As I’m sure plenty of you reading know by now, SIGG bottles manufactured before August 2008 have recently been found to contain Bisphenol-A (BPA) in their liners. I know it’s bad, but… what exactly is BPA?

Turns out that BPA is a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins and is part of a group of molecules known as ‘endocrine disruptors’.

Endocrine disruptors are defined by the National Institute of Health as

“…naturally occurring compounds or man-made chemicals that may interfere with the production or activity of hormones of the endocrine system leading to adverse health effects. Many of these chemicals have been linked with developmental, reproductive, neural, immune, and other problems in wildlife and laboratory animals. Some scientists think these chemicals also are adversely affecting human health in similar ways resulting in declined fertility and increased incidences or progression of some diseases including endometriosis and cancers.”

Eeep! Way to let us all down, SIGG! And I was so proud of you recently, too. Look into your reusable bottles before you buy them, folks!

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The green socioverse has recently coined a new term — ‘precycling’ — but what does it really mean? Pre-recycling, right? Like… using a product? Before… cycling? The sci-fi mind in me goes into questions involving recycling, time and space, and DeLoreans.

But I’m crazy.

The real meaning behind precycling is much more forward thinking — towards waste reduction and making packaging that’s easier to recycle when the time comes. Precycling!

How can we precycle? Purchase products in bulk to reduce packaging, re-filling water bottles, re-using coffee containers to store things, etc.), canvas shopping bags, online flyers and catalogues instead of paper ones — say no to junk mail!

And now you we know!

Forget pesticides! It’s not hard to have a beautiful pesticide-free lawn, all you need is a bit of time and a little elbow grease.

• Did you know that grass actually grows best when certain kinds of organisms are present? Forget shooing them off (she says politely, knowing full well that pesticides do much more than shoo…), let them play! Earthworms eat and recycle (heh, poop) plant material that releases nutrients into the roots of the grass helping it grow! (via)
• Mow your lawn at the high end of its range — that way the roots have a chance to really develop. Deeper root systems can tolerate drought, heat, shade, disease, and pests much better. (via)
• Leave the grass clippings on your lawn! I know, I know — you don’t like how it looks, right? But trust me, it adds plant nutrients and organic matter to your soil. Researchers have estimated that grasscycling reduces fertilizer need by 25%! Saves you money and effort and keeps grass clippings out of landfills too. (via here and here)
• Don’t overwater — I mean, not only is it a huge waste of water (this is a personal pet peeve of mine) but overwatering helps weeds grow, causes oxygen starvation of grass roots, and makes your lawn’s roots shallow. Eep! Here’s a hint: If the top two inches of your lawn are dry, then it’s time to water. If not, leave it alone! (via)

According to the University of California’s integrated pest management program, “A vigorously growing turf resists pest damage and weed invasion.” So keep it growing healthy and strong and you shouldn’t have any need for pesticides!

Putting pesicides on your lawn is bad because… pesticides are bad, right? I’ve known this for a long time because I remember seeing a ‘Keep off the Lawn!” pesticides warning on a neighbours lawn and asking my mother about it. All she could tell me, really, was that pesticides were poison. I remember being quite confused as to how pesticides could hurt me but not the plants/grass. Well, here’s some interesting little bit sized facts about lawn pesticides:

• Children who live in homes where lawn pesticides are used are twice as likely to develop brain cancer than children with pesticide-free yards. (via)
• People who work with pesticides (including pesticides used on lawns and in gardens) have an increased risk of fertility problems, such as an increase in spontaneous abortion and miscarriage as well as increased risk of having a baby with birth defects (such as cleft lip and palate, spina bifida, limb anomalies). (via)
• Workers exposed over a long period to pesticides have shown problems with information (ie. confusion) and have increased risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease.(via)
• In the womb and into early infancy is linked to increased risks of some cancers (particularly leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and neuroblastoma) and birth defects. (via)

So if all these terrible things are possible with pesticide use, why on earth do people use them? Is having a healthy lawn worth all the poison and risk?

Stay tuned to BambiGoesGreen for tips on how to keep your lawn healthy and happy naturally!

In my usual news forums this morning, I ran into someone talking about Stewardship Ontario (which I initially thought was a town in Ontario that I’d never heard of, to be honest).

But it turns out that Stewardship Ontario is something even more interesting than that: it is Ontario’s first Industry Funding Organization (IFO). Here’s how they describe themselves:

It was created in 2002, in response to Sections 23 and 24 of the Waste Diversion Act, 2002 under which the Minister of the Environment is authorized to require Waste Diversion Ontario to develop a waste diversion program for a “designated waste” in conjunction with an Industry Funding Organization (IFO).

What does that mean in English?

