Earth Day Movie Event

Green America is hosting an Earth Day movie night on Sunday (Earth Day, if you weren't aware.)

A special online presentation of "Bag It" will be shown at 7PM Central. This 2-hour documentary focuses on one man as he makes a decision to stop using plastic bags and how that decision changed his life. Tickets are $3.99. You can purchase yours here.  Someone with a big screen might want to host a short-notice viewing party.

Airline Recycling

I've mentioned Green America before and their Responsible Shopper project. They just released a report on recycling in the airline industry and it isn't a pretty picture. American Eagle, a part of American Airlines is running about the middle of the pack

I really like the Responsible Shopper area--I got to the airline report while researching mobile phone companies.

This is an easy to use site and provides ratings on a lot of products and services and offers suggested alternatives.

BPA in Food Can Liners

I was looking at the Fall issue of Green American and came across an article on bisphenol-A in food cans. I then looked up the report from As You Sow about the response of food companies to a request from them to eliminate BPA from food packaging. I encourage you to do the same.

For now, here is a short summary:

- Why we don't want BPA: this chemical has been associated with hormone disruption, cancer, neurological defects, infertility, obesity, and heart disease (in women.) Because women respond to estrogen and estrogen mimickers like BPA, women are at higher risk for heart arrhythmias than men.
- Current regulatory status: Several states have passed laws to eliminate BPA from children's products; other states are considering such legislation. The FDA is reassessing the safety of BPA. Several food industry groups insist BPA is safe and food companies continue to line cans with BPA.
- Status: As You Sow and Green America surveyed 20 major food companies about their use of BPA.
-- 14 companies responded. All use BPA to line food cans: Hain Celestial, Heinz, Nestle, Kellogg, ConAgra, General Mills, PepsiCo, Campbell, CocaCola, McCormick & Company, Kraft, Hershey, JM Smucker, Del Monte.
-- 6 companies did not respond: Chiquita, Dean, Hormel, Sara Lee, Sysco, Unilever
-- Best: Heinz as it has already moved to a less toxic alternative to BPA in baby-food can linings. Heinz, Hain Celestial, Nestle all indicate they are working to phase out BPA.
-- The following companies indicate they intend to take no action concerning BPA: Del Monte, Hershey, and JM Smucker.

Note: Although Green America posts the magazine to its website, the Spring issue is still up as the current one, so I cannot provide a link to the referenced article.

TV Takeback Programs

I get a regular e-newsletter from Green America that has some good information. One of the articles this issue is on TV takeback programs. Here is the link to the report. It isn't great, but better than last year, so progress is being made.

There are a lot of great resources on this site--I suggest making it a favorite on your internet browser. Here's an extra from the website: 13 Ways to Go Green and Save Money.