NexPlan Recycling

A Canadian company is one of the first companies in the world to take garbage from municipal waste in turn it into gas. Enerkem’s facility in Quebec will use garbage and convert it into cellostic ethanol. The new technology converts biomass forestry by-products, such as wood chips and non-compostable trash into ethanol. This type of ethanol is produced from stuff that no one wants. This is the type of ethanol that is not produced from food crops. It is estimated that there is enough of this type of garbage in Canadian landfills that can power 3 million cars per year.

In theory this is a positive step. There has been much debate over the use of ethanol to power our cars, especially when food crops are used to do so. This technology not only reuses waste that Canadians dispose of everyday, but lessons our dependence on oil.

It seems that the high gas prices and rising food prices are hitting the most vulnerable in our society, especially the elderly and the poor, and the volunteer organizations that are trying to assist them. With the rising food and gas prices it leaves less money for the middle class to donate to these worthy causes. Also, the price of gas and food certainly impacts financial decisions for organizations like Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels, and other great organizations are faced with some hard choices these days. They often feed a lot of people who are disabled or otherwise cannot get out of the home due to medical conditions or other reasons.

It is just not that organization that is suffering, almost of all of them are reporting less donations and help in some form or another. Local food banks and other charities are also feeling the crunch. It would seem that if the working class has to pay more for food, gas and other necessities then it would only be reasonable to assume they would have less money to donate to these causes as well.

People who are on fixed incomes are having trouble affording the cost of oil to heat their homes in the winter; this is especially troublesome for seniors who just do not have the tolerance or ability to handle the cold like someone younger. Add to that the cost of food and it is easy to see that we have a huge issue to deal with. For example, a United States government agency predicts that by the second half of 2008, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.

To sum it up, high gas prices and higher costs in general will have a much deeper impact than just at the pumps or your pocket book. Many people rely on these services and need them for their survival. There are many charitable organizations that have websites and could gladly use donations. We must all be aware of the issues facing us in North America.

In 2008, taxes in Canada represented on average 35% of the pump price. Taxes include a Federal Excise Tax of 10.0¢ for Regular, 4.0¢ for Diesel and Provincial Tax. According to 2005 statistics the Government of Canada raised about $5 billion per year from excise taxes on fuel, consisting of $4 billion from the gasoline excise tax and $1 billion from the excise tax on diesel and aviation fuel. While the GST is not reported on a commodity-by-commodity basis, GST revenues from gasoline and diesel fuel are estimated to be about $2 billion per year. Collectively, the provinces and territories raise about $7.8 billion per year from excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. To summarize this, about one third of the price of a liter of gasoline at the pump is tax. A sixty dollar fill up translates into twenty dollars in the government coffers.

In the US, for the first quarter of 2008, the average state gasoline tax was 28.6 cents per gallon, plus 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 47 cents per gallon. For diesel, the average state tax is 29.2 cents per gallon plus an additional 24.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 53.6 cents per gallon. That is around 15%. We also realize now that the current American government is heavily influenced by the oil industry.

North American governments don’t seem to be doing enough to promote and encourage developing hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Currently, there is not much of a choice as the type of vehicles available to us in the North American market. The majority, whether fuel efficient or not, are powered by gasoline. Without gasoline, billions of dollars would be lost in tax revenue.

Sixty-six tornadoes created havoc from the Midwest to the East Coast of the United States this past weekend, resulting in at least 22 deaths and raising the season's fatality total to 97 deaths, the most since the 1998 tornado season. A disturbing trend seems to be emerging that storms can happen more abruptly and frequently. They also appear to be larger.

We are hearing of tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and wildfires more frequently these days. There are mixed opinions on the reason for this, however many think climate change and global warming are major factors in the increase of these disasters.

It is estimated that over 25 Million U.S. citizens will need to obtain food stamps for a little extra help. These are regular working class people who with the rising food cost and cost of oil and gas just cannot keep up. Food banks shelves are going empty, and the number of the needy is going up. If the United States of America, the land of the plenty is starting to feel this, what will happen to the rest of us?

A huge decline in bee populations across the United States and Europe represents a potential ecological apocalypse, an environmental catastrophe that could have devastating effects on the food chain and humanity. Reports say that bee populations are declining at rates of up to 80% in areas of the U.S. and Europe. Pesticides as well as changing weather patterns are blamed for killing bees.

Bees are honey producers as well as essential in the pollinisation of flowers and plants. Bees are a key element in the complex ecosystem chain. The bee’s role is very important in the various life cycles of different species. Without bees, there would be no honey, but more importantly, certain plants would not be able to reproduce and would thus become extinct. In turn, this would lead to the extinction of certain animal species. Albert Einstein said “No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”. This is another example of how man made toxins can have a devastating effect on the environment and food supplies around the globe.

