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CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
How to spot greenwashing and buy actual green products
Is water in a box really better for the environment? What about sneakers labeled eco-friendly? How about green-accented soap bottles with plant visuals? These words and images may look environmentally friendly, but they could also stem from a marketing strategy known as greenwashing. The practice occurs when companies sell the idea of 'green' products while accomplishing little or nothing for the environment. There is a growing market for products that minimize damage to the environment, according to Todd Larsen, executive codirector for consumer and corporate engagement at Green America, a nonprofit that certifies environmentally responsible businesses and promotes ethical consumption. Forty-six percent of people said they are purchasing more sustainable products to help the environment in a 2024 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 20,000 participants across 31 countries and territories. Purchasing more sustainably is prevalent especially among younger people, Larsen said, leading some companies to engage in deceptive marketing practices that exploit consumer values. Greenwashing misleads the public to 'believe that a company or other entity is doing more to protect the environment than it is,' all while promoting false, distracting solutions to the climate crisis, according to the United Nations. The UN has identified several tactics commonly used in greenwashing: making unsubstantiated net-zero claims, in which a company says it balances the amount of greenhouse gas emissions with the amount it removes from the atmosphere; highlighting minor improvements in which a product meets minimum regulatory requirements; and emphasizing a single attribute while ignoring the product's or company's broader environmental impact. Greenwashing occurs mostly when companies 'overcommunicate or under-communicate' on sustainability performance, according to Andreas Rasche, a professor of business in society at the Centre for Sustainability at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. Misleading branding, vague claims and unregulated labels on products make it difficult for consumers who are aiming to reduce their environmental footprint to make informed decisions, Rasche said. But not all greenwashing by companies is intentional, he said. Rather than outright deception, 'greenwashing can be an outcome of poor management rather than a deliberate strategy,' Rasche said. These companies may want to produce their products in ways more beneficial to the environment but may fall short internally, he added. On the other hand, some companies overcompensate out of fear of appearing to greenwash through the practice of 'greenhushing,' which Rasche defines as individuals or organizations 'deliberately not talking about sustainability despite them actually having a sustainable track record.' Buying sustainable products does not have to be an overwhelming endeavor. If something sounds too good to be true about being kinder to the planet, it probably is. When it comes to spotting green products, 'a lot of it is also about common sense,' Rasche said. Here are some red flags to watch out for to avoid greenwashing: Overly vague claims: Look for terms such as eco-friendly, green or nontoxic without explanation. Companies can essentially slap those terms onto a package without proof, according to Scott Faber, the Environmental Working Group's senior vice president for government affairs. With a lack of oversight, 'it's just another way to sell a story,' Faber told CNN via email. EWG is a nonprofit research and advocacy group that focuses on consumer health, toxic chemicals and pollutants. A newer term circulating is 'regenerative,' Faber said, which companies often use to mean extending beyond sustainability to actively restoring, renewing or improving components of the environment and resources. People should expect to see that term more frequently despite there being no widely accepted or legal definition of what it means, he said. Unlike organic labeling, which is required to undergo audits and meet legal standards, 'most claims that foods regenerate soil aren't tied to such standards and don't require third-party verification,' Faber said. Nature imagery: Visuals such as windmills, green packaging or leafy visuals, suggestive of sustainability, mean nothing if they omit evidence of any environmental claims, according to Faber. No verification: No backup of a product's claims or credible third-party certification means those assertions might not be true. 'Companies should really substantiate in what way their product actually is green. So that could be a trusted certification, like USDA (US Department of Agriculture) organic,' Green America's Larsen said. 'Or they could have information on their website where they go into detail about things like their supply chain and how it's truly green, and they actually are showing you information that's verifiable.' Homemade labels that lack verification: Check if a company provides transparent information about its practices online. Claims that defy logic: What about a carbon-neutral airline? Carbon-neutral means achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by balancing 'those emissions so they are equal to, or less than, the emissions removed,' according to the United Nations. Ask yourself, 'Is this actually possible?' Rasche advised. 