GoingTrueGreen's Blog Postings

Kids, Flooring, and Chemicals

8/14/2019

Going True Green, concerned mother, kids, laminated wood floor

A New Laminate Floor

Going True Green received an email from a concerned mother and member of GoingTrueGreen.com. She was looking for more information on a possible issue with her kids and a laminated wood floor.

Below is that email and our reply published with permission:

Dear GTG,
I heard in the news that laminate floors from various manufacturers have cancer causing agents. My laminate floor is from a family business local to me and is about 5 years old. My kids play on the floor several times a week. I have extra floor boards, should I have them checked?

Hi Maria,

Thank you for emailing us. Many items we buy have one or more chemicals in them, chemicals such as Formaldehyde which is a colorless poisonous gas synthesized by the oxidation of methanol and used as an antiseptic, disinfectant, histologic fixative, and general-purpose chemical reagent for laboratory applications. Some products we buy are worst than others.

I reviewed your concern with Mary, our team's Chemistry Scientist, and she informed me that while polyurethane stains and laminations applied to wood surfaces are highly toxic when in a liquid state, they are harmless once completely dried. She does not believe testing the extra floor boards is necessary at all. Nevertheless if you feel that you need to do so, because you perhaps know of a company that does this type of analysis at a reasonably price, then speak to them for their insight.

Either way, we suggest the following with new laminated floors and rugs that may have a high concentration of chemicals.

You will want to "Air Out" new wood floors and rugs for at least 3 weeks or so with windows and bedroom doors open. Keep the kids off the rug and newly installed wood floor until you did an "air out" and washed the new rug or floor at least once.

For newborns, try to install the rug or new wood floor in the bedroom at least 3 months before the baby is born. Do an "air out" and don't have the expecting mother spend long periods of time in that room when the new wood floor or rug is first installed.

With your situation, since you had the floor for about five years now, your floor has been "aired out" a long time ago and I would not worry. However, if you still have concerns, you should also speak with your pediatrician for additional insight.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Posting Additional Look Backs

7/31/2019

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Before I started GoingTrueGreen.com, I wrote code for websites on the World Wide Web in 1992. By 1995/96 I had the LightBulbHotLine website up and running to help people learn about the many new compact fluorescent light bulbs that were being sold since 1982. Eventually the LightBulb HotLine website became EnergyHotWire.com and then I launched GoingTrueGreen.com so they could work in tandem with each other.

Light Bulbs, light bulb hotline, energy saving lightbulbs, Energy Saving Light Bulbs, Saving Energy, Saving Money, Sustainability, Climate Change, Sustainable Living, Going Green, Going True Green, Blogs, Articles, Bill Lauto

First Website, 1995, Light Bulb Hotline

Christopher Lauto, Going True Green, GTG Blog, EnergyHotwire, electric bill, energy comics, energy saving comics

Comic Relief On GTG Blog In 2007

Energy Hotwire, Energy Saving Light Bulbs, Saving Energy, Saving Money, Sustainability, Climate Change, Sustainable Living, Going Green, Going True Green, Blogs, Articles, Bill Lauto

Energy Saving Light Bulbs, Saving Energy, Saving Money, Sustainability, Climate Change, Sustainable Living, Going Green, Going True Green, Blogs, Articles, Bill Lauto

Kiplinger's, Kiplinger's Finance Magazine, Saving Money, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Energy Saving Light Bulbs, Sustainable Living, Going Green, Going True Green, Blogs, Articles, Bill Lauto

Kiplinger's April 1992

Over the years, before Blogs came about, I wrote articles or provided data for publications doing a section or column on energy savings. One such publication was in Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, April 1992. The first day Kiplinger's magazine hit the newsstands, I received 95 phone calls from around the country. The section was titled: Lights That Lighten Your Electric Bill.

I have always been writing and teaching facts about Energy Saving Light Bulbs, as well as many other energy saving and environmental topics over the decades. I started loading up my articles to EnergyHotwire.com before the Blogging format took off.

This summer I am posting several more of those "Yesteryear" articles from Newspapers, Magazines, my LightBulb Hotline website and EnergyHotwire.com to my GoingTrueGreen Blog. You can take a trip down memory lane by accessing these postings under the Category called: Yesteryear Articles & Blogs, found in the right hand column of this page. For the Kiplinger story, you may click on the date: April 1992 under Archives, also found in the right hand column. To see how I was doing with my energy bills in my first apartment for the year 1988, click on the date May 1989. You can even use the Archives to click on the date November 1972 to peruse my very first paper I wrote on our environment back in middle school. My first article for newspapers on the new energy saving fluorescent light bulbs will be the next Archived date of November 2, 1987.

