Monthly Archives: March 2016

Researchers from Virginia Tech have discovered a method that may change the way sewage is processed, in order to change the process form an incredibly energy intensive and wasteful process, to that of one that may even produce energy, using the magic of bacteria.

Sewage treatment isn’t something many of us think about on a day-to-day basis, and probably even less so when we consider sustainability. However, the truth of the matter is in most municipalities today, wastewater treatment accounts for the highest energy use, yet is a service that well functioning urban areas cannot be without. On the other hand, the energy potential found in wastewater is 10 times higher than the energy required to break it down. Most wastewater treatment facilities are not equipped with the equipment or knowledge on how to capture this energy so that it isn’t merely wasted or, ahem, flushed down the toilet… so perhaps it’s time to take a second look at our poo, and how we can make our waste something a little more useful?

At Virginia Tech, researchers discovered that two strains of bacteria that work synergistically to produce high amounts of energy together, a discovery that could potentially be used to harvest this power for human use. This research was done by identifying a pair of bacteria used to facilitate the treatment of sewage, and analyzing how exactly they metabolized the waste. 

Results of this study encourage the further research of microbes and bacteria as a method of creating sustainable energy, and especially in scaling up production and public acceptability of these alternative methods.

Thousands of private solar panel owners in Nevada are facing a sharp rise in their electricity bill. Nevada’s public utility company, NV Energy, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, is fighting to rescind the net metering program they’ve been had for citizens whom have installed solar panels on their homes. SolarCity, on the other hand, is the largest manufacturer and leaser of solar panels in the United States, and is owned by Elon Musk

SolarCity thrives in Nevada as it is an ideal location for personalized solar panels, with clean sunny skies about 80% of the year, as well as an energy buy-back program known as net metering, that is offered for homeowners to transfer unused electricity back to the in return for offset electricity bills. Many homeowners have invested heavily in their own solar panels based on the belief that they would be saving money on electricity bills in the years to come. However, the bait-and-switch that NV Energy and policy makers have voted upon would simultaneously increase the electricity bills of solar panel owners’ homes by 40% and decrease the amount they are paid for the power sold back to the grid, therefore effectively destroying this movement.

NV Energy’s reasoning for this rise in customer cost are that by paying less for electricity provided by the utility company, these solar panel owners are making it unfair for the other homeowners that do not own solar panels, as solar panel owners would not be paying their fair share for the grid. However, I see this as an antiquated way of thinking. Nevada has the opportunity to be a market leader is this field seeing as they are so blessed with by their naturally renewable resources. Elon Musk had capitalized on a situation that could both reduce the population’s dependence on green house gases and make economic sense for both the buyer and seller, and early adopters and the environment should not be punished for the innovation.

We spend all this money on humanitarian efforts building schools in developing countries such as Kenya, however, there is still a critical factor which holds back up to 50% of the students these school are meant to serve. Girls in these places can miss up to 6 weeks of school per year simply because 80% cannot afford to buy menstrual pads, which makes them far more at risk of dropping out of school, leading to a higher risk of teenaged pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.

Some companies such as ZanaAfrica are tackling this problem by providing schoolgirls with disposable and renewable pads, as well as educational material about the importance of menstrual hygiene. They’ve thought a remarkable amount on the different aspects of the marketing mix that may inhibit families from being able to access these materials on their own and have addressed it through cheaper pricing, different packaging, and better messaging through the distribution of educational comic books. However, this poses a greater problem that they have not addressed– in the selection of renewable and disposable pads they provide, the renewable ones are only meant to be used when funds are low, and thus only when users cannot afford the more wasteful counterparts.

Not only are sanitary pads not compostable, they are made of 90% plastic. There is also a growing problem, especially in developing countries, when waste disposal systems lack the sophistication to handle the increased waste. Often, soiled pads are merely thrown into local rivers or tossed into garbage heaps accumulated in the streets which lead to both environmental and health safety concerns. It is also estimated that there are 432 millions pads that are thrown out every month globally, which are then left in the environment or land fill to sit for up to 800 years.

A menstrual cup is passed around the workshop for femmeinternationale.

Organizations such as Goonj are creating cloth reusable menstrual pads for women in India to mitigate this damaging phenomenon, and other such as FemmeInternationale are providing reusable silicon menstrual cups that are reusable for up to 15 years.

Menstrual cups are slowly coming into mainstream even in the western world as a convenient, sustainable and budget friendly alternative to tampons and pads. In a 2011 survey, 91% of women who tried the menstrual cup said they would switch to one. The cost of a cup, which with proper care can be reused for a decade, costs about the same as tampons or pads for a single year.

While the first 30-some minutes of True Cost played in front of us in class, I found myself hyper aware of the 30-something dollar Zara jeans and the dollar-and-something Forever 21 cami that I was wearing. The toughest part was probably that the majority of things discussed in the film (I went on to finish the movie on my own later,) didn’t even come as a surprise– I knew about cheap labour, I knew about garment waste, I knew about the the pollution, and vaguely, in the back of my mind, I knew that it is economically impossible for these clothing items to be this cheap without there being some kind of catch. While I can say that I shop at thrift shops and consignment stores before approaching big box stores, it’s still tough to defend myself when confronted so bluntly by the human rights atrocities of the fast fashion industry.

So what are my alternatives then? Sure, I do plan on continuing to thrift, but besides that, how do I find harder-to-thrift items, like basics and shoes? American Apparel and its Made-In-America clothing is ridden with a sexual messaging controversy that I’d rather not support, and while I could go to Patagonia for certain things like shirts and leggings, there must be more options out there.

In my search, I came across an article by the National Post about some tips for finding responsible clothing:

• Get Educated (True Cost was a great place to start)
• Hold Companies Accountable (Question company practices and make it known that it is a concern that you have)
• Shop Local (Locally owned stores that have a better sense of they supply chain)
• Check Certifications (Organic, Fair Trade)
• Buy Secondhand, or Be Prepared to Spend More (Thrift, or go for fewer, high quality items)

With our global supply chain and the multitude of hands products need to pass through before reaching us (the consumer), being a conscious consumer is more difficult than ever. This is not to say that I will give up, but certainly companies and our media need to start the discussion on this global problem of wanting more material things for less money. The North Face, for one, has started a Backyard Project, where all the pieces from the collection are grown and sewn in the USA, which is a great start.

I challenge more companies to step forward to lead the movement in better clothing.