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COMPACT FLOURESCENT LIGHT BULBS (CFL BULBS)

If every home in Canada swtiched to CFLs, the energy saved would be the equialent of taking 80,000 cars off the road per year. They may cost a bit more, but you actually save about $30/yr in energy costs when you use them, so it's a very wise investment!

RECYCLING COMPACT FLOURESCENT LIGHT BULBS

Did you know that you can recycle your Compact Flourescent Light (CFL) bulbs? Many locations across British Columbia accept the spent bulbs, which then go to a central recycling facility.

Interestingly, CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, which is only released if the bulb is broken while operating. Despite this environmental impact, it is still much more environmentally friendly to use CFLs - they last much longer than "regular" light bulbs. ("Regular" light bulbs are technically called incandescent bulbs.) CFLs last about 10x longer than incandescent bulbs.

Click here for a CFKL recycling location closest to you
(British Columbia locations only)

SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION BOOKS:

  1. Rock, Paper, Scissors: Building Success through Fun and Games, by Lyle Benson, Jerry Fochler, and Brad Burns, 2003 (several team building, trust building activities, games and initiative tasks for all ages)
  2. Everyone Wins! by Sambhava and Josette Luvmour (Book with dozens of games and initiative tasks for children – most are short games.
  3. Five Minute Field Trips: Teaching about Nature in Your Schoolyard http://www.geoec.org/lessons/5min-fieldtrips.pdf (lots of great nature appreciation/connection activities)
  4. Rediscovery: Ancient Pathways, New Directions – program to review and book to order fromhttp://www.rediscovery.org/resources.html (The Rediscovery program began on the Queen Charlotte Islands as an effort to help reconnect native youth with their culture, emphasizing ancient connections to the natural world. The Rediscovery model for camps and programs has now reached all over the world where indigenous and modern kids are getting together to explore ancient traditions and build a modern life that "re-discovers" a natural harmony and balance with nature.)
  5. Sharing Nature with Children, by Joseph Cornell
  6. Earth Ball – the Earth ball is a blow up beach ball of the earth without political boundaries (hard to find!). They cost about $15 and are order from: Earth Source: Tools for Global Understanding, PO Box 4226 Bellingham, WA 98227 USA.
  7. Green Teacher. www.greenteacher.com - Green Teacher is a magazine that helps youth educators enhance environmental and global education inside and outside of schools.

ONLINE SUSTAINABILITY RESOURCES:

  1. Walking the Talk - www.walkingthetalk.bc.ca - Walkingthetalk is an on-line gathering place for people from all over British Columbia with an interest in sustainability education. It's all about sharing resources, finding out what people are doing in other parts of the province, and learning from one another.
  2. Population Connection: Education and Action for a Better World - http://www.populationeducation.org/index.jsp (various great activities about population, environment, consumption and pollution; they have a great video called “World Population Video” that dramatically illustrates human population growth)
  3. BC Hydro - http://www.bchydro.com/education/index.html (lots of activities on energy and environment education. Some are interactive, experiential and fun.)
  4. Re-Energy.ca - www.re-energy.ca (website on renewable energy with backgrounders, hands-on activities (activities are option 2 in Renewable Energy block)
  5. Green Learning – www.greenlearning.ca (online activities for students and teachers; as well as various online resources such as slideshows, videos etc, primarily on climate change, renewable energy and energy efficiency)
  6. National Film Board  www.nfb.ca - search under “NFB kids” and “Educational Resources”; use search terms such as “environment” “sustainability” “climate change”, “social equity”
  7. Global Warming 101 – www.globalwarming101.com - various lessons plans on climate change.
  8. Ecofootprint calculators – www.mec.ca, www.kidsfootprint.org , www.redefiningprogress.org

  9. WorldWatch Institute
    The Worldwatch Institute offers a unique blend of interdisciplinary research, global focus, and accessible writing that has made it a leading source of information on the interactions among key environmental, social, and economic trends.

  10. Youth Site describing Climate Change (EPA)
    "Climate Change Kids Site" is a site by the US Environmental Protection Agency that has games, animations and easy-to-understand descriptions outlining the key concepts of Global Warming.

SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION ORGANIZATIONS:

  1. Sea to Sky Outdoor School - www.seatosky.bc.ca  (Sea to Sky delivers sustainability education programs for students from the lower mainland region. They have several activities that could be adapted and delivered at “sustainability camp” in Tofino. See website or contact Tim Turner at timturner@seatosky.bc.ca  .
  2. Wild Ed - http://www.wilded.org/ Contact Nathan Bennett (educator, former Sea to Sky instructor, Wild Ed Director who is a potential facilitator/instructor for sustainability camp and has developed Safety and Risk Management policies and programs for outdoor ed camps)
  3. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Education Program - www.cpawscalgary.org/education (deliver programs, have teaching kits available online, good contact for activities and programs under wilderness and wildlife themes)
  4. Sierra Club BC Chapter - www.sierraclub.ca/bc/programs/education/index.html (strong education program with various workshops, activities, educators)
  5. Wild BC - www.hctf.ca/wild.htm (conduct mostly train the trainer programs for teachers and educators, and have dozens of excellent resources/activities including Project Wet and Project Wild.)
  6. Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development – www.pembina.org - lots of information and links on climate change.
  7. David Suzuki Foundation – www.davidsuzuki.org - nature challenge, climate change, oceans, global health, sustainable economy… loads of info.

