Wilcox students attend Second Annual Green Business Conference
Three speakers discuss environmental problems within the Bay Area
By Jonathan Kwan
Did you know that the air inside your home is approximately five times more contaminated than the air outside? Scary huh? On Friday, March 16, 2007, environment conscious citizens discussed this and another problems within our environment at the Second Annual Green Business Conference.
Four members of Wilcox's UnGarbage Crew decided to attend the Green Business Conference. Joanna Hoang, Jonathan Kwan, Chris Simpson, and Jennifer Vu were honored for being the only high school students there.
In the Green Business Conference, there were three speakers that approached the environmental problems of our current society. Yoriko Kishimoto, the Mayor of Palo Alto, spoke about "the greening of Palo Alto." Jessie Denver of the city of San Jose discussed "green" janitorial products. Julie Weiss of the city of Palo Alto talked about pollution prevention.
According to the first speaker, Kishimoto, this organization (Green Business) began in the city of Palo Alto. Its current headquarters are located in Palo Alto as well. Their main goal is to mind affordable environmental friendly products.
Kishimoto also talked about the impacts that the organization has had upon the Bay Area. Some businesses in the Palo Alto district have changed aspects of their operation to make themselves more environment friendly. According to Kishimoto these changes have made the area more prosperous.
The second speaker, Jessie Denver, focused more on the average household. Denver spoke about the janitorial products that many average citizens use in their homes. These products have caused fish mutations in common creeks and rivers. The mutations are mainly focused upon the endocrine system: male fish have been seen to produce eggs. Furthermore, Denver spoke about popular brands of cleaning products (such as Windex, Lysol, and Pledge) and how the combination of chemicals put into these cleaning products are harmful to the environment as well as the household.
The government cannot do much about this, because there has been a law passed which declared that “manufacturers are not required to reveal ingredients in products” because they are “trade secrets.” Triclosan is one main ingredient that causes many of the fish mutations. It is apparent in about 75% of liquid soaps and 30% of bar soaps. Some other harmful ingredients mentioned include nitrobenzene, perchloroethylene, and methylchloroform.
She also mentioned a “Green Seal.” It is a mark that is placed on an object that meets a certain standard in areas of toxicity, carcinogens, reproductive toxins, skin and eye irritations, combustibility, smog, ozone, indoor air quality, aquatic toxicity, biodegradability, concentrates, and fragrances.
Julie Weiss, the third and last speaker, talked about pollution prevention. She discussed what the state has been doing to try to prevent the amount of pollution. Currently, there is a regional water quality control plant that cleans 28 million gallons of water a day. There are 38 other plants just like this one.
A huge problem discussed in this conference was how people consistently dump in street drains. They stressed that water dumped in sewers was not filtered and would flow directly to the bay. They mainly focused on people who would wash their cars and just let the water flow down the street into the drain. These cleaning products that flow into the bay can cause a decreased supply of oxygen and kill huge numbers of fish.
Another huge problem addressed was the pounds of copper that leak into our bays. Some of the more flamboyant problems with copper are old buildings that have huge copper roofs. Every time it rains, a layer of copper is taken off of these roofs and taken into the street drains. An excess of copper flowing into the bay also causes many environmental problems such as the mass killing of fish. One other big problem of copper usage is car brakes. Every time one steps on car brakes, little chips of copper drop onto the street, and once it rains, it’ll flow into the storm drains.
Weiss also discussed recycling mercury containing products. She stressed the recycling of mercury containing products the most because of the possible hazardous effects to humans if consumed. The process of recycling mercury-containing products is a bit tedious. It is not like recycling paper. One must call a hazardous waste program to recycle these products. The Santa Clara Hazardous Waste Program has a website of www.hhw.org, and its phone number is (408) 299-7300.
The last focus of Weiss’s speech is the disposing of oil and grease. She stressed that oil and grease should not be dumped down a drain. If done so, in severe amounts, it may back up an entire neighborhood’s sewer system, and even in some cases, ooze out of a manhole. Other times, it will end up on the sides of rivers and completely destroy a particular habitat.
Throughout this entire conference, they consistently talked about what people could do better in their homes to help the entire environment. The entire conference focused on one individual changing their actions to make our society “greener.”
