Flow Of The River

How many EPA employees does it take...?

I'm feeling kinda guilty. I work at the EPA, and I'm doing this blog, and my fellow bloggers are doing all kinds of great things for the environment.

I do my part, too. I walk and take the train for my 60-mile round trip commute. We use a programmable thermostat. I opt out of subscriptions and junk mail to reduce our paper recycling. I bring my own bags to the store and my own mug to the coffee shop.

 

But I haven't warmed up to compact fluorescents.

I installed them in our home office, and I must remember which brand they are so I can avoid them next time. They're awful. I turn on the switch, and a sullen purple glow creeps across the room, then quickly fades. It takes them a full two minutes to warm up to full brightness. Then they're fine. Sort of like someone who's unapproachable till they've had their morning coffee. "Turn on the dims, please," I ask my husband.

Now two of them have burned out (so much for the famed long life-span!). On the one hand, I sure won't miss them. But I can't just throw these bulbs in the trash because they contain mercury.

Being a web site manager, I searched the EPA web site to learn my options.
How do you like that? A site just about "Mercury-Containing Light Bulb (Lamp) Recycling"

And an FAQ that's exactly what I need:
What should I do with a CFL after it's burned out?

Well, first find out if your state requires you to recycle CFLs. Okay, I looked up my state agency and couldn't find anything requiring me to recycle CFLs, but lots of encouragement to use them and recycle them.

This page helped me find specific info for my state.

And because I believe it's important, I'll take the trouble to find somewhere to recycle my CFLs.

But I'm not ready to stop using incandescent bulbs altogether. I can't use CFLs with dimmers, and I tried them outdoors but they didn't work in cold winter weather. They're not supposed to go in ceiling fans (too much vibration) or enclosed fixtures (maybe they're claustrophobic?). I haven't found 3-way CFLs yet, though I understand they're available. Same for tiny flame-shaped bulbs for chandeliers.

I know: they're bright and efficient and (normally) long-lasting. I suppose they'll work out the technical difficulties in time. I sure hope recycling options increase so it takes less motivation and organization on my part to do the right thing.

But what am I gonna use in my Easy Bake Oven?

P.S. - Found a practical article here: How to live with CFLs

Karen Reshkin manages the EPA Region 5 Web site. She combines her hobbies of photography and Irish Gaelic with (what else?) an Irish photo blog.

Trying to recycle an old TV

A couple weeks ago my Dad called me with some bad news: the old TV in our family room had died. I wasn't shocked. The TV had a long life. It was one of those old-school TVs in the wooden cabinet. I think my parents bought it in 1978. It was the first TV that we had with a remote control. It was the first TV we had hooked up to cable back in the days when I wanted my MTV.

Now that the old TV had died, my Dad finally had the excuse that he had been waiting for to buy a big old flat screen TV - just in time for the start of baseball season. When it came to purchasing his new TV, Dad did his homework. He bought an Energy Star TV so he knew it would be energy efficient. Over the years, he had learned the importance of buying energy efficient products. What he did not learn was to ask the retailer where he bought his shiny new TV if they would take the old one. Some retailers do - unfortunately, where my Dad bought his TV, they would not. That left us with a problem - where could he recycle the old TV?

The county where my Dad lives has a recycling center that has free recycling for a wide variety of items, including computers, cell phones, and household hazardous wastes. The recycling center also has great hours and is open on weekends. The only problem is that the center does not take TVs. In fact, as I found out while researching e-waste recyclers where my Dad lives, many municipalities that recycle e-waste do not accept TVs. Some do, but often they charge a small fee to offset the expense of recycling. Also, I have learned that even where a recycler will take TVs, sometimes they do not want take the TVs in the wooden cabinets, so you have to ask.

In the end, through my Dad's calls to the city where he lives and my research on Earth 911 , we found out that while the county would not recycle his TV, the city would. A couple of weeks ago, he rolled it down to the curbside, and I hope that it is on its way to being appropriately recycled.

Cynthia Faur is an attorney and the Senior Policy Advisor to the Regional Administrator in US EPA Region 5.

Earth Keepers: What's Happening for 2008?

Global climate change is evident all around us. I recall recently receiving a packet of hand-me-down magazines from my parents in downstate Michigan. Along with a handful of Christian Science Monitor dailies was a magazine from an organization protecting oceans hailing the "Meltdown in the Arctic". Another from a statewide environmental organization displaying the proverbial sinking polar bear on the cover. It's all a little overwhelming and at times I just have to tune it out. All this comess at the same time I hear a national broadcast about a man who can't sleep at night because of the drone of a wind turbine. Times are changing.

