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SIGG Bottles Now BPA Free. But What Were They Before?

By Lloyd Alter, Toronto
Treehuggger | Food & Health


A year and a half ago we asked Are Sigg Aluminum Bottles BPA Free? and our answer was inconclusive. SIGG bottles consistently tested with no detectable levels of Bisphenol A (BPA), but when we asked if their liner was made with BPA, CEO Steve Wasik told us that the liner chemistry was proprietary, and "as there are many copy-cat manufacturers in the market (most based in China) that would like to get their hands on this formula, our supplier has an agreement with SIGG to keep his formula confidential."

Now SIGG has gone public with an announcement that all of their bottles are completely BPA free, thanks to their new "EcoCare" powder-based, co-polyester coating.

But Steve Wasik now admits that bottles made previous to August, 2008 were lined with a water-based epoxy liner which contained trace amounts of BPA. Was I misled last year? When I wrote that it's Time to Pack In the Polycarbonates, was suggesting people get a SIGG instead bad advice?

One can only answer, yes and no. SIGG bottles did consistently test at "no detectable" levels for BPA, but what concentrations were the tests looking for? Scientists were suggesting that as an endocrine disruptor that mimics the female hormone estrogen, it could have an effect on people at a concentration of a few parts per trillion; the test results are in parts per billion.

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CEO Wasik alludes to the changes in perception about BPA:

The primary reason that I am writing this letter today is because I believe that the BPA conversation has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Last year, the primary concern was that of BPA leaching from bottles. Since that time the dialogue has evolved such that now some people are concerned about the mere presence of BPA and some states are considering legislation.
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I was unhappy when I read this, essentially an acknowledgement that there was a presence of BPA; This morning I spoke with SIGG CEO Steve Wasik about it. Strictly speaking he is correct; a year ago his bottles tested at no detectable levels of BPA; now we want to know that there is none, period, used in the manufacturing process.

When I complained that there was nothing special about yet another water based epoxy lining in his earlier bottles, he disagreed and replied:

-The lining really WAS proprietary, and that is why their epoxy lining tested at zero parts per billion and the Chinese knockoffs tested at 19 parts per billion.

-they intend to be completely transparent and "have developed this special section on our website that we will be updating regularly where you can find independent laboratory testing on SIGG and other bottle brands as well as an update on the BPA situation as it continues to develop. We want our current and potential customers to have the facts."

Wasik told me that he wants to

"make sure that people continue to appreciate the quality and have confidence in the brand."

So where does that leave us?

1. SIGG bottles made prior to August, 2008 still test at "no detectable levels" of BPA. However, if that is not good enough for you and you want to discuss replacement, Steve Wasik suggests that you contact the company directly. His email address is at the bottom of his letter here.

2. SIGG bottles made since August, 2008 have a new lining that does not contain any BPA and does not use BPA in its manufacturing processes.

3. SIGG is acknowledging that there is concern about BPA at trace levels, which is a lot more than just about any other company using epoxy liners is doing. As I noted in Is There Bisphenol A In Your Home Canning?, most companies are still hiding behind the FDA standards, which almost everyone now agrees are ridiculous.

4. Notwithstanding Steve Wasik's openness and quick response, whenever I hear the word "proprietary" again I am going to run in the opposite direction. People are entitled to know what is in their stuff, what they are putting in their mouths. That is the new bottom line.

Educators, Top Free Resources to Teach Your Students About Climate Change

By Matt McDermott
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Planet Green | Work & Connect

News and information about climate change is everywhere these days. Between the rapidly changing state of the science -- generally along the lines of "things are a lot worse than we thought" -- and growing numbers of vested business interests trying to deny anything is wrong, where can you go to get some good basic information to help students? Here are some good places to get an overview of the situation:

Discovery Channel - Global Warming
Normally I'd wait until the end to plug our own services, but Planet Green's parent's info on global warming is pretty comprehensive and presented in a very compelling way. It's all pegged around the Global Warming: What You Need to Know with a Tom Brokaw special, but don't let the steely eyed celebrity news anchor dissuade you, it's solid content.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Why not start at the source? The IPCC's fourth assessment report (now two years old) really lays the situation our pretty starkly. Pay no attention to claims that its predictions are alarmist -- in fact, given the huge number of people who had input on it, if anything it's not dire enough. At the Copenhagen Climate Congress this past March, the consensus of scientists there was that the worst-case trajectories of this paper were coming to pass. Check out the synthesis report from that conference for an unofficial update to the IPCC's report.

Climate Change North
This one is aimed really at educators in Canada's northern territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) but frankly there's a lot of good info and specific lesson ideas for elementary, middle and high schoolers here that are worth checking out. Topics include (as one might expect) how polar bears and other wildlife are being affected by climate change, how climate change is likely to affect these northern regions, the impact of transportation on climate, and more.

