RECYCLING: USE OF PLASTIC:
Some plastics have been associated with negative health effects. Plastics are durable and degrade very slowly. In some cases, burning plastic can release toxic fumes. Also, the manufacturing of plastics often creates large quantities of chemical pollutants. Unfortunately, recycling plastics has proven difficult. The biggest problem with plastic recycling is that it is difficult to automate the sorting of plastic waste, and so it is labor intensive. Typically, workers sort the plastic by looking at the resin identification code, though common containers like soda bottles can be sorted from memory. Other recyclable materials, such as metals, are easier to process mechanically. However, new mechanical sorting processes are being utilized to increase plastic recycling capacity and efficiency.
Easy Ways to Help Save the Planet in 30 Minutes or Less
You may not be able to reduce global warming, end pollution and save endangered species single-handedly, but by choosing to live an earth-friendly lifestyle you can do a lot every day to help achieve those goals. Here are five simple things you can do—in 30 minutes or less—to help protect the environment and save Planet Earth.
Public Transportation: Fast Track to Fewer Emissions and Energy Independence
One of the easiest ways to pocket some extra green while living green is to use public transportation as often as possible. Using public transportation instead of driving alone in your car is good for the planet and good for your budget. Families that use public transportation regularly can save more money annually than the average U.S. household spends on food.
Environmental Issues: Environmentally Friendly Ca rOwnership
Green living can extend to environmentally friendly cars and car ownership. Here's how to make your car more environmentally friendly.
Sales of Honda's New Natural Gas-Powered Car Pick Up Speed
With gasoline prices soaring, more people are looking for alternatives to gas-guzzling cars. Now Honda has become the first automaker in the U.S. to offer consumers a car that runs on natural gas, the same fuel you may use to heat your home or cook your breakfast before driving to work every morning.
Whole Foods Pledges to Stop Using Plastic Bags
Whole Foods, one of the leading natural and organic grocery chains in North America, has decided to ban the use of plastic bags in every one of its 270 stores--a move that will take 150 million plastic bags out of circulation each year.
Quick Tips: Stop Using Plastic Bags
Americans throw away almost 100 billion plastic bags every year, and only 1 percent to 3 percent are ever recycled, leaving the rest to clog streams, foul landscapes, and kill birds and marine mammals. Learn how you can help the environment by reducing the number of plastic bags that are produced and discarded.
What are the Health Risks of Tap Water?
NRDC does caution, however, that “pregnant women, young children, the elderly, people with chronic illnesses and those with weakened immune systems can be especially vulnerable to the risks posed by contaminated water.” The group suggests that anyone who may be at risk obtain a copy of their city’s annual water quality report (they are mandated by law) and review it with their physician.
What are the Health Risks of Bottled Water?
What are the Health Risks of Bottled Water?
As for bottled water, it is first important to know that 25 to 30 percent of it comes straight from municipal tap water systems, despite the pretty nature scenes on the bottles that imply otherwise. Some of that water goes through additional filtering, but some does not. NRDC has researched bottled water extensively and has found that it is “subject to less rigorous testing and purity standards than those which apply to city tap water.”
Bottled water is required to be tested less frequently than tap water for bacteria and chemical contaminants, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration bottled water rules allow for some contamination by E. coli or fecal coliform, contrary to EPA tap water rules that prohibit any such contamination.
Goal: Make Tap Water Safe for Everyone
The bottom line is that we have invested considerably in highly efficient municipal water delivery systems that bring this precious liquid straight to our kitchen faucets any time we need it. Instead of taking that for granted and relying on bottled water instead, we need to make sure our tap water is clean and safe for all.
Some trees are better than others at absorbing carbon dioxide
Trees are important tools in the fight to stave off global warming, because they absorb and store the key greenhouse gas emitted by our cars and power plants, carbon dioxide (CO2), before it has a chance to reach the upper atmosphere where it can help trap heat around the Earth’s surface.
All Plants Absorb Carbon Dioxide, but Trees are Best_While all living plant matter absorbs CO2 as part of photosynthesis, trees process significantly more than smaller plants due to their large size and extensive root structures.
