TOXIC MICROBEADS: Is ‘Poly’ Your True Friend? – by Dennis Lucarelli How do know which food, health or beauty product contains toxic microbeads? READ THE LABEL! The most earth-friendly and best-health choice for soaps & toothpastes use natural products (e.g. olive oil for soaps, baking soda[*] for brushing teeth) but if you do have store-bought packaged products at home then DO check the label for these ingredients, mentioned in The Story of Beads, a two-minute video just released by the Story of Stuff Project. The product-label ingredients named as toxic – to the human body and to all ocean life – include polyethelene, polypropylene, polyethelene teraphthalate, and polymethyl chlorathylate.
— Take two minutes and watch the video.
[*] Baking-soda (bicarbonate of soda) and salt are among many traditionally-used ingredients for cleaning teeth. I am going to ask my dentist for advice on this, and recommend anyone do the same. I am also going to ask my dentist about those above-mentioned “poly” ingredients. Just as organic produce only began to show up in most stores after customers started asking for them, I suspect that many dentists haven’t yet tuned into the health and environmental concerns about those pesky micro-beads that some toothpaste makers have introduced. That makes TWO questions which I will be asking my dentist: (1) what traditional remedies are safe and effective, and (2) “does this free toothpaste you’re giving me contain microbeads?”
April 2015 TSS TOP TIP OF THE WEEK:
BURN WISE – Time to Prep Your Firewood for Next Year! – by Patti Bauer
Sun yesterday, rain today. Lately, lounging in the brief blessing of early spring sun seems to be ideal, but after a too short while, the chillies return and there is a need to get moving! If you use a fireplace, and care about the planet, now is the time to get your wood in for next year ‘cause it’s got to be dry to burn efficiently.
In the old days they said “Wood should be split before Easter so it can dry during spring and summer.” Preparing for next year’s wood store gives the wood sufficient time to cure and then burn efficiently.
Why not wet wood? Burning wet wood creates excessive smoke – that’s wasted fuel, and more particulates that are a serious and harmful form of emissions.
If you are buying wood, buy it this spring from a sustainable source on island… you will have dry wood by fall and firewood usually costs less in spring than during the fall “We’re out of firewood!” buying frenzy.
Wood fuel for heating is sustainable if and only if is converted efficiently into heat. Old wood stoves, and of course decorative “fireplaces” that send most of the heat right up the chimney, might give a cozy feel but the actual warmth is nothing compared to the super-efficiency of a certified and high-quality wood-burning stove, which can also reduce the use of less earth-friendly heating methods like heating oil, natural gas, propane or electric heaters. Note that in BC we are net importers of power, and those imports are ‘dirty fuels’ ~ so please don’t be fooled that our utility consumption in BC is all ‘Green’ by any means.
Bottom line: If you heat with wood, do so with an efficient stove, and with well-seasoned firewood.
So dear Salt Springers! ……
- Season wood outdoors through the summer for at least 6 months before burning it. Properly seasoned wood is darker, has cracks in the end grain, and sounds hollow when smacked against another piece of wood.
- Store wood outdoors, stacked neatly off the ground with the top covered. And here is a cool tip…. if you stack the wood with the bark on the top, it takes longer for the moisture to penetrate the cell walls, with the bark acting as a lid. So stack your firewood bark-side down for greater efficiency in drying.
- If you have yet to build a woodshed – consider that a south facing woodshed with more sun-exposure will dry wood more effectively.
- And it bears repeating…. wood that’s burned incompletely or inefficiently generates more smoke and harmful chemicals including carbon monoxide (CO). Take care of yourself and the planet!
TSS advocates for clean air and healthy living. We do not advocate the use of wood burning, burn wood mindfully.
Why isn’t wood-burning such a clear choice over other options? Faster oxidation is the answer, so consider: wood oxidizes into carbon whether it’s decomposing on the forest floor or gets burned in a stove. Decomposing (after a tree reaches maturity and dies) from rot and insect infestation after falling to the forest floor. That dead tree undergoes slow oxidation & thus emits carbon dioxide (CO2) — but firewood emits the same amount of CO2 when burned (but if burned inefficiently, also emits other pollutants as mentioned above). But burning firewood emits that same amount of CO2 over a much shorter period of time.
What matters however, is how you burn the wood – if burned moist, or inefficiently, you are contributing to significant particulate matter in the atmosphere. It’s not necessarily It’s the smoke that is the problem. Burning wood badly (using wet wood or letting a fire smoulder) can release excess methane, a gas that has a greenhouse impact 20 times greater than that of CO2. What’s more, burning wood in an open fireplace releases large amounts of ash in the smoke. The particulate matter in smoke is not healthy and can cause illnesses like bronchitis and aggravate chronic heart and lung diseases. Once it goes up the chimney, wood smoke becomes air pollution.
So a warm, healthy snuggle by the fire next winter? Why not? You’ve done it with care, and reduced the winter chub around the belly, ’cause you got out there in early spring to chop and stack your firewood! Here’s to a sustainable year!