Rainforest Action Network: Educators
The Rainforest Action Network has a growing list of lesson plans for middle and high school educators. There's a 77-page full curriculum, PDF fact sheets, and specific project areas such as a Green My School and Campus Challenge, Green My Ride, Soy What? Save the Rainforest From Giant Agribusiness, No New Coal, and Old Growth Forests.

PBS: NOW - Global Warming
PBS' NOW has a pretty extensive collection of video clips on issues related to global climate change: Renewable energy, ocean acidification, glacial melting, and coal are all covered. There's also a complete lesson plan PDF covering all the global warming basics.

More on Climate Change:
I'd be entirely remiss to not point out that Planet Green and TreeHugger both have countless posts on what changes global warming is already bringing about, what will likely happen in the future, and how we can slow or stop it:
8 Practical Reasons Why Global Warming Totally Sucks, Plus What's In It For You to Stop It
Global Fisheries Hit by Climate Change and Overfishing
Climate Change to Make the World Lazier, Study Finds

Seed to Plate: Online Garden Planner Makes it Easy

by Sami Grover
Carrboro, NC, USA
Transition Culture

With the Obamas gardening at the White House, vegetable gardening seems to have hit the mainstream. But many folks are still intimidated by the whole process - what do I plant, when, how many and how do I care for them? It can all be a bit much for a newbie. (See my own experiences of gardening failures over at Planet Green!) We've already seen one UK company spring up to make life a little easier - Rocket Gardens provide 'instant gardens' by shipping vegetable starts by mail - but as we noted at the time, that's not without its own environmental footprint. A new UK-based service helps those who want to start from seed.

Seed to Plate has created an online plot planner that asks you about what you like to eat, how much space you have, and how much time - and then creates a personalized set of seeds, planting plans and grow guides - even a map for laying out your plot - and ships it all to your door. Pretty darned neat if you ask me - I wish I'd have had a service like this when I started out.

Resources:

http://www.growveg.com/ - which provides a really flexible online garden planner.

Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:

* Why You Should Save Seeds from Your Garden
* Gardening Tips for Maximum Economic Harvest
* In Praise of the Potato II: A Volunteer Gardener
* How to Save Tomato Seeds
* 9 Human Activities That Threaten Birds and Why We Need to Effect Change Now
* Organic Gardening 101: Be OK with Failures

How will Earth's surface temperature change in future decades?

Judith L. Lean

Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C., USA

David H. Rind

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USA

Geophysical Research Letters

Reliable forecasts of climate change in the immediate future are difficult, especially on regional scales, where natural climate variations may amplify or mitigate anthropogenic warming in ways that numerical models capture poorly. By decomposing recent observed surface temperatures into components associated with ENSO, volcanic and solar activity, and anthropogenic influences, we anticipate global and regional changes in the next two decades. From 2009 to 2014, projected rises in anthropogenic influences and solar irradiance will increase global surface temperature 0.15 ± 0.03°C, at a rate 50% greater than predicted by IPCC. But as a result of declining solar activity in the subsequent five years, average temperature in 2019 is only 0.03 ± 0.01°C warmer than in 2014. This lack of overall warming is analogous to the period from 2002 to 2008 when decreasing solar irradiance also countered much of the anthropogenic warming. We further illustrate how a major volcanic eruption and a super ENSO would modify our global and regional temperature projections.

Received 29 April 2009; accepted 9 July 2009; published 15 August 2009.

Citation: Lean, J. L., and D. H. Rind (2009), How will Earth's surface temperature change in future decades?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L15708, doi:10.1029/2009GL038932.

Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin

Graham K. Westbrook

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK

Kate E. Thatcher

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK

Eelco J. Rohling

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Alexander M. Piotrowski

Godwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

Heiko Pälike

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Anne H. Osborne

Bristol Isotope Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Euan G. Nisbet

Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK

Tim A. Minshull

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Mathias Lanoisellé

Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK

Rachael H. James

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Veit Hühnerbach

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Darryl Green

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Rebecca E. Fisher

Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK

Anya J. Crocker

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Anne Chabert

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Clara Bolton

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller

Climate Sciences, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

Christian Berndt

National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at University of Kiel (IFM-GEOMAR), Kiel, Germany

Alfred Aquilina

Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Geophysical Research Letters

More than 250 plumes of gas bubbles have been discovered emanating from the seabed of the West Spitsbergen continental margin, in a depth range of 150–400 m, at and above the present upper limit of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). Some of the plumes extend upward to within 50 m of the sea surface. The gas is predominantly methane. Warming of the northward-flowing West Spitsbergen current by 1°C over the last thirty years is likely to have increased the release of methane from the seabed by reducing the extent of the GHSZ, causing the liberation of methane from decomposing hydrate. If this process becomes widespread along Arctic continental margins, tens of Teragrams of methane per year could be released into the ocean.

Received 20 May 2009; accepted 30 June 2009; published 6 August 2009.

Citation: Westbrook, G. K., et al. (2009), Escape of methane gas from the seabed along the West Spitsbergen continental margin, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L15608, doi:10.1029/2009GL039191.

Milankovitch Cycles (Video)