Plastic is Forever

March 9, 2010 by pinemark

Recently Captain Charles Moore, the person who discovered the Pacific Garbage Patch, came to San Diego to speak.  Founder and key researcher of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF), Captain Moore told the story of how he and his research team traveled 10,000 miles in a period of 4 months and came across this soup of highly concentrated plastic debris.  The Pacific Garbage Patch is located within one of the 5 ocean gyres; recent data has only been collected from the Pacific Gyre, but there are expeditions going out this year to explore the impact of plastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean.  Because the Patch is located within a gyre, the vortex draws in debris and the pressure keeps it there – in Captain Moore’s words, it’s “like a toilet that never flushes”.  Their nets drew in anything from 1/3 millimeters in diameter and up, and they found things such as toothbrushes, diapers, forks and of course, millions of bottle caps.  Plastic is great because it is light, indissoluble, and can be shaped and used for a multitude of products.  Yet it is this indestructible characteristic that is slowly killing our marine life and crowding our oceans.  Large pieces of plastic can only become smaller pieces of plastic, and these small pieces photodegrade into plastic dust, which ultimately even zooplankton ingest.  Zooplankton are tiny organisms floating around in the ocean, many which are not visible to the human eye.  There are millions of them in the ocean, and they form the base of the aquatic food chain. The saddest statistic, though, is that although there are millions of zooplankton, there are 46 pounds of plastic for every one zooplankton.

Thousands of marine animals are dying each year.  One interesting fact the researchers noticed was that fish and turtles were drawn to eating red and yellow colored plastic.  Once an animal has consumed a piece of plastic, it thinks that it is full because its stomach is full; and in this way animals such as turtles and albatrosses cruelly starve to death because they are not receiving any nutrients.  Many animals are found dead with stomachs crammed full of human-made products.

Furthermore, research links plastics with several diseases in humans, including endocrine dysfunction, diabetes, and hormone alteration.  Most of us are aware of BPA toxicity but for those interested in doing more reading, these research papers detail the effects plastic has on human health.

Here are some pictures from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation website:

Water Sample from the Pacific Garbage Patch

Albatross

Albatross with a stomach full of plastic

This turtle got stuck in a plastic ring when it was a baby. Unfortunately it could not remove it and instead grew up deformed.

Kamilo Beach, on the southeast shore of Hawaii

Many of us enjoy the ocean to surf, sail, or just play in the water.  Captain Moore stated, “Our plastic footprint is worse than our carbon footprint.”  From these pictures, it definitely looks like we’re swimming in our own trash.

- Lauren

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

A couple going to court for saving water?

March 4, 2010 by pinemark

Could you do without a front lawn?

Most Californians are aware that we’re currently going through a drought and have been for years.  The state government encourages us to save water as much as possible, from asking people to turn off the faucet while they brush their teeth to restricting washing your own car in some cities.

So when an LA Times article about a couple being sued by the city of Orange for trying to save water came across my Twitter application, I had to read it.

According to the article, Quan and Angelina Ha from Orange County took out their front lawn in an effort to save water and money.  And they did, having “reduced their water usage from 299,221 gallons in 2007 to 58,348 gallons in 2009”.   They also did not want to use pesticides and explained that having recently had a child made them more aware of the state and future of the world.  So why sue them?  This is a great thing, I think.  If you don’t think you need a front lawn, then why have one?

Well, it turns out that city law requires that at least 40% of a home’s lawn must be landscaped.  Fine, they put down woodchips to cover the dirt.  But the city didn’t think that counts as landscaping so they filed the complaint.  The couple since has added a fence and some drought-resistant plants, and I think it looks fine.  After failing to file the paperwork that states how they’ll address the issue, they were charged with a misdemeanor and are facing up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.  For trying to save water.

