Janet Schlarbaum Environment Safety Blog

Recycling and Climate Change

By David Biddle

Energy efficiency and renewable power sources get the lion’s share of attention when people seek solutions to climate change. Everyone wants solar electricity, high tech computerized energy management systems, mini wind turbines, super insulated houses, gas-filled triple glazed smart windows, and plug-in hybrid cars. If everyone had all these things, we like to think, then maybe the climate would settle down again.

But things are never that simple. Technical fixes for massive human problems are complicated and expensive. And yet, one of the most fundamental ways we have of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essentially at our fingertips right now through recycling — both at work and at home.

As opposed to mining natural resources in wilderness areas, chopping the tops off of mountains, digging massive strip mines, or clear-cutting forests, recycling is a highly localized, urban, relatively low-tech way of creating raw materials for industry. According to data from the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, for every ton of product made out of non-recycled, raw natural resources, 71 tons of waste is generated in mining, transportation, refining and manufacturing. Recycling metal, plastic, paper, and glass is effectively a process of mining urban ore. And, typically speaking, recycled material means energy savings that can be significant. See Table 1, below for a summary of energy savings through recycling (numbers based on USEPA figures):

Table 1

Material %Energy Savings

Glass 33%

Plastic 30% – 70% (depending on application)

Steel 65%

Aluminum 95%

Paper 60%

What this means is that through recycling it is possible to significantly reduce the fossil fuel inputs to our national economy. By reducing fossil fuel inputs we naturally reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The problem is that although roughly 30% of the waste generated in the United States is recycled, every year this country creates more waste than the year before. So even though we’re recycling, we’re still making more and more stuff out of energy inefficient raw materials.

In 1980, according to the USEPA, America generated approximately 150 million tons of waste. In 2006 that number had increased to 246 million tons. Waste generation per person went from 3.7 pounds/day to 4.5 pounds/day. In short, while we are doing much better than we were in 1980 with recycling, our capacity to create more and more waste is outstripping our efforts to recycle. In fact, the US EPA estimates that only about half of what we could easily recycle is actually getting recycled.

Recycling also creates new economic opportunities in urban environments. From material collections to processing to recycled product manufacturing, a growing recycling industry can mean mid-skill to high skill jobs in profitable businesses in every major urban center of the country. A study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance shows that for every 10,000 tons of material, landfills create one job while recycling can create as many as 35 jobs to process, transport and remanufacture new products.

To conclude, then, recycling is a proven and effective way for citizens and businesses to fight global warming. Recycled products mean less energy consumption, reduced costs, and create more jobs than trashing stuff. So if you’re not recycling everything you can – especially at work – roll up your sleeves and get down to basics. Your Mother will thank you, and so will your grandchildren’s grandchildren.

Recycling and Janet Schlarbaum

The Role of Biology in Environment

Author: Steve Evans

Biology is the study of life and comprises all levels from the molecular to the global. Biology is the study living organisms, their organization and their functions and biology is a large part of the way our environment evolved from simple organisms and is thus intimately part of our environment. Biology is a very broad field, covering the minute workings of chemical machines inside our cells, to broad scale concepts of ecosystems and global climate change. Biologists study subjects which range from intimate details of the human brain, the composition of our genes, and even the functioning of our reproductive system to the building blocks of the simplest organisms on earth which created our oxygen rich atmosphere capable of supporting higher life forms. Without biological processes you and I would not exist, nor the planet as we know it.

Biological systems in contrast to physical are vastly more complex, their function based on small numbers of units (atoms, molecules, cells) that are not at equilibrium. There are no biological laws of nature the way we find them in physics; the first and second law of thermodynamics, Heisenberg\’s uncertainty principle, Newton\’s law of gravity etc.

The supreme importance of the role of biology in environment can be seen if we consider biotechnology. Biotechnology, as Aldous Huxley foresaw in Brave New World (1932), can usher in as profound a revolution as industrialization did in the early 19th century. It will parallel vast other themes the expansion of artificial intelligence, the opening of the inner solar system to economic use, and much, much more.