I also finally added the Category: COMIC RELIEF which brings you back to early 2007 when I published 3 different comic strips on EnergyHotwire.com.
Use this LINK to start off your visit back in time with a laugh or two or three - Comic Relief.

Enjoy the "Look Back" - Thank you.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Independence, Intelligence, Illumination

7/2/2019

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Freedom, Independence, 4th of July, Independence Day, America, 1776, Earth, Environment, Energy, fireworks, statue of liberty, sustainable living, sustainability, saving energy, going green, going true green, log cabin, cabins, oil, gas, fossil fuels, trees, wood floor finish, wood floors, building, lumber jacks, lumberjacks, God, triple C person, environmental hero, Bill Lauto

Allow me to tell you a story about a young man I learned about, who set out to build a sustainable house with mindful principles that used materials and techniques respectful of conserving energy, natural resources and our Earth’s environment.

With great admiration I tell this story, but the admiration is for the lessons learned. The reason for this is because of the basics we all have. We are all given free will from God and as an individual we make choices. This 4th of July we are also reminded of our freedoms in the United States that allow us to make choices, the best choices are always respectful, responsible, under the law and with accountability. These are things that we should all do, not just try, and especially not place fault onto someone or something else for our failures. However, as an individual we need to work hard to obtain the two additional elements listed in this Blog’s title: Intelligence and Illumination.

We can constantly complain and criticize, thus never increasing our intelligence and realization of a complete picture or we can work together on one team to find a real solution. We must stop wasting time, money, energy and intelligence to think of ways to hurt one another and start working together to help one another. If you only go looking for a problem, then you will never be part of the solution. The choice belongs to each one of us and how we stand tall to defend this fact each and every day.

So with that in mind, let us get back to our story…

For various reasons this young man went out to build a log cabin house for his family and office. First he used local materials, such as dead lodgepole pine trees. This reduced costs for transportation. Lumberjacks chopped the trees down and horses were used to drag the logs to the work site for his house. The use of oil and gas was avoided and so were loud noises. The trees were then peeled by hand to again save on the use of fossil fuels.

Alas, after all was said and done, our young environmental hero paused as he looked upon the barren area of the forest where they chopped down all the dead trees. While solving issues to save the world, he realized that he did harm to the world.

Dead trees also have a purpose in nature. When they rot and fall to the ground, they provide shelter for animals, they decompose to provide enriched nutrients for the barren and depleted soil. Bears, deers, sapsuckers, pine martens and so on, are all with a loss. Our hero did place seedlings on the landscape, but he realized that those seedlings were not equivalent to what he took.

For every environmentally friendly action he took, there was a consequence that added to his frustrations. This project was to be a “win, win” for him and the environment, but reality told a different story which he realized and acknowledged.

Another example is the nontoxic all natural wood finish he used on his wooden floors. Extracts of rosemary and orange peel within the finish were safe, but the drying process took a month and a half. The answer was to use electric fans to speed up the drying time and no worries because the electricity was generated by dams; but the dams kill salmon. These two different actions for finishing wood floors had the following facts to compare:
- Polyurethane finish is harmful to apply, but safe after dry
- Polyurethane finish cost 60% lower than the naturally safe brand and dries within a week

The lessons learned tell us that we do not have all the answers. We do not know everything, Nature does, but we don’t. This is why we must all work together on one team, one country. If any one person claims to know what is best for everyone else, she/he is either an elitist fool or Anakin Skywalker about to become Darth Vader.

For me, I know that I don’t have all the answers. I do know that I am a team player hoping to inspire all Americans to work for a better tomorrow together.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Jesus, Upper Room, Easter, L. J. Williams, Shroud of Turin, Jesus' Shroud, resurrection, Jesus the Christ

Goodreads, Jesus, Upper Room, Easter, L. J. Williams, Shroud of Turin, Jesus' Shroud, resurrection, Jesus the Christ

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Grass Catcher

6/25/2019

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lawn, grass, grass catcher, Fiskars, going green, goingtruegreen, cutting lawns, energy savings, saving money, saving Earth, reel mower

Optional Grass Catcher

Many Followers of GoingTrueGreen.com know that I use a reel mower. My GoingTrueGreen blog post on July 22, 2013 called, Mowing Down the Lawn, goes into details. So I have been cutting my lawn without noise, oil, gasoline, oil filters, spark plugs or electrical wires, to save money, energy and Earth. I cut twice a week so I get exercise and only have small grass clippings that compost into the ground. This way I don't have to rake up the grass clippings. I even made a video on the subject called, Less Lawn and More Garden. The Link is under the GTG Video Link above. Take a look, the video isn't long and has some laughs with serious facts.