Personally, I think this is completely ridiculous and a waste of State resources.  The law in place is outdated and there for purely aesthetic reasons, and it does not take into account how environmentally detrimental it is to require each home in Orange to have a lawn.  I’m not saying that everyone should rip out his or her front lawns, but I think that you should be able to if you want to, especially for such a great reason as to help the environment.  And the picture on the article shows that it isn’t an eyesore.  The amount of water they’ve saved is amazing; doing the math, they’ve reduced their water usage by about 80% in two years.  That’s a huge difference.

I don’t think we can afford to have such laws in place.  It’s 2010, and we’re still not where we should be when it comes to solving the big environment problem.  We really need to start changing the way we think about the world.  Like I’ve said before, it’s everyone’s responsibility to do their part, and it’s just such a shame that the Has are being punished for trying to do just that.

- Tiffany

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

What is more dangerous, climate change or terrorism?

March 3, 2010 by pinemark

We are all too familiar with the consequences of terrorism and few deny the earth’s climate is changing. In today’s social discourse both ideas are loaded and politicized.  Neither phenomenon is universally defined and the approach to each is emotional and controversial.

Consider the causalities of each to determine which is more dangerous. As expected there is a fair amount of difficulty in calculating how many people die from either terrorism or climate change. The data is far from perfect, but is important to compare the threats each pose. Unfortunately, both suffer from ambiguous definitions and each is riddled with disagreements of their effects. For instance, some figures include fatalities in the war zone of Iraq when considering terrorism. Others might consider deaths from hunger as circumstance of climate change.  Conversely, terrorism might occur in a war zone while malnutrition can be a result of climate change.

The Body Count:

In the Anatomy of a Silent Crisis, released by the Global Humanitarian Forum, it is estimated that 300,000 people die per year due to climate change. This is a conservative estimate that mainly accounts for weather-related disasters such as drought, floods, heat waves, desertification, and rises in sea levels.

The Worldwide Incidents Tracking System, a counter terrorism database, recorded about 11,400 deaths as a result of terrorism in 2009 and 15,800 in 2008. The National Counterterrorism Center that operates the database defines terrorism when “groups or individuals acting on political motivation deliberately or recklessly attack civilians/non-combatants”.

The Problem:

If climate change is predicted to kill almost 25 times more people than terrorism, why does the US spend upwards of 15 times more money on combating terrorism than researching climate change? ($55 billion projected in 2011 on counter-terrorism versus a yearly average of $3.4 billion spent on climate change research and technologies). The fact is 99% of causalities relating to climate change occur in developing nations. It is an absolute tragedy that 50 of the least developed nations emit less than 1% of the world’s carbon (Anatomy of a Silent Crisis). The media and our government share some responsibility for the perception of these problems. Regardless, as global citizens we have a duty to be informed about the consequences of our actions.

It is expected that the US would dedicate more money to counter-terrorism. The United States has an obligation to protect its citizens and the immediacy of terrorism is a grave threat. However, if the numbers tell us anything about climate change, it is that we need to dedicate more resources to its solution. Domestically we might not experience the adverse effects of climate change for a few decades. This is all the more reason to start addressing the problem immediately.

The Solution:

The unpredictable nature of climate change and terrorism make them difficult to prepare and anticipate. In addressing these issues one would hope for better data and analysis because both are linked much more closely than previously thought. The Pew Charitable Trust recently created a separate institute to discover the intersection of terrorism and climate change; I previously posted the video they released, Climate Patriots. This is at the crux of solving these global issues. No matter what your political views or how you previously felt about “global warming”, climate change has a direct link to terrorism. The fact is that climate change creates disasters; disasters create civil unrest, and civil unrest breeds terrorism.

Terrorism and climate change are not so far removed from our daily lives. It boils down to how we as a community view and address these issues. You do play a role in their solutions. We, as citizens of the greatest country in the world, have an obligation to demand the truth and be informed of the causes and consequences of both climate change and terrorism. Try to step back from your preconceived notions of each and search out different points of view, weight conflicting statistics, and always consider the source of your information. The more these issues are discussed, argued, and challenged the more transparent they become and progress is made.