'Can an airline at this point in time really be carbon-neutral?' Doing your homework about a product, especially one you buy a lot, can be worth it. Experts advise looking for certifications, questioning unsubstantiated language and visuals, and conducting an online search for a product and company to learn about how goods are made and whether there is evidence for what the company says. Faber suggests asking yourself a series of questions: Who is verifying the claim? Is the claim specific or too general to be proven? What's missing? Is the packaging more prominent than the product? The 'what's missing' question is often the most important to ask, Faber said. 'A cereal box might brag about recycled packaging but still use pesticide-laced oats,' he said. 'A meat company might call their beef 'regeneratively raised' without saying anything about antibiotic use.' Experts also recommend turning to the US Environmental Protection Agency's list of more than 100 ecolabels recommended for consumers on its website. Ecolabels are marks on products that show they meet specific environmental standards. 'It's a bit of work, but on the other hand, you're really learning about the products you're purchasing, and you can feel better about those products,' Larsen said. 'You can tell other people what you learned about those products and encourage them to purchase them as well.' The United Nations also suggests consumers consider a product's entire life cycle — from the extraction of raw materials to its disposal — while taking into account potential environmental consequences from the packaging materials. There is also the option to buy secondhand goods, a double win by granting new life for products and preventing further landfill waste or emissions. Spotting greenwashing in the food industry requires a little bit of work, too. You can identify deceptive packaging and vague labels, and there are additional clues in ingredient lists to see how processed a product may be. When it comes to packaging, 'if a product screams 'natural' in bold letters but the ingredient list reads like a chemistry textbook, that's a red flag,' Faber noted. 'These claims are often designed to cover up ingredients linked to serious health harms.' Such ingredients include potentially harmful additives like food dyes. He pointed to the Environmental Working Group's Food Scores, which can help consumers 'see past the front-of-pack claims and understand what's really in their food.' An effective way to avoid misleading marketing of food is to make your own meal or snack without unhealthy additives. And although not always feasible, Larsen suggests going straight to the source when possible by speaking with a farmer at a farmers market to learn about growing practices and products. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has Green Guides designed as guidance for marketers to avoid making environmental claims that are deceptive or could mislead consumers. However, there is a lack of strong legal enforcement for them and federal oversight beyond that guidance, according to Larsen and Rasche. 'While the Green Guides are just that, guides and not rules or regulations, they are enforceable under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prevents unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce,' FTC spokesman Mitchell Katz told CNN via email. Consumers can file complaints about alleged fraud and deception from companies on the 'report fraud' tab on the FTC's website. The gap between guidance and regulation leaves room for companies to make environmental claims that may not hold up. Well-known brands have faced consequences for statements found to be misleading about the recyclability or sustainability of their products. Keurig Dr Pepper settled charges filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission last year after labeling its K-Cup single-use beverage pods as recyclable, even though two of the largest US recycling companies rejected the pods. A Keurig Dr Pepper spokesperson told CNN via email that the company has taken steps to make its products recyclable and to support modern recycling systems across North America. 'In 2020, we changed all of our K-Cup pods to be made from polypropylene — a more widely accepted material in curbside recycling programs,' the spokesperson said. 'We also provide clear recycling instructions on our packaging and encourage consumers to check locally as each community determines what it accepts into its recycling program.' With sustainability regulations facing rollback in the United States, it is increasingly incumbent on individuals to protect themselves in their consumption habits, Larsen said. 'We all are investors. We all have pension savings. We all go to the supermarket, so it depends also on us and on our day-to-day behavior,' Rasche noted. 'And we shouldn't feel too disempowered, because, in a sense, we also have action' in our everyday choices. Be sure to know what is real, he said, because when you really buy green, you're contributing to a more sustainable future. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Greener newsletter. Our limited newsletter series guides you on how to minimize your personal role in the climate crisis — and reduce your eco-anxiety.
CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
How to spot greenwashing and buy actual green products
Sustainability Air quality Pollution Climate changeFacebookTweetLink Follow Is water in a box really better for the environment? What about sneakers labeled eco-friendly? How about green-accented soap bottles with plant visuals? These words and images may look environmentally friendly, but they could also stem from a marketing strategy known as greenwashing. The practice occurs when companies sell the idea of 'green' products while accomplishing little or nothing for the environment. There is a growing market for products that minimize damage to the environment, according to Todd Larsen, executive codirector for consumer and corporate engagement at Green America, a nonprofit that certifies environmentally responsible businesses and promotes ethical consumption. Forty-six percent of people said they are purchasing more sustainable products to help the environment in a 2024 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 20,000 participants across 31 countries and territories. Purchasing more sustainably is prevalent especially among younger people, Larsen said, leading some companies to engage in deceptive marketing practices that exploit consumer values. Greenwashing misleads the public to 'believe that a company or other entity is doing more to protect the environment than it is,' all while promoting false, distracting solutions to the climate crisis, according to the United Nations. The UN has identified several tactics commonly used in greenwashing: making unsubstantiated net-zero claims, in which a company says it balances the amount of greenhouse gas emissions with the amount it removes from the atmosphere; highlighting minor improvements in which a product meets minimum regulatory requirements; and emphasizing a single attribute while ignoring the product's or company's broader environmental impact. Greenwashing occurs mostly when companies 'overcommunicate or under-communicate' on sustainability performance, according to Andreas Rasche, a professor of business in society at the Centre for Sustainability at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. Misleading branding, vague claims and unregulated labels on products make it difficult for consumers who are aiming to reduce their environmental footprint to make informed decisions, Rasche said. But not all greenwashing by companies is intentional, he said. Rather than outright deception, 'greenwashing can be an outcome of poor management rather than a deliberate strategy,' Rasche said. These companies may want to produce their products in ways more beneficial to the environment but may fall short internally, he added. On the other hand, some companies overcompensate out of fear of appearing to greenwash through the practice of 'greenhushing,' which Rasche defines as individuals or organizations 'deliberately not talking about sustainability despite them actually having a sustainable track record.' Buying sustainable products does not have to be an overwhelming endeavor. If something sounds too good to be true about being kinder to the planet, it probably is. When it comes to spotting green products, 'a lot of it is also about common sense,' Rasche said. Here are some red flags to watch out for to avoid greenwashing: Overly vague claims: Look for terms such as eco-friendly, green or nontoxic without explanation. Companies can essentially slap those terms onto a package without proof, according to Scott Faber, the Environmental Working Group's senior vice president for government affairs. With a lack of oversight, 'it's just another way to sell a story,' Faber told CNN via email. EWG is a nonprofit research and advocacy group that focuses on consumer health, toxic chemicals and pollutants. A newer term circulating is 'regenerative,' Faber said, which companies often use to mean extending beyond sustainability to actively restoring, renewing or improving components of the environment and resources. People should expect to see that term more frequently despite there being no widely accepted or legal definition of what it means, he said. Unlike organic labeling, which is required to undergo audits and meet legal standards, 'most claims that foods regenerate soil aren't tied to such standards and don't require third-party verification,' Faber said. Nature imagery: Visuals such as windmills, green packaging or leafy visuals, suggestive of sustainability, mean nothing if they omit evidence of any environmental claims, according to Faber. No verification: No backup of a product's claims or credible third-party certification means those assertions might not be true. 'Companies should really substantiate in what way their product actually is green. So that could be a trusted certification, like USDA (US Department of Agriculture) organic,' Green America's Larsen said. 'Or they could have information on their website where they go into detail about things like their supply chain and how it's truly green, and they actually are showing you information that's verifiable.' Homemade labels that lack verification: Check if a company provides transparent information about its practices online. Claims that defy logic: What about a carbon-neutral airline? Carbon-neutral means achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by balancing 'those emissions so they are equal to, or less than, the emissions removed,' according to the United Nations. Ask yourself, 'Is this actually possible?' Rasche advised. 