However, this year's springtime delivered many cool and wet days in my neck of the woods. I could not cut my lawn twice a week. The longer cut blades of grass were turning brown and sitting on top of the newly cut lawn looking ugly. So after all these years I ordered the optional Grass Catcher that hooks onto the front of my mower.

I will still cut my lawn twice a week, but now if I can't cut the lawn because we had rain all week long, I could then use the Grass Catcher.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Roadside Litter

6/10/2019

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litter, litterbugs, pollution, garbage, water bottles, plastic,

We are Infested with Litter Bugs

When will this type of littering stop? One of the largest areas where litter accumulates is a street corner by a red light or stop sign. Especially the street corners at the end of a highway's Off Ramp.

We have an infestation of Litter Bugs and they seem to have an urge to void themselves of all unwanted items after a drive on a highway by tossing them out the car window. From cigarette butts to water bottles and cups we see them piling up and clogging sewer grates.

cigarettes, cigarette butts, litter, litterbugs, pollution, garbage, water bottles, plastic

Cigarette Butt Litter

What these Litter Bugs don't realize is that everything you throw out your car window, even a piece of dental floss, will eventually find its way down the sewer and into our water ways. That means our rivers and oceans. If anyone has gone swimming and a long brownish-gray string came across your face, that is not seaweed, that was someone's used dental floss. More drastic is the fact that fish eat what is in the oceans that we polluted and we eat fish. We are our worst enemy.

Now, since I do not wish to "Be A Triple C" person, that is someone who Constantly Complains and Criticizes. I will also present solutions, because a Triple C person never accomplishes anything and they never help to find solutions or solve a problem. Sadly the majority of our politicians are Triple C people.

Nevertheless, we the individual are the solution and what we need to talk about with our townships is the installation of cameras at the various street corners that have a large volume of litter. The cameras should be relatively easy to move from one location to another when deemed appropriate and should be used to catch people tossing anything out their car windows. License plate numbers will be recorded and a summons mailed to the owner of the car. This money can then be used to clean the litter and our oceans. All without raising taxes.

Don't Be A Triple C and don't be a Litter Bug.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Homemade!

5/28/2019

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compost, topsoil, fertilizer, growing food, going green, sustainable living, goingtruegreen, saving money,

Homemade Compost!

I have been cooking my own compost all winter and I opened one of my two bins this weekend to find about 400 pounds of enriched topsoil, aka fertilizer.

Immediately I placed some around my grape vines, fig tree, blueberry bushes, flowers and food garden. End results, I am saving MONEY big time. What I created in my compost bin was equivalent to about 12 topsoil bags from the store weighing 40 pounds each. Additionally, since my soil is enriched with nutrients, I didn't have to buy any fertilizer either.

Composting can be done on a kitchen counter, apartment building roof tops, back yards or balcony. We need to stop buying a "bill of goods" when we can make enriched topsoil for free. Here is the RECIPE:

First make your own compost bin or buy one of many designs and sizes. I recommend a bin with a lid that locks to keep out animals. Next, place the following ingredients into your compost bin, but never more than two (2) inches high of the same element.

Scraps and remains of fruits
Scraps and remains of vegetables
Add trimmed plant life, but NO diseased plants or flowering weeds
Add grass clippings like the way you use salt and pepper, but grass is not necessary
Add leaves every now and then, but avoid twigs from tree branches
Coffee grinds and paper coffee filters are great to add into the mix each day

Never compost Meat, Dairy, Fish, Bones, Cheese, Oil, Fats, Diseased Plants, Coal, Cat Litter, Plastics, Ash and Paper with Ink or print.

In about 10 weeks the finished product will be nutrient rich top soil that will nourish plants and keep weeds from growing. So look into cooking your own batch this year.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Roof Tops

5/9/2019

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Bill Lauto, roofs, roof repairs, solar, NASA, rain water, collecting rain water, rain barrels, toilets, astronauts, Florida, going green, saving water, saving money, cleaning solar panels, Tesla, gardens, watering flowers, sustainable living, sustainability

Altering Perspective

I have been on a several roof tops recently. A person's perspective is always altered when viewing their surroundings from a different angle, especially from above. I had the good fortune to meet with an American Space Shuttle Astronaut when visiting NASA in Florida one year. His view when in space was an extreme perspective of our Earth. Many astronauts described that view as an altering perspective.

