Free fuel stop and tune up for cyclists in Canterbury

There is no such thing as a free lunch or so we are led to believe, but for the lucky cyclists of Canterbury ’s Pilgrim’s Way Primary School this is not the case. On the morning of Tuesday 22nd September all school cyclists will be offered a free Sustrans Bike It Breakfast.

In a time of economic consciousness we are all becoming more aware of where our money is spent and increasingly searching for ways to save. Bike It Breakfast not only offers a free breakfast, Sustrans Bike It Officers will also be on hand to offer a free bike check service to ensure bikes are road safe.

Taking place at 8am at Pilgrims Way Primary School , Canterbury is one of the latest areas to join Sustrans Bike It scheme, managed by Sustrans, a leading project in England and Wales encouraging children and young people to choose two wheels instead of four for the journey to school. Bike It gives children the skills and confidence to travel independently and gives parents the peace of mind to let them.

Sustrans Bike It Officer David Robert organised the Breakfast, “I am delighted that Canterbury Council has joined the Bike It scheme which aims to increase the number of children cycling or walking to school. We are extending this service by offering all the school’s cyclists to attend Bike It Breakfast and encourage parents to join the growing number of children choosing to cycle.”

Bike it offers more ways to save in terms of the economy and environment. It is estimated that obesity will cost our environment an estimated £50 billion by 2050. By choosing to walk and cycle we are opting fro the healthy choice, a choice that will also benefit our environment by helping to significantly reduce the amount of carbon emissions produced.

Now in its fifth year, Sustrans Bike It project works with over 400 schools and over 89,000 children and young people across England and Wales. It works directly with pupils, parents and staff to help them overcome whatever it is that is preventing them from cycling to school – by organising cycle training, helping to install new bike sheds, contributing to classroom work and providing information about safe routes to schools.

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Studies conclude that urine use in the garden is a good green thing

Recognizing the value of a free, and abundant, fertilizer for your garden

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Wow! It once again required a study – or studies even – it would appear to prove something that our ancestors have known all the time. One of these days those epidemics will be able to invent the wheel even, of that I am sure.

Every time almost when the subject of urine in the garden is raised someone will claim that it is unsanitary to do so. However, it has been done for time immemorial and the Center for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales has been doing it ever since it was founded.

The unsanitary comment is a common statement, as said, when the subject of huma waste comes up but urine is a little different here than other human waste – if you know what I mean. I fact urine can be used as a disinfectant for cuts, for instance, if nothing else is at hand and there are other uses too for it.

Urine is a valuable organic fertilizer but it appears that Americans and some others are way behind in recognizing the agricultural value of urine.

For more than a decade, 130 households in Stockholm, Sweden, have collected their urine – amounting to nearly 40,000 gallons of it per year – and trucked it off to be sprayed on crops. More than 600,000 Chinese households in at a large number of the country's provinces use special urine-diverting toilets to fertilize crops such as sugarcane, watermelons, and peanuts. Farming communities in many African countries have also taken up the practice of collecting urine. And in the central Mexican village of Tepoztlán, an environmental group wheels a urine-collecting porta-potty to fiestas and uses the cache on local fields.

Human urine is a very high-quality fertilizer. It is so high-quality, in fact, that it is reckoned that a single person's urine would be enough to fertilize up to one tenth of an acre of vegetables for an entire year. There is a certain grossness factor that would undoubtedly turn some people off of the whole idea of using urine on their veggie garden, but this is not such an outlandish idea at all and before we destine this for the rubbish heap, let us look at what is really going on here.

Let us, for a moment, set aside the issue of bodily fluids and letting them loose in the garden  and look at what good fertilizers consist of. On any bag of either synthetic or organic fertilizer you would buy, there are three numbers that are commonly known as the NPK ratio.

N = nitrogen, which is important for stem and leaf development,
P = phosphorous, which aids root development, as well as flower and fruit production, and
K = potassium, which provides for general overall plant health and disease-resistance.

While I do not have the NPK ratio for human urine to hand, if indeed there is one, it is known that urine it is high in nitrogen, and also provides good doses of phosphorous and potassium.

Urine in fact was also collected for a different purpose in the 16th century in England, for example, and that was for the making of gunpowder. The crystallized urine is basically potassium-nitrate and equal to saltpeter. 