At our home we're doing what we can to reverse this frightening trend of climate change. We've changed all our light bulbs to compact fluorescents; all our electrical sockets are covered with wall socket sealers; we've rope caulked drafty spaces and even replaced windows installed in 1921. But I have to ask the question: Is this really helping? Can one person make a difference in their own home to address climate change?

The answer is, quite simply, yes. And that's exactly what we're asking Earth Keepers to do. This year there is no collection or event to drive to. We're asking everyone to stay home! The event to honor Earth Day is coming to you! For the month of April, we're asking faith leaders to distribute the Earth Keeper Energy and Water Conservation Checklist (PDF , 3pp, 120K About PDF) . This is a perfect chance to gather with family and assess your home's carbon footprint. The checklist is a series of low- and no-cost steps to take to minimize energy and water consumption. We're asking every household that fills out a checklist to send it back to the Superior Watershed Partnership office so our staff can calculate the carbon reduction (in tons) for the Upper Peninsula.

For more information on this exciting month-long event, please visit us online.

More tips to save energy

Natasha Koss is the Membership Coordinator for the Superior Watershed Partnership. She also coordinates the partnership with the participating Earth Keepers congregations.

Earth Keepers: Faith Convening for the Environment

Many people don't often think of faith and the environment as synonymous. At the Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP) , we see the two terms almost like a unique symbiosis. It is an interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship between two separate organisms, or in this case two separate institutions. Protecting God's creation is not a new concept. Some of the environment's greatest advocates like E.O. Wilson and Bill McKibben have written about this idea for decades. 

Earth Keepers is a network of 10 different faiths and over 150 congregations across Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.). These faiths include Roman Catholic, Episcopal, United Methodist, Baha'i, Zen Buddhist, Lutheran, Jewish, Presbyterian, Unitarian Universalist, and Quaker. In 2004, this network signed a covenant stating their commitment to protecting the environment of the U.P. through support to organizations like the SWP. The challenge then presented itself. Just how do we set the stage to achieving the goals of the covenant?

It started with the first Clean Sweep Earth Day Event in 2005. Hazardous waste drop-off sites were established at 20 sites spanning the entire U.P. People from some of the most remote corners of the U.P. came out to drop off old batteries, oil-based paint cans, and the like. In only 3 hours that day over 45 tons of household hazardous waste was collected and properly disposed. At the same 20 sites in 2006 over 320 tons of electronic waste was collected. And in 2007, U.P. residents dropped off over a ton of old and unwanted pharmaceuticals, including $500,000 in controlled substances.

The term Earth Keepers garners great support in our little corner of the planet. People now see it to represent a partnership like none other and this is just the beginning.

Next time: What's Earth Keepers doing for 2008?

Natasha Koss is the Membership Coordinator for the SWP.  She also coordinates the partnership with the participating Earth Keepers congregations.

Translating concern into positive action

On April 22, 2008, we will be celebrating the 38th annual Earth Day. While I find it hard to believe, I participated in the first Earth Day in 1970. My friends and I picked up trash in my Wisconsin hometown. Some may say our contribution to cleaning up the environment that day was small, and we really did not make much of a difference. I think that we did. Earth Day is all about small actions that people can take to protect the environment because those small actions add up.

This year, I want everyone who lives in the Great Lakes basin to participate in Earth Day and to do something to protect our Great Lakes. Last summer, when the State of Indiana issued a water discharge permit to BP's plant in Whiting, there was a loud public outcry. More than 35,000 people signed petitions objecting to the permit. I saw people picketing at gas stations. People were concerned about protecting the Great Lakes. That is a very good thing!

This Earth Day, I would like to take the concern that people expressed for Lake Michigan and translate it into positive action across all the Great Lakes. That is why I am challenging everyone this Earth Day to help us collect 1 million pounds of electronic waste and 1 million pills that are unwanted or expired. When people do not properly dispose of their televisions, computers, iPods and cell phones, contaminants from the electronic components can find their way into the Great Lakes. Similarly, when people flush old medicines down the drain, wastewater treatment systems cannot clean all traces of the drugs out of the water so the medicines that we take to make or keep us healthy are harming our fish. As you may have read in the newspapers, traces of medicines are also turning up in the drinking water in some places.

