Organic Food for Thought
My daughter sent me an image of a factory spouting smoke with the tagline ” Explain to future generations that it was good for the economy when they can’t farm the land, breathe the air and drink the water”
“Americans from coast to coast are living with the human health and environmental costs of factory farms that cram together thousands of animals in filth conditions… producing huge quantities of manure that taint local water supplies and air quality. Consumers…end up eating meat, poultry and dairy products loaded with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and artificial hormones” - Food and Water Watch. See the online map of farm factories near your water supply.
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is Everywhere, including your toilet paper
That nice shiny paper that most receipts are printed on? BPA (or BPF) is likely-as-not an ingredient. We slip those recieipts in next to our currency in our wallets, slide our hands over them countless times as we rummage through our purses, pick them up to enter them in Quicken, then one more time to file, trash or shred them.
“When people talk about polycarbonate bottles, they talk about nanogram quantities of BPA [leaching out],” John C. Warner of the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry observes. “The average cash register receipt that’s out there and uses the BPA technology will have 60 to 100 milligrams of free BPA.” By free, he explains, it’s not bound into a polymer, like the BPA in polycarbonates. It’s just the individual molecules loose and ready for uptake.”
But thats not the end. Those duplicate check records? Carbonless credit card receipts? What if you’re a cashier handling them all day? Touched some food after handling the receipt? Ouch! Of course, many of us recycle those receipts, cool huh? Maybe not, it may be ending up in our recycled toilet paper. Is shredded thermal paper part of your composted fertilizer? Ooops.
Bill Van Den Brandt of Appleton papers point out that his company’s receipt paper (manufactured for NCR) is now BPA-free. This after after a lawsuit (NCR also named) for cleaning up PCB’s from the Fox River in Wisconsin) and subsequent change of ownership to employees.
“Attempts have been made to develop a thermal ink which reduces the problems associated with thermal papers by obviating the need to provide a thermal coating over the whole surface of the paper.” but this technology has not been perfected. I’ve got some receipts I can no longer read (though I really have no idea which technology was actually used).
Another option, the companies, TransactionTree, and AllEtronic emails a receipt to you (instantly) and you have 24 hour access to your receipts through their website. TransactionTree might also email you a retailer discount coupons & AllEtronic will soon have an iPhone app.
As worrisome as thermal printing paper is, the use of BPA in the packaging of many microwaveable convenience food products and canned foods, is even more so.
The sticking point is actually figuring out which manufacturers still use the BPA method and which stores buy paper from which mfg; data still outstanding. In the meantime, be aware. Don’t put thermal receipts in your paper recycling (or compost). Consider the electronic options, if available. Educate the stores you frequent. Decrease your use of microwaved convenience foods.
BPA, BPF Thermographic Printing in EU
Shop Locally First
As an investor I look for companies that return a part of the profits to me by means of dividends. I’m wise enough to know, though, that before I get my share, the top executives and board members have taken a cut of the action. I try to vet my investments for companies that compensate their top management well but not outrageously and that treat their employees fairly.
I direct my purchases to those companies I invest in but only if there exists no local alternative. I invest in Proctor & Gamble (P&G) yet I purchase my bath soaps at farmers markets and craft fairs. Why?
“LocalFirst found that for every $100 spent, local businesses put $73 back into the local economy, while other businesses put back $43. Keeping money in the community keeps jobs in the community.”
P&G makes plenty of products I can’t find locally but I keep looking for more. I try and make the biggest impact by finding products I buy regularly: foods & toiletries. In the San Francisco Bay Area I can find many local olive oils, a variety of dried beans, and tasty cheeses in addition to our renowned wines; specialty grocers are good at finding local specialties.
When on vacation I’ve found local wines in New York, Pennsylvania & Texas; every region seems to have its favorite BBQ sauce or marinade; and produce. We try to eat at local hangouts with regional dishes rather than at a chain.
Check out ShopLocalSF or my link for the Bay Area. If you live elsewhere, do a search on “shop local [your city or area name].
If you’d rather shop online, etsy.com/local is one portal for finding handmade goods from local people.
Start now!
