Plastic. It really is everywhere. Possibly one of man's most important inventions. It has undoubtably been a huge part of our development in the 100 or so years that it has been around, allowing us to move forward in leaps and bounds, in terms of technology and the goods that we use in our day-to-day lives.
As incredibly useful this stuff is, it has it's downsides. Huge downsides really. Considering that no organisms on Earth have the capacity to break the stuff down, a simple plastic bottle is estimated to have a life span of around 450 years. Even cigarette butts can take up to 20 years to decompose, given the fact that they are largely created from plastic. According to some, styrofoam apparently lasts as good as forever, and glass bottles up to a million years. In essence, just about every single piece of plastic that has ever been made, except for stuff that has been burned, still exists today. Most of it makes it's way over the course of it's lifetime to the place that is downhill from everywhere, the ocean. The UN released some statistics a couple of years ago that blew me away more than a little. They estimate that for every square mile of ocean in the world, there are around 46,000 peices of plastic in it on average. Either floating or on the sea bed. Nasty stuff dudes.
Only around 46 percent of the plastic we dispose of actually gets recycled here in Australia. While this is indeed a pretty good figure in contrast with most of the world, especially in comparison to the US's shocking 5 percent, a lot of what we actually throw away makes it's way to landfill or the sea.
It's all pretty bad and fucked up for the planet, but it's actually not all doom and gloom. There are several new sciences devoted to the relatively new technology of biodegradable plastics, which are being created with all kinds of materials, from orange peels to chook feathers, marking a separation from the current methods, with which plastic is created using fossil fuels, most notably crude oil and natural gas. Finite resources with a limited lifespan. Even Sony, one of the technlogogical superstars of our world, who pruduce plastic goods on a tremendous scale, have begun to get on board and are utilising the new degradable plastics in the creation of their TV's and Playstation 3's. One of the world's leading innovators in renewable plastics is actually an Australian company, named Plantic. The dude who makes it even eats it to show that it is non toxic and completely biodegradable. This is great news!
But there is a long way to go, and the battle is not yet won. There is still alot of near indestructible plastic being pumped out, still a lot of waste. Truth be told, it will get a lot worse before it get's better. All that we can do as consumers is to be watchful and clever about it. Always try to recycle, take your reusable bags shopping, chuck your butts in the bin, etcetera etcetera. You know the drill. It's imporant though. The old adage still stands. Don't shit where you eat. So let's all try not make a mark as long as we can help it.
Good ol' Clean Up Australia have put together a little fact sheet with a bit of extra information and some tips to cut down on your waste. You should look into it! Riiiiiight here,
http://www.cleanup.org.au/PDF/au/cua_plastic_recycling_fact_sheet.pdf
And guess what? Another supersweet doco for you freaks! Bonus Bonanza! Huzzah! This one is actually pretty good. A Canadian bloke goes all over the world finding out the story of plastic and the effects of it. He also uncovers some of ways that it is being reused and recycled, and spends some time on the new technologies and stuff. Recommended.
Here's a few more video's for those interested, courtesy of my friend Danica, specifically to do with the giant garbage patch floating out there in the middle of the Pacific.
http://www.tedxgreatpacificgarbagepatch.com/category/watch-our-videos/
.... And thanks to Frazzy for this Awesome VBS special
http://www.vbs.tv/en-gb/watch/toxic/toxic-garbage-island-1-of-3
Peace.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Fracked.
Right now we have a whole new environmental war spilling over onto our shores. State and Federal government have recently approved applications from major gas and energy companies, which enable these companies to have access to a vast amount of land, right across Australia, including thousands of properties, national parks, the lot. These lands are to be used for the development of the new goldmine for mining and energy, coal seam gas.
It is being pushed forward under the guise of being a new fix-all green energy, when in fact this statement could not be further from the truth. It is also marketed as being carbon-free, and therefore supposedly the way to reduce the effects that current fossil-fuel technologies are having in terms of global warming. Also a misleading statement. Though indeed carbon-free, the problem is merely replaced with another problem gas, methane, which is a byproduct released into the atmosphere in tremendous quantities during the process. Methane is also a greenhouse gas, equally as nasty as carbon dioxide.
This gas lies under a vast amount of land, deep below the earth. Several companies, such as QGC, AGL and Origin Energy, amongst others, share private ownership of these resources, which lay deep below the earth and rock. This in itself is a travesty, as all natural resources in our soils should be held in the public domain. In many, many cases, the gas lies directly beneath farms and communities.
