Greener Bullets Use Nontoxic Alloys, Won't Poison Soils

The Kansas City Business Journal's report on a recent "green" bullet deal reminded me of two things:

One, everything uses some kind of material or construction that can be rethought, redesigned and made a little better for everybody.

Two, greening the military exists. It's not talked about a lot, but it's such a huge part of our economy that it has to happen for financial reasons, if nothing else. Here's the report on the green bullets deal:

Alliant Lake City Small Caliber Ammunition Co. LLC received a $7.37 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense that modifies the basic mechanical and electrical refurbishment to accommodate the "green" bullet design.

According to the Defense Technical Information Center, the DOD's Green Bullet Program seeks to reduce the use of lead-antimony in ammunition used at training ranges and replace it with nontoxic alloys to prevent lead contamination in soil and surrounding areas. The military started using green bullets at training ranges in October 1999.

Catch that? This way, the bullets won't contaminate soil. It's weird to think about in those terms, isn't it? But a recent HuffPost blog pointed out more reasons to think about greening the military:

Greening our military and adopting better fuel efficiency would save money in the long run and cut down on emissions of greenhouse gases. Not to mention that a military less dependent on fossil fuel - which accounts for seventy percent of battlefield tonnage - would require fewer fuel convoys. Such convoys have been a lightning rod for insurgent attacks, putting troops' lives at risk. Better fuel efficiency would save lives.