Advertising gone crazy

I heard the funniest McDonalds advertisement the other day. The ad was for one of their new cold drink products, something along the lines of a fruit smoothie. The bit that I found funny was their catch cry which was "and it has real ingredients".

Wow, not real ingredients! I mean how foolish do corporations think we are? I believe the ad prior to this statement had been talking about the fruitiness of the drink and I guess the idea behind the statement and its placement was to confuse the viewer into thinking that real ingredients were somehow indicating that there is real fruit in the drink.

Certainly gave me a chuckle and have a "what the?" moment. Pin It

Greenwash article....big brands "using" the environment

I just read an interesting marketing article defending "greenwash". Have a look and see what you think. See whether you think we should be offended by the idea of big brands using the environment to encourage you to buy their products or not.


Pin It

What is greenwash?

There are numerous products on the market that claim to have some sort of environmental credentials. It appears that many of these companies and products are just trying to increase their market stakes by "cashing in" on the new trend of environmental consciousness by the consumer. This does however mean that many products labelled as "environmentally friendly" or "eco" are in fact no better for the environment than the traditional product or might even be worse in some cases. This green labelling of these products incorrectly or falsely is called greenwashing.

I saw an interesting take on what should be considered an appropriately environmentally friendly product. This angle considered that the entire life cycle of the product needed to be environmentally friendly. Now, what does this mean? The idea is that every step in its production and demise are appropriate for the environment or sustainable. The concept of cradle to grave is introduced.

Now actually finding a product that is sustainable and environmentally friendly may be difficult and lack of information also plays a part in the misinformation of the consumer. Best of luck. Pin It

Solar hot water...things you need to consider

I have now had three commercial companies come and provide me with quotes for a solar hot water system for my house and I feel that it would be easy to get caught up in the sales pitch that these "environmentally-friendly" companies give you. So, here are a few things that I learnt about solar hot water systems and some of the greenwash or sales pitches I have heard.

Things you need to consider:

• Size of hot water storage tank (this will depend on the number of people using hot water in your household)
• Whether you want a split system or not (this is whether you want the storage tank on your roof or not)
• Where you can and/or want to accommodate the solar system on your roof
• What type of boosting system (gas or electricity) you want for your system
• What orientation your roof has (use a compass to find out) and whether it will appropriately accommodate a solar hot water system (see previous post on Solar Hot Water).
• How large your house is in area and where the areas that use hot water are (this will help you position your storage tanks and/or solar collection "panels" on the roof and whether a solar hot water system will efficiently deliver hot water to those areas)
• How much money you have to purchase a system
• What rebates are available to you from the government (if this an important factor)
• What your climate is like and whether is it appropriate to a solar hot system
• Is there enough open solar access for a solar hot water system to be effective and efficient at your location
• The amount of structural capability your roof has and whether it can accommodate a roof-mounted hot water storage tank
• Whether you want to show the world you have a solar hot water system (this will determine whether you are happy to mount the collector panels to achieve best orientation, if needed, or have a flat panel system on your roof)

Now here are some things I have learnt about:

• for maximum efficiency and to increase the likelihood that I can get hot water all year round, I should be positioning my solar hot water collector panels to the north. This is particularly important for those winter months when I want to catch as much of the sun's energy as possible, when the sun is positioned further into the northern hemisphere
• on my house this means mounting the panels on a frame, these are constructed to position my panels in a northerly direction, my problem with my position is that these potentially collector panels will still be shaded in some parts of the year and thus, boosting from either mains electricity or a gas system will be required
• insulation of pipes between the collector panels on the roof and the storage tank below (if you're opting for a split system) will ensure maximum hot water is collected in your tank and therefore you don't loose heat through the transfer process
• the storage tank is either boosted (from electricity or gas) or water re-circulated into the "panels" when the water is lower than sixty degrees Celsius
• in a split system the water is pumped onto the roof with a small motor in the storage tank
• you may require more than two "panels" on your roof if you have a particularly large family or have a significant hot water use
• most of the storage tanks seem to have what is called a sacrificial anode, which corrodes overtime and requires maintenance approximately every five years (depending on the quality of your water)

Here are some things that I am a little unsure about and either smell of greenwash or just outright competition between businesses (there may be legislative requirements but can't seem to figure it out yet):