Stewardship Ontario is an industry organization that operates two programs, one for Blue Box materials and the other for Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW). They operate these programs on behalf of Waste Diversion Ontario, an agency created by the provincial government to oversee a range of waste diversion programs, authorized under the Waste Diversion Act, 2002.

Read the rest of this entry

Lighting an office overnight wastes enough energy to boil 1000 cups of tea. One THOUSAND cups of tea!

Here’s a myth for you – and I’ve definitely heard this one before — Turning fluorescent lights on and off uses more energy than leaving them on. Wait a second… really? No! In fact, turning a fluorescent light off and on uses 500 times less energy than leaving it on for 15 minutes.

Just turning off lights when leaving a room or corridor, or when you leave at the end of the day can reduce lighting costs by 15%.

Did you know that energy saving light bulbs use only a quarter of the energy of normal light bulbs and last up to eight times longer? But here’s a helpful hint, now that I’m on this topic… if you break an energy saving light bulb, throw it out right away! And open a window and get out of the room too!

Now, I’m certainly not advocating against these bulbs, but I do want you to know — they’re filled with mercury gas. Yep, that’s right. And mercury gas is quite toxic! How do I know all this? Ask the broken bulb in the bottom of my outdoor garbage can. Yuck!

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I am so totally guilty of not owning a coffee maker and yet I drink quite a lot of coffee… in to go cups. Eep!

My room mate manages a coffee shop and drink bar and because of this, we’ve never had a coffee maker in our apartment. It’s partially because he’s a coffee snob — requiring his coffee to be made in a $10k machine, heh. And me? I wouldn’t want to offend his delicate tastes (ie. I’m too lazy and cheap to buy one).

But after reading these stats, I’m thinking I really should go and grab a cheap 2 cup-er.

According to the environmental protection agency over 25 BILLION styrofoam cups are thrown away a year*. It’s understandable using a styrofoam or cardboard cup if your out and about, but if you’re in the office or at school or – worse yet, at home – it’s easy enough to carry a mug to the machine.

If you do it, I will too — I promise!

*Source: The throwaway generation: 25 billion Sytrofoam cups a year.

When I think of hazardous waste, I think of a big, yellow bucket with a radioactive symbol on the front. And that radiative bucket makes me think of Ninja Turtles. And Ninja Turtles are awesome. So here’s my conclusion:

Hazardous waste = Radiation, Radiation = Ninja Turtles, Ninja Turtles = Awesome

Therefore: Hazardous waste = Awesome.

But for some reason I have this nagging feeling that my conclusions are miscalculated, or at the very least misguided.

So here it is, the simple facts of hazardous and industrial waste. **

What is industrial waste?

Material – for example, certain chemicals or even very hot water—left over from a manufacturing process. It can be harmful sometimes and may pollute the water and the environment if not treated and/or disposed of properly.

How are these types of wastes generated?

• Hazardous wastes are primarily generated by industrial and manufacturing processes; however they can also be generated from the commercial and institutional sectors, and from households. Hazardous wastes include a broad range of materials such as manufacturing residues (e.g. waste acids, contaminated sludges and complex chemicals), biomedical wastes from hospitals, spent photo finishing chemicals, waste pesticides, PCBs, motor oil, unused cleaning products from homes and discarded batteries.
• Most materials are consumed during use. Some hazardous materials, however, may no longer be required, such as laboratory chemicals, some may have reached the end of their lifespan, such as batteries and used oil, and some may have been found to be a health or environmental concern, such as leaded paint and asbestos. These hazardous materials, and sometimes their containers, become waste and must be disposed of safely.

Types of Waste

Toxic Waste – waste that can produce injury if inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin.
Chemical Waste – waste of a chemical nature that can cause harm.

How to Get Rid of Hazardous and Industrial Waste Safely

There is a hierarchy of options when choosing a disposal option for material that is waste at a particular site:

1. Re-use or return If the material can’t be re-used at the facility where it is waste, it may be useful at a nearby federal facility. Alternatively, the manufacturer may accept return of unused product.
2. Recycle Can the waste be returned to the manufacturers for recycle?
3. Reject Waste may be properly disposed of at provincially licensed landfills or by licensed haulers at licensed waste facilities.

**I apologize — there are no Ninja Turtles in this story. In fact, it’s entirely likely that a turtle exposed to this kind of sludge would painfully and oh-so-alarmingly… melt.

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The other day, I received a comment from Jodi asking:

I heard that recycling one glass spaghetti sauce jar saves enough energy to power a tv for 3 hours, is that true?

After some digging around, emailing, and chatting with some folks in the know, I’ve come up with these interesting stats for you, Jodi, and I apologize in advance that this will be quite long-winded!

Recycling spaghetti sauce jars – the facts!