Three speakers discuss environmental problems within the Bay Area
By Jonathan Kwan
Did you know that the air inside your home is approximately five times more contaminated than the air outside? Scary huh? On Friday, March 16, 2007, environment conscious citizens discussed this and another problems within our environment at the Second Annual Green Business Conference.
Four members of Wilcox's UnGarbage Crew decided to attend the Green Business Conference. Joanna Hoang, Jonathan Kwan, Chris Simpson, and Jennifer Vu were honored for being the only high school students there.
In the Green Business Conference, there were three speakers that approached the environmental problems of our current society. Yoriko Kishimoto, the Mayor of Palo Alto, spoke about "the greening of Palo Alto." Jessie Denver of the city of San Jose discussed "green" janitorial products. Julie Weiss of the city of Palo Alto talked about pollution prevention.
According to the first speaker, Kishimoto, this organization (Green Business) began in the city of Palo Alto. Its current headquarters are located in Palo Alto as well. Their main goal is to mind affordable environmental friendly products.
Kishimoto also talked about the impacts that the organization has had upon the Bay Area. Some businesses in the Palo Alto district have changed aspects of their operation to make themselves more environment friendly. According to Kishimoto these changes have made the area more prosperous.
The second speaker, Jessie Denver, focused more on the average household. Denver spoke about the janitorial products that many average citizens use in their homes. These products have caused fish mutations in common creeks and rivers. The mutations are mainly focused upon the endocrine system: male fish have been seen to produce eggs. Furthermore, Denver spoke about popular brands of cleaning products (such as Windex, Lysol, and Pledge) and how the combination of chemicals put into these cleaning products are harmful to the environment as well as the household.
The government cannot do much about this, because there has been a law passed which declared that “manufacturers are not required to reveal ingredients in products” because they are “trade secrets.” Triclosan is one main ingredient that causes many of the fish mutations. It is apparent in about 75% of liquid soaps and 30% of bar soaps. Some other harmful ingredients mentioned include nitrobenzene, perchloroethylene, and methylchloroform.
She also mentioned a “Green Seal.” It is a mark that is placed on an object that meets a certain standard in areas of toxicity, carcinogens, reproductive toxins, skin and eye irritations, combustibility, smog, ozone, indoor air quality, aquatic toxicity, biodegradability, concentrates, and fragrances.
Julie Weiss, the third and last speaker, talked about pollution prevention. She discussed what the state has been doing to try to prevent the amount of pollution. Currently, there is a regional water quality control plant that cleans 28 million gallons of water a day. There are 38 other plants just like this one.
A huge problem discussed in this conference was how people consistently dump in street drains. They stressed that water dumped in sewers was not filtered and would flow directly to the bay. They mainly focused on people who would wash their cars and just let the water flow down the street into the drain. These cleaning products that flow into the bay can cause a decreased supply of oxygen and kill huge numbers of fish.
Another huge problem addressed was the pounds of copper that leak into our bays. Some of the more flamboyant problems with copper are old buildings that have huge copper roofs. Every time it rains, a layer of copper is taken off of these roofs and taken into the street drains. An excess of copper flowing into the bay also causes many environmental problems such as the mass killing of fish. One other big problem of copper usage is car brakes. Every time one steps on car brakes, little chips of copper drop onto the street, and once it rains, it’ll flow into the storm drains.
Weiss also discussed recycling mercury containing products. She stressed the recycling of mercury containing products the most because of the possible hazardous effects to humans if consumed. The process of recycling mercury-containing products is a bit tedious. It is not like recycling paper. One must call a hazardous waste program to recycle these products. The Santa Clara Hazardous Waste Program has a website of www.hhw.org, and its phone number is (408) 299-7300.
The last focus of Weiss’s speech is the disposing of oil and grease. She stressed that oil and grease should not be dumped down a drain. If done so, in severe amounts, it may back up an entire neighborhood’s sewer system, and even in some cases, ooze out of a manhole. Other times, it will end up on the sides of rivers and completely destroy a particular habitat.
Throughout this entire conference, they consistently talked about what people could do better in their homes to help the entire environment. The entire conference focused on one individual changing their actions to make our society “greener.”