Conservation 101: the Compete to Conserve Blog

photo credit: naama

Two years ago last month Israel and Hezbollah went to war.  To some in the outside world, and many Israelis, the 33-day battle was seen as an Israeli defeat.  Just last month Israel agreed to exchange Hezbollah and Palestinian prisoners (considered by Israel to be terrorists) for the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture in 2006 sparked the original crisis.  Immediately following the exchange, Hezbollah celebrated in the streets of Beirut showing off its power.

Seen by some in the outside world as the end of a once-legendary reputation for avenging the deaths of Israelis killed by terrorists, this most recent trade has drawn considerable criticism to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (six months before the 2006 war, Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke, and his authority was immediately transferred to Olmert, then Israel’s Vice Primier and Sharon’s protégé).  Still, some see Hezbollah victorious on the propaganda front but not the Israel/Lebanon border.

For the past two years the Israeli Knesset has investigated the handling of the war against Hezbollah, including the establishment of a special commission.  Recently announcing his resignation in September, Olmert never really recovered politically from the war with Hezbollah.  And while the future of Israel’s military dominance in the Middle East may face additional challenges from Hezbollah and more recently Iran, the overall political turmoil in the region has eclipsed some very important and seemingly unnoticed significant Israeli advances on a non-military front, namely the environment. (more…)

photo credit: Addictive Picasso

With just days to go, China’s government is working overtime to meet air pollution reduction goals set for the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing.

Named the world’s 13th most polluted city by the World Bank, Beijing has implemented stiff measures to reduce its infamous air pollution, including:

• Tightening emission standards on cars
• Temporarily restricting traffic in Beijing
• Temporarily halting some construction projects
• Ordering some high-polluting factories to temporarily stop work
• Updating coal-burning plants

And while the measures have had some effect—Chinese government officials say Beijing’s air pollution is down 20% from 2007—it may not be enough. Due in part to warm, dry weather and a lack of wind during the past week, Beijing’s air pollution index is twice the maximum recommended by the World Health Organization.

If pollution levels keep up, the government says it is prepared to further restrict driving in Beijing (taking up to 90% of the city’s private cars off the road), halt more construction sites, and order more factories to shutter operations during the games.

More resources:

“Beijing Pollution: Facts and Figures,” BBC News, July 18, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7498198.stm

“Beijing May Take New Measures on Olympic Pollution,” Bloomberg, July 28, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=agMq3gnpy6V8&refer=home

“Beijing Mulls Emergency Green Plan for Games,” China Daily (a state-run newspaper), July 28, 2008
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-07/28/content_6880332.htm

photo credit: otisarchives3

California hospitals will spend about $100 billion before 2013 in order to meet state seismic safety standards.  On top of that, the nation-wide mortgage and credit crisis more or less doubles that $100 billion price tag in the event that these hospitals do not have the cash on hand.  With construction expenses reaching an all-time high, a 100-bed hospital may spend close to $100 million to build a replacement facility.  That same facility will be lucky to break $50 million in revenue (revenue, not profit) in any given year.

This incomprehensible financial dilemma, only five years away but the result of a shifting in the earth’s core somewhere around Northridge in January 1994, is yet another example of inconsistent public policy concerns converging in the health care sector.  If this $100 billion expense was not bad enough, hospitals now face increasing pressure to be more “green”.

Caught in the middle of a financial crisis, a healthcare crisis, a gas crisis, an ever-present earthquake crisis, and now an environmental crisis, will tomorrow’s hospitals in California be yesterday’s 8-track tapes?  While the ultimate fate of California’s hospitals has yet to be written, there are a handful of facilities throughout the state actually trying to be both seismically sound and green.

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photo credit: TheeErin

Here’s something the dry cleaning industry doesn’t want you to know: You don’t need them. Really. Most items in your closet, even the ones labeled “dry clean only” are hand-washable in mild detergent. I know. I’ve tried it myself on suits for work, wool sweaters, silk shirts, and more. Over the course of a year, I easily save $200-$350 just skipping the dry cleaner.

Save Even More Compared to “Green” Cleaners

I save even more if you compare what I’d spend at a “green” dry cleaner. I tried one once. It cost me $20 compared to the $6 at my standard cleaner, and it shrank my sweater. Good thing 3/4-length sleeves are “in” right now! Though, in all fairness, they did warn me that their environmentally friendly method has a tendency to shrink woolens.

Sure, dry cleaning has its immediate benefits, namely, someone else is doing your washing and pressing. But when you take the economic cost to you and the environmental impact (lots of non-biodegradable plastic bags and wire hangers in the landfill, toxins released into your home and our waterways) and compare it to a little extra work on your part, the choice is clear.
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photo credit: merfam

Tatsuo Yoshida died a year before Mario Andretti won his first and only Formula One Championship in 1978 (Andretti was 38 years old).  Andretti was the United States Driver of the Year in 1967, the same year that Yoshida’s Japanese animated series Mach GoGoGo debuted in the United States as Speed Racer.  Speed, the main character in Speed Racer had it all – an overly obsessive father, a submissive and practically non-existent mother, a long-lost brother who turns out to be the mysterious and flamboyant Racer X, and a girlfriend who just happens to fly around in a helicopter during Speed’s races. Speed Racer is a modern-day-ish odyssey about a teenage boy struggling to become a man, through his car.  Speed Racer was so good, that the episode in which Racer X (Speed’s brother) reveals his identity to Speed was selected by TV Guide as one of the most memorable moments in television history.

The history of race car driving dates back to the 1890’s, although the modern era of Formula One Grand Prix racing began in 1950.  By 1960 Mario Andretti had already started winning races.  By the time Andretti retired in 2000 (after originally retiring in 1994), he had raced stock car and NASCAR events, and he also competed in open wheeled and midget car races.  Andretti was well into Sprint and Indy Car races by the time Speed Racer first aired in the United States, and a year later, he mastered the Formula One, the highest form of open wheel racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).  Mario Andretti was the best, and in 2000 the Associated Press and RACER Magazine honored him as “Driver of the Century”.

I will admit that I spent much more time watching Speed and his Mach 5 than I did Mario Andretti.  But if television has taught me anything, it is that fast cars are good, and Speed had the best.  Twenty-seven years after Speed Racer’s series finale first aired, Speed made it to the big screen, albeit in a live-action adaptation.  With me throughout my entire life, Speed Racer really can do no wrong.

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photo credit: Vanessa Pike-Russell

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows air quality is improving in terms of Second Hand Smoke (SHS).

The report states SHS exposure dropped approximately 70 percent from the late 1980s through 2002. The decline is attributed to “widespread implementation of laws and policies prohibiting smoking in indoor workplaces and public places.”

Analysis was conducted using data from the 1988-1994 and 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, in which serum cotinine (a biologic indicator of SHS exposure) was measured in nonsmoking kids, teens and adults.

The results showed a significant decline throughout the US population, but there was less of a decrease for 4-19 year olds than for their adult counterparts—underscoring the need to reduce SHS exposure at home, the primary source for children and teens.

The report also notes: “the prevalence of cigarette smoking has decreased during this period, from 28% in 1988 to 21% in 2004,” which may also account for less SHS. But despite this reduction in exposure, almost half of U.S. nonsmokers still had detectable levels of serum cotinine, indicating that SHS exposure remains an important issue for public health.

To check out the CDC report, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5727a3.htm