Remember in The Story of Stuff film, I talked about dioxin, a compound which is among the most toxic manmade chemicals known to science?
Dioxin is really nasty stuff. It causes a range of health problems, including cancer. Dioxin is not created intentionally; no one sets up to actually make this super toxic poison. Instead, it is created as a byproduct and then released from a number of industrial processes including burning garbage in incinerators, bleaching paper pulp with chlorine and the production of products as diverse as PVC plastic, pesticides, and Agent Orange. Because dioxin is connected to so many of today’s industrial processes, it is widely distributed in our communities where it builds up the food chain and eventually reaches each of our bodies.
Right now, those of us in the U.S. have a unique opportunity to protect our communities from dioxin. (Of course, we also need to protect communities everywhere from dioxin and a good place to start on that front is IPEN, which is working on a global treaty to ban the most toxic chemicals, including dioxin.)
While preventing new dioxin is a better long term solution than cleaning it up after it has been produced and released, we still do need to clean up the stuff that is already contaminating our communities. The sooner, the better. This week, the U.S. EPA is seeking comments on its proposed cleanup guidelines for dioxin and the public comment period ends on Friday February 26th.
The EPA’s guidelines are a step in the right direction, but dioxin can be toxic at even very low levels of exposure, and that’s why we’re asking for your help to press EPA to develop stronger cleanup guidelines. We’re up against some of the biggest chemical polluters in the world – corporations like Dow Chemical. We don’t have their big bucks but we have one thing they don’t — people power, people like you.
Please send a quick email, urging EPA to strengthen its proposed dioxin clean up guidelines, here. Public comments are due Friday, February 26th, so please act this week.
There are many organizations working on stopping dioxin at source. In the U.S. contact the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. Internationally contact IPEN. And if, like me, burning garbage in incinerators – which destroys resources and releases dioxin – makes you especially furious, contact GAIA to get involved in promoting safe and fair alternatives.
But first, send a quick message to EPA to ask them to make the strongest possible clean up standards for dioxin. Remember, public comment period ends on Friday, February 26th. While dioxin contamination may last forever, the public comment period doesn’t.
Thanks!
Annie
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February 22nd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Clean up the dioxin!!!
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Please get rid of this crap!
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Hi Annie, have you gotten wind (lol) of Fibrowatt in the UK with three poultry litter incinerators (owned by a hedge fund managed by Macquarie Group) and one in Minnesota (Fibrominn, now owned by a NY hedge fund) that emit dioxins, arsenic and a whole neat toxic stew…the wave of the future, trying to come to my back yard – Luray VA, Shenandoah Valley, home of the famous Caverns and Park.
Thanks for highlighting dioxins as toxins, and all the work you do!! Susan
February 22nd, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Stop Diaxin
February 24th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
UPDATE ON THE CLEAN UP DIOXIN CAMPAIGN:
EPA has announced it will extend the public comment period for its dioxin clean up guidelines through April 2nd! YAY! Keep those comments coming. Please share with friends. We want dioxin clean up standards that are strong, effective, implemented and not watered down by chemical industry lobbyists!
February 24th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Please let’s address this issue and consider the implications if we don’t
February 24th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Please make the strongest possible clean up standards for dioxin and other hazadous chemicals,now before it’s too late!
February 25th, 2010 at 10:26 am
I am absolutely in favor of any and all measures to clean up our environment.
Dioxin has long been known as a toxic polluter on our planet. It’s time to stop it.
February 25th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Annie, how do we leave comments for the EPA? I want to take advantage of this extension!
March 12th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Enjoyed your ‘Stuff’ movie. Well, maybe enjoyed is not the right word, as the mvoie showcased the sickening mess we are in. Unfortunately the movie trivializes the end of the cliff where we are headed. I suspect this movie is marketed to kids and schools. So no need to instill too much doom and gloom in them I guess.
Now it is great you guys are working to cleanup toxins. But no matter how we slice it, our world is upside down, when the right way to s sustainable future will bring our world down. The only thing to do to keep the Ponzi scheme going is to do just the opposite of prudent advice.
