Monthly Archives: July 2007

Is the Final Harry Potter Novel Green?

I’ve seen a lot of discussion about the final Harry Potter novel. Apparently there was some effort to use recycled paper in its production.

In Canada, the entire release was printed on recycled paper. Conservation groups are recommending that people order it from Canada in order to benefit from this.

Scholastic, the printer in the United States, does not disclose how much recycled paper they use. However, they do say they only use fiber not made from ancient forests for all their publications, and that they use some recycled paper.
I haven’t bought the latest Harry Potter; in fact, I think I own one of them. For most books I like to avoid hardcover. There are few books I reread enough to make hardcover worthwhile.

But the question here relates to which would you rather buy? The Canadian, recycled paper version or the U.S. printed one that is printed on what Scholastic uses regularly, but is more easily available. You probably won’t even have to have it shipped, unless you buy from Amazon or another online book seller.

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Seattle to Require Food-Trash Recycling – Should Other Cities Do Likewise?

Seattle has passed a new ordinance requiring all residents to subscribe to their food trash recycling program, starting in 2009. This is for all single family residences, not apartment complexes or such, although they can subscribe as well.

This is an interesting idea. The story caught my attention, as I have a sister in Bothell, although I don’t think she’ll be impacted, since that’s a different city that only happens to be near Seattle. The only thing I question is whether or not requiring the subscription is the right decision.

Don’t get me wrong, I think food scraps should be recycled. But this seems to me to be something of a penalty to those who compost in their back yards. They’ll still have to pay, even though they are doing their part to reduce what goes into the landfill.

But I do also see something of a problem in only requiring this for single family homes:

Recycling food waste will be voluntary for apartments, as well as for businesses, which produce twice as much food waste as residents.

Now, as a first step perhaps this is logical, but if other sources are producing twice the waste it would be nice to see them bearing some of the burden of food waste recycling too.

At the same time as I dislike that even families who compost have to pay for this, I like that the city is making food waste recycling possible. That is a wonderful step. Food waste has no place in the garbage dump. It is too easily made into compost, so utterly recyclable it is almost insanity to do anything else with it.

What do you think? Should more areas start requiring food trash recycling? How do you think such programs should be run?

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Organic Farming Can Do the Job!

I found this post about how organic farming can indeed feed the world quite interesting. It goes so contrary to the old claims that pesticides and chemical fertilizers are the only way to produce enough food for the entire world.

There are two reports on this, one from the University of Michigan, the other from the USDA. There’s a good summary on the NewScientist website. The most interesting part is that while organic methods would decrease food production somewhat in developed nations, in developing countries organic farming could increase food production by as much as 80%.

It won’t necessarily be easy, of course. From the NewScientist article:

Carl Pray, at University of Rutgers, New Jersey, US, says there is good evidence that small-scale farming in developing countries is more efficient. This is probably because small farms put more effort in the precise management of small areas of land.

But, he says, “the likelihood of all farms reverting to ‘small farmerdom’ is a big question in an age in which labour is becoming more and more expensive. Take China and India, for instance: the demand for labour is such that people are continually being pulled out of the countryside”.

Continue reading →

Time’s Ideas for Going Green

Time Magazine has a list they call their Global Warming Survival Guide. 51 tips on being more green.

Some are as simple as changing your lightbulbs to CFLs. Others relate to building or remodeling your home. Obviously those aren’t going to be for everyone.

I like some of the tips. I’ve been trying to figure out how to put up a clothesline where I live. Given that I’m a renter, it’s not easy, since I can’t just drop in something permanent. What surprised me about the article was that only 60% of the energy used in relation to an article of clothing is in washing and drying it. Says a lot about how much energy it costs just to get it to you.

Buying local is another of their ideas that is possible for many people. Farmer’s markets are a good place to start. You may also find food co-ops in your area. These foods are generally organically grown as well, so you may be avoiding pesticides too.

Shutting down unused electronics, use environmentally friendly makeup, rake up leaves in the fall… many of the ideas are suitable for individuals. The entire series of short articles is interesting and worth the read.

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