Recycling Gets Spooky
by Lauren Hasler

Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve, Samhain – whatever you may call the 31st day of October, the traditions of both tricks (and treats) enchant imaginations around the world on this haunted evening.

To add to the array of creepy costumes, ominous decor and an unearthly consumption of sweet treats, we think it only fitting to provide some spine-chilling facts and tips about the wicked fun of going green on All Hallow’s Eve… and beyond.

A Harrowing Halloween
Ghosts and goblins won’t be the only things giving you nightmares:

*1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins were produced in 2008 by major pumpkin-producing states such as Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and New York. Many are used each fall for jack-o’-lanterns and pumpkin pies. Once Halloween is over, you can reuse or recycle your pumpkin.

*A 2008 National Retail Foundation survey found that 64.5 percent of people celebrate Halloween in some way. That’s a higher number than the individual recycling rates of aluminum, glass, paper and plastic bottles.

*Each Halloween, an estimated $40 per capita is spent on candy, decorations and greeting cards, all of which produce large amounts of waste.

*Leaves can account for 75 percent of the solid waste stream in the fall.

*Americans consumed 23.8 pounds of candy per capita in 2008. Most of the wrappers are made of mixed materials, making it difficult to recycle them.

*An estimated 80,000,000 Hershey’s Kisses are wrapped each day, using enough aluminum foil to cover more than 50 acres of space, the equivalent of almost 40 football fields.

*The U.S. spends almost $4 billion annually on electricity lost to “vampire power,” according to the International Energy Agency. Vampire power, also known as “phantom load,” is the electricity that electronics and appliances use while they are turned off or in standby mode.

Frightening Recycling
The results from skipping out on this simple step are simply spine-tingling:

*Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water. This represents a 64 percent energy savings, a 58 percent water savings and 60 pounds less of air pollution.

*In 2007, we generated 3.01 million tons of e‐waste in the U.S. Of this amount, only 410,000 tons (or 13.6 percent) was recycled, according to the EPA. The rest was sent to landfills or incinerators.

*To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down. Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees. If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year.

*Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour. Most of them are thrown away.

*Recycling just one ton of aluminum cans conserves the equivalent of 36 barrels of oil, or 1,665 gallons of gasoline.

*The EPA estimates that 75 percent of our waste is recyclable. However, the current national is about 33 percent. The difference? Scary.

Creepy Crawly Conservation
The eerie effects of waste:

*A modern glass bottle would take 4,000 years or more to decompose. That number is even higher if it’s in a landfill.

*Every year, each American throws out about 1,200 pounds of organic garbage that can be composted.

*Since 1990, the total amount of municipal solid waste going to landfills dropped by about 5 million tons from 142.3 million to 137.2 million tons in 2007.

*Every year, Americans produce enough polystyrene cups to circle the earth 436 times.

*Americans throw away enough disposable plates and cups to give the world a picnic six times a year.

*If the U.S. cut office paper use by just 10 percent, it would prevent the emission of 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases – the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road.

*Americans’ total yearly waste would fill a convoy of garbage trucks long enough to wrap around the earth six times or reach halfway to the moon.

So what’s the take-home message? When you’re roaming the dark streets on Halloween, don’t forget your garlic, flashlight and your eco-smarts. Even though the ghoulish evening is cause for celebration the world over, there’s nothing more bone-chilling than leaving your green out of the festivities on this day and throughout the rest of the year.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com

Congo Basin Heads of State and Conservation Groups Celebrate 10 Years of Success in Saving World’s Second Largest Rainforest
Ongoing Threats include Bushmeat Hunting, Illegal Logging and Climate Change

For Release: Sep 29, 2009
Lee Poston
lee.poston@wwfus.org
202-299-6442

Washington – September 29, 2009 — Leaders of the Congo Basin countries and conservation groups are pressing for more attention, funds and technical support to save the world’s second largest rainforest and benefit its population during a Congo Basin Forest Forum and Congressional Hearing today.

The leaders, including heads of state and ministers for natural resources, also agree that the 46 billion metric tons of carbon stored in the forests should be recognized as a valuable asset during global climate change talks in Copenhagen this December.

The Forum and Congressional Hearing are aimed at celebrating 10 years since the historic Yaounde Summit, which first brought together heads of state from the countries that share the Congo Basin’s rich rainforests. Since that time, millions of acres of new protected areas have been created, new initiatives on bushmeat and anti-poaching are in place, and sustainable forestry is beginning to take root.

A brief overview of accomplishments include:

*34 protected areas, 61 community based natural resource management areas, and 34 extractive resource zones have been zoned for conservation management, covering 126 million acres (51 million hectares) or more than a third of the Congo Basin forests.

*More than 11.5 million acres of forest have been certified as sustainably harvested by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

*Over 5,000 local men and women have been trained in conservation, land use planning and related conservation capacities.

*Although logging and forest degradation remain serious problems, the overall rate of deforestation in the Congo Basin is estimated to be a relatively low 0.17% — a third of that of Brazil and a 10th of that of Indonesia.

*Indicators for the survival of some endangered species are also improving. Despite years of conflict and poaching, the population of mountain gorillas in Virunga, between the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, is up 17% over a previous census taken 20 years ago.

*Studies of landscapes and wildlife have improved conservation planning, exemplified by the discovery of 125,000 previously unknown western lowland gorillas in Northern Congo.

“Since 2002, the Congo Basin Forest Partnership has been instrumental to the creation of protected areas and national park networks, and in prioritizing natural resource management in the region. In fact, throughout the Congo Basin we have seen ‘conservation’ become a household word.” said Michael Fay, Conservationist and Senior Explorer for the Wildlife Conservation Society. “The investments have paid off handsomely and CBFP can serve as a model to be replicated in other major biomes around the world.”

While they are celebrating success, participants in the Forum are aware of the vast challenges facing the Congo Basin.

“The conservation successes of the past 10 years are impressive, but they are tempered by the ongoing challenges of the bushmeat crisis, illegal logging and mining, and climate change,” said Dr. Richard Carroll, Vice President of World Wildlife Fund’s Africa and Madagascar Programs.

Climate change discussions at the Forum highlight the urgent need to assess the impacts of climate change on the Congo Basin, begin devising adaptive strategies to cope with those impacts and recognize the importance of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

The Congo Basin is an enormous carbon storehouse, sequestering an estimated 46 billion metric tons of carbon—more than any other forest except the Amazon. However, since its rates of deforestation are relatively low, the countries of the region fear they may be excluded from climate agreements decided in Copenhagen this December that address deforestation and degradation.

“The colossal quantities of carbon captured and stored in the forests of the Congo basin are massively significant in global efforts to tackle climate change. The Congo Basin Forest Partnership has shown that forest management can bring increased stability and prosperity to the people of the region,” said Dr Frank Hawkins, head of Conservation International’s Africa Program. “We must ensure that the Copenhagen climate talks in December provide financial incentives for these nations to keep their forests standing or we will all suffer the consequences.”

“Reducing deforestation in the Congo Basin not only provides opportunities for conserving biodiversity while contributing to people’s livelihoods, but also mitigates global climate change,” said Dr. Patrick Bergin, CEO of the African Wildlife Foundation.

Other issues discussed at the Forum include resource extraction and the bushmeat trade. Building of roads for industrial extraction of minerals and trees are linked to increases in the bushmeat trade, as these roads provide a conduit to wildlife resources otherwise difficult to access. The bushmeat trade accounts for the majority of wildlife losses in the region, which negatively impacts forest health as key species such as such as apes, monkeys and elephants play key roles in the regeneration of the forest.

Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco Friendly Shea Butter Spa Products

www.countrymeadowltd.com