CSI: Where in the World Are All the Chemicals?

There could be chemicals locked away in here and you would never know it. 

            “Don’t play on the grass for the next few days, kids! Make sure you leave your shoes outside before coming into the house!” These were common words from my dad during the warmer months when he was sprinkling fertilizer on the front and backyard lawn. A sign taped to the front door advising us to take our shoes off before entering the house always accompanied these words. As a child, I viewed this as an annoyance and was mad that I could not play outside with the dirt and bugs. In addition, I thought that as long as I followed these simple rules when it was fertilizing season, I was safe from these toxins. These rules placed a barrier between humans and chemicals that were supposed to stay outside, well, because why wouldn’t they?

            As I grew older, I was told to throw away any non-stick pans that were scratched because chemicals would be released. Don’t put plastics in the microwave. Don’t leave water bottles in your car because the heat will release chemicals from the bottle. Look for BPA-free labels when purchasing a reusable water bottle. I followed these directions but didn’t really know exactly what these chemicals were, how they affected humans, why they were even in these materials in the first place, and where the EPA was in all of this. Isn’t it their job to make sure that any chemicals used are safe? I didn’t realize until very recently that humans and chemicals are interconnected to a degree that is quite unsettling.

            The chemical I found most interesting is BPA or Bisphenol A. First synthesized in 1891, it is an artificial estrogen that is primarily used in the creation of epoxy resins because it holds materials together well. It is in the linings of metal food containers, aluminum water bottles, plastics that are labeled #7, fax paper, CD’s and other items. It has been detected in rivers, soil, household dust, and even in amniotic fluid surrounding babies. One study found BPA in 95% of 400 American adults. For many years, exposure to this chemical has been associated with cancer, insulin resistance and birth defects. Tests beginning in the 1930’s showed that high doses are toxic to rodents and a very interesting discovery is that low-doses given to mice produced worse effects than those mice exposed to high doses. You may be wondering why such a harmful chemical is even allowed in products because I certainly was. Interestingly enough, industrial chemicals are regulated by the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, which doesn’t require that they be tested or proven safe before being used. Instead, it is the EPA’s job to show that a chemical is unsafe before it can regulate or ban that chemical. However, the bar is set so high that the EPA can essentially never meet these standards. According to “Cleaning House,” a session in the Northwest Earth Institute’s course book, “Congress’s original rationale for giving pass to industrial chemicals like BPA is that they weren’t designed to be biologically active or get into our body in the same way pesticides or drugs would, and wouldn’t pose the same risks.” This sounds like a fantastic rationale to me.

            The next time I get my blood taken, I will wonder how many trace amounts of chemicals, including Bisphenol A (BPA) and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) will end up in that sample. I will wonder how much BPA is in the supermarket when I go shopping, looking at the many aisles of canned products. It is alarming to learn that a biomonitoring report in 2009 detected more than two hundred environmental toxins in the cord blood of newborn babies. Is there any escape from these chemicals that are supposed to stay outside and removed from our daily lives?

            Aside from this doom and gloom from products that are very much a part of our routine, my eyes have been opened to the realization that we have more control than we think. The first step is to understand these chemicals, the products that contain them and how to limit our exposure to them. Simple lifestyle switches such as keeping a clean house to remove exposure, obtaining a stainless steel reusable bottle instead of plastic or aluminum, buying fresh, frozen, dried food or items packaged in glass jars rather than plastic and avoiding personal care products that list “fragrance” as an ingredient are all ways to take your health into your own hands. Furthermore, a motivating alternative to current commercial synthetic chemistry is green chemistry. This approach focuses on preventing chemical pollution by designing products that do not contain them in the first place. It sounds like a no-brainer right? I’ve learned that we can apply this principal to own lives. Avoid products that expose us to harmful chemicals so the likelihood of being affected by them is minimal. It’s not my family’s fault for fertilizing our lawn with substances that have the potential to cause harm. The important lesson to learn is that knowledge of these substances must spread so you no longer have to place a “Fertilizer Down: Stay Off Grass” sign on the door.

