Green Technology Working on Many Fronts

Over the past few years, the term green has been used to define many areas of the environment. In some instances claiming to be part of the green technology fight may be a bit of a stretch, but the intentions of green technology is to find new ways to sustain the environment of the planet. Conservation efforts have gone beyond simply saving what is here, growing to include recycling and trying to repair some of the resources that have been damaged.

Beginning with recycling, it saves not only the natural resources, but also saves the amount of energy required to produce new products as well as find them. For example, when aluminum cans are recycled, the need to mine bauxite and produce new aluminum cans is considerable less. Add to that the fewer number of cans taking up space in landfills and recycling aluminum cans could be considered a green industry.

Another area that benefits from green technology is in the field of solid waste management. Green initiatives look at water purification, reuse of many consumed items, such as paper and plastic, and how it can be converted into useful products. Many communities have developed individual programs to find ways to recycle products as well as how to keep certain materials out of their local landfills.

With many products requiring proper disposal, not all individual consumers are on that bandwagon, prompting local authorities to develop initiatives to provide incentives. For example, batteries and fluorescent light bulbs, due to the toxic materials they contain, require proper disposal. Since many disposal sites charge for these items, consumers may simply discard them with their regular trash. Some communities provide free drop-off service to keep them from the landfills.

Essentially, green technologies fall under two basic categories. There are those industries that deal with the lowering of greenhouse gases, such as eliminating carbon from being emitted into the air. Then there are the industries focused on sustaining the natural resources through recycling or by finding alternate energy resources to help preserve what is available.

While coal supplies are said to be enough to provide electric generation for another nearly 50 years, the amount of carbon attributed to generating plants is as much as 35 percent, with automobile exhaust contributing another 17 percent. Increasing the generation of electricity using alternative energy sources and increasing the research and development of electric vehicles can have a dramatic effect on the environment for much longer than 50 years.