Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church

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                                           ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY     


    
                                                 

"The earth is a planet of beauty and abundance; the earth system is wonderfully intricate and incredibly complex. But today living creatures, and the air, soil, and water that support them,face unprecedented threats. Many threats are global; most stem directly from human activity. Our current practices may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner we know.
This earth was given to us by a loving God and we are to be faithful stewards of all of the earth. We should all feel encouraged to do what we can as we continue to learn of all the things that we can do to be faithful stewards."





   

Prologue

Christian concern for the environment is shaped by the Word of God spoken in creation, the Love of God hanging on a cross, the Breath of God daily renewing the face of the earth.

We of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are deeply concerned about the environment, locally and globally, as members of this church and as members of society. Even as we join the political, economic, and scientific discussion, we know care for the earth to be a profoundly spiritual matter.

As Lutheran Christians, we confess that both our witness to God's goodness in creation and our acceptance of caregiving responsibility have often been weak and uncertain. This statement:

  • offers a vision of God's intention for creation and for humanity as creation's caregivers;
  • acknowledges humanity's separation from God and from the rest of creation as the central cause of the environmental crisis;
  • recognizes the severity of the crisis; and
  • expresses hope and heeds the call to justice and commitment.

This statement summons us, in particular, to a faithful return to the biblical vision.

I. The Church's Vision of Creation

A. God, Earth and All Creatures

We see the despoiling of the environment as nothing less than the degradation of God's gracious gift of creation.

Scripture witnesses to God as creator of the earth and all that dwells therein (Pss 24:1). The creeds, which guide our reading of Scripture, proclaim God the Father of Jesus Christ as "maker of heaven and earth," Jesus Christ as the one "through [whom] all things were made," and the Holy Spirit as "the Lord, the giver of life" (Nicene Creed).

God blesses the world and sees it as "good," even before humankind comes on the scene. All creation, not just humankind, is viewed as "very good" in God's eyes (Gen 1:31). God continues to bless the world: "When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground" (Pss 104:30). By faith we understand God to be deeply, mysteriously, and unceasingly involved in what happens in all creation. God showers care upon sparrows and lilies (Mat 6:26-30), and brings "rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life" (Job 38:26).

Central to our vision of God's profound involvement with the world is the Incarnation. In Christ, the Word is made flesh, with saving significance for an entire creation that longs for fulfillment (Rom 8:18-25). The Word still comes to us in the waters of baptism, and in, with, and under the bread and wine, fruits of the earth and the work of human hands. God consistently meets us where we live, through earthy matter.

B. Our Place in Creation
Humanity is intimately related to the rest of creation. We, like other creatures, are formed from the earth (Gen 2:7, 9, 19). Scripture speaks of humanity's kinship with other creatures (Job 38-39; Pss 104). God cares faithfully for us, and together we join in singing the "hymn of all creation" (Lutheran Book of Worship, page 61; Pss 148). We look forward to a redemption that includes all creation (Eph 1:10).

Humans, in service to God, have special roles on behalf of the whole of creation. Made in the image of God, we are called to care for the earth as God cares for the earth. God's command to have dominion and subdue the earth is not a license to dominate and exploit. Human dominion (Gen 1:28; Ps 8), a special responsibility, should reflect God's way of ruling as a shepherd king who takes the form of a servant (Phil 2:7), wearing a crown of thorns.

According to Gen 2:15, our role within creation is to serve and to keep God's garden, the earth. "To serve," often translated "to till," invites us again to envision ourselves as servants, while "to keep" invites us to take care of the earth as God keeps and cares for us (Num 6:24-26).

We are called to name the animals (Gen 2:19-20). As God names Israel and all creation (Pss 147:4; Isa 40:26, 43:1) and as the shepherd calls by name each sheep (John 10:3), naming unites us in a caring relationship. Further, we are to live within the covenant God makes with every living thing (Gen 9:12-17; Hos 2:18), and even with the day and night (Jer 33:20). We are to love the earth as God loves us.

We are called to live according to God's wisdom in creation (Prov 8), which brings together God's truth and goodness. Wisdom, God's way of governing creation, is discerned in every culture and era in various ways. In our time, science and technology can help us to discover how to live according to God's creative wisdom.

Such caring, serving, keeping, loving, and living by wisdom sum up what is meant by acting as God's stewards of the earth. God's gift of responsibility for the earth dignifies humanity without debasing the rest of creation. We depend upon God, who places us in a web of life with one another and with all creation.

II. The Urgency

A. Sin and Captivity
Not content to be made in the image of God (Gen 3:5; Ezek 28:1-10), we have rebelled and disrupted creation. As did the people of ancient Israel, we experience nature as an instrument of God's judgment (cf., Deut 11:13-17; Jer 4:23-28). A disrupted nature is a judgment on our unfaithfulness as stewards.

Alienated from God and from creation, and driven to make a name for ourselves (Gen 11:4), we become captives to demonic powers and unjust institutions (Gal 4:9; Eph 6:12; Rev 13:1-4). In our captivity, we treat the earth as a boundless warehouse and allow the powerful to exploit its bounties to their own ends (Amos 5:6-15). Our sin and captivity lie at the roots of the current crisis.

B. The Current Crisis
The earth is a planet of beauty and abundance; the earth system is wonderfully intricate and incredibly complex. But today living creatures, and the air, soil, and water that support them, face unprecedented threats. Many threats are global; most stem directly from human activity. Our current practices may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner we know.

Twin problems--excessive consumption by industrialized nations, and relentless growth of human population worldwide--jeopardize efforts to achieve a sustainable future. These problems spring from and intensify social injustices. Global population growth, for example, relates to the lack of access by women to family planning and health care, quality education, fulfilling employment, and equal rights.

Processes of environmental degradation feed on one another. Decisions affecting an immediate locale often affect the entire planet. The resulting damages to environmental systems are frightening:

  • depletion of non-renewable resources, especially oil;
  • loss of the variety of life through rapid destruction of habitats;
  • erosion of topsoil through unsustainable agriculture and forestry practices;
  • pollution of air by toxic emissions from industries and vehicles, and pollution of water by wastes;
  • increasing volumes of wastes; and
  • prevalence of acid rain, which damages forests, lakes, and streams.

Even more widespread and serious, according to the preponderance of evidence from scientists worldwide, are:

  • the depletion of the protective ozone layer, resulting from the use of volatile compounds containing chlorine and bromine; and
  • dangerous global warming, caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide.