                                                                              - Liana M. Agrios

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Throughout the semester we have been learning different techniques about how to reduce our carbon footprint, live a more sustainable lifestyle,  and consume less. Each semester the CELL students have to chance to do a research project that benefits the community. This semester we split into two groups, group 1 is the "recycling group". The members of this group were asked to create a recycling event, where community members could come, play games, and learn about the new recycling program Solheimar recently implemented. The members of this group include Emily, Julia, Yilin, and Chen; they put together a great event where residents came and played games, made crafts, and earned a recycling certificate. The joy that this event brought to the homes people is what really got me. It was incredible to see them learn and just hang out with each other.  It was also an opportunity for us, the interns and the homes people to come together. It was amazing to see their faces light up when creating a caterpillar out of recycled material, or sort items into the correct bins. It wasn't only the homes people that got joy out of this event, but it was obvious that the interns and my fellow CELL students also took a lot out of the experience too. One of my favorite parts was the photo taking booth, at the end of the event everyone was having coffee and cookies while enjoying each others company. Some of us started to goof around taking funny pictures with each other, a few of the homes people caught on to this! We ended up taking picture after picture with them, it was truly amazing to see the joy something this simple could bring to their lives.

 

all of the CELL girls with Rosie! 

The day before this grand event, we had the opportunity to visit one of two recycling plants in Iceland. We met with a man who has worked for the company for about 22 years (so he had a pretty good handle on the operation). He had very valuable information to share with us, and the group did not hesitate to inquire about different issues we were curious about. One of the most interesting things we learned is that Iceland cannot recycle glass. While normally one may choose glass containers over plastic, in Iceland its not as sustainable as you would think. Since they cannot recycle it, and it is to expensive to ship to Europe they bury it. There is rumor of an initiative to figure out if the glass can be crushed and used in roads or other construction, but for now they bury it. Another thing that got me thinking was with the plastic that doesn't get melted and reused. This includes plastic bags and other types of special plastics. With this material, their way of recycling it is to send it to a place that burns it, and then is used to produce electricity. For me I debate what is better for the environment? Burn these toxic plastics and have the toxins released into the atmosphere, or  throw them away and have them go into a landfill, where there might be a somewhat protective barrier to keep the toxins from going into the ground, but chances are the chemicals are still getting into the ground water. Neither option seems ideal to me... so what do we do? This is a questions that I have been facing a lot this semester, each issue we face is so interconnected with other issues. The only alternative I see is to stop using plastic bags all together. Now this is easier said than done, when going into a grocery store and looking around I start to feel overwhelmed by this idea of eliminating plastic from my diet. There are so many items that have loads of unneeded packaging. Now no one is perfect but I am learning way around this issue, and how to limit the amount of packaging I purchase when I get back home. For example buying in bulk, and using reusable bags are just two simple ways to help the cause. I am not saying that the recycling plant is doing a bad job, their heart is in the right place, and the things they are doing are great! We even learned that they are not necessarily making a profit off of some of the things they recycle, so that shows they do what they do for the right reasons! Also the way the system is set up, is pretty much a no fail system. Meaning that the average person cannot even screw it up, by recycling the wrong thing. They also have huge compost bins, and the compost if free to residents in the area. I was really happy to see that, no one is perfect and I am coming to the realization that out of the people who are trying to make a difference, they are doing their best.  There is still a lot of room for improvement, and growth. But these things come with time, and furthering education. I am not losing hope in society when it comes to environmental issues, although sometimes it gets hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but together I know we can dig ourselves out of this mess!

 The Recycling group! (clockwise: Yilin, Chen, Emily and Julia)

- Elizabeth G

Growing in Iceland

When I get to know that I am going to live in a collective environment again in Iceland, I expect more changes can happen on me, not only in environmental consciousness and personality development, but also in getting myself back to a healthier lifestyle.

I am really proud of becoming an early bird. I have a very bad sleeping habit since college. Since the class time is much more flexible in college than in high school, I loss a control of my daily schedule. I hardly sleep before 12 o’clock, and skip early classes frequently. During midterms or finals, it gets worse. Sometimes I can feel my body is really exhausting and not functioning well, but I just sleep more than ten hours a day on weekends and think I am recharged. I almost never have time to eat breakfast, even though my mom keeps telling me how important breakfast is. Therefore, compare with the sleeping habit back in America, I am really cheerful to see that I can sleep around 12 and get up at 8 and have breakfast on weekdays. I can imagine how surprised my parents would be by hearing about my current lifestyle. I also feel so good about having a good sleeping habit.

Thanks to weekly field trip and weekend hiking, it really pushes me out of my room from chatting and checking my friends on the internet. I used to hate climbing mountains. Sometimes, I would also challenge myself to walk to the peak instead of taking cable cars, but I never have the victory feeling when I reach the mountaintop. I regret making such a stupid decision. However, this time is my hardest climbing experience, because there is no real road to the peak. Every time I felt we reached the peak, the group still kept climbing to higher part of the mountaintop. Almost an hour later, we saw the destination. When we walk to the top hand in hand and saw the landscape, it my first time to have such a overwhelming victory feeling.

