By Kenneth Barbalace

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a consortium of 13 counties in Western Pennsylvania will be hosting the nation’s foremost annual conference for first responders, counter-terrorism professionals, emergency managers, and medical, law enforcement and industry personnel in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on December 2-5, 2007.

According to the U.S. EPA's press release for this conference, more than 1,000 disaster experts are expected to attend the 2007 U.S. EPA Emergency Preparedness & Prevention and Hazmat Spills Conference at the Pittsburgh Hilton, including 100 exhibitors showing the latest technology. The conference will feature speakers on such relevant topics as the financing of terrorism, workshops, intensive training, and local field trips, including the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, Pa.

More information is available at the conference website: http://www.2007conference.org/, or by calling the conference hotline at 1-800-364-7974.

By Kenneth Barbalace

What will be done with the debris of the information age? The European Union (EU) member states are taking action and holding manufacturers responsible for the hazardous materials in their products. While these regulations are focused on electronic goods sold in the EU, they will also impact goods sold here in the U.S. and rest of the world as in many instances it is easier and cheaper to manufacture all products to be compliant with RoHS requirements than to produce multiple versions of the same product (an RoHS compliant version for Europe and a non-RoHS compliant version for everywhere else in the world). In the end this means that all consumers are benefiting from RoHS as more of the electronic products they buy will contain the toxic chemicals that make proper disposal and recycling so hard.

Read more about the EU's RoHS in our latest article by Jennifer Manning: RoHS: Europe's Initiative to Control Technological Waste

By Kenneth Barbalace

Apple can be secretive to an extreme and when Greenpeace questioned major electronics companies about their environmental initiatives, Apple's secretiveness included what measures they are taking and have taken to remove hazardous chemicals from their manufacturing processes and products. It was a classic "we don't need to tell you" attitude. While the other companies were tripping over each other to gain better rankings on Greenpeace's reports, Apple computers gave Greenpeace the cold shoulder. As a result of not being completely forthcoming with their environmental practices, Greenpeace ranked Apple dead last out of fourteen leading computer companies in their April 3, 2007 report. The Apple fans at Greenpeace seemed almost despondent in their write up about Apple's failings.

Well, apparently that report and subsequent bad PR really stung Apple's pride and Apple cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs has come out fighting with a five page letter. Steve goes into great detail as to what Apple has been doing to eliminate hazardous chemicals from their products and manufacturing processes as well as what measures they are taking to recycle more of their consumer goods that have reached the end of their product life. At the same time Steve takes decidedly hostile stabs at Apple's competitors, discounting the environmental initiatives of those competitors.

It is very good to see that Apple's poor grade in Greenpeace's report was simply due to a failure on Apple's part to be completely candid as to what initiatives they are taking. At the same time, however, Steve Jobs' bitterness and stabs at other computer companies do not reflect well on him or Apple. It is not Greenpeace's fault that Apple came in last in Greenpeace's report. It is Apple's fault for having a culture of secrecy and failing to be completely transparent in matters of what they are doing to be an environmentally responsible company. Steve Job's apology at the end of his letter would have been more convincing had he just sucked it up and focused on Apple without trash talking its competitors.

By Kenneth Barbalace

Each year consumers paint their lawns with various fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. These chemicals can be deadly and it is important to use them correctly.

This article reminds consumers of important safety tips in regards to the safe handling, usage and storage of lawn chemicals.