There has been loads of good press about sustainable bio-fuels in the media, so is it any wonder that it’s taken a while to investigate the carbon emitted from these fuels.

Believe it or not the bads news is that some of these fuels are worse than actually burning oil. The government in the US has thrown it’s weight behind the ethanol blend before even checking whether it was actually better.

It depends a lot on the fuel and where it was grown, Brazil grows sugar cane that emits hardly any carbon, but the sugar cane grown in Florida is on a par with petrochemicals. Bio-fuel is being talked about as a cure for climate change when really in some cases this is not true at all.

One of the small mistakes that people make when recycling, is recyclable bottle tops that are made of a different material to the bottle, these are left on when thrown in with the plastic, another offenders is plastic lined steel and aluminum cans.

The biggest problem for the recycling plants is plastic bags clogging up the packing line.

Most of the carpet laid in US homes after the 1940’s is nearly all synthetic which does not decompose. Carpets contain pests, allergens and can give of VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) that is a strong indoor pollutant. This is why people are ripping out their carpets in favor of stripped back floorboards. So what happens to all the old carpets?

By 2012 it is estimated that due to no infrastructure to recycle old carpet there will be nearly 7 billion pounds dumped in the US alone. This is due to several materials that make up a carpet and which are difficult to separate for further processing. Some carpets are recycled and made into roof tiles and other home decorating items.