The idea of the earth as a boundless warehouse has proven both false and dangerous. Damage to the environment eventually will affect most people through increased conflict over scarce resources, decline in food security, and greater vulnerability to disease.

Indeed, our church already ministers with and to people:

  • who know firsthand the effects of environmental deterioration because they work for polluting industries or live near incinerators or waste dumps;
  • who make choices between preserving the environment and damaging it further in order to live wastefully or merely to survive; and
  • who can no longer make their living from forests, seas, or soils that are either depleted or protected by law.

In our ministry, we learn about the extent of the environmental crisis, its complexities, and the suffering it entails. Meeting the needs of today's generations for food, clothing, and shelter requires a sound environment. Action to counter degradation, especially within this decade, is essential to the future of our children and our children's children. Time is very short.

III. The Hope

A. The Gift of Hope
Sin and captivity, manifest in threats to the environment, are not the last word. God addresses our predicament with gifts of "forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation" (Luther, Small Catechism). By the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God frees us from our sin and captivity, and empowers us to be loving servants to creation.

Although we remain sinners, we are freed from our old captivity to sin. We are now driven to God's promise of blessings yet to come. Only by God's promise are we no longer captives of demonic powers or unjust institutions. We are captives of hope (Zech 9:11-12). Captured by hope, we proclaim that God has made peace with all things through the blood of the cross (Col 1:15-20), and that the Spirit of God, "the giver of life," renews the face of the earth.

Captured by hope, we dream dreams and look forward to a new creation. God does not just heal this creation wounded by human sin. God will one day consummate all things in "new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home" (2Pet 3:13). Creation--now in captivity to disruption and death--will know the freedom it awaits.

B. Hope in Action
We testify to the hope that inspires and encourages us. We announce this hope to every people, and witness to the renewing work of the Spirit of God. We are to be a herald here and now to the new creation yet to come, a living model.

Our tradition offers many glimpses of hope triumphant over despair. In ancient Israel, as Jerusalem was under siege and people were on the verge of exile, Jeremiah purchased a plot of land (Jer 32). When Martin Luther was asked what he would do if the world were to end tomorrow, he reportedly answered, "I would plant an apple tree today." When we face today's crisis, we do not despair. We act.

IV. The Call to Justice

Caring, serving, keeping, loving, and living by wisdom--these translate into justice in political, economic, social, and environmental relationships. Justice in these relationships means honoring the integrity of creation, and striving for fairness within the human family.

It is in hope of God's promised fulfillment that we hear the call to justice; it is in hope that we take action. When we act interdependently and in solidarity with creation, we do justice. We serve and keep the earth, trusting its bounty can be sufficient for all, and sustainable.

A. Justice Through Participation
We live within the covenant God makes with all living things, and are in relationship with them. The principle of participation means they are entitled to be heard and to have their interests considered when decisions are made.

Creation must be given voice, present generations and those to come. We must listen to the people who fish the sea, harvest the forest, till the soil, and mine the earth, as well as to those who advance the conservation, protection, and preservation of the environment.

We recognize numerous obstacles to participation. People often lack the political or economic power to participate fully. They are bombarded with manipulated information, and are prey to the pressures of special interests. The interests of the rest of creation are inadequately represented in human decisions.

We pray, therefore, that our church may be a place where differing groups can be brought together, tough issues considered, and a common good pursued.

B. Justice Through Solidarity
Creation depends on the Creator, and is interdependent within itself. The principle of solidarity means that we stand together as God's creation.

We are called to acknowledge this interdependence with other creatures and to act locally and globally on behalf of all creation. Furthermore, solidarity also asks us to stand with the victims of fire, floods, earthquakes, storms, and other natural disasters.

We recognize, however, the many ways we have broken ranks with creation. The land and its inhabitants are often disenfranchised by the rich and powerful. The degradation of the environment occurs where people have little or no voice in decisions -- because of racial, gender, or economic discrimination. This degradation aggravates their situation and swells the numbers of those trapped in urban or rural poverty.

We pray, therefore, for the humility and wisdom to stand with and for creation, and the fortitude to support advocates whose efforts are made at personal risk.

C. Justice Through Sufficiency
The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. No person or group has absolute claim to the earth or its products. The principle of sufficiency means meeting the basic needs of all humanity and all creation.

In a world of finite resources, for all to have enough means that those with more than enough will have to change their patterns of acquisition and consumption. Sufficiency charges us to work with each other and the environment to meet needs without causing undue burdens elsewhere.

Sufficiency also urges us to care for arable land so that sufficient food and fiber continue to be available to meet human needs. We affirm, therefore, the many stewards of the land who have been and are conserving the good earth that the Lord has given us.

We recognize many forces that run counter to sufficiency. We often seek personal fulfillment in acquisition. We anchor our political and economic structures in greed and unequal distribution of goods and services. Predictably, many are left without resources for a decent and dignified life.

We pray, therefore, for the strength to change our personal and public lives, to the end that there may be enough.

D. Justice Through Sustainability
The sabbath and jubilee laws of the Hebrew tradition remind us that we may not press creation relentlessly in an effort to maximize productivity (Exod 20:8-11; Lev 25). The principle of sustainability means providing an acceptable quality of life for present generations without compromising that of future generations.

Protection of species and their habitats, preservation of clean land and water, reduction of wastes, care of the land--these are priorities. But production of basic goods and services, equitable distribution, accessible markets, stabilization of population, quality education, full employment--these are priorities as well.

We recognize the obstacles to sustainability. Neither economic growth that ignores environmental cost nor conservation of nature that ignores human cost is sustainable. Both will result in injustice and, eventually, environmental degradation. We know that a healthy economy can exist only within a healthy environment, but that it is difficult to promote both in our decisions.

The principle of sustainability summons our church, in its global work with poor people, to pursue sustainable development strategies. It summons our church to support U.S. farmers who are turning to sustainable methods, and to encourage industries to produce sustainably. It summons each of us, in every aspect of our lives, to behave in ways that are consistent with the long-term sustainability of our planet.

We pray, therefore, for the creativity and dedication to live more gently with the earth.

V. Commitments of this Church

We of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America answer the call to justice and commit ourselves to its principles--participation, solidarity, sufficiency, and sustainability. In applying the principles to specific situations, we face decisions made difficult by human limitation and sin. We act, not because we are certain of the outcome but because we are confident of our salvation in Christ.

Human behavior may change through economic incentive, guilt about the past, or fear about the future. But as people of biblical faith, who live together in trust and hope, our primary motivation is the call to be God's caregivers and to do justice.

