be able to help degrade plastic bottles made from PET. Scientists are hopeful and eager to see if the mutant enzyme can be improved and “made suitable for industrial-scale application in the recycling and the future circular economy of plastic.”

I always wondered if such a thing could be possible. I remember when I was much younger, my solution to plastic items and mountains of garbage was dumping it into volcanoes small portions at a time or launching it off into the sun. Then everyone had to follow the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and keep the planet clean. This enzyme eating plastic is a novel concept and I can imagine the widespread implications it will have if scientists are successfully able to make it work effectively on a large scale. Some good things include getting rid of such a stubborn substance faster and cleaning up the Earth. Though I wonder if it will also make people abandon their efforts to be more sustainable in other areas because they’ll expect scientists to figure out new solutions so they won’t have to do the work.

After reading this article, I have some questions:

  • How long does the enzyme take to work?
  • What’s left over after it has done its thing?
  • What effects (if any) does it have on humans, plant-life, and animal-life?
  • Does it bioaccumulate?
  • How long does it last in an eco-system?
  • What is necessary to make the enzyme? And what are the environmental impacts related to making this enzyme?

I will be keeping an eye on this topic to see where it goes.

 

Source: CNBC

Article: Scientists develop ‘mutant’ enzyme that eats plastic

Author: Anmar Frangoul

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/scientists-develop-mutant-enzyme-that-eats-plastic.html

 

Personal Care Product

gillj7 Personal Care Product

I use Aveeno daily moisturizing lotion every single day. I’ve been using this product for years and I love it. One of the reasons is because it is not perfume scented, which if I smell for too long gives me a headache. Another reason is because I have very dry hands and when I use it on my arms and legs, it leaves them looking good for the rest of the day.

Ingredients for Aveeno daily moisturizing lotion

  • Dimethicone
  • Water
  • Glycerin
  • Distearyldimonium Chloride
  • Pertolatum
  • Isopropyl Palmitate
  • Cetyl Alochol
  • Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour
  • Benzyl Alcohol
  • Sodium Chloride

In middle school, we had to do an assignment for health class where were to look at the Nutritional Facts for a couple of food products. It got me into the habit of checking the backs of foods packages whenever I buy something I haven’t used eaten before. I never even considered doing the same for personal care products (partially because I knew I won’t understand what majority of the stuff is). From the EWG’s Skin Care website ( http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/#.WtfbSy-ZPBI) I learned that the worst ingredient in my lotion is benzyl alcohol and decided to further into this chemical. According to EWG’s, some of the concerns regarding this ingredient are: Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Allergies/immunotoxicity.

Using the EPA website, (https://chemview.epa.gov/chemview) I looked further into this chemical to see what other fun surprises it’s hiding. But I didn’t find anything too nightmare inducing (which I took as a good sign) and moved to the CDC and see what they had to say about it. I was a little alarmed when I read the title “Neonatal Deaths Associated with Use of Benzyl Alcohol—United States.” Checking the date, I realized it was 36 years old. After some investigation, the FDA recommended that intravascular flush solutions containing benzyl alcohol not be used for newborns and that diluents with this preservative not be used as medications for these infants.”

In an interesting video called “The Story of Cosmetics” Annie Leonard (who narrated and wrote it) said that the FDA does not regulate the cosmetics industry which I find to be ridiculous. I agree with Leonard that in this case, we could use more government intervention. She mentioned the Precautionary Principle, a policy that restricts usage of a substance that is known to be a bioaccumulative regardless if it’s been determined to be toxic, that I remembered from Okala chapter 15. The chapter mentioned that the European Union follows the principle but the U.S. does not. It also talks about toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation. Benzyl alcohol is toxic enough to be rated 5 (moderate).

Lotion is not something I can eliminate because my skin gets very dry. Although, I can substitute it with organic lotion. It is more expensive so I was thinking since the rating for Aveeno is not too bad, I can keep using it. But then I realized I can buy organic lotion on Amazon for a pretty good price. And since it lasts me a while, I won’t mind paying more for a once-in a-while higher price than I normally would. I actually went on Amazon and found an organic lotion and realized it was only $3 more than I would usually pay and it would last almost the same time. Then I checked which of the ingredients in my current lotion was the worst and if it the organic lotion used it as well. The most toxic chemical in my Aveeno lotion is benzyl alcohol at 5. And I saw that the organic lotion contained benzyl salicylate which was rated 8. So I decided I will continue to use this product until I can do more research and find a safer option.