Many farmers are being offered seemingly lucrative "compensation" packages by the companies to be allowed onto the privately owned properties and extract the gas below. Quite often the spokespeople of the companies offering said compensation, are doing so with a great deal of misinformation and non-disclosure of important information.Smoke and mirrors and persuasion.
The gas itself is mined by setting up a bore to dig a well deep down into the earth, where coal seams are located. The gas is extracted from the surrounding rock by pumping huge amounts of water in combination with, in a lot of instances, a combination of salt and chemicals specifically designed to fracture the rock, known as "fracking fluid", to shatter the rock below in order to release the gas.
A vast amount of water is required for the process. The project in Queensland alone will reqire the use of 45,000 gigalitres. That is 450,000,000,000 litres of fresh water. Four hundred and fifty billion litres. Only half of this water will be returned to the water cycle. This will lead to a MASSIVE drop in the water table, most notably in the Great Artesian Basin, which provides the vast majority of fresh drinking water for the people of Queensland. And we wonder why the water companies have recently annonced a planned hike in the price of drinking water. The other half of the water is permanently infused with the multitude of chemicals used in the fracking process. These chemicals do not break down naturally, and are highly poisonous.
These chemicals are used to dissolve and shatter rocks. They are terribly dangerous for humans and wildlife. Many of these chemicals are carcinogenic and present in high doses. The waste water, or as the industry has tagged it, "produced water", is pumped back into the earth, where it runs the very dangerous risk of intermingling with the groundwater and thus entering the natural water system. Needless to say this is potentially very very dangerous for the ecosystem, and people and communities in the areas affected. Quite often excess waste is dumped in fields and streams, which is even worse. It is all pretty horrifying stuff and I am not making this up.
In quite a few instances, the gas itself has been escaping through the water system. Some farmers, who's lands have been used as sites for the wells and gas pipelines, are able to actually set their tapwater alight as it comes out from the tap. The gas itself has various extreme health problems associated, such as cancer on the brain, amongst other things.None of this is disclosed to the public of course, and the companies are in a state of denial and inaccountability.
So how can all this be happening? It just shows how weak courts and governments are in comparison to big business. These companies have successfully forced new laws to be passed exempting themselves from normal standards regarding to drinking water standards and those regarding the environmental impact of the project. There are not regulated at all, and their chemicals are not up to any real scrutiny. They almost have complete impunity from the law or regulation, and do not recognise normal laws of disclosure. It is ugly and has to be stopped. Our whole backyard, beautiful Australia, stands to be raped beyond recognition, and our farmers are set to be pushed out of their livelihoods forever. Our health and way of life is at threat.The air we breathe and the water we drink will be poisoned.
There are plans for around 40,000 wells in Queensland alone, and a similar amount in New South Wales, indeed no state will be unaffected. A site is even proposed merely 20 kilometers from Warrigamba Dam, which is the prime water supply for Greater Sydney itself..
A couple of weeks ago, 4 Corners did an expose on the subject, which you can and should watch online HERE,
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20110221/gas/default.htm
The indusrty is a carry over from the United States, where the industry has been going on across the nation for quite some time now. The situation over there is grim, and stands as a dire warning for what may be to come here, if the goldrush for Coal Seam Gas gains full flight here in Australia. There are some real lessons here that we simply cannot ignore.
The following movie shows how the Natural Gas battle is having some horrific effects on the people of rural America. It was even nominated for an Oscar, apparently. It's well made and is absolutely essential viewing. It's Called Gasland. You should watch it.
THIS IS SERIOUS!
So tell your friends and your government or your local member how you feel. http://www.directory.gov.au/quicklinks.php?agency
TAKE ACTION, SIGN A PETITION OR TWO!
QLD: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/EPetitions_QLD/Confirmation.aspx?PetNum=1592&lIndex=-1
NSW: http://huntervalleyprotectionalliance.com/
This just in! I've just been sent a link to another blog with heaps of further information... go here.
http://frackedagain.blogspot.com/2010/11/no-worries-fracking-down-under.html
It is being pushed forward under the guise of being a new fix-all green energy, when in fact this statement could not be further from the truth. It is also marketed as being carbon-free, and therefore supposedly the way to reduce the effects that current fossil-fuel technologies are having in terms of global warming. Also a misleading statement. Though indeed carbon-free, the problem is merely replaced with another problem gas, methane, which is a byproduct released into the atmosphere in tremendous quantities during the process. Methane is also a greenhouse gas, equally as nasty as carbon dioxide.
