Greensleeves

A new study published in Science says that, from start to finish, bottled water consumes between 1,100 and 2,000 times more energy on average than does tap water.

The researchers considered how much energy goes into making a plastic bottle; processing the water; labeling, filling and sealing a bottle; transporting it for sale; and cooling the water prior to consumption.

All told, the researchers – from the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit research organization in Oakland, Calif. – estimate that U.S. bottled-water consumption in 2007 required an energy input equivalent to 32 million to 54 million barrels of oil.

With all the environmental problems that an individual can do little about, it seems like swearing off bottled water would be easy. Would be do-able. Would be an opportunity we’d leap at.

I’m reminded that Josh Schipp, an Augustana College student, has been working to ban bottled water on the Rock Island campus, so there are people taking this issue seriously.

Then there’s the whole question of what happens to the plastic bottle after we’re finished drinking.

One of the films that will be shown at the Environmental Film Festival, coming up at Augustana on March 28, is titled “Addicted to Plastic.”

The best way to sum up this documentary is what one activist says at the beginning: “Plastic is being thrown away; the problem is there is no away.”

From styrofoam cups to artificial organs, plastics are perhaps the most ubiquitous and versatile material ever invented. No invention in the past 100 years has had more influence and presence than synthetics. But such progress has had a cost.

The documentary takes viewers to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where plastic debris accumulates.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. The film also provides expert interviews on practical and cutting edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. These solutions include plastic made from plants.

The theme of this year’s film festival is water. I’ll write more on the festival in upcoming blogs.

 Have you heard about the Garlic Mustard Pull-Off?

I am so excited about this!

Garlic mustard is an invasive plant that has been taking over our woodlands and parks.

At first it might look pretty because it produces small white flowers, but as time goes on — with each plant producing hundreds of seeds — it literally blankets natural areas.

You walk into the woods and all you see is garlic mustard. No more Dutchmen’s breeches and bloodroot. No more diversity, just this garlic mustard.

Nothing pretty about it.

On Saturday, April 25, a Quad-City group called Partners in Horticulture is organizing a Garlic Mustard Pull-Off with volunteers fanning out in four sites: Sunderbruch and Schuetzen parks in Davenport, Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island and along the Duck Creek Bike Path in Bettendorf.

Crews will come by later to pick up the piles, and prizes will be awarded to groups pulling the most.

I’ll be there!

I’ve been wanting to join an organized effort for years and now here is my opportunity.

I like pulling weeds. There is a great sense of accomplishment, of satisfaction.

During my childhood on the farm, I used to pretend weeds were world problems, and I was doing my part to solve them. That big pile? Vietnam. Vietnam, solved. That other big pile? Poverty. Poverty, solved.

I realize this sounds odd, but that’s the way it was.

Now, weeds (invasives) ARE the problem.

So this is pull-off is a great opportunity for people who care about nature and biological diversity and – yes, beauty! – to actually DO something about fostering those things.

I’m going to be working at Schuetzen, which is heavily infested.

When I mentioned this to a friend familiar with Schuetzen, he made the comment that it is a “lost cause.”

I was sad to hear that. Please, let’s not say that. Let’s keep working. Every weed pulled is one less plant to disperse hundreds of seeds. And if we start on the fringes and work our way in, in time we can make a dent.

Besides, what’s the alternative? To give up? I’m not ready to say that.

I’ve been told that members of a group that has been pulling garlic mustard in an Iowa City park for years believe they are starting to make inroads.

It’s amazing to realize that as recently as 1994, garlic mustard was deemed “rare” in this area, but gaining. I wrote my first stories about it in 2001.

And since then, just about every time I’ve been hiking in the woods, I’ve seen it.

And seeing it, stopped to pull it. Just ask my husband, who turns around to see me lagging far behind. But one person doesn’t get very far.

Hundreds of people can make an impact.

So, consider pitching in. The official pull will be 9 a.m. to noon.

For more information about the pull, call Brian Ritter at (563) 323-5196.

For more information about invasives, go to Web sites of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, or the USDA, or the National Park Service.

Meantime, do you know of big problem spots that need help?

The go-get-‘em Rock Island County Extension Service hosted a “green” trivia night on Sunday, raising some $2,500 that it will use for environmental projects and programs in the Q-C. 

And the county board is going to match that amount, RI Extension director Michael Woods says. 

So that is all to the good.  

Woods makes another point, too, saying that “the true measure of success should also include the social capital acquired by networking with the more than 133 individuals who attended.” 

Indeed – working together, supporting each other.  (I couldn’t make it because of a conflict — Africa class at CommUniversity — but maybe next time.)

Meanwhile, here is a sampling of some of the environmentally oriented questions. How many would you have gotten right? 

* What is the most common reason that animals become extinct?

Answer: habitat loss 

* True or False: If a plastic container or package is stamped with a number in a small recycle triangle, it can be recycled.

Answer: False 

(I argued about this one, but the point is that not all recycling centers accept all plastics. So even though a container may have a number stamped on the bottom indicating that it is recyclable in theory, if the local center doesn’t accept it, then it is, in effect, non-recyclable.) 

 * An incandescent light bulb (60 watts) lasts about 750 hours. How much longer does a compact fluorescent bulb last: 2, 5, or 10 times longer?

Answer: 10 times longer

 * The largest consumer of CO2 is: grass, plankton, or trees?

Answer: plankton 

* On average, how much waste does each person in the United States generate each day: 1.2, 2.4, or 4.6 pounds?

Answer:  2.4

 Interesting story in last week’s Minneapolis Star Tribune about all the salt washing off of roads in the winter and what that might be doing to our wetlands, streams and ultimately the Mississippi River.

A University of Minnesota study estimates that 70 percent of the de-icing salt used on Twin Cities area roadways finds its way into area wetlands and lakes and seeps into groundwater, making them saltier with each successive year, the story said.

About 30 percent goes to the Mississippi River.

I’ve been thinking of this issue, too, as road salt use has been heavy in the Quad-City region this winter. I appreciate having traction under my tires, but all the salt has to go somewhere.

(And it’s expensive. I was amazed to read in the Times that my city of Bettendorf is expected to spend $750,000 on salt this year. I put my paper down and said to my husband, “That’s nearly a million dollars! On salt.”

(Then I read a story about the new budget year, and I see that there is no more “nearly” about it. The city is budgeting an even million for next year.)

Back to the Star Tribune: One of the U of M researchers said that the salt solution that enters lakes is denser than water and forms a layer just above the bottom. That can potentially change the water chemistry enough to kill aquatic insects and change plant growth, the researcher said.

You can read the entire story here, including reader comments accusing the reporter of “wacko alarmist environmental reporting” and “pseudo-science.”

Other readers talked about how road crews might become more efficient in spreading salt, doing it in a way that makes roads safe while using as little as possible.