-Joe

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Green Disputes

February 24, 2010 by pinemark

Do you ever get in arguments with your spouse or significant other about trash or recycling? I recently moved in with my girlfriend. If you have not yet made the leap to living with a significant other, from my limited experience I can say there are many challenges AND rewards. My girlfriend is more eco-conscious than most but still not the greenest person on the block.  Like most people she is comfortable with her routine, leads a busy life, and values convenience. So, I take it upon myself to reduce the impact for the both of us. Love makes you do crazy things.

Lately the recycling “discussions” have become more heated. It started with the broken lamps and old glassware that had been sitting in the office for 3 months. It recently escalated at my reluctance to throw out the Brita water filter. Let’s just say last night I was “highly encouraged” to get rid of all the “trash”. I cringe when ANYTHING is thrown in the trash. Each time I think, “Can this be reused or recycled? Is this the best way to dispose of this?” Below is a picture of items that I had been hoarding to recycle, reuse, or dispose of properly.

The research one had to go through was time consuming, not to mention the effort it took to properly donate or recycle the items. The glassware and the keyboard went to Goodwill. The Brita filter was mailed to New York for recycling ($2.07). Hopefully, you might have more luck in your town with a Preserve drop off bin. Yes, Preserve does not have ONE Brita filter-recycling bin in the city of Los Angeles! One of the more frustrating parts of this exercise was the fact that Philips does not recycle Sonicare toothbrush heads. I will be able to reuse parts of the snowboard sharpener. The lamps and Garmin mount will unfortunately be thrown in the trash.

I challenge you to carefully consider EVERYTHING you are about to throw “out”. The item does not just disappear from the face of the earth; it still takes up space in a landfill. At the very least, spend a few minutes researching if there is a way the item can be recycled or donated for reuse. For other creative tips to reuse see our previous post. Please also share any stories you have about Green Disputes.

-Joe

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Climate Change: a matter of national security.

February 18, 2010 by pinemark

The Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonpartisan research institute, has dedicated an initiative to discovering the links between our security, our energy, and our environment. The Pew Project on National Security, Energy, and Climate just released the below video. It contains interviews from military experts that include an Admiral, Captain, and a former US Senator all discussing the ramifications climate change will have on our national security. Entitled “Climate Patriots”, this video makes one of the most compelling cases to immediately address climate change. Navy Admiral Dennis McGinn, essentially argues everyday in which we do not deal with climate change increases the cost and limits our options for the future. Please visit the website for more information.

Please share this video.

-Joe

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

What’s in your facial moisturizer?

February 16, 2010 by pinemark

Do you ever wonder what ingredients are in your bath and beauty products – your moisturizer, deodorant, even shampoo?  I hadn’t, until recently.  However, people use these products on their bodies everyday without even thinking about what is being absorbed into their skin.  Turning a blind eye to unnecessary chemicals in your products is comparable to being apathetic about what you eat — “fast food” for the body, if you will.  If you’re concerned about what goes into your body, being aware of the chemicals in your products is only a logical extension, since there are some products out there with unnecessary ingredients.

I recently met Ashley and Minka, the founders of Golden Path Alchemy, at the GoGreen Expo in Los Angeles last month.  They were so sweet and extremely knowledgeable about skin care – I could tell they were passionate about their company and products.  According to the website, Golden Path Alchemy is “a holistic, handmade, herbal skin care company. We combine Chinese herbs, Western herbs, therapeutic essential oils, flower essences and gem elixirs to create powerful healing blends that transform your skin from ordinary to extraordinary.”

Ashley gave me two samples to try out: the Goji Glow Mask and the Renew Serum.  The Goji Glow Mask is made of goji berries, almond oil, and pure cane sugar.  I’ve used many types of masks, and the application of this was no different.  I wet my face, covered it in the mask, and let it set for about 10 minutes, long enough for the mask to dry on my face.  Then I washed it off, and that was when I could feel the difference.  My skin was so soft!  Amazing, and no residue left on my skin either.  The Renew Serum was just as good and is used as a daily moisturizer.