Biologists tolerate a level of mystery in their work that would drive your average engineer or computer programmer crazy. Biologists can see that role of biology in environment has shaped our very nature and being. Just look at the human genome studies that have been done. The biologists have put together a complete rough draft of the human genome but they have little understanding of how those 40,000 or so genes work together and interact with our environment to make a human.

Biologists, geneticists, and doctors have had limited success in curing complex diseases such as cancer, HIV, and diabetes because traditional biology generally looks at only a few aspects of an organism at a time. Again, we would suggest that this is due to the role of biology in environment which is so complex that the unraveling of these interactions is only now beginning to be discovered.

Biological processes of course are consequences of physics and chemistry, which is why we require biology students to study the physical sciences. But organisms are also historical entities molded by their environment both physical and social, and that’s where the complexities arise.

Synthetic Biologists build artificial biological systems in an analogous way, using individual components such as single genes and enzymes for which the reactivity and the products formed are accurately known. Synthetic biology will catch up even faster when it appreciates role of biology in environment. Assembly of simple synthetic circuits using DNA fibers has been demonstrated.

Systems Biology is the application of mathematical/physical modeling to understanding the functions of biological processes. It describes a multi-component approach, combining theoretical modeling with real data about the interaction between genes and their products within the environment. Arising from this is the need to interpret large datasets of complex biological information. It seeks to integrate the knowledge derived from the study of individual components of cells to their performance as integral elements of cells, tissues and populations.

So, in summary we are suggesting that the role of biology in environment cannot be ignored at any level, nor could the reverse be true. Throughout evolution environment has influenced the development of biological systems which in their turn have fed back into the environment and changed the environment to the one in which we live today. The role of biology in environment is simply to have made the environment in which we all live our lives.

Janet Schlarbaum Biology in Environment

Recycle – Plastic Bottle Recycling Can Help the Environment

Janet Schlarbaum on why recycling helps the environment.

By Bryan Burbank

Plastic bottles are everywhere and they make it much easier for us to get the products we want in lighter bottle than glass. It is important to the environment that we recycle so that we can keep the plastic bottles out of our land fields. You need to remember that plastic does not go away it will sit in a field and never decompose and this can cause a lot of problems. Greenhouse Gas Emissions can be greatly improved when you recycle and the best part is you will be helping to improve the world we live in.

You will also save in many other ways as well such as oil because it takes oil to make those plastic bottles that we use. If instead of throwing them away so they can sit in a land field then you can reuse them and you will use less oil. This is a positive thing because there is only so much oil available to us. We can also reduce green house gasses because it takes more energy to make new bottles from oil then to recycle old bottles. Make sure you have a place in your house that you designated as a bin that the recycled bottles go and this will make it easier for all of your family to get involved.

Remember that recycling is a crucial part of saving the world we live in and with making a few changes it is easy to start recycling. It is important to make it fun and get your whole family involved so that they will be making a difference.

Posted by Janet schlarbaum

Environmental Pollution Still a Huge Concern – Drugs in Our Drinking Water

By William Lin
Posted by Janet Schlarbaum

Concern about our environment is a relatively new concept. It really came to the forefront during 1970’s. In fact before the year 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency didn’t even exist. And while there may have been laws in place designed to protect us from hazardous toxic waste, and other forms of industrial pollution they were difficult to enforce. Headlines during that decade were really frightening. Headlines like: High Smog Levels in Industrialized Cities May be the Cause of Increased Lung Disease. Hazardous Waste Buried under Love Canal, NY Leads to Entire City Being Evacuated. Despite the best efforts of our local governments and the EPA we are still seeing scary headlines like: drugs in our drinking water.

One of the reasons that we are seeing drugs found in US drinking water in the headlines is because, as of yet, there are no specific laws regarding the dumping of drugs in our drinking water or no regulations regarding the acceptable levels of each particular drug in the water that we drink. There is not even a way to enforce such laws if they were enacted because it is not the large drug manufacturing companies that are responsible for this type of pollution, it is us. We are the culprits. It is us and all the hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, farmers and veterinarians that contribute to this problem. All of us dispose of the drugs in much the same way. We flush them down the toilet or rinse them down the drain and then they enter our water system.

