If I still had a doubt regarding which operating system I wanted to use in my next laptop computer, it disappeared when I read this: Linux is not only cheaper and safer that Apple’s and Microsoft’s proprietary systems, but it’s also more ecologic!
The Australian ZDNet listed 10 items on which Linux beats its rivals in environmental matters. For example, because Linux is lighter, it doesn’t need a very powerful computer to work appropriately, which saves energy.
I know that many people are reluctant to use computers based on Linux, alleging that Linux is too complicated and that they are already used to “Ruindows” by M$. The first argument used to be true, but it isn’t anymore. Check out Ubuntu and tell me what you think. I worked for the government of the city of Sao Paulo during the implementation of the local digital inclusion project and saw people from the outskirts of the city using Linux very easily. I asked some of them if they found it much different and their answer was kind of obvious: of course not; after all, they were using a computer for the first time.
This leads us to the second issue, the habit of using this or that program. Well, you may be used to drive a car and start taking a bus for financial reasons and/or environmental awareness. You are not used to giving rides but start doing it more often. You may be used to brushing your teeth with a running faucet and then find yourself having to get used to not doing it. And so on so forth.
Changing our habits (especially the bad ones) is crucial to drive us to new levels of civilization, one where there is respect for the environment, for people and for the rules of life in society, even in this great capitalist market. Sharing, tolerating, reusing and recycling. Everything in life is a matter of choice. And our choices define our future.
This piece of news published by Setor Reciclagem called my attention. The battery industry hasn’t organized a collection system yet. What do you mean, Bial? I searched for more information on this and, as always, found some great material on How Stuff Works (and terrible links that took me nowhere). Straight from the source.
Every year, 1.2 billion batteries and 400 million cell phone batteries are sold in Brazil, says the data from the Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association (Abinee). This gigantic amount of batteries that goes to the market also has a limited lifetime and usually ends up in the regular garbage. Since 2000, all batteries produced in Brazil have very low or near zero levels of heavy and pollutant metals such as cadmium, mercury and zinc, as establishes directive number 257 issued in 1999 by the National Council of Environment (Conama). Because of this law, the heavy metals present in batteries and cell phone batteries offer a low risk of pollution, which could lead people to agree with the industry executives’ claims that their batteries can be disposed into the garbage.
The point is that the Brazilian reality doesn’t help. The disposal of ordinary batteries as regular garbage requires a good sanitary landfill management system, found only in 10% of the Brazilian landfills, according to estimates by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Renewable Resources (Ibama). Also, not every battery in the market meets the standard—there are “illegal batteries.”
Incipient in Brazil, the level of recycling or reuse of batteries is very low. Suzaquim is the only company that does it, recycling approximately 6 million batteries per year—less than 1% of what is sold. Manufacturers of cell phone batteries, for instance, collect and ship them to recyclers outside Brazil.
“We do have the appropriate technology to handle used batteries in the Brazil; what we don’t have is enough raw material [used batteries],” said Professor Marcelo Mansur, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (DEMET), Federal University of Minas Gerais (on the article reproduced by Setor Reciclagem). To sum up: by throwing our batteries into the regular garbage we are turning their recycling into something unfeasible. This is exactly what the industry is doing: hindering a process that could generate profits and eliminate risks to our health. These companies should do as TetraPak, who invented the Recycling Route just to help in the collection of their packages. Morons!
The leading battery brands—Duracell (click on disposal; watch out, the website is poorly organized), Rayovac and Panasonic—include this message in their labels: dispose of as regular garbage. Note: together, these brands account for over 50% of the battery market. Although it is not illegal to dispose of batteries as household waste when they are in compliance with the maximum levels of heavy metals—cadmium, zinc, lead, manganese and mercury—the fact remains that only 35% of the approximately 5,000 cities in Brazil have sanitary landfills. Most of the cities still use open landfills with poor environmental quality control.
