02:29 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
Over 20,000 beaches were closed or warnings posted in 2007 due to contamination from stormwater runoff. Previous solutions to the problem included UV, chlorine treatment, or elaborate systems in some new LEED-certified buildings and factories that recycle runoff or treat it with wetlands, green roofs or filters.
Now, a company called ABTech industries has patented a new, low-tech green approach that does more with less.
Smart Sponge is a white material, looking a bit like packing styrofoam, fits inside stormwater drains to trap debris, pollution and trash before it can flow into the ocean or into the water supply. The patented polymer is specially engineered to trap and encapsulate oil into an easily removed solid and has an antimicrobial agent bonded to its surface as well. The technology has been installed in 36 states, including on a muncipal basis in Norwalk, CT, Key West and most recently Miami, Florida.
The idea of a physical filter to replace complicated chemical and mechanical systems is appealing enough. But best of all, Smart Sponge can be made from recycled plastic material found in car dash boards, diapers and sneakers. That really is smart!
03:24 pm | 0 recommendations | 1 comment
Recently, articles in both the New York Times and Slate have warned that American stores may no longer be so awash in supercheap Asian imports. Not only is the dollar weakening, but inflation and economic growth in countries like China and Vietnam are inexorably raising the costs of doing business. And there are few obvious backup countries ready to step into the wings as cheap manufacturing powerhouses.
We're dealing with complex global economic factors here, but I wanted to point out the potentially positive side to this shift from both human rights and environmental perspectives. The first is stated directly in Alexandra Harney's article:
"China is rolling out wage increases around the country and tightening
its labor laws. Wages are rising at double-digit rates in coastal China...China's Generation Y, the children born after the one-child policy came
into effect, are increasingly aware of their rights to a legal wage,
health insurance, and a certain number of days off every month."
Now, I shop at Forever 21, H&M and Tar-zhay just like everyone else. But it's a pretty heartless person who would grudge their tanktops going up from $5 to $12, if the tradeoff was better working conditions for the poor in developing countries.
The possible environmental benefits here are more conjectural. Critics of globalization have devoted much scholarly ink to the outsized environmental costs of export-oriented agriculture and manufacture. Increasing volumes of raw materials and finished products are crossing the globe, with bigger and bigger CO2 trails following them in the form of airplane, ship, train, and truck fuel, not to mention the environmental impact of all those highways, roads, ports, canals, locks, bridges, and airports (see this story about the new China-financed Asian superhighway linking Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.)
Global trade made economic sense despite the distance because of extremely cheap labor and extremely cheap fuel. Now that the costs are rising, just maybe, the advantages of re-localized, sustainable supply chains have a chance to come to the fore.
