An Example of a Great Eco Ad

The World Wildlife Fund eco-ad thought up by Saatchi and Saatchi, Copenhagen, Denmark, utilizes the movement of shadows on a billboard to demonstrate how global warming will lead to rising water levels with a cut canopy and the movement of the sun.

I love when someone does something different.

-Cara

We’re So Thirsty

I collected some stats on drink consumption from, The Good Stuff guide, produced in 2004 by the Worldwatch Institute that I thought might be of interest to people.

• People in the U.S. consume more packaged drinks per capita than in any other country—about 350 aluminum cans per person per year, compared to 103 in Sweden, 88 in the United Kingdom, and 14 in France. [Go France!]

• Making 1 million tons of aluminum cans from virgin materials requires 5 million tons of bauxite ore and the energy equivalent of 32 million barrels of crude oil. Recycling the cans, in comparison, saves all of the bauxite and more than 75 percent of the energy, and avoids about 75 percent of the pollutants.

• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough electricity to run a laptop computer for 4 hours.

• Making 1 million tons of plastic bottles from virgin materials (petroleum and other fossil fuels) generates an estimated 732,000 tons of climate-altering greenhouse gases.

Again I say, that’s crazy!

Eco-Cycle Media did a piece called, Zero Waste Systems that gives you an idea of how messed up our production/consumption/recycling system is right now. Then they wrap it up with some simple solutions you can do to reverse this doomed process.

Zero Waste!

-Cara

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Reason 75 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:
Okinawa has the healthiest and longest-lived people in the world, boasting the highest percentage of people who live to be a hundred years old. The super-seniors who inhabit the island tend to retain their mental keenness, and few need to live in nursing homes. Not surprisingly, they eat very little food of animal origin, according to a 25-year study on the island. Genes could take some of the credit, although today’s old folks are projected to outlive their children who have adopted Western eating habits.

Antibacterials? Here’s the Rub…

When this new phenomenon of everything antibacterial arose, I went through this phase where every soap in my house, including the dish soap had to be antibacterial. Then people started telling me I was weakening my immune system!!! What, no way?!?! In this time of biological warfare I need to be ready! I am one to believe in conspiracies and I know for a fact Armageddon is coming, so I no longer love antibacterial soap or use it…  :) I did some research on the whole subject as I do like to be informed of such things. I will share this information with you now…

According to the Worldwatch Institute:

For most of human history, soap got rid of germs by making surface dirt and oils slippery enough to be rubbed and rinsed off. Since World War II, however, human-made chemicals have altered the traditional recipe. Manufacturers increasingly fortify liquid soaps, shower gels, and body washes with a wide range of fragrances and other inputs including germ-fighting antibacterial properties and tout the benefits of doing so.

But studies show that antibacterial soaps are not significantly more effective at combating germs than regular soaps. Even worse, their popularity is contributing to the growing problem of drug-resistance creating greater opportunities for the emergence of deadly super-bugs that are immune to germ-fighting agents. As a consequence, many antibiotics and other compounds used to fight life-threatening infections like malaria and tuberculosis are no longer as effective as they once were. When it comes to germ prevention, there’s really no substitute for plain old soap and water.

Although labeled antibacterial, most germ- fighting soaps are actually antimicrobial, attacking viruses as well as bacteria.

The global market for soap is projected to reach $6 billion by 2008. Growth is fastest in Asia, where demand for enhanced soap products including antimicrobials is rising rapidly.

Triclosan, the leading germ-fighting compound in antimicrobial soaps, acts by destroying enzymes in bacteria cell walls so they cannot replicate; it targets the same enzyme as the antibiotic isoniazid, used to treat tuberculosis.

In the United States, 75 percent of liquid soaps and nearly 30 percent of bar soaps now contain triclosan and other germ- fighting compounds, whose prevalence can foster the growth of bacterial resistance.

A 2002 study by the U.S. Geological Survey found that triclosan and phthalates from antibacterial soaps and other detergents were polluting water bodies across the U.S. in low concentrations through wastewater.

To fight growing drug resistance, groups like the World Health Organization and the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics have launched global campaigns against the misuse of antimicrobials, with the aim of informing individuals, health care workers, and manufacturers about this growing problem.

Stop buying soaps and other home products that contain triclosan and other antimicrobial agents including toothpaste, cosmetics, carpets, plastic kitchenware, sponges, and even toys. Urge your family, friends, and workplace not to buy them either.

Wash your hands by rubbing thoroughly with ordinary soap and warm water before preparing food and after using the toilet, as this is still the best way to prevent colds and food-borne disease.

Encourage your doctor and other health care professionals to use alcohol-based hand-rub gels to stop the spread of germs, rather than antimicrobial products.

Ask your supermarkets and drug stores to stop carrying antibacterial products and to educate shoppers about the risks involved.

Spend an hour going through your home to identify any products that may have antibacterial properties, in particular hand and dish soaps and bathroom cleansers. The next time you go shopping, replace these items with plain soaps and cleansers that are free of these compounds. If you don’t find them in a store, let your retailer know what choices you want them to carry.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics
www.tufts.edu/med/apua is an international organization that helps educate consumers and doctors about the risks associated with antibiotic resistance.

World Health Organization www.who.int/health_topics/drug_resistance/en
provides links to worldwide activities, reports, news, and events related to the topic of drug resistance.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.cdc.gov/drugresistance offers a wide range of information on the risks of antimicrobial resistance.

I guess the point is what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger! Germs are our friend…and soap! 

Stay clean.

-Cara