Archive for September, 2009

The China Debate
Buy Local, Sustainable Products, localization | Wednesday 16 September 2009
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by Beth Doane,

As I write this I think “dare I touch this subject being so directly involved in the manufacturing industry and with countless colleagues and clients producing in China?”  I quickly remind myself that the real question is dare I not confront this topic seeing as I am in a unique position to support or not support what has been the most massive manufacturing nation on the planet for years.

From toxic toys to exit signs that have failed in emergencies to poisoned toothpaste and even a defective soccer net that entrapped and strangled a child to death (yes that is a true story)  its become undoubtedly clear that something needs to be done about the safety of the products we are importing and producing from this country.
Chinese companies produced more than half of all the products the US safety commission recalled last year and yet few of these companies were ever actually held responsible. To make things even more interesting many of these faulty goods continue to be sold across the USA and sometimes it takes months or even years to realize just how defective and toxic they really are.
Might seem surprising, but according to international lawyers who deal with these cases its nearly impossible to hold Chinese manufacturers responsible since its scarily simple to evade trial by showing that these companies “have no substantial business presence in the USA”. This is clever seeing that most of the manufacturers indeed rely on independent importers to sell their goods to foreign markets such as Europe and the USA.
Also, due to the way our laws are currently written most US attorneys refuse to take on cases against Chinese or other foreign manufacturers unless there are American co-defendants because the chances of winning are so slim.
It’s a seemingly futile effort in most cases and although it’s clear our legal system needs some significant adjustments in order to deal with the mass amount of global trade we are dealing with, it may take years to effectively ensure these companies are creating safe products.
Many feel the answer is to stop buying foreign or Chinese goods (as the emphasis has been put so heavily on China) but this has long seemed impossible seeing as almost everything we currently consume in the USA is a foreign product.
Luckily with the rise of movements such as the eco and fair trade movements there are new options for consumers to purchase a wide range of safe and planet friendly products globally through the internet and I have found through my extensive work in the environmental and apparel industries that there are indeed some products being made in countries like China that are produced consciously, sustainably and beautifully by wonderful people.
In truth there is no simple answer and the debate will surely rage on.  Perhaps the best way and maybe even the only way to ensure we are buying a safe product is to simply buy goods from companies we personally trust and respect or from companies that have solid reputations for their product safety and company values.
We are now more aware than ever before just how powerful we are as consumers to create change on a global level, and as our health and the health of our families is increasingly at risk from products as seemingly harmless as our coffee makers or our tennis shoes, its time to take our buying habits and supermarket decisions much more seriously and stay educated.
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About the author: Beth Doane is a fashion designer and consultant focusing on eco-conscious product development and marketing. She founded and designed the internationally acclaimed Rain Tee collection and Andira International.

“Where’s Your Bag,” Santa Barbara?
Advocacy and Activism, Natural and Organic, Recycling and Waste Management, Sustainable Products | Wednesday 16 September 2009
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by Kathi King

Last month, Santa Barbara kicked off a new comprehensive, voluntary reusable bag program called “Where’s Your Bag.” The program aims to educate the public about the negative environmental effects of plastic and paper single-use bags and to promote the use of reusable shopping bags. “Where’s Your Bag” is part of a community-wide effort to provide a solutions-based approach to serious environmental and pollution issues.

