U.S. Attorney's Office via AP

Totoaba bladders are displayed at a U.S. border crossing in downtown Calexico, Mexico. Seven people have been charged in a scheme to sell the bladders of an endangered Mexican fish considered a delicacy for use in Chinese soup, U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday.

The 73-year-old suspect in a smuggling case first got attention of federal investigators when they found 27 fish bladders in plastic bags under his vehicle’s car mats at the U.S.-Mexico border.

After agents released Song Shen Zhen, they followed him to a home in Calexico, Calif., a mid-sized city east of San Diego on the border. There they found that he had set up a factory filled with fans to dry the bladders of the endangered Totoaba fish, a once abundant fish that was heavily fished. The goal, officials say, was to ship the fish bladders overseas for large amounts of money.

An expensive delicacy in China, Totoaba meat is used in soups. Many believe it to be a treatment for infertility or circulation and skin problems.

Read the original story at NBC San Diego 

At the factory, they found 240 bladders laid out in rows to dry with the fans blowing on them. Federal prosecutors say they found ledgers that indicate the operation could have made more than $3.6 million profit if the fish had been sold abroad.

Customs and Border Protection officers have been noticing the rare fish, which can grow to 6 ½ feet in length, protected in the U.S. and Mexico, showing up in coolers hidden inside vehicles. Since February, inspectors have seized approximately 483 pounds of Totoaba in Calexico, officials said.

In the last two months, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged seven people with Totoaba smuggling.

“While we may never know how many Totoaba bladders were harvested illegally, such disregard for the protections that were put in place to benefit this endangered species could have a disastrous effect on the fish population,” Deputy Chief Edward Grace said in a statement.

The fish are found in the Sea of Cortez between Baja California and Mexico. As part of their annual migration, Totoaba head north to the Colorado River delta where they spawn from March to May.

If convicted, Zhen faces 25 years in custody and a $500,000 fine.

Levi's

Levi's plans to turn about 3.5 million recycled bottles and other plastic waste into soft, high-quality denim.

They don’t look like they’re made from trash – and that’s the whole idea behind Levi’s new Waste-Less jeans.

The company says at least 20 percent of the material that goes into making this denim comes from recycled plastic bottles and food trays. That means about eight 12- to 20-ounce bottles are reborn in each pair.

“It’s good for people and better for the planet,” said Jonathan Kirby, vice president of men’s design at Levis Strauss.

The company plans to turn about 3.5 million recycled bottles and other plastic waste into soft, high-quality denim for its Spring 2013 Waste-Less collection. And just to make sure you don’t miss that fact, Levi’s puts a tag on each pair: “These jeans are made of garbage.”

“We decided to take something that was trash and turn it onto something that was valuable and viable,” Kirby told me. “The end goal is to get people to think a little bit differently about what they do with their waste. We want them to realize that a piece of trash can actually become something else that’s relevant to them.”

Right now, this sustainable denim is being made into jeans for both men and women, as well as the classic Trucker jacket for men. The jeans start at around $68, which Kirby calls “a very fair price for a product of this quality and value.”

How do they do it?
The recycled plastic – brown beer bottles (yes, they’re plastic), green soda bottles, clear water bottles and black food trays – is collected from communities across the country and shipped to a manufacturing plant where it is broken down into tiny pellets and spun into polyester fibers. That polyester yarn is then woven with cotton into denim.

The Waste-Less jeans are thin and lightweight, darker than some other denim. The inside of the jeans also looks different. They’re not the typical blue and white. These are more brown and blue.

“The brown bottles and the food trays give the fabric that unique shade and color,” Kirby explained. “You can actually see the recycled material in the garments themselves.”

Is this really good for the earth?
The recycling of plastic bottles has increased dramatically during the last few years. The International Bottled Water Association recently reported that 39 percent of the plastic water bottles in the United States were recycled in 2011. That’s up from 32 percent the year before.

Levi's

Of course, something has to be done with all of this waste plastic before recycling truly takes place. It must be made into new products, such as plastic lumber, carpets, new containers or clothing. Environmentalists call this “closing the loop.”

“It’s a great way to make sure there’s an end market for recovered materials,” said Darby Hoover, senior resource specialist with the Natural Resources Defense Counsel. “When consumers put plastic bottles into the recycling bins, this helps ensure that there’s a market for them to actually get turned into useful products.”

Hoover points out that this does not decrease the plastic that’s being used to make new plastic bottles – environmentalists would like to see fewer of them used – but it does help keep some plastic waste out of landfills.

“Using recycled content helps decrease environmental impacts across the board as compared with using virgin materials for manufacture,” Hoover told me.

So what does denim made with trash look at feel like?
Levi’s sent me a pair to wear for a few days.

I asked some friends and colleagues to feel the material. Most described it as “smooth”or “soft.” They were completely surprised when I told them there was recycled plastic in the denim and they all wanted to know more.

One person asked if the plastic in the jeans would melt if ironed or thrown in the dryer. The company assured me they will not.

A long-term commitment to the environment
This is not the first environmental initiative for Levi’s. The company’s Water-Less manufacturing technique introduced in 2011 reduces the water used in the finishing process of some products by as much as 96 percent. The company says the Water

“We don’t just want to reduce our impact on the environment, we want to leave it better than we found it,” said James Curleigh, global president of Levi’s brand in a statement.

Clearly, Levi Strauss believes it can be a leader in eco-fashion.  Vice president Jonathan Kirby told me he’s looking into a number of different sustainable clothing options for next year.

“It’s the beginning of something that will hopefully become a bigger initiative for us,” he said.

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter or visit The ConsumerMan website.

Want to impress your prospective employees? Whip out the balance sheet, but don’t forget the sustainability report.

A new survey finds that more than 6 in 10 full-time workers think an employer’s impact on the environment is vital when evaluating whether to work there. That’s about the same percentage of people who think looking at their profit margin is important.

The telephone survey of 504 full-time workers was conducted in late February by Harris Interactive on behalf modular carpet manufacturer Interface Inc.

The survey also found a gender divide when it comes to environmental issues. Although 78 percent of female employees said a company’s impact on the environment was important, only 52 percent of male workers said the same thing.

The survey also showed that Americans think more highly of U.S. businesses than Chinese ones when it comes to environmental stewardship.

About three-fourths of those surveyed said they believe U.S.-based businesses are implementing policies that protect and preserve the environment. Only one-fourth said businesses based in China are doing the same thing. 

Gallup

The Great Recession appears to have had a big – and negative - impact on Americans’ sympathy for Mother Earth.

A Gallup poll released last week found that Americans are prioritizing economic growth over the environment by the widest margin in nearly three decades.

The poll found that 54 percent of Americans think economic growth should be given priority over environmental protection, while 36 percent thought the environment should be given the top priority.

For decades, the chart was reversed, with the majority of Americans saying that environmental protection should be the top concern. But things began to change when the economy entered its sharp decline in 2008, only reversing course again briefly following the Gulf Oil spill.

It’s unclear if the nuclear disaster in Japan will cause people to rethink those priorities. The survey of around 1,000 adults was conducted March 3 through 6, before Japan was rocked by a massive earthquake and tsunami, which has killed thousands of people and left a hobbled nuclear plant leaking radiation.