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Although the details have yet to emerge, it seems pretty likely that the recent outbreak of swine flu has something to do with intensive factory farming of pigs. It was reported yesterday that the first confirmed case in Mexico occurred in La Gloria, Mexico, which just happens to be situated near Smithfield Foods’ massive-scale Granjas Carroll hog operations. The parent company’s website reports that close to 1 million pigs were ‘produced’ there in 2008 alone, in what are often referred to as ‘confinements.’

An article from The Australian reports that

Although WHO officials have said it is too early to pinpoint the origins of the virus, residents of La Gloria have been complaining since March that the odour from ‘manure lagoons’ created by Granjas Carroll were causing severe respiratory infections.

Of course government officials are denying that the virus originated in Mexico at all, and Smithfield Foods stated Sunday  ‘no clinical signs or symptoms of the presence of swine influenza in the company’s swine herd or its employees [had been detected] at its joint ventures in Mexico.’ However, Grist’s Tom Philpott points out that, in addition to the fact that carriers of viruses can be asymptomatic, the company’s statement omitted any reference to actual test results. Its hard to find evidence if you don’t look for it, after all.

Don’t worry though, you can continue to gorge yourself on the often joked-about, but much consumed other white meat.[1] According to the CDC, ‘There is no evidence to show that swine influenza can be transmitted through food. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe.’ Phew!

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[1] Pork is by far the most popular meat consumed worldwide: it comprised 38% of meat produced globally in 2003.

Making a plaid punk rock reusable pad this morning.

After a long, Bush-induced slumber, the Environmental Protection Agency is poised to…actually start protecting the environment from global warming! Of course, just declaring greenhouse gases to be a threat to public health won’t have any immediate effect, but it indicates a fundamental shift in the right direction. David Donager, director of the climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council, had this to say:

At long last, the E.P.A. has officially recognized that carbon pollution is harmful to our health and to the climate [...] With this step, administrator Lisa Jackson and the Obama administration have gone a long way to restore respect for both science and law. The era of defying science and the Supreme Court has ended.

Read the rest of the article here.

It’s almost as if my bike took it…

Determining what can and cannot be recycled, and what needs to be specially disposed of, is much more complicated than you might think. Of course, this information is published online and in pamphlets sent to residents, but who bothers to read the details? Why worry about learning the intricacies of your city’s waste management program, when there’s no threat of being penalized for throwing something into the wrong bin?

Besides the fact that misplaced trash is costing you money (for example, the city of Madison, WI estimates that it cost its taxpayers $89,000 in 2006 to sort out the non-recyclable items that had been put in recycling bins) and needlessly using up precious landfill space, many things you thoughtlessly toss can be extremely harmful to the environment.

To help you out, I’ve compiled this list:

Top 7 Trash Rules Few People Actually Follow (That Are Nevertheless Really Important)

1. Take your used batteries, old thermometers and compact fluorescent bulbs to a recycling site. When these items are thrown in a landfill, the toxic material leaks out, polluting the groundwater.[1] The mercury contained in a single thermometer is enough to contaminate 5 million gallons of water. In Oakland[2], you may now put your used batteries in a clear ziploc bag and place them on top of your garbage bin. Madison requires any store that sells fluorescent bulbs to collect them for recycling. To find out where to take everything from fluorescent bulbs to old cell phones in your area, check here.

2. Take your expired medication to collection site to be properly disposed of. Do not flush medication down the toilet or throw it in the garbage. While no one is sure if the drugs seeping into our drinking water are affecting humans, thanks to our pharmaceutical-dependant lifestyle fish are already changing gender left and right around wastewater treatment plants in the U.S. [3]

3. Think carefully before you throw things into the recycling![4] In Oakland, only numbers 1, 2 and 4 plastics are accepted. You can now recycle number 4 plastic tubs (the kind that yogurt and margarine come in) in Oakland. Madison accepts all plastic narrow-necked bottles (regardless of number) and “plastic frozen juice containers” (I’m assuming that means juice concentrate cans?) but does not accept any tubs. San Francisco recycles all plastics, including bottles, tubs, (plastic) take-out containers, clamshell packaging, cups and toys! Aseptic packs (soy milk/ juice boxes) can finally be recycled in Madison and Oakland, but cannot be in San Francisco.[5] Waxed cardboard containers (frozen food boxes) are not recyclable anywhere. They can however, be composted in Oakland and San Francisco. If all that’s not confusing enough, milk cartons are recyclable in Madison and Oakland, but must be put in the compost bin in San Francisco. Get ahead of the game and start determining whether or not the packaging is recyclable in your area before you make a purchase.

4. Take your old electronics to be recycled! The EPA estimates that 304 million electronic devices (two-thirds of them still working) were removed from American homes in 2005 because they had become obsolete. 80-85 percent of discarded electronics end up in landfills. This statistic is ridiculous, when it’s so easy to recycle them- stores like Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples will even take them. Check here to find the closest e-waste drop-off site to you.

5. When you have obviously toxic things like old paint, motor oil, and unwanted household cleaners, don’t throw them in the trash like a dumbass. Find out where you should take them. And buy non-toxic alternatives next time around if you can.[6]

6. Get your car tuned up frequently to make sure that it isn’t leaking oil.[7] Save The Bay states, “Every year, cars leak more oil into the [San Francisco] Bay than the Cosco Buscan oil spill.”

7. Compost! Put your food scraps (and food-soiled paper) in the green yard waste bin if you live in Oakland or San Francisco. If your city doesn’t collect food scraps, start your own compost bin already.[8] It takes a little work to set up initially, but the worms and microbes will take care of the rest! You don’t even need a yard to have a miniature (non-stinky) compost bin.

