bottled water than for tap water. Pro-duction, bottling, and transporta-tion costs mean that bottled water can cost 2000 times more than tap wa-

ter!1 The en-

vironmental costs of bottled water are also high. Fos-sil fuels are used in the bottling and transportation of water far from its sources, and single use plastic bottles create waste. Americans use 50 billion water bottles each year, and the recy-cling rate is only 23 percent on

these bottles!2

Dairy-free products have been gaining popularity and more dairy alternatives are becoming available in the marketplace. The market for dairy-free prod-ucts was originally targeted at consumers who were lactose intolerant or had a milk allergy but this has shifted to include consumers who are concerned about animal rights and the en-vironmental impact of animal agriculture. While these are

Is Going Dairy-Free Nutritionally Safe? By Kayla Hultquist

I N S I D E

T H I S

I S S U E :

How to Hydrate? 1

Is Going Dairy-

Free Nutritional-

ly Safe?

1

From the Chair:

Paper vs. Plastic

and the Life Cy-

cle Assessment

Perspective

4

Eco-Office Bulletin J U N E 2 0 1 6 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 2 S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

This month’s Eco-

Office highlights

some green tips for

summer.

June 20 First Day of

Summer!

July 4: Independ-

ence Day!

Newsletter of NEIWPCC’s Sustainability Committee

Public institutions have to spend

money to dispose of bottles ei-

ther through recycling or other

methods, and this has led to

efforts to ban water bottles.

Bottled water sales have been

banned in several national

parks, and that policy has been

feverishly

For good health, we are en-couraged to remain well-hydrated. A good rule of thumb is that we should con-sume 8-8oz servings of water per day. That equals about 2 liters, or a half-gallon.

Nobody wants to carry around a bulky half-gallon container of water, so how can we meet this goal? Do we simply fill a bottle from the tap? Some are concerned that tap water is not safe, especially after hear-ing about problems with lead in public drinking water in Flint, MI. Is bottled water the best solution? Many believe that bottled water tastes better, and it can offer con-venience for our busy lives. Ironically, testing standards are far less stringent on

How to Hydrate? By Mark Nimiroski

Continued on Page 3

valid concerns that producers strive to improve upon on a daily basis, dairy products are an im-portant part of “MyPlate” as the USDA recommends daily con-sumption of 2 cups of dairy for children 2-3 years of age, 2 ½ cups for children 4-8 years of age, and 3 cups for everyone else. Removing dairy products from the diet may be more harm-ful than some consumers expect.

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Continued on Page 2

Reprinted from the Willian H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute Farm Report —Thank you to Myra Lawyer for making the connection!

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P A G E 2 E C O - O F F I C E B U L L E T I N

Photo credit: www.cartoonstock.com

Is Going Dairy-Free Nutritionally Safe? (continued) these dairy alternatives?” Cow’s milk is naturally rich in protein, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, riboflavin, and vitamin B12. Cow’s milk is usually fortified with vitamin D, which aids in calcium and vita-min A absorption. Dairy alterna-tives are lacking in key nutrients when compared to cow’s milk, and are often fortified with these nutri-ents to make them more similar to cow’s milk.

• Soy milk – The most similar to cow’s milk as it contains a large amount of protein (8 to 10 grams per serving) and has been fortified with calcium, vitamin A, vitamin D, and riboflavin. Although soy milk has been fortified with calcium, The American Journal of Clinical Nutri-tion reported that the calcium in cow’s milk is absorbed 25% better than the calcium in soy milk.

• Almond milk – Also fortified with nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin E but contains a very small amount of protein, about 1 gram per serving compared to the 8 grams found in cow’s milk.

• Rice milk – Very hypoallergenic as it is free of soy, gluten, and nuts and is fortified with vitamin A, vita-min D, vitamin B12, and calcium. Rice milk is also low in protein and is thin and watery, which makes it less than ideal for cooking.

• Coconut milk – Similar in texture to cow’s milk as it is high in fat (about 5 grams saturated fat per serving) but lacking in protein. It’s

nutrients per unit of greenhouse gas emission.

While animal agriculture continues to have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions, great progress has been made to reduce these emis-sions and to become more efficient. The carbon footprint per pound of milk was reduced by 2/3 from 1944 to 2007, with continued further ad-vancements.

