We worried about the rise in dumped TVs when the switch to digital in the US occurred back in June. The UK is also switching to digital and figures show a frightening rise in dumped TVs, rising by 70% in the past year, with over half of them being upgradable. But they were dumped instead. As more areas switch to digital over the next two years, including London, just how much more of an impact can we expect, and can citizens be convinced that they don't need to dump their TVs at all?
The Guardian reports that the digital switch happened yesterday in the north-west of England. "This year, the council has recycled 50,000 analogue TVs thrown away by households, of which 30,000 could have been upgraded to receive digital TV signals with a simple £20 set-top box."
As in the US, most TVs don't need to be replaced - only a new box is needed. Yet many consumers are upgrading to new TVs anyway. Simon Birch, who is investigating the environmental impact of the digital switchover for Ethical Consumer magazine, blames Digital UK for the crush of discarded TVs, saying it isn't doing a good enough job telling consumers that they don't have to toss their televisions.
The eco-impact of televisions is under debate, though, as the Energy Saving Trust notes that a TV with a built-in digital tuner requires only one power supply and can save £7 and 20kg of carbon each year compared with an equivalent analogue TV combined with a set-top box.
However not factored in is the environmental cost of recycling a television, or worse, seeing it head to landfill, or worst, seeing it head to e-waste dumps in developing nations. In the US, only about 18% of the 23.9 million toxic CRT TVs thrown out in 2008 were recycled. And Sarah Westervelt, a Basel Action Network official, said about 80% will actually be shipped abroad to be "recycled" in China and Africa - and that is a violation of provisions of the Basel treaty that ban the shipment of toxic waste from the rich countries to poor ones. The same problems are to be expected in the UK, where e-waste in landfills is already a significant problem.
Over the long run, it is likely better to have an extra set-top box and not a new TV. It's just a matter of actually telling people this, and encouraging them to keep what isn't broken.
As the North-west of England kick-off their digital switchover, figures from Cumbria county council reveals that the number of TV's in landfill's has increase by 70% in that area, 3 out of the 5 of those would've been upgraded with a set-top box.
As the production of electronics has increased, so has the amount of electronic waste. One of the biggest problems with e-waste is that much of it is shipped from developed nations to third-world countries. Approximately 50 tons of e-waste is produced globally every year. In towns like Guiyu and Nanyang of Southern China, people work to dispose of electronic waste, not in factories, but near their own homes, earning around $12 a day, these workers, of various ages, often burn the waste, which creates harmful exposure to toxic chemicals.
Assuming that exportation will continue, there are still positive changes that can be made to alleviate the level of health risks faced by e-waste disposers. There still needs to be strict ratification and enforcement of laws regarding the setting and process of disposing, recycling or repairing electronics, if there is expected to be any turnaround in the negative effects of the current process. There needs to be laws requiring that electronics be treated in a factories, rather than in residential areas; and workers should be provided with gear and equipment that will ensure there safety and well being while working.*This is an excerpt from a report I did based on one of the great Vanguard productions... more
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic organisers have just unveiled the medals that will be handed out duing the Olympic and Paralympic games.
The twist is... it is made out of metals recovered from e-waste (as in broken TV's, computers and circuit boards) and they are not flat at all as they are ridged. Over 1,000 medals are made and they were produced by metal giant 'Teck Resources' along with the Royal Canadian Mint.
Let's hope London can match that or better for 2012...The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic organisers have just unveiled the medals that will... more
"Concern is growing that failure to manage this waste is exposing Kenya to long-term and costly environmental damage whose impact will be felt in the emergence of new diseases, change in weather patterns and food insecurity and will take many decades to reverse.
Often left to rot in informal dumping sites, electronic gadgets are made up of some of the most lethal toxins such as cadmium, mercury and lead that are known to contaminate water sources, reduce fertility of land, and damage human tissues and organs.
In Nairobi, the impact of this carefree disposal of e-waste is already beginning to be felt in Dandora estate where contact with dumpsite material has seen a steep rise in the number of children diagnosed with lead poisoning.
Dandora is the host of Nairobi’s biggest dumpsite that takes most of the 4,000 tonnes of garbage that the city residents generate daily."
All this electronic material, when burned, is mostly housed in a plastic casing that releases toxic and carcinogenic substances like dioxins and polyaromatic hydrocarbons making it worse.