We celebrate the vision of hope and justice for creation, and dedicate ourselves anew. We will act out of the conviction that, as the Holy Spirit renews our minds and hearts, we also must reform our habits and social structures.

A. As Individual Christians
As members of this church, we commit ourselves to personal life styles that contribute to the health of the environment. Many organizations provide materials to guide us in examining possibilities and making changes appropriate to our circumstances.

We challenge ourselves, particularly the economically secure, to tithe environmentally. Tithers would reduce their burden on the earth's bounty by producing ten percent less in waste, consuming ten percent less in non-renewable resources, and contributing the savings to earthcare efforts. Environmental tithing also entails giving time to learn about environmental problems and to work with others toward solutions.

B. As a Worshipping and Learning Community
1. The Congregation as a Creation Awareness Center  Each congregation should see itself as a center for exploring scriptural and theological foundations for caring for creation.

Awareness can be furthered by many already in our midst, for example: Native people, who often have a special understanding of human intimacy with the earth; scientists, engineers, and technicians, who help us to live by the wisdom of God in creation; experts in conservation and protection of the environment; and those who tend the land and sea. We also will learn from people suffering the severe impact of environmental degradation.

2. Creation Emphases in the Church Year  Congregations have various opportunities during the year to focus on creation. Among these are Thanksgiving, harvest festivals, and blessings of fields, waters, and plants and animals. Many congregations observe Earth Day or Soil and Water Stewardship Week. As a church body, we designate the Second Sunday after Pentecost as Stewardship of Creation Sunday, with appropriate readings (as a development of the traditional Rogationtide).

3. Education and Communication  This church will encourage those who develop liturgical, preaching, and educational materials that celebrate God's creation. Expanded curricula, for use in the many contexts of Christian education, will draw upon existing materials. We will promote reporting on the environment by church publications, and encourage coverage of this church's environmental concerns in public media.

4. Programs Throughout this Church  This church commends the environmental education taking place through synodical and regional efforts; camps and outdoor ministries; colleges, seminaries, and continuing education events; and the churchwide Hunger Program. We especially commend this church's Department for Environmental Stewardship in the Division for Church in Society, for its network of caregivers, its advice to church members and institutions on innovative caregiving, and its materials for use in environmental auditing.

C. As a Committed Community
As congregations and other expressions of this church, we will seek to incorporate the principles of sufficiency and sustainability in our life. We will advocate the enviromental tithe, and we will take other measures that work to limit consumption and reduce wastes. We will, in our budgeting and investment of church funds, demonstrate our care for creation. We will undertake environmental audits and follow through with checkups to ensure our continued commitment.

D. As a Community of Moral Deliberation
As congregations and other expressions of this church, we will model the principle of participation. We will welcome the interaction of differing views and experiences in our discussion of environmental issues such as:

  • nuclear and toxic waste dumps;
  • logging in ancient growth forests;
  • personal habits in food consumption;
  • farming practices;
  • treatment of animals in livestock production, laboratory research, and hunting;
  • land-use planning; and
  • global food, development, and population questions.

We will examine how environmental damage is influenced by racism, sexism, and classism, and how the environmental crisis in turn exacerbates racial, gender, and class discrimination. We will include in our deliberation people who feel and suffer with issues, whose economic security is at stake, or who have expertise in the natural and social sciences.

We will play a role in bringing together parties in conflict, not only members of this church but also members of society at large. This church's widespread presence and credibility provide us a unique opportunity to mediate, to resolve conflict, and to move toward consensus.

E. As an Advocate
The principles of participation, solidarity, sufficiency, and sustainability will shape our advocacy--in neighborhoods and regions, nationally and internationally. Our advocacy will continue in partnership, ecumenically and with others who share our concern for the environment.

Advocacy on behalf of creation is most compelling when done by informed individuals or local groups. We will encourage their communication with governments and private entities, attendance at public hearings, selective buying and investing, and voting.

We will support those designated by this church to advocate at state, national, and international levels. We will stand with those among us whose personal struggles for justice put them in lonely and vulnerable positions.

1. Private Sector  This church will engage in dialogue with corporations on how to promote justice for creation. We will converse with business leadership regarding the health of workers, consumers, and the environment. We will invite the insights and concerns of business leadership regarding responsible environmental actions. We will urge businesses to implement comprehensive environmental principles.

Government can use both regulations and market incentives to seek sustainability. We will foster genuine cooperation between the private and public sector in developing them.

2. Public Sector  This church will favor proposals and actions that address environmental issues in a manner consistent with the principles of participation, solidarity, sufficiency, and sustainability.

These proposals and actions will address: excessive consumption and human population pressures; international development, trade, and debt; ozone depletion; and climate change. They will seek: to protect species and their habitats; to protect and assure proper use of marine species; and to protect portions of the planet that are held in common, including the oceans and the atmosphere.

This church will support proposals and actions to protect and restore, in the United States and Caribbean, the quality of:

  • natural and human habitats, including seas, wetlands, forests, wilderness, and urban areas;
  • air, with special concern for inhabitants of urban areas;
  • water, especially drinking water, groundwater, polluted runoff, and industrial and municipal waste; and
  • soil, with special attention to land use, toxic waste disposal, wind and water erosion, and preservation of farmland amid urban development.

This church will seek public policies that allow people to participate fully in decisions affecting their own health and livelihood. We will be in solidarity with people who directly face environmental hazards from toxic materials, whether in industry, agriculture, or the home. We will insist on an equitable sharing of the costs of maintaining a healthy environment.

This church will advance international acceptance of the principles of participation, solidarity, sufficiency, and sustainability, and encourage the United Nations in its caregiving role. We will collaborate with partners in the global church community, and learn from them in our commitment to care for God's creation.

Claiming the Promise

Given the power of sin and evil in this world, as well as the complexity of environmental problems, we know we can find no "quick fix"--whether technological, economic, or spiritual. A sustainable environment requires a sustained effort from everyone.

The prospect of doing too little too late leads many people to despair. But as people of faith, captives of hope, and vehicles of God's promise, we face the crisis.

We claim the promise of "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1), and join in the offertory prayer (Lutheran Book of Worship, page 109): "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts. With them we offer ourselves to your service and dedicate our lives to the care and redemption of all that you have made, for the sake of him who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."