Plant the Right Tree for the Right Location_Scientists are busy studying the carbon sequestration potential of different types of trees in various parts of the U.S., including Eucalyptus in Hawaii, loblolly pine in the Southeast, bottomland hardwoods in Mississippi, and poplars in the Great Lakes.
“There are literally dozens of tree species that could be planted depending upon location, climate and soils,” says Stan Wullschleger, a researcher at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory who specializes in the physiological response of plants to global climate change.
Choose Low-Maintenance Trees to Maximize Carbon Absorption_Dave Nowak, a researcher at the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station in Syracuse, New York has studied the use of trees for carbon sequestration in urban settings across the United States. A 2002 study he co-authored lists the Common Horse-chestnut, Black Walnut, American Sweetgum, Ponderosa Pine, Red Pine, White Pine, LONDON PLANE, Hispaniolan Pine, Douglas Fir, Scarlet Oak, Red Oak, Virginia Live Oak and Bald Cypress as examples of trees especially good at absorbing and storing CO2. Nowak advises urban land managers to avoid trees that require a lot of maintenance, as the burning of fossil fuels to power equipment like trucks and chainsaws will only erase the carbon absorption gains otherwise made.
Plant Any Tree Appropriate for Region and Climate to Offset Global Warming_Ultimately, trees of any shape, size or genetic origin help absorb CO2. Most scientists agree that the least expensive and perhaps easiest way for individuals to help offset the CO2 that they generate in their everyday lives is to plant a tree…any tree, as long as it is appropriate for the given region and climate.
Bottled water is required to be tested less frequently than tap water for bacteria and chemical contaminants, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration bottled water rules allow for some contamination by E. coli or fecal coliform, contrary to EPA tap water rules that prohibit any such contamination.
Goal: Make Tap Water Safe for Everyone
The bottom line is that we have invested considerably in highly efficient municipal water delivery systems that bring this precious liquid straight to our kitchen faucets any time we need it. Instead of taking that for granted and relying on bottled water instead, we need to make sure our tap water is clean and safe for all.
Some trees are better than others at absorbing carbon dioxide
Trees are important tools in the fight to stave off global warming, because they absorb and store the key greenhouse gas emitted by our cars and power plants, carbon dioxide (CO2), before it has a chance to reach the upper atmosphere where it can help trap heat around the Earth’s surface.
All Plants Absorb Carbon Dioxide, but Trees are Best_While all living plant matter absorbs CO2 as part of photosynthesis, trees process significantly more than smaller plants due to their large size and extensive root structures.
Plant the Right Tree for the Right Location_Scientists are busy studying the carbon sequestration potential of different types of trees in various parts of the U.S., including Eucalyptus in Hawaii, loblolly pine in the Southeast, bottomland hardwoods in Mississippi, and poplars in the Great Lakes.
“There are literally dozens of tree species that could be planted depending upon location, climate and soils,” says Stan Wullschleger, a researcher at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory who specializes in the physiological response of plants to global climate change.
Choose Low-Maintenance Trees to Maximize Carbon Absorption_Dave Nowak, a researcher at the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station in Syracuse, New York has studied the use of trees for carbon sequestration in urban settings across the United States. A 2002 study he co-authored lists the Common Horse-chestnut, Black Walnut, American Sweetgum, Ponderosa Pine, Red Pine, White Pine, LONDON PLANE, Hispaniolan Pine, Douglas Fir, Scarlet Oak, Red Oak, Virginia Live Oak and Bald Cypress as examples of trees especially good at absorbing and storing CO2. Nowak advises urban land managers to avoid trees that require a lot of maintenance, as the burning of fossil fuels to power equipment like trucks and chainsaws will only erase the carbon absorption gains otherwise made.
Plant Any Tree Appropriate for Region and Climate to Offset Global Warming_Ultimately, trees of any shape, size or genetic origin help absorb CO2. Most scientists agree that the least expensive and perhaps easiest way for individuals to help offset the CO2 that they generate in their everyday lives is to plant a tree…any tree, as long as it is appropriate for the given region and climate.
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