August, 2010

EcoFacts — No Comments
27
Aug 10

The Chicken, The Egg

The recent recall of over 500 million (!) eggs by Iowa egg producers begs an examination of the egg industry, clearly, but also our choices as consumers. Most of the U.S.’s 300 million people eat eggs. In fact, there is about one laying hen per person in the U.S., each producing a couple of hundred eggs per year, about their laying life.  No question (to those who eat them) they taste good, are a good source of protein, they’re cheap, they’re extremely versatile. With so many eggs needed, the business of producing them has become more and more efficient, which is not so good for the chicken, as with other “livestock”.

I will not pursue the gruesome issues here, but a few facts about the industry might be helpful when shopping for eggs. Millions of new laying hens are being born every year.  The male chicks (half of those born) are useless in this business, and so are killed and disposed of. Most laying hens live in tight quarters, in cages surrounded by conveyor belts. Their waste is automatically carried away, as are their eggs. In recent years the term “cage free” has become increasingly common in grocery store egg racks. This means that they live indoors their entire brief lives free to walk around with hundreds or thousands of other chickens. The conditions are not sanitary (they may even be more so in the cages). “Free range” means that they must have access to outdoors, so that they can roam and peck, as chickens are wont to do. Now, you may find “pastured” eggs. The implication is that these birds eat what they normally would ­ insects and worms ­ in their lives outdoors. It is a proven truth, that eggs are healthier for us, when they come from healthier birds who have better lives.

Regulations are appearing around the U.S. and in many other countries towards a healthier business, but large scale production probably can not ever be humane, as it requires such economy of means. Buying locally farmed and pastured eggs is the best choice, if you are lucky enough to have it.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx
http://www.localharvest.org/
http://www.farmworldonline.com/news/NewsArticle.asp?newsid=8096
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/the-problem-solver/2010/08/this-is-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-on-the-egg-recall.html
 http://www.globegazette.com/news/local/article_f2d655b4-4268-11df-b401-001cc4c03286.html

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Ecofacts blogs presented by Green Products Global:

http://www.greenproductsglobal.com/

EcoFacts — No Comments
20
Aug 10

Using and Tossing

A reader’s heartfelt reply to the packaging question touches on much larger issues.

“I think that at this critical point in our ecological balance on the planet, fundamental issues of consumption and lifestyle need to be seriously examined first. Without this as a primary consideration, solutions that appear benign or even positive on the surface can distract from the immediacy of the situation and lead us to think that we can carry on as normal in unsustainable lifestyles simply by using  ‘eco-friendly’ products. All of these plastic alternative solutions still involve processing, transport, and other hidden impacts” (E.G. energy and water use, pesticides for growing food crops like soy and corn, which are then used for making disposable non-food items.) It is not that any of these options are not worthy of consideration, only that the simple act of using and reusing our own containers (glass, cloth, etc) as long as possible whenever possible would take a substantial bite out of this disposal dilemma. Between a few purchases of pyrex & enamel storage containers, glass and plastic containers from grocery store purchases, and washing and reusing plastic bags, I have bought maybe one or 2 such items (from last week¹s list of plastic alternatives) in several years.  I see this simply as a change of habit. My thinking begins with the concept of first and foremost considering how much can we achieve with just a simple change of habit. Then on to additional supportive solutions, with the caveat of staying clear on what exactly we are supporting.²*

Packaging, containers, and what of their contents? Progress in the last century required resources that are now being depleted as the number of new products multiplied, marketing and desire for them (along with the human population) soared. Progress in the twenty-first century will have to be of an entirely different nature. Our own lifestyle and purchasing choices will help to make this happen.

*Thanks to Maura for permission to use her letter.

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Ecofacts blogs presented by Green Products Global:

http://www.greenproductsglobal.com/

EcoFacts — No Comments
13
Aug 10

Protect Our Lunch

Packaging we buy – more plastic alternatives:

Wax paper bags are made by “Natural Value”, and are readily available. The very small amount of wax used in them is, like most wax, petroleum based paraffin.

“If You Care” makes soybean wax paper and natural kraft paper sandwich bags.

“Reynolds Wrap” is now making aluminum foil that is 100% recycled – YES! (And it is infinitely recyclable as long as it isn’t heavily soiled.)

Glassine and cellophane ­ these are cool old fashioned alternatives that probably would need to be purchased online. Glassine bags are made of a very fine white paper, usually bleached, and true cellophane bags are made from wood pulp. You might remember these as the ones that would make us smile as they were handed to us over the counter with our choice of candy or bakery treats in them. Both are biodegradable, grease and water resistant.

“Green Genius” -a new San Francisco company, now makes biodegradable plastic zip close bags for sandwiches and freezing. These contain recycled plastic and organic nutrients that feed on the plastic in the landfill, rendering them into biomass, CO2 and methane (true, we don’t need more of it, but that’s what waste does.) In other words, they are made to safely self-destruct.

http://www.thegreengenius.com
http://www.worldcentric.org
http://www.excellentpackaging.com/pages/1/EPSContact.htm
http://www.nashvillewraps.com/food-packaging/bakery-bags/c-049793.html

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss

Ecofacts blogs presented by Green Products Global:

http://www.greenproductsglobal.com/

EcoFacts — No Comments
6
Aug 10

Packaging

Granted, it’s a tiny detail of life to be concerned with – plastic packaging – bags, containers and shipping materials, aside from the plastic things that come in them. But if you take a trip to a big box store, or a store that sells things in quantity… well, any supermarket or drugstore, hardware store… okay, almost ANY store ­ and look around with plastic seeking eyes… and then consider the billions of us, wow, that’s a lot o’ plastic. All made with oil (close to a gallon per week for each of us) not biodegradable, toxic when burned, sitting and leaching in the dumps, excepting the small amount that is recycled, and that to be made into more things that probably will not be recycled. Around a third of municipal waste is packaging. A sad state, even if a tiny one, in the big country of life.

Some companies know that consumers might actually be interested in these things. Think of chip bags (billions) made of plastic and (mined) aluminum foil. Sun Chips from Frito Lay are now being produced in truly compostable
bags made with the biopolymer Ingeo, from corn. ³So you eat the chips. The earth eats the bag.²* Naturally Iowa is one of a few small companies selling water in bottles made with the same stuff. Stahlbush Island Farms in Oregon is packaging their frozen fruits and vegetables in compostablepackaging. More importantly, large plastics suppliers like Cargill (Natureworks), Cereplast and BASF, and the Asian side of the industry are all working on naturally sourced plastics.

As for packing materials, practically everything is made elsewhere and must get safely here. Dell Netbook computers are now being shipped in molded bamboo. More and more starch-based packing peanuts are being used instead of styrofoam, U-Haul only sells these now. Mycobond is a new molded composite material grown from agricultural waste and mushrooms, requires just one-eighth the energy to produce and generates one-tenth the carbon dioxide of traditional foam packing material.

Soon, plastics may not be made from oil. That part is great. But, will there be enough other resources to produce the use-once-and-toss items we now demand? Or will that model, so twentieth century, get tossed?

*http://www.fritolay.com/our-planet/making-a-better-bag.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0728/Mushrooms-used-to-make-eco-friendly-packaging

^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Barbara Hirsch, recording engineer, eco-person

“Unless someone like you cares a whole lot,
nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

– The Lorax, Children’s book by Dr. Seuss