These companies should be responsible for this e-waste, they should use material that is eco-friendly and make these products last longer as well.
What do you think?Excerpt:
"Concern is growing that failure to manage this waste is exposing Kenya to... more
The world is consuming more and more electronic products every year. This has caused a dangerous explosion in electronic scrap (e-waste) containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals that cannot be disposed of or recycled safely. But this problem can be avoided.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of old computers and mobile phones are dumped in landfills or burned in smelters. Thousands more are exported, often illegally, from the Europe, US, Japan and other industrialised countries, to Asia. There, workers at scrap yards, some of whom are children, are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals and poisons.
The rate at which these mountains of obsolete electronic products are growing will reach crisis proportions unless electronics corporations that profit from making and selling these devices face up to their responsibilities.
It is possible to make clean, durable products that can be upgraded, recycled, or disposed of safely and don't end up as hazardous waste in someone's backyard.
Please vote daily through August 30, 2009 for story about Rev. Jon Magnuson's nonprofit environment projects in Michigan's Upper Peninsula: Vote for the story by Donna Kumpula about the EarthKeeper Initiative and the Zaagkii Project
It was weekly winner in April but now its competing against about 19 others for the big prize . Money that would help fund the projects for a year.
You'll need to register - or login if you have voted before.
Its entitled:
Creating numerous environment projects that bring together diverse groups, students, American Indians
Brief summary of projects your vote would support:
The interfaith Earth Keeper Initiative:
The interfaith EarthKeepers planted twelve thousand (12,000) trees across northern Michigan for Earth Day 2009 thanks to over 100 churches/temples from 12 religions.
During past Earth Day projects, the EarthKeepers have recycled or properly disposed over nearly 400 tons of waste including cellphones, computers (and related equipment), printers, car batteries, poisons, pesticides, oil-based paint, pharmaceuticals and much more.
The Zaagkii Project:
This summer Native American youth and at-risk teens are repairing the ecosystem along a Lake Superior beach, built dozens of Mason Bee houses including some to be placed at the U.S. National Gardens in D.C.; Native American teens this month are helping build a greenhouse for native species plants on the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community reservation.
Last summer the teens built dozens of butterfly houses for migrating Monarchs.See Links to vote below:
Please vote daily through August 30, 2009 for story about... more
It's a common complaint that technology advances so rapidly, new products hitting the shelves are outdated the second they arrive there. Before we even purchase a device, new versions and varied models are under production. Consumers are easily overwhelmed and confused with the differences in manufacturers' crowded product lines. We're especially experiencing that now in the realm of netbooks and smart phones, but it's true for all consumer devices. However, we also see that consumer whim has a lot of influence - perhaps all the influence - over how manufacturers introduce and carry on release of new gadgets. So, how do we exercise that clout to get manufacturers serious about creating heirloom devices that can adapt to new technology without all of the e-waste? Or is it even possible?
We might think that technology advances too rapidly for gadgets to really keep up. In the case of e-readers, this may be true. The screen technology is too new and improving too fast to release a device that can be expected to be top of the line in even a year. Suppose the screens could be swapped out in current devices; the design of the entire product itself is slated for some serious changes, rendering a screen swap a very ho-hum upgrade. Does it have to be this way though?
Exactly how small, how fast, how thin, how interactive can our products possibly get and still be useful? For instance, cell phone styles have changed quite a lot over the last ten years, but not to the point where they're unrecognizable - save perhaps the iPhone and its touchscreen. Even with touchscreen technology, it is possible to create cell phones now that people can be happy with in another ten years, with just changing software and some hardware components as needed, but not the whole device.
How can we make that a universal truth, and spare the massive amount of materials and energy that goes into creating, recovering, and recycling products, and the massive environmental footprint of the majority of products that end up in landfills or toxic e-waste dumps?
When there is no "away," how do we make what we have stick around, even in the face of improvements? Here are five options to mull over (at the link).It's a common complaint that technology advances so rapidly, new products hitting the... more
Marquette, MI - The Northern Michigan EarthKeepers will plant 12,000 trees in three hours this Sunday, May 3rd at thousands of locations across Michigan's Upper Peninsula including 100 churches and temples.
The trees will be distributed Saturday morning.
Bishops and leaders from northern Michigan's largest faith communities planted the first of 12,000 trees during an Earth Day 2009 ceremony on the shores of Lake Superior.
