Camelbak’s BPA free drink bottle

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a key building block of polycarbonate, a lightweight, high-performance plastic used in a variety products including drinks bottles (1)

Bisphenol-A has attracted a lot of attention in the scientific community in recent years as many feared it would have adverse effects on human health. Partly because a number of studies found BPA had adverse effects on laboratory animals, as an endocrine disruptor (2)

In 2002,the scientific uncertainty around Bisphenol A, led the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Food to reduce the amount that could safely be eaten daily by five fold . In January 2007 the European Food Standards Agency concluded that this reduction was no longer necessary. (3)

To me the evidence shows two things. One it’s not safe for animals and two, it is safe for humans. All too often our species-centric ways have landed us in trouble. Because it is safe for humans doesn’t mean it will not end up in ecosystems, much like DDT did in the 1960s. The world is already suffering enough thanks to man-made chemical pollutants.

The New York Times pointed out in August 2007 that it takes about 1.5 million barrels of oil to make the bottles for the bottled water Americans use each year, enough to fuel 100,000 cars. In addition, the paper noted, only about 23 percent of these bottle are recycled.

In recognition of this need to re-use bottles, Camelback have started to convert their entire line of polycarbonate re-usable water bottles to a new material that is 100% free of BPA. Great news for the environment and I applaud Camelbak for acting so consciensciously towards the environment.

Camelbak were kind enough to let me test one of their new bottles over the Summer.

The first thing I noticed about the new bottle was that it did not have the same plastically smell like many other bottles. The bottle is available in nine colors in sizes of 0.50 liter, 0.75 liter and 1.0 liter, this innovative product uses the no-leak CamelBak Big Bite Valve™, which offers easy, spill-proof sipping for active and on-the-go-consumers. I personally found this quite useful. The straw that connects to the vave means you can drink from the bottle whilst it’s upright, however the straw can be easily removed if you require a bottle that can be tipped up. The valve on the bottle also means that there a continuous flow of air into the bottle while you are drinking and therefore no vacuum effect for the drinker. The design is robust and can neatly tuck away in backpacks and even drinks carriers on mountain bikes. I dropped it a number of times and it survived.

Camelbak’s new BPA free bottle is currently only available in the USA, but can be purchased internationally via US stockists that ship internationally.

References

(1) http://www.bisphenol-a.org/about/infosheets.html
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A#Endocrine_disruption
(3) http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2007/jan/bisa

Guest Editor: Dr Gary Robertshaw - Are wind farms a blot on the landscape? A personal perspective

We often hear about protestors who complain about wind farms looking ‘unsightly’, spoiling the landscape, killing birds and being noisy.

Living near to a wind farm set in a nature park, we often walk past the windmills. In the seven years that we have been walking this route, we have never seen a dead bird. The noise is a low swirling and humming, which is barely audible.

There is an aesthetic beauty about them too. Not only in appearance but also conceptually in the way they convert a free resource into useful energy, without producing pollution or causing global warming.

How can this be unsightly when compared to chimneys belching out smoke, traffic jams and smogs? And what about the oil that is imported from corrupt regimes, Middle East wars and climate wreaking emissions from what is ultimately a limited and increasingly scarce resource?

We don’t understand this at all.

Guest Editor: Joseph Hayman - Does climate change make our job as parents start before our children are born?

In a field by my parents’ house in Norfolk, my dad has planted 600 trees. Those trees will one day grow into a wood that my children will play in as they grow up. By planting those trees, my dad is being a good grandfather, even before his grandchildren are born, and I can’t help thinking a similar principle should apply around climate change.

While the impacts of a warming planet will be huge in our lifetime, they’ll affect our children even more. I don’t believe it’ll be enough to teach my children well and to earn enough money to put food on the table if climate change brings chaos to the world they grow up in. I don’t think we can build walls high enough to protect our children from the world outside so if we want to protect them, we have to protect that world.

It has been said that the next generation will be the first in human history whose standard of living is actually worse than the generation which came before them. Doesn’t look like we’re doing a very good job for our children so far, does it?

