Frankly Green

Aquafina Labels to Spell Out Source - Tap Water

By Martinne Geller - Thu Jul 26
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I am happy to see Pepsi doing this although it does not sound like, absent outside pressure, it is something they likely would not have done. I have made several posts on Pepsi's environmental efforts.

I am happy to see that efforts are being made to reduce Bottled Water Waste! Yes, bottled water can be convenient but too often people are lazy when they make the choice to drink bottled water. There are many alternatives to bottled water, almost all of which will save you money! So before you buy your next bottle of water, ask yourself if there might be a better alternative.

PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry.

According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

"If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it's a reasonable thing to do," said Michelle Naughton, a Pepsi-Cola North America spokeswoman.

Pepsi Chief Executive Indra Nooyi told Reuters earlier this week the company was considering such a move.

Pepsi's Aquafina and Coca-Cola Co's Dasani are both made from purified water sourced from public reservoirs, as opposed to Danone's Evian or Nestle's Poland Spring, so-called "spring waters," shipped from specific locations the companies say have notably clean water…

"Concerns about the bottled-water industry, and increasing corporate control of water, are growing across the country," said Gigi Kellett, director of the "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, which aims to encourage people to drink tap water.

San Francisco's mayor banned city employees from using city funds to buy bottled water when tap water is available. Ann Arbor, Michigan passed a resolution banning commercially bottled water at city events and Salt Lake City, Utah asked department heads to eliminate bottled water.

Critics charge the bottled water industry adds plastic to landfills, uses too much energy by producing and shipping bottles across the world and undermines confidence in the safety and cleanliness of public water supplies, all while much of the world's population is without access to clean water.

But industry observers said such opposition is unlikely to drain U.S. sales of bottled water, which reached 2.6 billion cases in 2006, according to Beverage Digest. The industry newsletter estimated that U.S. consumers spent about $15 billion on bottled water last year.

"Consumers have an affection for bottled water. It's not an issue of taste or health, it's about convenience," the newsletter's publisher, John Sicher, said. "Try walking up (New York City's) Third Avenue on a hot day and getting a glass of tap water."

Coke Tracks its Environmental Progress

Looks like Coke is trying to catch up to Pepsi although Pepsi's environmental efforts to date are way ahead of Cokes! If Coke really wants to do something positive for the environment they contribute to efforts to reduce bottled water waste and stop trying to convince people that they need to drink bottled water! No chance that will ever happen!

Atlanta Business Chronicle -  Thursday, July 26, 2007

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The Coca-Cola Co. has issued its 2006 Environmental Performance report to detail its progress in water stewardship, sustainable packaging and energy and climate protection.

The Atlanta-based beverage giant said it put together data from 775 facilities around the world, representing 94 percent of the Coca-Cola system's sales volume in 2006.

According to the report, as sales volume increased 4 percent, the Coca-Cola system achieved a 3 percent improvement in water use efficiency. Coca-Cola said it plants used an average of 2.52 liters of water to make one liter of beverage in 2006, compared with 2.59 liters in 2005 and 2.72 in 2004. Since 2002, Coca-Cola claims it has improved water use efficiency by more than 19 percent.

In 2006, 83 percent of Coca-Cola facilities met the company's wastewater standard, the company said. While water is treated to comply with local regulations and standards, the company said it has wastewater treatment standards that are more stringent than applicable laws in many parts of the world. Coca-Cola has pledged to have 100 percent compliance by the end of 2010.

Battle Over Ethanol Benefits

Opposing groups release dueling reports on whether the U.S. should proceed with its corn ethanol programs.

By Jeff Cox, CNNMoney.com contributing writer  July 24 2007

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Focusing on corn-based ethanol without looking at other alternatives to oil will doom U.S. energy policy, a consortium of environmental groups charged Wednesday.

The groups' report, "The Rush to Ethanol: Not all Biofuels are Created Equal," harshly criticizes U.S. focus on corn-based ethanol, saying it's the least sustainable biofuel of all candidates due to supply limitations. Environmental damage and food shortages are but two of its several hazards, the report says.
 

The group is demanding more stringent fuel standards, improvements in transportation infrastructure and a focus on alternative fuels other than corn-based ethanol to improve the U.S. energy picture.

"What we're calling for is really a richer and deeper debate about what we need to do in the long term to reduce emissions and to create a more sustainable energy policy," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch.

Hauter's group joined leaders from New Energy Choices and the Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School to release the detailed report.

The study examines the current literature available on corn ethanol and concludes that even at its peak use, it will only reduce Americans' reliance on gasoline by 15 percent. It also questions the environmental efficiency of the blend, saying that plant-based, or cellulosic, ethanol is three times more efficient at reducing greenhouse gases.

Should You Sip Your Vitamins Through a Straw?