Scientific American Article on Sustainable Urban Areas
Cities are the new sustainable according to the article in Scientific American Special Issue on Better Cities
Sustainable Shoes
I’ve been pondering how my shoe shopping decisions can be both kind to the environment and to the people that make them. Though buying quality second-hand shoes is suggested as being most sustainable, the original shoe may not have been made sustainably. I depend on comfortable, well made shoes and wear them til they won’t stay on my feet or the soles are worn through.
On the human rights front, most shoes seem to be made in China, South Korea Indonesia other countries with a history of poor worker rights. Sadly, even those made in more developed countries are often made by exploited recent immigrants such as in Italy. If yo
Employee dismissal for asking for better wages & working conditions is occurring in Adidas, Nike contract plants and those of their suppliers such as Freetrend. Sadly they have a history of moving their contracted manufacturing to another country, with poorer labor rights enforcement, when profits are challenged. Oliberté offers ethical & locally sourced leather sneaks which may be my next purchases. New Balance seems to be the only major brand that effectively monitors to human rights at the manufacturing level.
Smaller companies, including those that make vegan shoes are under even more financial pressure to keep manufacturing costs down and often do not even know who their manufacturers actually are. Verite,Workers\’ Rights Consortium (WRC) WRC (Workers’ Rights Consortium created by United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) formed independently of corporations and plans to focus exclusively on the part of the industry producing college apparel. FLA (Fair Labor Association) does factory monitoring though it is funded by Nike & other manufacturers with less than stellar sweatshop reputations.
The second piece are the materials and chemicals used in manufacturing. Leather is my material of choice because I have very sweaty feet and it breathes well and is very strong. Sadly the human and environmental by-products of tanning are well documented. I do favor a simple shape with few individual leather pieces on the presumption that less leather must be used to make it and fewer seams to break down.
Tom\’s Shoes has young, causal offerings and donates a pair for each pair sold; each factory is periodically audited by a third-party inspector.
I’m going to post this unfinished but hope to get back when I’ve done more research. In the meantime, don’t shop before thinking about options. I look for those that might be made in the USA or EU on the presumption that there are stronger worker rights. There are many Fair Trade choices online. Campaigns for ethical treatment of workers include the Not For Sale fighting the global slave trade which includes economic slavery in company plants.
Our Clothing Addiction Leads to Cycle of Poverty in Developing World
First, new clothing is sewn predominantly in sweatshops around the world, often by women that are permanently enslaved to pay off a “debt” for the “privilege” of a “well paying” job – NOT.
Second, the used clothing business has effectively destroyed native garment industries in much of Africa and other developing countries because American cotton is so highly subsidized that our used clothing can be purchased more cheaply by them than those made with native fabrics and sewn by native seamstresses.
“T-Shirt Travels” is a documentary that should make us think twice about the easy fix. If you don’t have time to read the entire article or want to explain it easily to students here is a quick visual. Over time many of the links are disappearing; here is one for the book The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy“
The movie Life and Debt tells of the Free Trade Zone in Jamaica where workers who sew for American corporations to earn the legal minimum wage of $30 U.S./week. The factories are offer incentives toforeign companies which are allowed to bring in shiploads of material tax-free and are immediately transported out after sewing. Over 10,000 women currently work under sub-standard work conditions. In order to ensure the employment offered, Jamaica agreed to the stipulation that no unionization is permitted in the Free Trade Zones. When the women have attempted to organize they are fired and blacklisted to prevent them from working again. The jobs move on to next developing country desperate for work.
A new book Fugitive Denim: a Human and Sensible Approach of Global Textile Trade by Rachel Louise Snyder tells part of the complex story of the textile trade, now & historically, acquired by traveling around the world and talking to workers and professionals in the trade.
Students Against Sweatshops at 25 universities are now boycotting or severing ties with Russell Athletics/Jerzees until the company re-opens the Jerzees de Honduras facility at full capacity, re-hires all union workers and complete the collective bargaining process.
We Americans consider ourselves to be generous people as we assuage our guilt about buying new clothing by giving away our slightly worn or out of date cast offs to charity but the net effect is a global economy turned upside down. Still, we are faced with the dilemma of what to do.