As William McDonough says, “There is no away.” Adults who had no trouble mastering the concept of object permanency at age 2 still have trouble with this one.[9] When we throw things away, they don’t cease to exist. Though we don’t give it much thought, it is a luxury to have our unwanted junk hauled off once a week. The least we can do is to take responsibility for our hazardous trash. We also need to reduce the amount of things we throw out in the first place. So buy fewer products in less packaging, and make sure to recycle or compost everything you can. Make the garbage can your absolute last resort.

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[1] According to the City of Madison’s website, “Fluorescent lamps contain mercury, one of the most hazardous substances in our homes. When the fluorescent lamps are put in a landfill the glass breaks and the mercury is released. The mercury usually becomes part of leachate, the liquid that washes out of the bottom of the landfill. Landfills are designed with leachate collection systems. However, these systems can fail and the mercury containing leachate can leak into our groundwater. When the collection system works properly, the leachate is pumped to a sewerage treatment plant. Unfortunately, these plants cannot remove mercury and it gets released into our waterways.” (Italics mine.)

[2] Since most of my readership resides in Oakland, Madison, or San Francisco, these are the places I’m giving specific info on. That being said, if you live somewhere else, this does not give you the excuse to ignore the point of this article. It is sooo easy to look these things up! The internet is your friend. Use it to connect with your local waste collection agency!

[3] By simply taking medication, we are releasing plenty of pharmeceuticals into our drinking water already. In the Bay Area, these sites accept unwanted medication. In Madison, take prescription and over-the-counter drugs to a MedDrop event.

[4] Oakland’s recycling guidelines are here, Madison’s are here (along with a bunch of other useful links, including shoe recycling!), San Francisco’s are here. Google yours if you live elsewhere!

[5] Touted as the most environmentally friendly packaging there is (being completely recyclable, lighter and more conveniently shaped for packing than bottles, eliminating the need for preservatives, and not requiring refrigeration during transport and storage,) aseptic packs have nevertheless taken a long time to catch on in the U.S. (In Europe, most milk comes in them!) Until recently, in much of the U.S. they were only recyclable in theory, since most municipal programs lacked the facilities to separate their layers of paper, aluminum and plastic. Check here to see if aseptic recycling exists near you.

[6] Try low VOC paint and eco-friendly cleaners. I tried naturallyclean^tm’s enzyme-based mildew cleaner on the pink stuff growing in our shower the other day (after my roommate failed to get it off with Comet.^tm) I’m happy to report that it worked like a charm. On the shower curtain, it practically wiped clean, giving me the eerie feeling I was starring in a commercial.

[7] Or just get rid of your car, and avoid pesky, expensive automobile maintenance altogether!

[8] There are tons of different composting methods and bins out there. Here is a good place to start.

[9] Perhaps a global game of landfill peek-a-boo would help…

Sometimes it amazes me that things just dry, all on their own…

After much research and product comparison,[1] I bought 6 TCP Spring Light 14 watt compact fluorescent bulbs. (The deciding factor was the 7-year warranty they come with.) Two weeks later, they arrived.

Although they claim to be equivalent to 60 watt incandescent bulbs, I found there was no way you could even read by the measly light they produced.

I emailed the company and asked about this. Here is the response I received from Michelle, the E-Marketing Manager:

“From my own personal experience in changing from incandescent to CFLs, I too, did a 60 watt – to 60 watt equivalent swap.  And like you, I did not feel it was bright enough so I used high wattage spirals.”

Why then, I asked, are they labeled as equivalent?

“The watt equivalency has to do with the amount of lumens (a measure of light) a bulb gives off – a 60 watt incandescent gives off comparable lumens to a 14 watt CFL. However, it is my unprofessional opinion, that yours and my observation has more to do with the color temperature of the bulb and personal preference, than anything. A lighting engineer would probably disagree  “

Oh right, the lumens. While I don’t totally buy Michelle’s “unprofessional” opinion  (isn’t she a company representative?)[2] I’m not one to make a fuss,[3] so I asked her to please send me the 19 and 23 watt bulbs she recommends.

I also asked her how best to prolong the life of my new bulbs, since that important information doesn’t appear on the package. She referred me to the Energy Star guidelines.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, I’m not the only one who’s found switching over to compact fluorescents a little trickier than just changing some light bulbs. It seems that in its push to make cfls more affordable (and thus more widely used,) the Energy Star Program may have loosened its specifications a little too much. Many people are finding that the bulbs burn out quickly, or don’t even work to begin with. And the Federal Trade Commission is deciding whether it should require proper usage guidelines to be printed on the package (which seems like a no-brainer to me, since the whole point of the new bulbs is to save energy and resources.)

I guess a societal switch to a new (albeit very similar) technology always necessitates some adjustment time. So I’ll wait patiently for my replacement lightbulbs, and hope Michelle turns out to be right

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[1] And after biking all over town trying to find a locally-owned store that carried cfls. The Ace Hardware franchise where I bought my last batch of (failed) cfls was the closest I could come.

[2] And I appreciate that she feels familiar enough with me to not only share her personal experiences, but to include emoticons in her correspondence.

[3] Even before I worked retail, I pretty much never complained. I just don’t understand the people who get all huffy over inconsequential things like peanut butter. (I saw this guy at the natural foods store today, in his eighties style running shorts and sweatband, positively irate because the peanut butter grinder was out of order again, and this was the fourth time in a row he had come specifically for his freshly ground nut butter and not gotten any! “Which of your prepackaged butters tastes the freshest?” he demanded pointedly. God, I hope his jelly isn’t too complex to pair with plebeian pre-ground peanut butter…) You know they really couldn’t care less, they just want something out of the deal.