I am happy to report great progress on a topic I’d planned for a future blog post. Plastic microbeads are found in many personal care products such as face scrubs and toothpaste. The microbeads find their way into the rivers and oceans, where they can absorb long-lasting toxic chemicals like pesticides, flame retardants, motor oil, and other industrial chemicals that move up the food chain when the toxin-coated beads are eaten by fish and other creatures. The U.S. has banned used of these microbeads starting in July 2017, and the U.K. has announced a similar ban starting at the end of 2017. Canada and Australia will also ban microbeads. Many major manufacturers are voluntarily phasing out microbeads. Until microbeads are no longer used, please check your products and select those that do not contain microbeads. Ingredients such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and nylon indicate the product might contain microbeads.
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Every time the refrigerator door is opened, cold air escapes, making the refrigerator run to cool the air inside. The more often you open the door or the longer the door stays open, the more energy is used to keep the inside of the refrigerator cold. Don’t stand in front of the open refrigerator doors for long periods while thinking about what to eat. When you are working in the kitchen, plan what needs to be removed from the refrigerator so that you can open the door, efficiently grab what you need, and then close the door. When it’s time to put multiple things back in the refrigerator, stage them near the door so you can put them inside quickly. Putting cold items back in the refrigerator before they warm up also saves energy.
This is a link to a great video showing how to use only one paper towel to dry your hands in a public restroom or other location where paper towels are the only option.
tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxConcordiaUPortland-Joe-Smit Paper towels are my downfall. Although I have reduced my use of paper towels, it’s hard to resist their convenience, especially for cleaning gross things. Paper towels are bad for the environment in many ways, so I continue to look for other options. According to several sources on the Internet, the pulp and paper industry is the third largest industrial emitter of global warming gases. Paper towel manufacturing results in chemicals such as dioxin and other cancer-causing chemicals potentially ending up in our water supplies. One website indicated that globally, discarded paper towels result in 254 million tons per year of discarded trash. When the paper towels end up in the landfill, they generate methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. Some ideas on reducing paper towel use:
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