How did “Where’s Your Bag” get its start? Well, in May 2007 a group of civic-minded students from a Santa Barbara City College Workshop in Sustainability course appeared before the Santa Barbara City Council and asked that the city take a look at its use of disposable plastics such as Styrofoam food containers and plastic grocery bags. The students were hoping the city would ban expanded polystyrene (EPS, or Styrofoam) and maybe take a look at a bag ban as well. (I was the group leader of those students.)
The city took a very detailed look at banning expanded polystyrene and agreed that it’s harmful but decided to wait on a ban as they were preparing to roll out a food scrap collection program and wanted to promote the switch to bioplastics once that program was in place. (The pilot program to businesses was delayed but is now scheduled to go into effect on Nov. 1 of this year.) I’m still hopeful that an EPS ban will be forthcoming.
Plastic bags are a different story. Many jurisdictions have tried to legislate their use only to be confronted with well-funded opposition from the plastics lobby. The recent defeat of measure to place a .20 fee on bags in Seattle is a good example; the American Chemistry Council spent 1.4 million dollars to fight it.
It’s even more difficult in California; a clause in state law AB2449 prevents fees on plastic bags until 2013 (no doubt the American Chemistry Council had something to do with that clause). Some jurisdictions in California have gone ahead and banned bags without repercussions and others have faced lawsuits from the plastics industry. So what were the activists in Santa Barbara to do?
A group convened in the summer of 2008 made up of myself, the executive director of Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, a non-profit that monitors the health of Santa Barbara waterways, and other concerned citizens. We held meetings with the mayor and city council members and let them know that we were very interested in some type of action on the single use bag issue.
In September 2008, the Santa Barbara City Council approved a partnership between myself (as a consultant), Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and the city’s Department of Environmental Services to come up with creative ways to limit single use bags in the city. We began holding bi-weekly meetings, stakeholder meetings and brainstormed ways we could increase awareness around this issue. We found additional partners in the California Grocers Association and a local market called Tri-County Produce.
We spend several months conducting surveys, creating a logo and deciding upon our approach. We focused on ‘reminder signage,’ ways to help people remember to bring their bags when shopping. (Our survey found that over half the respondents wanted to bring their own bags, they just forgot.) Our signage includes reminder decals for home or car, parking lot signs in partnering store parking lots, posters and display top signs inside stores and buttons for cashiers and baggers. We’re also offering info sessions to stores who want to train their employees on the reasons for the program.
We kicked off our program with the “Where’s Your Bag” party in Santa Barbara’s historic DeLaGuerra Plaza on August 28. More than a thousand people attended! They received free “Where’s Your Bag” bags as well as bags and other giveaways from our many sponsors and event participants. We had a “trashy fashion show” where entrants made costumes from all types of bags, trash and even a cute skirt made completely from beer cans. The “Banana Slug String Band” played fun and catchy tunes with an enviro theme – they even wrote a song just for “Where’s Your Bag.” The day was great fun, received a lot of press and very positive feedback from all involved.
We hope that the “Where’s Your Bag” message will make a difference in the shopping habits of Santa Barbarans. Our partner store, Tri-County Produce, has added a “Yes/No” screen to cash registers to track reusable bag usage. We’re going to ask some of our other participating stores to start similar methods for gathering data. We hope to chart a significant uptick in the numbers of consumers bringing their own bags to stores. We’re continuing our presence in the community with information tables at various local events during the coming months as well as a “prize patrol;” we’re going to catch consumers in the act of using their own bags and reward them with prizes. These “prize patrols” will be videotaped and aired on local channels as well as reported in the news media.
The California Grocers Association is a key partner in this endeavor and hopes it will catch on throughout the state. Voluntary programs may not be the ultimate answer to the problems of single use bags but they may well be a very good start toward changing consumer behavior. And while the bag issue itself is not a big piece of the carbon footprint pie, it can serve as an entry point to individuals seeking ways to reduce their energy output. If we can get people out of plastic bags, how will we get them out of their cars? To learn more about the “Where’s Your Bag” program, go to www.wheresyourbag.com.
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About the author: Kathi King is a founding partner of the “Where’s Your Bag?” program, the director of the “Choose to Reuse” education program and on staff at the Community Environmental Council, a Santa Barbara non-profit whose mission is to transition the region off fossil fuels in one generation. www.cecsb.org
New Plant Filtration System Turns Used Shower Water into Drinking Water
Recycling and Waste Management, Sustainable Products, Water and Water Conservation | Wednesday 9 September 2009
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by Katrina Pfannkuch

New eco-shower concept recycles water by filtering it using different plants

Water recycling efforts can go way beyond the basic methods used today, according to a team of eco-thinkers and scientists who have derived a way to create fresh drinking water from shower water using a variety of plants.