I loved that none of their products use ANY synthetic materials or chemical ingredients.  These include parabens, laurel sulfates, phthalates, petrochemicals (mineral oil, paraffin, 1,4 dioxane just to name a few), pesticides, propylene glycols or any of their many derivatives.

I’ve become much more conscious of the ingredients I use in my daily routine.  Think of how many products you use on a daily basis: lotion, face and body wash, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, sunscreen.  This doesn’t even include makeup products for women.    I’m definitely looking forward to exploring this issue in future blog posts as I research and learn more.  One great site I found with information about products is the Cosmetics Database.

So what’s in your moisturizer?  I challenge you to take a look!

- Lauren

Tags: ,
Posted in Reviews | Leave a Comment »

Politicizing Climate Change

February 12, 2010 by pinemark

The record snowfall this winter in the Mid-Atlantic is unequivocal evidence that the whole planet is getting colder.  The weather of the first 43 days of 2010 has defined the climate trend for our 4.54 BILLION YEAR OLD EARTH!

Ridiculous.

Climate change deniers are taking the opportunity to add their grounded, sane, factual two cents to this debate. It is especially encouraging to see the leaders of our nation contribute to the discussion. Below a Senator and his family wittingly try to score political points by building an igloo in Oklahoma. Fail.

Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe builds an igloo. Sign: “Al Gore’s new home” (via FaceBook)

We shouldn’t expect any less from the same yahoo who was upset for not being named “The Planet’s Worst Enemy”. Grade A Jerk. The political climate (pun intended) with respect to our Earth is despicable.

No one weather event can be used to extrapolate our planet’s climate situation. However, if you are in doubt we are experiencing unusual weather just turn on your TV tonight. Ironically, snow was imported into Vancouver to hold the Winter Olympics.

Unfortunately, our planet’s climate is changing. I wish our politicians would.

-Joe

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Movie Review: No Impact Man

February 9, 2010 by pinemark

A few days ago, I watched the inspiring documentary No Impact Man, a story about Colin Beavan and his family trying to live one year in New York without making any net impact on the environment.  I have heard a lot about this movie so I was ashamed I hadn’t watched it yet.  Then again, I’m also probably one of the only people left in the U.S. that hasn’t seen Avatar yet either.

We start by getting acquainted with Colin, a writer, and his wife Michelle Conlin, a BusinessWeek journalist, and their adorable toddler Isabella.  Colin wanted to start a project to see if he could live without making an impact on the planet for one year and then write a book about his experiences.  He had been reading about all the measures that politicians and CEOs had been talking about to change the world but nothing was happening.  He decided to do something to see if one person could take action and make a difference instead, and it resulted in a yearlong No Impact Project.  “No Impact” means avoiding making a net impact on the planet; prohibited activities include producing trash, driving or flying, eating food not produced locally, and using electricity – in essence, activities that produce carbon emissions.  The Beavans were the average American family – eating Chinese take-out every night, taking a few planes trips every year, and thinking about the environment when they remembered or when it was convenient.

As they began the project and then all throughout the movie, I was impressed by Colin.  He was able to take things in stride.  No challenge seemed too much for him, ranging from using no toilet paper to doing without a refrigerator.   For Michelle it was a little bit more difficult with a few slip ups here and there, but overall I thought she was very, very open-minded.  Maybe what helped and what I admired about how they did the No Impact Challenge is that it was gradual.  Many people get overwhelmed by taking on too many changes at once, thus, why New Year’s resolutions fail so often.  There were several phases: Reducing Consumption, Trash, Transportation, Food, and Energy.  Their Energy phase occurred 6 months into the project, and they completely cut off all electricity to their apartment.  It seems absolutely crazy, but they just used candles for light or threw on an extra jacket if it got cold.