'Can an airline at this point in time really be carbon-neutral?' Doing your homework about a product, especially one you buy a lot, can be worth it. Experts advise looking for certifications, questioning unsubstantiated language and visuals, and conducting an online search for a product and company to learn about how goods are made and whether there is evidence for what the company says. Faber suggests asking yourself a series of questions: Who is verifying the claim? Is the claim specific or too general to be proven? What's missing? Is the packaging more prominent than the product? The 'what's missing' question is often the most important to ask, Faber said. 'A cereal box might brag about recycled packaging but still use pesticide-laced oats,' he said. 'A meat company might call their beef 'regeneratively raised' without saying anything about antibiotic use.' Experts also recommend turning to the US Environmental Protection Agency's list of more than 100 ecolabels recommended for consumers on its website. Ecolabels are marks on products that show they meet specific environmental standards. 'It's a bit of work, but on the other hand, you're really learning about the products you're purchasing, and you can feel better about those products,' Larsen said. 'You can tell other people what you learned about those products and encourage them to purchase them as well.' The United Nations also suggests consumers consider a product's entire life cycle — from the extraction of raw materials to its disposal — while taking into account potential environmental consequences from the packaging materials. There is also the option to buy secondhand goods, a double win by granting new life for products and preventing further landfill waste or emissions. Spotting greenwashing in the food industry requires a little bit of work, too. You can identify deceptive packaging and vague labels, and there are additional clues in ingredient lists to see how processed a product may be. When it comes to packaging, 'if a product screams 'natural' in bold letters but the ingredient list reads like a chemistry textbook, that's a red flag,' Faber noted. 'These claims are often designed to cover up ingredients linked to serious health harms.' Such ingredients include potentially harmful additives like food dyes. He pointed to the Environmental Working Group's Food Scores, which can help consumers 'see past the front-of-pack claims and understand what's really in their food.' An effective way to avoid misleading marketing of food is to make your own meal or snack without unhealthy additives. And although not always feasible, Larsen suggests going straight to the source when possible by speaking with a farmer at a farmers market to learn about growing practices and products. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has Green Guides designed as guidance for marketers to avoid making environmental claims that are deceptive or could mislead consumers. However, there is a lack of strong legal enforcement for them and federal oversight beyond that guidance, according to Larsen and Rasche. 'While the Green Guides are just that, guides and not rules or regulations, they are enforceable under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prevents unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce,' FTC spokesman Mitchell Katz told CNN via email. Consumers can file complaints about alleged fraud and deception from companies on the 'report fraud' tab on the FTC's website. The gap between guidance and regulation leaves room for companies to make environmental claims that may not hold up. Well-known brands have faced consequences for statements found to be misleading about the recyclability or sustainability of their products. Keurig Dr Pepper settled charges filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission last year after labeling its K-Cup single-use beverage pods as recyclable, even though two of the largest US recycling companies rejected the pods. A Keurig Dr Pepper spokesperson told CNN via email that the company has taken steps to make its products recyclable and to support modern recycling systems across North America. 'In 2020, we changed all of our K-Cup pods to be made from polypropylene — a more widely accepted material in curbside recycling programs,' the spokesperson said. 'We also provide clear recycling instructions on our packaging and encourage consumers to check locally as each community determines what it accepts into its recycling program.' With sustainability regulations facing rollback in the United States, it is increasingly incumbent on individuals to protect themselves in their consumption habits, Larsen said. 'We all are investors. We all have pension savings. We all go to the supermarket, so it depends also on us and on our day-to-day behavior,' Rasche noted. 'And we shouldn't feel too disempowered, because, in a sense, we also have action' in our everyday choices. Be sure to know what is real, he said, because when you really buy green, you're contributing to a more sustainable future. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Greener newsletter. Our limited newsletter series guides you on how to minimize your personal role in the climate crisis — and reduce your eco-anxiety.
CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
How to spot greenwashing and buy actual green products
Is water in a box really better for the environment? What about sneakers labeled eco-friendly? How about green-accented soap bottles with plant visuals? These words and images may look environmentally friendly, but they could also stem from a marketing strategy known as greenwashing. The practice occurs when companies sell the idea of 'green' products while accomplishing little or nothing for the environment. There is a growing market for products that minimize damage to the environment, according to Todd Larsen, executive codirector for consumer and corporate engagement at Green America, a nonprofit that certifies environmentally responsible businesses and promotes ethical consumption. Forty-six percent of people said they are purchasing more sustainable products to help the environment in a 2024 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 20,000 participants across 31 countries and territories. Purchasing more sustainably is prevalent especially among younger people, Larsen said, leading some companies to engage in deceptive marketing practices that exploit consumer values. Greenwashing misleads the public to 'believe that a company or other entity is doing more to protect the environment than it is,' all while promoting false, distracting solutions to the climate crisis, according to the United Nations. The UN has identified several tactics commonly used in greenwashing: making unsubstantiated net-zero claims, in which a company says it balances the amount of greenhouse gas emissions with the amount it removes from the atmosphere; highlighting minor improvements in which a product meets minimum regulatory requirements; and emphasizing a single attribute while ignoring the product's or company's broader environmental impact. Greenwashing occurs mostly when companies 'overcommunicate or under-communicate' on sustainability performance, according to Andreas Rasche, a professor of business in society at the Centre for Sustainability at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. Misleading branding, vague claims and unregulated labels on products make it difficult for consumers who are aiming to reduce their environmental footprint to make informed decisions, Rasche said. But not all greenwashing by companies is intentional, he said. Rather than outright deception, 'greenwashing can be an outcome of poor management rather than a deliberate strategy,' Rasche said. These companies may want to produce their products in ways more beneficial to the environment but may fall short internally, he added. On the other hand, some companies overcompensate out of fear of appearing to greenwash through the practice of 'greenhushing,' which Rasche defines as individuals or organizations 'deliberately not talking about sustainability despite them actually having a sustainable track record.' Buying sustainable products does not have to be an overwhelming endeavor. If something sounds too good to be true about being kinder to the planet, it probably is. When it comes to spotting green products, 'a lot of it is also about common sense,' Rasche said. Here are some red flags to watch out for to avoid greenwashing: Overly vague claims: Look for terms such as eco-friendly, green or nontoxic without explanation. Companies can essentially slap those terms onto a package without proof, according to Scott Faber, the Environmental Working Group's senior vice president for government affairs. With a lack of oversight, 'it's just another way to sell a story,' Faber told CNN via email. EWG is a nonprofit research and advocacy group that focuses on consumer health, toxic chemicals and pollutants. A newer term circulating is 'regenerative,' Faber said, which companies often use to mean extending beyond sustainability to actively restoring, renewing or improving components of the environment and resources. People should expect to see that term more frequently despite there being no widely accepted or legal definition of what it means, he said. Unlike organic labeling, which is required to undergo audits and meet legal standards, 'most claims that foods regenerate soil aren't tied to such standards and don't require third-party verification,' Faber said. Nature imagery: Visuals such as windmills, green packaging or leafy visuals, suggestive of sustainability, mean nothing if they omit evidence of any environmental claims, according to Faber. No verification: No backup of a product's claims or credible third-party certification means those assertions might not be true. 'Companies should really substantiate in what way their product actually is green. So that could be a trusted certification, like USDA (US Department of Agriculture) organic,' Green America's Larsen said. 'Or they could have information on their website where they go into detail about things like their supply chain and how it's truly green, and they actually are showing you information that's verifiable.' Homemade labels that lack verification: Check if a company provides transparent information about its practices online. Claims that defy logic: What about a carbon-neutral airline? Carbon-neutral means achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by balancing 'those emissions so they are equal to, or less than, the emissions removed,' according to the United Nations. Ask yourself, 'Is this actually possible?' Rasche advised. 