Standing on a hillside surrounded by huge pine trees two bishops and several other faith leaders blessed a three-foot native species white spruce tree and took turns putting shovels full of dirt into the hole.
Anticipating the cold April weather, organizers earlier decided to plant the rest of the trees on Sunday, May 3 when the weather is more appropriate for planting the 12,000 12-to-16-inch seedlings at numerous locations across northern Michigan including 100 churches and temples.
The EarthKeeper team includes ten faith traditions (Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, Zen Buddist, Quakers) with over 150 participating churches/temples, nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP), nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI), and the Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper (NMU EK) Student Team.
The concept of "EarthKeeping goes beyond the Upper Peninsula" because throughout the Great Lakes states "we're having a ripple effect" as people and groups "are replicating the work that the EarthKeepers have done here," said Carl Lindquist, SWP executive director. "They’re patterning their events after some of the successful programs we have had here."
Michigan faith leaders favor protecting the environment.
"This is very much a marvelous moment in the life of our work together as faith communities," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, CTI executive director and EarthKeeper Initiative co-founder. "This is another step in our interfaith work. We have found an expression of our faith in very, very hands-on work like this the EarthKeeping Tree Project."
All humans "are called to be steward's of God's creation and no matter what faith tradition we come from that responsibility lies with us human creatures," said Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette Bishop Alexander Sample.
"Those of us endowed with intelligence and with the ability to choose good and avoid evil," said Bishop Sample, who oversees 94 U.P. parishes and missions with 61,000 members.
Bishop Sample said the book of Revelations "speaks of the life-giving power of water and how the tree draws its life from the water." Bishop Sample said he grew up in the desert southwest and "didn't see a lot of water" or the "beauty of the forests and trees."
Sample said "I truly thought I had entered paradise" when his family moved to the Upper Peninsula at the age of 17.
"This whole movement has focused on how the faith communities can work together to preserve this great gift that we have here in the Upper Peninsula, this great watershed and it's wonderful combination of lakes and streams, and forests everywhere," said Northern Great Lakes Synod Lutheran Bishop Thomas Skrenes.
"Trees cover the earth and trees are part of healing the earth," said Skrenes, the head of 94 U.P. Lutheran congregations with 40,000 members
The Earth Keeper's ten faith communities have "various ways of doing things and looking at life" but "come together for this important task," said United Methodist Church (UMC) Marquette District Superintendent Grant Lobb.
"We are glad to be part of EarthKeepers," said Lobb, whose district has 8,372 parishioners and 60 northern Michigan congregations.
Marquette, MI - The bishops/leaders from northern Michigan's largest faith communities planted the first of 12,000 trees during an Earth Day ceremony on the shores of Lake Superior.
The Earth Day 2009 blessing of the trees ceremony was held on Presque Isle in Marquette.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette Bishop Alexander Sample said all humans "are called to be steward's of God's creation and no matter what faith tradition we come from that responsibility lies with us."
The EarthKeeper movement is "focused on how the faith communities can work together to preserve this great gift that we have here in the Upper Peninsula” and its lakes, streams and forests, said Northern Great Lakes Synod Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes.
UMC Marquette District Supt. Grant R. Lobb said "planting a tree is a gift for the next generation and beyond that."
The EarthKeeper team includes ten faith traditions ( Jewish, Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church (UMC), Unitarian Universalist (UU), Baha'i, Zen Buddist, Quakers) with over 150 participating churches/temples, the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP), the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI), and the NMU EK Student Team.
Throughout the Great Lakes states, people and groups "are replicating the work that the EarthKeepers have done here," said Carl Lindquist, SWP executive director.
"This is very much a marvelous moment in the life of our work together as faith communities," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, CTI executive director and EarthKeepers co-founder.
The next day April 23, several faith leaders spoke about the project and protecting the environment to students at Northern Michigan University in the final of numerous "Sacred Planet" events on campus sponsored by the NMU EarthKeeper (NMU EK) Student Team.
On May 3, the 12,000 12-to-16-inch White Spruce and Red pine seedlings will be planted in all corners of the U.P. including at 100 churches and temples.
The trees were purchased or donated by the U.P. EarthKeeper team, SWP, Holli Forest Products, the Forestland Group, Plum Creek Timber Company and Meister's Greenhouses, said Carl Lindquist, SWP executive director.
From 2005-2007, over 15,000 U.P. residents turned in more than 360 tons of household hazardous waste at U.P. collection sites.