We see the transition as their family moves from normal American consumption to No Impact, and it’s inspiring because it seems doable.  The movie was very realistic in depicting the struggles they faced as they attempted new challenges.  However, it also showed them evolving as a family and doing things that they normally wouldn’t have, such as eating healthier, riding bikes, and spending more quality time together.

Now if you are interested in attempted your own No Impact project, according to Colin’s blog this year they are initiating a No Impact Project for others!  As of the beginning of February, they are taking signups for people that are living in New York City, but I took a look through the How-To Manual and it seems like something anyone can attempt at home.  Although I will not ever stop using toilet paper or start doing my laundry in the bathtub, there are many other practical ways to gradually reduce one’s impact on the environment.  Personally, I am contemplating trying out my own similar experiment.  This film hit close to home because it parallels PineMark’s message that an individual can reduce his or her impact with some simple changes.  It is all about education and learning WHY you are changing something.  Much of it is common sense.  I recommend this movie for anyone interested in not only reducing your impact on the environment, but in living a healthier, more dynamic lifestyle.

- Lauren

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

ReUse Economics

February 4, 2010 by pinemark

The World Economic Forum concluded this past weekend in Davos, Switzerland. The theme for this year’s 40th annual conference was straight out of an environmental playbook: “Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild”. Sound familiar?

Economic development plays an increasing role in society and our environment. For better or worse, globalization is here to stay. Government and business need to work closely to create long term, viable financial growth that does not negatively impact our environment or exploit developing countries.

Much like the UN Conference in Copenhagen, the Davos Forum takes on unfathomable issues. Though it seems more talking than walking, these global huddles are necessary when addressing matters of such consequence.  However, you can never underestimate the role a community has in solving our worldwide problems. We as global citizens need to think big, speak up, and act now.

The “original 3 R’s” are important ways for an individual to take action. One of my new favorite slogans is: ReUse! Because we can’t recycle the planet. This is especially pertinent in our economic situation. There are thousands of ideas for reusing plastics or cardboard to save money. Here are a few that I think can save a lot.

  1. Use junk mail envelopes as To Do lists. Can save $5, as opposed to Post-its.
  2. Save food containers made of glass or plastic for organizing the office. Save $5 – $10 on bookends or penholders.
  3. Use old newspapers to help keep the shape of shoes. Shoetrees can cost $20.
  4. Print on both sides of the paper. Depending on your paper usage, this could save $120 per year.
  5. Use old towels and t-shirts as cleaning rags for the kitchen. Can save around $20 per month.

When reusing anything you want to make sure it is clean before putting it back to good use. We would love to hear other clever suggestions to reuse items that save money.

-Joe

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Healthy boost

January 29, 2010 by pinemark

For those of you who are surfers not living in California this winter, you are missing out. This winter we are experiencing one of nature’s great phenomenons, “El Niño”. Long story short, it creates warmer temperatures and consistent swells that produce huge beautiful waves. It also churns out storm after storm, which brings snow up in the mountains but creates extremely polluted near shore ocean conditions due to run off from the rains.

The waters of Southern California, specifically in the Los Angeles bay, are fairly dirty before storms and runoff. El Niño only happens once every 3 to 5 years. So trying to take advantage of the conditions, you have to balance scoring great waves with combating the bacteria found in the water. I was sent some samples of effervescent vitamin supplements from one of our partners, Eboost, and decided to give them a try.

The taste is very good.  I would describe it as a little less tart than Tang and not as medicine-y as Airborne.  There is definitely a jolt of energy similar to when you take Emergen-C or Airborne. Eboost is a combination vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Some of ingredients are green tea extract, Vitamin C, and B-12… too many to list.

I would recommend Eboost to anyone who feels a cold coming on, feeling a little drowsy in the afternoon, or going to surf in polluted waters. Check out the discount Eboost offers in the PineMark marketplace.

-Joe

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

« Older Entries