An assistant professor at my alma mater, University of Washington, is doing research that “genetically alters poplar trees to pull toxins out of contaminated ground water, perhaps offering a cost-effective way of cleaning up environmental pollutants.” This research is part of a study called phytoremediation, which aims to use trees, grasses and other plans to remove hazardous materials from water, soil, and air. “Using plants to do environmental cleanup is more than 10 times cheaper than other technologies. It is also less intrusive and more aesthetically pleasing,” she said. To read on how this study is being done and why the poplar tree was chosen, visit the Environmental News Network.
Archive for October, 2007
Can we trick plants into cleaning up the environment for us?
Monday, October 15th, 2007500 cosmetics found “unsafe” according to US standards…contain doses of toxic chemicals
Friday, October 5th, 2007According to the Environmental Working Group, an analysis of ingredients in more than 23,000 products found that one of every 30 products sold in the U.S. fails to meet one or more industry or governmental cosmetics safety standards. These products contain large quantities of formaldehyde, selenium, hydrogen peroxide and lead acetate. The number is actually actually greater than 500 when using safety standards across the world…”more than 750 personal care products sold in the U.S. violate industry safety standards or cosmetic safety standards in other industrialized countries.” Another startling finding states that “98% of all products contain one of more ingredients never publicly assessed for safety.” The Environmental Working Group is expressing deep concern and has called on the FDA to set a safety standard for cosmetics, ensure all personal care products on store shelves are safe for consumers, and guarantee that meetings regarding cosmetics safety policy are open and accessible to the public. To hear more on this study, please read this letter to the FDA from the Environmental Working Group.
Update on GreenCrawler
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007Haven’t seen much activity on the GreenCrawler website lately? Well at this time, we are adding some new features to the look of the website, mainly some more user friendly tools. In addition, we are currently developing a much more efficient method in which merchants AND shoppers can add and edit products. We will be replacing the Excel Template import method with a simple one step database importer, in which merchants can simply upload their databases into our website. If you are a merchant and would like to import your database into our system, please e-mail info@greencrawler and I will gladly notify you when this feature is up and running. This new system will make it much quicker and more efficient to add your product, instead of manually filling out an Excel Template. This is our big project right now, along with some smaller features being added, so be sure and check back very soon. Help us expand Green Crawler’s database of organic products, making it the #1 eco-friendly shopping website on the web. You have nothing to lose by adding your projects, except some extra sales…