In a 2007 Washington Post story they followed a study in which human urine was used to fertilize cabbage (cabbage was chosen because it requires a lot of nitrogen for strong growth). The study found that the cabbages fertilized with human urine were larger at harvest, grew to their maximum size more quickly, and suffered less insect damage than cabbages grown with conventional fertilizers.

One concern that has been raised about using urine as a fertilizer, especially for edible crops, is that any pharmaceuticals that a person is taking could be passed along to the soil and plants via the urine. In that 2007 Washington Post story one of the leading scientists in the cabbage study was quoted in saying that any pathogens that survived in the urine would have to battle it out with microorganisms that already exist in the soil. He also said that, most likely, those pathogens would lose.

Tips for Using Urine as Fertilizer

It might probably best to dilute one's urine by mixing it with water. A 50/50 mix would probably be best.

Do not apply urine directly to the plants. Use it to water the soil around the plants instead. Applied to the plants it would burn the leaves and destroy the crop.

If you'd rather not use urine to fertilize your garden, you can add it to the compost pile.

This idea may not be for everyone, for some may simply shy away from it for “yuck” reasons and such, but it's an interesting concept, and human urine as a possible option for farmers and gardeners who are low on cash.

In addition to that it is certainly better than using chemical fertilizers that anyway are nothing but a chemical cocktail of NPK.

© 2009
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International Concern over Alleged Illegal Zoo Trade in Indonesia

International wildlife charity the Born Free Foundation has joined ProFauna Indonesia in calling for a full investigation into allegations of illegal trading of wildlife products by several prominent zoos in the country. The case of the confiscation operation on the protected animal parts in Jagakarsa, Jakarta (7 August 2009) has been developed by the authorities. The Forestry Department held the second case presentation on 10 September 2009. The government agency strongly alleged that the illegal wildlife crime involved three ex-situ conservation institutions. The documents seized from the suspect showed that the three institutions: Indonesia Safari Game Park (Taman Safari Indonesia/ TSI), Pematang Siantar Zoological Park (Taman Hewan Pematang Siantar), and Bandung Zoological Garden (Kebun Binatang Bandung/ KBB), were allegedly involved in the illegal trade of endangered animals. The documents recorded the transactions between the suspect and the institutions trading these following endangered species: Sumatran tiger, orang-utan, Malayan tapir, sun bear, leopard cat, bird of paradise, and cuscus.

The alleged involvement of these zoos is horrifyingly ironic that the ex-situ conservation institutions must have protected and preserved the endangered animals. According to the 1990 Wildlife Act concerning the Conservation of the Natural Resources and Ecosystem, “Every one is prohibited to keep, own, raise, transport, and trade the protected animals including its skin, body or other parts, by-products, as well as to export (inside and outside Indonesia)” Offenders are liable to a maximum five year prison term and 100 millions IDR (10,000 USD).

The most recent case of illegal wildlife trade happening in a zoo was the death of a Sumatran female tiger in Rimbo Zoo, Jambi, Sumatera (22 August 2009). The poor tiger was murdered, skinned and stolen, only its intestines remaining in the cage.

The Coordinator of Forum against the Illegal Wildlife Trade, Irma Hermawati, SH, stated “We applaud the good job of the Forestry Department team that have succeeded in revealing the illegal wildlife case. The Forum has been suspecting the involvement of some zoos’ corrupt officers in trading the protected wildlife. Zoos management must be strictly monitored to curb such wildlife crimes and prevent the country loss from the illegal wildlife trade.”

The international world also criticises the alleged involvement of the zoos in the illegal wildlife trade. Andrina Murrell from Born Free Foundation said, “Born Free Foundation, international conservation and animal welfare organisation which supports ProFauna, is shocked yet unsurprised to hear about zoos trading their wild animals for profit. On one hand these zoos are claiming to preserve and conserve wildlife yet on the other they are exploiting the animals and encouraging a trade which devastates wild populations. This trade needs to be exposed and stopped.”

ProFauna Indonesia, a wildlife protection organization in Indonesia, has been advocating the government to inspect all zoos in Indonesia and check the numbers of the animals kept there. ProFauna Campaign Officer, Radius Nursidi added, “ProFauna strongly recommends the government to put moratorium on Indonesian zoos. The government should not permit any new zoo and should instead focus on assisting and monitoring the present zoos.”

