Nature's Example
We are slowly coming to the realization that we will have to change the way we live, and the way we produce products if our standard of living is to continue as it is. Many of these changes are not hard to achieve, and other changes in manufacturing actually make the businesses more profitable.
Natural cycles can show us the way. Water is continually recycled from the oceans, lakes and plants through evaporation to the skies where it forms clouds and falls as rain, ice or snow, replenishing the water in the ground. We are now taking care not to pollute this valuable resource and conserve it where it is in short supply.
Carbon, the fundamental substance of plants and animals, is recycled when carbon dioxide is captured out of the air to create new plant material using the energy from the sun. When the plants lose their leaves and they and the animals die, their decaying bodies again release some of the carbon dioxide to the air. The rest of the carbon becomes part of humus rich soil.
Our way of life depends now on getting rid of large amounts of garbage. This has become a complicated problem for many cities. One part of the problem is that it takes many years before that landfill land can be used again. If we followed nature’s way we would re-use as much of our waste as we can.
A family can start a compost pile in a corner of their yard. In one year’s time the carbon rich vegetable matter, peelings, coffee grounds, egg shells, weeds without seeds, fall leaves, can become valuable compost for the garden or shrubs and trees. The city of Sylvania is bagging the compost made from the leaves they collect in the fall and selling it , lowering their cost of taking care of leaves.
Sears has formed a partnership with 2,300 of its suppliers to reduce by 25% the amount of packing used for its merchandise. They are also increasing the level of recycled materials in cardboard and corrugated boxes. They estimate the savings from Whirlpool alone will be 553 tons in one year.
Hazardous wastes can also be reused. The Minnesota Office of Waste Management has helped Cloquet Radiator Repair set up an economical and safe way to dispose of the caustic solutions used to clean out radiator sections before they can be resoldered. These solutions contain lead, copper, zinc and tin. Their system recovers the metals in sludge, which can be used in a lead smelter or a licensed hazardous waste disposal facility. The liquid left from the process, which contains less than l part per million of lead, can be safely passed into the sewer. The total cost for a small radiator repair shop was approximately $550.
Burger King has been using principally paper packaging for its products since its founding in 1954. Since 1991, it has switched its sandwich packaging from cardboard to paper wrap. It estimates that it saves 15,000 tons of paper per year. Their bags for takeout orders are made of recycled paper. Since 1987, Burger King has had a policy of not purchasing beef from any countries that raise cattle on what was once tropical rain forest land. Their beef comes almost exclusively from the U. S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.
In Stryker, Ohio, Nick Oberlin, a high school sophomore, has devised a way to use used canola oil to run a car. He puts the revised canola oil in a 1983 Volkswagen Jetta, and he gets 30 miles to a gallon and a gallon costs him 32 cents. The car does smell like a french fry when it runs. He has entered his project in the International Science Fair in Detroit.
A company called Design Tex asked a research company to design a fabric for upholstery that would be environmentally safe. They finally settled on ramie and wool for the fabric. The difficulty came when they looked for finishes and dyes which did not contain persistent toxic substances, or carcinogens. They considered more than 8,000 chemicals and eliminated 7962. Their final product used only thirty-eight chemicals.
The most surprising result occurred when the fabric was produced. The inspector checking their waste water found that the water coming out of the plant was as clean as the water coming in, eliminating the need for regulation of the plant.
Carpets are another product that really contributes to the volume of waste in landfills. Many kinds of carpets are made from potentially hazardous chemicals from oil. The typical carpet consists of nylon embedded in fiberglass and polyvinyl chloride. The world’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer, Interface, is adopting a concept which is designed for complete recycling. The company leases the carpet to the customer and maintains it. When the customer wants to replace the carpet, the manufacturer simply takes it back and replaces it with a new one in the customer’s desired color.
Eventually the carpet will wear out like any other and the manufacturer will reuse its materials to make a new carpet. The advantages are twofold; no useless and potentially dangerous waste is generated, as it might be, and billions of dollars of valuable materials are saved and retained by the manufacturer.
All of above examples show how waste can be recycled or reduced or hazardous materials can be recycled or safely disposed and not scattered throughout the environment. When industries can find ways to reduce their waste and make a profit recycling, they can compete more successfully with companies in other countries who do not regulate manufacturing with regard to damaging their citizen’s health or the environment.
– Mary