 

Caring for Creation

Earthkeeping Resources
Download Climate Change Fact Sheet MS Word Format
Download 
"What Can You Do" MS Word Format flyer about climate change



Living Earth Reflection Series
Click here to download environmental worship resources, "Creation Waits with Eager Longing." Originally created to accompany the 2009 Living Earth reflection series, you can adapt the resources to best fit your worship service.

Click here to view back issues of the Lenten e-mail series, Joining the Hymn of All Creation.



Awakening to God's Call to Earthkeeping" Study Guide PDF Format
This 50-page resource (pdf) includes both a Leader Guide and participant materials for use in faith-based small group context: adult or older youth Sunday school, Christian Education classes, women’s circles, men’s groups, congregational “Green Team,” or in a retreat setting. Members of any Christian denomination would be able to use it, with only slight modification (if desired) to incorporate materials from their own faith tradition.


ELCA Environmental Audit
Download the ELCA  Environmental Audit GuidePDF Format  for congregations, schools, and other groups.

 
Web of Creation
The Web of Creation Web site includes a number of earthkeeping resources developed by professors and students at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.


Earth Ministry
Earth Ministry is an ecumenical earthkeeping group that provides numerous resources, including a "Greening Congregations Handbook."

Join the e-Advocacy Network!



Get your copy of
the Green Bible

 click here

The Rev. Callon W. Holloway Jr., bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Southern Ohio Synod, Columbus,Testifies Before House Subcommittee on Climate Change


Presiding Bishop Talked About Environment At Churchwide Assembly

During his report to the 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly on Aug. 8, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson urged, "We need to speak the truth about what our consumptive living is doing to an environment that is now on the verge of ecocide - self-destruction."
LISTEN (MP3 - 1.4 Mb) (08.09.07)


WHAT CAN YOU DO?

  • Learn more  
  • Advocate for change
  • Make changes in your life and your community


 

WHAT INDIVIDUALS AND CONGREGATIONS CAN DO AND WHAT THE ELCA IS DOING

  • What individuals can do
  • What congregations can do
  • What the ELCA is doing

 


Ever wondered how much "nature" your
lifestyle  requires? Your about to find out.
 The Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates
the amount of land and ocean area required
to sustain your consumption patterns and
absorb your wastes on an annual basis. After
 answering 27 easy questions you'll be able
to compare your Ecological Footprint to
others' and learn how to reduce your
impact on the Earth.
Take the quiz and find out.




  • When Traveling, Bring Your Own (Reusable) Bottle!
    JUNE 5, 2007
    ELCA WASHINGTON OFFICE
    ELCA CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
  • In 2006, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each, but only recycled an average of 38 bottles per person, which equals about 50 billion plastic bottles consumed, with only 23% being recycled. That leaves 38 billion water bottles in landfills, each year
  • Manufacturing bottled water uses over 1.5 million barrels of oil  per year. In one year, thats enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars.
  • When plastic bottles end up in landfills they take 700 years before they start to decompose.
    Eliminate Bottled Water
  •  Use a stainless steel reusable water container for water on the go. Purchase your own at SIGG USA or Klean Kanteen
    • Cancel your deliveries of bottled water and install a water purifier to clean your tap water for drinking. Many studies have shown that bottled water isnt that clean afterall, plus water that sits around in plastic jugs is subject to the chemicals that leach into the water from the plastic. No more deliveries also means less CO2 emissions due to the transportation of the water.

    • Take it to the next level and stop buying any beverages packaged in plastic. Instead opt for beverages in glass, paper or other renewable materials


    Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.


    LONG-LASTING TRASH
    Time for materials to break down in a landfill:
    Plastic bags
    1,000 years
    Aluminum cans
    80-100 years
    Tin cans
    50-100 years
    Plastic-coated milk cartons
    5 years
    Orange peels
    6 months
    Paper
    2-5 months
    Sources: Whole Foods, Worldwise.com


     


    Environmental Solution That Make Economic Sense.

    Acceptable Materials

    • Newspaper
    • Plastic bottles #1 (PET)
    • Plastic bottles #2 (HDPE)
    • Steel food cans
    • Aluminum cans
    • Glass bottles and jars
    • Residential mixed paper, including: envelopes with an
    • without windows, cereal boxes, construction paper,
    • school papers, office paper, brown paper grocery bags.
    • Cardboard boxes (broken down into 3 feet by 3 feet sections)
    How much waste does recycling divert from landfills annually?

    On average, recycling diverts about 84,000 tons from the landfill each year

    To get your free bin, please call Rumpke at 242-4600
    Overflowing bin?

    Stop the junk mail!
    Almost 50% of the junk mail ends up in the waste stream unopened.
    The Direct Marketing Association  https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS/
    proto1.php
    ($5 fee if you complete online)
    can stop junk mail from companies using
    their service(up to 75% of your junk mail!). 

    http://www.denvergov.org/recnew/MarvsKidsPage/tabid/426193/Default.aspx.aspx

    Recycling one aluminum can saves
    enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours!


    Recycling not only saves resources, it
    saves energy. Recycling one glass bottle
    saves enough electricity to light a
    100-watt bulb for 4 hours


    'Cell phones' Depicts 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day


    Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.


    Depicts 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the US every hour.


    Depicts 320,000 light bulbs, equal to the number of kilowatt hours of electricity wasted in the United States every minute from inefficient residential electricity usage (inefficient wiring, computers in sleep mode, etc.).


    The 410,000 paper cups stacked together in the photo depict the number of disposable cups Americans use every 15 minutes. Jordan added a silhouette of two people as a scale reference.



    Vampire Energy
    Click here for more information




    Environmental Solution That Make Economic Sense.

    Acceptable Materials

    • Newspaper
    • Plastic bottles #1 (PET)
    • Plastic bottles #2 (HDPE)
    • Steel food cans
    • Aluminum cans
    • Glass bottles and jars
    • Residential mixed paper, including: envelopes with an
    • without windows, cereal boxes, construction paper,
    • school papers, office paper, brown paper grocery bags.
    • Cardboard boxes (broken down into 3 feet by 3 feet sections)
    How much waste does recycling divert from landfills annually?

    On average, recycling diverts about 84,000 tons from the landfill each year

    To get your free bin, please call Rumpke at 242-4600



    GREEN ENERGY OHIO

    "ALTERED
    OCEANS"



    A five-part series on the Crisis
     in the Seas by Kenneth R.
    Weiss and Usha Lee McFarling
    (LA Times staff writers and
    reporters), photography and
    video by Rick Loomis (LA Time
    photographers).

    These presentations require
    Flash 7.