'Can an airline at this point in time really be carbon-neutral?' Doing your homework about a product, especially one you buy a lot, can be worth it. Experts advise looking for certifications, questioning unsubstantiated language and visuals, and conducting an online search for a product and company to learn about how goods are made and whether there is evidence for what the company says. Faber suggests asking yourself a series of questions: Who is verifying the claim? Is the claim specific or too general to be proven? What's missing? Is the packaging more prominent than the product? The 'what's missing' question is often the most important to ask, Faber said. 'A cereal box might brag about recycled packaging but still use pesticide-laced oats,' he said. 'A meat company might call their beef 'regeneratively raised' without saying anything about antibiotic use.' Experts also recommend turning to the US Environmental Protection Agency's list of more than 100 ecolabels recommended for consumers on its website. Ecolabels are marks on products that show they meet specific environmental standards. 'It's a bit of work, but on the other hand, you're really learning about the products you're purchasing, and you can feel better about those products,' Larsen said. 'You can tell other people what you learned about those products and encourage them to purchase them as well.' The United Nations also suggests consumers consider a product's entire life cycle — from the extraction of raw materials to its disposal — while taking into account potential environmental consequences from the packaging materials. There is also the option to buy secondhand goods, a double win by granting new life for products and preventing further landfill waste or emissions. Spotting greenwashing in the food industry requires a little bit of work, too. You can identify deceptive packaging and vague labels, and there are additional clues in ingredient lists to see how processed a product may be. When it comes to packaging, 'if a product screams 'natural' in bold letters but the ingredient list reads like a chemistry textbook, that's a red flag,' Faber noted. 'These claims are often designed to cover up ingredients linked to serious health harms.' Such ingredients include potentially harmful additives like food dyes. He pointed to the Environmental Working Group's Food Scores, which can help consumers 'see past the front-of-pack claims and understand what's really in their food.' An effective way to avoid misleading marketing of food is to make your own meal or snack without unhealthy additives. And although not always feasible, Larsen suggests going straight to the source when possible by speaking with a farmer at a farmers market to learn about growing practices and products. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission has Green Guides designed as guidance for marketers to avoid making environmental claims that are deceptive or could mislead consumers. However, there is a lack of strong legal enforcement for them and federal oversight beyond that guidance, according to Larsen and Rasche. 'While the Green Guides are just that, guides and not rules or regulations, they are enforceable under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prevents unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce,' FTC spokesman Mitchell Katz told CNN via email. Consumers can file complaints about alleged fraud and deception from companies on the 'report fraud' tab on the FTC's website. The gap between guidance and regulation leaves room for companies to make environmental claims that may not hold up. Well-known brands have faced consequences for statements found to be misleading about the recyclability or sustainability of their products. Keurig Dr Pepper settled charges filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission last year after labeling its K-Cup single-use beverage pods as recyclable, even though two of the largest US recycling companies rejected the pods. A Keurig Dr Pepper spokesperson told CNN via email that the company has taken steps to make its products recyclable and to support modern recycling systems across North America. 'In 2020, we changed all of our K-Cup pods to be made from polypropylene — a more widely accepted material in curbside recycling programs,' the spokesperson said. 'We also provide clear recycling instructions on our packaging and encourage consumers to check locally as each community determines what it accepts into its recycling program.' With sustainability regulations facing rollback in the United States, it is increasingly incumbent on individuals to protect themselves in their consumption habits, Larsen said. 'We all are investors. We all have pension savings. We all go to the supermarket, so it depends also on us and on our day-to-day behavior,' Rasche noted. 'And we shouldn't feel too disempowered, because, in a sense, we also have action' in our everyday choices. Be sure to know what is real, he said, because when you really buy green, you're contributing to a more sustainable future. Sign up for CNN's Life, But Greener newsletter. Our limited newsletter series guides you on how to minimize your personal role in the climate crisis — and reduce your eco-anxiety.
