But it’s not just rising sea temperatures that contribute to coral death it’s also man made pollutants filtering into our oceans via waste systems, toxic dumping, fuel spillages, even that moisturising suntan lotion with the unnatural chemicals used to protect us from the intense UV rays of the sun. Who’s protecting our corals?

Coral reefs only cover 1% of the ocean floor but they provide great economic benefits from tourism and fishing industries for many a coastal town around the world. Hopefully this new study will flare local authorities and governments to review policies that safeguard our ocean life and offset the damage caused by climate change.

The speed at which we are losing corals has come ten years earlier than many scientists expected. The uncertainty climate change brings means that even with all the predictive simulation technologies we can’t be certain what will happen if things continue as they are.

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‘We are already starting to see an upsurge in the number of people getting back to growing food again and making clothes again. It’s not going to be easy, but the thing is the longer you leave it, the harder it is.” Rob commented in the Observer recently.

If you’d like to learn more about the impending oil drought and how you can adapt your lifestyle to be less oil dependant, The End of Suburbia (dvd) and The Transition Town Handbook by Rob Hopkins (book) may be of interest.

Post from: So Organic Blog

Scientists have found that the residues of these chemicals on finished products can put our health at risk as they continue to be released from the garment as it rubs on our skin throughout the products lifetime. The clothes we wear, the sheets we sleep on, the toys we give our babies to chew and suck, could all have potentially harmful effects.

Consider also the people harvesting cotton crops and making the garments. Before the cotton is cleaned, spun and woven into cloth it is sprayed with toxic defoliants to make the leaves fall off. Heavy metals like chromium and copper are used to dye fabrics and chlorine bleach to whiten them. Formaldehyde is used in almost all polycotton to stiffen cloth and prevent wrinkling. All these chemicals can cause serious health problems, so serious that there have been reports of Indian cotton farmers dieing from many years of daily exposure.

We have more of an incentive than ever to say no to pesticides in our products and thankfully we can do this by choosing to buy organically grown cotton products instead. For more info visit the Pesticide Action Network.

Post from: So Organic Blog

1) Commingled Kerbside Collection
Plastic, paper, all colours of glass and other recylable materials are collected in a mixed wheelie bin of recyclable goodies to be sorted at Material Recycling Facilities (MRFs)

2) Source Separated Kerbside Collection
Material is sorted at the collection site and placed in separate streams on the vehicle (one for paper, one for white glass, plastic, cans and so forth)

3) Bottle bins
The ‘bringing in’ system is where household recyclers sort their glass by colour and place into appropriate bins located in, say, the car park of our local supermarket.

Glass does not break down in landfill, which is why we must divert it from being dumped there as long as we can. The great thing is it can be recycled over and over again. If you have the option, it’s best to recycle glass at bottle banks where you can separate colours yourself.

Some glassy points to consider:
• The UK landfills around 1,400,000 tonnes of glass each year.
• 70% of landowners have kerbside collections of at least one material, however, only 34% UK households have kerbside collections of glass.
• The rate of glass recycling doubles when kerbside collection is introduced.
• Commingled glass collection is less labour intensive, requires fewer trips and allows for more materials to be collected than on site-separated collections.
(Recycle More)

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