Buzzworm Earth BlogEnvironmental solutions and conservation news.

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A stand in defence of many thousands of migratory birds was made before the European Parliament by Tosh Todorov, who lives and works on the Costa del Sol.

Todorov, Duty Manager at Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels, had been invited by the Green Party (Los Verdes) in southern Spain to present his case against European Investment Bank funding of a motorway that would detrimentally affect the birds’ migratory routes.

It was an attempt, as a member of the ‘Colectivo Ornitologico Ciguena Negra’ (Black Stork Ornithological Collective), to block what signifies for some ‘progress’ but for others a backward step in their decades-long work to protect the environment.

The planned motorway, running between Algeciras and Cadiz, would directly affect protected areas, not least of which are Natural Parks such as ‘Los Alcornocales’ and ‘El Estrecho’ whose value is exceptional and which have been declared part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

The environmental impact on the area has been an issue for years. A project was introduced in 2000 to improve the existing N-340, instead of duplicating it, a decision which should make current plans null and void by default. Environmental groups agree that this is the best solution for motorways.

Present for this and other presentations on the project were: Monica Frassoni, leader of the Green Party for Europe, representatives from the European Investment Bank and the EU’s Ministry of the Environment, David Lowe, co-ordinator and secretary general of the Petitions Committee for the European Commission, Octavio Infante of SEO/Bird Life and representatives from WWF/Adena, Friends of the Earth and Ecologists in Action as well as Euro MPs from Finland, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Spain. The Director General for Transport apparently was not able to attend due to illness.

Spain already leads the list of European countries with the most km per inhabitant. According to Todorov, “The COCN has no intention to stand in the way of “progress”, but we do ask that the powers that be take care to protect and care for the environment, biodiversity and climate change.” In his opinion, the projected motorway “is a clear example of environmental and cultural destruction of the last corner of Spain that remains rural, natural and free-spirited, all because it’s free of construction.”

In addition to forward-thinking and conscientious staff members who, like Todorov, champion environmental protection, Resort Management at Club La Costa believes in programmes to help do the same – recycling of all waste and water, support for locally grown and reared foods, measures for energy reduction and more. All of Club La Costa’s 22 fully owned and operated resorts throughout Europe incorporate some or all of these programmes and plans are under way to include more.

About the Author:

Richard Fletcher has worked for Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels for the past fourteen years as Resorts Management Director, overseeing the running of 22 resorts in the UK, Spain, Austria and Tenerife. He worked in hotel management in England from 1966 until his arrival in Spain in 1984 and operated resorts in Tenerife, Mallorca, Portugal and Marbella prior to joining Club La Costa.Blank cheques for Environmental Destruction?

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Blank Cheques for Environmental Destruction

Environmental Issues: Acid Rain (Britannica.com)

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Where can i view current (2007) environmental issues in Florida?

I would like to know if anyone out there knows a website that i can view current environmental issues in Florida. I would like it to be current, I’m doing this for a homework and i search everywhere but i can’t find no articles. Your hard work of searching will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Check out this website
http://www.floridaoceanographic.org/

Locally here in Martin County, Florida we have to deal with the water discharges from Lake O. that are damaging our St. Lucie River and it’s ecosystems.

Alex Jones Tv:Help Truther Protest Against Al Gore in Boca Raton Florida!!

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Extreme Environment Issues can lead directly to loss of life, while climate-related disturbances in ecological systems, such as changes in the range of infective parasites, can indirectly impact the occurrence of serious infectious diseases. An ecosystem is an interdependent, functioning system of plants, animals and microorganisms. An ecosystem can be as large as the Mojave Desert, or as small as a local pond. Without the support of the other organisms within their own ecosystem, life forms would not survive, much less thrive.

The future effects of climate change on water resources in the U.S. and other parts of the world will depend on trends in both climatic and non-climatic factors. Evaluating these impacts is challenging because water availability, quality and stream flow are sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation. These are only some effects of environment issues, I will you get into further details in future articles.

If you think that environment issues do not affect you and there is nothing you can do about it anyway, than think again. There are many things we can do to combat the changes we are experiencing in our environment. It is up to each and every individual to help slow down the process of global warming. You need to arm yourself with knowledge in order to combat this problem. You need to do your own homework to help familiarize yourself with the facts. There is a lot of information available to help you understand this process and your role in it. You can start in your own home, in your own family. Ho to go green I´ll show you what to do step by step in my following articles.

Appliances in our homes are using electricity and emitting carbon even when they are not in use. Planting trees and shrubs around your home can help keep your home cool in the summer. Trees and shrubs also absorb carbon monoxide and this can help the air you breathe and your environment. There are many types of greenery to choose from and you can find something that will fit your taste. Environment Issues are happening and it is up to each and every individual to do something about it. If we all do our part we can significantly make a difference in our future. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money and almost anyone can make small changes. You need only some internal motivation and how to go green, read my next articles.