• one company offers a titanium based panel which means that you can orient them outside of the optimum orientation (north) and not loose efficiency....apparently the titanium has the capability of heating hotter than the standard components and therefore can orient outside the optimum north facing 
• consideration of winds if you are mounting your system on racks. Obviously this is important in some locations, but the amount of winds and strength that we have at my place i think is unlikely to impact on the system, but you should definitely get this checked out
• the size of your storage tank needs to be the next size up from your current storage tank. Apparently, this is because solar hot water can only be generated during the day and not consistently and therefore for continuously available hot water, whenever you want you need a larger storage capacity. To me you just need to train your family to use hot water when available and not demand hot water anytime. 
• If you are mains electricity boosting your hot water storage tank, you're not suppose to have this on Tariff 33 (the overnight/off-peak tariff). I am unsure about this and will have to contact my energy provider to see if this is true. The company that told me this said it was legislation. If this is the case and you only use this for hot water, again this company told me that I should have the meter for this tariff disconnected because the energy company would still charge me a service fee for this meter even if I wasn't using it for hot water heating any more.
• the life span of these systems seem to be about 10 years, but no one will put a firm number on it and there is often the statement that the technology has improved so they are likely to last longer than this magic number. Also from the information I received from the companies it seems as if it is the storage tank that will need replacing first and this is just as you would with a traditional hot water storage tank.

A useful Australian government publication is the "Your Home: Technical Manual", which has a section on hot water systems and provides a lot of facts that you need to consider when deciding what hot water system is appropriate for you and has great tips and facts associated with solar hot water.

Pin It

US to remove dam to restore catchment qualities

I just came across a 'green' article discussing the US's largest dam removal project. My first thoughts were that this was just greenwashing putting a slant on this event rather than just talking about the removal as a project addressing an aging piece of infrastructure. But it seems my initial pessimism was wrong.

There are actually two dams to be removed, Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, within the Olympic National Park on the Elwha River. It seems that the sole reason for the removal of these dams is to restore river's catchment.

These two dams were originally built for the purpose of generating hydro-electricity. But it seems that the construction of these resulted in a complete barrier to fish between their upstream and downstream habitats. The main value that will be restored once the dams have been removed is this fish passage.

More information about the dam removal decision can be found at the Elwha Watershed Information Resource website. There are also some cool animations showing how the dams are to be removed at the following websites: Interactive Earth Elwha dam removal and Interactive Earth Glines Canyon dam removal.

The only thing I didn't manage to determine was whether there was another renewable energy source replacing the dams electricity supply (if they were still producing). Hopefully the removal doesn't result in a greater demand for an energy source that isn't environmentally appropriate.

Overall, congratulations! Pin It

Greenwash household products

When looking around for new items for your house make sure you check into the environmental credentials and claims that the product's manufacturer and distributors are making. Green, eco and sustainable branding is the new 'in' thing, with many companies using this strategy as their new marketing tool. For those trying to do the right thing, but are time poor, it can be a difficult minefield to navigate and determine which products are those in fact making a positive difference to the environment.

Sure it comes down to personal choice and what you find meets your criteria for an 'environmentally appropriate' product. But there are many products that are blatantly using green branding to highlight themselves without actually making a difference. And in some cases these green branded products are more environmentally detrimental than the 'standard' products. Be wary!

The best thing to do is determine what you are happy to accept in the way of environmental features for your product and then start your research. For example, if you're looking for a white good product, environmental features you might consider important are: cradle-to-grave impacts, ongoing environmental impact(s) and efficiency (water and/or electricity).

There are a number of websites that can assist compare products, their environmental features and tell you whether their environmental claims are accurate or not. Some of these websites are government-owned, whilst others are maintained by the private industry. Some of the ones I have found useful include:

WELS rating (water efficiency)
Ecospecifier
Energy rating

So, if you are planning on investing some of your hard-earned money into new products for your home, try and spend some time researching their environmental impact(s) and their environmental claims. Pin It

How to make a difference with your super!

Here in Australia it is mandatory to have a percentage of your wage go into superannuation, with the money only accessible once you retire aged 60/65. The reason for this is to ensure all people will have some sort of financial security in their retirement and reduce the burden on the government.

Generally, this money is invested by private companies into shares, cash and property. Many of these companies offer different packages to allow you say in the investment choice dependent on your circumstances. For example, there are packages tailored to those retiring in the short-term, with these likely to be more aggressive attempting to maximise your gain in a short period of time.