Actions I plan to take:

  1. I am going to look up other personal care products I use and make a list of which I need to stop buying.
  2. I will start looking at Drug Facts for such items more often now (have a rule of thumb that if I can’t pronounce most of the ingredients I might want to skip on that one)
  3. I am also going to have my roommates look up their products.

The Chemical Footprint Project 

The CFP is about transforming global chemical use by measuring and disclosing data on business progress to safer chemicals. It can help people benchmark companies and choose the safer option thus reducing their chemical footprint. They want a world where chemicals will not harm people or the environment. I don’t think it goes far enough in addressing chemical ingredients because there are so many products (the cosmetics/personal care industry) having so many and deadly, cancer causing toxins in it.

Article 2: Shipping Industry and Climate Change

gillj7 Green Living, Shipping & Logistics

Article 2: The shipping industry has quietly gone without a climate change plan—until now

I was surprised to find out the shipping industry hasn’t made any commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emission before now. But the global shipping industry has finally agreed to setting some goals at the London HQ of International Maritime Organization (IMO). Their plan is to halve their greenhouse gas emissions of 2008 by the year 2050. While some would have preferred for their plans to be more ambitious, others, like president of the Marshal Islands, Hilda Heine, are glad at least they’re taking a step in the right direction. As Marshal Islands is one of the nations who are climate-vulnerable, this is of particular importance to them.

The Europe Union is among those who believe the emissions cut should be 70%–100% by 2050. Some experts have declared that a 50% target is not even close to enough to comply with the Paris Agreement. According to IMO, in 2012 the greenhouse gas emissions due to international shipping “accounted for around 2.2 percent of the world’s entire man-made emissions.” So I can understand why EU might want to reinforce their own emission target on the ships entering their regions if IMO doesn’t go for more aggressive targets. This has led nations such as India, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil to fear trade could be affected.

A while back, I was talking to my cousin about all us “kids” in the family going on a road trip or a cruise together. I remember looking up facts about cruises and I remember that they generate around 200,000 lbs. of raw sewage a week. Based on that, I imagine their carbon emission to be quite high. This can lead to ecotoxticity and fossil fuel depletion. After reading this article, it makes me wonder if the EU or IMO plan to turn to cruise ships that travel international waters to start picking up the slack as well.

 

Source: GreenBiz

Author: Michael Holder

https://www.greenbiz.com/article/shipping-industry-has-quietly-gone-without-climate-plan-until-now

Ecological Footprint

gillj7 Commitments & Goals, Green Living

This was my first time taking the Ecological Footprint Quiz. If you haven’t taken it, I highly recommend it! It measures how much nature there is vs. how much we use. To be honest I was expecting it to be much worse. I wasn’t exactly raised in an environmentally conscious family. If I had taken the quiz two years ago, I’m sure the result would have been utterly horrifying. But after coming to Western and being exposed to greener living, I picked up a lot of good habits. I read something in a book recently (Green Giants by E. Freya Williams) and it really surprised me. Apparently people are too embarrassed to live greener because their friends and family or neighbors tease them about it! So they’d rather increase their Ecological Footprint because they want to fit in. I thought it was because of financial issues, like buying organic is expensive.

Even though I’m in the same group as the average American who uses one-and-a-half Earths—far less than the three Earths I was expecting—it is still NOT good. I’m using more resources and faster than the Earth can regenerate. Unsurprisingly my biggest footprint was carbon. I drive down to Seattle once a month to visit family and once to go to visit my cousins in Canada (although they’re much closer).

Three Steps to Reducing Ecological Footprint

  1. Driving: I plan to drive less to nearby stores that are easily within walking distance or take public transit. Since I’m too lazy to go to the gym, walking 3-4 days a week to and from class should also be good for my health, not just the Earth. I will also avoid traffic as much as I can when I do drive. My car is an ultra-low emission fuel vehicle so I plan to keep it until I get a full-time job and can buy a more environmentally friendly car. This should be good for my carbon emission levels!
  2. Shopping: Buying organic produce is expensive, especially for a college student. But I can start out with little things, like organic bananas which are only 20 cents more than the regular ones. I will also start to shop locally at the farmer’s market. Then I can move on to shopping at Whole Foods instead of Fred Meyers more often. By starting out with little things, I think I’ll be better able to transition so it won’t feel like I’m spending too much money all of a sudden.
  3. Food & Water: I will reduce the amount of time I spend in the shower by 3 minutes. I tend to space-out and end up taking longer than necessary. It’s a waste that can be easily remedied (and something my roommates will appreciate). I can also lower the amount of poultry I eat down to 3-4 times a week instead of every day! I will also shift to buying chips, pasta, and spices from Fred Meyer’s Simply Organics line.

