NELLY LALANY: A study at the University of Alberta lead by David Bressier, which turns cow parts into plastic is currently underway. In an attempt to protect the environment, Bressier has opted to use disposal cow remnants deemed hazardous into environmentally-friendly plastic.

Bressier and his collaborator, polymer physicist Phillip Choi are currently in the process of creating a method, which disposes of cow parts using hydrolysis, which means that the protein wastes are exposed to high temperatures combined with water.

It was discovered that the resulting substance could be combined with other materials to create a resilient plastic product. Bressier hopes this will also help to increase the value of Alberta’s beef industry.

The idea took shape shortly after the massive decline in beef value due to the Mad Cow disease crisis in the early 2000’s.

Bressler and Choi are going to be spending most of next year working on creating different “recipes” to determine what substances can be combined with the byproducts for different levels of durability and biodegradability.  [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has announced 370 thousand dollars in federal funding Wednesday for bee research in Saskatchewan.

In recent years, bee colonies have been threatened by mass extinction called colony collapse disorder.

Parasitic mites, viruses, and hive beetles have all contributed to colony collapse.

The funding is welcome to researchers who are looking for organic ways to kill the varroa mites because they have become resistant to two of the three chemical pesticides currently on the market.

Saskatchewan MP Kelly Brock adds honeybees contribute to almost 700 million dollars annually to Canadian agriculture. [ index ]

NELLY LALANY: In Wednesday evening’s wild storm, a tornado with peak winds between 120 and 170 kilometres/hr formed between Cambridge and Burlington.

Environment Canada confirmed that it was a- Fujita Scale one or F1 tornado beginning close to the Cambridge neighbourhoods of Little’s Corners, ending near Westover, and created the most damage in Kirkwall.

The national weather agency says that the tornado caused a damage track about 15 km long and 300 metres wide. Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities have been reported.

The F1 tornado was the 6th confirmed during the 2011 season. The full effect of a damaging thunderstorm continued to be investigated on Thursday, after the storm produced lightning and funnel clouds that threatened several communities throughout Southern Ontario. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: The majority of Canadians still drive to work rather than take public transit, reveals Stats Canada’s 2010 General Social Survey.

Approximately 10.6 million Canadians commuted to work by car last year, with 9 million admitting to have never used public transit to get to work.

The survey reveals the average commute across the country, including public transport and driving is roughly 26 minutes while commuters who bike or walk to work report an average commuting time of 14 minutes.

In urban centers such as Vancouver, 40 percent of downtown residents commute by transit while only 5 percent of suburban residents do so regularly. [ index ]

NELLY LALANY: The Harper government was not well favoured when delegates to the general council of the Canadian Medical Association meeting in St. John’s were made aware that the government would be blocking the inclusion of chrysolite asbestos in the Rotterdam Convention.

This would make it impossible for Canada to export the carcinogenic material to developing countries, as it is currently doing so now.

Dr. Yun Jen, a public health physician in Gatineau, Quebec says that the continuing export of asbestos to countries where health and safety standards are less strict, gives Canada an international black eye. She claims that it is hypocritical to export asbestos when it is not domestically utilized.

The conservative government responds by arguing that chrysolite asbestos is safe if handled properly but Dr. Jeffrey Turnbull, president of the CMA, says that the organization will make it known to politicans that Canada should not be exporting this dangerous product. [ index ]

CARA CHELLEW: Environment Canada has agreed to allow a Nunavit gold mine to use a nearby fish habitat for mining waste.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper who is on a week long tour of the arctic, defended the government’s decision.

Speaking to a crowd of workers at Meadowbank gold mine, owned by Toronto based Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, Harper admits environmental issues need to be addressed but it shouldn’t stop development.

Catherine Coumans, research coordinator of MiningWatch Canada points out that cost is the only reason for destroying the lake because it is cheaper than building an on-land impoundment.

A spokesperson for Agnico-Eagle Mines says the company is required to mitigate the effects of the activity and will create a new habitat for about 3000 fish. [ index ]

MELISSA SHAW: Shell claims that the 9 recent oil spills from it’s pipeline in southern Nigeria were the result of sabotage. The spills have been occurring since August 2nd and have polluted farmland and fishing grounds. The resulting spills also caused Shell to announce that it will not be able to meet it’s international contracts to export three hundred thousand barrels per day of crude oil. It declared force majeure which is a legal term that allows a company to not fulfil the requirements of their contract due to circumstances beyond their control.

Unpublished independent reports reviewed by the U.K newspaper the Guardian reveals that Shell withdrew the contracts to pay workers to monitor the pipeline. Friends of the Earth community leaders say that youth in Ikarama were pushing for a review of salary paid to the workers and to have more people from the community employed and in response Shell stopped the surveillance contract. Shell regularly attributes the cause of spills to sabotage but the community accuses Shell of working with youth and contractors to deliberately damage the pipeline to get contracts to clean up the spills. Ikarama is community of 50,000 people and is one of the most polluted sites in the southern Niger Delta. [ index ]

MELISSA SHAW: Animal poisonings in Scotland were at their highest numbers in over a decade in 2010 according to a report from the Government’s Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture or SASA. Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson says the report highlights the devastating impact that the irresponsible use of pesticides can have on wildlife.

Birds of prey were particularly vulnerable and made up 69 percent of the reported cases. 32 of the 233 reported cases were considered abuse and the rest were due to accidental exposure. Reported incidents included a piglet that ingested rodent bait, a dog that became ill from exposure to sheep dip chemicals and an unlabelled glass jar filled with cyanide that was found on a farm.

SASA said it will continue to work with various organizations including Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime or PAW to reduce the number of cases. SASA also said that early indications suggests that there will be a reduction in raptor poisonings this year. [ index ]

MELISSA SHAW: New Zealand’s Environment Minister Nick Smith announced government plans to contribute 2 million towards cleaning up Lake Ellesmere which is the country’s fifth largest lake and remains the most polluted. The project is a partnership between the government, Maori tribe Ngai Tahu, the Canterbury regional council, and dairy cooperative Fonterra. The Green Party applauded the plan as a step in the right direction but questioned it’s effectiveness. They are calling on the government to develop standards of water quality and limit the amount of pollution flowing into the lake from nearby dairy farms.

Studies have shown that land use intensification from farms is one of the major factors for water quality decline in the country. Herds of cows from dairy farms produce large amounts of fertilizer that decreases water quality in the lakes. Improving water quality is just just the first step in the Green Party’s three part plan to make New Zealand’s waters clean enough to swim in again. They also plan to introduce a charge for irrigation water and support cleanup initiatives such as sewage treatment plant upgrades. [ index ]