How Does Mining Affect the Environment

As most of us are aware, mining is one of the most environmentally unfriendly industries. Mining can seriously affect land, air, and even water systems. The greatest challenge confronting the mining industry today is to find ways of extracting and processing mineral and metal with minimum damage to our ecosystem.

The adverse environmental impacts of mining operation start with mineral exploration, continues throughout the extraction and subsequent processing and at times persist even after the entire operations are over. Mining can cause serious land degradation, large-scale denudation of forest cover, weakening of biodiversity, pollution of air, water and soil. The fall out can extend well beyond the mining area and lead to many social, economic and political disturbances. To mitigate the adverse impacts of mining and restore the mining-affected areas, it is imperative to conduct proper research and find ways and means to protect the environment.

Tips on Saving Electricity

Finally the summer heat has struck! It is time for us to use Electricity judiciously to meet energy requirement of one and all.

During the months of May and June, schools and colleges have vacations. The kids are at home and their moms are busy baking cakes and other baked items for their kids. I take this opportunity to introduce you to some simple ways to optimize energy consumption while using an electric oven.

Tips while using Electric Oven:

· Prefer the use of Microwave ovens over conventional ovens, because they are 33 to 66% more efficient than convection or conventional ovens.
· Turn ON the oven only when you are done with the preparation and are ready to keep the dish in the oven.
· If the food is frozen, it will take much time and energy to get heated up. So, defrost the frozen food before keeping into the oven.
· Minimize pre-heat time as per the requirement of food to be cooked and avoid energy wastage. The recipes having a longer cooking time generally do not require pre-heating.
· Keep the oven racks clear and stagger the food on tray to allow good circulation of hot air.
· Try to cook with a full oven. The energy required to cook multiple dishes together is less than cooking one dish at a time repeatedly.
· If there are multiple loadings, keep the trays ready to minimize change time.
· Do not open the door of the oven to check if the food is done. Every time you open the oven door, the oven temperature is lowered by around 25 to 75o F.
· Select ovens with a window that allows you to check the food without opening the door.
· Timers too can be used effectively to optimize the electricity consumption.
· Use of glass or ceramic pans reduces the energy requirement. The food gets cooked quickly with these pans as compared to conventional utensils.
· Turn OFF the oven a little before the food is ready. This completely utilizes the heat available inside.
· Use leftover heat in the oven to keep the food warm. Ovens retain heat for up to 30 minutes after they have been turned off.
· Inspect the seal around the oven. If it is damaged or perished replace it.
· Turn off the appliance from the plug point switch as a safety precaution and to avoid any 'stand by power' loss.

Use electricity responsibly and save energy so as to be environmentally friendly as well as economically friendly!

Author - HirenB. I am a technical/content writer and I've written many more articles regarding various topics such as health related issues, relationships, Internet marketing, gemstones, etc.

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Facts About Biodegradable Products

Biodegradable materials are supposed to be environmentally friendly but sometimes this expectation isn't entirely true.
What Is Biodegradable?
In order for a product to be classified as a biodegradable product, it must be able to be broken down into its constituent natural elements and be absorbed by the environment. Real biodegradable material will often break down into:

• Simple organisms
• Carbon
• Hydrogen
• Bacteria
• Fungi
• Oxygen - Carbon dioxide Co2 and water H2O

Because a product is advertised as biodegradable it doesn't necessarily mean that it is good for the environment. No guidelines exist with which to aid buyers of products which are advertised as biodegradable. These products may actually be biodegradable since they eventually break down into their natural elements but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are safe for the environment.



Being Biodegradable Isn't Always Safe
Different biodegradable elements tend to break down into natural elements over a certain period of time. Some of them break down into natural elements which may be harmful to the health of both flora and fauna alike. One such element is nonylphenolethoxylate otherwise known as NDE; this element is a constituent part of many cleaning supplies we use today. The natural elements that make up NDE include carbon, hydrogen as well as oxygen, thus most people assume that when it is broken down it should break down into these same elements. However this is not the case, NDE actually breaks down to become a harmful benzene compound that is damaging to female reproductive organs.
How Long It Takes Is another Factor
Something else that is of importance and considerable concern is the period that a product takes to break down into its constituent parts. Something like a loaf of bread is totally biodegradable. It can actually break down into simple sugars in a mere matter of days. Paper on the other hand may take up to 5 months to degrade into its proper constituent elements.
One other problem is the disposal methods that are used to get rid of the products we wish to dispose of. A natural compost pile makes it easy for normal food to degrade easily. If waste on the other hand is placed among other forms of garbage natural and unnatural alike, it may take months to or even years to decompose. Researchers have found apple cores that were more than two decades old in garbage landfills. If you seek out better ways to dispose of biodegradable material, you can help speed up the degrading process and make the resultant products safer.
This is are average indicators of the period of time that it takes to breakdown a biodegradable product completely

• Paper: 2-5 weeks
• Banana peel: 3-5 weeks
• Orange peels: 6 months
• Cotton rags 1-5 months
• Cigarette butts: 1-12 years
• Plastic or cardboard milk carton: 5 years

Returning To Nature
Any products that come from nature such as plants, minerals and animals will eventually return to their natural states over time. Products that are man-made such as petrochemical products cannot be broken down by microorganisms into natural elements. They will simply remain non-degradable and will continue to litter the earth for centuries.

Undertaking E-Waste Management For a Greener Tomorrow

The problem of e-waste management warrants greater attention in India due to the increasing volumes of e-waste dumps, particularly computer waste, by developed countries. Of late, a number of SMEs have also woken up to the gravity of the situation. In order to dispose the e-waste dumps, these SMEs are implementing environment friendly e-waste management technologies for minimising the waste volume.

India, one of the leading countries in the global IT and telecom domain, generates huge volumes of electronic waste (e-waste) every year. According to industry estimates, electronic equipment manufacturers and assemblers in India generate around 1250 tonnes of electronic waste annually.

As formal waste recycling and disposal technology is still in a nascent stage in India, it has aggravated the problem of toxic pollutants that are disposed in open environment. Kurian Joseph, Associate Professor, Center for Environmental Studies, Anna University, says, "In India, waste recycling and disposal have been performed through informal techniques, which has given rise to serious environmental hazards."

United against e-waste generation

Speaking about the initiatives taken by the government to alleviate the problem of e-waste generation in the country, Prof. Joseph says, "A recent legislation passed by the government mandates e-waste generators to collaborate with licensed waste management firms to bring down wastage volume and recycle it safely."

In addition, a slew of small and mid-sized firms are seen entering into tie-ups with various international firms to exploit green technologies for reducing e-waste. K Vijaya Lakshmi, VP of Development Alternatives, shares, "A Bengaluru-based NGO has recently brought together several SME sector firms to initiate community programmes aimed at e-waste management".

Innovations leading the way

Innovations such as green data centres and virtualisation can play a significant role in e-waste management. In addition, these technologies can optimise the use of space and power in the IT and telecom sector. Furthermore, manufactures should strive for waste minimisation by using non-hazardous materials during their production process itself rather than managing the wastes later.

"Along with implementing green technologies, both SMEs and bigger firms should ensure proper waste handling across their supply chains, and waste recycling should only be performed by licensed firms", says Dr Lakshmi.

Dr Lakshmi also emphasised that waste management is the responsibility of both consumers and Manufacturers, who should reduce the use of hazardous substances and dispose waste properly.

David Parks is a well known author and has written articles on SME finance Guide, B2B Portal, B2B Products, suppliers, Manufactures and many other subjects.

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