The Myanmar government has said that the cyclone that struck the south-east Asian nation this weekend has killed 10,000 people. The toll from the cyclone, which swept through Myanmar knocking out power and causing widespread flooding, might rise further as 4,000 people remain missing. Hundreds of thousands have been left homeless. The cyclone tore through the center of the rice-growing regions, jeopardizing supplies of the staple crop. Myanmar is already Asia's poorest nation. Cyclones, hurricanes and floods like this are predicted to be more frequent due to the effects of climate change and global warming.

The cost of food has escalated in an alarmingly short period of time. The UN food index, a measure of the cost of food, is up more than 45 per cent since 2006. Wheat prices have risen by more than 100 per cent in the last year, corn prices have risen by 66 per cent. The cost of rice has more than doubled since the end of 2007. In poor countries families can spend as much as 75 per cent of their income on food. Price increases have a devastating effect on these families.

This crisis is much more than a local famine. The causes are complex and wide ranging. Speculators have been investing in grains, driving the price of wheat, soybeans, corn and rice to all-time highs. The rising price of oil means that costs for agricultural production, petroleum-based fertilizers and crop transportation have risen sharply. Demand for ethanol translates into high prices because growing crops for fuel is now more profitable than growing food for people. Also grain reserves are at the lowest level in decades due to poor harvests over the last several years, and government and private wheat reserves are extremely low due to worldwide mismanagement of agricultural issues.

It is going to take governments all over the globe and organizations like World Vision to help address this issue and lesson the severity of it. It is an issue we all need to pay attention to.

Most people are aware that tobacco causes tremendous harm to human health. Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that the tobacco industry also causes a lot of damage to the environment. From growing tobacco plants to disposal of butts and packaging, the life cycle of a cigarette creates a lot of pollution. Tobacco causes environmental damage where it is used as well as where it is produced. Burning tobacco is the main source of indoor air pollution in the developed world. Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals, including 50 that are known to cause cancer.

On average, a tree is cut down for every 300 cigarettes (about a two-week supply for a pack-a-day smoker). A cigarette-manufacturing machine uses four miles of paper per hour to roll and package cigarettes. Tobacco cultivation involves a great deal of pesticides, which are used in the early stages of tobacco growth. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers poison farm workers, seep into the soil and pollute waterways and ecological systems, and poison livestock and food crops. In many poorer countries where food is already in short supply, tobacco companies encourage local farmers to grow tobacco instead of food. Sometimes this results in even less food being available for people. Cigarette butts eventually end up in rivers, lakes and the ocean from city streets and through storm drains. Animals, birds and fish eat them by mistake and they are harmed. Cigarette butts take an average of 25 years to decompose. It is estimated that several trillion-cigarette butts are littered worldwide each year.

So if you smoke you are making yourself prone to cancer, lung disease and other illnesses. People exposed to second hand smoke can develop heart disease, cancers, asthma and other breathing problems. Let’s put aside all the health issues for a moment. It is time to butt out and help the earth out, you are not just polluting your body, you’re polluting the environment and the air other’s breath. This is an often-overlooked contributor to the effects of environmental damage. Smoke from cigarettes also contains greenhouse gases. Cigarette smoke contains carbon dioxide and methane. Smoking worldwide releases about 2.6 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide in the air every year. It also releases about 5.2 billion kilograms of methane every year. Tobacco growing, curing, and smoking, all add to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Next time you take a puff of that cigarette or tobacco product think of the environmental damage that went into making that cigarette.

Oil hit a fresh peak near $120 (U.S.) a barrel on Monday as supply outages in Nigeria and Britain shut down nearly 2 million barrels per day of output in the Atlantic Basin. U.S. Crude closed up 23 cents at $118.75 a barrel after earlier hitting a record of $119.93. Crude prices have risen more than 500 per cent since 2002 and are up almost 25 per cent since the start of the year as global supplies struggle to keep pace with rising demand in emerging economies, such as China. Continued attacks in Nigeria and refinery closures in Scotland ... may see the U.S. target $121-122 a barrel this week, with longer-term charts all pointing to $130 or higher," said a senior commodities trader at TradIndex.

A National Academy of sciences panel concluded this week that short-term exposure to ozone pollution is directly linked to poor health in humans, despite White House debates that the link between pollution and early death was unclear.

Ozone is the main component of smog and is released to the environment mostly from cars, trucks, machine engines, and factories. The ozone that is a byproduct of certain human activities does become a problem at ground level and this is what we think of as 'bad' ozone. With increasing populations, more automobiles, and more industry, there's more ozone in the lower atmosphere. Since 1900 the amount of ozone near the earth's surface has more than doubled. Based on a review of recent research, the committee found that deaths related to ozone exposure are more likely among individuals with pre-existing diseases and other factors.