Uniiverse, which launched earlier this week, bills itself as the “first online platform to take an offline approach for its users.” The service works by its users offering services or activities for others, some for free and other for a fee. The takes a similar idea to that of Craigslist and classifieds and adds the human component. This marks yet another move in the direction of collaborative consumption, a trend that has gained quite a bit of traction lately.

A proliferation of sites offer “collaborative living”, as Uniiverse refers to it. Car and Bike sharing programs have become increasingly popular, especially in denser, urban areas where these modes of transportation supplement public transit and walking. Collaborative consumption helps reduce waste and over consumption, both of which benefit the environment and bottom line. Uniiverse goes one step further by encouraging face-to-face interactions, moving closer to the triple bottom line, or “People, Planet, Profit.”

For more information, see the video below.

Uniiverse – why are we here? from uniiverse on Vimeo.

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What is BHT?

Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) is a  phenolic compound that is often added to foods to preserve fats, it is also commonly added to cosmetics.  BHT is also known as a stabilizer in pesticides, gasoline, lubricants, and soaps.

My first reaction to reading this definition was- do cereals really have that much fat in them that they need a preservative for them?  Last I checked generally cereals were just high in sugar not fat, so I am a little confused on why this is being added to cereals.  Also, why are we eating a man-made product that is commonly put into cosmetics?  That sounds like a terrible idea to me.  It is also listed as one of the 12 food additives to avoid.

After reading more about BHT I got even more concerned.  Turns out it can be bioaccumulative. This is generally a bad sign for a chemical or additive.  The only thing you want to be bioaccumulative is vitamins.  A U.S. study actually showed it to be bioaccumulative in aquatic species but is still allowed for human consumption.   While each cereal serving only has a minimal amount of BHT in it, that acummulaion of BHT over time could cause serious issues.  It also can cause allergies.  BHT is also toxic to rats in long term studies. It caused liver, kidney and thyroid problems.  Minimal studies have been done on BHT in humans, but I feel this should be a bigger priority.  California, which is know for having higher standards has listed BHT as a known carcinogen.  BHT is banned in baby food (thankfully) because it has been linked to caused hyper activity in children.  With these limited studies that have been done on BHT, it seems there is a cause for concern and more research should be done to see if BHT is actually safe or if we are giving the food industry free will to add what they want when they want.

I also read BHT is excreted through urine, the part that doesn’t stay in your body and clings to fat. This means what is not digested is making its way into our water ways.  This can mean major environmental issue down the road especially if it is bioacummulating in the many aquatic organisms that exist, especially the ones we eat.  Many waste water treatment plants do not focus on cleaning the water of these types of chemicals or pharmaceuticals.  Instead they focus on cleaning the water enough to meet federal guidelines.

I feel that if we know about an issue we should be more proactive about it than reactive and have another DDT issue down the line.  Sustainability requires thinking about the future and how to preserve it, not living in the moment and letting future generations deal with the problem(s).  Yet somehow we keep turning our heads from current issues because of a lack of initiative, not wanting to deal with the issue, or blaming it on money.  Generally when you ignore an issue, it becomes more expensive than dealing with it head on. So what can we do? Make a stink about it. Pester your senator about getting some real regulations on food additives.  Write to the EPA and ask them to do a study on BHT to see if there are carcinogenic effects in humans.

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A former Apple executive and developer of the original iPod, Tony Fadell, recently launched Nest Labs with Apple’s penchant for clean, user-friendly interfaces, and a simple but technologically advanced style.

Honeywell is a maker of aerospace products as well as building-control and safety products. With the lawsuit, “they are trying to stop Nest Labs and retailer Best Buy Co., which sells the Nest Labs thermostat, from using Honeywell’s patented technology and to recover damages” according to the Wall Street Journal.

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The announcement on January 23rd that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a pilot commercial license for the project – the first-ever commercial license for tidal power in the United States – capped off a full decade of work. It’s been a long road for Verdant Power, as the project began in 2002 with prototype testing. The Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project is being developed in three phases: 

• Phase 1 (2002 – 2006): Prototype Testing
• Phase 2 (2006 – 2009): Demonstration
• Phase 3 (Current): MW-Scale Build-Out

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I, sitting at my desktop, am not immune. While living in a 30-unit apartment building and “only” owning one car, my family does use fewer resources than if we were in a single family home (suburban, urban, or otherwise). However, there are now 30 families (probably 50 people) living in the space of what was former about three single family homes. That’s roughly 40 more people in a confined space. By building up (the structure is three stories) more people can fit in a smaller space.

The density achieved by apartments, condos, and townhomes means that people tend to use less energy (think heating and commuting) than they would if they lived further apart. However, the increase in population allows for ever greater numbers of people to inhabit a small space and import resources. I cannot, for one, grow my own food in my apartment. I do have a few plants, some of which are edible.

I think what it comes down to, other than behavior, is carrying capacity. How many people can the earth support? Also, what is the cultural carrying capacity (the number of people the earth can support given consumption patterns)? “Cultural capacity is inversely related to the (material) quality of life presumed.” In other words, the greater the consumption – or lifestyle – the fewer people can be supported. Makes sense. If we all consume like Americans, it doesn’t really matter where we live.

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