Some of the items were properly disposed but most was recycled including computers, cell phones, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, oil-based paint and vehicle batteries.
Last year the EarthKeepers provided a household energy conservation checklist that resulted in over 3 million pounds of carbon being reduced.
"The trees, in effect, will be planting us, said Reverend Tesshin Paul Lehmberg, head priest for the Marquette Zen Buddhist Temple Lake Superior Zendo and EarthKeeper Implementation Team co-chair.
Baha'is believe that "nature is to be respected and protected as a divine trust for which we all answerable," said Dr. Rodney H. Clarken, chair of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Marquette.
Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan employees reflected on what the project would've meant to late Bishop James Kelsey, the first signer of the interfaith EarthKeeper Covenant, killed in a June 2007 traffic accident.
"He'd try to find a place for a tree in his own yard" plus at the Page Center and office, said Jane Cisluycis, EDNM Operations Coordinator.
Kelsey would be "pleased that the EarthKeepers are getting stronger and more people are getting involved," said Kathy Lenten, EDNM Ministry Support Team.
UU member Nancy Irish said "the image of people of all ages and faiths across the Upper Peninsula planting 12,000 trees in their respective sacred spaces is a most beautiful and fitting one."
Some groups and individuals have donated money to help the tree project including Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Western U.P. Chapter 30918 in Ironwood, Michigan.Marquette, MI - The bishops/leaders from northern Michigan's largest faith communities... more
(CBS 5/Anna Warner) It's California's dirty little secret. The state boasts it has the most advanced program for recycling toxic television and computer monitors. But if that's true, then why did CBS 5 Investigates find a mountain of glass from those TVs and monitors in the desert of a neighboring state?
What's going wrong? One problem is that when the state set up the program in 2005, the chief goal was to recycle TVs and monitors. Why? Because each one contains a glass tube called a cathode ray tube, or CRT. Each CRT holds 7 to 8 pounds of toxic lead.
But they're considered so toxic, the state told recyclers they can only break them down so far.
At recycler Jim Taggart's facility, ECS Refining in Santa Clara, cathode ray tubes go up a conveyor belt, are dropped down a chute to break up the tube and the remaining broken glass is deposited into a large box. "As far as the glass goes this is the end of the line for us," said Taggart.
To do anything further, recyclers would need a hazardous waste permit, according to Carol Northrup of the California State Department of Toxic Substance Control, or DTSC. But, said Northrup, "It's not easy to get a permit in California at all." In fact, CIWMB's Hunts admits getting a permit isn't "prohibited, it's just prohibitively expensive".
The result, Taggart said, is that CRT glass, a big part of California's e-waste, isn't really being recycled here at all and is being sent out of state. "We have not created a full complete system for the recycling of it, so we are exporting it", said Taggart. ECS Refining sends most of its glass to a lead smelter to be melted down.
But CBS 5 Investigates found other recyclers sending the glass to places like Yuma, Arizona. In a location that looks like a mountain, is actually a giant heap of CRT glass. The facility is run by a glass recycling company called Dlubak Glass, and on the day CBS 5 Investigates visited, plant manager Hector Castillo readily admitted most of the glass is coming from California.
And California state data shows California recyclers sent 41 million pounds of CRT glass to Dlubak's facility in Yuma in 2007. Both Castillo and company owner Dave Dlubak told CBS 5 Investigates the plant meets Arizona state and federal regulations. "We're complying with the federal regulations", Castillo said.
But when CBS 5 showed videotape of the facility and the pile of CRT glass to Jim Polek of the US Environmental Protection Agency, he said the pictures did not reflect what he had expected to see.
"My understanding was that things had changed", Polek said. He says the facility has "violations they need to correct."
"They need to inspect and…make sure the facility is cleaned up", he said.
Would a mountain of broken glass full of toxic lead ever be okay with California regulators?...
[Complete article in link and video](CBS 5/Anna Warner) It's California's dirty little secret. The state boasts it has the... more
WBUP TV story on interfaith EarthKeepers planting 12,000 Trees for Earth Day
The WBUP/WPKP Channel 5 & 10 news department in Marquette, Michigan helped promote the latest interfaith Earth Keepers Project.
The Upper Great Lakes News (UGN) Network did a story on Upper Peninsula Earth Keepers who will plant 12,000 trees across northern Michigan in honor of Earth Day 2009.