ProFauna Indonesia (www.profauna.org) is a wildlife protection organization in Indonesia established since 1994. With the help of it volunteers all over Indonesia, ProFauna works through campaigns, education, trade survey, and wildlife rescue.

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BYO Lunches on some BA flights

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

British Airways (BA) has announced that it will stop serving meals on most of its European routes. There will not even be a “trolley service” available where people can purchase sandwiches and drinks like on budget airlines the likes of Ryan Air and Easyjet. So it is BYO with passengers having have to bring their own sandwiches and such.

While this, presently, is only going to affect economy class passengers on European routes it may, I assume end up also in the other classes, such as business class. If that is the case that would not be a pad move as I do not think that on a 2 hour flight it is really necessary to serve lunch.

I find it very doubtful that anyone will require food served by the airlines on such short haul flights such as,s ay, from London to Frankfurt, for example. People are hardly going to faint from starvation on such a short trip. Lack of water could be a cause but not food.

BYO lunches should become much more of a routine for air travelers, at least on short haul flights, as much as for office workers and students. It would save a great deal on packaging considering the individual portion packs of the various things, not counting the plastic sandwich packs and such.

Also, and most people, of that I am sure, do not know this: When a flight is canceled at a relatively short notice the food destined for that flight has to be destroyed by the catering company supplying the airline. Such waste just cannot goo on and can also be prevented by the BYO lunches operations.

I do not want to talk about flying per se as it is not a very environmentally friendly way anyway but the food waste issue here is one that can be sorted by going, at least on short haul, to a BYO food system.

While BA is not abandoning the meals service on the European flights because of environmental concerns and the concern of waste reduction – for in  truth it is all about saving money in general – it has that good side effect and hence we can welcome it.

© 2009
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Totem poles and plants to calm traffic in a Manchester street

(Sustrans ) Neighbours in Manchester will re-design their road this weekend in a groundbreaking attempt to banish speeding traffic and re-create a safer, more attractive street.

Penn Street in Manchester is the first of 11 DIY Streets pilot schemes launching across England and Wales to enter its construction phase.

Its residents will spend this Saturday and Sunday (September 19 and 20) erecting totem poles at their street’s entrance to narrow the T junction and installing plants further along the road to act as chicanes.

The construction follows two years of community meetings led by sustainable transport charity Sustrans, and supported by Manchester City Council. The residents’ success in slowing down traffic and stopping shoppers using the street for free parking - in conjunction with the relevant authorities - could see the DIY Streets project rolled out in cities throughout the UK.

Penn Street resident Tracy Ward said: “Everyone I’ve spoken to is just waiting in anticipation and really eager to get cracking so we can change the street for the better. There’s a real sense of optimism that we can sort out the traffic problems on our street and this is spilling over into other communities who are waiting to see what the outcome of all our work will be.”
Sustrans has launched a survey on its website www.sustrans.org.uk this month to find out the demand for similar schemes to Penn Street.

Katherine Rooney, Sustrans Senior Project Officer for DIY Streets, said: “The residents’ enthusiasm has made this scheme possible and we’re keen to hear from communities across the UK who want to sort out their street’s problems – whether it’s over rat-running, nuisance parking, litter or dodgy pavements.”

Councillor Richard Cowell, Manchester City Council’s Executive Member Environment, said: “This is an innovative scheme which has brought residents together to try to make their streets safer and environmentally more attractive. This is slightly different to the normal traffic calming schemes that are in place across the city and we look forward to seeing how successful the scheme turns out to be.”

Construction work will take place in Penn Street on Saturday and Sunday (Sept 19 and 20) from 10am to 4pm.

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TERRACYCLE WASTES NO TIME IN EXPANDING TO LONDON

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

NEW YORK September 16, 2009: TerraCycle, a world leader in the field of ‘up-cycling’ where difficult to recycle waste material is turned into affordable, eco-friendly products, will today announce at a reception attended by the Mayor of London in New York, it has chosen London as the location to expand into the UK and Europe. Think London, the foreign direct investment agency for London, worked together with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to further strengthen London’s position as a centre of excellence for sustainable businesses.

