Enstyro is focused on foam recycling because it benefits the earth and humanity. Frankly it was an open and obvious niche in a “civilized society”. The larger problem now is that we are not a civilized society. We allow our government to do terrible things to the earth while pretending they are doing good.
Our government is forcing anyone who uses gasoline to consume corn ethanol. Corn ethanol is proclaimed to be a renewable fuel, although it is definitely not. Far more fossil fuel is burned to produce it than ethanol is produced. To pretend that it is renewable, government “science” must first ignore the fossil fuel inputs used to create corn ethanol. We then pretend that viable soil and land are available in infinite supply.
Quality life giving land is not infinite, and growing corn is the opposite of renewing the soil. Forests, prairies, and wetlands generated the high quality soil used for farming, while products like corn are consuming the quality soil. Damaging our waterways and oceans is a terrible side effect. Herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers are eliminating biodiversity on vast portions of our country. These same chemicals are now shown to be damaging to humans directly.
Enstyro’s home state is Iowa. About 30% of the surface of Iowa is now corn fields for corn ethanol. The RFS (renewable fuel standard) has destroyed the resilience of our food supply by turning a bastion of nature into a corn desert where nothing but genetically modified corn is allowed to survive. Without forests and wetlands, a couple years of drought could turn this corn desert into a real desert.
Forests and wetlands have historically given great resilience to our life giving land. These natural resources allow the land to survive droughts. Natural lands renew the soil through biodiversity. Forests have many positive effects on weather while allowing a wide range of species to survive.
When nature versus cropland is accounted for, corn ethanol may be 10 times the carbon footprint per mile driven over conventional gasoline. No fossil fuel companies are actually against it because of the vast amounts of fossil fuel sold just to produce the fuel. Lobbyists, bankers, politicians, insurance companies, and enormous chemical companies collect the monetary benefits.
If you have found your way to this site because of your concern for our earth and possibly climate change, please focus your efforts on ending our government’s ignorant policy of forcing us to consume corn ethanol. Recycling is good, but we need to end policies that are devastating to the earth and life on it. Just buying normal gasoline isn’t enough because the current law, the RFS, demands that a certain percentage of all fuel consumed must be corn ethanol. It is forced consumption which is neither freedom or capitalism.
When you find yourself stuck in a hole, stop digging. We need to stop destroying the planet, especially when we are only serving greed while lying to the population. There is nothing good for nature with corn ethanol as gasoline. Stop the madness, save the planet from pure greed. Please contact media outlets and even politicians. Mother Nature needs you to be her lobbyist.