May 2009
By Andrea Fox, Ms. Green Quick Fixes
Book Review: Confessions of an Eco-Sinner by Fred Pearce
Renowned British science journalist catalogues the goods in his home and embarks on a worldwide quest to examine his footprint.
In Confessions of an Eco-Sinner Fred Pearce takes stock of his home curious where his goods are made, what it costs to get them to his London shops—both in social effects and carbon loading
to the atmosphere—and where his waste ends up.
His subsequent journey to more than 20 countries, a 100,000-mile trip completed mostly in one year, examines how nature is harvested and witnesses the deepest roots of trade in order to explore what
it causes the planet to sustain Western lifestyles.
It’s a journey all of us eco-sinners should read.
From the gold ring on his finger and the organic green beans on his plate, to where his jeans and computer are made, and then to the Far East where timber pirates illegally harvest rainforest hardwoods
for production of furniture like his garden bench, Pearce encounters many eco-revelations on his journey.
The realities range from surprising to startling.
Even the final destinations for some of his most well-meaning actions—such as clothing and computer donations—will change the way you look at where you begin and how you close your own loop.
The following highlights examine many topics of concern to green consumers.
Green Products
Confessions reveals that products with green labels—sustainable source,
fair trade, organically-grown, etc…—at times cover deep layers of subterfuge against the people of poorer nations as well as overlooked environmental devastation.
One important example from Pearce’s journey is palm oil—a key ingredient in millions of products and a source of biofuel in many parts of the world.
According to Confessions, palm oil is in 1/3 of all supermarket products, from cookies to bath oil. And 80% of the world’s palm oil production can be sourced to rainforest countries, where
frequent slash-and-burn clearing takes place.
As a new source of biofuel for the United States, we need to think twice.
Pearce reveals that between Malaysia and Indonesia, a region the size of England is filled with palm oil trees, and compared to the biodiversity of the rainforest, it’s a virtual desert. Malaysia’s
leading supplier Loders Croklaan has recently doubled its refining capacity, and Indonesia has its eyes on a lush 5-million acre region in central Borneo as its newest palm oil tree plantation, according
to Confessions.
Fair Trade
Traveling to Cameroon, along the African frontier which brought the world access to the delicacy of chocolate, Pearce noted that his journey was as much about his footprint as “learning about
the politics of the powerless.”
Cocoa beans—global production is half-controlled by four corporations that process and sell cocoa butter and powder to numerous manufacturers—are responsible for the destruction of West
African jungles.
But today, ecologists promote preservation of cocoa groves as an effort to retain remaining forest. However, while cocoa beans are becoming an ecologically-important crop, prices have fallen and the
farmers suffer the whims of middlemen who have a “take-it-or-leave it attitude to negotiating prices.”
One grower told Pearce “We are like lambs facing a leopard. We don’t know what the proper prices should be.” All over West Africa, cocoa trees are abandoned or cleared to plant palm
oil.
As a result, Pearce buys more fair-trade chocolate at higher prices, and promotes dark chocolate since it’s composed of 70% cocoa, out of “respect for the people who grow it.”
Organic Imports
As much as ¾ of organic food may be imported—adding a considerate amount to its carbon footprint.
In his book, Pearce noted that Britain’s Soil Association is considering stripping the organic label on air-freighted foods. It’s a true controversy amongst greens, one which leads not only
to heated debate, but divisions in the greenest camps.
“What counts is the total carbon-intensity of agribusiness,” Pearce said.
Pearce argued that production methods can be more energy intensive than shipping. For example, air-freighted Kenyan green beans require less energy than heating British greenhouses.
Eco-Friendly Cotton and Sweatshops
In Confessions, Pearce traced the astonishing 7,500-mile journey of his fair-trade cotton socks from harvesting in Cameroon, to India for spinning, to two locations in Turkey for dying and knitting,
and then to England for sale.
While that cotton was grown in Africa, Uzbekistan, along the near-drained Aral Sea, is the world’s second-largest cotton exporter. Much of it is sent to Bangladesh, and then on to Europe and the
United States as jeans and T-shirts.
Pearce outlined how competition amongst the world’s sweatshops has appeased Western demand and driven down prices. India is actually losing clients like H&M, The Gap, and Wal-Mart to Bangladesh
because their labor rates are astonishingly cheaper, $.10/hr. compared to between $.35 and $.70/hr.