The announcement in New York coincides with Think London and UKTI’s North American business roadshow entitled the ‘Route to 2012’. The roadshow is aimed at highlighting the business opportunities open in London to North American companies, especially around the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

Founded in 2001 by college freshman Tom Szaky, TerraCycle focuses on building a new, more responsible way of doing business. In its native US, it has revolutionised the industry by making eco-friendly and affordable products from waste materials. On announcing its expansion in to the UK, TerraCycle will also reveal details of its first commercial partnership, with Kraft Foods UK which will see Kenco and Tassimo coffee packaging diverted away from landfill.

Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, comments, “It is with great excitement that we’re announcing our expansion; having grown rapidly in the US, we wanted to come to London and use the city as a launch pad to build our business across the UK and Europe. With a partnership already agreed with Kraft Foods UK we hope to quickly raise consumer awareness in the UK around up-cycling.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "It is not just a great compliment, but also a wise decision for TerraCycle to choose London as its base for European expansion. Our commitment to becoming one of the planet's most environmentally friendly cities means we will create a skills base in green technologies that will be the envy of the world, and a magnet for other companies taking advantage of emerging environmental markets.

"On top of that TerraCycle and its staff will receive a warm welcome in our great city and all the help needed to ensure immediate success. Despite the current economic climate we are continuing to invest heavily in our infrastructure, and in our people, to provide a highly trained pool of talent for the capital's businesses. I'm confident that the future is extremely bright for innovative companies with global ambitions, who choose to invest in London."

Michael Charlton, Chief Executive of Think London, said: “With $100m being invested in new waste technologies London was clearly the natural choice for TerraCycle to expand their operations into the UK. London offers a wealth of business opportunities in the sustainable sector, and the current market conditions are creating unique investment opportunities in London now. In fact there has never been a better time to invest in London, with favourable exchange rates against the dollar, and a wider and deeper pool of available labour in London.

British Consul General Sir Alan Collins said: "London won the right to host the 2012 Olympics in competition with some of the world's great cities, and US companies are already showing a very strong interest in getting involved. I hope that those of you who have a successful business in the US will register on CompeteFor.com and look to locate your operation in the UK to better position yourselves to secure Olympic business. I urge you to take advantage of UK Trade & Investment’s support to help you realize your 2012 business ambitions. Once you have done this you will find that the UK is a location that is second to none in enabling your company to showcase its capabilities, as well as providing a launch pad into the rest of Europe."

Over the last decade, Think London has helped more than 1,400 companies from 44 countries set up in London. These include companies from the sustainable sector such as Accord Global Environment Technology (AGET) Asia Carbon Exchange Pte Ltd, Better Generation, Closed Loop London, EarthTradeWater, Enecore, Ralos, Recycle Bank, Reliance Fibre and Tesla.

The ‘Route to 2012’ is a business roadshow being hosted by Think London, in partnership with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), aimed at highlighting the business opportunities London has to offer, specifically around the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, and the 2012 Games legacy for those companies wishing to consider the longer term opportunities in London. The first leg of the roadshow took place in June 2009 and took in the cities of Palo Alto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle and Dallas. This successfully generated over 30 new business leads. The aim of the second leg of the road show is to engage with companies from the sustainable and digital sectors in and around the cities of Atlanta; Washington DC, New York and Boston. The roadshow will culminate with an event in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics. UK Trade & Investment is working with Think London on the ‘Route to 2012’ roadshow by hosting events, offering key note addresses and delivering the broader UK messages for US companies.

Created in 2000, the role of the Mayor of London is to promote economic development and wealth creation, social development, and the improvement of the environment, in the UK's capital city. The Mayor chairs several boards that deliver services for London including the transport and police authorities and sets out plans and policies covering: transport, planning and development, housing, economic development, regeneration culture, health and the environment. http://www.london.gov.uk. Unfortunately, the current Mayor has just caused some controversy in that he has come out against teleconferencing and in support of physical conferences, which, more often than not, involve travel.

Think London is the foreign direct investment agency for London. They connect international businesses to London, helping them set up, succeed and grow. Think London is a not-for-profit, private-public partnership delivering expertise and advice to international businesses.

TerraCycle (www.terracycle.net) represents a new generation of company, putting as much emphasis on its social and environmental impact as its profits. In 2001, college freshman Tom Szaky founded TerraCycle in hopes of building a new, more responsible way of doing business. Since then, TerraCycle has revolutionized the industry by making eco-friendly and affordable products from waste materials. TerraCycle provides jobs in the inner-city, provides free fundraisers for schools and non-profits and inspires kids nationwide to make a difference locally and globally. Join the TerraCycle eco-revolution by signing up for our free fundraising collection programs where we pay you for packaging like drink pouches, yogurt cups and more. To learn more about joining a TerraCycle Brigade, go to www.terracycle.net/brigades.