A critical question that consumers should ask before consuming dairy-free products is “Am I actually getting the nutrients I need from

Some common alternatives to drinking cow’s milk include soy, almond, rice, coconut, and hemp milk, all of which have been said to have a smaller carbon footprint. These products may have a small-er total carbon footprint but on a nutrient basis they actually have a larger one. For example, the “Nutrient Density to Climate Im-pact” index (calculated by dividing the nutrient density by green-house gas emissions) is much high-er for cow’s milk at 0.54 compared to soy milk at 0.25. This means that cow’s milk provides more

Continued on Page 5

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P A G E 3 E C O - O F F I C E B U L L E T I N

How to Hydrate (Continued) able activities when there are few barriers. If the action is easy, you will get more people to partici-pate. Since many have sensor-activated operation, water bottles are easier to fill than at a bubbler or a standard tap. Another im-portant factor in encouraging sus-tainable activities is that people want to be part of the group. If refilling a reusable bottle is the norm, then more will follow suit because people want to be caught doing something good. Studies have shown that taste, temperature, and convenience are the primary factors in water choices. If filtered and chilled wa-ter is available in a high traffic location, it can make a big differ-ence in whether people choose a filling station or purchase a dis-posable bottle. There may be some drawbacks to the bottle filling stations. You need a plumber to install the units, so initial setup can be ex-pensive. Filters need to be re-placed, so that increases the maintenance cost. The filters probably end up in the landfill rather than being recycled. Chilling the water does require electricity, but the energy used is comparable to a standard drinking fountain. If a working drinking fountain is removed and then recycled or dumped in a landfill, it is questionable whether there is less waste being produced. Any potential drawbacks can be offset. The purchase and installa-

tronic counter indicated that waste from 12,127 disposable plastic bottles had been eliminat-ed! This is a nice example of im-mediate positive feedback for a more sustainable choice. The counter allows the positive actions of the whole group to be meas-ured. That can be a powerful moti-vation when compared to filling a bottle at a tap or a drinking foun-tain which offer no feedback. There are other good reasons to choose a bottle filling station as a way to promote more sustainable water choices. The presence of the station sets a good example of environmental responsibility. It is a visible symbol of a good organi-zational choice with measurable proof that it is working. People are more likely to take part in sustain-

debated. Several municipalities

have enacted, or plan to enact

bottled water sale bans. One argu-

ment against these policies is that

banning bottled water takes a

healthy choice away from con-

sumers. It is possible that consum-

ers will choose soda or other sug-

ary drinks if bottled water is not

available. There is also a cost to

vendors who may lose money in

sales.

Are Bottle filling stations a good

solution?

In order to provide alternatives to bottled water in national parks, the National Parks Service has installed bottle filling stations to allow park users to refill bottles that they bring or purchase. This trend has caught on, and 18 na-tional parks have stopped or will soon stop the sale of bottled wa-ter. National parks aren’t the only place where you see new installa-tions. School children and college students have taken an active role, and have raised funds to install bottle filling stations in their schools and on campuses. The newly constructed library in the town where I live has one, and my family uses it often. The NEI-WPCC Lowell office building has a bottle filling station on the first floor. As of May 2016 the elec-

Article Citations 1. Fishman, Charles. “Message in a Bottle.” Fast Company Magazine July 2007: 110. 2. Boesler, Matthew. “Bottled Water Costs 2000 Times as Much as Tap Water” Business Insider. Business Insider

07/12/2013. Web. 06/02/2016.

Continued on Page 5

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P A G E 4

E C O - O F F I C E B U L L E T I N

If you’re ever feeling a little too peppy and for some reason decide you need a downer to bring you back to reality, life cycle assessment is a good place to turn. Narratives of the “sustainable choice” are often quite set in stone – paper bags are more environmentally friendly than plastic ones, a vegetarian diet is the more sustainable choice, and tap water is the right call over bottled water. For some of these choic-es there is little to debate in terms of which option is greener, but for others the answer is more muddled when you look at the full life cycle of each option. We’ll use the paper vs. plastic bag de-bate as an example.

Plastic bags, produced with a byprod-uct of oil, are being threatened with bans in many places around the U.S., but are the alternatives actually more environmentally friendly? The manu-facturing process for paper bags is ac-tually more intensive than the process for plastic bags: getting the materials, especially if the bag isn’t made 100% out of recycled paper, and creating the bag isn’t free. Furthermore, paper bags are much heavier than plastic bags so transporting them in bulk around the country to stores is less efficient per bag than paper. Paper bags are also more likely to rip so plastic bags can be reused more.

From the Chair: Paper vs. Plastic

and the Life Cycle Assessment

Perspective By Dan Peckham

Alright, but what about the reusable bags being sold by many grocery stores these days? To make these sturdy enough to reuse again and again, these bags often require a much more inten-sive production process. Also, they are often made from oil-based plastics just like their single-use counterparts. The chart below concludes that reusable recycled bags win out after eight uses, but their potential long-term payback can be sabotaged by human forgetful-ness – I can confess to numerous gro-cery trips where I don’t remember to bring my reusable bags until it’s too late.