The story has an interview with Gail Griffith, EarthKeeper Implementation Team co-chair.
The Earth Keepers thank reporter Lindsey Cramer and the rest of the UGN Team.
Lindsey Cramer
Lindsey at lscbc.com
Channel 10
WBUP-TV
(906)-225-5700
The public and media are invited to an Earth Day 2009 Blessing of the Trees planting ceremony with representatives of ten faith traditions at 3:30 p.m. on Wed., April 22 next to the Presque Isle pavilion in Marquette.
"The EarthKeeper project this year is one where people from across the U.P. will see tangible results of their earth stewardship," said Gail Griffith, EarthKeeper Implementation Team co-chair. "I hope that congregations involve their young people in their planning and planting."
The EarthKeeper team includes ten faith traditions with over 150 participating churches/temples, the nonprofit Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP), the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI), and the Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper Student Team.
Founded in 2004, the EarthKeeper Covenant is signed by the bishops/leaders of ten faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, Zen Buddhist and the Quakers.
The trees "will be wrapped individually in a plastic bag with planting instructions,” said Carl Lindquist, SWP executive director. "It's fun and it helps further our long term protection and restoration goals for local watersheds and the Great Lakes."
On Sat., May 2, participating churches and temples will pick up their trees at local conservation district offices and have been asked to bless the seedlings before planting at numerous locations Sun., May 3 assisted by the NMU EarthKeeper Student Team and other volunteers.
To request trees call Kyra Fillmore at 906-228-2388
The trees were purchased/donated by the U.P. EarthKeeper team, SWP, Holli Forest Products, the Forestland Group, Plum Creek Timber Company and Meister's Greenhouses.
"Our interfaith tree planting effort is more than another conservation project," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, CTI executive director and EarthKeeper Initiative co-founder. "With prayers, hymns and the blessing of 12,000 seedlings, it's a gentle proclamation of a new consciousness and commitment among our faith communities to care for God's creation."
This is the fifth U.P. EarthKeepers environment project for Earth Day.
From 2005-2007, over 15,000 people turned in more than 360 tons of household hazardous waste at a dozen collection sites across the U.P. Most items were recycled and the remainder was properly disposed under federal guidelines including electronic waste like electronic waste like computers, monitors and printers plus cell phones, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, herbicides, oil-based paint and vehicle batteries.
Last year EarthKeepers provided a household energy conservation checklist that resulted in over 3 million pounds of carbon being reduced. In past projects, EarthKeepers partnered with numerous groups including the U.S. EPA and the Keweenaw Bay Indian community.
For tree info call the SWP at 906-228-6095
Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bahá'í Community) of Interfaith Resources - Special Ideas website: http://www.interfaithresources.com
1-800-326-1197 justice@special-ideas.comWBUP TV story on interfaith EarthKeepers planting 12,000 Trees for Earth Day
The... more
Plug-In To eCycling's National Cell Phone Recycling Week 2009 is a joint effort with leading cell phone manufacturers, service providers and retailers to increase the awareness and recycling rates for cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).
Plug-In partners collected 11 million cell phones for reuse and recycling in 2008. By recycling them, partners saved enough energy to power more than 2,035 US households for a year.
Recycling the 100 million cell phones that are no longer used annually would save enough energy to power 18,500 US households for a year. During the week of April 6 through April 12, 2009, Americans can participate in this national event by donating or recycling their unwanted cell phones, PDAs and their accessories.
To kick-off National Cell Phone Recycling Week and build momentum for Earth Day 2009, program partners across the country are rolling out a series of in-store promotions, contests and giveaways while providing in-store and online recycling opportunities to assist consumers in the "eCycling" process. Plug-In partners supporting this nationwide effort through special promotions include AT&T, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.
EPA is targeting cell phone recycling because only ten percent of cell phones are recycled each year, and most people do not know where to recycle them. Recycling cell phones results in significant environmental savings and can also benefit communities.
Cell phones and accessories are made from valuable materials such as precious metals, copper, and plastics - all of which require energy to extract and manufacture. Recycling cell phones reduces greenhouse gas emissions and conserves natural resources.