By STEPHANIE CHEN
July 24, 2007; Page D1

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As nutrient-fortified sodas, juice, teas and flavored water proliferate on store shelves, questions remain about whether these beverages really provide health benefits…

The explosion of nutrient-laced drinks reflects consumers' desire for more healthful choices than soda. These drinks' combined U.S. volume more than tripled from 2001 to 2006, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp., compared with 5% growth for the U.S. beverage industry over all.

Frenzied competition is fueling increasingly bold marketing claims. Vitaminwater's peach-and-mango "endurance" flavor, containing as much vitamin E as two apples, claims it can "enhance physical endurance." Jones Soda's energy drink with amino acids will "provide clarity and focus," says Peter M. van Stolk, president and chief executive…

But some nutritionists say these enhanced drinks may lead consumers to pack in more calories than they need. Popular drinks such as SoBe Life Water and Vitaminwater often contain about 125 calories per bottle. That's less than sugared sodas, but certainly more than plain water. (For more on the link between soft drinks and health, see the Health Journal column1.)

Many health experts say there is little evidence to suggest that fortified beverages make a significant difference in health. And they question whether the drinks are worth their hefty retail prices, which can run twice as high as those of plain bottled water or unenhanced sodas.

More Seniors, Boomers Going Green

By Korky Vann
Hartford Courant

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The nanas and the pappas are going green.

Senior citizens and baby boomers across the U.S., many of whom marched for civil rights and women's liberation, are mobilizing to combat global warming and save the environment for their children and grandchildren.

Take Green Granny, otherwise known as Joyce Emery.

The Ames, Iowa, retiree is the co-founder of greenseniors.org, created in December to help mature individuals work together to make the planet a better place for future generations. The Web site features updates, news, trends and information on environmental issues.

Emery also maintains a blog, www.greengranny.org, filled with posts on the use of green materials and practices and links to environmental action groups.

Don't let her warm, fuzzy moniker fool you. Emery, 63 and a grandmother of six, is no little old lady in tennis shoes. The former high school teacher and college professor who retired last June, sees the business world's brain drain as the environmental movement's gain and is working to inspire other retirees to put their skills to work

"As folks reach retirement age and leave their jobs, a tremendous amount of talent and experience walks out the door," Emery says. "Those skills are vital to combat global warming. We want to inspire people to join the effort."

Paris to Provide Rentable Bikes Every 900 Feet

French revolution: Rentable bikes every 900 feet
Beginning July 15, Parisians can get one with the swipe of a card – and the first half-hour is free.
By Robert Marquand | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

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The socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, has seen the future and it's got two wheels, three speeds, an adjustable seat, indestructible tires, a basket, and a bell. It's 50 pounds of ecofriendly handlebars, comin' at ya.

The French are turning Paris into a bicycle zone, pretty much overnight. Even now, astride small alleys and behind boulangeries, paving stones are being ripped to fit 750 bicycle rent "stations."

On July 15, a day after the French Revolution anniversary, the city of lights will kick off a "vélorution" with 10,648 rentable bikes, or vélos. By January, some 1,400 rent stations and 20,600 bikes are scheduled to be in place. In Paris proper, one will never be more than 900 feet from a set of cheap wheels. At least theoretically.

Similar programs have been launched elsewhere with varying success. But Paris officials say their city is the first world capital to adopt a major green biking initiative, and they are doing it in a way that may be too big to fail. The ambitious Paris project is titled Vélib' – wordplay for bicycle freedom. Read: freedom from too many cars and carbon fumes.

California to Build World's Largest Solar Farm

• 80-megawatt farm to occupy 640 acres upon completion in 2011
• Farm will be about 7 times size of world's biggest plant in Germany
• Biggest operating solar farm is 4.6-megawatt plant near Tucson, Arizona

This is huge (literally and figuratively)! Currently, the largest US solar farm is about 4.6 megawatts which makes this farm over 17x larger! And 80 megawatts is a lot of juice!!

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LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A San Francisco company said Friday it plans to build the world's largest solar power farm near Fresno, California.

The 80-megawatt farm is to occupy as much as 640 acres and upon completion in 2011 will be 17 times the size of the largest U.S. solar farm, said Cleantech America LLC, a privately held 2-year-old company.

The farm will also be about seven times the size of the world's biggest plant and double the largest planned farm, both in Germany.

Bill Barnes, CEO of Cleantech, said the scale of the Kings River Conservation District Community Choice Solar Farm will change renewable energy and make California the global leader for huge solar projects and replace Germany as the solar energy hub of the world.

"We're pretty confident that solar farms on this scale are going to have an industry-changing impact," Barnes said by telephone on Friday. "We think it's the wave of the future. This scale of project, I think, creates a tipping point for renewable energy."

How Scientists Figure Out How Long it Takes Trash to Decompose

Will My Plastic Bag Still Be Here in 2507?
How scientists figure out how long it takes your trash to decompose.
By Juliet Lapidos

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Thanks to Bruce W. for this article.

Starting July 1, most large grocery stores in the state of California will be legally required to recycle plastic shopping bags. In Europe, even stricter anti-plastic measures are gaining traction. Retailers in Modbury, England, for example, recently committed to an outright plastic-bag ban.

