Author: Lisa Frack
Website: http://www.enviroblog.org/2010/04/stay-current-on-tsca-refor…

The Environmental Working Group’s campaign for Kid-Safe Chemicals shifted into high gear exactly a week before the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (poetic justice), when Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced the Safe Chemicals Act (SCA) to reform our current ineffective toxic chemicals law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

EWG staff delivered a petition with more than 88,000 constituent signatures to key lawmakers (picture, right), including Senators Lautenberg and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Work, and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), Chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. See the terrific pictures - including the 188-foot long (!) printed petition - here.

EWG is actively participating in the effort to move this reform process forward. Our scientists and policy experts are blogging about both the House and Senate versions on our Kid-Safe Chemicals Campaign blog. We’re assessing the proposed…

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Author: easy eco blog
Website: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/easyecoblog/~3/xen5Yiqik5M/

The sun is finally out again.. I did not realize that eco friendly or green sun screen was an important area, especially when one is on vacation.  EWG reports that UV filtering ingredients in sunscreen have been proven to cause bleaching in the algae that lives on coral, thus killing the entire structure.

There are other issues that EWG covers with possible problems with other chemicals in sunscreen. Also: “80 percent of our water in the U.S. shows trace amounts of chemicals from personal care products, which could be sunscreens, lotions, colognes or medications.”

“66 sunscreens with SPFs from 55-100+ might tempt you to stay out longer in the sun, but they block just 1-2% more sunburn rays than an SPF 30 sunscreen.”

EWG has some good sunscreen that meets our criteria. A cheap one is Walgreens Zinc Oxide for Face, Nose, Ears.

Related posts:

1. Eco-friendly or Green Cosmetics
2. Eco Friendly Green Exterior Paint
3. What is a Natural Cleaner or Natural home care product ?

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Author: Jean-Paul
Website: http://www.thechicecologist.com/2010/04/trees-arbor-day-rest…

Arbor day brings mixed feelings for me, which may sound strange because who doesn’t like trees? Having worked some time as a restoration ecologist, I may be privy to the dark secrets of habitat restoration or ‘enhancement’, that many well-meaning charities and non-profits may be unaware of: Nature heals itself! Be sure you look into [...]

Related posts:

1. Seeing the Forest for the Trees (Part II)
2. Seeing the Forest for the Trees (Part I)
3. Eco Friendly Golf Course? Justin Timberlake’s Mirimichi

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Author: Lisa Frack
Website: http://www.enviroblog.org/2010/04/maryland-bans-bpa-in-some-…

This month Maryland became the 5th state to ban the use of the plastics chemical, bisphenol A (BPA) in children’s products, including baby bottles and sippy cups.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed legislation on April 13th that was sponsored by Delegate James Hubbard and Senator Brian Frosh and passed unanimously in both chambers of the General Assembly earlier this year.

Environmental Working Group (EWG), along with Maryland PIRG and the Maryland Nurses Association testified before both Senate and House of Delegate committees in support of the legislation. EWG President Ken Cook had this to say about the victory:

“As a resident of Maryland I applaud the Governor’s action that will soon protect the state’s young children, including my two year old son from the dangers this chemical poses during this critical period of a child’s development. The verdict over BPA’s risks to human health in the courts of public opinion, science and now our elected leaders in Annapolis is…

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Author: easy eco blog
Website: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/easyecoblog/~3/1USouoY0S0g/

California has the Smoking Vehicle Assistance Program where you can report vehicles that are spewing lots of smoke.  You can also learn about repair programs and retirement programs to put old cars off the road and receive up to $1000. Other regions should have similar programs.

Why is this important? According to the site:

• Smoking vehicles emit tiny particles that may lodge in the lungs and contribute to asthma and other respiratory diseases. Children and the elderly are especially susceptible to these hazards.
• Heavy-emitting vehicles contribute 20 to 30 percent of the soot and particulate matter found in the air.
• Vehicles that smoke generate 10 to 15 times more pollution than those that are well tuned.
• Ten percent of the exhaust emitted by smoking vehicles is circulated back into the car, harming the vehicle’s driver and passengers.
• Smoking vehicles are significantly more expensive to own and operate than well-tuned vehicles.
• Vehicles emitting visible exhaust for more than…

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Author: Dean
Website: http://www.thechicecologist.com/2010/04/platinum-for-fuel-ce…

The DOE laboratory I work for recently published some promising results of one of our fuel cell experiments. Researchers with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of Houston recently found a way to get platinum to be more conductive. It doesn’t sound like much, but this is big for fuel [...]