I love Solheimar—the eco-village we live now. I love the peace, gentle pace of loving, and close relationship with people. I think I can spend more time on reading books, knitting, and participating in various workshops. I would like to become a knitting master or pottery master by the end of this semester. I like the group environment I am in now. Thank all my supportive classmates!

Posing "CELL"!!

                                                                                      by Chen

 

Music in Community

I came to Iceland with a suitcase, a backpack and my fiddle. I knew that the contents of my suitcase would just go into a closet, but I was unsure where my fiddle would take me. And after three weeks, I’m glad to have it with me.

Part of the learning in CELL is about sustainability but another important aspect is creating community. And the best way I know how to do that is through music. I like listening to music and playing familiar tunes on my fiddle, but the greatest part of music is to create music with others. At home in the States, I have friends that I can get together with and play music and sing. But here I have to find ways to create that.

One big thing happening at Solheimar right now is the spring musical. Every year the community comes together to put on a play and the CELL group is eager to get involved. Larus, the musician at Solheimar, is putting together a soundtrack and he invited me to record some violin parts. So many little things go into the play and I am glad that I can contribute in this way. 

I have managed to find friends who want to learn violin so I now have two violin students. One is Cosimos, who works in Reykjavik but comes to Solheimar on the weekends. The CELL group had an open house a few weeks ago and I met and got to talking to Cosimos about the violin. It turns out he had recently bought a violin so I offered to help him learn. So far I’ve given him two lessons and from it we have both learned a lot. He has been helping me with my Icelandic pronunciation and I have shown him the basics of violin. He is very motivated to play and at our most recent lesson he pretended to be Paganini, a great Italian violinist. He stood up and dramatically drew the bow across the strings. He tried playing a few notes over and over and all of a sudden, his intonation was perfect. It was his focus and confidence that allowed him to do it. Now if only I can use my focus and confidence to be able to roll my R’s and perfect the other sounds in Icelandic that I am not used to.

My other violin student is Emily, a fellow CELL student and my roommate. For the first lesson, I taught her how to hold the violin and bow and she practiced making sounds. Next she will be learning Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. And after that the possibilities are endless. Emily and I have also decided to bring more music to the CELL group. We recently taught everyone to sing a round as our before-dinner activity. Most of the group was probably not enthusiastic about having to sing but they went along with it. And it worked out really well. As I sang with my friends I felt the power of our little community. It was a joy to sit around a dinner table with this group and catch each other’s eyes as we laughed and sang.

I also get the opportunity to make music every day with the entire village of Solheimar at the morning meeting. When we join hands and sing the morning song—in Icelandic—it really does not matter that my pronunciation is off and I do not know what I am saying. It reminds me every day that I am part of Solheimar even if I am still trying to understand what that means. Music helps me to connect with people. So when I stand in that circle and sing I feel the most connected with Solheimar. It is a great way to start each day. And I look forward to singing that song for the next two months I am here in Solheimar.

Julia

Level Up at A Mountain

I climbed a mountain.

It was the first time that I have climbed a mountain. It was very tiring. Shortly after we started climbing, my legs turned to be weak and shaky and I could hardly stand on them. I have a fear of height anywhere open to the air, and I haven’t been working out for a long time. It was difficult for me both mentally and physically. Actually, even the volcano we visited the other day was a challenge for me. On the way up, there were multiple times that I wanted to give up, especially when I got to a flat land and found there was another hill waiting for me in the front. I wished I could just lie on the ground and waited for the rest of the group to get to the top and come back again. But when I finally caught up, often it was time for the leaders to set off again. I actually appreciated it, because if the group just stayed there, waiting for me to get ready, I would never be ready. I also appreciated that there was always someone accompanying me at the end of the team, and lend me a hand when necessary. With all the courage and patience, I gradually reduced my fear, and I didn't feel as tired once I overcame my physical tipping point. When Hank asked us if we would like to go further to the very top of the mountain, everyone in the group said that they would love to, but it was alright if we didn't  I knew people were holding back because they concerned me, but I would regret if we didn't get to the top. I was satisfied and pleased when we held our hands and walked towards the top together. I told Elisabeth that I was going to cry, and I did. On our way down, Hank said “look at you, you are like a mountain girl”. At the moment, I saw a level up screen popped in front of my eyes, shining with glory, as what happened to me when I got my Iceland visa. My fear of heights is not over yet, and I am still upset about our next hiking trip, but I won’t attempt to easily give up any more ^ ^