Plug-In To eCycling partners involved in the "Recycle your Cell Phone. It's an Easy Call" campaign to increase cell phone recycling include AT&T, Best Buy, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Office Depot, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sprint, Staples, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.Plug-In To eCycling's National Cell Phone Recycling Week 2009 is a joint effort with... more
Skype, the Internet telephone unit of eBay Inc, is planning to launch its service for iPhone users on Tuesday and for BlackBerry in May as part of its effort to expand beyond desktop computers.Skype, the Internet telephone unit of eBay Inc, is planning to launch its service for... more
The clip is from the nationally syndicated TV program "Tech Closeup." It highlights the growing use of biofuels and how motorists are finding it easier to use alternative energy sources at stations in different towns across the U.S. Willie Nelson makes a cameo appearance too!The clip is from the nationally syndicated TV program "Tech Closeup." It highlights... more
A mass of plastic in the Pacific, increasing tenfold each decade since 1945, is now the size of Texas and killing everything in its wake. Currently, there is six times more plastic than plankton floating in the middle of the Pacific.
- Each day, North Americans throw away more than 385,000 cellphones and 143,000 computers-- electronic waste is now the fastest-growing stream of garbage. Lead and mercury are seeping from this waste into ground water. Some of the e-waste, however, is winding up in the sea.
- Each hour, North Americans consume and discard about 2.75 million plastic water and soda bottles; that's 24 billion a year.
- Globally, 100 million tonnes of plastic are generated each year and at least 10 per cent of that is finding its way into the sea.
- Worldwide, each year 113 billion kilograms of small plastic pellets called nurdles--the feedstock for all disposable plastics-- are shipped and billions are spilled during transfer in and out of railroad cars. Those spilled nurdles are ending up in gutters and drains and eventually carried into the ocean. Nurdles resemble fish eggs or roe. Tuna and salmon feed on them indiscriminately. Around 2.5 billion humans eat fish regularly. Plastic and other man-made toxins are polluting the global food chain and it's rising at an unprecedented rate.
- Each year, a million sea birds and 100,000 sharks, turtles, dolphins and whales die from eating plastic.
Read more at the link.A mass of plastic in the Pacific, increasing tenfold each decade since 1945, is now... more
Marquette, Michigan - The Upper Peninsula Earth Keepers announced several projects for the next year on Thursday night (Nov. 13, 2008) as they received the Michigan Sierra Club prestigious White Pine Award for past projects that included recycling hundreds of tons of hazardous waste, energy conservation programs and the protection of Lake Superior.
Numerous Earth Keeper Initiative (EKI) faith leaders, volunteers and student members accepted the award on Nov. 13 at a meeting of the Sierra Club U.P. Group.
The White Pine Award recognizes "a group outside of the Sierra Club which has been doing things to help protect the environment," said Dr. Jon Rebers, chair of the Sierra Club Central U.P. Group.
The U.P. Earth Keepers, involving the congregations of over 150 U.P. churches and temples, held three annual Earth Day collections at dozens of sites across northern Michigan that removed almost 370 tons of household hazardous waste from the environment.
Earth Keepers collected one ton of pharmaceuticals & $500,000 in narcotics in 2007; 320 tons of computers, televisions & electronics in 2006; and 45 tons of household hazardous waste like pesticides, herbicides, oil-based paint and car batteries. Most of the waste turned in by the public.
Earth Keepers held a 2007 energy summit that helped hundreds of Michigan homes and businesses become energy efficient & helped organize classical musicians to form the Boreal Chamber Symphony for a Lake Superior Day 2007 concert in Marquette that raised funds to protect the world's largest body of freshwater.
"We are moving into our fifth year," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) ex. Dir.
Sponsors: CTI, Superior Water Shed Partnership (SWP), Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and 10 faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Bahá'í, Jewish, Quakers & Zen Buddhist.
Partners include the EPA, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
Earth Keepers are "trying to honor the creation by preserving it," said Dr. Rodney Clarken, a Bahá'í. "One of the Bahá'í principles is that each human being is entrusted and is in some way the image of God. We can't be pure and holy unless...the environment is pure and holy."
The leader of a Marquette Zen Buddhist temple said "your environment is in trouble right now."
"Zen Buddhists tend to believe in the oneness of all - you are part of your environment - that is absolutely inescapable," said Rev. Tesshin Paul Lehmberg, head priest of Lake Superior Zendo.
Member Nancy Irish said her favorite EKI project is the "Adopt a Watershed" program.
"We've had a number of campouts for kids," said Irish of the Marquette Unitarian Universalist church. "There is nothing more wonderful than facilitating the meeting of the natural world with children .. children protect what they love & they love what they know.""
