Evils of the disposable coffee pods

Click on the Vodpod on the sidebar on the right to see a great video made by Les Apprentis Z’Ecolos on the evils of the expresso pod which has become so popular in France. The French Environment and Energy Management Agency ADEME has confirmed that a packet of 250 grams of expresso pods generates 10 times as much packaging as a bag containing 250 grams of coffee. What’s more, buying your coffee in these tiny miniature capsules (each type is tied to a particular brand of coffee machine) costs between 20 and 60 percent more than if you buy it in a bag. Thanks to savvy marketing and George Clooney’s image, Nespresso sold 1.7 pods for one million coffee machines in 2005.

The anti-pod buzz has generated efforts to “green” the product. Nespresso makes its pods out of almunium and recycles them. In the Netherlands, a company has launched the Ecopad, a rechargeable pod. Lavazza, however, which makes a better-tasting pod than Nespresso, makes its capsules from aluminium, polyester and polyethelene and they are not recycled or reused.

via Quotidien Durable

Biodiversity and environmental education short-changed at the Grenelle

The last working group at the Grenelle took place on Friday, the day after the official closure of the summit because of time overrun. Participants tackled biofuels and the “greening of democracy”. The latter has received scant media coverage but is important as it deals with improving transparency and accountability through legal reforms which would confer institutional status on NGOs and increase the public’s ability to obtain compensation for environment-related health problems. There was apparently no deal on the proposal to allow class action suits for victims of environmental damage, but the issue of giving special protection to whistle-blowers on the environment will be hashed out in union negotiations on health and work. An independent authority will be set up to mediate conflicts linked to environmental expertise, and a parliamentary commission will be formed to define its parameters and set-up.

The roundtable also confirmed the adoption of official recognition for NGOs as actors and partners in the social dialogue between governments, employers and workers. The Conseil Économique et Social (Economic and Social Council) which is France’s third most important constitutional assembly will be reformed to include NGOs as decision-makers in the process of formulating recommendations for bills to be submitted for approval in parliament.On corporate social responsibility, the Alliance pour la planète. obtained its wish that companies who do not respect an already existing law on transparency and accountability be sanctioned.

The issue of greenwashing was discussed as well, and the Grenelle reaffirmed the need to reform the main regulatory body that governs advertising standards in France to include independent monitors. At present the body is only regulated by industry players.

On biofuels, Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo announced the creation of a study group to evaluate the ecological and energy efficiency of the first generation of biofuels (those extracted from cereals which would otherwise be used as food) and pledged to step up research and development efforts on the more promising second generation biofuels.

The working group will convene for a general review before February 1, 2008.

Among the weak links identified by NGOs at the close of the Grenelle were biodiversity and environmental education. The Association for the Protection of Wildlife (ASPAS) issued a communique deploring the neglect of biodiversity in the Grenelle to the benefit of problems which require economically profitable solutions such as transport and construction. Aside from the establishment of “biological corridors” which will link isolated wildlife preserves, there was scant attention paid to the protection of oceans, tropical forests and notably the DOM-TOMs, France’s overseas territories such as Martinique and Guadeloupe, which are key areas in need of biodiversity protection.

On environmental education, the Alliance said that the working groups stopped short of making serious proposals. “Along with the question of waste disposal, these are the two areas where the Grenelle has not finished its work,” said Anne Bringault, director of Friends of the Earth, France. “The only thing which was adopted this morning, was that we have to integrate the environment into the public sector, but also in education, in schools, from the earliest classes. The working group has to deliver fresh conclusions before the end of the year.”Illegal logging was another issue, and here Borloo pledged that France would ban all imports of illegal wood and make the fight against deforestation a priority of international negotiations (in the context of Kyoto).

Grégoire Lejonc of Greenpeace France welcomed this statement, but added that the NGOs did not obtain satisfaction on the certification of tropical wood. Instead of restricting itself to an FSC label, the government has said it will allow imports of both FSC wood and PEFC (Program of the Endorsement of Forest Certification) wood, which is not endorsed by NGOs as they say it has weak environmental standards.”It is now up to us to make sure there is a precise follow-up on the executon of the plans and commitments taken publicly by the government and the president,” said Yannick Jadot, campaigns director for Greenpeace France and spokesman for the Alliance.

