quote:

Originally posted by Todd T:
I work in heavy industry and design specialty cleaning chemicals. If we all obey the rules, clean water won't be a problem. I have to design my cleaning chemicals to be acceptable to my customers' sewer department. They in turn have to make sure they clean up the water according to federal guidelines. We work together to design a safe solution. In many cases, the water discharged by the plants is much cleaner than the water in the streams. That's how it should work. That is... if everybody does it according to the rules.

My chemicals are all designed to be readily biodegradable or reclaimed for BTU recovery. But, they still need to be disposed of in a water treatment plant. That's the right way.

Meanwhile, individuals dump anything and everything on the ground. And it adds up. Working up in Minnesota years ago I was on the 6th floor of a hotel situated on the banks of the Mississippi. I was looking across the river to a neighborhood where a guy was washing his car. The soap suds were running down his driveway to the gutter and on to a storm drain which drained directly into the river. Add that a gazillion times as the Mississippi heads toward New Orleans (where I started school) and you can see the problem.

It's good that we can buy biodegradable cleaners. But, I once heard an EPA official say "A dead horse is biodegradable but I don't want one in my backyard!" Chicken litter is biodegradable, but too much of a good thing can do damage as well. It's all about finding balance.

The good news is I work with some guys (much smarter than me) who have a real knack at turning waste into something positive. That chicken litter can be converted into energy and a mild fertilizer. With the right bugs, hazardous waste can be converted to plant food.

I got into heavy industry in '81. When the OSHA and EPA rules got more and more strict in the mid-'80s I remember making a personal commitment to learn how to work within the rules rather than hide from them. I've had a personal goal of redesigning my old chemicals and engineering my new ones to be readily biodegradable and made from renewable/sustainable ingredients.

It's easy to talk about the environment. It's better to have a hand in doing something about it. And all of us can. We're already doing it by being involved in renewable fuels (biodiesel/WVO). We can do more by learning about the chemicals we use. I wouldn't even think of using most of the ingredients found in the chemicals in the paint department or automotive department at Wal-mart. Meanwhile, I find the ingredients to my chemicals in the pharmaceutical/cosmetic aisle as well as in the grocery department.

By the way, I'm working on a "renewable methanol". All methanol on the market today is made from natural gas. We're working on methanol and other products from sustainable feedstock. In many ways, we're eliminating pollution AND reducing the use of fossil fuels at the same time. How cool is that?