But I still think this link between what we do now and the world our children inherit offers an opportunity for everyone who is concerned about climate change. I think there’s only one thing which people love more than themselves – and that’s their children. If we can make the fight against climate change a matter of duty to our children, we can carry far more people with us than we do right now.

That’s why I’ve been trying to get people in their 20s and 30s to support my campaign to get the Government to provide more leadership on climate change. I’ve been going for six months now and I know it will be an uphill struggle to achieve my aim of getting Gordon Brown to make a televised address to the nation on climate change. But I’m driven on by the knowledge that one day, if we don’t do something, my children will ask me why I didn’t do more to protect their futures when I had the chance.

If you want to sign a petition in support of the campaign please visit my website: www.letstalkgordon.org.uk

Guest Editor: Dr Gary Robertshaw - Climate change: Intuition and fact

I recently received a letter from a sceptic who claimed that the link between carbon emissions and climate change was a hoax, and that warming and cooling were part of a natural cycle that had always occurred throughout the Earth’s history. The scientific research linking the change in global temperatures to man-made emissions was apparently bogus and ‘most people’ intuitively knew that.

This is not a lone voice. Speaking to people generally, my experience is that of a stubborn and persistent belief that climate change is a cyclical phenomenon unrelated to human activity. For example, I have frequently heard stories that the Earth has had ice ages and very warm spells in the distant past long before humans had evolved, and that solar and volcanic activity have more impact on the climate than man. Often, these views are not backed up by scientific evidence, but instead are perpetuated by word of mouth almost to the point that they are regarded as established fact.

Whilst it is certainly true that all the preceding phenomena affect the climate and that there are natural variations in the Earth’s climate over time, these views are misleading and dangerous for several reasons.

Firstly, it gives intuition precedence over scientific evidence. This situation is made deliberately worse by large corporations with vested interests in encouraging doubt and disagreement surrounding the debate on made-made climate change. In actuality, there is now a widespread consensus amongst the scientific community and environmental researchers that human activity is the chief cause of current global warming. The climate is changing much faster than the very long timeframes over which previous changes occurred and there is a strong correlation between the recent changes and man-made emissions.

I have often seen a parallel between this situation and that of the tobacco industry when research first suggested that smoking may cause lung cancer. The tobacco industry dismissed the claims as erroneous and suppressed its own research, while smokers themselves reassured each other that the scientific evidence was wrong. It was only after the scientific evidence became overwhelming that the link between smoking and lung cancer came to be accepted, but the intuitive misconception that smoking does not damage health still persists amongst some people today. In tandem, the tobacco industry still seeks to deny that its products are addictive and injurious to health. The oil industry is pursuing a similar strategy with respect to climate change.

Secondly, what happens when the oil runs out? There is no ‘plan B’. Many experts believe that we have passed the point of peak oil production and that steadily increasing oil prices are inevitable as demand from the Chinese and Indian economies grows. Fundamentally, oil is a finite commodity and whether you accept that climate change is linked to man-made emissions or not, alternative energy sources are going to be needed at some point in the future if we are to sustain our economies.

Finally, is it not also intuitive to believe that pumping out billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere and clearing millions of hectares of rainforest each year might just be causing some damage to the planet? It seems to me that denial and apathy must be overcome before there can be widespread acceptance that human actions are having a harmful effect on the planet. It could well be a slow process.

Dr Gary Robertshaw - The Green Providers Directory

Glastonbury Green?

Glastonbury Festival 2008, ‘Love the Farm, leave no trace’ that’s what this year’s slogan said. The organisers even developed some biodegradable tent pegs to stop those lovely dairy cows cutting up their feet and mouths.

So how were the festival’s green credentials? Well a damn site better than any other festival in the UK I have no doubt about that, but the tent pegs were rubbish. The weather was good and the firm ground, snapped a third mine. It’s the design, not the materials.

