Green (Living) Review

Why “Anti-Odor” Clothes Stink

A new study finds that silver nanoparticles used to keep clothes from smelling don’t remain long enough to work.

Bad buy: If it's labeled "anti-odor" or "anti-microbial," put it back on the rack. The next time you reach for that anti-odor shirt, consider the findings of a new study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Swiss researchers tested a bunch of clothes that contained silver nanoparticles, metal particles shrunk down to sizes one-billionth of one meter thin, put there to prevent odor-causing bacteria from proliferating while you sweat. They found that a large proportion of the treatments in some of these antibacterial products came out in the wash after only two launderings—wasting your money, and releasing a material into rivers and streams that's toxic to fish and other aquatic life.

The Details:
Swiss researchers tested nine commercially available textiles, made from cotton, polyester, nylon, Spandex, and other synthetics, that contained silver nanoparticles. Some of the fabrics were washed in detergent alone, others in detergent and bleach, after which the scientists analyzed the wastewater to see how much of the nano-scale silver had migrated out of the clothing. Four of the fabrics lost between 20 and 35 percent of their silver nanoparticles after two washes, but one fabric lost more than half. Fabric that was washed in both detergent and bleach released fewer silver nanoparticles than fabric washed in detergent alone, but, the authors suspect, those results may be skewed by the fact that the chemical reaction between silver, bleach, and detergents may have masked the amount of silver released from the clothing.

What It Means
All that money you’re spending on fancy “anti-odor” and “antimicrobial” workout clothes could be washing down the drain, quite literally. In a previous study, researchers at Arizona State found that nano-silver-treated socks had the same problem. They found that an average of half the nanoparticles embedded in the fabric floated away with the wash water.

Silver has been used for centuries as an antibacterial agent in surgical dressings and for other medical uses, and nanoparticles of silver are the most widely used form of nanotechnology in use today, says Todd Kuiken, PhD, research associate at the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN). “Silver’s antimicrobial property is one that suits a lot of different products, and companies pretty much run the gamut of how many consumer products they put it in.” PEN's database of consumer products that contain nanoparticles lists 150 different articles of clothing, mostly athletic clothes, socks, and gloves, that are treated with nano-silver because it kills the bacteria that cause odor. But, as this study suggests, the price you’re paying for this miraculous technology could be totally unjustified if most of it is getting washed away.

The next time you’re tempted to buy clothing labeled as “antibacterial,” “antimicrobial,” or “anti-odor,” pass it by. Even if it’s not treated with silver nanoparticles (which aren’t known to be harmful to humans but are highly toxic to aquatic organisms), it could be treated with an even more hazardous material, triclosan, a chemical that may lead to antibiotic resistance in humans and can react with water and sunlight to form the cancer-causing chemical dioxin. And who wants to be inhaling that while you’re trying to exercise?

Whole Foods will bring you groceries by bike

OK, I’ll admit right off the bat that I wasn’t so excited when my editors suggested I write about Whole Foods making deliveries by bike. Now affluent people who can’t be bothered to pick up their own groceries can have a slightly lower carbon impact — I mean, where’s the champagne!

But after I sat with this for a second, I decided there is reason to celebrate. Cargo-bike deliveries make a lot of sense for companies, even if they don’t care about the environment: They don’t get hung up in traffic, they don’t require parking spaces, they don’t guzzle fuel, they’re cheaper than delivery vans, they are easy to repair … The list could go on. But they are still pretty rare because, basically, change is hard.

Proof That Hiking Makes You Happier And Healthier

HIKING John Muir was onto something when he said, "In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks." Hikers battle bug bites, blisters and bruises for the sake of overcoming a challenge and enjoying some quality time with nature. But along with the snow-capped mountain tops and ocean views come an abundance of mental and physical perks.

Here's what hikers can teach the rest of us about leading a happier, healthier life.

Hikers are creative.

Forget the caffeine. Those looking for a brainpower boost need not look further than the closest trail. Research shows that spending time outdoors increases attention spans and creative problem-solving skills by as much as 50 percent. The authors of the study also point out that the results may have as much to do with unplugging from technology as they do spending time outside. "This is a way of showing that interacting with nature has real, measurable benefits to creative problem-solving," David Strayer, co-author of the study, tells the Wilderness Society.

Plus, it's not only the lack of technology and surplus of trees, sunshine and fresh air that contribute to this creativity boost in trail blazers. Researchers from Stanford University's Graduate School of Education found that walking gets the creative juices flowing far more than sitting.

Hikers are seriously fit.

