Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

• Julie R. Newell
• 26 July 2007
• for the
• Southern Polytechnic State University
• Campus Sustainability Steering Committee

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This lecture was recorded as a podcast

• Accessible with iTunes at
• http//podcasting.gcsu.edu/4DCGI/Podcasting/spsu/C
  hannel_26081/6948.xml

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Outline

• The Traditional Three Rs Reduce, Reuse,
  Recycle
• Plus Three More Rethink, Remark, Relax!
• Bottled Water Case Study

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First Reduce

• Not a new idea use it up, wear it out, make do,
  do without.
• It all has to come from somewhere, be created
  from something, and go somewhere when youre done
  with it. And creating it is going to use energy
  and water as well as raw materials--and produce
  waste products.
• Its entirely about making conscious choices
  about what to do and how to do it.

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• Its entirely about making conscious choices
  about what to do and how to do it.
• Do you need it?
• Can you use less of it?
• Including eating lower on the food chain
• Can you get it through reuse?
• If you have to acquire it new, can you pick a
  reusable solution?
• Can you choose recycled?
• Can you pick a recyclable solution?
• How is it packaged?
• Where did it come from?

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Next Reuse

• Once youve got something, get all the use out of
  it you can . . .
• If you cant use it any more, or dont have it
  yet, exchange with others
• Thrift stores and yard sales
• Freecycle
• BookMooch and BookCrossing--or the Library!
• Arts crafts supplies for kids organizations
• Doesnt involve production and extraction costs
  (materials, water, energy) and cheaper for you!

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• The Campus Bottle Project collects 20 oz. soda
  bottles for reuse.
• Nearly 1100 in our first two months (slow months
  because its summer session).
• Learn more / follow our progress
  athttp//www.spsu.edu/greencourses/bottleproject
  /

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Finally Recycle

• Reduces environmental impact of extraction of raw
  materials
• Reduces volume of material sent to landfills,
  incinerated, etc.
• Reduces amount of toxic substances and heavy
  metals released into the environment
• Reduces energy and water used to produce new
  products
• Dont forget to buy recycled!

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How much does recycling save?

• (All data from Earth 911)
• Aluminum
• Energy Saves 95 vs. virgin aluminum
• Reduces pollution by 95
• 1 lb. Recycled aluminum 4 lbs. Bauxite ore
• Enough aluminum is thrown away to rebuild our
  commercial air fleet 4 times every year.

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• Glass
• Energy Save 50 vs. virgin glass
• 20 less air pollution 50 less water pollution
• 1 ton of 50 recycled glass saves 250 lbs. of
  mining waste

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• Paper
• Energy Saves 60 vs. virgin paper
• 95 less air pollution (each ton saves 60 lbs of
  air pollution)
• 1 ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees and 7,000
  gallons of water

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• Plastic
• 1-7 All recyclable in theory
• 1 and 2 most commonly recycled
• International demand / market for 1
• 1 ton recycled saves 30 cubic yards of landfill
  space
• AND saves energy equivalent to 5,774 KWH/ 16.3
  barrels oil / 98million BTUs
• Lots more about plastic bottles in a few minutes
  . . .

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The Next Three Rs

• Rethink (thanks Concordia University!)--in many
  cases, we dont make changes that could have a
  significant impact NOT because they are too hard,
  but just because we dont think about what we
  might do differently.
• Remark--dont preach, berate, belittle, or brag
  just raise awareness of what else is possible.
• Relax--do what you can, do it by choice not by
  default, and know that every little bit helps

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The Top 10 Reasons to Think (Hard!) Before
Choosing Bottled Water
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10 The majority of water bottles are NOT
recycled.

• 38 billion bottles a year -- or 1 billion worth
  of plastic -- are thrown away
• About 3 out of 10 are recycled

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9 The abstract social justice argument.

• Turning water into a commodity / privatizing
  water delivery
• Spending billions on bottled water for some
  rather than safe water for all
• A minimum of 1 in 6, or 1 billion, people does
  not have access to safe drinking water
• 3,000 children per day die from diseases related
  to lack of safe water

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8 The geographical social justice argument.

• Fiji Water produces more than a million bottles
  a day, while more than half the people in Fiji do
  not have reliable drinking water. (Fishman)
• In Brazil, 9 million families are without access
  to drinkable water. (2003) (more about Brazil in
  a minute)

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7 Bottled water may be extracted in ways that
threaten local communitys water supplies.

• Nestlé in Brazil--the mineral springs of Sao
  Lourenco
• Nestlé in McCloud, California
• Its NOT just Nestlé . . .

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6 Reusing the bottles isnt a great idea.

