GoingTrueGreen's Blog Postings

Food Labels Decoded, FSC

3/28/2023

Forest Stewardship Council

Do we evaluate the complete picture when shopping? That is hard to do and most of us do not have all the facts. However the FSC Logo from the Forest Stewardship Council helps us get a more complete picture with all the facts when shopping. No matter what we buy, food or material objects, we are consuming and the packages are mostly ignored.

Cardboard from trees is the number one item used for packages and shipping. Even an Egg Carton, which should be made from recycled products that originated from trees, not plastic, is part of the equation! The FSC sets standards for responsible forest management. This voluntary program protects forests for future generations because each average American can use up to five trees for paper alone every year.

The FSC ensures forests are responsibly managed and the FSC sets the gold standard in forest certification. This is the only system supported by the Natural Resources Defense Council and National Wildlife Federation. Currently the FSC protects more than 550 million acres of forest and that is about 155 million acres here in the United States and Canada. Additionally, the use of these trees and the replanting of trees are certified under FSC’s system.

So the next time you buy something, or anything, check the container, the package, the box and see if the FSC Logo is upon the surface! All these actions make for a better sustainable environment.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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BBV Publishing, L. J. Williams, Untold Stories, Telomere, kindle

By printing here in the United States on demand, BBV Publishing ensures that our process leaves no waste, saves trees and energy. With our commitment to help the environment, all our books are offered in a variety of digital formats. In fact, BBV Publishing was one of the first to start working with Amazon's Kindle.

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Climate Conversations Across the Atlantic

3/15/2023

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Italy, Assisi, solar, climate change, hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen, Mt. Kenya, warming, climate warming, sustainability, saving money, saving earth, eu, europe, environment

Italy's Countryside in Assisi

I recently returned from traveling in Italy. I spoke with business owners, families and scholars throughout a large section of the country. I saw the beauty of the land as I traveled in the most efficient way possible from coast to coast. I also saw the issues in the cities and the small towns.

Only when one spends time listening to the people and living with them for at least a small period of time, can we comprehend the complete picture. Italy, along with most of Europe has taken tremendous actions to help our planet. Yes, the United States has also taken a multitude of actions. I know first hand, because I have been a part of these actions for over 40 years now. The early years were the most difficult because that was long before my friends, family, organizations and business owners that I worked with actually saw the advantages to what I consulted on and about. These actions that I presented in reports were to save Money, Energy and Earth for us and our children’s children. To live healthier today and tomorrow and to be more sustainable without sacrifices by using our current technology within our own budget of time and money. These were not recommendations made because we were doomed based on predictions, they were long term solutions. Today I can state with confidence, that all fear filled predictions made were to make money and not to provide solutions like I and other unpretentious scientists were doing. Major predictions of doom have all failed to come true well beyond their presented time frames.

Additionally, here in America we have taken positive actions to clean our air and to make a significant difference since the 1950s. The remaining ingenuity in this country has also developed Hydrogen Fuel Cells on demand to be the long term answer. (Peruse the Link to learn more of a complete picture)

As for the good people of Italy, after twenty plus years of doing everything they were ordered to do for the environment and being made to believe they were the bad guys, they now want the truth. They want their identity back, their culture, their own economy based on their own currency. These were the unanimous words spoken to me from homeowner to business owner, from religious leader to scholar.

They want to know why research such as a study done on the frozen lake bed at the top of Mount Kenya isn’t included in the media’s climate change narratives. Quoting the original ScienceDaily article, “A sudden warming of climate lasting several centuries took place in equatorial Africa some 2,000 years ago, according to a new study reported by a Weizmann Institute of Science-led team in the August 14 issue of Science.”

Research scientists performed isotopic analysis of the sediments from Hausberg Tarn, a small lake at an altitude of 4,350 meters on a slope of Mt. Kenya. The top of Mt. Kenya is at 4,600-4,700 meters and is covered by permanent glaciers. Scientists found that a rapid and significant warming of lake water, around 4 degrees Celsius, took place between the years 350 BC and 450 AD, reflecting a warming of climate that probably allowed the Roman Empire to conquer as far north as Scotland.

To have all the facts is always critical and code red to know the complete picture. From the Weizmann Institute report and others, we know for the time period stated above, temperatures were 4 degrees celsius above our pre-industrial era temperatures. Currently, we are 1.5 degrees celsius above.

Homeowners in Italy also want answers to why solar panels became “out of stock” or “unavailable” after the government implemented a program to make solar energy available to every homeowner. Then when the program ended, solar panels were once again available, but had a 50% price increase and were unaffordable to average homeowners. This sounds like the same thing when I changed my heating system to a 95% efficient unit paid for by my state’s new energy program:

save energy, energy, going green, instant hot water, heating system, bosch, natural gas, oil heat, energy efficiency

I received a low interest loan from my state and had ten years to pay it back. The contractor who installed my new heating system had to join the program for a fee, do all the paperwork to be paid by the state and I just paid the low interest loan. However, when I spoke with the representative from the contractor company seven months later, about installing the same heating system under the state’s program for a friend, he told me that they dropped out of the program, along with everyone else. Reason being, they had yet to be paid by the state for my job and were told all payments under the program can take up to one year. They had to incur the costs to join the program and be approved by the state, incur the costs for filling out all paperwork for each customer, pay for all the equipment to install, pay salaries, pay taxes and then wait a year to be paid by the state. This is a formula for bankruptcy. My state’s energy saving program was a failure.

Most governments of the world they are only about public relations and making money. The Italian companies installing solar panels didn’t want anything to do with the Government’s program, thus the panels were unavailable. Then they raised prices to recoup the money not made during the time the government’s program was in place.

So sad to be so cynical, but greed makes the world go around, not love, support, and certainly not a truthful concern for our environment.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
Contribute your comments!