The good news is that there is something that we can do about these problems. We can recycle our electronics, and we can properly dispose of our unwanted medicines. This Earth Day, EPA Region 5 is making it easy for everyone around the Great Lakes to do this. We have over 70 recycling or collection events taking place between April 19 and April 27 listed on our webpage where you can take your old medicines and outdated electronics.

Lake Superior's North Shore, Lake Superior Minnesota Minnesota Extension Service, Dave Hansen

I plan to do a little spring cleaning around my house and take the old cell phones that have been gathering dust in a desk drawer and any expired or unused medicines in my cabinet to a nearby event. I hope that you will do the same. Individually, the action is small. But together, our small actions will add up to something great. And that's good for the Great Lakes!

Mary A. Gade is Regional Administrator of US EPA Region 5 and Great Lakes National Program Manager.

What Goes Around, Comes Around

So here we are preparing for the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge, and working to get the word out about recycling electronic waste (e-waste) and properly disposing of unneeded pharmaceuticals. Then it struck me again, as it as a few times in my 4 ½ years here at EPA as the e-waste expert, just how ironic this all is for me.

You see, many years ago while I was in high school (before studying soils in college and then working as a crop extensionist in the Peace Corps), I was pretty heavy into electronics and computers, to the point that I was President of the high school amateur (Ham) radio club. And I worked at two large retailers, one a catalog retailer and the other a national chain that sells consumer electronics and electronics parts, selling all of these electronics that I am now encouraging people to recycle. Ironic. Talk about making your own future!

Back then, when I was selling people their first cell phone or home computer, and a 286 was considered "smokin'", we never gave any thought to what would happen to what we sold at the end of its life. We were just happy to have the sale. I don't think we ever imagined how fast new products would be introduced in the future, or that people would replace things for any other reason than because they broke. "Planned obsolescence" wasn't thought about -- at least not on the sales floor. But there were a few new things coming out all the time, some winners and others losers.

When we changed out the rechargeable battery in a cordless phone, we just threw it out without a second thought, even though at the time as a society we knew that there might be some issues with the materials inside it.

Now the same store collects those batteries for recycling with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation.   And the same with the cell phones we sold, the computers, the TVs, and just about anything else. There are options now to recycle them, and the store or the manufacturer that sold your fancy new gadget to you is likely playing a part in recycling it when you're done with it. Sometimes it's just as easy as looking for a label or phone number on the product, or visiting the manufacturer's website.

It's great that we're thinking about what's going to happen to all of these things at the end of their life, but there's still more work to be done to get the word out, and get people to use these services for reusing or recycling e-waste.

Chris Newman works in EPA Region 5's Land and Chemical Division, and deals with issues related to electronic waste, scrap tires, and composting.

Why are pharmaceuticals something difficult to take back?

I can't tell you how many times I have been asked by people who learn about what I do, "What can I do with the old medicines in my house?" I wish I had an easy answer. The other one I keep hearing is "My grandfather died last year and I have a garbage bag full of old medications; what should I do with them?"

Medicines are difficult to get rid of -- both for those of us trying to get them out of our houses and for the folks who need to destroy them.

The first hurdle is finding a way to get rid of them. The pharmacy or household hazardous waste collections could take back some drugs, but not all of them. It may even be safe to remove your ID from the labels and double bag them, mix them with something yucky like coffee grounds or kitty litter and put them in the trash (although the research is still out on whether this is better for the environment or not).

But the big problem is there are regulations against handing over "controlled" medicines (things like Vicodin, OxyContin, Robitussin with codeine and many, many more), even to a pharmacist. And there is a long list of medicines that are controlled. There is no simple way to tell whether what you have is controlled.

So for now, the best option is to take unwanted medicines to a collection event where police officers are present to take possession and properly destroy them, preferably in an incinerator with emissions controls (feel free to ask the organizers how they will be destroyed!).

For many people there are no collection events and so they are stuck with the second best option of disposal in the trash. Next time, when you're at the drug store buying that extra-large bottle of something because it's on sale, think about whether you will really take them all before they expire (usually in a year). The fish and the birds and the frogs don't have a choice about where they live and it just isn't right for us to be adding chemicals to their environment.

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products as Pollutants

Disposal of Unwanted Medicines

Earth 911 articles about unwanted medications 

Susan Boehme works for IL-IN Sea Grant in the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office. Her passion is working on all aspects of pollution, from cleaning up contaminated sediments in streams and rivers to preventing pollution in the first place by working on prevention of medicines getting into our waters, prevention of toxics getting into our air through backyard burning, and prevention of toxics getting into our waterways from the improper disposal of old electronics.