    An estimated 14 billion pounds of trash, much of it plastic is dumped into the world's oceans every year.























     


     Environmental issues have never been more fun to learn in this graphically stunning interactive site by First Born Media. Befriend and care for a baby polar bear and perform tasks and games along the way in order to learn and understand more about how much of our lifestyle has an effect on our environment. Rich in motion graphics with a high level of interactivity, this is a fine example of how Flash can be used to create compelling and interactive content. http://www.nationalgridfloe.com/


    Plastic bags consumed this year:

                                          

    poptech-chris-jordan-plastic-bags.jpg
    Depicts 60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the US every five seconds ( photographer Chris Jordan)


    Billions of plastic bags are choking our planet. All of these "free" bags ultimately cost both consumers and the environment plenty:
    • Each year billions of bags end up as ugly litter.
    • Eventually they break down into tiny toxic bits polluting our soil, river, lakes and oceans
    • Production requires vast amounts of oil.
    • Countless animals needlessly die each year.
    • Every year the U.S. makes enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the state of Texas.
    • Nearly every piece of plastic EVER made still exists today.
    • Americans generate 10.5 million tons of plastic waste a year but recycle only 1 or 2 % of it

         

           



         Entressen, France, November 26 2004: Polluted fields caused by strong winds near a dumping ground. Photo Courtesy Guardian.co.uk.  
                                                                     
    Guangdong, China, March 15 2007: Plastic waste clogs streams and waterways         Mogadishu, Somalia, February 9 2005: A woman in front of a rubbish dump  
    Guangdong, China, March 15 2007: Plastic
     waste clogs streams and waterways


            
    Birds: Over 1 million birds die yearly from strangulation and plastic bag consumption


    Turtles: 33-50% of all turtles found in American waters have plastic impacted in their
    stomachs


    quote

    1. Plastic is made of oil, a diminishing resource.
    2. It *never* goes away. It just breaks into smaller and smaller plastic pieces.
    3. 20% of the plastic in the ocean fell off boats. The rest washed in from land. 
    4. Much of the ocean's plastic is the little pellets that plastic things eventually get made out of. When you
    buy plastic things, you support these pellets being shipped across oceans, and dropped into them.
    5. When you throw plastic away, some will seep out of the landfill and find its way back to the ocean.
    6. The average sea-bird has thirty pieces of plastic in their stomach.
    7. Plastic cups have been found scattered amongst the wreck of the Titanic.

    Clearly, an ocean clean-up on an epic scale will need to happen someday. In the meantime, we have the power
    to slow the growth of these islands.

    All we need to do is try to enforce two easy rules in our lives:
    1.  Avoid plastic when we can. Especially packaging.
    2.  If we can't avoid plastic, recycle it!

    Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, a product of petroleum,which is a non-renewable resource.

    They are not biodegradable and are almost indestructible. They take an incredibly long time to break down and when they do, it’s into a “plastic dust” which contaminates animal life, the soil and the water, the oceans and the seas, forever.

    Around a trillion plastic bags are used world wide every year(10 billion in the UK alone). They are environmentally unfriendly in the extreme, filling up landfills, blocking drains,littering the land and the oceans.

    Many plastic bags are not recycled; they are dumped in landfills and escape into the environment by wind or water action. In South Africa, plastic bag litter is so common it is called the ‘national flower’.

    Plastic bag litter has a devastating effect on animals, birds and marine life. They mistake them for food & die after ingesting plastic bags which have obstructed their digestive systems. Birds become trapped in plastic bags hanging off bushes and trees. Whales, seals,turtles and countless fish become entangled in them & suffocate or starve to death as a result.

    Prior to death, they probably suffer severe discomfort and pain. After death,their bodies decompose and the plastic is released back into the environment where it may kill again.

    Plant life on land is smothered and killed by plastic bag litter. In the oceans not all plastic floats, much of it sinks to the bottom where it smothers and kills marine plant life as well.

                                                                  
    Operation to remove plastic                 Green turtle gut contents                  Freedom for one 
     from gut of a green turtle.                    including blue plastic bag                rehabilitated turtle.
                                                                      and red balloon.

    Photobucket
    This image above shows the harsh reality of plastic in the marine environment,a minke whale washed up dead on the normandy coast. Cause of death? - the animals stomach was full of plastic bags, and throwaway plastic packaging.
    contents:

    • 1 pastic/aluminium crisp packet
    • 2 English supermarket carrier bags
    • 7 various coloured plastic bag bits
    • 7 transparent plastic bags
    • 1 food packaging wrapper.
    moore-trashed-pacificnov03a.jpg   
    Decomposed carcass of a Laysan albatross on Kure Atoll (North Pacific) with gut full of plastic objects. “The bird probably mistook the plastics for food and ingested them while foraging for prey. The plastic goes down the gullet quite easily. But since it is not digested, as in the original plan for all life, it gets stuck before exiting the stomach. There it sits to block the entry and digestion of legitimate food.even the tiniest of pieces can cause blockages.” 

                
    Albatros carcuss filled with digested plastic.

    bird-and-plastic1.jpg
    This is a photo of a dead albatross found in the Hawaiian Islands next to the hundreds of pieces of plastic and metal pieces of junk that was found in its stomach.

    Of the 500,000 Laysan albatross chicks born on Midway Atoll (Hawaii) each year, about 200,000 die, mostly from dehydration or starvation. A two-year study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that chicks that died from those causes had twice as much plastic in their stomachs as those that died for other reasons.




           

                            Green turtle attempting to nest on heavily littered beach, Cyprus (C) Annette Broderick
    seal starved by a plastic ring 

     a fish trapped in a six pack holder. 
    (Photos provided by Save Our Shores.)                                         Platypus with cut around neck from plastic bag




    A California brown pelican entangled in a plastic bag which is wrapped around its neck. This unfortunate pelican probably became entangled in the bag by mistaking the floating plastic for food and diving on it, spearing it in such a way that the bag has lodged around the pelican’s neck.


                                                                        
    50 percent of animals washed up, plastic is implicated.

    •167cm bottlenose dolphin was found on the gulf side of Anna Maria Island on April 29, 2003. Necropsy findings included emaciation, obstruction of the tongue by a large rock, and a plastic bag in the stomach.

    •A killer whale that stranded and died in Tasmania in 1997 was found to have six plastic bags in its stomach.

    •Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) stranding on the coast of Israel (eastern Mediterranean).
    Autopsy results: Plastic bags found in its stomach contributed to the dolphin's poor physical condition.