Glastonbury always is an eclectic mix of green knowledge, music and madness. This year was no exception. My forth time, it was my best year yet.

But all was not perfect in this land, that suffered from archipelago syndrome during the sea level rise in the 7th millennium BC.

The sun kept the Solar Panels gushing with clean energy, but on the first day of the festival. I was disappointed to see the lightbulb bunting around the camp site still on in the daytime. Maybe it was powered by biodiesel.

This year a number of Green Gadget stalls were present selling solar panels etc.

The queues at the Vegetarian food stands seemed slightly longer this year but maybe that was wishful thinking.

Last year there were signs everywhere to tell people not to p*ss in the streams, this year there were less. It may be a coincidence but there were a lot more people relieving themselves that way this year, and even more people not taking them to task about it. I guess the number of dead fish, and reduced water oxygen will eventually give the real picture.

There was also a lot less rubbish around the site this year than the last sunny year I saw. I never saw a paper cup bonfire this year, but I heard they went on. Overall it was disheartening to still see so many ignorant people. Sure someone will be around at the end, to pick it up, but does that make it ok? Recycling bins were everywhere though and recycling bags seemed to magically appear outside my tent.

Trash City, a Mad Max-esque, re-incarnation of various metal remains, showcased a darker side to recycling. Surrounded by fire breathing, metal towers, fashioned into dark structures, the Bar’s exterior announced ‘ Abandon all hope we have!’. Tucked inside a corner of Trash City, the Rubbish Fairy demonstrated a twisted, but fun side to recycling through her art.

The Green Fields showcased an eco-home, a greenhouse made of recycled bottles, a giant felled redwood made into a banquet table and chairs and numerous stalls including campaigns for the people of Tibet, skilled craftsmen and women, and various connotations of climate campaigns.

Up in the Tipi Field, you got the good appreciation for nomadic living, and the sheer happiness of people living a basic but fulfilling life. The showers and saunas nearby were powered by renewable energy (fire and solar).

WaterAid initially inspired me to raise funds for them at Glastonbury with their (slightly more pleasant) toilet experience. This year they were back again with their African Style Pit Latrines.

Was the festival Green? You bet it was.

Could it do better? It always does, I can’t wait until Glastonbury 2009.

Guest Editor: Simon Mallett - Is the UK Government scamming us on its Green Credentials?

One of the big problems in taking action to change things is knowing where you are to start with. Lack of public information allows Governments to announce big funding increases, get the brownie points then only later is it revealed that the money was actually allocated some time back under a different scheme but with equal aclaim! Similar is happening with the Governments Green policies and the anouncement this week of a massive increase in wind power projects!

But all of these projects are part of Phase II of the Government’s existing renewables scheme which was anounced last year and initially mooted back in 2004. This years anouncement adds nothing apart from an intention to support domestic generators, but again that’s nothing new, there has always been support of sorts, its just usually ill thought out and implemented! LCBP (Low Carbon Buildings Programme) was a disaster and in my opinion when looking at the way the preferred installers were selected - long established and reputable companies were sidelined, big companies with no experience in renewables were selected - verging on the corrupt!

What to do? Well, I’m developing an online a map of all major renewable energy schemes in the UK. There are loads, most in planning and about half on the map! See www.renewables-map.co.uk what with this most recent Govt smoke and mirrors I will be adding an additional field showing date project was 1st proposed! My own website is www.solarkent.co.uk

References:

• The Crown Estate: Round 1 and 2 Wind Farm Sites: (Initially proposed in 2004)
• The Crown Estate Offshore Wind Farm Map
• Low Carbon Buildings Programme - Wikipedia
• LCBP - problems with initial tender process leading to ongoing implementation problems

Glastonbury Festival Climate Conversations

I asked a number of people at the festival what they were doing in their own lives to tackle climate change and also what they found the most difficult.

Sharia - Greenpeace Fundraiser

‘I shop locally, eat locally, manage my own allotment, and cycle to work. I don’t use supermarkets, so for me fitting in all my shopping, along with everything else is difficult. But the vegetarian and vegan co-operative I’m a member of, makes this slightly easier.’