Yilin 

2013.02.25

New Horizons, New Perspectives

                  It is a pretty safe bet that most people know absolutely nothing about Iceland. Most are vaguely aware that it is greener than Greenland, some could make a good attempt at explaining their economic crash back in 2008, and a handful might even be able to tell you about Iceland’s volcanoes while simultaneously ranting about how their international flight got canceled in 2010. When preparing for my trip to Iceland, I was just as naïve as the rest of the world. I placed the people of Iceland on a pedestal based on my limited knowledge of their use of renewable resources, small population size, and willingness to preserve their pristine landscapes. Don’t get me wrong, I had been warned. A family friend of mine had blatantly told me that the people of Iceland don’t really give a hoot about the environment and that it was the economic benefits of geothermal energy and hydropower that allowed them to prevail.  However, I was hard to convince and until I actually arrived and experienced it all for myself, there was no way anyone could possibly shatter my allusion of perfect little Iceland.

The pedestal first began to crumble when Hank showed us the film Dreamland, a documentary based on the book “Dreamland: A Self Help Guide for a Frightened Nation” written by Andri Magnason. From the title one might think Dreamland is another one of those films that highlights the many wonderful and beautiful aspects of Iceland. On the contrary, the entire film is dedicated to unearthing the madness of Icelandic politics and the corporations that control them. We were lucky enough to meet Andri at his office in Reykjavik and talk politics. His office is a transformed coal-burning power plant that has been around since 1947. He and his colleagues purchased the rights to the plant and converted it into collaborative work space for creativity. If that doesn’t set the tone for what kind of person Andri is, then perhaps I should also reveal that aside from writing a hard hitting book about politics and corporate dominance, he is also the successful author of a children’s book that has now spread to about 30 countries. Between watching Dreamland and talking with Andri, I had successfully been convinced that there is way more to Iceland than meets the eye.

In a way, Iceland is falsely advertised to the rest of the world. It is advertised as a place of abundant clean energy, vast landscapes, and beautiful waterfalls. However, what is not advertised is that this “clean” energy is created by environmental destructive processes such as damming and then sold cheap to the world’s most polluting corporations – aluminum smelters. It all began in 1980 when the government built a large dam with the intention of providing cheap energy in the form of hydropower to large profit-turning corporations. The main problem with this project, aside from the numerous environmental disruptions associated with dams, was that for a long time no corporations were stepping up to take advantage of it. The people of Iceland already had access to more than enough energy before the dam was built, resulting in major economic losses when the government could not find a buyer. However, the opportunity to exploit the environment reached corporate headquarters soon enough and within a few decades, three aluminum smelters were built.

 Currently Iceland takes out huge international loans to build dams for aluminum corporations, which can take up to 40 years to pay off. Meanwhile, because they have access to such cheap energy, aluminum smelters are making back the amount of that loan in less than five years, hardly any of which goes to the Icelandic economy. When profits are the bottom line, lower input costs are what corporations seek. This is what makes Iceland the perfect target for the aluminum business. So what are the benefits of these smelters? Well, about 5-600 jobs and small infrastructure projects for small communities. This hardly all seems worth it. These corporations are getting away with murder in a lot of ways. For one, they are able to utilize extremely cheap energy at the expense of Iceland’s natural landscapes. Furthermore, the public at large is completely blind to the issue. Nobody in their right mind is thinking about aluminum corporations. When you think big bad corporations you think Exxon, Monsanto, Suez. Names like Alcoa do not even register in people’s minds when there are larger roots to strike. When you hear hooves you think horses, not Icelandic ponies. The reality of it is that aluminum smelting is one of the most environmentally damaging and greenhouse gas emitting processes known to man.  To make matters even worse, Iceland only accounts for 2% of global aluminum smelting. That means that the other 98%, mostly carried out in countries like China and Russia, is achieved using dirty energy (mainly coal).

