141–150 of 232 posts
"A scientific review of 52 studies recently concluded that humans on average consume a credit card’s worth of microplastic each week." Wow
As shocking as that is, I'd like to see some confirmation of that number.
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I've always been leery of metal containers because I'm sure there's some unsafe machine oil/lubricant in there from the China manufacturing plant it was made at and wasn't completely/properly washed. Even after washing it at home I'm sure you can't get everything out.
I can do you one better. During that time frame, Kleen Kanteen made a big mea culpa, because initially they claimed that their canteens were BPA free and then they found out they were lining them with... you guessed it, BPA. I tend to use glass for anything other than water. Anything without a neutral pH can make your container more reactive, no matter what it's made of. I put tea or coffee into a double wall stainle…
Interesting, considering just a few decades ago bundling old tires and sinking them into the ocean was considered an environmentally-friendly disposal method. It was believed that the tires would create reefs, encouraging sea life, and at the same time take care of on ongoing tire disposal problem that occasionally led to catastrophic fires. I wonder what other modern "environmentally friendly" things we're doing now…
that could well be fine, because those tires aren't abraded into small particles the same way?
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The last mile problem can only be solved by eliminating single family detached homes. You can only reduce the amount of energy required to move bodies so much, at some point you have to start reducing the distances traveled.
I'd rather go with the less people travelling further on bikes route. There's a 1:1 ratio between amount of space (and therefor nature) per person, and the distance we're willing to travel on foot/bike/etc.
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the last mile problem can be solved in a million different ways: bikes, taxis, uber, walking, buses... Eliminating car culture is non optional if we want to save the planet.
Unless you live more than a mile away... Lots of people don't live in densely populated areas near train tracks where getting off the train and getting home is Obviously, it makes sense for those who do but most of America is sprawly and isn't designed for rail transit efficiency. I'd appreciate good quite rail but it isn't anywhere near feasible in these sprawly landscapes.
but MOST of the people do live (or around) densely populated areas, no? (just checked - google says 82% of US population is in urban areas). Addressing issues for most of the people first would have the most impact.
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I can do you one better. During that time frame, Kleen Kanteen made a big mea culpa, because initially they claimed that their canteens were BPA free and then they found out they were lining them with... you guessed it, BPA. I tend to use glass for anything other than water. Anything without a neutral pH can make your container more reactive, no matter what it's made of. I put tea or coffee into a double wall stainle…
What's wrong with ceramics?
This is one reason why I don't like living near freeways, especially near on-ramps, off-ramps, and interchanges. Car pollution isn't just tailpipe emissions - I believe a lot of airborne particulates come from tires and brakes (especially during acceleration, deceleration, and turning). https://www.cdc.gov/air/particulate_matter.html
Came up in conversation when I took my car in that up until recently they were using little bits of copper in brake pads for... noise control? heat? I can't recall which. But that's been outlawed now, presumably due to potential for metal toxicity (any mineral you need in your diet is also lethal at higher doses). We're leaving powdered copper at every stop light.
I don't think it's terribly harmful for humans if it's safe for a women's uterus. California tends to be exceptionally concerned for the environment in general. All that copper dust making it into the coastal marine environments isn't going to be good for it, considering the same stuff is used to keep marine life off boats.
edit:
"The issue has been under consideration since the 1990s, when cities south of San Francisco were having trouble meeting Clean Water Act requirements to reduce copper in urban run-off flowing into San Francisco Bay. Preliminary studies indicated that brake pads were a significant source of copper in that runoff. Tiny amounts of copper fall onto the streets and parking lots every time drivers step on their brakes."
from https://www.copper.org/environment/impact/copper-brake.html
As I suspected, it doesn't appear to be primarily a human toxicity concern. It's to protect the marine environment.
This is one reason why I don't like living near freeways, especially near on-ramps, off-ramps, and interchanges. Car pollution isn't just tailpipe emissions - I believe a lot of airborne particulates come from tires and brakes (especially during acceleration, deceleration, and turning). https://www.cdc.gov/air/particulate_matter.html
Are there tires that are not made of plastic?
I dunno about no plastic but there may be less plastic tires. Maybe. When I last bought new tires, I found out that tires lose a ton of their performance even at 50% wear rating. I thought I was doing well picking better tires than factory for my vehicles but it turns out any new tire would have had better handling because it was new. As is common, people don't talk about the problems with their product until they ha…
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Trains are less efficient than cars on a per mile basis. https://www.theprch.com/this-vs-that/fuel-efficiency-planes-...
When you measure comfort per mile, cars are nearly infinitely superior to trains.