What those who make our clothes really want is for us to pay a fair price.
“Every time the buyers make another order, they want lower prices. First it is the $10 T-shirt, then the $6 T-shirt. That is unethical,” said Nazma Akter, founder of the Awaj Foundation
which provides advice on Bangladeshi labor issues.
Gadgets and E-waste
Confessions also outlines the mile-long list of Earth-mined elements contained in any mobile phone, such as tantalum, where 80% of the world’s
supply is in eastern Congo, a hot bed of civil war and rebel mayhem. Incidentally, the world’s largest tantalum capacitor manufacturer, Kemet, is in the United States.
“The phone is a miniature smorgasbord of metals and other ingredients. Many are toxic and accumulate in the food chain,” wrote Pearce.
And with most people replacing their cell phones every two years, and computers almost as often, where does the waste end up?
While outright disposal is banned, according to Confessions, export of old Western electronics—in the name of reuse, recycling, and repair—to developing countries is becoming more
common. Old computers are mined for their components, including the rare metals, and this has thorny results.
For example, Pearce uncovered the unfortunate story of Indian boys on the outskirts of Delhi hand-dipping circuit boards into open vats of acid in order to capture copper. While the copper is recycled,
the boys’ hands are constantly in danger and their lungs suffer irreparable damage.
Urban Resources: Coal, Metals, Oil
Pearce highlighted the trail of coal that supplies one of his home’s three nearby power plants, including Drax—Western Europe’s largest plant—from Siberia, a journey of more
than 2,500 miles.
He also traveled to Siberia to observe gas extraction, and was booted by authorities in Novy Urengoi, which provides one-third of Europe’s gas.
In Kaktovik, Alaska at Prudhoe Bay, he explored oil extraction and spoke to locals (Gwich’in tribe) concerned about oil’s further disruption and possible destruction of caribou grazing grounds
important to one of the last great mammal migrations, known as the 110,000-strong Porcupine herd. A 250,000-acre reserve is being eyed as a new BP oil field.
In Australia he learned about the coal-consuming process of turning bauxite ore into aluminum for his beer cans. For every ton of aluminum processed, 18 tons of carbon is released into the atmosphere.
One smelter uses as much energy as 1 million people, another more than the entirety of Sweden.
A multitude of elements, such as indium, a byproduct of zinc mining in China and a key ingredient in solar cells, are running in short supply. Fears that indium will deplete in a decade raised the price
to $800 per kilogram—eightfold in just three years time, according to Pearce.
It’s clear that mining nature is causing widespread environmental devastation, global warming, and rebel war fueled by greed throughout the world. And because cities consume ¾ of the world’s
resources, Pearce forms the logical conclusion that “If the world is to save itself, the journey must start in cities.”
Hope for Saving the Planet
There is good news in that the recycling of metals could largely replace energy-intensive mining and smelting processes—such as with aluminum and steel. “We must close the loop, recycling
metals, paper, glass, plastic, and food leftovers,” said Pearce.
Also, the potential of dense cities to recycle the world’s metals and to reduce automobile reliance and carbon loading to the atmosphere is promising. Pearce echoed many when he noted that innovative
projects like San Diego’s methane-fueled garbage trucks and Curitiba, Brazil’s bus-only roads are important, but is critical when stating sharply, “all this is important, but it’s
tailpipe tinkering,” and then called for rethinking, arguing that cities are set up as if resources are unlimited.
Actions Green Louder than Words
Pearce wraps up Confessions with the idea that we may have a decade to turn things around, and that we can do it both because of technology and the awareness of many. Some are even looking at
climate change as an economic, rather than an environmental, issue—and Pearce is betting that the world will soon embrace a low-carbon economy.
And it’s precisely the idea of actions green louder than words that Pearce believes will cut our carbon emissions and maximize “positive social footprints” such as trading with
Kenyan organic green bean farmers and paying consciously for products like cocoa and coffee. “We need fair traders, not green patriots,” said Pearce.
For more, check out Ms. Green’s Q&A with Fred Pearce.
Read Fred Pearce’s Greenwash, a Guardian blog.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/series/greenwash
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