Also, it is estimated that 40% of the batteries found in the market are smuggled into the country and do not meet the environmental safety standards. These batteries are usually manufactured in Asia, especially in China, and have high concentration of cadmium and lead, sometimes in levels 10 times above those established by the Conama directive number 257/1998. Meanwhile, their zinc and manganese levels—active elements in batteries—are lower than the minimum threshold established by said directive, which decreases the lifetime of the product and therefore increases the amount of disposed of products and also the level of pollution.
The website of the Ministry of Environment has a list of collection stations hidden somewhere there. I tried every kind of search and didn’t find it! I went to the main page, but didn’t find any useful information there.
One of the answers of the oracle: contact your local Secretariat of Environment. I went to the portal of the Government of the City of Sao Paulo, which is very good. One piece of news: Cantinho Ecológico protects the environment in the Sao Mateus area. Surely, there are some banks (Real, for example) and cell phone companies (unwillingly, by the way) that are doing their part. In a country where not even the street garbage bins manage to survive the population’s actions, what else can we expect?
Just wait because I’m going to approach this issue again.
In time: some Posts for Volunteer Waste Collection (PEV) do have a container for batteries and cell phone batteries. Remember to sort them out…
Photo: Old Batteries, Eva The Weaver, at Flickr under CC
A Timeline built by the Ecofriend website shows the evolution of several technologies that make use of renewable energy sources.
Did you know that the first wind turbine was built in 1868? And that the Egyptians were the first to develop the technology for building dams in 2750 BC? Do not miss the opportunity to visit “The evolution of renewable energy”.
Tip: eco.microsiervos
Rodrigo Barba
Dialogue overheard by my colleague Baitelo, during a discussion on energy efficiency held this Thursday in Brasilia:
Minister Edison LobĂŁo (Mines and Energy): The refrigerator exchange program plans to replace 10 million refrigerators, which is the equivalent of a power plant that produces 500 MW.
Minister MĂşcio Monteiro: Brazilians are incredibly attached to their old fridges, and either put them in another room or leave them outside to cool their beer. Are you planning on taking away my old fridge?
Lobão: Yes. We’ll take your fridge based on a military order and melt it.
MĂşcio: This will cause me great grief.
Brazil is no country for amateurs…
Read this while listening to the Mutantes’ song “O Meu Refrigerador NĂŁo Funciona,” (My Refrigerator Doesn’t Work).
When the Arctic Sunrise ship became visible in the horizon, still far way, tiny, sailing on the ocean in front of the hotel where I’m staying, I must confess that it made me pretty excited. Between phone calls and e-mails, and while I worked organizing the media attendance to register the moment, I would take a quick pause to watch that little spot on the ocean, getting closer, closer… until suddenly, there it was! The entire crew was on the side of the ship holding a huge banner with the theme for the expedition that we’re using in Brazil and pictures of the huge wind turbines that have been installed near the port.
The gang spent three days at sea, and many of them got really seasick—the Arctic is an ice breaker vessel and draws very high, which makes it swing a lot so that even the most experienced sailors can feel seasick—but everybody was there, happy, smiling and ready to do whatever was necessary. It’s a pleasure to see the gang working hard to further the project. Mari tells us about the arrival, in the expedition’s blog, from the perspective of those on board. I was in one of the two trawlers we had arranged to take the press to sea, near the ship, to get some images. We handed out Dramamine to prevent any embarrassments, and followed the Arctic until it docked at the Mucuripe Port. Tomorrow we’ll have a seminar on renewable energy on board the ship, with the participation of local public authorities, experts in the area (Steve Sawyer, from the Global Wind Energy Council will be there), and people from Greenpeace to discuss the potential of Ceara’s wind—the greatest potential in the country. I’m a little under the weather with a cold (thanks to that awful air-conditioner and today’s strong winds), so I’m going to stop here. I’m going to rest, read a bit, and listen to some music in my hotel room. The gang is on the ship, celebrating its arrival.  A toast to everybody from here, with some orange juice, some vitamin C tablets and some propolis spray for my throat. Cheers!
Read this post at the O Escriba blog: Good winds bring the Arctic Sunrise to Fortaleza
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