GREEN BERETS

After spending 12 million dollars, the U.S. Army has come up with a nifty new something -- a more eco-friendly bullet (rad!) that is just as effective at killing as past lead-based ones. The "green ammunition" uses a less toxic tungsten composite that the Army says will significantly reduce the soil contamination caused each year by the millions of slugs fired at practice ranges. The Army makes all the ammo for the U.S. military and hopes the switch to lead-free bullets will be completed in 2005; this year, it is sending 50 million bullets to practice ranges in Alaska and Massachusetts.

Straight to the source:
ABCNews.com, Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press, 03 May 2001