Some of these companies are realising that not all people wish to invest in "typical" options and/or have a desire to make a difference to the world throughout their lives. As such, there are now packages appearing which are entitled "socially responsible" or "environmentally friendly". If you are a person considering one of these options it is worthwhile investigating the package to determine whether they address your concerns. I personally have a "socially responsible" package through my superannuation firm, which gives me similar returns to other standard packages, but the investment choices within this are determined to be socially responsible.

However, what does "socially responsible" mean though? My superannuation company has an extensive list of the firms they invest in through this package available on their website, which can be downloaded and reviewed at your leisure. This is a great first step. After reviewing the list briefly, of so-called "socially responsible" companies some of them looked a little questionable to me. So, my next step was to email my company requesting a definition or set of parameters that they use to to determine whether a company is "socially responsible" or not.

I received the following as a response. They have three key criteria which they use:

" 1. the financial assessment process and the ability to factor labour standards, and ethical, social and environmental factors into company selection;
2. avoiding exposure to companies with a material exposure (greater than 10% on key financial measures) to avoid the production or manufacture of tobacco, uranium, armaments, gambling, alcohol, or pornography;
3. selecting optimal manager combinations."

This was fascinating and made me more aware of the package I was "buying into". The issue, however comes as you cannot change your investment mix to reflect personal choices and remove individual companies based on your preferences.

So if you are considering making a positive step for either the environment or "society" through your long-term finances an appropriate superannuation packages might be another reasonable strategy. The key message however, is to look into the investment structure and asked for definitions.

Pin It

Large supermarkets are soul-less

Weekly grocery shopping today really brought home to me how commercial and soul-less the large supermarket chains have become.

Since moving to our new area, about 6 months ago, I have been shopping at the local independent grocery store and the local farmers' markets. For convenience today I chose to shop at one of the two major supermarket chains here in Queensland. After moving through the fruit and vegetable section and then the meat section without much incident and not many products placed into my gigantic shopping trolley, I moved into the pre-packaged and processed sections.

Oh so soul destroying. The lack of variety in products and brands shocked me. Standard brands that I use to buy from these supermarkets chains have either disappeared from the shelves or are well hidden. The chain branded products are everywhere and the amount of processed foods catering for the rush of modern life are dominant. Local products are difficult to find and I felt that much of the food is choosing the buyer not the buyer choosing the product.

I was just mortified. I don't think despite the moves that these chains are doing in an attempt to improve their reputations by stocking appropriately sourced seafood, having only phosphate free detergents, etc will induce me to shopping in their aisles, except for the oddly unavailable products at my local store.

Some of the reasons I will continue to shop at my local grocery store are:

• locally owned;
• some profits being channelled back into my local community and community-oriented initiatives;
• employment of local people at all levels in the business;
• support for other local businesses and community members;
• direct response to requests (eg. direct responses to suggestions by customers for products, ranges or stocking products within a industry - local, organic, etc);
• broader range of suppliers; and
• encourage/support and utilisation of local products.

Pin It

BPA in plastics & what does it do

One of the current health issue that many mainstream people have grabbed a hold of lately is the presence of BPAs in many types of plastic and the potential to ingest these chemicals. From my initial analysis of the situation, people are concerned that such ingestion will lead to a variety of diseases, including cancer, overtime. Such media savvy issues and mainstream concerns are of interest to me, one to determine whether I should change my behaviour and two whether the claims from mainstream media and the 'chinese whisper' community sentiment has any validity.

Well firstly what is BPA?

• Bisphenol A and phthalates are chemicals present in plastic.
• Used to manufacture hard plastics (such as in plastic water bottles or 'tupperware'-type containers) and flexible plastic (such as in plastic kiddie toys).
• According to a wikipedia entry BPAs can be contained in plastic products marked with a '3' or a '7' (refer to Recycling Numbers...what do they mean post on 05/07/10....http://green-dreaming.blogspot.com/2010/07/recycling-numberswhat-do-they-mean.html).
• Choice magazine states BPAs are present in polycarbonate bottles & food packaging and some epoxy resins use to line cans.
• It is an endocrine disruptor and can mimic the body's natural hormones. 

When do they become an issue?

