April 22, 2008
Earth Day: Work Smart With No More Empty Gestures
It's a beautiful day. Warm, sunny, quintessentially spring.
The perfect day to plant a tree.
Or change your light bulbs to CFLs.
Or install a water-saving showerhead.
Or all of the above.
After all, it’s Earth Day!
Now, before I continue, let me apologize for my somewhat cynical rantings.
While I think Earth Day is a great concept—a yearly day to inspire, educate, and change our planet for the better (we hope)— I have issues with its execution. It seems to me sometimes that how people celebrate Earth Day has gotten about as silly as saying Valentine’s Day is the only day you show your love for anyone.
Has Earth Day become America’s way of compartmentalizing conservation concepts all into one 24-hour-period? Is it a day full of symbolic gestures with no real follow-through, tuned to our near-commercial-length attention span?
What exactly is the point of having kids plant trees if they don’t take care of them for the rest of the year, or at least until they are established?
Some Earth Day activities are much more effective than others. The ones from school that I distinctly remember are times like cleaning up trash in parks. Yes, we planted trees.
Where are all those trees we planted now? Shouldn’t the town be covered with dogwoods by now? Well, the thing is, most of them perished. Of neglect. All that’s left of them now are the plastic bags they came in, those won’t decompose for decades.
What’s it they say about forming a habit? It takes at least three weeks of a routine for it to become a habit... Well, Wikipedia says:
Habits are automatic routines of behavior that are repeated regularly, without thinking. They are learned, not instinctive, human behaviors that occur automatically, without the explicit contemporaneous intention of the person.
In Japan, it’s part of the school curriculum for children to help out with the school chores, like sweeping, tidying up the classroom, and cleaning the chalkboards and such. These simple routine tasks help teach kids responsibility and organization and keeps them out of trouble, not to mention cuts down on the school budgetary needs for janitorial services.
Earth Day’s only one day, so really it can do little more than inspire one to make changes, but not really enact them. Follow-through is left up to the individual (never a good thing). Perhaps that is enough for some, but with so many global environmental concerns, we need to make more substantial changes. And those changes need to be longer lasting, habit changing, and have sensible goals. Really, Earth Day needs to be Earth Month. Even better, work it in every day.
In the latest episode of the Get-It-Done Guy’s Quick And Dirty Tips To Work Less and Do More , Stever Robins talks about making an impact when you have a little spare time using process improvement techniques. He argues that the best way to use your spare time is to spend it improving what you already do, so you can do it better, faster and more efficiently.
Earth Day should be about making a difference. An impact. Preferably one of positive and lasting change. So it’s best to think hard about the real, personal challenges you’re already facing at your home, school or workplace. If it’s only going to be one day—one small bit of spare time to consider the environment we live in—then, by golly, we need to make it COUNT.
At the local library this year, kids are invited to come and planting seeds in disposable paper cups, cups that may or may not make it all the way home, and certainly aren’t likely to survive. They’d be better served having the kids help plant the spring landscaping in the town green adjacent to the library. Something the kids will be able to see for the rest of the summer, something they can be proud of, something likely to succeed. Not to mention save money. And paper cups.
In short, use Earth Day for problem-solving as a community and focus on the problems we really face in our daily lives. Problems like how difficult it is to find a freaking recycling bin. Or how we need to plant drought-resistant landscaping plants around our schools and public buildings. The list of things that would actually help is endless.
No more empty gestures.
Posted by sorsha at 9:14 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 26, 2008
Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See
I thought this was a fantastic use of YouTube for a viral video about climate change, regardless of party affiliation, etc. Greg is a high school science teacher trying to get a message across.
Posted by sorsha at 2:29 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
December 20, 2007
Season's Greenings!
Instead of your annual cashmere hoodies,
We Hope you enjoy these eco-friendly goodies.
Some you'll love and some you may loathe,
Hopefully you'll discover organic gems from this treasure trove.
But regardless of your political stance,
You'll never know til you give them a chance.
Happy (Re)New Year!