News reports have cited a statistic that the ubiquitous receptacles take 500 years to break down in landfills. How do we know?

Actually, we don't. Plastic bags have only been around for about 50 years, so there's no firsthand evidence of their decomposition rate. To make long-term estimates of this sort, scientists often use respirometry tests. The experimenters place a solid waste sample—like a newspaper, banana peel, or plastic bag—in a vessel containing microbe-rich compost, then aerate the mixture. Over the course of several days, microorganisms assimilate the sample bit by bit and produce carbon dioxide; the resultant CO2 level serves as an indicator of degradation.

Respirometry tests work perfectly for newspapers and banana peels. (Newspapers take two to five months to biodegrade in a compost heap; banana peels take several days.) But when scientists test generic plastic bags, nothing happens—there's no CO2 production and no decomposition. Why? The most common type of plastic shopping bag—the kind you get at supermarkets—is made of polyethylene, a man-made polymer that microorganisms don't recognize as food.

So, where does the 500-year statistic come from? Although standard polyethylene bags don't biodegrade, they do photodegrade. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, polyethylene's polymer chains become brittle and start to crack. This suggests that plastic bags will eventually fragment into microscopic granules. As of yet, however, scientists aren't sure how many centuries it takes for the sun to work its magic. That's why certain news sources cite a 500-year estimate while others prefer a more conservative 1,000-year lifespan. According to some plastics experts, all these figures are just another way of saying "a really, really long time."

Putting Energy Hogs in the Home on a Strict Low-Power Diet

By LARRY MAGID

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A good article with tips on how to reduce your energy consumption at home. I have made previous posts on this issue but this article provides a good review. Thanks to Jeffrey T. for this article!

I THOUGHT I was pretty good about energy conservation, but it turns out that I’ve been a bit of a hypocrite. I drive a reasonably fuel-efficient car, I work at home so I don’t use fuel to commute and I am replacing incandescent bulbs in my home with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs.

But I am also a prodigious computer user, and it looks as if that makes me an energy hog. I started checking how much electricity my electronics were consuming when I wasn’t using them. I used a Kill A Watt EZ energy meter (available online for about $25) and began measuring. My PC was continuously drawing 134 watts all night.

The more devices I checked, the worse it got. My TiVo digital video recorder was sucking down about 30 watts when it was not playing or recording a show. A Comcast digital cable set-top box made by Motorola that I tested was drawing about 40 watts. My DVD player was drawing 26 watts while idle, and my audio system — which I rarely turned off — was using 47 watts. This was in addition to the numerous power adapters and chargers, each drawing 1 or 2 watts, not to mention several other devices sipping energy to keep clocks running or to be ready to turn on at the push of a button.

I’m partly to blame for the audio system and DVD player. They do have on/off switches that I was failing to use. I had falsely assumed they were using relatively little power. But I tested DVR’s from Comcast, Dish Network and TiVo, and none went into a low-power mode. All of this wasted power was costing me money and pumping unnecessary CO2 into the atmosphere. My PC alone was contributing 2,000 pounds of CO2 annually. The DVR. was adding another 543 pounds.

Indeed, the Department of Energy estimates that in the average home, 40 percent of all electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. Add that all up, and it equals the annual output of 17 power plants, the government says. In an effort to address that, a consortium of Intel, Google, PC makers and other technology companies this week announced their intent to increase the PC’s overall energy efficiency to 90 percent....

Tweaking can pay off. Annually, my desktop PC is now using 73 percent less energy — saving me $119 a year and depriving the earth of 1,405 more pounds of CO2.

PepsiCo Facility Goes Green, Gets Gold

Congrats to PepsiCo for their efforts with this new facility. Pepsi is a company that, in my view, has spoken louder with their actions than with their words, or in this case press releases.

Gatorade facility is largest food/bev plant to receive LEED Gold-level certification.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently recognized the Gatorade Blue Ridge facility in Wytheville, Va., with its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation at a Gold-level certification. At 950,000 square feet, the facility is the largest food and beverage site in the world to achieve this designation.

The LEED Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for evaluating sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere efficiency, material and resource selection and indoor environmental quality.

The Gatorade Blue Ridge facility earned this special recognition with three key accomplishments.

A plant design that drives energy and environmental optimization. The plant maximizes the use of supply water and optimizes wastewater treatment efficiency.

The facility also installed state-of-the-art energy-saving measures such as high-efficiency boilers, water heaters, and HVAC equipment with calibrated control systems.

Respect for the ecosystem and habitat during site planning and development, a critical element of sustainability. Half of the facility's 135 acres will be returned to its natural state to promote biodiversity.

The incorporation of a compelling educational component. More than 20 key LEED components in the facility are prominently displayed with permanent education posters that tell the story of the LEED mission and describe specific environmental, economic, and social benefits of the site.

The plant design also encourages employees to support the environment with premiere employee parking for bicycles, car pools and hybrid vehicles.

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