• NOT because of theres anything dangerous about
  the plastic itself.
• Readily develop bacterial contamination (very
  hard to clean properly).
• Not durable--have to be replaced fairly often.
• Better to get a reusable bottle--Polycarbonate
  (7) or HDPE (2).

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5 Water bottles are a petroleum product.

• Approximately 2.5 of the petroleum used in the
  United States goes into making plastics. (2000)
• The United States uses 20.73 million barrels per
  day (2004 est.)
• Thats 518,250 barrels per day to make plastics

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4 Plastics recycling is not a closed-loop
process.

• Glass and aluminum can be recycled indefinitely.
• About 20 of the fiber is lost in paper recycling
  (so it can be recycled repeatedly but not
  indefinitely.
• Most recycled plastic containers are not made
  into new plastic containers.

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3 Bottled water is bulky, heavy, and
transported--sometimes a VERY long way.

• We move about 1 BILLION bottles around by
  fossil-fueled vehicle in the US every day -- 8
  pounds / gallon. (Fishman)
• Anheuser-Busch CarbonNeutral certified water .
  . . from Iceland?

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2Bottled water is MUCH more expensive than
filtered or tap water.

• We spent 15 billion in 2006, 16 billion
  expected in 2007 (Fishman)
• 2002 figures
• Tap water 0.0015 / gallon
• Filtered water 0.13 / gallon
• Bottled water 1.27 / gallon (??1.25 / 20 oz.
  in J building!)

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1 Bottled water is not necessarily (or even
likely) any better than tap water.

• EPA sets tap water standards
• FDA sets bottled water standards
• based on EPA standards
• Not applied if water locally produced and
  distributed
• Aquafina (13) and Dasani (11)--tap water
• Repeated taste test results--most people cant
  tell the difference.

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The Next Day . . .

• The very next day after I gave this lecture
• Vinnee Tong, Aquafina Labels Its Tap Water,
  Forbes.com, 7/27/07http//www.forbes.com/feeds/ap
  /2007/07/27/ap3960953.html?partneremail

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More Information

• The Aluminum Association Recycling page
  http//www.aluminum.org/Content/NavigationMenu/The
  _Industry/Recycling/Recycling.htm
• Container Recycling Institute (lots of graphs!)
  http//container-recycling.org/plasrate/graphs.ht
  m
• Plastics 101 http//www.plasticsresource.com/s_pl
  asticsresource/sec.asp?TRACKIDCID92DID133
• FAQs The Safety of Plastic Beverage Bottles
  http//www.plasticsinfo.org/s_plasticsinfo/sec_lev
  el2_faq.asp?CID705DID2839
• Refill not Landfill homepage http//www.refillnot
  landfill.org/
• BottledWaterBlue http//www.bottledwaterblues.com
  /
• EPA ground water and drinking water FAQ
  http//www.epa.gov/safewater/faq/faq.html
• NRDC 1999 Bottled Water Study Report
  http//www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp

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• FDA feature article on bottled waterhttp//www.f
  da.gov/FDAC/features/2002/402_h2o.html
• Bottled Water Conflicts http//academic.evergreen
  .edu/g/grossmaz/SCHWARMJ/
• Conflict with Nestlé in California (2006)
  http//sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f/c/a/2006/
  11/05/BAGR8M6ID11.DTL
• AlterNet article on Nestlé/CA conflict
• http//www.alternet.org/environment/52526/
• Nestlés bottled water page http//www.nestle.com
  /Brands/Overviews/BottledWater.htm
• PBS Frontline Bottled Water Page
  http//www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/
  waterbottle.html - b
• World Water Wars http//www.worldwaterwars.com/in
  dex.htm (indexed by state and by nation)

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• Carbon-neutral bottled water?
  http//www.brandweek.com/bw/news/recent_display.js
  p?vnu_content_id1003613245 more details
  http//www.icelandicglacial.com/news/nr/110
• Charles Fishman, Message in a Bottle, July
  2007, FastCompany.com http//www.fastcompany.com
  /magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html
  article featured / author interviewed in this NPR
  story from late June 2007 http//www.npr.org/temp
  lates/story/story.php?storyId11523344
• Nancy Cohen, For Empty Water Bottles, Theres an
  Afterlife, NPR, 11 June 2007 http//www.npr.org/
  templates/story/story.php?storyId10874230
• How Polyester Fleece Is Made http//www.madehow.c
  om/Volume-4/Polyester-Fleece.html

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• Sierra Club Water Page http//www.sierraclub.org
  /committees/cac/water/
• Consumer Reports, January 2003, Whats in that
  bottle?http//www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/
  drinkingwater-safety-103/overview/index.htm
• CNNMoney.com April 2007 article on
  anti-bottled-water campaigns http//money.cnn.com
  /2007/04/24/news/economy/pluggedin_gunther_water.f
  ortune/index.htm