Posted by sorsha at 10:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 14, 2007
Green Gift Giving 101
A couple of years ago, we gave everyone compact fluorescent lightbulbs for stocking stuffers. It didn't really go over so well, but we have continued to give green gifts, and over time, our family has warmed up to the concept. Nowadays, we use our Christmas gifts to introduce our friends and families to greener products they might not try on their own, sometimes because they cannot easily find them and sometimes because they'd never even consider trying them on their own. Lucky for them, this year green gifts are hot, and there are so many options out there, you're guaranteed to find the perfect green gift for anyone.
Every year we give my husband's grandma a live poinsetta. She keeps the thing alive for *years*. It changes colors, but still, the thing keeps on going.
  | For the Gardener
|
  | For the Cook
|
  | For the New Homeowners
|
  | For the Teenager
|
  | For the Baby
|
  | For the Child
|
  | For the Pet Owner
|
 | For the Traveler
|
  | For the Reader
|
  | For Anyone
|
Posted by sorsha at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 11, 2007
International Mountain Day
It's a great day for a hike. Today, December 11th, is designated International Mountain Day by the United Nations, an opportunity to address the importance of mountainous environments and mountain resources and living.
Mountains cover 54% of Asia, 36% of North America, 25% of Europe, 22% of South America, 17% of Australia, and 3% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earth's land mass is mountainous. 10% of people live in mountainous regions. Most of the world's rivers are fed from mountain sources, and more than half of humanity depends on mountains for water.
More at: Wikipedia: Mountains
Posted by sorsha at 1:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 26, 2007
Early Adopters Aid Africa: iPhone Owners & Product Red
Every once in a while, an opportunity comes along that, although it may not be the most straightforward of choices, can help others with absolutely no increased cost to you. One such opportunity arose for our household earlier this summer when my husband Shane became an early adopter of the new Apple iPhone. I asked him to do a write-up here to share what he learned. So here it is:
Do you own an iPhone? Did you buy your iPhone before August 22nd? Do you know somebody who can answer yes to both? If so, that person qualifies for Apple's $100 credit for early adopters.
Hey, this isn't a gadget blog! Why is this guy talking about iPhones here?
Simple: There is a way to use your store credit to help Africa. I did.
There aren't that many interesting things you can buy from Apple for $100. Sure, you could put it towards a new iPod or something, but you did just get an iPhone... So one of the most useful purchases you can make with $100 is buying stuff through the iTunes Store - Music, Movies, Games, etc. It turns out that you can use your $100 store credit to buy iTunes Gift Cards (but not iTunes Gift Certificates).
iTunes Gift Cards come in a variety of themes, but one of them actually donates 10% of the profit to the (PRODUCT) RED campaign, which raises money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, primarily in Africa.
So, you can turn your $100 in to a bunch of songs and videos. However, if you make a wise choice of cards to buy, you can have an additional $10 go towards a good cause. It doesn't cost you anything additional to choose this card over the other themes, and you get four $25 (PRODUCT) RED gift cards, for yourself or to give as gifts for the upcoming holidays!
It's straightforward to do this, and fast. First, you go to the Apple site and claim your credit. They'll send your phone a free SMS message with a code that you then enter to get an Apple Store Credit number and PIN. This can then be used immediately in the online store to order four $25 (PRODUCT) RED cards. They only come in $25 denominations. The shipping was free for me, so may be free for you. I had to enter my credit card information as well as the Apple Store Credit information, but the $100 was fully deducted from the store credit and no charge was placed against my credit card.
So if you bought an iPhone early on and are eligible for this credit, please consider using it this way and telling your friends and acquaintances about it, as well!
Posted by shane at 4:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 25, 2007
Don't Forget The Forest
According to Presidential Proclamation, the week beginning on the third Sunday of October of each year is designated as National Forest Products Week.
So today I am going to try to come up with the A-Z of forest products (products that can come from forests as opposed to traditional farming)... some are a bit of a stretch, but this is nowhere near a complete list, especially when you start looking at the products that can be made from the products you get from forests... Now here we go!