Related posts:

1. NH2 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Emission Free Tractor by New Holland
2. Eco Biofuel From Biodiesel B5, B20 and B99 to Flexfuel E85 – The Future of Alternative Fuel?
3. Beer Powered Cars, Ethanol Fuel from Beer Waste – I’ll Drink to That!

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Author: Green Talk
Website: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/green-talk/jRYI/~3/IeXd36Xsjv…

What are you first thoughts when you see the picture above? These people are standing in the middle of a Greenhouse? Well. Close. The picture is of sustainable architect and author Stuart Rose, Ph.D., green designer and developer and his wife, Trina Duncan, in their own home.  He is the designer of Garden Atriums.

Rose’s own house as well as a small cluster of homes in Poquoson, Virginia have a Garden Atrium built in their homes.  The atrium contains tropical trees and plants, which gather sun from huge central skylights.  Not only can the owners pick their own fruit but because the oxygen levels are so high, allergy sufferers typically notice their symptoms disappear.

Watch this PBS video to see Rose’s house.  It is amazing and I would love to have a house with an atrium like his.  Every day would be like summer.  However, the house is not just about the garden.  The rest of the house is designed based upon green building principles with low toxic…

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Author: Green Talk
Website: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/green-talk/jRYI/~3/YQCODsexbX…

Photo courtesy of NJ.com’s coverage of last years car seat recycling.

As a follow-up to my recycling car seat post, Jennifer Carcich and Linnea Hasegawa of the Morristown Moms and Tots sought car recycling in their town last year and furnished me with a copy of their letter for use  by anyone who desire car seat recycling in their own town.  As I mentioned in my previous article, they were successful in persuading the town and now car recycling is part of the town’s overall recycling program.

Dear Mr. Fabrizio,

Thank you so much for hearing our concerns about the need for a car safety seat recycling program in Morris County. While we acknowledge the many challenges associated with such an endeavor, we also feel strongly that the residents of Morris County would work together to put a car seat recycling service in place if we had the support of the right people, associations and businesses.

Most people don’t realize that car safety seats expire five to six years…

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Author: Rich
Website: http://www.earthpm.com/2010/04/is-wind-a-superhero-well-it-n…

We’ve written about Cape Wind in our blog many times, (as well as on sister site ScopeCrepe)- from an environmental perspective and a project management perspective.  Many, many lessons learned here.  Textbook examples of stakeholder management (and mismanagement).  Stakeholder interaction.  And from a green PM perspective – the effect of environmental projects on the economy.   1,000 construction jobs, and an unspecified number of new PM jobs are expected to be added by this $1B, 130-turbine project.  75% of Cape Cod’s electrical power needs are expected to be served by Cape Wind’s contribution to the grid.

On April 28, the project received Federal approval.  See the story published in today’s Boston Globe here.  There are already almost 100 moderated comments on the story.  UPDATE: The Globe has a good video here as well.

From Sustainable Business:

Cape Wind Receives Federal Approval for First Offshore Wind Farm

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Wednesday…

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Author: Lisa Frack
Website: http://www.enviroblog.org/2010/04/awakening-to-cancers-envir…

By Sandra Steingraber, Ph. D., Ecologist, author, cancer survivor, and internationally recognized expert on the environmental links to cancer and reproductive health

When I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1979, at the age 20, I drafted a list of goals. The first thing I would do, once I was sprung from the hospital, would be to pay a visit to Claire’s Boutique in the mall. There I would get my ears pierced. Next, I would hit the university library. There I would answer the question, Why me?

Neither task was difficult to accomplish, but one had a more predictable outcome than the other.

The ear-piercing achieved exactly what I thought it would: it upset my mother. Her reaction–arising from the particular religious practices of her German-American family–allowed me to be angry with her. And anger allowed me to rebuff her attempts to bond with me over what she saw as a shared medical experience.

I couldn’t have walked away from her otherwise. Mom was in treatment for breast…

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