The NGOs have a big job on their hands monitoring the progress and implementation of this huge colossus of policy proposals, and making sure that Sarkozy honours his central commitment articulated at the press conference last week (thanks to Brian Fitzgerald at Greenpeace for pointing this out – I missed it in the deluge of announcements). “From now on every major public project, every public decision will be judged on its effect on climate, and on its carbon cost. Each public decision will be judged on how it affects bio-diversity. The onus won’t be on ecological decisions to prove their merit, but on non-ecological projects to prove they can’t be done any other way.” The dangers are everywhere – lack of vigilance from the public as media interest wanes, evisceration of the proposals as they grind their way through parliament, opposition from the ruling right-wing UMP party which is joined at the hip to the pesticide and automobile lobbies. But no matter what happens next, a new process has been set in motion and peoples’ expectations irrevocably modified.

via Actu-environnement

World’s highest dry toilet in French Alps

The world’s highest dry toilet was recently installed at Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains in the French Alps at an altitude of 4630 meters. The manufacturer, Ecosphere Technologies, specializes in waterless, chemical-free dry toilets for locations that are rural or far from sewage systems. Their toilets use a worm-composting system. If you’d like to understand exactly how they work, watch this video.

via La Maison Ecologique

Scientists and doctors call for ban on new incinerators in France

A group comprising scientists and doctors have called on the government to stop building new waste incinerators, a highly controversial subject which has generated heated debate and no consensus during the first round of the Grenelle. The “Group of Scientific Experts on the Risks of Incineration” (GESDI) has submitted a report to the Environment Ministry demanding an immediate halt to construction and outlining alternatives to incineration. France has more incinerators per person than any other country in Europe, and is the world’s second biggest nation for incinerators after Japan. At present there are a total of 125 active in France. Air emissions from incinerators can include heavy metals such as mercury and highly toxic trace organic compounds and dioxins. Health risks associated with incinerators include cancer and congential birth defects. France lags behind many OECD such as Germany and Switzerland which have introduced “Pay as you throw” taxes which have proven highly successful in reducing the volume of waste generated per household.

Tips on shrinking your trash

Rue 89 has two interesting articles on waste management which are worth checking out, particularly in view of France’s pitiful showing in the Reader’s Digest survey in terms of its ecological footprint – 133rd out of 141 countries. According to the ADEME, household waste is increasing at an annual rate of 1-2 percent and currently stands at an annual average of 350 kilos per person. Of that total, only 20 percent is recycled and the rest is buried or incinerated. France lags behind many OECD countries in this domain, notably Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Sweden, which have all introduced a “Pay as you throw” tax, whereby citizens are taxed on the basis of the quantity of non-recycled trash they generate. In Belgium, this tax helped to slash trash generation from 369 kilos per person annually to 115 kilos. This type of system exists in fewer than 20 communes in France for the moment, most of them in the east of France where the proximity of countries like Germany and Switzerland have provided an inspiration.

In a separate article, rue 89 provides tips on how to reduce your trash, and advises that these simple gestures should become automatic reflexes.

1. put “no junk mail” stickers on the mail box. You can purchase these online at Achat Nature, theyr’e called “Stop Pub” stickers
2. stop buying or accepting anything that is disposable: plastic bags, paper plates, plastic cups, and disposable wipes.
3. avoid over-packaged items – buy in bulk whenever possible and try to get refills.
4. drink tap water. Consumption of bottled water has doubled in France in the last two decades and generates an average of 6 kilos of plastic bottles per person every year.

5. buy products which include recycled materials: look for the NF Environnement label and European Ecolabels
6. choose products with a long life span – rechargeable batteries etc.
7. try to extend the life span of appliances for as long as possible by learning to repair and renovate stuff.

via rue89

Lille’s bus fleet to run on biogas generated from household waste

The French city of Lille has unveiled an innovative plant – unique in Europe – which will transform organic household waste into four million cubic metres of biogas a year, enough to power a fleet of 100 buses. The plant, called the Centre for Organic Recovery, is France’s first biogas fuel plant. A brand new 150-strong bus depot has been built next to the centre so the buses can fuel up on site.

The biogas-fuelled buses will join Lille’s already existing fleet of natural gas-powered buses at the end of this year and the system should be fully operational by the end of 2008, handling 108,600 tonnes of green waste per year. The cost of the project is 75 million euros, mostly financed by the city government.

The project is the result of a pan-European research project called Biogasmax which was launched in 2006. Partly financed by the European Union, Biogasmax aims to show that cities can produce high quality renewable energies from organic waste and hopes to inspire other European cities to follow Lille’s example.

But the reflection on the waste disposal issue dates back to 1989, when Lille – an early adopter of green technologies in France – decided to modify its approach to the issue by seeking ways to reuse the 700,000 tonnes of waste collected each year and convert them into sources of energy. About 650,000 of Lille’s 1.1 million residents are affected by the biogas project, and they are being exhorted to sort compostable waste like flowers, grass clippings, paper towels and tissue paper.

via Lille Metropole