- A:Adhesives
- B:Boards, Books, Baseball bats, Berries, Boats, Baskets
- C:Cellulose, Cardboard, Cutting Boards, Cider, Cork, Chopsticks
- D:Dyes
- E:Energy, Extracts, Egg Cartons
- F:Firewood, Furniture, Flooring, Fruit, Fragrances
- G:Grocery Bags, Glue, Gum, Gin (Juniper berries)
- H:Hockey Sticks, Hides, Handles
- I:Insulation, Inks
- J:Jewelry Boxes
- K:Kitchen Cabinets
- L: Lumber, Log Cabins, Latex
- M: Mulch, Maple Syrup, Mushrooms, Medicine, Meat
- N:Newspapers, Nuts
- O:Oxygen, Oils
- P: Paper, Plywood, Pencils, Paneling, Planks
- Q:Quinine (Tonic, to go with your gin)
- R:Resin, Rosin (for your stringed instrument), Rayon, Rubber
- S:Stringed Instruments, Stamps, Salad bowls, Seeds
- T:Truffles, Turpentine, Toilet paper, Totem poles, Toothpicks
- U:Umbrella handles
- V:Vitamins, Veneer
- W:Wood, Walnuts, Wild game
- X:Xmas Trees
- Y:Yo-yos
- Z:Zōri (草履, traditional Japanese sandals)
Posted by sorsha at 1:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 12, 2007
A Nobel Cause: Gore Wins Peace Prize
It's a beautiful day for Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Today they won a Nobel Peace Prize for their work to educate the world about the man-made factors behind global warming and laying groundwork for combating it. By winning the prize, Gore and the IPCC join the ranks of people and organizations like The Red Cross, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., UNICEF, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela, amongst others.
Mr. Gore “is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted,” the Nobel citation said, referring to the issue of climate change. The United Nations committee, a network of 2,000 scientists that was organized in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program, has produced two decades of scientific reports that have “created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming,” the citation said.
More At: NYT.com: Gore and U.N. Panel Win Peace Prize for Climate Work
I'm ecstatic to see Gore's hard work recognized yet again on the world stage - the Academy Award for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth was not nearly enough. This is a man who was a very good vice president, and then after a political mess that could have made him completely lose faith in public service, Gore has gone back to his roots - the issues he'd been passionate about, the issues that had driven him in his career prior the presidential campaigns he was a part of.
Today a lot of people are wondering if this will trigger Gore to run for president this upcoming term. As much as I like him, I hope it doesn't. Right now he can focus on this key issue - climate change - which is in fact a plethora of problems needing solutions, from the energy crisis and our oil addiction to drought and famine brought about by a warming world.
A leader who can work within and beyond our borders to educate people about climate change and help find solutions to the many problems brought about by it is needed, and I really think Al Gore is, and can continue to be effective in this role, but not if he runs for president and inherits responsibility for managing our presence in Iraq. The many other issues that bombard the oval office on a daily basis would only detract from Gore's ability to be our steward in the climate crisis which is bigger than just the United States.
Posted by sorsha at 9:03 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 12, 2007
Wind Power Woes: A Big Blow To Bats
Drive along 580 in the San Francisco Bay area and you can't miss the mountaintop wind turbines, or windmills. One of the earliest wind farms on the planet, the Altamont Pass Wind Farm once produced half the world's wind energy. Over time, the turbines have gotten bigger and more efficient - and less harmful to the environment.
But how can wind be harmful to the environment in the first place?
My husband asked me this a few years ago and it was hard to come up with reasonable concerns and risks. Sound pollution was a concern - the smaller turbines whined like mad - and that alone could disturb people and wildlife, but since many of these wind farms are built in high wind areas (generally not where you want your house) and in fields otherwise used for farming, even that was not a huge deal, from what I could see.
I did wonder if, like any fluid system, if too many wind turbines were clumped together, if they would result in wind blocks, inevitably sending the wind around and altering weather patterns, but that seemed managable through prudent planning and implementation of wind farms.
Still, wind seemed a little bit too good to be true, and this has proven true, to some extent.
The inital smaller turbines did generate a lot of noise and people didn't want to have to look at them. Increasingly, wind farms are being built offshore and there are some concerns about windfarm noise and its effects on marine life, but as far as I know, there are no proven concerns.