Joe - LetsTalkGordon.org.uk Campaign Co-ordinator

‘I’m getting active politically, at the moment I’m co-ordinating LetsTalkGordon.org.uk a campaign dedicated to getting the Prime Minister to make a televised address to the nation on climate change, launching the national debate about how we should respond.

I’m trying to eat less meat and cut down on flights. It’s difficult because my brother lives in New York. I offset, but am not convinced. Not being a vegetarian, eating less meat is not easy.

Helen - Festival Go-er

‘I’m growing my own veg in the garden, going to local farmers markets and buying too much cheese! I try to buy eco-products like organic, fair trade clothes and earth friendly toiletries. Overcoming my own laziness is the hardest part.’

Three Drunk Blokes on Cider

‘Arhhhhhhhhg.. Take a photo.. hic’

Gemma - Anti-Slavery Campaigner

‘Buying energy saving light-bulbs and saving energy around the house. I find the hardest part is seeing how were all making a difference, knowing that the part you play is just a small part in the whole thing.’

This year’s Glastonbury Festival was one of the greenest yet, but there was still room for improvement. It will be remembered as ‘one of those fantastic years’.

Keep coming back for a review of the Festival’s Greener Side in the coming days.

Green fields at Glastonbury Festival

At Glastonbury Festival, The Green Fields provide an environmentally friendly guide to life.

A number of entrances to the fields exist, but many will come along the old train track. Decorated by campaigners, the old track contains a number of climate inspired messages. ‘Did you know if all the bees died, life on earth would cease to exist after 60 years’, ‘Walk your kids to school’.

This year the Green Fields are showcasing a couple of low impact homes. Practical tips on how you can insulate your walls with sheep wool, build with green timber and make but use of your natural environment.

Despite all this greeness, the festival motto ‘Love the farm, leave no trace’ has clearly not struck a chord with some.

Small bright light - Puma LED Dynamo Torch

ECOutlet.co.uk have sponsored my GreenFestivalMan campaign with two products, including a Puma LED Dynamo Torch.

When I think of dynamo torches I think of big clumsy things, that need continual winding. This torch is the opposite of this . With a new generation 0.5W LED, one minute of winding gives you 20 minutes of light.

Sturdy, and slightly smaller than an average size mobile phone. The torch has 2 light intensities and also a strobe light. The robust dynamo gear tucks neatly behind the torch, preventing it getting in the way.

This is the brightest single bulb LED torch I’ve found to date. Apart from the obvious benefits like never having to buy batteries,or getting cut short in a situation with battery fade, the solid construction of this torch will make it suitable for a wide range of uses: general household use; camping or more extreme uses. (Battery life diminishes quickly in extremely cold environments - no battery, no more problems?).

This torch was perfect at Glastonbury Festival and I have every faith in it for my Arctic Survival Challenge for WaterAid in February 2006.

The Puma Dynamo Wind-up LED torch is available from Ecoutlet.co.uk and other good on-line shops.

The GreenFestivalMan at Glastonbury festival

Well I’ve arrived at Glastonbury Festival 2008. The organisers of this years festival have promised it to be the greenest festival yet, so i’m really looking forward to the next few days.

The Green Futures field claims to be here to make this a better world to live on.

In fact Glastonbury isn’t just a music festival, its here to make everyone’s future brighter. The Green Futures field is an important part of this.

The speakers tent hold diverse talks throughout the festival, ;Can the Torie Deliver a Green Agenda? with Caroline Lucas, Anthony Browne and Justin Rowlett.’, ‘Poetry’ and ‘Peak Oil’ with Shane Collins.

Amongst the jigsaw of solar panels, biodisel generators feeding the field is the world’s first solar-powered travelling cinema. A regular attraction that’s been operating here for 11 years.

A nearby camp can teach you anything from jewellery making to crafting wooden dishes. Yesterday I was taught how to light a fire with a strike steel.