"One of the Quaker basic testimonies is the simplicity of living and of course this ties well into that (the Earth Keeper Covenant)," said David McCowen of Lake Superior Friends (Quakers).
The SWP and the CTI "facilitate what happens with the Earth Keepers," said watershed partnership representative Natasha Koss.
The Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper Student Team goals include an "Eco-Christmas Initiative," said Sarah Swanson, project director. "We are going to encourage people to be more eco-conscious when they are purchasing gifts for family and friends over the holidays."
Students will recycle televisions in February, now that they are switching to high definition television, she said. And "planting a bunch of trees on Earth Day" plus "organize some community gardens."
People have "an inescapable relationship with their environment," said Ben Scheelk, NMU EK student team project coor. from the Student Leader Fellowship Program.
Rev. Jon Magnuson
906-228-5494
Greg
906-401-0109 earthkeeper@charter.netMarquette, Michigan - The Upper Peninsula Earth Keepers announced several projects for... more
CBS 60 Minutes profiles the village of Guiyu, China, the final destination of e-waste -- consumer electronics and computers intended for recycling from the United States. The program reveals that the disposal of e-waste is not exactly clean and green, but contributes to significant health problems in Guiyu. CBS reports that "scientists have studied the area and discovered that Guiyu has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world. They found pregnancies are six times more likely to end in miscarriage, and that seven out of ten kids have too much lead in their blood."
The report on 60 Minutes traces the path of e-waste from Colorado's Executive Recycling in Denver to a container freight in Tacoma, Washington, bound for Hong Kong. Although some material is recycled, CBS correspondent Scott Pelley discovered that Executive Recycling ships its computer monitors and e-waste as cargo illegally shipped to China. Illegal according to Hong Kong's laws, and the laws of the United States and China, CBS reports.
Read more about this story, and view images and video from CBSnews.com.CBS 60 Minutes profiles the village of Guiyu, China, the final destination of e-waste... more
60 Minutes is going to take you to one of the most toxic places on Earth - a place government officials and gangsters don't want you to see. It's a town in China where you can't breathe the air or drink the water, a town where the blood of the children is laced with lead.
It's worth risking a visit because much of the poison is coming out of the homes, schools and offices of America. This is a story about recycling - about how your best intentions to be green can be channeled into an underground sewer that flows from the United States and into the wasteland.
That wasteland is piled with the burning remains of some of the most expensive, sophisticated stuff that consumers crave. And 60 Minutes and correspondent Scott Pelley discovered that the gangs who run this place wanted to keep it a secret.
What are they hiding? The answer lies in the first law of the digital age: newer is better. In with the next thing, and out with the old TV, phone or computer. All of this becomes obsolete, electronic garbage called "e-waste."
(more at the link)60 Minutes is going to take you to one of the most toxic places on Earth - a place... more
The amount of e-waste is becomming a huge problem in China, where many countries are currently shipping their electronics waste as it is too expensive to deal with abroad.
CBS News were filming for this Sunday’s 60 Minutes program about e-dumping in China, when the crew were allegedly roughed-up by e-waste operations overseers in Guiyu (see vid).
From CDT:
"Jumped by a gang of men overseeing the e-waste operations who tried to take the CBS team’s cameras, Pelley’s crew managed to escape and bring back footage of the hazardous activities. Pelley’s investigation will be broadcast this Sunday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
The Chinese attackers were trying to protect a lucrative business of mining the e-waste-junked computers, televisions and other old electronic products-for valuable components, including gold. “They’re afraid of being found out. This is smuggling. This is illegal,” says Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, a group working to stop the dumping of toxic materials in poor countries that certifies ethical e-waste recyclers in the United States. “A lot of people are turning a blind eye here. And if somebody makes enough noise, they’re afraid this is all going to dry up.”
E-waste workers in Guiyu, China, where Pelley’s team videotaped, put up with the dangerous conditions for the $8 a day the job pays. They use caustic chemicals and burn the plastic parts to get at the valuable components, often releasing toxins that they not only inhale, but release into the air, the ground and the water. Potable water must now be trucked into Guiyu and scientists have discovered that the city has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world. Pregnancies in Guiyu are six times more likely to result in miscarriages, and seven out of 10 children there have too much lead in their blood.
See also a documentary by Michael Zhao which explores the problems associated with dumping e-waste." The amount of e-waste is becomming a huge problem in China, where many countries are... more