On land, the wildlife implications are even more concerning. Birds and bats, especially those using the wind to aid their long migratory paths, are showing up dead beneath wind turbines in disturbing numbers.
Why should you care about bats? Because they are the birds of the night - eating bugs, spreading seeds, and sometimes even pollinating.
...recent evidence shows that certain species of bats are particularly susceptible to mortality from wind turbines. Bats are beneficial consumers of harmful insect pests, and migratory species of bats cross international and interstate boundaries.
Dead bats are turning up beneath wind turbines all over the world, but the mystery of why bats die at turbine sites remains unsolved. Is it a simple case of flying in the wrong place at the wrong time? Are bats attracted to the spinning turbine blades? Why do bats die at turbines in such large numbers? Although these questions remain unanswered, potential clues can be found in the patterns of mortality. Foremost, the majority of bats killed by wind turbines are species that migrate; in fact, peaks in mortality tend to coincide with periods of migratory activity. Bats probably follow corridors of high wind during migration, so the sites considered ideal for wind turbines, such as mountain ridges, could actually be places where bat populations funnel through while migrating.
...
Only through further research will we make progress toward minimizing the impact of this new form of sustainable energy on our Nation’s wildlife.
More At: USGS: Bat Mortality and Wind Power: a problem of migration?
Now I'm not saying that wind energy should be discouraged because of its wildlife impact, just that having regulation just like any other energy production method, is essential. After all, the environmental impact of wind energy still beats out most traditional energy producers.
Posted by sorsha at 1:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 15, 2007
Planet News: Pesky Plastics Prove Problematic
She could've choked, but would you take it away from her?
When I first visited South Africa, my SA friends joked to me that the National Flower of South Africa was not the King Protea, but the plastic bag. There were so many plastic shopping bags on the side of the road that despite the huge class differences, the government decided to give the bags a value - you are charged at the register for any bag you need. The bag tax worked and now the roadsides are less cluttered with litter.
Other countries, especially within the European Union such as Ireland have had similar successes. Yet in the United States, such taxes are highly controversial and slow to become realized. So far, only San Francisco has acted, but as of next month, all of California's large supermarkets will be required to take back and recycle plastic bags, which is a good step forward.
Yet these seemingly simple steps toward progress all happen at maddeningly slow rates. On the other hand, I know people who cut the tops off of yogurt containers to grow their seedlings. While I applaud them for their dedication to the REUSE principle, it's not something I can see myself doing in the short term as I routinely knock over the orchid plant sitting on the window sill.
Still, I do not understand why consumer plastics nowadays aren't made up entirely of old plastics melted down and reused. It's not that hard to melt plastics, from what I understand. It's easier than dealing with metal, isn't it? GI Joe figures are maleable, so why aren't we seeing more recycled plastics, especially in packaging. What's the deal here?
I see some stuff, like composite decking, may be considerably greener than their all-wood alternatives.
The Water Bottle
I drink a lot of water, compared to the average person. I always have. By high school, I had Nalgene bottles as part of my daily wardrobe. I have a variety of colors and sizes and logos, sipping attachments and such. My father joked about how I should buy stock in the Nalgene water bottles, and I needed my own support group, something like alt.addiction.waterbottles. I think I've had to chuck one bottle since 1992, because I cracked it.
There's been a lot of talk recently about the single serving water bottle, those sinister translucent personal drinking vessels filling our landfills at a rate of 30 billion a year in the United States alone. And frankly, the rest of the world - especially the third world - often relies on bottled water for safely reasons, so we're certainly not the only one using them.
Recently, my father sent me a New York Times article on the water bottle, titled The Unintended Consequences of Hyperhydration.
Eleven states — California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont — give this valueless stuff a value, however. Typically we pay a nickel when purchasing a container and get the nickel back if we return the container for recycling. It’s a deposit, a contract binding us to our garbage. Though these days, that nickel may elicit only the faintest twinge of regret as we toss the empty into the trash and rejoin our busy lives.
...