It is great to see that TerraCycle has finally made it across the Pond and that we will see a reduction in non-recyclable waste such as the coffee pouches and packs from Kenco and Tassimo into snazzy products rather than having such things go into landfills.

One can but wish TerraCycle all the best in their endeavor and I look forward to seeing many more companies join the effort and reduction of their environmental footprint as far as waste is concerned by joining with TerraCycle and their upcycling ventures.

We, in the UK, can sure do with TerraCycle over here as there is a mass of non-recyclables that TerraCycle is known to be able to upcycle successfully.

Welcome to Britain, folks!

© 2009
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Peru makes a big statement about reusing rather than recycling of electronics

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A lot is being talked about how reusing items is usually greener than recycling, and the more an item can be reused, the better.

This is definitely the case for electronics, since throwing them out or even trying to recycle them leads to environmental harm. One nation, it would appear, may just be a leader for this green practice, and that nation is Peru in South America.

Electronics shipped off to developing nations for "recycling" are often still perfectly good and usable, and often end up being broken up in a manner that is neither healthy for the environment nor for those doing the breaking up, the recycling.

A study called "Product or Waste? Importation and End-of-Life Processing of Computers in Peru," and reported at Greener Computing, found that that in Peru imported electronics do not go straight to e-waste dumps to be broken up for recycling but rather 85% of discarded computers sent to the country are reused instead of recycled.

While many countries certainly do not practice this kind of sorting and reuse, it is a practice that could certainly help mitigate the impacts of e-waste in developing nations and should be encouraged – alongside, of course, far better reuse, repair, and recycling practices in the developed nations where the e-waste shipments originate.

Why can we not for that at the country of origin, so to speak? Why can we not refurbish and reuse those computers wherever they are sent from? This could indeed be possible if we would not rely on Microsoft Windows and its need to have lots of memory and powerful processors but instead would migrate over to Open Source operating systems that are not power hungry such as Linux in it various guises.

It is my belief that such e-waste should first of not be seen as waste and secondly should be repaired and refurbished, where necessary, for reuse in the developed nations themselves. It can be done but we must rethink our use and our attachment to proprietary software.

The United States is the primary source of used PCs imported to Peru. Analysis of shipment value (as measured by trade statistics) shows that 87−88% of imported used computers had a price higher than the ideal recycle value of constituent materials. The official trade in end-of-life computers is thus driven by reuse as opposed to recycling.

This starkly underscores both the wastefulness of the US when it comes to electronics, and the great benefits of reusing products instead of recycling them. If other areas where electronics are recycled in toxic ways are helped to create a system for tracking incoming electronics as Peru has developed, perhaps we would see a drastic reduction in e-waste and pollution associated with unregulated e-waste processing.

I am also certain that we can find the same in other developed countries such as Britain and Germany, as an example. That is to say that perfectly good computers and peripherals are being sent abroad as e-waste simply because they have become, thanks to Microsoft and other proprietary software makers, “obsolete”.

But what does being “obsolete” mean as far as computers are concerned?

Primarily it means that those computers can no longer run the latest proprietary software from either Microsoft or other companies and hence upgrades are necessary and, as it is often cheaper, for companies and government at least, to buy new rather than to have refurbished those computers end up in the trash.

The same machines can, however, still can run full tilt and work well also in industry and government with Open Source software in general and operating system specifically and there is no need to discard them.

But very few companies and agencies seem to be prepared to go and use Open Source and hence we end up with all those waste PCs and such.

Time to rethink...

© 2009
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World bank proves Fonterra's claims a sham

Auckland, September 2009 (Greenpeace New Zealand) – The World Bank has suspended funding to Fonterra’s palm kernel supplier, Wilmar International, due to environmental and humanitarian concerns.

Last week Fonterra claimed Wilmar was a reputable producer of palm kernel expeller (PKE) which is used as a feed for New Zealand’s dairy herd.

Fonterra sustainability manager John Hutchings told Radio New Zealand: “They [Wilmar] have been working very hard to ensure that all of their mills and plantations are RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certified, and they have almost completed that task.”

