Re: Environmental Impact

Hi Einar,
I am in total agreement!
All chemicals down the drain eventually goes into the water table or; out to
the sea.
Susan
www.suanhuber.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "T. E. Andersen" <postlister@microscopica.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2005 3:25 AM
Subject: Re: Environmental Impact

> Just one more note on the "dilution is the solution"-topic;
>
> If you bring your film to a shop for processing, they are required to
> handle the spent chemicals in a proper way (at lest here in Norway, and
> I expect the situation will be the same in most of Europe and in the
> US). The think is, if you choose to process your film at home, the
> amount of environmental contaminants is the same (or probably even
> higher!). The only rationale for pouring the spent chemicals down the
> drain at home is the belief that the small amount is more diluted in the
> environment, and therefor not problematic. This may have been true in
> the past, and may still be true for some locations and/or chemicals.
> However, the general situation is that we are overloading the
> environment with contaminants. In this situation, it really does not
> matter if the discharge comes from a large processing plant, or from a
> multitude of small sources. We all need to do our part to remedy the
> situation. Anyone not willing to properly deal with the waste products
> of their activities should seriously consider stopping those activities.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Tom Einar
>
>
> Rick Retzlaff wrote:
> > Certainly we all need to consider the "lifecycle" of all that we do.
But
> > what is "a responsible recycling facility"?? In Saskatoon, about all
that I
> > know of is silver recovery from the fixer. I am sure I am not atypical
in
> > having a veritable storehouse of chemicals in my darkroom. In an ideal
> > world, each one would need a separate disposable program to make the
> > chemical acceptably benign to the environment. What are these other
> > facilities??
> >
> >
> > Richard Retzlaff
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jack Fulton [mailto:jefulton1@comcast.net]
> > Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 10:07 AM
> > To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> > Subject: Re: Environmental Impact
> >
> >
> > Boy, I shall echo this statement. One must collect used chemicals and
> > take them to a responsible recycling site.
> > If one does dilute the effluent it doesn't make any difference for the
> > amount of "poison" placed into the ecological cycle is the same. The
> > dilution merely hides the fact of the material disposed.
> > Jack Fulton
> >
> >
> >
> > On Apr 1, 2005, at 7:44 AM, T. E. Andersen wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Hello all,
> >>
> >>I have been more or less off the list for quite some time (there are
> >>1548 unread messages in my alt.photo folder....), but I'll put a word
> >>in anyway. Please excuse me if I've missed previous postings.
> >>
> >>In my opinion "Dilution is the Solution" reflects a completely
> >>outdated approach to disposal of environmental contaminants. Here in
> >>Norway, it is mostly forbidden (i.e. you are not permitted to dilute a
> >>fixative to reach the concentrations allowed released in the sewage),
> >>even though I believe some still practice this.
> >>
> >>Dilution may be acceptable if, and only if, what we are releasing into
> >>the environment is fully biodegradable, AND the ecosystem has capacity
> >>to handle the load. This includes having enough oxygen to "fuel" the
> >>degradation without H2S-formation. Many ecosystems have no spare
> >>capacity today.
> >>
> >>My saying would be: "Do your very best to minimize your ecological
> >>footprint". If I have the skills to safely practice alt.photo
> >>processes, I really do not have any excuse for not learning how to
> >>minimize the environmental impact of my actions. We just have to do
> >>our little bit, every one of us!
> >>
> >>Best regards,
> >>Tom Einar Andersen
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>Rick Retzlaff wrote:
> >>
> >>>I used to work at an environmental consulting company and they had a
> >>>saying - "Dillution is the Solution"
> >>>Richard Retzlaff
> >>>-----Original Message-----
> >>>From: John Cremati [mailto:johnjohnc@core.com]
> >>>Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 10:29 AM
> >>>To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> >>>Subject: Re: Environmental Impact
> >>> A while ago I was playing around with Photo applications to
> >>>Electroplating, and Electro etching of metals .......... I got a
> >>>book
> >>>written in the 1940's on the subject of " Making Big Money
> >>>Electroplating Baby Shoes"........... In the book they stated it
> >>>was very
> >>>important to make sure all the chemicals were to be disposed of
> >>>safely!
> >>>........ Some electroplating chemicals are nasty, Arsenic,
> >>>Formaldehyde,
> >>>acids, heavy metals , ect........Their recomendation was going out to
> >>>the
> >>>back yard and digging at least a "12 inch hole" to dump the chemicals
> >>>in.!.......
> >>>Those were simpler times...........
> >>>John Cremati
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
Received on Fri Apr 8 06:11:25 2005