Bottle bills are still surprisingly good at inspiring recycling and reducing litter. But, though they are idiosyncratic in every state, the vast majority of the laws share one colossal, unanticipated flaw: they place a deposit on beer and carbonated beverages only. The bottle bill’s scope, and to some extent the very vision of a more waste-conscious world that first motivated it, has been swiftly trivialized by the ubiquity of bottled water. This year, Americans will drink more than 30 billion single-serving bottles of water. Oregonians will throw out about 170 million empty ones. Those same bottles, filled with something fizzy, would carry nickel deposits.
Reading this article strangely inspired me to poetry. Thankfully (for you and me), this doesn't happen very often. I decided to write a haiku poem about the water bottle, so here goes.
My Haiku To The Water Bottle:
Thirty-Some Billion
Annual Plastic Menace
Refill And Drink Up
Don't worry. I won't give up my day job, but you should consider how your family or company uses bottled water. If you have the drinking volume, switch to water coolers, and if not, for goodness sake, recycle those bottles anyway.
I remember when I was in Kenya, if you wanted to buy a Coke, you had several pricing choices for the same bottle, depending on whether you drank it there or took it with you. The price of the bottle itself is not insubstantial compared to the liquid itself. Also, consider where the water is coming from, and buy as local as possible. Water weighs a lot, and if your water is coming from across the country, or the world, then the environmental impact of shipping it to you is also not small.
Kitchen Products
One of the best things you can do here is start using cloth shopping bags. Not only will you reduce the number of plastic bags living in your pantry, but almost every shop these days gives a discount for bringing them in.
Disposable plastic cups and plates have no place in my home, and never have. My mother gave me some of her washable patioware when I went off to college - plastic plates that could be washed and reused for years. These inexpensive plates cost little more than a package or two of paper plates, so they pay for themselves quickly enough. If your mom gives them to you, then they're free.
If you have to use disposables, I've seen some recycled materials ones floating around in the market lately, like Preserve Plateware made from recycled plastic yogurt cups (also dishwasher safe so you can reuse them for a while).
Food Prep
My grandmother still washes out ziplock bags and reuses them, but frankly, I'm not that hardcore. I am going to try to put those old ziplocks to use though - in the form of putting yucky garbage waste in them so I can go longer without taking out the trash.
That said, I don't seem to chuck many ziplocks. Mostly we use them for permanent purposes, like our baggie of toiletries for airplane travel, and keeping the pieces of our boardgames in order. If I'm going to keep something in the fridge, I generally put it in a dishwasher-safe Rubbermaid container. The only time I seem to use plastic wrap is when I'm cooking things in advance for a party or something.
There are choices now for baggies, plastic wrap, recycled aluminum foil, and unbleached wax paper and parchment paper. Check out the kitchen section at Greenfeet for some other kitchen options.
Trash and Pet Waste
Garbage bags are an interesting topic though, as companies like Glad make their landfill-bound trash bags not biodegradable on purpose so the landfill "stays intact". I am not sure how this really works. If it biodegrades after 5 years or something, isn't that long enough for the landfill? I will need to look into this more. It certainly hasn't stopped companies like BioBag from coming out with biodegradable kitchen bags and food storage containers. They also make Biodegradable Doggie Doo Bags. Some cities like San Francisco are even using pet waste as fuel.
Other Health Products
Consider replacing disposable plastics with more permanent options, and if certain parts of a product need replacement - like razor blades, consider a product that only replaces that part instead of the whole unit.
Recycline's Preserve Product Line: Specializes in recycled plastic products including toothbrushes, razors, even flavored toothpicks. There are also items like toothbrushes made from other renewable materials, like the Source Toothbrush.
Posted by sorsha at 2:17 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 30, 2007
A Personal Problem With Paper
Let's start this out with a bad haiku about recycling paper products, shall we?
Flattened Tree Remains
Stacked Precariously High
Our Landfills Abound
Nowadays recycled paper products can be anything from specialty papers like elephant poop stationary to recycled material copy and printer paper that is virtually impossible to tell from the standard kind.
Recycled paper products don't just limit the number of trees felled for the care and feeding of your pet printer. Making paper from existing paper means less processing of the tree pulp is needed, and let me tell you, paper processing is a messy business. Also, few papers are 100% recycled materials, because virgin pulp is often needed to keep the paper fibers strong enough to bond.
