Michael Braungart, the German chemist who co-authored Cradle to Cradle with our founder, William McDonough, and Adam Lowry, the founder of Method, which makes home cleaning products (several of which are Cradle to Cradle Certified) and has used Cradle to Cradle thinking as a guide, have written an op-ed piece for the San Francisco Chronicle about the city’s plan to use bleach to combat a sewer odor problem. Here’s an excerpt–
“San Francisco’s plan to dump 27 million pounds of concentrated bleach into our water system, at a taxpayer bill of $14 million, would be an environmental disaster.
San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission plans to release the bleach into the city’s sewer system this summer, when the warmer, drier weather causes the natural production of hydrogen sulfide, a chemical that causes the notorious “rotten egg” smell. Hydrogen sulfide is produced naturally as bacteria break down sewage.
Other solutions to smelly sewers exist that are far more cost effective in the long term because they avoid the expense of cleaning up the dangerous and persistent chemicals produced by the use of chlorine bleach. ….
Why are we using 19th century chemistry to combat a 21st century problem? Is San Francisco not in the cradle of clean tech innovation? Other cities are already using better solutions today, and they are simple and cost effective.”
You can read the full post here.