“Fonterra has either not done its homework or it doesn’t care about the illegal and immoral activities of a business partner. Fonterra can no longer claim ignorance of what Wilmar and the palm industry is doing to supply palm based animal feed to New Zealand and has no choice but to stop all imports immediately.” said Simon Boxer, Greenpeace New Zealand senior climate campaigner.

Greenpeace is also calling on John Key to stop the imports of palm kernel animal feed into New Zealand and on the Indonesian Government to implement an immediate moratorium on forest and peatland destruction for the sake of climate stability, biodiversity and to protect indigenous peoples’ land rights.

Fonterra’s half-owned subsidiary, RD1, has a joint venture with Wilmar, which is the world’s largest trader of palm oil’s and kernel. It has a documented reputation for rainforest destruction, illegal burning and creating social conflicts over community lands.

But the World Bank says on the back of concerns about Wilmar, it has decided to halt all new International Finance Corporation (IFC) investments in palm oil and review existing investments, due to environmental and social concerns.

“Only three of Wilmar’s mills had RSPO certification, representing a minute amount of certified PKE, and the majority of its plantations had no certification at all”, said Boxer

Imports of PKE have increased from 400 tonnes to 1.1 million tonnes per year in the last decade. The secretary general of the RSPO, Dr Vengata Rao, quoted in a recent Sunday Star Times expose said “certainly very little expeller cake coming into New Zealand last year would have been RSPO certified at all”.

The World Bank will suspend funding of the oil palm sector pending the development of safeguards to ensure that lending doesn't cause social or environmental harm, according to a letter by World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

A recent internal audit found that IFC funding of the Wilmar Group, a plantation developer, violated the IFC's own procedures, allowing commercial concerns to trump environmental and social standards. The audit's findings were championed by environmental and indigenous rights' groups who have criticised World Bank support for industrial oil palm development which they say has driven large-scale destruction of rainforests in Indonesia, boosting greenhouse gas emissions, endangering rare and charismatic species of wildlife, including the orangutan, and displacing forest communities.

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Old technology vs new: Carrier pigeon beats broadband service

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Carrier pigeon beats South African broadband service and that by a very long shot.

Winston, the pigeon took two hours to carry the memory stick 60 miles - in the same time the ADSL had sent just about sent 4% of the data.

The company that conducted the test did this in order to be able to complain as to bad service and such but there is a limit to what can be done with broadband (ADSL) depending on the wiring systems used and distance to telephone exchange.

In fact, unless you have rather high-speed, very high-speed, ADSL transmitting some GB over the wire does take an enormous amount of time for, as for instance in the case of the connection that I have, a 1MB (faster speed not possible as copper wire lines), the download speeds never exceed 120/122KB/s which means that downloading the ISO to a DVD, for instance has, once, taken a whole day, nigh on.

So, the problem is not only found in South Africa but also in the UK and let us not talk of the USA where many people still are nowhere near being able to get broadband.

Not all, as we can, yet again see, modern technology is superior to the old ways.

While it is true that a carrier pigeon can get lost, attacked by a bird of prey, shot by someone, or what-have-you, the fact remains that in some case such means of communications and transportation of information still has its uses.

And this, let me add, does not just apply to things such as the above matter but also to other things.

In many instances now horses are used again in forestry for the extraction of timber and many other old methods and technologies, combined with modern ways, are being used, including sailing ships again for certain cargoes.

So, in conclusion, let me suggest here that old and old-fashioned is not always out-of-date and useless.

© 2009
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Diverse Health and Environmental Coalition Calls for Sweeping Changes in U.S. Chemical Safety Law

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition Releases Comprehensive Reform Platform

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

WASHINGTON, DC, August 2009 -- A broad coalition of health and environmental organizations unveiled today a set of key requirements for reforming the nation's antiquated chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The coalition, called Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, includes state and national environmental groups, associations of health professionals, advocates for health-affected individuals and environmental justice organizations.

"Our organizations representing more than four million Americans have come together to demand fundamental changes in the system our country uses to ensure that the tens of thousands of chemicals produced and used every day are safe," said Andy Igrejas, director of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition.

"The 33-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act is badly broken," said Dr. Richard Denison, senior scientist with Environmental Defense Fund. "By failing to identify, let alone address, the long and growing list of chemicals in everyday products that we now know can harm people and the environment, TSCA has forced states, businesses, workers and consumers to try to act on their own to address what should be a national priority."

