|
Natural Medicine Practice |
Nature Cure |
Nature |
|
|
406 The Hill, Portsmouth, NH 03801, 603 978 8478, info@naturecureco.com |
|
|
brought to you by
|
The following article is copyrighted to the publisher (Nature Cure). Article can be used for informational purposes only but please contact the publisher for permission
Wait! That plastic cup you just tossed into the wastebasket--do you know it may
contribute to global warming. Decomposing trash produces methane, which
together with C02 and other heat-trapping gasses, is linked to climate change.
Why should you worry about global warming?
Note this:
“Shafts of ancient ice pulled from Antarctica’s frozen depths show that for at
least 650,000 years three important heat-trapping greenhouse gases--[one being
methane]--never reached recent atmospheric levels caused by human activities....
The sampling and analysis were done by the European Program for Ice Coring in
Antarctica, and the results are being published today in the journal, “Science.”
(“Rise in Gases Unmatched by a History in Ancient Ice,” Andrew Revkin, “the New
York Times,” November 11, 2005.)
In the United States the largest methane emissions--33 percent--come from the
decomposition of gases in landfills....” While controls to lessen the impact of
these emissions do exist (such as landfill gas capture) this requires that the
gases be collected and piped to one or more centralized control devices.
(“Methane, Sources and Emissions,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
September 6, 2005.)”
One project to convert methane was featured recently in “The Wall Street
Journal.” (To Cut Pollution, Dutch Pay a Dump in Brazil to Clean Up,” Oct. 11,
2005, Jeffrey Bell.) As an exxpression of its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol
the Dutch government and a gas-recovery company in Brazil have joined forces to
try to capture methane from one of Brazil’s landfills before it wafts up into
the atmosphere. But for many reasons the recovery effort has proved difficult
and much slower than anticipated, and decisions have to be made about caring for
the homeless scavengers who have been eating from the dump.
Of course decaying trash itself creates many of the problems, even if methane
can be recaptured from it to help abet climate change. People in
Massachusetts generate 13 millions tons of waste per year; about two-thirds of
our refuse is burned or buried. Landfills leak and incinerators create
emissions. As a result dangerous chemicals either leak into groundwater or are
emitted into the air. The resulting toxins, such as mercury and dioxins, are
linked to cancer or neurological problems especially in children.
What can you do? Start by carrying a travel mug? Or rethink the the
hospitality policies of groups with which you are affiliated.
In an effort to boost awareness of this issue, members of the Parish of St.
Paul, Newton Highlands, developed a plan to eliminate paper cups. .The idea was
simple: use ceramic--instead of disposable or plastic--cups for all social
occasions.
Anticipating resistance to change, the chairs of the Hospitality and Environment
Committees launched a program to introduce adults and children to the new idea.
They began by publishing a full-page graphic of a mug in the monthly newsletter
with the caption, “Paper cups are against my religion.” The following month
they organized “trash-reduction Sunday.” Even the hymns supported the theme.
The Rector preached about the interconnectedness of all living beings.
Later,the hospitality chair--waving a mug in the air--announced the new policy.
The Church School teachers taught a class on the need for conservation.
Pointing to photos of fiery furnaces and disgusting landfills, they noted,
“That’s where your paper cups go.” The children screamed “Yuk!” The educators
showed a picture of gold-and-blue macaws flying in the jungle and they explained
how trash disposal hurts the habitat for these gorgeous birds. The youngsters
and the leaders then had a lively discussion about the Earth being the macaws’
home. Finally the teachers helped the children to create their own mugs for use
at Church.
At coffee hour the parishioners picked up their ceramic mugs, gawked at the
photos of the fiery furnace and the exotic macaws, and listened to a guest
speaker from Recycling Action discuss current thinking about waste reduction.
Perhaps this seems like a small intervention, but in one year more than 3,000
disposables--just from coffee hours--stayed out of the waste stream. In
addition at every social event the message of waste reduction continues to be
reinforced. An unanticipated benefit has been that the time spent after these
coffee hours washing the mugs (although not compulsory) has fostered greater
camaraderie.
Maeve Ward is co-chair of the Green Decade Coaltion/Newton’s GreenCAP (Committee
on Alternatives to Pesticides)
|