Hitting the trail works out your body as much as it does your brain. Just one hour of trekking can burn well over 500 calories, depending on the level of incline and the weight of the pack you're carrying. Hiking is a great way to get a serious workout without putting too much pressure on your joints. "Trails are often softer on joints than asphalt or concrete," Caroline Stedman, a seasonal Park Ranger at northern Wisconsin's Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, tells The Huffington Post. "So I find myself feeling less stiff and creaky after a hike than a jog down a sidewalk."

If you head for the hills, weight loss results are even better. Not only are you burning some serious calories, but altitude itself has also proven a weight loss ally.

A taste of survival; Class teaches children how people from the past lived in the outdoors

Jay C. Hormel Nature Center Director/Naturalist Larry Dolphin pushes off in a canoe to demonstrate how to properly guide one around on the pond at the nature center Wednesday. -- Photos by Eric Johnson Executive Director Larry Dolphin’s voice could be heard, describing the different berries and wild grapes to a group of children at the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center.

When the children began asking if they could eat the wild grapes, nature center director Larry Dolphin responded with a smile, “They won’t be ready today.”

The nature center’s Heritage Survival Class started Monday and ends today. In the class, children ages 10-12 participated in a number of basic camping activities.

About 16 children participated and experienced activities like canoeing, fire-building, cooking lunch over a campfire, fishing, playing old-time games, candle-making and learning about the Native American “Ghost Dance” shirts by making their own out of paper during an art project.

They also learned to make arrowheads and throw atlatls — or spears — and listened to Minnesota storyteller and naturalist Kevin Strauss share history, folklore and tall tales.

Localization: for people and the Earth

The movement for localization is growing rapidly, worldwide. These international voices from the 2014 Economics of Happiness conference in Bangalore, India, succinctly tell us why globalization is so damaging, why localization is the most strategic antidote, and what we can do to help make the shift from global to local.

Elderly care specialist sets up heatwave neighborhood watch

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

National elderly at-home care company, Home Instead Senior Care, is urging people in communities across the UK to pop in on their elderly neighbors to check they are keeping safe and well during the prolonged heatwave.

As a nation we are much more aware of the health of our elderly during cold winter months and will regularly check up on their well-being, but it’s just as important that we consider how older people are fairing in the hotter temperatures we are currently experiencing.

The elderly are particularly vulnerable because they are unable to regulate their body temperature, medications can have a significant impact on this, especially when the temperature is warm during the day and carries on throughout the evening. Older people with dementia are most at risk as they can sometimes forget to do simple things such as eat and drink.

Home Instead has taken special measures to make their caregivers aware of these dangers and are ensuring that their clients are well prepared to cope during this type of weather.

Home Instead’s CEO, Trevor Brocklebank, mentions one recent case study from their Exeter & East Devon office, “Mark McGlade from our Exeter office found an elderly lady propped up against her door when he passed by her home, he went to see if she was alright. She was locked out and had been standing there for nearly four hours in the sweltering heat with no shade or water and was quite obviously distressed. After trying to get back into her home to no avail, Mark resorted to climbing in an open window. Once he was in, he gave her a large drink of cold water, opened all the windows and closed all the curtains to cool down the house, she couldn’t thank him enough.

“Although this an unusual example of the effects of heat, we’re calling for people across local communities to be extra vigilant about the wellbeing of their elderly neighbors, especially at this time of year.”

It is a disgrace to society when a commercial enterprise has to remind us to look after our (elderly) neighbors during times such as a heatwave to ensure that they are OK.

But, to a degree, this is nothing really new. It began, in the UK, during Thatcher's reign when communities were being destroyed deliberately and when elderly neighbors died and no one noticed until such a time that they were observing bluebottles coming our of the letterbox and the unbearable smell of decomposition.

There was a time when the elderly in a neighborhood were revered uncles and aunts – even though they were not, necessarily, related in any way – of the children growing up there and everyone made sure everyone else was OK. But now we rarely know who our neighbors are, often not even knowing their names or whatever, even if we live cheek by jowl to them in apartment blocks and one just passes them without as much as acknowledging each others' presence.

We don't often even dare to knock at a neighbor's door to ask too borrow something, not even a cup of sugar, for instance, though this was once more than common.

We spend our time on social media and on our cellphones and in the case of social media at times making “friends” with people hundreds and more miles away while we are afraid to make friends with those that live next door to us and in the same street. And then everyone talks about how sad it is that we no longer have communities. It is up to us to make them happen.

Turning his tiny ghost town green is this octogenarian’s dream

nipton-california-flickr-Hannah-Swithinbank What do you call 30-some people living in the same area? A town, a village, a hamlet? Whatever you call it, 81-year-old Gerald Freeman got it when he bought Nipton, Calif., three decades ago. Freeman’s goal is to make the community — located about an hour south of Vegas on the California–Nevada border — completely self-sustaining.

nipton-california-flickr-jasperdo Freeman installed four solar generators in 2010, which provide half of the town’s energy. He also planted eucalyptus trees for biomass, and hopes to add a hydrogen system unless his health gets in the way (he’s been diagnosed with congestive heart and renal failures).