Designers Jun Yasumoto, Vincent Vanderbrouk, Oliver Pigasse and Alban Le Henry settled on the shower basin concept when searching for creative and practical ways to recycle water. The eco-conscious team graduated from French national design school Ecole Nationale Supirieure de Creation Industrielle, and were especially interested in finding a way to make practical use of shower water, something normally filtered outside the home.

How does it work?

The concept/design for this eco-shower is based on a natural filtration process called phyto-purification, and helps to turn a bathroom into a mini-ecosystem. As you shower, the wastewater passes down into a chamber below the shower floor, and travels through a maze of filters including; sand, reeds, rushes, a mesh filter, water hyacinths, lemnas and a final carbon filter. The plants grow up and around the edge of the shower floor, and the filtration takes place at the root of the plants. Chemicals from soaps, shampoos and other debris are removed, and then the water is recycled back up for use in your next shower, or for brushing your teeth, washing your face or drinking.

‘With this project, we tried to combine the pleasure of taking a shower with the satisfaction of recycling water. We wanted the recycling process to actually interact with the use of the shower,” said Yasumoto.

The team hopes the impact of their concept doesn’t just alter the way we bathe. ‘We thought that by conceiving this very intricate relation between the recycling of water and the user experience, we could get the users to also re-think the way they use water,’ said Yasumoto.

The concept of a self-contained water filtration system is stirring up a lot of interest now that the images have been made public. As a result, the team is continuing to fine tune the idea and currently working on ways to bring it to market.

Now the question remains, how many people will actually want to use it?

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About the author: Katrina Pfannkuch is a writer, Reiki Master and entrepreneur who lives to write and create. She started Buzzword Communications to pursue her passion for excellence in communication and satisfy her entrepreneurial spirit.

Solar Powered Surveillance Plane with a Five Year Flight Plan
Alternative Energy, Technology | Tuesday 1 September 2009
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by Katrina Pfannkuch

Solar power is often considered an alternative fuel source for a variety of earth-bound power needs ranging from homes to electric vehicles. Now scientists are looking at ways to harness the sun’s energy for a solar powered concept plane called Odysseus. Designed as an autonomous surveillance craft, Odysseus can fly above the earth for over five years straight using only solar power generated from strategically placed solar panels, according to Popular Science magazine.

The Odysseus is actually a combination of three smaller planes comprised of 164 foot-long wing shaped structures. Each is launched separately, and then are combined once in the stratosphere where the air is calmer. Solar panels line the top of the plane to ensure maximum exposure to sunlight, and the Odysseus can also autonomously change shape to maintain continued sun exposure and trap sunlight. For example, an accordion “Z” formation allows the plane to absorb sunlight at low angles at dusk, and a flat aerodynamic shape is a more efficient wing for night travel.

When fully assembled, the craft is 492 feet long and is capable of traveling at 140 miles per hour at an altitude between 60,000 to 90,000 feet. Researchers are exploring alternative fuel options for when the sun is unavailable, including fuel cells, flywheels and/or batteries embedded throughout the frame. Weight is also a factor in the amount of fuel required to fly Odysseus, so the plane is constructed with featherweight carbon composites and is targeted to weigh under 7,000 pounds.

To the naked eye Odysseus would appear as a star like glint in the sky, so researchers feel it is ideal for border patrol or monitoring nuclear-reactor sites. Some of the more civilian applications suggested include environmental surveillance such as storm development, and monitoring climate change and the ozone layer. Researchers plan to have a full concept prototype within the next five years.

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I see Odysseus as more than a creative, scientifically advanced prototype –- it’s an evolution in aviation that comes with positive and negative potential as the price tag. While Odysseus is helping us expand our reach into the atmosphere in a clean, green way and lays the ground work for solar powered commuter planes (as well as its above mentioned environmental surveillance applications), it also brings up arguments about personal privacy. I wonder how these planes could potentially be used to monitor all aspects of civilian life, and how that information will be used. For now the full potential of solar surveillance is the million dollar question. – K. Pfannkuch

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About the author: Katrina Pfannkuch is a writer, Reiki Master and entrepreneur who lives to write and create. She started Buzzword Communications to pursue her passion for excellence in communication and satisfy her entrepreneurial spirit.