My goal is to reduce my Ecological Footprint down to one Earth by the end of the quarter. I’ll be starting slow because I know from personal experience I burn out fast if I start off big. We discussed something similar in a psychology class once and it is very good advice. When you start out with small stuff that’s easy to do, it feels good when you accomplish that goal. Then when you move on to the bigger stuff, it makes it easier to stick to the plan and keep going. I plan to start small and built my way up to the big stuff instead of jumping right in then losing interest.

Update 05/01/18

It’s been three weeks since I began trying to reduce my Ecological Footprint. I’m proud of how successful I have been in implement the changes in my daily life. Here’s how I’ve achieved so far with my goals:

  • Driving: Every time I drive I have been carpooling. I have also greatly reduced the number of times I take the bus to and from campus from an average of 12 times a week to having only used the bus 4-5 times since I wrote out this goal!
  • Shopping: I have been buying more organics from Fred Meyer’s Simply Organic line. I have a big of an attachment to Fred Meyers so I will probably be slow to move on to Whole Foods Market. I think I will start with small snacks and such.
  • Food & Water: My poultry consumption has reduced from every day to ~4 days a week. Next I will try to make it 3 days. My time in the shower has also decreased by 3 minutes. I use the timer on my phone to make to make sure I’m done within 12 minutes instead of 15. I plan to bring it down to 10 minutes now.

On Month After Taking the Ecological Footprint Quiz

New Goal: I am not a big shopper. In fact, I usually dislike shopping (unless it’s for food or books). So the next time I need to buy something, I will do a quick search on Google and see which companies take sustainability seriously. Living in the U.S., it won’t be easy for me to reduce my Ecological Footprint more than what I’ve done so far. I don’t think I can make any more changes in things aside from the food category and shopping category (which I already have goals for).

 

Article 1: Vertical Farming

gillj7 Agriculture

Article 1: Is the future of farming vertical?

Last week I read a case study “Lufa farms: High yields, high above the city.” The growing urban world population and rural land being taken over to develop cities was described as the problem at hand. The solution was to utilize the unused acres of land on rooftops to grow crops. Such farms are perfect for rainwater irrigation; the crops get free energy from the sun and heat that comes from the buildings below them. Intrigued by the idea, I chose this week’s current article to be about rooftop farming.

The article explored this idea, presenting strong points in its favor. Because of the changing climate, states such as California—one of the three biggest producers of the U.S.’s vegetables—are impacted through hot, dry weather. By taking farming vertical, you can reduce expanding into grasslands and instead seek benefits from unutilized areas. The article also stated that people don’t take advantage of stranded assets, abandoned buildings, such as old thermal power plants. Usually such buildings are in low-value areas and food deserts—poor neighborhoods where people do not have proper access to grocery stores—thus they can be acquired cheaply. Energy generation at thermal power plants results in heat, water, energy, and slipstream emissions. It can be annoying and costly to dispose of but it could be used in the production of food instead. I think this method is an excellent example of heading toward a more circular economy. It also cuts down on waste as the produce is close to its consumers thus cutting down the time it takes to harvest, move, and sell the product, extending its life. Considering the fact that nearly half of the fruits and vegetables in the U.S. end being discarded, this is a step in the right direction. In fact, the U.S. should follow Europe’s example in selling “Ugly” fruits and vegetables at marked down prices. Trashing produce simply for cosmetic reasons is ridiculous and only contributes to unnecessary waste.

One issue with vertical farming is that there is not enough research done. Questions such as how much sun or soil is required or what the costs will need to be answered first. And you must also consider other implications such as if it would give corporations more power than they already have in the food system. Still, in industrialized countries such as the U.S., expanding farms to concrete jungles rather than eating up land already used for crops is the more efficient way to go.

 

Notable vertical farms:

AeroFarms

Plenty Inc.

 

Source: GreenBiz

Article: Is the future of farming vertical?

Author: Jason Clay

https://www.greenbiz.com/article/future-farming-vertical