 

LOCAL SOCIETIES:

  1. Raincoast Education Society – Raincoast Education Society is a local non-profit that offers school programs for both local and visiting elementary and secondary school groups, and operates out of the Raincoast Interpretive Centre. Marcia Moncur was hired to develop the curriculum for two full blocks on the theme of Biodiversity and Conservation. RES has several resources to draw from. (Contact Josie Osborne: Tofino Botanical Gardens; 725-1220 or josie@tbgf.org)
  2. Stream keepers (Contact Gary Thomas;  725-1259 or Josie Osborne: Tofino Botanical Gardens; 725-1220)
  3. Friends of Clayoquot Sound (Contact 250-725-4218 or info@focs.ca)
  4. Clayoquot Biosphere Trust (Contact 250-725-2219 or rebecca.vines@clayoquotbiosphere.org)
  5. Ecotrust Canada (Contact in Vancouver: 604-682-4141; often has a Clayoquot Sound employee in town)
  6. others…. Make connections with local groups!

And I am sure there are tons and tons of more resources out there!! Please add accordingly.

 

 

Life-Cycle Studies: Post-it Notes

Post-It NoteFor the past five years, Worldwatch has explored the history, production method, and environmental and social impacts of everyday products - from chopsticks to pencils - in the Life-Cycle Studies section of its bi-monthly magazine, World Watch. This print-exclusive content is now available for free to Eye on Earth readers. Look for a new study every Friday! 

Overview

The modern office seems incomplete without guidance from three-inch squares of yellow paper. Placed on telephones, refrigerators, and wherever the eye may wander, the ubiquitous self-stick note has aided millions of forgetful minds. While also minimizing much face-to-face dialogue, for better or worse, the notes have left an indelible mark on the history of communication.

They began in 1980, when a St. Paul, Minnesota, choir member's hymnal bookmarks kept falling to the floor. Chorist Arthur Fry, an engineer at chemical company 3M, joined forces with 3M scientist Spencer Silver, inventor of a peculiar adhesive that stuck poorly to surfaces. The glue provided perfect temporary fixes for paper scraps such as hymnal bookmarks.

One year after 3M officially launched the Post-it Note, the packs of sticky paper raked in more than US$2 million in sales. Post-it Notes - available in 27 sizes, 57 colors, and 20 fragrances - now generate some $1 billion annually and dominate the self-stick note market. 3M is among some 20 U.S. companies that produce the notes, which office supply stores were selling in growing numbers before the 2008 recession; research firm NPD Group estimated a 13.5 percent increase between 2006 and 2007. Organized individuals find themselves sticking to the notes across Europe and Japan as well.

Production

In the 1940s, a Belgian chemist mixed carbolic acid and formaldehyde to create the first synthetic adhesive. Post-it Notes use a more recent innovation: Unlike the typical, featureless adhesive surface, the Post-it Note glue coats the notes with bumpy microspheres that limit the sticky area. The adhesive mostly consists of alkyl acrylate, a volatile liquid that dissolves slightly in water and completely in alcohol. More detailed ingredients remain private.

The paper used to make Post-it Notes is certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, a system founded by the U.S. paper industry. Although SFI certification ensures that a company has an environmental management system in place, most environmental groups prefer the international non-profit Forest Stewardship Council's more stringent performance-based environmental and social indicators.

Closing the Loop

With self-stick notes' various sizes, dyes, and complex adhesive, their recyclability depends on whether a given processing mill washes its paper and handles small pieces. To facilitate recycling, 3M developed its adhesive to be water-soluble. The chemical adhesive is typically flushed into the wastewater stream, along with dyes, brighteners, and bleaches. Water treatment providers have reported that sticky note contaminants are more difficult to remove than sediments or dissolved solids.

The note may not always reach its intended recycling plant. In the United States and Europe, although consumers send more of their paper to recycling centers, declining newspaper sales and cheap paper imports have lessened the demand for post-consumer paper. As a result, recovered paper is often taken from curbside bins, baled, and shipped overseas. The trade supports global exchange of recycled products, but fossil fuel-intensive transportation is used along the way. The Confederation of European Paper Industries expects the economics of recycled paper may change as global paper demand increases 25 percent by 2020.

For consumers who seek to minimize paper use, 3M offers 100-percent recycled Post-it Notes - 30 percent is derived from consumer items and 70 percent from manufacturing or industrial waste. The company says that a 100-percent post-consumer waste option is possible, but it does not want to "hog" the limited supply of high-quality recycled paper. Redi-Tag, a California-based supply company, offers their notes with 100-percent post-consumer recycled paper. Another choice: Fold the note and use the back.

Ben Block is the staff writer for World Watch. He can be reached at bblock@worldwatch.org.

For permission to republish this article, please contact Juli Diamond at jdiamond@worldwatch.org.

Climate Change Threatens New England Forests and Cultures
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In New England, spring is arriving earlier, snowpack is melting faster, and rivers are flowing at peak levels sooner than ecologists have seen before. Climate change has extended the growing season of New England forests 10 more days per year than foresters observed before 1970. 

That may sound like good news for the region's foresters, but New Englanders are quickly realizing that a more humid climate may threaten seasonal activities and their overall culture as native species are forced to migrate north for their survival, reports Worldwatch Fellow John Mulrow from the New England Society of American Foresters' winter meeting.

Click here for the full article on Worldwatch's Dateline: Copenhagen blog.

Source: Worldwatch Institute

Phone: (250) 725-1220     |     Email: info@tbgf.org     |     1084 Pacific Rim Hwy; PO Box 886; Tofino BC; V0R 2Z0 Tofino Botanical Gardens Foundation

Tofino Botanical Gardens Foundation