April 2010 Archives

Coltan, a dull black mineral ore with the industrial name of columbite-tantalite, is used in the production of thousands of types of electrical devices. You may have never heard of this material but it's vital in the production of cell phones, jet engines, rockets, DVD players, video game devices, and computers with millions of units being sold annually. The coltan used in these products is mined in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Ethiopia, Mozambique and the Congo. Because it is so vital to the production of consumer digital devices, the price has risen drastically in recent years and created environmental and humanitarian challenges that are worth considering and rectifying.

Now according to Wikipedia, the US Geological Survey reported in 2006 that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) produces a little less than 1% of the world's coltan. While the Rwandan occupation in the DRC prevented the DRC from exploiting coltan for its own benefit, it did not prevent illegal mining and smuggling of coltan by militias from Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda.

An activist group called Towards Freedom (www.towardsfreedom.com) claims that coltan smuggling funds the income of the military occupation of the Congo. They state that the demand for coltan has caused military groups and western mining companies to seek hundreds of millions of dollars worth of coltan, often by forcing prisoners-of-war and children to work in the DRC coltan mines.

According to Towards Freedom, the 2000 launch of the Sony Playstation 2 required a huge increase in the production of electric capacitors, which are made primarily with tantalum. As a result, the world price of the powder went from $49 per pound to $275 per pound. In order to meet this demand, there was accelerated mining of the Congolese hills, which contain coltan.

Wikipedia states that Sony claims they discontinued their use of tantalum mined in the Congo. However, statistical analysis states that it is nearly inconceivable that Sony produced so many Playstations without the use of coltan from the Congo. Currently, industry experts estimate that most of coltan from the DRC is being exported to China where it is processed into electronic-grade tantalum powder and wires. It is estimated that 64% to 80% of the of the world's coltan reserves can be found in the Congo.

On top of the political and economical impact of illegal coltan mining, there is an environmental impact. Excessive mining causes erosion of the land which pollutes nearby lakes and rivers. The pollution smothers organisms living in the waters, cutting off major food supplies for nearby animals.

One animal that is impacted by coltan mining is the Eastern Mountain Gorilla. Miners of coltan are located many miles from any food source, so they hunt the gorillas or "bush meat" for food. An estimated 3-5 million tons of bush meat is killed in Central and Western Africa every year. As a result, Eastern Mountain Gorillas are nearly extinct. What can you do about all of this? For starters, you can recycle your old cell phone to places like EcoCell. You can also write to companies, like Sony, who use coltan and encourage them to look for ways to prevent their sources from using coltan mined in the Congo.

A report found on the EcoCell website states that:
"Ideas such as "gorilla free" cell phones (like dolphin free tuna) are appealing to many western markets (but not southern markets, which have the highest rates of growth for cell-phone purchases and usage). Continued pressure and publicity by the IUCN, UNESCO (supporting the World Heritage Sites), and other conservation groups may help to shrink up the market for eastern Congo. Developing ore signatures that can identify the sources of coltan would also provide a real measurement standard for the industry, enabling better accountability for source determination."

To find out more, visit the Towards Freedom website at towardsfreedom.com. You can also find out more at eco-cell.com.

Part 3 of A Green Zoo Series by Erin Reilly: In the last 2 articles, I mentioned how the Denver Zoo is the only zoo in the United States with a Sustainable Management System. It is clear that the Denver Zoo has many ways in which they try to maintain a sustainable business. Another of the many ways they do this is through a program described as "answering the call of the wild".

Rather than throw an old cell phone away, guests are encouraged to donate their old cell phones to Denver Zoo, who has partnered with Eco-Cell to recycle and reuse old cell phones", the zoo website says in regard to the program.

Eco-cell is a premiere cell phone recycling program for anyone with an environmentally-minded fundraiser or program. According to the Eco-cell website, Eco-cell is aware that the United States is in an e-waste (or electronic waste) crisis. The program is highly focused on the environment, claiming they have a strict no landfill policy. They accept all cell phones and accessories.

The website (eco-cell.com) states that, "We [Eco-cell] designed a program that encourages organizations to collect all used cell phones and accessories, including batteries. We realized from the start that this approach would take away from our profits. However, we have always maintained that this endeavor is about a lot more than just collecting the 'profitable' used cell phones. It's about cleaning up and helping to save our environment. "

Many people have unused cell phones lying about their house. In fact, in 2005, it was estimated that there were over 500 million cell phones out of use in the United States. So why is this such a big deal? Well, cell phones contain a lot of hazardous substances that can have a negative impact on the environment. One of these hazardous materials is called coltan.