• It is thought that they 'mobilise' when the plastic is heated. For example, when you are re-heating your lunch in your plastic container or water bottles are left in direct sunlight or heat up in your car, etc.
• Some sources also indicate they may also just mobilise with the presence of liquid.

What are BPAs reportedly responsible for, in relation to human health issues?

• Interference with reproductive development (shown in animals) - ScienceDaily
• Cardiovascular disease -ScienceDaily
• Diabetes - ScienceDaily
• Liver disease
• Obesity - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Cancer - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Behavioural changes - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, etc.

Is there truly reason to be concerned?

• Evidence is inconclusive and since this is the 'result', some people are saying lean on the side of caution and reduce or avoid use of this plastics or avoid heating your food or drink in such plastics that you plan on ingesting in the future.
• The USA Food and Drug Administration has called for additional research into the effects of BPAs on humans.
• A number of web pages, including Choice Magazine, seem to indicate there is a higher level of concern in relation to BPAs and children and babies.
• Food Standards Australia New Zealand maintain there is no increased risk from BPAs.
• Tsai, W (2006) in their paper in Journal of Environmental Science and Health states that BPAs are not a carcinogenic risk to humans and excreted in urine. 

So from all of this, I don't know whether to be concerned or not but certainly something to consider and perhaps avoid, where possible.

Pin It

Biodegradable Pen

Today I bought some new ball point pens from a large stationary store/chain here in Australia. I found the most bizarre product and one that I never thought would come with any sort of environmental options, but I found a pen that is being marketed as 'biodegradable'.

Gimmick or fact? The details are sketchy and whether it is any more degradable than the next pen made out of normal plastic or better for the environment on face value I have no idea but the gimmick factor intrigued me so I purchased a pack of two. Comparatively maybe a little bit more expensive than a middle of the range pack of 2 ball point pens.

Upon reading the fine print, the main outside pen components are the biodegradable parts, as they are made from corn based material (as the packaging explains) and basically the rest of the pen are your typical of a standard pen. These normal pen components need to go into the normal rubbish process, whilst the corn based material (the outer pen shaft) can go on the other hand can go into your compost or into the soil and it sounds like it will take about a year to break down. Interesting product and process if it truly does work.

Overall as I said I don't know whether the footprint of the product is truly any better or worse than a standard ball point pen. This is where I need to start looking into life cycle assessments and how to do them accurately enough to make a judgement about the environmental footprint of products and services from my living room or whilst in the shops.

Pin It

Ecofund - acknowledgement

Well today I finally received an acknowledgement from Ecofund regarding my financial contribution to offsetting my car's emissions. Now have to find the time to clean the car so that I can 'advertise' my effort with their dodgy looking sticker!

Despite the additional resource that the sticker advertising my effort and Ecofund takes to produce, I think that if I place it on my car and it makes one person think and act about their environmental footprint. Maybe it is worth it! Pin It

Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico

That's right. Apparently BP has been up to its old tricks and spilt a bucket load of oil into the ocean again (with more currently still pouring in). This time as a result of drilling efforts.

As of yesterday, BP is planning on lowering a containment dome over the well to limit the amount of oil being released into the ocean. In the article I heard, up to 85%. What about the other 15%? Shocker.

This situation is just screaming environmental devastation as a result of commercial greed and sloppiness. No matter how much greenwash companies do, few really care about the environment. Let's get real!

Hopefully, BP will prove me wrong and ensure their works reduce the impact on the ocean, the creatures that rely on the ocean's resources directly and the entire planet, where everything is connected. Pin It

Ecofund

No matter what size your car is, it is doing some damage to the environment. The burning of fuel (atmospheric pollution), the use of resources (oil, tyres, etc), use of roads which have a footprint on the earth leading to all sorts of direct and indirect impacts, etc. Often we don't think about these things, particularly the less obvious resources, but recently I thought that I should at least do something about the impact my car was having on the atmosphere.There are a number of companies that can now assist you to do this. Basically they offer to "offset" your emissions by planting trees which will "inhale" the emissions you put into the air when you drive around!