    •Giant dolphin that beached and died at Matina Aplaya-  its innards had 15 plastic bags, some
    marked Malaysia and Singapore.

    •humpback whale washed up on Long Island dead of a stomach infection researchers said was worsened
     by a plastic bag.

    •A sperm whale found dead on a North American beach was discovered to have starved to death because a plastic gallon bottle which it had swallowed had plugged its small intestine. The animal was full of plastic material ranging from other plastic bottles to 12m of nylon rope.

     

  • On 27 February 1993, a 419 cm adult female Blainville's beaked whale was found washed ashore at Sao Jose do Norte, southern Brazil. Stomach analysis revealed the presence of a blueish bundle of plastic threads occupying a large part of the main stomach chamber (volume of 35 cm³ in terms of displaced liquid). Both stomach and intestines were completely free of parasites as well as food remains and faeces, indicating that the whale had not fed for some time. Mistaken ingestion of debris due to its resemblance to preferred prey is usually not thought to occur in odontocete cetaceans because of their echolocation capabilities. The ingested plastic may have resulted in a false sensation of satiation for the animal, which could have reduced the whale's appetite and meal size. In turn, this would have compromised the energy consumption and health of the animal and subsequently (at least indirectly), lead to the death of the whale.

  • Marine biologist Dr Tom Doyle retrieving the female leatherback turtle found washed up dead off Ballycotton, Co Cork. Dr Doyle carried out a postmortem and found a large piece of plastic material in her intestine.

  •  Penguin found on a beach at Troubridge Island

  •  

  • A crocodile died after its capture off Magnetic Island in November 2008. Wildlife authorities found the crocodile had ingested 25 plastic shopping and garbage bags, a plastic wine cooler bag and a rubber float. These items prevented the crocodile from digesting his food so he died of starvation.
  •  

  • A green turtle hatchling, six centimetres in length, washed up on North Stradbroke and died due to gut perforation through the ingestion of plastic marine rubbish. Its gut contained plastic bags, soft and hard plastic, and fishing line. The piece that killed the baby turtle was only about half the size of a fingernail
  •  

  • The Sydney Morning Herald (27/12/2008) has reported that an endangered hawksbill turtle was put down after it swallowed plastic and was found sick on a beach at Tomakin, near Batemans Bay in NSW.
  •  

  • A green turtle, a sub-adult, died with a gut full of plastic bags, the largest of which was over 30 centimetres long.


  • SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH: This giant green turtle died died from swallowing a plastic bag soon after this photograph was taken, a victim of thoughtless litterers. The adult female _ believed to be about 40 years old _ was spotted in distress floating about 200m offshore in Fannie Bay. Rescuers battled rough seas to pluck the turtle from the water but the gentle giant  died on its way to the Ark Animal Hospital. Picture: CLIVE HYDE

  • Two sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea and Chelonia mydas) were found stranded along the coast of Paraíba, Brazil. After necropsy, plastic debris were found in the stomach.

     

  •  In Ashdod port, Israel a leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea died from a  large plastic bag that had partially occluded the stomach lumen and had caused chronic secondary damage to the stomach mucosa.

     

  • A dead pygmy sperm whale found on a New South Wales beach had a plug of plastic bags in its gut. Presumably these items were mistaken for squid, the sperm whale"s main food. 

     

  • A whale shark found dead in Thailand, Oct. 12th, 2006. Cause of death - hemorrhaging of the stomach from a plastic straw

     

  • "There was a new species of whale discovered in 1991, called the Peruvian beaked whale. The original scientific paper that wrote about the species mentioned it had a plastic bag wedged in its throat. So even before we knew the species existed, we were affecting it with plastic bags.


    •A dwarf sperm whale which washed ashore on Patong beach died of an internal infection. The two-metre-long whale suffered from a severe infection in its womb. Rubbish and plastic also clogged its stomach and intestines, which probably caused the animal to go into shock before it was discovered on Patong beach.


    •The stomach contents from a male sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, first located floating a short distance off the south coast of Crete were examined. The remains within the stomach consisted almost exclusively of cephalopod mandibles, or beaks, though other material was found including a piece of rigid plastic mesh.

    •The death of a humpback whale that washed ashore near Shinnecock Inlet apparently stemmed in part from an infection that spread after it swallowed a plastic bag.

                                              
  • On January 3, 2008, an adult female Cuvier’s Beaked Whale washed up on shore at Champas Beach. On January 5, 2008, a second beaked whale washed up on shore two days later and approximately one-half mile from where the first beaked whale was discovered. It was determined this was the calf of the first whale.
    What was found in the stomachs of each whale was rather concerning. The adult female’s stomach had squid beaks; however, it also had wood and plastic objects. The calf had more normal food in the process of being digested; however, it too had plastic material in its second stomach.



                                            Bryde's Whale that died after swallowing 6 square metres of plastic (Cairns, Australia )
                                                         
                                                     Some of the plastic bags found in the Bryde's whales' stomach


    Cuvier's beaked whale: Its stomach was crammed with plastic bags. Twenty-three bags, or fragments of bags, were found.

    BEACHED whale died in eastern Malaysia after swallowing a plastic bag, a rope and a bottle cap – which clogged its intestines.


    July 25, 2008 -- A green turtle died after eating a plastic bag,

    Deep Trouble: A Dying Sea

    Dolphin rescued off Zambales Beach dies, autopsy showed its stomach full of plastic bags and was suffering from severe gastritis

    India Cow Killer Bagged, but Deaths Continue

    Seabirds filled with plastic waste

    A Bryde's whale dies after swallowing 6 square metres of plastic

    'Lucky' the platypus rescued

    'Pete' the pelican died after swallowing 17 plastic bags

    Other wildlife affected by plastic bags

    Whale washed up on a British beach. In it's stomach...the remains of 23 plastic bags.

    Plastic bag killed beaked whale - 7/16/2008


    Giant Green Turtle dies from plastic bag - 2/29/2008

    Seabirds ingest bellyfuls of plastic pollution

          




    This leatherback sea turtle was found to have gotten entangled in— and eaten—plastic bags.

    Plastic Never, Ever Goes Away...

      







    turtle bag

    The Pacific Ocean garbage patch has created a cottage industry of sorts. Aquatic garbage scavengers. Above, a scavenger paddles a canoe through the garbage vortex near a Manila waterway in the Philipines. (Courtesy: Getty Images.)


