Potato Chip Ingredient Provides Longevity Boost to Concrete

Who would've thought that the flavoring that helps give "salt & vinegar" chips their tasty tang could also help protect concrete from water damage? A new study by Awni Al-Otoom and his colleagues in Jordan has revealed that sodium acetate, a chemical commonly used in flavored chips (and a variety of other products and processes) — can work as a cheap and effective concrete sealant by providing a waterproof coating.
As they note in their study, concrete — though one of the most widely used construction materials — suffers from a high porosity that allows water to soak in and cause cracks and other problems when the water expands or changes state. And while sealants are widely available, most have serious shortcomings. In their trials, the scientists demonstrated that sodium acetate could seep into pores in concrete and crystallize upon exposure to water — blocking the entry of any further moisture. Once the crystals shrink back under dry conditions, the moisture is allowed to evaporate.
The net benefit according to Al-Otoom and his team: a large reduction in water permeability that "can be expected to increase the service life of the concrete." And though we're no big fans of concrete, it'd be nice to see a similar, more environmentally-friendly approach taken to strengthen other construction materials.

seafood from china unscreened

In the united states we are supposed to have tight regulations on food that is imported for consumption. Then why did over one million pounds of seafood make it to dinner tables across america without being screened. This is another story of departments saying they have all of these strict rules, but somehow forget to follow them. We as americans need to hold people accountable for their actions and try to be a collective group of citizens that are worried about their well being.

IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON FOOD SUPPLIES AND ENVIRONMENT

by David Pimentel, Xuewen Huang, Ana Cordova, and Marcia Pimentel

Submitted for publication to Population and Development Review, New York, NY, USA

As the world population continues to grow geometrically, great pressure is being placed on arable land, water, energy, and biological resources to provide an adequate supply of food while maintaining the integrity of our ecosystem. According to the World Bank and the United Nations, from 1 to 2 billion humans are now malnourished, indicating a combination of insufficient food, low incomes, and inadequate distribution of food. This is the largest number of hungry humans ever recorded in history. In China about 80 million are now malnourished and hungry. Based on current rates of increase, the world population is projected to double from roughly 6 billion to more than 12 billion in less than 50 years (Pimentel et al., 1994). As the world population expands, the food problem will become increasingly severe, conceivably with the numbers of malnourished reaching 3 billion.

ttp://dieoff.org/page57.htm

I think this a huge concern right now in the world. As our population grows the amount of areas in which there is adequate land has decreased. As the years pass and our population grows how will we be able to make up for the shortage that is already effecting our earth.

Riam Fox

Industrial agriculture and corporate power

Within past50 yrs industrial agriculture has become the dominant for producing food,instead of the small family oriented farms. why?because of high demand for more food .the smaller farms can not produce so much food so now the machines have taken over.today industrial food system is the biggest agribusiness.




www.panna.org/resources/gpc/gpc /200308.13.2.02.duhtml

Expensive Water

Pablo Paster did a study of how much a bottle of Fiji water costs. It starts with the bottle made in China, the transportation of the bottle to Fiji, the cost to fill the bottle of water, and the cost to ship it to the U.S. It show the statistics to produce 1 kilogram of water and ship it to the U.S. The numbers are astonashing. To read more go to this link.........

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/pablo_calculate.php

deforestation plays critical climate change role

This article is about the role deforestation plays in adding greenhouse gases by way of slash and burning and how it will effect the worlds temps in the future. Deforestation acccounts for 20% of the carbon released into the atmosphere and will play a major part in the increase in global temps for many years to come. If it is to be stopped many governments need to inflict stronger rules as to slash and burning and strip farming. The way alot of deserts are formed in areas where they were once fertile is by clear cutting and farming until all of the nutrients are gone then abandoning the land and letting wind erosion take over. If we are to control the effect we have on the planet these all need to be carefully addressed.

Zero Waste....Or Darn Near

Zero Waste is a movement designed to end almost all waste. They are pushing for redesigned products and packing materials through reuse, recyling, or composting. Designing products for the environment, not for the dump. They are also holding manufacturers responsible for the waste and environmental impact their product and packaging creates, rather than passing on the responsibility on to the consumer. Another good point is that more jobs can be created through recycling than landfills. These options sound good to me!

http://www.grrn.org/zerowaste/articles/biocycle_zw_commentary.html

Marketing Junk Food to Children

In June, Kellogg announced new guidelines for marketing to children and won praise from the people who make health policies. The Center for Science in the Public Interest,dropped a lawsuit against Kellogg after this announcement. But by the end of the month, Kellogg had introduced another product aimed at children..Froot Loops Cereal Straws, which sweetens the milk children drink as it passes through the straw, in order to get the same effect as the sweetened milk left at the bottom of a bowl of Fruit Loops.

Here are the ingredients:

Ingredients: WHEAT FLOUR, SUGAR, VEGETABLE OIL (PALM, SHEANUT, AND COTTONSEED OILS), MALTODEXTRIN, FRUCTOSE, NONFAT MILK, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF GLUCOSE SYRUP, EGGS, SOY LECITHIN, SALT, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, PGPR (POLYGLYCEROL POLYRICINOLEIC ACID), NATURAL ORANGE, LEMON, LIME AND OTHER NATURAL FLAVORS, YELLOW #6, RED #40, YELLOW #5, NIACINAMIDE, BLUE #1, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), TOCOPHEROLS FOR FRESHNESS, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), SESAME FLOUR, VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.

140 calories, including 12g of sugar and 3.5g of fat, including 2g of saturated fat

Who is watching the food industy ??

http://usfoodpolicy.blogspot.com/2007/06/kelloggs-fruit-loops-cereal-straws-and.html


Chris Olson

Lets not boil our pasta in sewage.

With over 70% of the earth consisting of water and the human body consiting of 81% water why do people still pollute our water? Many of us do not realize that we are polluting our drinking water. What about when you ferilize your lawn and then over water it for the fertilizer to run into the drainage systems? What about when you don't pick up after your dog each time they go to the bathroom? What about when you wash down your sidewalks or driveway and let all the leaves go down the sewer drain? Lastly what about chemicals, oil, and gas leaking and then carried into the sewer drains? Humans are very good at consuming water, but are not very good when it comes to protecting water. Please think about the next time you are going to wash those leaves down the sewer drain.

www.grinningplanet.com