I previously had Greenfleet offset my car's emissions. At the time they were undertaking tree planting in Victoria. This is a good cause, even though I live in Queensland because there are a lot of areas within Victoria that need to be have tree re-planting done because of the significant amount of vegetation that has been cleared from these areas since white settlement. I was happy enough with the service Greenfleet provided, they gave me a sticker and a certificate telling me how many trees they were planting and that I was offsetting my car's emissions for the year. At the time it was a standard fee for your vehicle no matter what size your car was (for example, whether it was a little, economical, zippy car or whether it was a petrol guzzling V8 or large four-wheel drive).

Since I last signed up and paid my dues, there has been a boom in this market and there are a number of companies that will offset your emissions and some of them don't even offer to re-plant trees as your emission compensation process. There is also a significant rise in the price of these private purchase carbon offsets. This time round I decided I would "try-out" the new Ecofund. This is a Queensland government initiative (not sure whether it is going to remain as a government-owned organisation or not). I felt that it would provide me with some "solutions" closer to home. Ecofund offers a carbon offset service by increasing the amount of national park in the Queensland protected area estate. Presently I can't seem to find anything that calculates my offset directly (ie the amount of national park I have basically purchased for the small amount of money that I have contributed to this 'program') and I certainly haven't received any official acknowledgement of them receiving my funds (except for the electronic banking receipt). But I will stick it out at least a year and see if I feel better about using my little car around the suburbs and my assistance in increasing the amount of national park here in Queensland. Pin It

Plastic Bags

I am sick of the greenwash that supermarkets are using with respect to their plastic bags. The uninformed person is probably starting to feel ok about their acceptance of plastic bags at the end of the supermarket check out queue because of the words emblazioned on their bag "degradable' plastic bag". To me this is such a slap in the face. Of course it is degradable, everything is degradable, some products just take millions of years!

I was interested to know exactly how long it would take one of these 'degradable plastic bags' to degrade. So after a little bit of internet research it seems that it doesn't take as long as I originally suspected, but the length of time and the likely end point (being the local landfill) still leave the opportunity for environmental damage and degradation to occur as a result of these bags.

One plastic bag manufacturer did overseas research to determine the length of time it would take one of these bags to degrade and in the right conditions and exposure to sunlight it would be about a year. They then extrapolated their research and determined that it would probably be 3-4 months with full exposure to Queensland sun for a plastic bag to degrade.

I think what is regarded as 'degraded' as they discuss on the plastic bags is that the end product is not going to significantly impact upon the environment and in the context of this product, its context within landfill and the possible exposure of animals to a product that could cause them harm.

Well, this to me is certainly interesting and an eye opener. I suspected that it would take at least 10 years for a product such as a plastic bag to become environmentally benign. Nevertheless, I will continue to try to avoid the acceptance of plastic bags in the shopping queue. My issue is (after this research) I don't currently have a replacement for the humble plastic bag to store my rubbish prior to its collation into my wheelie bin each week. This obviously means that I am still contributing to the plastic bag issue. Guess I now have to look into some of the more biodegradable products, maybe something like the cornstarch products are more appropriate. More research needed to reduce that footprint I guess. Pin It

Becoming green

I am overwhelmed with the ideas of becoming greener in my life. The thoughts flood in most of the day, am I using too much dishwashing power, is the powder I choose to purchase just a green branded product or is it really better for the environment than some of the leading brands that dominate the supermarket shelf, should I turn the light on, how long is too long to have the fridge door open, is my economical car truly the most economical and most efficient for the amount of money I can outlay, blah blah, blah, blah. The thoughts just keep coming.

Then when I get two minutes to myself of an evening (after the toddler is in bed) I don't seem to be motivated enough to research any of this stuff that takes up the back of my mind most of the day.

Maybe the day will come when I can provide some insight, but presently it takes all of my energy just to jot down what I am doing or trying to do. I'll get there, but will it be in time?

Look forward to hearing of other people's experiences and efforts. Pin It

Green cleaning

I am not much of a house cleaner, except for putting stuff away and the occasional dishwashing adventure, but I know that I do use some nasty chemicals around the house when it comes time to undertake some of the cleaning chores.

There are green products on the market, some of which I have bought but I don't know whether they are just greenwash or just a combined product of numerous things I might already have around the house or a combination of more expensive ingredients I could buy from the supermarket and produce my own 'green' cleaning products.

So what are some good, clean, cheap alternatives to the commonly used nasty cleaning products around the house? Isn't vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda or bicarb some of the ingredients you can use? I think this is something I need to look into. Pin It