- Worn thin? Goodwill or Salvation Army will turn into rags.
- Stained? Sew or iron a patch, applique. Tie die the garment – stains get lost in the patterns.
- Missing buttons, open seams, broken zippers? Fix yourself or take to a dry cleaners or find a seamstress/tailor. Keeps Americans employed at decent wages
- Gained/lost weight? Style dated? A good tailor can take in or let out seams and can even re-fashion professional clothing to reflect current fashion trends
- Repair and tailoring are skilled trades that keep Americans employed at decent wages.
- Just itching for a change or something different? Look for clothing swaps online or plan an even with friends
- If you must buy new,
- Search out items made of organic or sustainably harvested fabrics by fairly paid and treated workers.
- Be willing to pay more for both American /union/Fair Trade made goods.
- Ethical doesn’t have to mean giving up style. Ethical Style will send you the latest trends daily via FB or Twitter.
- The fashion industry itself is just discovering Zero Waste and trying to apply it to the cutting room floor and Parsons New School for design will offer a course in zero waste. As Tim Gunn likes to say, “Carry on”.
Water Warming
Water is an essential element of life. Most folks incorrectly link global warming with outside air temperatures. The true problem is occurring in our seas which most of us rarely see, feel or think about. The warming of our oceans, lakes and stream affects the type of fish we can eat, sources of seaweed (seaweed is an ingredient in more foods, beauty products and medicines than you can possibly imagine), and the purity of the water we drink.
I’ll be expanding this post regularly but today’s news is that Target has announced that all their stores will stop selling farmed salmon products.
“Target announced that the reason they are discontinuing the sale of farmed salmon is because of the significant environmental degradation it causes. Aquaculture (farming fish) is often called the future of the seafood industry, but some types of aquaculture – such as conventional open-net salmon farming – can cause tremendous damage to the environment. Parasite infestations, concentrated fish waste, the uncontrolled spread of genetic material, and the unsustainable use of wild fish to feed farmed animals all pose significant threats to the sanctity of our marine ecosystems.
While some types of aquaculture, such as closed-containment systems and many bivalve farms, are relatively environmentally responsible sources of protein, many fish in conventional, open-containment aquafarms suffer from parasitic infections, diseases, and debilitating injuries. Conditions on some of these farms are so horrendous that a large percentage of the fish die before farmers can kill and package them for food.”
Recyling Your Media Waste & Techno Trash
Is part of your 2010 New Year resolution to go through and dispose of all those old videotapes, floppy disks, zip Disks, DVDs, CDs and jewel cases that you never want to see again? You may need to put out a few dollars for postage or services but there are some choices for doing this responsibly:
Disabled employees of the nonprofit Alternative Community Training (ACT) in Columbus MO grind up various smaller plastic items such as CDs, VHS tapes and jewel cases for resale to manufacturers who use recycled plastic. You can mail your trash using media mail rates ($6.95 for the first 20 lbs and 30 cents for each pound over that).
GreenDisk uses a network of non-profit organizations to process techno trash. They refurbish what we can and recycle the rest. Inkjet cartridges get remanufactured and, when possible, cell phones and some computers get refurbished. Material that has no further operating life is broken down to its smallest components (metals, plastics, etc.) and used in the manufacturing of new products. All of the material that GreenDisk collects is reused or recycled. No hazardous materials or obsolete components go overseas to be processed or disposed of. The cost here is the same as above.
If you live in the San Francisco Bay area you may be able to take it directly to a local Green Citizen center. They locate themselves near business centers to encourage businesses which produce so much of the techno trash. When my husband’s business moved in San Francisco last week, we just wheeled a couple monitors on carts a few blocks to the Howard St center.
If you’re active at your church or school, consider a drive to collect and return this trash. (Solicit some donations to cover mailing boxes and postage at the same time).
Life & Debt
This is the title of a movie which traces how the agricultural industry of Jamaica has been subsumed by NAFTA and the IMF. Local rice and potatoes have been replaced with imports from the US. Workers are paid substandard wages because the factories are on the shore in a special “trade zone” that benefits only the manufacturers and local government officials. Order it on Netflix