Truthfully, the best thing you can do here is reduce the total amount of paper you use in the first place. When paper is required, here are some options. Also, I've made some I made ListMania! Lists on Amazon.com for Green Living household paper products, baby & nursery supplies and feminine products.
Kitchen Paper Products
When I looked at what paper products we used in our kitchen, I admit there is not much we can improve upon - but there is always something.
I'm lucky. Paper plates, cups and napkins and plastic utensils never featured in our home while I was growing up. For as long as I can remember, my mother has had washable patioware - plastic plates that could be washed and reused for years. These inexpensive plates cost little more than a package or two of paper plates, so they pay for themselves quickly.
Cloth napkins have always been the norm for us as well. We have many, many different patterns and use them for napkins, to clean up spills, and various other things. They only cost a dollar or two to make yourself, or you can buy them. I'm still surprised when people are afraid to get them dirty. Most are darker, brightly colored patterns and I have yet to have a stain that didn't disappear after a washing.
If you have to use disposables, I've seen some recycled materials ones floating around in the market lately, like Preserve Plateware made from recycled plastic yogurt cups (also dishwasher safe so you can reuse them for a while), or Seventh Generation recycled-material paper plates.
The one paper product we do use in the kitchen is the paper towel and even those are only used as a last resort after the cloth kitchen towels. Usually I buy these paper towels at Costco, but they don't have unbleached paper towels. I just found out that Amazon grocery has Seventh Generation paper towels for substantially less than Costco's Bounty bulk packs. They also have specialty products for babies and women.
You should also remember to limit the cardboard packaging you go through. Buy in bulk and try to avoid single serving varieties of packaging, instead favoring the larger versions.
Bathroom Paper Products
Bathroom paper products are a (forgive the pun) touchy subject. As a person with allergies, I have tried the cheaper brands of facial tissue only to give myself a red nose. Other people swear by certain TP brands. The trick here, I think, is to experiment. Buy a single roll of a new, greener brand when you can, and give it a try. Just like any consumer product, you may need to shop around. Another idea is to use it only in a less frequently used space, like a guest room, where people are unlikely to complain from repetitive usage problems, if you know what I mean.
I am pretty brand loyal to Kleenex, despite the fact that they use only new fibers for "superior softness", but at least the boxes are made from recycled materials. I also hope to see them using fewer chemicals in their manufactoring process on some of their lines. I really don't care what color my tissues are, provided they work.
When we were kids, we had Dixie cups in the bathroom with our favorite cartoon characters. We went through at least a couple a day (2 kids, several drinks and brushings). That adds up fast! Swapping out your Mickey Mouse paper cups for a set of Mickey Mouse dishwasher safe plastic cups will save not only the paper used in the cups, but the packaging, and your time shopping. Just make sure they're dishwasher safe, so you can throw them in once in a while. This is another case of the cups paying for themselves quickly. If you want to have the cups around for guests and such, make sure your kids know to take one cup a day, and to use it throughout the day.
In addition to Seventh Generation, Whole Foods and other more mainstream brands are starting to carry bathroom paper products with at least some portion of recycled materials.
Other Health Products
It's pretty safe to say that anything made of paper or cotton is going to have a green alternative product choice nowadays. Anything fibrous and white is often bleached and treated. Products like cotton balls, swabs, diapers and feminine products all have green options. Organic Essentials is a personal care brand with a green mission.
Office Supplies
It's a sad fact that most office workers will waste more at work than they do at home because they're not paying for it. But in truth, we all pay for it, on a larger scale - landfills are community property, after all. Once it gets there, we all own it.
Firstly, one of the best things you can do in terms of office supplies is to make some corporate policies on consumption.
Some companies do this by giving people and departments codes to the copy machine and such. Others have multiple printers - a final draft one with slick marketing paper, and a draft printer which uses more eco-friendly paper products and inks for internal use that don't have to last forever, where the printers default to printing both sides. Putting a recycle bin near the printer also helps.
You can also provide methods for people to store and share digital documents instead of printing them to read them. In a personal office, signing up for online bill pay will reduce the paper statements you get in the mail, and you can store them on your hard drive instead.
