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Keeping old cars longer can help the environment more than buying new electric cars

6/30/2022

If you own a fuel efficient gas-powered car, a study from the Journal of Industrial Ecology suggests that you should hold onto it longer rather than running out to buy an electric vehicle right away. It takes a lot of energy to make a new car, and these researchers determined that 24% of a car's lifetime carbon emissions is a result of the manufacturing process. Even building electric cars has a carbon footprint.

As reported by studyfinds.org, the study concludes "that if car owners keep their vehicles on the road 10 percent longer before sending them to the scrapyard, the overall carbon footprint of cars would decrease by 30.7 million tons. That’s the equivalent of a one-percent decrease in CO2 emissions. Researchers say the reason of this is manufacturing new vehicles actually produces more greenhouse gases than continuing to drive existing cars — even if they use gasoline. The environment would also see a benefit if owners of brand new cars kept their vehicles longer before trading them in. Study authors say there would be a one-percent drop in carbon footprint if new car owners hold on to their rides 10 percent longer."*

*https://www.studyfinds.org/keeping-old-cars-help-environment-more-than-new-electric-cars/

Photo by Robert Couse-Baker, Flickr

Synthetic activewear sheds microfibers that pollute the ocean each time it is worn and washed. Look for brands that are committed to low-impact materials such as organic cotton, Tencel, hemp, and bamboo

6/26/2022

You can reduce the impact your active wear has on plastic pollution by buying those made with less synthetic material and adopting good clothes washing habits. Neeti Mehra reports on treehugger.com that "conventional activewear is made from synthetic materials such as polyester, nylon, and spandex and often uses dyes that can harm the environment. For more eco-friendly clothes, you can choose among many alternative fabrics, such as organic cotton, econyl, hemp, Tencel, bamboo, and material made from recycled plastic (though for stretchiness there will be synthetic materials blended in)."* Mehra suggests air drying your clothes to help make them last longer and reducing microfiber shed by filling "up your washing machine to reduce friction between clothes. Opt for a natural liquid detergent and wash at cool temperatures on shorter cycles."*

*https://www.treehugger.com/best-sustainable-workout-clothes-5201554

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Plastic teabags release microplastic and nanoplastic particles into the water. Most paper teabags also contain plastic, so consider switching to loose tea

6/25/2022

Some tea manufacturers are starting to use plastic tea bags instead of the usual paper packet. A study published in Environmental Science and Technology determined that these plastic tea bags release microplastics during steeping. They "show that steeping a single plastic teabag at brewing temperature (95 °C) releases approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of the beverage."* They go on to demonstrate that these plastics are toxic to aquatic invertebrates. Avoid these new-style tea bags and stick with the traditional paper version or dispense with the bag altogether and enjoy loose tea.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

* https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b02540

Keeping old cars longer can help the environment more than buying new electric cars

Synthetic activewear sheds microfibers that pollute the ocean each time it is worn and washed. Look for brands that are committed to low-impact materials such as organic cotton, Tencel, hemp, and bamboo

Plastic teabags release microplastic and nanoplastic particles into the water. Most paper teabags also contain plastic, so consider switching to loose tea

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