Much closer to the ground, on my rooftop, I just did some air vent repairs and wiped down my solar panels for optimum performance. I also cleaned out the rain gutters to prepare for my next project. Collecting rainwater to flush my toilet!

Tuscany Rain Barrel

I can no longer subscribe to paying money for clean drinkable water to flush away waste. Rainwater is Free and after a filter system to catch roof gravel, I am planning to implement my system for at least one toilet ASAP. I already collect rain water off my roof for my garden and lawn. From Tuscany style rain barrels to a giant rock design holding 80 gallons.

One's perspective must always include all angles to truly see all their surroundings and one's impact on God's green earth.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Pool Cover Water

4/30/2019

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Water, rain water, pool cover, swimming pools, pools, going green, sustainable living, Holy Name Society, lower water bills, save money, money saving ideas

Collected Rain Water

The other day at a Holy Name Society meeting, my friend Roger came over to share a water saving action he came up with before removing his pool's cover.

Roger grabbed my attention by telling me that he came up with a great idea and I would be proud of him. So much so, that I would do a Going True Green blog post on the subject. He was right, so below is his water saving idea.

For everyone who owns a swimming pool on their property or the roof of an apartment building and you have some cold months where you cover the pool, the following can occur: Rain water may accumulate on top of the cover and instead of letting the water spill onto the patio/walkway around or into the pool, siphon off the water for your garden. This rain water is perfect to use with a siphoning hose to water your plants coming up in a garden or flower bed.

Several gallons of water can be sitting on a pool cover, so this is an excellent way to save water and lower your water bills. Just another great action, we as individuals, can take towards being a solution and preventing any possible future environmental issues.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Report Card Time

4/8/2019

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Previously on Going True Green's Blog we spoke about two products that would hopefully save Money, Energy and our Earth. The testing and evaluations are now complete and here are the results:

On February 15, 2019 Going True Green shared information about Eco-Friendly Swedish Dishcloths to see if they would replace a wasteful use of Paper Towels. The blog's title was Cheese Cloth.

On February 26, 2019 Going True Green shared information about Dryer Balls covered in Wool to replace the plastic dryer balls. The blog's title was Woolly Balls - Not Plastic!

Wool, Wool Dryer Balls, no more plastic, plastic, plastic dryer balls, dryer sheets, saving money, saving energy, sustainability, Sustainable Living, environment, green deal, going green, going true green

Wooly Balls

Eco Friendly, sponges, paper towels, dishcloth, cheese rags, cheese cloths, sweetgum, swede, threebluebirds, going green, sustainable living, sustainability, going true green, cellulose, cotton, absorbent, streak free, compostable, biodegradable

Swedish Dishcloths

First I will report on the Wooly Balls for the Dryer. They are working well with no signs of deterioration or ripping. However, sometimes socks do cling to other clothes and this can be observed at the end of the drying cycle when unloading the dryer. They come 3 to a box and all 3 are to be used in the dryer. When 4 Wooly Balls are used in the dryer, the static cling of socks dissipates. The draw back with this, is that we need to buy two boxes instead of just one. For the sake of rating, I will use 5 Oak Leaves with 5 being the best.
The Wooly Balls get 4 Oak Leaves out of 5.

The second product is the Swedish Dishcloths. They are strong and great for cleaning like cloth rags. Also very functional for polishing furniture when mixing a furniture polish/cleaner with water. They show little wear with several rounds of washing them clean. However, they are not good for dusting furniture and they have virtually no absorption ability. This last inability voids any possible replacement of paper towels that are mostly used to dry and clean up a spill.
The Swedish Dishcloths receive 2.5 Oak Leaves out of 5.

That is my report. All in all, the products have their pros and cons. They both help to different degrees, but each one of us will have to decide the full benefits from their use.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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This Easter Read a Historical Novel With 5 Stars!
Upper Room, The Way: 33AD to 57AD
The review below on Goodreads says it all.
Both Digital and Hardcopy available at Amazon.

Easter, Jesus, Upper Room, The Way, L.J. Williams, BBV Publishing, Shroud, Shroud of Turin, crucifixion

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Plastic Clouds

3/19/2019

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Plastics, Plastic Clouds, Microscopic Plastic, Plastic Fibers, aerosol particles, CEDP, Invigorated Process, Super Storms, Severe Storms, small particles, going true green, Bill Lauto, sustainable living, sustainability, going green, environmental issues, climate change, changing climate, greenhouse effect, global warming, BBV Publishing

Is Humankind creating Plastic Clouds?

