Crunchy Dad

“Green Cell is a concept with a single simple idea: use safe, standardized rechargeable batteries in all portable gadgets. The environment would benefit from fewer batteries being thrown away, and you’d need fewer chargers for all your gear. Green Cell batteries would even be made without toxic chemicals, and sold from vending machines that double as recycling points. It’s a staggeringly sensible idea, which might be why it earned third place in the Greener Gadgets competition.” – Gizmodo

I know it’ll be difficult to get the manufacturers to agree to a size, shape, and standard but it’s happened before (AA batteries, for example). Think how much simpler life would be if all our new devices conformed and how much less polution there would be if the next generation could reuse and recycle this way.

The Allergykids.com blog brings up a good point regarding the safety of vaccines and the lack of unbiased research. The FDA has no budget to do their own research so they rely on the studies the drug manufacturers perform.

I’m not willing to assume that all the drug research is faulty but there is certainly a conflict of interest in the current system. It’s not hard to imagine a manager, feeling pressure to make a profit from drug research, pushing a scientist run a study their way or seeking out a scientist who’s already predisposed to the findings they need.

Companies are in business to make a profit and there’s nothing wrong with that. They may not be evil but sometimes pressures cause poor decisions. Sometimes wanting something clouds your judgment. When it comes to our children’s health, we need something more independent and someone more skeptical.