    Trash on a Beach: As plastics degrade in our oceans, we face serious risks. Photo by Poagao

    How can we help?

    • Use long lasting biodegradable shopping bags: Natural cotton shopping bags are an excellent alternative to single use plastic shopping bags.

             



    Tip: Krogers takes 3 cents off your bill for every reusable bag you use.

    • Re-use: All plastic bags, including any existing plastic single use bags in the home or business, should be re-used as often as possible, then recycled when no longer usable.

    • Recycle: This seems obvious and it may be assumed that everyone is already recycling, however, many are not.

    • Compost: Reduce the numbers of plastic bin liners you use by composting all biodegradable waste e.g. egg shells, fruit, vegetables etc.

    • Pick up plastic bag litter: Discard any litter picked up responsibly e.g. in a recycle bin.

    • Encourage others: Encouragement to do all of the above would probably work better than enforcement through legislation. Many people are becoming resentful of the word ‘green’ as they feel that it is just another form of stealth tax.

    To prevent leaving your bags behind when you go shopping; get into the habit of leaving them next to your car keys.

    A lot of nations have already either completely banned platic bags, or discouraged their use through tax levies or made it that you have to buy them at the checkout. This list is growing fast: Key: OB= Outright ban.
    * Bangladesh, (OB)
    * Ireland, (Levy)
    *Taiwan,
    *France, (OB 2010)
    *West Bengal, (OB)
    *Tanzania, (OB)
    *Switzerland
    *Rwanda (OB)
    *Pakiistan, (OB)
    *Denmark
    *Germany
    *South Africa, (OB)
    *Italy, (OB 2010)
    *Australia, (OB in supermarkets 2008)
    *India, (OB in area's including Mumbai)
    *Somalia, (OB)
    *Botswana, (OB)
    *Philippines, (OB, coming soon)
    *Uganda, (OB)
    *Kenya, (OB)
    *Japan
    *Turkey
    *Zanzibar, (OB)
    *Eritrea, (OB)*
    *Ethiopia, (OB)
    *Papua New Guinea, (OB)
    *Samoa, (OB)
    *Belgium, (Levy)
    *South Korea
    *Singapore
    *Sweden
    *Bhutan, (OB)
    *Malta
    *China


    Trends from around the World

    What About Biodegradable Bags?

    Biodegradable shopping bags are made of polymers that degrade, or decompose, when exposed to air, water or sunlight. There are two main types:

    1) The original biodegradable bags, introduced about ten years ago, are made from resins containing polyethylene, starches and heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and beryllium. They are still on the market today.

    2) About five years ago, a second type was invented using starches combined with biodegradable polymers or polylactic acid. Some of these claim to be fully compostable, meaning that they would break down to organic material suitable for plant growth.

    At first glance, they may seem like a good idea, but a closer look reveals significant downsides such as:

  • Does nothing to address the consumption part of this problem which lies at the heart of this issue. Both biodegradable and regular disposable plastic bags require a similar amount of energy, natural resources and costs to produce.
  • Mixing of biodegradable bags in recycling systems for conventional plastic bags creates a sorting nightmare and can render entire batches of recyclable plastic useless.
  • Bag littering could easily increase as people start to believe that biodegradable bags are less harmful to the environment and will disappear quickly it takes at least 18 months for most to breakdown.
  • The breakdown of starch-based films in water consumes oxygen, resulting in oxygen depletion that contributes to algae blooms and the death of marine life.
  • Water, soil, and crop contamination could result from the use of compost with chemical residues from biodegraded bags.





    Paper Bags Are Better Than Plastic, Right?

  • The answer to the "paper or plastic"? dilemma is: Neither. They're roughly equal in pros and cons. While convenient addictions, they both gobble up natural resources and cause significant pollution.


    Issue 1: Energy and natural resources
    It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.

    ENERGY TO PRODUCE BAG ORIGINALLY (BTUs)
    Safeway Plastic Bags: 594 BTUs
    Safeway Paper Bags: 2511 BTUs
    (Source: 1989 Plastic Recycling Directory, Society of Plastics Industry.)

    Of course, most paper comes from tree pulp, so the impact of paper bag production on forests is enormous. In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year alone. Paper bag production delivers a global warming double-whammy forests (major absorbers of greenhouse gases) have to be cut down, and then the subsequent manufacturing of bags produces greenhouse gases. 
      

                                                          

    Issue 2: Pollution
    The majority of kraft paper is made by heating wood chips under pressure at high temperatures in a chemical solution. As evidenced by the unmistakable stench commonly associated with paper mills, the use of these toxic chemicals contributes to both air pollution, such as acid rain, and water pollution. Millions of gallons of these chemicals pour into our waterways each year; the toxicity of the chemicals is long-term and settles into the sediments, working its way through the food chain. Further toxicity is generated as both plastic and paper bags degrade.
       

    POLLUTANTS PAPER V.S. PLASTIC
    Paper sacks generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.
    Source: "Comparison of the Effects on the Environment of Polyethylene and Paper Carrier Bags," Federal Office of the Environment, August 1988

    Issue 3: Recycling
    It takes 91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. But recycling rates of either type of disposable bag are extremely low, with only 10 to 15% of paper bags and 1 to 3% of plastic bags being recycled, according to the Wall Street Journal.

    ENERGY TO RECYCLE PACKAGE ONCE (BTUs)
    Safeway Plastic Bags: 17 BTUs
    Safeway Paper Bags: 1444 BTUs
    Source: 1989 Plastic Recycling Directory, Society of Plastics Industry.

    Although paper bags have a higher recycling rate than plastic, each new paper grocery bag you use is made from mostly virgin pulp for better strength and elasticity.

    Issue 4: Degradability
    Current research demonstrates that paper in today's landfills does not degrade or break down at a substantially faster rate than plastic does. In fact, nothing completely degrades in modern landfills because of the lack of water, light, oxygen and other important elements that are necessary for the degradation process to be completed. A paper bags takes up more space than a plastic bag in a landfill, but because paper is recycled at a higher rate, saving space in landfills is less of an issue.

    At the end of the day using reusable bags is the real answer!





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    Chemical Pollution, Plastic Leachates and Bisphenol A

    An increasing number of animals are being discovered with genetic and developmental maladies suggestive of impacts from synthetic chemicals known as endocrine disruptors.