Coltan, according to Wikipedia, is the industrial name for columbite-tantalite, with is a metallic ore of a dull black color from which the elements niobium (formerly "columbium") and tantalum are extracted.

The Denver Zoo website states, "When refined, coltan becomes metallic tantalum, a heat resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge. These properties make it a vital element in creating capacitors, the electronic elements that control flow inside miniature circuit boards. Tantalum capacitors are used in almost all cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices."

Where do the phones go after you donate them to the Denver Zoo? About 80% of them will be reused and refurbished by low income users in Latin America or by local programs such as battered women organizations. That 80% also includes senior citizens and other groups like the Sexual Assault Services Organization (SASO) located in Durango, CO. who use the phones for 911 emergencies. Unusable cell phones will be recycled under strict Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines by certified recyclers.

Want more reasons to recycle your phone at the Denver Zoo? The Denver Zoo website states that for each cell phone donated, Eco-Cell will donate $10. The funds raised will help the zoo provide world class care to all of its animal residents.

In addition, you will be helping wildlife in the Congo where a vast majority of coltan is mined. Currently, coltan is being mined illegally in protected lands across the Congo, which is endangering the local wildlife.

The next time you visit the Denver Zoo, consider answering the call of the wild by donating your unwanted or unused cell phone at the guest services desk.

Part 3 of the A Green Zoo Series by Erin Reilly: In part 2 of this series, I mentioned how each department of the Denver Zoo has a green team that is responsible for keeping their department as environmentally conscious as possible. Currently, I am an employee of the Denver Zoo's Kibongi Market Gift Shop. In this article, I felt it would be interesting to go into detail about what the gift shop does to be green and what might be applicable to similar institutions.

Last summer, the gift shop had a green competition to see which department of KM Concessions (the company I work for) could be the most green. The winner of this competition received $100 to spend in any way they liked. At the gift shop, we did several things to be green. These things included bringing our own water bottles to cutting back on the use of plastic cups, recycling the coffee grounds used in the café, using napkins made from recycled paper, using cups and spoons made from corn, limiting each employee to one plastic cup per day for drinks, and recycling cardboard and used batteries. In the end, our department was the greenest department.

Even though the competition ended, the gift shop did not stop doing all they could to be environmental conscious. We still do everything mentioned above and continually look for new ways to help the environment.

Since Earth Day is coming up, we decided to use our $100 to help out the community. On April 22nd, you will find Kibongi Market employees out cleaning up nearby City Park. We feel it is a great way to give back to the community and show that the Denver Zoo cares about the environment.

Part 2 of A Green Zoo Series by Erin Reilly: As mentioned in the previous article, the Denver Zoo is the first of its kind in the United States to have a Sustainable Management System. What is a Sustainable Management System? According to Wikipedia, this system "takes the concepts from sustainability and synthesizes them with the concepts of management".

Sustainability itself has three branches that include the environment, the needs of present and future generations, and the economy. Using these principles, sustainable management allows a system to run indefinitely without using up resources at a net loss. It also allows the system to maintain economic capability and fulfill the needs of present and future generations.

"Sustainable management has been created to be defined as the application of sustainable practices in the categories of businesses, agriculture, society, environment, and personal life by managing them in a way that will benefit [everyone for years to come]", Wikipedia states.:

The Denver Zoo Sustainable Management System is made up of several parts. One aspect is a new exhibit to be called Asian Tropics. Asian Tropics, according to the zoo's website, will be a ten acre space dedicated to elephant conservation. The site will include more than fifteen buildings and has been registered at the platinum level with the United States Green Building Council. The exhibit is scheduled to be completed by 2012.

Another way, according to the website, that the zoo is trying to be sustainable is by looking for opportunities to use its waste stream to generate energy for heat and power for the Asian Tropics site. With this system, the zoo will reduce the amount of waste going to landfills by 1.5 million pounds per year.

The website states, "[The] Denver Zoo's biomass gasification system will be the first of its kind anywhere in the world to convert a complex and diverse waste stream into a uniform, stable fuel on a consistent basis.Once complete, this system will serve as a model for such systems at other campus-like settings, from business and amusement parks to resorts, schools and small communities."

In addition to all of this, the Denver Zoo has hired a full time, permanent Sustainability Coordinator. This person is responsible for deciding which industries, products, and vendors will best support the zoo's mission to be as sustainable as possible. Perhaps the most important job for the Sustainability Coordinator is managing the Denver Zoo's Workplace Conservation Committee. This committee, or "green team" includes representatives from each department of the zoo who are responsible for coming up with strategies to keep every area of the zoo as green as possible.

In August 2008, the Denver Zoo was awarded acceptance into the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment's Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) as a Gold Leader.