Chicago Tribune
13-04-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Earth Day celebration at Expo Center features fun, environmental awareness
Northwest Indiana's annual Earth Day celebration offered up 55 vendors at the Porter County Expo Center Saturday morning in celebration of the country's 55th anniversary of the creation of Earth Day. The mood was upbeat as families with young children and folks toting free saplings mingled among gorgeous rain barrels, electric vehicles, and exotic animals while live steel pan music filled the air. Nine-year-old Abbi Wegrzyn-Sanchez, of Valparaiso, was enjoying the live animal show with her mom and three siblings. 'I actually got super pumped,' she said after leaving the stage where she got to hold a young alligator. 'When I got on the stage, I didn't even expect he was going to pick me.' Across the room, Valparaiso High School seniors from the VHS Earth Awareness Club were offering face painting to add to the fun. The club conducts recycling at the school as well as projects in the community. Student Anthony Olivarez, who's heading to the University of Colorado Boulder as an environmental studies major this fall, said the club recently helped Meadowbrook Nature Preserve clean the seeds of native plant species for distribution. 'It's cool to see the youth,' said Keri Marrs-Baron, executive director of Porter County Recycling & Waste Reduction, which sponsors the celebration. She said food waste and plastic are the two biggest trends in the recycling world right now. Her office just started a residential food collection drive offered on Wednesdays at the Coffee Creek Farmers Market. Typical food compost items like vegetable scraps are welcome, but no bones or dairy. Down the hall in the kid zone, Boy Scout Troop 907 from First Christian Church in Valparaiso is helping children build birdhouses for bluebirds. 'It's great. I love it,' said eighth grader Christopher Szevery as he helped Memphis Rugg, a first-grader at Morgan Township Elementary School, build his birdhouse. Christopher said his troop has been preparing the materials for the past month. 'Not all of them are perfect,' he said. Memphis didn't mind. 'It's cool,' he said, saying he'd put the house 'maybe in my backyard.' The fair didn't just draw children. Ariel Bribiesca, of Valparaiso, was touring with her relatives on her day off from Pratt Industries, which makes boxes from 100% recycled paper pulp right next door to the Expo Center. Her grandma, Carmen Gonzalez, of Lowell, is a repeat visitor. She said last year she 'learned about those pods that you shouldn't use in your dishwasher because they don't disintegrate all the way.' Saturday, she collected a tick identification card. 'It was really interesting,' Gonzalez said. Even those who just wanted a good shop could do so with an array of suncatchers, jewelry and art made from recycled materials, and other eco-friendly goods such as Ink Forest Eco-Friendly Screen Printing. Owner Judy Mazzuca said she's the only woman-owned and Green America green-certified screenprinter in the country. 'The pigments are suspended in oil and they're melted on top, which is why they crack and peel,' she explained of traditional plastisol screen printing. 'You also need benzene to clean them off.' The PVC used is also a known endocrine disruptor. Water-based inks, by contrast, are suspended in water, which evaporates, leaving the ink infused into the fabric, she said. For those fired up to do something about environmental toxins, the Citizens' Climate Lobby was taking names. Gary Jump, a volunteer from Illinois, was hoping to reinvigorate the Northwest Indiana chapter, which has been without a chapter leader since last year. 'You've got to go for singles, not home runs all the time,' he said of the effort to garner more individual interest and 'get Congress to pass more legislation to deal with climate change.' Earth Day is on April 22 each year. For more information on its origin, go to
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Interior Department announces $13 million to reclaim abandoned mine lands
April 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Interior Department said Wednesday $13 million in grants are being disbursed to reclaim abandoned mine lands in an effort to revitalize coal communities. "Restoring these abandoned mine lands is an opportunity to invest in communities that helped power our nation," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in a statement. "By streamlining the process and cutting unnecessary red tape, we are making sure these resources reach the states quickly and efficiently. This investment is a testament to our commitment to revitalizing coal country and ensuring American families reap the benefits of a stronger, more resilient economy." The Interior Department action includes $8.6 million to Tennessee, $3.1 million to North Dakota and $1.3 million to Texas. The Interior Department said abandoned mine reclamation projects "offer long-term economic benefits by transforming previously unusable lands into viable sites for new development." The announcement comes on the heels of Tuesday Trump administration executive actions to "unleash" coal rather than regulate its pollution. Trump said Tuesday, "We're ending Joe Biden's war on beautiful, clean coal once and for all, and we're going to put the miners back to work!" The environmental group Green America maintains that so-called "clean coal" is a myth. "While some policymakers support "clean coal," coal can never be clean. It is harmful to both people and the planet," Green America said in a website statement. "Coal combustion releases the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) during combustion." The Biden administration's Energy Department announced in October 2024 a much larger $428 million investment in clean energy projects in coal communties as it sought a transition to clean energy. Biden's Interior Department in March of 2021 also made more than $260 million available for coal communities struggling with falling demand for coal. Coal fired power plants cause environmental pollution in both air and ground water that led the Environmental Protection Agency in April of 2024 to finalize new rules to reduce that pollution. Ignoring climate change science, Trump is doing the opposite, loosening coal mining restrictions. Several executive orders were signed Tuesday with the intent of reinvigorating the coal industry, including possible new coal mining on federal lands. The Interior Department said Tuesday it is now committed to "a renewed focus on coal."