Recycled paper mailing supplies and printing papers are pretty readily available these days, and seem to look and act just like their bleached newly-treed equivalents.
Also remember that your standard office also needs to consider kitchen and bath products, just like a household does. Nowadays there are even green cleaning agencies around.
Posted by sorsha at 2:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 18, 2007
Back To Our Future: Use That 1.21 Gigawatts To Power Vermont Instead
1.21 Gigawatts! Yes, that's what the Flux Capacitor needs in order to make time travel possible. But it also makes other, more realistic things possible. I use the term realistic loosely, you'll see.
Just as we start looking at solar options for our home, reading the fine print on energy subsidies for early adopters, Google is putting up a 9,200 panel solar system, with a capacity of 1.6 megawatts (I'm surprised they didn't go for 1.21 gigawatts). I'm pleased they're doing this but they say they can offset the equivalent of 1000 California homes.
I started out trying to figure out how many California homes would be offset by 1.21 gigawatts! But I quickly realized I didn't quite "get" Google's numbers...quite. I based my calculations on this solar calculation method.
Step 1: Define our solar system. Heh.
We are building a 1.21 gigawatt! solar system. Take that, Google!
1.21 gW! = 1210 mW = 1,210,000 kW = 1,210,000,000 watts
Incidentally, I asked my husband about the size of solar panels he's been looking into. Panel size tends to be vendor specific, but some reasonably priced 180 watt panels run 5ft x 3ft, or about 12 watts per square foot. I'm sure you could make nicer ones but we go with what we know.
For our system, we will need 6,722,223 panels, which would be about a 2593 panel rectangle. So our fictitious solar panel system would be roughly the size of 2,315 acres, or 2,400 football fields. Probably somewhat larger because of spacing of the panels. A large ranch would do.
Step 2: Where Shall This Shiny Beauty Go?
The Feds provide us with a useful USA map of solar energy potential.
Clearly the Southwest is the best spot, but we're going to pick a couple:
- San Francisco Bay, California (Yellow) - ~ 5.5 hours/day
- Las Vegas, Nevada (it's shiny already, Orange) - 6.5 hours/day
- Conway, New Hampshire (Green) - ~4.5 hours/day
- We won't be putting one in Sequim, WA...
Step 3: Determine our "realistic" energy usage
According to the DOE, the average US home uses 10,656 kWh/year, or 29kWh/day. That said, energy consumption can vary greatly by region. It will also vary by type of energy but for here, we are just going to look at grid-based electricity usage.
I had a real hard time getting statistics for yearly households in specific states. You can click the statistic to find where I got it, but they might not be accurate and I know the data is often several years old (census driven, etc). Also, the definition of a household varies, as does the size of the average household because the square footage of the average New York or San Francisco house is going to be much smaller than the average house size in Nevada or New Hampshire. Still, this is the best I could find. I've put all the math here so you can do it yourself if you have better numbers.
- San Francisco Bay, California - 5914 kWh/year, or 16 kWh/day
- Las Vegas, Nevada (Cheap rates) - ~11,722 kWh/year, or 32 kWh/day
- Conway, New Hampshire - 6,750 kWh/year, or 19 kWh/day
Step 4: Figure your household daily needs
- Nationally: 29 kWh/day / ~ 5 hours of sun = 5.8 kW
- San Francisco Bay, California - 16 kWh/day / 5.5 hours of sun = 2.9 kW
- Las Vegas, Nevada - 32 kWh/day / 6.5 hours of sun = 4.9 kW
- Conway, New Hampshire - 19 kWh/day / 4.5 hours = 4.2 kW
Step 5: Add a quality control fudge factor (dust, solar eclipses)
- Nationally: 1.2 * 5.8 kW => 7kW per household
- San Francisco Bay, California: 1.2 * 2.9 kW => 3.5kW per household
- Las Vegas, Nevada: 1.2 * 4.9 kW => 6kW per household
- Conway, New Hampshire: 1.2 * 4.2 kW => 5kW per household
Step 6: How many local homes can a 1.21 gW system offset?