Your Friend for “How To Go Green” Article: “The Green Family – Additional2″

The Author Erwin Heid is a freelance German Architect and Construction Biologist and owner of http://www.just-a-green-live-4u.com

Princeton Groups ‘Diversity’ Princeton In Second Life

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In these days of environmental focus, nothing seems to arouse the passions like packaging. Unfortunately, much of the “bad news” that circulates on the topic is based on myth and hearsay. Maybe some of the following thoughts will help to correct some of the commonly quoted inaccuracies!

Myth 1: Food Packaging is filling our landfill sites

Publicly available information suggests that the total volume of waste produced from all sources in the UK per year is about 335 million tonnes. Only some 10% of this is accounted for by household waste – about 30 million tonnes. Building sites, as one good point of comparison, produce about four times as much rubbish as UK households. Packaging of all types represents some 5 million tonnes of household waste, and the amount actually due to food packaging is likely to be no more than 1 million tonnes. The weight of food packaging per person is less then 20kg per year.

Compare that 20kg of packaging with the 100kg per person per year of food waste that is put straight into the bin and you begin to see that packaging is actually the least of our worries. The environmental impact of the food waste is compounded by the fact that the vast majority of this is also dumped into landfill. Food going to landfill will gradually rot and produce methane – a gas of significantly greater concern regarding global warming than CO2.

Myth 2: Everything is over-packaged

Whilst there may be some mileage in this statement in certain sectors, food is unlikely to be one of them. The protection offered to food products by packaging provides a significant benefit, as illustrated by statistics from the World Health Organisation which suggest that food wastage in the third world can be as high as 50%, whilst in developed economies as low as 3%. Much of this difference is due to good quality packaging. Under-packaging is ten times worse for the environment that the same amount of over-packaging, as ten times more energy and material resources go into the production of goods and food than into their packaging.

Additional fuel in favour of sensible packaging is provided by the Cucumber Growers’ Associated, which showed that unwrapped cucumbers are unsaleable after three days. Plastic wrapping keeps them fresh for 14 days and untouched by dirty hands.

Cleaner and fresher produce and foodstuffs less likely to be damaged during transportation equals product less likely to be thrown straight into the waste bin. Smarter shopping and cooking, and more focus on producing less food waste is far more likely to provide the answer to environmental issues than simply reducing packaging.

Myth 3: Cardboard packaging destroys trees

An unfortunate perception of the print and packaging world is that it “eats trees”! In fact, of the world consumption of wood only 12% is actually used for the manufacture of paper and board, and of this, just one tenth is used for cartons. Over half the cartons used in Europe are manufactured using recovered fibres from waste paper.

In Europe over 90% of the wood needed by the paper and board industry comes from European forests, and responsible packaging producers ensure that their purchases are made from FSC and PEFC certified suppliers, which means that any new wood used has come from responsibly managed forests. Overall there are more trees planted than felled in Europe, and as forests absorb CO2 they combat greenhouse gases, and therefore have a positive effect with regard to climate change.

Myth 4: Burying plastic is harmful to the environment

OK time for a bit of a controversial thought now! Anything that is taken to landfill and rots will give off methane – fact! Methane, as already mentioned, is a significantly harmful gas in environmental terms, and is the probably the weakness of the argument for so called “degradable packaging”. Whilst no one likes the idea of burying plastic, it will not rot, and therefore represents less of a climate change issue than burying food waste or even card and paper (which will also rot, but should, of course, be recycled instead). This text is not advocating burying plastics – just pointing out that actually in some ways it’s not as bad for the environment as burying other things!

Myth 5: Not enough packaging is being recycled

This might appear to be another controversial comment to describe as a myth, but the statement does require further analysis to extract the real truth. Some packaging materials are more difficult to recycle than others, and some are particularly expensive or energy inefficient to recycle. Generally speaking cartonboard is easy to recycle, and an ever increasing percentage of the population is doing so on a daily basis. Boxes and cartons are easy to disassemble and place into the recycling bin for fortnightly collection, as is probably typical across much of the country. Card that is not recycled will at least compost easily. More cartonboard/paper is recycled than another other packaging material. Once recent claim suggested that recycled waste paper represented around 63% of the fibre used to produce paper and board in the UK.

Summary

• Food packaging represents a small fraction of UK waste
• Food waste is significantly higher in terms of volume
• Food waste is also significantly more damaging to the environment
• Good packaging helps to prevent more waste
• Cardboard packaging is produced from sustainable resources
• Cardboard packaging is easy to recycle, and is being recycled

About the Author:

The Benson Group is one of the UK’s leading privately owned food packaging manufacturers, producing both food packaging and Healthcare packaging. The company employs some 790 personnel across four sites. Headquartered in the Midlands, the company also owns production sites in the North West and North East of the country.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Packaging Environmental Myths

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