I don’t know about you but I’m already getting overwhelmed… and we have only scratched the surface. We haven’t even begun to talk about the environ-mental impact of landfilled plastic bags as compared to recycling the paper ones (recycling takes energy, too), or the amount of water and energy required to wash reusable bags. How do the post-use impacts of reusable and paper bags compare to the impact of a non-

biodegradable bag floating in the ocean?

None of us has the time to do this kind of a life cycle analysis of each and eve-ry decision we make. However, we can do our best to remain cognizant of the whole suite of impacts that our deci-sions have, environmentally and other-wise (without getting too depressed about it all). And one thing we do have control over is our behavior. The 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – can apply to paper, plastic, and reusable bags – and much more. Understand your choices and take action when you have the opportunity to make a positive impact.

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P A G E 5

Is Going Dairy-Free Nutritionally Safe? (continued)

How to Hydrate (Continued) tion price can be justified partially by the environmental benefit, but also as a service that people enjoy. Amenities that cost money are generally worth it if it makes employees, students, or visi-tors enjoy the experience more. In a new building construction, the cost difference is marginal when compared to other choices, like traditional drinking fountains. This was most likely the case at our new library. If broken or seldom used drinking fountains are replaced in existing buildings, the upgrades are no more damaging to the environment than any other routine maintenance. If

energy use is a concern, a timer can turn units off on weekends. Overall, these

stations appear

to be a good so-

lution to encour-

age healthy and

sustainable hab-

its to workplaces,

schools, parks

and other public

places. If other offices or places that

you visit have filling stations, or oth-

fortified with vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and calcium and is also free of soy and gluten.

• Hemp milk – Another dairy alternative for consumers with allergies to soy, nuts, and gluten. Hemp milk contains a high amount of protein, vitamin A, vita-min E, vitamin B12, and folic acid but unless fortified is low in calcium.

Nutrient profiles of various dairy alter-natives may differ as each product is fortified with varying levels of nutrients, so consumers should check the nutrition facts before purchasing the product.

Some people may ask, “What about consumers who are lactose intolerant or have a milk allergy?” Consumers that are lactose intolerant are unable to di-gest the lactose (sugar) in cow’s milk due to insufficient quantities of lactase production, which breaks down lactose. Fortunately there are lactose-free dairy products where the lactose has already been broken down by adding lactase, but nutritionally the milk compares to regular cow’s milk. In addition, these people can also take lactase tablets be-fore consuming dairy products to help aid them in breaking down the lactose. Consumers with a milk allergy could

benefit from the various types of dairy-free products as they are una-ble to consume cow’s milk.

If done properly, consumers can choose to go dairy-free and find oth-er products that will provide them with the nutrients they are lacking with a dairy-free diet, but people need to be informed on the nutrient profiles of dairy alternatives and that

dairy alternatives are actually pro-ducing more greenhouse gases on a per unit of nutrient basis. While con-sumers may be able to obtain their daily requirement of nutrients else-where, cow’s milk is still a power-house when it comes to the amount of nutrients it contains including protein and calcium.

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er green or not-so-green beverage

choices, I’d be curious to hear.

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________________________________ Design: Dan Peckham

650 Suffolk Street, Suite 410,

Lowell, MA 01854

Phone: 978-323-7929

Fax: 978-323-7919

E-mail: mail@neiwpcc.org

http://www.NEIWPCC.org

Established by an Act of Congress in 1947, the New England Interstate Water

Pollution Control Commission is a not-for-profit interstate agency that em-

ploys a variety of strategies to meet the water-related needs of our member

states—Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York,

Rhode Island, and Vermont. We serve and assist our states by:

Coordinating forums and events that encourage cooperation among the states

Developing resources that foster progress on water and wastewater is-sues

Representing the region in matters of federal policy

Training environmental professionals

Initiating and overseeing scientific research

Educating the public

Providing overall leadership in water management and protection

Submit an article for our September fall issue!

NEIWPCC staff at the Lowell office started putting together the Eco-Office Bulletin newsletter in September 2012 as a way for the sustainability committee to update the rest of the office on their activities, as well as to share news and tips on sustainable prac-tices at the office and home. Distribution was expanded to include all NEIWPCC employees in December 2012, and we are pleased that recent articles have come from staff in both Lowell and beyond. For future issues, we welcome article submissions from all employees. Stay turned for more information on submitting!

P A G E 6

Parting Shot: World Leaders at COP21 in Paris

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