This gas lies under a vast amount of land, deep below the earth. Several companies, such as QGC, AGL and Origin Energy, amongst others, share private ownership of these resources, which lay deep below the earth and rock. This in itself is a travesty, as all natural resources in our soils should be held in the public domain. In many, many cases, the gas lies directly beneath farms and communities.
Many farmers are being offered seemingly lucrative "compensation" packages by the companies to be allowed onto the privately owned properties and extract the gas below. Quite often the spokespeople of the companies offering said compensation, are doing so with a great deal of misinformation and non-disclosure of important information.Smoke and mirrors and persuasion.
The gas itself is mined by setting up a bore to dig a well deep down into the earth, where coal seams are located. The gas is extracted from the surrounding rock by pumping huge amounts of water in combination with, in a lot of instances, a combination of salt and chemicals specifically designed to fracture the rock, known as "fracking fluid", to shatter the rock below in order to release the gas.
A vast amount of water is required for the process. The project in Queensland alone will reqire the use of 45,000 gigalitres. That is 450,000,000,000 litres of fresh water. Four hundred and fifty billion litres. Only half of this water will be returned to the water cycle. This will lead to a MASSIVE drop in the water table, most notably in the Great Artesian Basin, which provides the vast majority of fresh drinking water for the people of Queensland. And we wonder why the water companies have recently annonced a planned hike in the price of drinking water. The other half of the water is permanently infused with the multitude of chemicals used in the fracking process. These chemicals do not break down naturally, and are highly poisonous.
These chemicals are used to dissolve and shatter rocks. They are terribly dangerous for humans and wildlife. Many of these chemicals are carcinogenic and present in high doses. The waste water, or as the industry has tagged it, "produced water", is pumped back into the earth, where it runs the very dangerous risk of intermingling with the groundwater and thus entering the natural water system. Needless to say this is potentially very very dangerous for the ecosystem, and people and communities in the areas affected. Quite often excess waste is dumped in fields and streams, which is even worse. It is all pretty horrifying stuff and I am not making this up.
In quite a few instances, the gas itself has been escaping through the water system. Some farmers, who's lands have been used as sites for the wells and gas pipelines, are able to actually set their tapwater alight as it comes out from the tap. The gas itself has various extreme health problems associated, such as cancer on the brain, amongst other things.None of this is disclosed to the public of course, and the companies are in a state of denial and inaccountability.
So how can all this be happening? It just shows how weak courts and governments are in comparison to big business. These companies have successfully forced new laws to be passed exempting themselves from normal standards regarding to drinking water standards and those regarding the environmental impact of the project. There are not regulated at all, and their chemicals are not up to any real scrutiny. They almost have complete impunity from the law or regulation, and do not recognise normal laws of disclosure. It is ugly and has to be stopped. Our whole backyard, beautiful Australia, stands to be raped beyond recognition, and our farmers are set to be pushed out of their livelihoods forever. Our health and way of life is at threat.The air we breathe and the water we drink will be poisoned.
There are plans for around 40,000 wells in Queensland alone, and a similar amount in New South Wales, indeed no state will be unaffected. A site is even proposed merely 20 kilometers from Warrigamba Dam, which is the prime water supply for Greater Sydney itself..
A couple of weeks ago, 4 Corners did an expose on the subject, which you can and should watch online HERE,
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20110221/gas/default.htm
The indusrty is a carry over from the United States, where the industry has been going on across the nation for quite some time now. The situation over there is grim, and stands as a dire warning for what may be to come here, if the goldrush for Coal Seam Gas gains full flight here in Australia. There are some real lessons here that we simply cannot ignore.
The following movie shows how the Natural Gas battle is having some horrific effects on the people of rural America. It was even nominated for an Oscar, apparently. It's well made and is absolutely essential viewing. It's Called Gasland. You should watch it.
THIS IS SERIOUS!
So tell your friends and your government or your local member how you feel. http://www.directory.gov.au/quicklinks.php?agency
TAKE ACTION, SIGN A PETITION OR TWO!
QLD: https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/EPetitions_QLD/Confirmation.aspx?PetNum=1592&lIndex=-1
NSW: http://huntervalleyprotectionalliance.com/
This just in! I've just been sent a link to another blog with heaps of further information... go here.
http://frackedagain.blogspot.com/2010/11/no-worries-fracking-down-under.html
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