What would happen to our economy if we took the advice and did as this reworked ‘victory’ poster from WW II suggested?
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/keepitlow456/victorygarden.jpg
What would happen is our country would COLLAPSE!
IT’S NOT THAT SIMPLE TO DO A 180…Without compulsive spending and conspicuous consumption funded by unaffordable debt, we would fail as a country. Since our economy if fueled 70% by the consumer, we must stay in debt and consume by any means necessary to keep the Ponzi scheme from collapsing.
We must make shoddy products that self-destruct quickly – so new products are in constant demand to keep the workforce of drones working. All the while squandering natural resources, but we are increasing the business of the landfills.
We must not grow our own food. We must buy poisonous food from chemical laden farms. Our concrete jungles could never hope to allow anything else from their inhabitants.
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/keepitlow456/DSC02545pot.jpg
Would you rather eat an embalmed potato or a live potato? The store bought ‘Green Giant’ red potato vs home grown KB potato. Both stored for 7 months in my root cellar.
And we must squander fossil fuels as fast as possible to keep the economy booming. What would all the tourists traps from Las Vegas to Florida do without the travelers? And the multitude of business that depend on travel along the pilgrimage routes?
On an a more global level, lets say everyone becomes voluntary simplicity and frugal squirrel devotees. We recycle, reuse, repair and just say NO to buying more crap. If we stop buying all the stuff that America imports from China – who keeps the 1.3 billion plus people in China from starving, so they do not go back to old ways of trying to take over the world?
We can see we have created a time bomb. Even the highest level brainiac economists can’t fix what ails us.
Our whole system is based on an unsustainable model that will eventually collapse no matter how much money that is printed up by the Fed. (…they don’t even need to print money nowadays, all that needs to be done to create billions is to magnetize a silicon chip!)
Tony Benn’s take on things:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnserZOf1-4&feature=related
Now, let’s take a look at how our Ponzi schemed world was built…
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/keepitlow456/popchart.gif
We can see the population was pretty steady over the centuries. People lived within natures boundaries. They grew their food, burned wood for fuel and ate the game and fish nature provided…until the age of fossil fuels.
Whale oil or wood was the prevalent fuel up to that time. As whale oil was running out, coal and liquid coal (crude oil) came on board. Then petroleum / natural gas based fertilizers made cheap food possible.
Fossil fuels allowed people to move from an agrarian from of life to an urbanized city lifestyle that removed all the hard and dirty work of growing and producing one’s own food. Fossil fusels also made possible many areas of life extending improvements to humans. And people spread to all corners of the planet and flourished…but by an artificial and non sustainable means.
What happens when something is running at an unsustainable pace?
It must slow down to a sustainable pace – if it is to keep moving forward steadily and sustainably.
It would be one thing if we all reverted back to rural living, burning trees for fuel and housing and living within our comfortable means allotted to us by nature, as our ancestors did back in the day. But seven billion people can’t burn the trees!
When we live out of balance with natures intended means there is a price to pay to come back in balance with nature. And the price usually extracts pain from us in the adjustment process. Now renewable energy will replace some of fossil fuels benefit to mankind. But don’t be under the delusion that they are a seamless and fungible replacement. There is NO replacement for crude
Even if we did find out how to burn water for energy, petrochemicals make up a large portion of crude’s importance to mankind. Roughly 9% of every barrel of crude goes to petrochemical use.
If we stopped burning crude this instant, we would still suck the wells dry, albeit not as quickly, just from petrochemical use.
So even if we all stop driving, we will just be postponing the inevitable depletion of crude oil.
