Re: [TheThinkTank] Disposing of used simple green

21 Jun 2007

      good point about getting peeps out of cars. If all the
people in cars rode bikes, then we spilled all the
used simple green from cleaning all the more bikes, it
would still be less pollution than all the cars were
previously making.
Still: give a hoot, don't pollute.
I don't mean to bag on anyone about pouring bad stuff
on trees. (And I don't want to debate it.) I just
wanted to point it out because some people still don't
know that what goes on the ground goes into our ground
water or into the rivers and oceans.
Peace out.
From,
Nathan
--- sprocket sprocket@riseup.net wrote:
...
Nathan, I share your distrust of government
regulatory agencies, but 
short of conducting our own tests, where else can we
look for conclusive 
answers? I see your point about the waste from
petroleum based 
lubricants etc. getting into the waste stream, but I
think it would help 
to put that problem into perspective a little.
Multiple 10's of thousands of cars drive through the
downtown Tucson 
area every day spewing hydrocarbons and various
deadly oxides into our 
air, and they leave behind them on the road
surfaces, tons upon tons of 
tire dust (600,000 tons per year in the US), brake
fluid, oil, etc. What 
doesn't go airborne washes into our storm sewers and
straight into the 
Santa Cruz river which brought life to this valley
in the first place.
The story is the same in every city. My point here
is that we are much 
better off focusing our efforts on getting people
out of their cars and 
onto a bicycle than wasting energy fretting about an
environmental 
impact that when compared to the larger
environmental violence 
associated with the use of automobiles, doesn't add
up to a hill of beans.
my 2 cents,
Ian
Nathan Pierce wrote:
...
That's surprising about simple green, and makes me
feel a little better. (Though I don't thoroughly
trust
...
EPA when it comes to that sort of thing... and the
FDA
...
for that matter.) Yet using simple green to clean
parts adds other things besides the "simple"
green,
...
which are bad for the soil and water... and runoff
of
...
oil products pollutes a disproportionate amount of
water.
I like Chris and Re-Cycles suggestions of coffee
filters to lengthen useful life [for whatever
cleaner], followed by the hazardous waste
disposal.
...
from,
Nathan
--- sprocket sprocket@riseup.net wrote:
...
I let most of the stuff on this list float by,
but
...
...
Nathan, your comments
piqued my interest. So, I did some research and
found the simple green's
Material Safety Data Sheet.
(http://consumer.simplegreen.com/cons_msds.php)
Here's what it had to say about putting simple
green
...
...
in the soil:
Biodegradability: Simple Green is readily
decomposed
...
...
by naturally
occurring microorganisms....Per OECD Closed
Bottle
...
...
Test, Simple Green®
meets OECD and EPA recommendations for ready
biodegradability.
In a standard biodegradation test with soils from
three different
countries, Butyl Cellosolve reached 50%
degradation
...
...
in 6
to 23 days, depending upon soil type, and
exceeded
...
...
the rate of
degradation for glucose which was used as a
control
...
...
for
comparison.
Environmental Toxicity Information: Simple Green®
is
...
...
considered
practically non-toxic per EPAs Aquatic toxicity
scale.
--
Seems like as cleaners go, this stuff is pretty
benign, which I think is
why Bicas and a lot of other places use it. The
main
...
...
active ingredient
is butoxyethanol, which decomposes in the
environment within a few days
and has not been identified as a major
environmental
...
...
contaminant. It is
not known to build up in any plant or animal
species. And curiously,
simple green is the substance used to clean the
oil
...
...
slick off of sea
life when oil tankers spill their muck into the
ocean.
I can't imagine that butoxyethanol is what makes
Bicas' mesquite tree
grow...I'd bet that its all the extra water its
getting...desert trees
love to be watered.
cheers,
Ian

Nathan Pierce wrote:
...
Oh my God... that is so bad for the ground (and
ground
...
water) and surface runoff when it rains.
Most communities have household hazardous waste
collection facilities, just for these types of
chemicals that are dangerous, bad for the
environment,
...
and they don't want in the landfill.
From,
Nathan
--- troy neiman troyneiman@myself.com wrote:
...
well, we here at bicas use a sink which drains
into
...
...
a bucket.  the used
simple green usually ends up in there and then
we
...
...
...
...
pour the bucket, when
full onto our mesquite tree in front.  i never
would
...
...
have thought but we
have been doing it long before i was involved
here.
...
...
the tree loves it
and has grown from just a 4 foot shrub into a
full
...
...
grown 25 foot tree in
5 or 6 years.  maybe simple green, grease and
hand
...
...
cleaner act as a
growth hormones or something.  also we try to
encourage that people first
dilute the easy green, use minimal amounts of
the
...
...
...
...
stuff if soaking parts
is absolutely necessary and also reuse it if
possible as many times as we
can.  troybicas
----- Original Message -----
  From: "Andy Dyson"
  To: "The Think Tank"
  Subject: [TheThinkTank] Disposing of used
simple
...
...
green
  Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:39:21 -0400
Ah, friendly simple green. Such a nice name.
Is
...
...
...
...
there anything you
  can
  do to this stuff to feel better about
disposing
...
...
...
...
of
...
...
it. What do you
  guys
  do? .
--
  Andrew C. Dyson
  Executive Director Neighborhood Bike Works
  Increasing opportunities for youth through
bicycling
Check our Web Site:
  http://www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org
Neighborhood Bike Works
  3916 Locust Walk,
  Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: (215) 386-0316
  Cell: (215) 873-6695
  FAX: (215) 386-7288

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