The water that flows through the sewer lines travels to a water treatment plant where first it is filtered and then it is treated with chemicals and dumped back into our lakes, rivers and reservoirs. Then, at least 10% of it is recycled back into the water we drink. No wonder we have drugs in our drinking water.

As a parent, reading headlines that cry out drugs found in US drinking water really frightens me. I want more than anything else to protect my family. But, how can I when my local water company can’t? Drugs are still flowing through the tap water that my kids drink everyday?

After doing some research I found that the best answer, at least for now, is to install a water filtration system into my home. And while there are many types of such water filtration systems available the best type to combat drugs in our drinking water is a carbon-ion filtration system.

The carbon-ion system works in two ways. First, the thick carbon block traps most of the pollutants found in tap water and then the ion exchange makes the chemicals and drugs in our drinking water inert.

Now, even when I read headlines saying drugs found in US drinking water, I feel a little safer. I know that I am doing all I can to protect my family. May be one day we will find a better way to dispose of our pharmaceuticals.

Janet Schlarbaum on why pollution is a problem to the environment. 

Posted by: Janet Schlarbaum

Author: nadia cherubin
How a positive spin is great on protecting the environment and experiencing life to the fullest while embracing the power of nature.

Centuries have passed while putting a positive spin on protecting the environment.

First and foremost, you’d want to prevent fires. especially forest fires by keeping it green from classic to elegant for industries that built our towns, communities and cities. Although, they say that coal, timbers, and glass all have played an important role into what we have begun and what we have to offer.
However, the beauty has evolved through towns and people have always sought new heights into protecting the environment to the highest point amidst the beauty by putting a positive spin on it. Meaning: high peaks and the highest point in the environment. So you’d want to make it a phenomenal view for nature watching in order to plan vacations and relax. first, you would have to keep everything right next to where you’d want to record everything happening in the environment to just keeping it fresh and clean.
You’d also want to multi-surface and multi-task. although, it’s a known fact that fresh plants make your environment gloomy and dreary and you wouldn’t want to leave the environment in perils. so, you’d definitely want to reshape the environment and just wouldn’t want to wait another minute for a bad look to come about.
However, putting a signature spin on protecting nature which changes a lot especially if someone else is trying to put negative spins on everything else around it because everyone knows that each winter blasts that we have, usually blankets the country and throughout the whole Tri-state area. Although, people have made too many priorities that weren’t kept when dealing with the environment.

for instance: Wintery precipitation is like this: how you pick your car, is like picking a crop and like paving away from what is reality and what’s not reality.

The cattle: Thinking of the cattle, farms, and crops you’ll need fresh crops with finishing touches on everything else around you in order to build the economy for consumer rights.

With tree recycling: You should remove all dead branches meaning you’ll need to landscape.

The mountains: Mountains make it an awesome place on the planet spectacular and want to explore the amazing outdoors and surroundings and you’d want to be able to enjoy the great outdoors in order to be able to have it where the animals and birds can breathe and run around.

However, having a positive spin on protecting the environment is a spirit of adventure with a bold new attitude and determination with a spiritual eloquence almost like a land of enchantment with the whole palm springs look which brings modern ingenuity. however, its a place where people might want to have a positive look on protecting the environment to where you can grow and maintain fresh crops in order to eat great and make the environment a special place to discover.

Although, a changing environment will continue to affect people in many different parts of the world in unique ways and statistics on the environment provides an excellent way for us to determine whether the environment is improving or worsening. humans are treating the environment better or worse than they have done in the past.

Although, pollution, hazardous waste, and many other environmental problems usually creates a major health threat for people around the world which is an environmental health organization that works with agencies in the developing world to try to eradicate harmful diseases. we can also make significant strides to improve the planet that we share by doing this.
VIP: We should recycle
-eliminate the use of electrical appliances for things that you can easily do by hand.
-Use cold water in the washer whenever possible
-don’t ever leave water running needlessly
-flush the toilet less often
-recycle cans, bottles, paper bags and definitely, recycle your christmas tree.

And last, but not least: teaching children t respect nature and the environment.

If we don’t do these steps and teach our children to do those things involving the environment and our surroundings and then we wouldn’t have a positive spin and it would continue to leave a negative spin on the world.

Janet Schlarbaum shares why recycling can help the environment.