Is the treatment of medical waste by our hospitals harming us and our planet?

It’s one thing to worry about receiving the best possible care from a hospital when you’re sick but it’s another to worry about becoming sick because of a hospital.

According to the EPA, nearly all medical waste, including used plastic syringes and discarded organs, is incinerated. This dirty disposal releases lethal levels of dioxins and heavy metals into the air contributing to a host of personal and planetary health problems.

While there are some standards for controlling medical waste incineration, one organization has taken matters into their own hands.  Dr. Ted Schettler of Health Care Without Harm:

With so much risk and danger in our daily lives, the hospital is one place we should expect to be safe.  For more on Green health care, try some of the following links to keep you in the know.

Teleosis Institute

Green Guide for Health Care

Practice Green Health

Every year 25 million tons of solid waste is entering our landfills but can it be used to grow healthier crops?

With food prices choking our wallets, you may be surprised how wasteful Americans are with food. Whether it’s fresh food gone bad or throwing good food out, 27 percent of all edible food produced in the US never even makes it to our plates.

One company though sees the food waste stream as a way to benefit the community. Ed Gildea, CEO of Converted Organics.

With forward-thinkers like Ed, our country’s mounting trash may soon be a thing of the past and the promise of a Greener future.

Here’s some more on Converted Organics and information on home composting.

Photo by rotomotor.

Ready to get your hands dirty, America!?

It’s not even a question anymore about filling landfills with stuff that shouldn’t be there. Landfills are the real end result of our society’s waste and the best thing we can do is to help make less of them. That means USING stuff you think is garbage.

Organic matter, stuff like egg shells, old bread, fallen leaves, vegetable peels, fruit rinds, and garden trimmings, is the easiest waste to keep out of your garbage. All you need is a little plastic quart container with some holes perforated in the lid to drop the kitchen scraps into (we keep ours next to the sink).

Almost every American community has a composting facility or program. You can find out where to dump mulch and other acceptable bio-materials or a local composting organization will offer individual household composting units to its residents for cheap (around $10 and even FREE).

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