A partial list of products made from crude:
Solvents Diesel Motor Oil Bearing Grease
Ink Floor Wax Ballpoint Pens Football Cleats
Upholstery Sweaters Boats Insecticides
Bicycle Tires Sports Car Bodies Nail Polish Fishing lures
Dresses Tires Golf Bags Perfumes
Cassettes Dishwasher Tool Boxes Shoe Polish
Motorcycle Helmet Caulking Petroleum Jelly Transparent Tape
CD Player Faucet Washers Antiseptics Clothesline
Curtains Food Preservatives Basketballs Soap
Vitamin Capsules Antihistamines Purses Shoes
Dashboards Cortisone Deodorant Footballs
Putty Dyes Panty Hose Refrigerant
Percolators Life Jackets Rubbing Alcohol Linings
Skis TV Cabinets Shag Rugs Electrician’s Tape
Tool Racks Car Battery Cases Epoxy Paint
Mops Slacks Insect Repellent Oil Filters
Umbrellas Yarn Fertilizers Hair Coloring
Roofing Toilet Seats Fishing Rods Lipstick
Denture Adhesive Linoleum Ice Cube Trays Synthetic Rubber
Speakers Plastic Wood Electric Blankets Glycerin
Tennis Rackets Rubber Cement Fishing Boots Dice
Nylon Rope Candles Trash Bags House Paint
Water Pipes Hand Lotion Roller Skates Surf Boards
Shampoo Wheels Paint Rollers Shower Curtains
Guitar Strings Luggage Aspirin Safety Glasses
Antifreeze Football Helmets Awnings Eyeglasses
Clothes Toothbrushes Ice Chests Footballs
Combs CD’s Paint Brushes Detergents
Vaporizers Balloons Sun Glasses Tents
Heart Valves Crayons Parachutes Telephones
Enamel Pillows Dishes Cameras
Anesthetics Artificial Turf Artificial limbs Bandages
Dentures Model Cars Folding Doors Hair Curlers
Cold cream Movie film Soft Contact lenses Drinking Cups
Fan Belts Car Enamel Shaving Cream Ammonia
Refrigerators Golf Balls Toothpaste Gasoline
From this list we can see that we are massively depend on crude for our non sustainable lifestyle.
It has been estimated that for the earth to sustainably support its population without fossil fuels a 90% dieoff must occur. I don’t know if that is the right figure, but I do know humans could not live as they do unless it was funded by artificial means via fossil fuels.
http://dieoff.org/
So if this dieoff happens, of course there will be great amounts of pain in the world. But it is natures intended balancing act.
It also reminds us that nature does not bow to humans – it is humans that always bow to nature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrying_capacity
March 18th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Please read: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/protect-american-families-from-dioxin/
March 21st, 2010 at 8:31 am
What she doing? Dioxin have to stop now!
March 21st, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Even though negative people out there think this world cannot be “saved” we should still be trying! Change has to happen, there is no other option, if not for us then for all the future generations. We are destroying their future and it is wrong. Stopping Dioxin and production of toxic chemicals is at least a start! Please put a stop to the use of Dioxin and help us to create positive change.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:18 am
I feel so helpless, I wish I knew more about how I could stop all of this.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:44 am
If an individual did what polluters are legally allowed to do no leniency would be given. The rich never worry about it being in their own backyard either because of the false sense of distance from such ‘undesirable’ environments or the false hope in their money to buy technology to solve their issues.
Thank you for your work to bring awareness and action in stopping the destruction of our life sustaining environment. When will corporations be liable for endangering lives? It just is ridiculous. If an individual released toxins there is no acceptable level of exposure to another human nor the environment.
Please, continue the work!
Thank you,
Shirl Lehoski
April 27th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
AZ Home Energy Audit…
The energy sector is ripe for a new wave of reforms. The benefits of 20 years of energy sector liberalization have bypassed the poor. Decentralization of energy governance, increased participation of women in energy sector decision- making and budget t…
May 4th, 2010 at 1:59 am
Hey, i’ve been reading this blog for a while and have a question, maybe you can help… it’s how do i add your feed to my rss reader as i want to follow you. Thanks.
May 4th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Hey Tameka, use any one of these links to add The Story of Stuff Blog to your RSS reader.
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/?feed=rss2
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/?feed=rss
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/?feed=rss2
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/?feed=rdf
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/?feed=atom
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/wp-rss.php
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/wp-rss2.php
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/wp-rdf.php
http://storyofstuff.org/blog/wp-atom.php
June 3rd, 2010 at 11:01 am
I agree that dioxin needs to be eliminated. I hope one day it stops.