The U.S. Congress is beginning to consider changes to TSCA, with amending legislation expected to be introduced this fall.

"Emerging science increasingly links exposure to toxic chemicals to the rising incidence of serious and chronic health problems among Americans," said Rebecca Clouse, RN, Environmental Health Liaison for the American Nurses Association. "Adoption of our platform for reform would transform TSCA into a law that prevents toxic chemical exposures before they occur."

Key elements of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families platform include:

Immediately initiate action on chemicals we already know are extremely dangerous.
Persistent, bioaccumulative toxicants (PBTs) to which people could be exposed should be phased out of commerce. Exposure to other toxic chemicals, like formaldehyde, that have already been extensively studied, should be reduced to the maximum extent feasible.
Require basic information to identify additional chemicals of concern.
Chemical manufacturers should be held responsible for the safety of their products, and should be required to provide full information on the health and environmental hazards associated with their chemicals. The public, workers, and businesses should have full access to this information.
Protect all people and vulnerable groups, using the best science.

Chemicals should meet a standard of safety for all people, including children, pregnant women, and workers. The extra burden of toxic chemical exposure on people of color, low-income and indigenous communities must be reduced. The development and use of information gleaned from bio-monitoring should be expanded.

The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families platform is available at: www.SaferChemicals.org

A Platform for Reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act

A reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) would serve as the backbone of a sound and comprehensive chemicals policy that protects public health and the environment, while restoring the luster of safety to U.S. goods in the world market. Any effective reform of TSCA should:

Immediately Initiate Action on the Worst Chemicals: Persistent, bioaccumulative toxicants (PBTs) are uniquely hazardous. Any such chemical to which people could be exposed should be phased out of commerce. Exposure to other toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde, that have already been extensively studied, should be reduced to the maximum extent feasible.
Require Basic Information for All Chemicals: Manufacturers should be required to provide basic information on the health hazards associated with their chemicals, how they are used, and the ways that the public or workers could be exposed.
Protect the Most Vulnerable: Chemicals should be assessed against a health standard that explicitly requires protection of the most vulnerable subpopulations. That population is likely to usually be children, but it could also be workers, pregnant women, or another vulnerable population.
Use the Best Science and Methods: The National Academy of Sciences' recommendations for reforming risk assessment at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should be adopted. Regulators should expand development and use of information gleaned from “biomonitoring,” the science of detecting human chemical contamination, to inform and impel efforts to reduce these exposures.
Hold Industry Responsible for Demonstrating Chemical Safety: Unlike pharmaceuticals, chemicals are currently presumed safe until proven harmful. The burden of proving harm falls entirely on EPA. Instead, chemical manufacturers should be responsible for demonstrating the safety of their products.
Ensure Environmental Justice: Effective reform should contribute substantially to reducing the disproportionate burden of toxic chemical exposure placed on people of color, low-income people and indigenous communities.
Enhance Government Coordination: The EPA should work effectively with other agencies, such as FDA, that have jurisdiction over some chemical exposures. The ability of the states to enact tougher chemical policies should be maintained and state/federal cooperation on chemical safety encouraged.
Promote Safer Alternatives: There should be national support for basic and applied research into green chemistry and engineering, and policy should favor chemicals and products that are shown to be benign over those with potential health hazards.
Ensure the Right to Know: The public, workers, and the marketplace should have full access to information about the health and environmental hazards of chemicals and the way in which government safety decisions are made.

As someone from outside the USA it always amazes me how many harmful and outright dangerous chemicals are permitted in the United States which have been outlawed and banned years ago in Britain and later by the European Union.

BPA, for instance, is one example. While Canada immediately outlawed it and with it all Nalgene bottles of the time the US FDA announced that it saw no danger in this chemical that is known hormone disrupter and known to be leaching into foods and drinks from polycarbonate bottles and the linings of tin cans, and declared it safe for use in the USA. No doubt, as in so many other instances, aided by some inducements from the chemical industry.

In the same way as the factor that health care is universally available and free – to a degree – in Britain I am always again glad to live here and not in places where (1) the agencies care more about the big industries than the people and (2) where health care has to be bought at high expense and where the insurance companies call the shots and  set the tune.

© 2009
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