Andri identified it as a problem rooted in lack of creativity. When an economic crash as severe as that experienced in 2008 occurs, people depend on their government to come up with an immediate solution. Unfortunately, this often means more dams, more smelters, and larger exports of clean energy. What Andri suggested is that there needs to be a shift in trust back to the small business sector. If people could identify localized solutions to problems related to the economy, then the country would not have to fall victim to corporate take-over or environmental exploitation. Furthermore, he discussed how infrastructure needs to be adapted to a finite planet. Personally I consider it quite alarming that aluminum and oil consumption is expected to increase 100% in the coming years. As Andri put it, we are duplicating our mistakes. So this raises the question of whether Iceland is really helping the world by providing corporations cheap energy, as clean as it may be. Cheap energy and free nature allows corporations like Alcoa to keep metal prices down, creating highly disposable products. This, in turn, allows countries like the US to throw away 4x the amount of aluminum annually than what is required to build an entire airplane fleet. Talk about lack of an incentive to curb aluminum consumption.

Our meeting with Andri provided me with an entirely new perspective on Iceland. It was hard to believe that a country like Iceland is just as victimized by corporations as some developing countries. It was painful to hear Andri draw a connection between American consumption patterns (our disposal of cheap aluminum) and the destruction of the natural beauty of Iceland.  At first I was disappointed by all this information, however I was not going to become discouraged. While we uncovered the many problems of Iceland we were surrounded by engineers, artists, designers all working together in the offices of ex coal head honchos. Andri certainly lives within the context of his beliefs. It is one thing to have grand ideas such as small solutions thinking, but to actually live by it, and successfully, really says something about Andri’s credibility. Maybe these ideas are not as radical as one might think. I walked away from Andri’s office with a lot to think about. I look forward to all the field trips ahead and to unraveling the real story behind this little island nation. 

Written By: Emily Spognardi 

Iceland Through My Eyes

This is my inspiration. What's yours? 

          Before traveling to a new place, I always try to envision in my head what it will be like, I google pictures of the landscape and wonder how the experience will affect me. Of course I can only do so much and the rest relies on physically going to that place. All of the above is exactly what I did before coming to Iceland. I saw the vegetated landscape that stretched on for miles, volcanoes erupting bright lava and smoky ash with the northern lights flickering in the twilight. The city of Reykjavik lit up against the snow-covered mountains in the background and I wondered if we would travel there. I couldn’t wait to purchase my first woolen sweater at the thrift store and bring a ridiculous amount of hiking socks, because I love socks. I imagined myself walking on a glacier or seeing a puffin because they are so cute! I couldn’t wait to go on another adventure to discover even more about myself.

            One of the things that really drew me to this program was the hands-on learning. As a geology major at Lafayette College, our courses focus on learning by doing. Field trips galore are a part of most classes I take. There is nothing quite like seeing the geology you are studying face to face. I believe that is the best way to learn and it is easier to make a connection to the bigger picture when you have a visual. I couldn’t wait to get to Iceland where I could see, hear, touch and smell the environment while having the opportunity to learn about sustainability and pressing issues nature is faced with today.

            This is what we have been doing in Iceland with CELL. My favorite experience so far was the SOLO where we sat alone amongst the landscape for thirty minutes and spent time with ourselves, something I love to do. I chose a place that was nestled between the trees, but clear enough for me to see the mountains in front. I sat down on my pad and stared out at the landscape before me.

            Whenever I sit and “just do nothing,” I sometimes feel pressured to have a life revelation about myself or a situation I am dealing with. I decided to just be and allowed my mind to wander. Julia said once that when she writes about things it is just a stream of words on paper. That is what I did in my head. I thought of my home in New Jersey and how I missed it, I wondered what my friends at school were doing at that exact moment and I was curious about where I will be this coming summer. Sometimes I would just sit and allow my mind to go blank and watch the grass waver in the wind, hear the buzz of insects or listen to the trickle of the stream down below. The most vivid memory I have of this experience is the deep musty smell of the ground, the smell of nature. I smiled because it smelled exactly like the ground does in Glacier National Park, Montana, where I had such a memorable opportunity last summer as a park ranger. I think I actually did have a revelation, a revelation that wasn’t planned. I felt an inner peace and was comforted that I was able to find a piece of my memory of Montana here in Iceland of all places. I discovered that Iceland holds the same possibilities for me as last summer did. Nature may look different wherever you go, but when you get down to it, it is the same. It smells the same.

            One word to describe my journey in Iceland so far is inspirational. I feel inspired to break out of my comfortable world of education, geology and college and explore new avenues that I did not know could help me grow. I still have more to explore and it is challenging to look at yourself in ways you are not accustomed to. That’s the most interesting aspect of experiences like this: you have to expect the unexpected and be ready for whatever comes across your path. I am excited for more experiences similar to SOLO and other opportunities that are in store for me to continue this growth. I found contentment in Iceland’s soil, and that, was definitely unexpected.

                                                                                                          - Liana M. Agrios