Oprah Going Green
I took 30 mins while I ate my lunch and I watched Oprah. She was discussing earth Day and had a variety of guests. None was new to me but it was very graphic and great exposure to a hidden problem
For centuries man has washed his waste down the rivers into the sea. Ships toss their garbage into the sea. Now every ocean has a central gyre which is effectively a giant rubbish dump. This is all types of waste but it had huge amounts of household waste.
In the centre of the Pacific Ocean there is a floating rubbish dump that is larger in area than Texas and in places it is 90 metres deep. The majority of the floating debris is plastic – bags, bottles, cigarette lighters etc. Huge quantities of plastic bags. The seabed had the heavier waste.
In Adelaide where I live the government has banned the use of plastic shopping bags which I think is a great idea. I use fabric shopping bags anyway and have done for years.
The show went on to show the tons of waste going to landfill daily and the largest problem was paper. This is one of the organic materials that break down to in landfill giving off methane emissions.
One thing I really liked was the US concept of a recycle bank where people get credits than can be used like cash for their recycled materials. We don’t get that here although we do have deposits on all beverage containers and have done for many years with the noticabale result that beverage containers are not found as litter. They are all collected and cashed in.
Save Money with Simple and Effective Management SystemsJean Cannon is an award winning consultant and trainer helping people and businesses around the world who want to save money by implementing simple and effective management systems. Sign up to discover how YOU can save money with sensible energy management and ISO 14001.