Is Humankind creating Plastic Clouds? Humankind’s future “may” hold serious repercussions based on the various evidence nature is presenting today with numerous issues. Yet, no one knows when, where or how anything specific may or may not happen. There also isn’t any precedent for exact matching elements in earth’s history that mandates our attitude to be passive or to panic. Scientists don’t know the time frame for any specific disaster, healing or level of harm. Nevertheless, Humankind has created new elements that did not previously exist, so we contribute in various degrees on various issues.

With the injection of plastics into our environmental equation and because everything is connected, we have a contributing factor that quite possibly can be a major catalyst for the severe storms that are occurring around the world. After reading multiple studies on two different topics and presenting at two lectures, one in Rome and the other in New York, I am asking the scientific community to investigate a possible clandestine connection between plastic and severe storms. Combining available data from multiple studies done on microplastic fibers and studies done on severe storm conditions, problematic possibilities are presented for an ever growing interconnecting issue. Recent findings show that the smallest of particles, smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair, have a prodigious role in creating large storm clouds. Taking data from these research projects, I present the hypotheses that the microfiber plastic we have been adding into our environment "may" actually be a player in any stronger Invigorating Convection process of storms.

The first topic on plastic is now quantifying what has been a growing concern for many years regarding the issue with plastics and the environment. We have significant evidence that we are drinking, breathing and eating plastic fibers. One main source of plastic particulates has been shown to come from a single wash load that can release up to 700,000 Microplastic fibers into our waterways. The clothes we wear today that contain plastic, outnumber clothes made of cotton and wool. Cotton and wool naturally decay, plastic does not.
Please see my previous blog: Plastic Water, Air and Food on December 27, 2017.

The second topic has research showing how tiny particles have an impact on storm clouds. The smallest of dirt particles will rise to the top of storm clouds making the cloud bigger and the storm more severe. I am now questioning if microscopic particulates made of plastic can be a factor in larger cloud formations, holding in heat, producing more rain and larger storms. A serious interconnecting problem may be manifesting between these two environmental concerns. The question became: How are microscopic plastic particulates getting into our atmosphere?

Research Studies have shown that tiny particles are a catalysts for more powerful storms and influence weather far greater than previously known. Small particles of dust, dirt and pollutants, known as aerosols, help form clouds and air pollution created by nature and man are all contributing to this water cycle. Particles smaller than one-thousandth the width of a human hair can create clouds to grow taller, intensify the storm and cause more rain to fall. These ultra fine particles less than 50 nanometers wide were studied to learn their role in the development of a thunderstorm. The data comes from 21 authors and 15 institutions world wide that conducted a study operated by Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility.

From this research scientists found that the ultra-small particles are numerous and plentiful. They can form many small droplets where excess water vapor can condense. This increase in condensation will release more heat, which in turn makes the updrafts so much more dominant. Increase the amount of warm air to be accumulated into the cloud and we have more droplets aloft to create additional rain, hail, snow and lightning. This process known as the Invigorated Convection, though the popular phrase used by the media is now Super Storm after Sandy struck the Northeast coast.

Plastic Sparkles On Greeting Cards

Weathering Plastic Fence Decor

From all these implications, facts and queries, I present the theory that aerosol microplastic particles from worn down and weathered CEDPs (Common EveryDay Plastics) may be a new culprit to changing our climate by being a player in the Invigorating Convection process. This theoretical connection between Microplastic Fibers and Severe Storms needs to be evaluated. If microscopic particles from CEDPs are proven to be an increasing contributing factor, humankind must realize that we are all guilty. From plastic sparkles on cards to outdoor plastic fence decor, we are all putting plastic particles into our environment everyday.

Humankind needs to be intelligent about our evaluations, approach and solutions that incorporate feasible transition periods. As I proffer this theory where microplastic fibers play a role in more severe storms, a full scientific study must be done. Without any research conducted nor samples taken to be examined from the highest point of severe storm clouds, this remains a theory.

Through educating and providing a long list of solutions on all topics makes the needed difference when implemented world wide. All of humankind is on the same team.

(For additional knowledge, please use the Link below to receive an email on when my first book is published. The title is: Plastic Clouds) Thank you.

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

PLASTIC CLOUDS
by William J. Lauto; Environmental Scientist, Naturalist, International Sustainability & Energy Consultant
Is Humankind creating Plastic Clouds?
How are microscopic plastic particulates getting into our atmosphere?
What are weathered CEDPs?
From plastic sparkles on cards to outdoor plastic fence decor, are we all guilty?
What are the solutions and isn't all of humankind on the same team?

Please use the Image Link to receive an email on info to Pre-Order or when my book is published. Expected date of publishing is before the end of Spring 2020. Thank you.

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