    Bisphenol A (or BPA) is a high-volume industrial chemical used as a monomer (or chemical backbone) to make polycarbonate plastic, which is widely used in reusable water bottles, baby bottles, pacifiers, plastic utensils, children’s toys, compact discs, and certain microwaveable and reusable plastic containers. BPA is also used in some dyes, enamels, varnishes, flooring, adhesive, fungicides, antioxidants, dental sealants and artificial teeth. A chemical derivative of BPA called bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) is used to make epoxy resins which are widely used in many applications. Human exposure to bisphenol A (and BADGE) results from the use of BADGE in the clear lining of metal food and drink cans, and from some dental sealants and composite dental fillings.

    Over time, bisphenol A migrates from cans into food and leaches from polycarbonate plastic bottles, especially when the plastic is heated or as it ages. As evidence of the chemical’s “leaky” nature, BPA has been found in 40% of stream water samples surveyed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Humans are exposed through ingesting contaminated food, liquids and breast milk, and during some dental procedures.

    HEALTH EFFECTS: Ultra Low-Dose Hormone Disruptor

    Bisphenol A is a potent endocrine disrupting chemical in lab animals at very low doses that is suspected of causing reproductive damage and birth defects that may lead to prostate and breast cancer. Studies have found that BPA can have adverse health effects at levels thousands of times lower than what the EPA considers safe. According to the low dose hypothesis, small and repeated exposures to bisphenol A can have an amplified effect on the human body by mimicking human sex hormones, or promoting cell proliferation. Bisphenol A has been found to cause estrogenic changes in animal cells at the same concentrations that are found in pregnant women and their fetuses.

    Controversy over toxicity exists between public health advocates and the plastics industry, which describes bisphenol A as a weak estrogen, and says there is little concern with human exposure levels. Between 1998 and 2005, 115 studies of BPA were published. None of the 11 studies funded by industry reported adverse effects at low level exposures, whereas 94 of 104 government-funded studies found statistically significant effects on animals. Adverse effects were found at levels to which many people in the U.S. are currently exposed, levels much lower than the EPA's current acceptable level.

    Much less is known about the risks of exposure to BADGE. Environmental Working Group cites research suggesting strong evidence of hormone activity with limited evidence of other health concerns. They also cite a study showing that in the human body, BADGE can break down into BPA, which raises concerns about the compound’s toxicity.



    Reducing Your Exposure to BPA

    Bisphenol A has been used as an ingredient in consumer products for a long time, and is difficult to avoid. In some cases, alternatives are available. Consider these tips, especially if you are or may become pregnant or are parents choosing for a child:

    Avoid reusable plastic water and baby bottles. Most Nalgene reusable water bottles are made of polycarbonate plastic that leaches bisphenol A into the water. Use polyethylene or aluminum bottles instead. Use glass baby bottles instead of plastic. Discard old or damaged bottles.

    Avoid polycarbonate plastic food containers and table ware. These may be labeled ‘PC’ underneath a plastic code #7 in the recycling triangle on the bottom of the container. (The #7 means ‘other’, so you need to see the ‘PC’ to confirm that the plastic is polycarbonate).

    Minimize the use of canned foods and canned drinks. Until industry reformulates the laquer lining of metal cans (as is being done in Japan), choose fresh or frozen foods or glass containers or bottles. A recent study by Environmental Working Group found bisphenol A in more than half of 97 cans of brand-name fruit, vegetables, soda, and other common canned goods.

    Ask you dentist for BPA-free sealants and composite fillings. Some dental resins are free from or low in BPA and BADGE. Ask your dentist if they know about BPA and request the MSDS sheet (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the sealants or composite fillings to look for BADGE in the list of ingredients. Make sure your family brushes and flosses regularly to prevent the need for dental work!

    Phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) are widely used industrial chemicals that are found everywhere. They are added to PVC plastic products to make them softer or more flexible, such as toys, car interiors, medical devices like blood IV bags and tubing, vinyl flooring, vinyl wallpaper, and vinyl shower curtains. Phthalates are also added to many cosmetics and personal care products including scented lotion, shampoo, perfume, aftershave, nail polish, and hair spray. Phthalates can make up a major portion of a product by weight, but since they are not chemically bound, the chemicals leach out over time. For example, a new vinyl shower curtain can elevate indoor air toxics concentrations for over a month.

    According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, phthalates are found in Americans of all ages, sizes, and races. Phthalates are present in breast milk and can cross the placenta to enter a growing fetus. Humans are exposed by ingesting contaminated food and water, and to a lesser extent through inhalation and skin contact. In one study, babies in neonatal intensive care units using phthalate-containing vinyl medical products had levels of phthalates seven times higher than babies in a hospital not using phthalate-containing products. Infants and children are especially vulnerable to phthalate exposure because they put plastic objects in their mouths.


    HEALTH EFFECTS: Male Reproductive Damage Tops Concerns

    Phthalates are hormone-disrupting chemicals that threaten reproductive health, especially in males. In 2004, a scientist at University of Rochester found that baby boys whose mothers were exposed to high levels of phthalates during pregnancy were more likely to have altered genital development. Animal tests show that phthalate exposure leads to small or otherwise abnormal testes, hypospadias (abnormal urinary openings on the penis) and undescended testes in young males. Researchers believe that the phthalates that have these effects, such as DEHP and DBP, act by reducing levels of testosterone and important growth factors in young males. In adult males, phthalate exposure has been linked to lower sperm counts, reduced sperm motility, and damaged sperm.

    Other potential effects include reduced female fertility and premature breast development in young girls, liver and kidney damage and asthma. EPA classifies the phthalate DEHP as a probable human carcinogen.



    Reducing Your Exposure to Phthalates

    While market trends and personal actions by consumers are not likely to dramatically reduce phthalate exposure without coordinated policy action by state and federal governments, there are ways you can reduce your family’s exposure to phthalates.

    Avoid PVC plastic. Unless made by a U.S. manufacturer who has indicated the product is phthalate-free, avoid soft plastic toys and soft vinyl products with a strong plastic smell such as plastic shower curtains. For information on PVC-free products for the home, office, and building materials, check out the resources available at:
    http://www.preventharm.org/take.buyg.shtml#pvc.

    Purchase phthalate-free beauty products. Avoid nail polish, perfumes, colognes, and other scented products that are labeled as containing phthalates. Since many products simply list “fragrance” as an ingredient, avoid those products or do more research. For more information on phthalate-free cosmetics and personal care products, visit these Web sites:
    http://www.safecosmetics.org, by the national Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, and http://www.ewg.org/issues/cosmetics/virtualdrugstore.php, a database on cosmetic products and their ingredients by Environmental Working Group.