Retro is the New Recyclable

Send us your unwanted electronics

It’s amazing how electronics have changed over the years, from 8-track players to iPads and rotary dials to cell phones (don’t fret younger readers – we’ve provided some Wikipedia links so you can learn what those devices are).

In fact, it seems as soon as you buy any form of electronic, it becomes obsolete by the time you break the seal on the package. However, while there may be little to compare between generations of consumer electronics, most of them have at least one thing in common – they can be recycled.

At Waste Management, we’ve been focused on recycling electronic waste (known in the business as e-waste) for some time. One of our branches, the WM Product Recovery Group, is dedicated to keeping electronics out of landfills and putting them back into an environment where they can be reused or recycled. This group specializes in paying you – the recycler – for your unwanted cell phones, laser and ink jet cartridges, tablets, laptops, eReaders and so on.

Certified by various organizations overseeing environmental stewardship – eStewards, R2, RIOS, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 – the Product Recovery Group has developed its business to preserve data integrity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the need within manufacturing to excavate raw materials for the development of electronics. Everybody wins.

When it comes to bigger organizations, Waste Management also manages end-of-life electronics through a national network of state-of-the-art processing facilities, which are certified to e-Stewards’ standards with complete transparency over the recycling process. To collect those items, our teams help organize e-waste collection events, where anyone in the vicinity can drop their old electronics off for safe recycling.

This tactic has proven to be so successful that colleges and universities – many of which have developed climate action plans and zero-waste goals – are developing their own programs for students.

An example of that is the University of San Diego, which has been doing good for the environment through an e-waste collection program, and turning a profit doing so. Three years ago, the University opened its Electronics Recycling Center (ERC), an e-waste collection facility that’s open to the public. Since then, it’s collected over 900,000 pounds of electronics, generating more than $200,000 in gross revenue.

Source: 3BL Media

Spices Battle Bugs

Spice-rack favorites battle foodborne pathogens, including E.coli.

Oregano leads the list of botanicals with the highest ratings in antimicrobial benefits.

Herbs and spices like oregano, thyme, cinnamon and clove do more than add pleasing flavors and aromas to familiar foods. The oils from these plants, or compounds extracted from those oils, pack a powerful, antimicrobial punch – strong enough to help quell such foodborne pathogens as Escherichia coli O157:H7.

That's according to Agricultural Research Service chemist Mendel Friedman, who several years ago evaluated the bacteria-bashing power of these and dozens of other plant compounds.

Now, some of the compounds that Friedman and co-investigators determined were the strongest combatants of E. coli, Salmonella enterica, Campylobacter jejuni or Listeria monocytogenes in the 2002 study are being tapped for new research focused on food safety.

For example, Friedman, research leader Tara H. McHugh and other scientists at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California, are evaluating the highest-ranking botanical bactericides as potential ingredients in what are known as edible films.

A thin, pliable, edible film for the future might be made of puréed spinach spiked with carvacrol, the compound responsible for oregano's ranking as a top fighter of E. coli in the Friedman study.

How old paper can be transformed into a material strong enough to build walls

Rethinking the materials that make your house: mixing shredded paper with a gluing agent, can create a new material as strong as MDFUsing materials more wisely is important in an time where society faces serious issues with the world's depleting resources. The UK manages to recycle around 70% of its waste paper and card into new paper products. However, the environmental cost of the wet pulping processes required is not as far below the cost of producing new paper as people might think.

Anthony Crabbe, a reader at Nottingham Trent University's School of Art and Design, had been investigating ways of processing waste paper in its dry state to improve the management of water and increase the lifetime of paper products.

If shredded paper could be coated and pressed together using techniques similar to those in the manufacture of engineered woods like plywood and chipboard, then the resulting recycled paper products would have much longer lifetimes than, say, recycled packaging.

After initial research, we discovered that by combining a mixture of long strands of shredded paper with a sodium silicate gluing agent, which protects against flame and moisture, we could create a new composite which is as strong as MDF (medium density fibreboard).

This paper laminate composite is like chipboard: suitable for interior use, and can be sealed with paint or varnish if used in damp environments. The interior grade version of it can also be recycled back to shredded paper.

The composite is created by mixing the two materials at a ratio of 80% paper and 20% sodium silicate. They are then compressed at high pressures at 90C. To further exploit the material's high stiffness, the panel is then moulded into a ribbed pattern that greatly increases its load bearing capacity.

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