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Mercury is a killer. The amount of mercury found in one tooth filling can contaminate a 20 mile long lake. Tailings from silver mines and cinnabar mines continue to contaminate the surrounding water supplies. Just a little rain on a tailing from these mines converts the mercury to a poison that is
more lethal than that of the mined mercury.

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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I support your idea with one catch... resistance is everywhere until it hits one in the gut, the personal is still political... I was going to remodel an older home to be a gathering place of sorts... to change the occupancy to accomodate current ADA standards I was told that I had to treat the building like it was new construction and convert all the beautifully trimmed, old doorways to 36 in. openings therefore removing all the vintage charm in the building. How sustainable is that do you think? The conversion was going to cost in the neighbourhood of 80K, I know this because a friend of mine converted a similar building for a retail store on Hawthorne. I had to take my dream and put it in my back pocket. So, no one benefited from my desire to improve this building. Policies are prohibitive and our will to change things is diminishing with every road block.

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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HI I am attempting to build new construction using all green building materials, energy star products and finishes that are environmentally sensitive. The high cost for such things is still prohibitive. Having to resort to grants to help pay for these things is also prohibitive. The blue tape inherant in building codes and guidelines has also made my efforts to change almost impossible. Access to green materials and contractors who will use materials that are not yet proven to be sustainable in their quality (ie: cotton installation made from recycled blue jeans which sag inside the walls after time), is also forcing me to return to the drawing board and use materials that are more readliy available. People are still stuck in their old ways. We may have good intention to change but it's still an uphill battle. I am attempting to change my ways with lots of resistance from all directions. Believe me. From the market place to the city government to my neighbors the resistance can be discouraging. Sincerely, K

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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