slamboard

Leaving a used item at a drop-off box that has the word recycling written on it is technically not recycling. I was shocked to find out just how much of the electronic waste generated by developed countries ends up being shipped to a poorer country where the components are dealt with in an irresponsible way by underpaid workers who toil in an unsafe environment.

This issue is not addressed in the press release that I have read today. I can only assume that Sony is no more responsible than most other large corporations with regard to this practice. If anybody can point me to some source stating where and how these Sony products are going to be recycled, I would be happy to comment on it.

I want to present this press release to my readers. I hope it sparks some interest with regard to the Kyoto Accord. Much of the media focus in relation to carbon emissions focuses on political wrangling. In the end though, it is up to industries to find ways to practice what the politicians are preaching…

BRITISH GAS LAUNCHES GREENEST ENERGY TARIFF

9 August 2007: British Gas has announced it is launching two new green energy tariffs, Zero Carbon, which will be the greenest tariff available on the domestic market and Future Energy. British Gas has launched the tariffs, in response to the increasing demand for green energy products.

Householders signing up to the Zero Carbon tariff will:
• reduce their household energy carbon emissions to zero through Kyoto compliant offset schemes which will meet the new Defra requirements
• help fund a direct increase in investment in renewable energy generated in the UK
• contribute to the new British Gas green fund which will:
o invest in developing new renewable technologies such as wave power
o oversee a programme to help schools in the UK reduce their CO2 emissions

Gearóid Lane, Managing Director British Gas New Energy said,”Our new tariff responds to consumer demand for truly green energy solutions. It is essential that customers have confidence in green energy tariffs and that their credibility is not damaged by tariffs that claim to be green but in reality do not deliver any incremental environmental benefits. Green tariffs are moving from niche to mainstream products and we’re leading the industry by offering a tariff that will do more for the environment than any other product currently available.”

Under the government’s Renewables Obligation (RO), electricity suppliers in the UK are already required to produce an increasing percentage of their electricity through methods such as wind farms which, unlike traditional power plants, produce zero carbon emissions. For 2007/2008 this figure is set at 7.9%.

In a recent report, the National Consumer Council (NCC) raised concerns that some energy suppliers are packaging electricity which is produced under the RO scheme as “green”, yet it delivers no additional environmental benefits. The NCC called on energy suppliers to take steps beyond their legal requirements and offer green energy tariffs that provide genuine additional environmental benefits, in particular CO2 emissions reduction.

British Gas worked with Global Action Plan and The Climate Group’s “We’re in this Together” campaign to develop Zero Carbon which goes further than any other green tariff in meeting these requirements offering consumers the only zero carbon option on the market.

The tariff carries a premium of £84 per year, reflecting the higher cost of producing energy through lower carbon emission schemes.

Virginia Graham, Chair of Global Action Plan, said, “The British Gas Zero Carbon tariff delivers on all three of the essential requirements of a green tariff which are: additionality, transparency and verifiability. As such it is a very welcome new offering in the market. Consumers signing up to the tariff can be confident that they are getting 12 per cent more renewable energy than they would otherwise have got. The carbon emissions from their electricity and gas will also be offset with emissions reductions from projects accredited by the United Nations.”

Zero Carbon is one of the first initiatives launched through the ‘We’re in this Together’ campaign, which was launched in April 07 as an alliance of some of the UK’s biggest brands who are all working to help their customers reduce their impact on the climate.

Dr Steve Howard, CEO of The Climate Group and founder of ‘We’re in this Together’ said, “We’re committed to offering people ways to make a real impact on climate change through Together.com. We’ve worked with British Gas to ensure that Zero Carbon is a genuine step forward in delivering more environmental benefits than any other tariff currently available.”

British Gas’s second green energy tariff, Future Energy, offers an alternative green electricity tariff at a premium of just £20 per year. Customers signing up to this tariff will contribute to a green fund which will provide solar panels and other renewable energy technologies to UK schools. Money from the fund will also be invested in development of future renewable technologies and sources.

To sign up customers can call British Gas on 0845 604 0055 or visit www.britishgas.co.uk

Before I do my balancing act with this blog post, I just wanted to mention Michigan born Michael Moore and his vehement rebuttal of what he felt was gross misrepresentation by a large and mostly respected news outlet, CNN. I have to wonder if he may have unwittingly emboldened ‘big’, ‘bad’ corporations to stand up for themselves against media criticism as well. Is Michael Moore a Catalyst? Not likely, huge corporations have in the past been known to buy several full pages of a newspaper to defend their actions and rebut their detractors.

With regards to the substance of an article in the Chicago Tribune, I would be prepared to accept it as fact. I have been given the opportunity to examine and present the facts as presented by the oil refinery, a BP factory in Whiting, Indiana.

The newspaper states that BP “aggressively markets itself as an environmentally friendly corporation.”

That kind of language is clearly aimed at calling the company’s ethics into question.

The reason for changes at the facility is that the company wants to concentrate on processing Canadian crude oil instead of the lighter, cleaner oil from Middle Eastern sources. The company stresses that Canadian Heavy Crude is a secure and reliable source. I would like to point out that every trans-oceanic shipment of crude oil has the potential for an environmentally disasterous oil spill. With the threat of terrorism, this potential is even greater.

In the newspaper article, a spokesperson for an environmental group bemoans the lack of spending on treatment. In fact $150 million has been earmarked to enhance the BP refinery’s wastewater treatment capability.

BP works in a collaborative and transparent way with all levels of government and their proposed activities are within the rules and guidelines set by government bodies.

I went to the Wikipedia entry for BP. Its neutrality is also in question. Despite it’s questioned neutrality, I would highly recommend it as a source of further information. Be sure to check for proper citation and even go to the source material itself wherever possible. BP wants people to have an accurate picture of what they are all about.

It’s kind of a catch 22 that BP comes under fire for Green Washing its image. We have a civilization and an economy that depends on fossil fuels and a population that demonizes the business of providing them.

The incidence of mold being implicated as the cause of adverse health conditions is pretty high these days. I was once faced with staying for a month in an apartment that had a mold problem. I used elbow grease and bleach and a healthy dose of denial to make it through the 30 days. Nobody should have to go through life with bad indoor air as a result of moisture and mold.

New York mold removal by AmericanWaterproofing.net is your best bet if you live anywhere in NYC or Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Some problems can go unseen and out of control. If you suffer from fatigue, nausea, headaches, and respiratory and/or eye irritation, you should have your home inspected to check for the presence of hazardous mold.

Like a good many Canadians, I spent a summer or two in my late teens planting trees. Contractors generally pay by the tree.

People who buy a notebook computer from Dell have the option of paying into a fund that goes towards planting trees. Their rough calculation is that $2 worth of tree planing will offset the carbon resulting from your notebook. I call BS. First off, I have to wonder if they are including all the fossil fuels used in transporting the computers to the customer. Secondly, I wonder if they are considering all the fossil fuels used to take trees form nurseries to the plantation and to take college students into the wilderness and back. It makes more sense to me for businesses to find ways shrink their own carbon footprint rather than opting into these offsetting schemes. I actually have some university level education in forest management and I think the concept of natural regeneration needs to be part of the equation as well.