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Each year the average person purchases 48 pieces of new clothing resulting in the US generating 8 MM tons of waste from discarded clothing and footwear annually.
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Gardening

Gardening

In a 2003 study, the National Gardening Association found that US consumers spent a total of $38.4 billion on their lawns and gardens. The study also revealed that eight out of ten (84 million) US households engaged in one or more categories of do-it-yourself lawn and garden activities.[1]

The lushness of these personal landscapes, however, have an environmental cost. According to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), American homeowners use 10 times more pesticides per acre than American farmers.[2]

The Environmental Working Group found agricultural weed killers—including atrazine, cyanazine, metolachlor, and acetochlor—in the tap water of 28 of the 29 cities tested. In 13 cities, average levels of weed killers in the tap water exceeded federal standards.[3]

Related health issues

Studies link organophosphates, a common class of agricultural pesticides, to cancer, fetal abnormalities, chronic fatigue syndrome, and Parkinson's disease.[4] Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have a five to nine times higher likelihood of having pesticide residues in their blood than those who don't have breast cancer.[4] One study in California found that infants exposed to herbicides before the age of one are 10 times more likely to develop early persistent asthma.[5]

A 1999 study by the Consumers Union reported that produce sold to American consumers "contains toxic pesticide levels high enough to be dangerous for young children."[6] Infants, young children, and developing fetuses can't easily detoxify the majority of pesticides, and are especially susceptible to neurotoxins, since brain and nervous system growth continues until children are about 12 years old.[7]

Glossary

  • organophosphates: Pesticides (such as malathion) that are phosphorus-containing organic compounds.

External links

Comments

06/10/2008
10:39am
organik

Hi

Would you like to know more about composting, you can download a quick guide and presentation on my web site.

www.organik.nb.ca (under links)

Marc Landry - Organik Touch

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