Since 1998, all the farmers in China's Yunnan Province have eliminated their use of fungicides, while doubling rice yields, by planting more diverse varieties of the grain. Water utilities in Germany now pay farmers to switch to organic operations because it costs less than removing farm chemicals from water supplies. Companies also need to take greater responsibility for their toxic discharges. Although the EPA requires that these effluents be injected below the deepest source of drinking water, some have entered underground water supplies in Florida, Texas, Ohio, and Oklahoma. Such waste exchanges help an industrial park in Kalundborg, Denmark, to keep more than 1.3 million tons of effluent out of landfills and septic systems each year.
Manufacturers can also switch to less toxic alternatives.
In Sweden, where chlorinated solvents were entirely phased out by the end of 2000, some firms already report economic savings from switching to water-based solvents derived from biochemical sources such as citrus fruits, corn, soybeans, and lactic acid. Sampat calls on governments to encourage reductions or replacement of toxic chemicals. One tool is fiscal policy. Pollution taxes in the Netherlands, for example, have helped the country slash discharges of heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic into waterways by up to 99 percent between 1976 and the mid-1990s. The Worldwatch Institute is dedicated to fostering an environmentally sustainable society in which human needs are met in ways that do not threaten the health of the natural environment or the prospects of future generations.