- Nationally: 1.21 gW / 7kW = 172,857 households
- San Francisco Bay, California: 1.21 gW / 3.5kW = 345,714 households
- Las Vegas, Nevada: 1.21 gW / 6kW = 201,667 households
- Conway, New Hampshire: 1.21 gW / 5kW = 242,000 households
Incidentally, according to these guys, there are only 474,750 households in New Hampshire, so that covers more than Conway, it covers 51% of the state. If Conway sold the power to nearby Vermont, it would power the entire state of Vermont households (240,744 households) and leave just enough to cover the 1300ish households in Conway, New Hampshire itself. Remember, this does not count non-residential use.
Step 7: A little bit of result verification
Google claims their 1.6 mW system offsets about 1000 California homes. By my numbers, a 1.6 mW system would support about 756 California households. Not too far off. Definately within range if they had a different California consumption number, but if they used the national numbers, it would be more like 229 homes...
There we have it.
My next question is, can we see this 1.21 gW baby from space? It seems very unlikely.
Posted by sorsha at 11:04 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 11, 2007
Green Gear & Recyclables Roundup
I am way behind in my postings and I'm going to apologize now and then try to catch up. I never seem to have enough time, and right now life and work are so busy, it's not even funny. I thought I'd start with a couple of blurbs about products and services I've been using lately.
Stinky Stationary
For my birthday, a friend gave me a recycled paper journal made entirely from elephant excrement, by the The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company. The first thing I did when I opened it up was sniffed it and no, it really doesn't smell. The paper itself is smooth enough for a ballpoint pen but a little rough, which is to be expected in an artsy handmade paper journal. I keep the journal in my purse for jotting down blog ideas I won't have time to write about.
Toothsome Treats
A few weeks ago, my husband and I were going away for the weekend and I realized we had forgotten our toothbrush. As I was at Whole Foods buying the best chocolate bar on Earth (Vermont's Lake Champlain Hazelnut Five Star Bar), I decided to check out their personal care stuff. All of their toothbrushes are made with recycled handles and have replacable brush areas. I snagged Radius's Source Toothbrush with a handle made entirely of renewable plant fibers. Not only is it pretty, it has a very nice large brush surface with wide, radiating bristles. It comes with a replacement brush head. Also, the handle can be reversed for lefties.
Recyclable Disposables
All this running around has made caffeine more necessary. I happened to be in Starbucks the other day and was glad to see so many of their paper products, including their baked goods sleeves, using recycled paper. I've been becoming more and more frustrated with public places that are not providing recycling as an option for their customers.
Cleaner Air...ports
And speaking of recycling. I was very pleased to see that the San Jose International Airport in the Bay Area is now offering recycling bins with all their trash bins. Very few airports do this, but it makes a huge difference since most airports sell a lot of bottles, cans and newspapers. I think all public buildings, especially government ones, should have manditory recycle bins. I also think that counties should pass legislation requiring retail business locations of a certain size (think Wal-Mart, grocery stores, airports, amusement parks, rest stops and malls) to have recycling facilities available as part of their planning.
I had to buy a cross-country plane ticket the other day and I was shopping around for the best fares. I hit upon one that was half the price of all the rest and decided to purchase it through Expedia. When I was going through the checkout process, I was offered an opportunity to purchase a TerraPass, which basically funds clean energy projects enough to offset your flight's carbon emissions. As I was doing two cross country flights, I purchased two $16 passes, which funded 5,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. You also get cool green luggage tags, which just arrived in the mail.
Green Car Rentals
Lastly, when I went to rent a car, I found that a new class of vehicles is available - The Green Cars. In the areas I was visiting, these cars were generally just fuel efficient (28 MPG+) cars like the Ford Fusion, but I know that in places like California, there are more green rental car options. Still, it's a start.
Posted by sorsha at 2:45 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
April 25, 2007
Thanks To The Hybrid: One-Tank Travels
My husband and I used to roadtrip a lot. We hit up much of the Western United States and Canada, always camping, staying with friends, or finding some interesting place to stop. We got a National Park Pass and roamed through just about every National Park and National Monument we went anywhere near. Good times.
We had our favorites, like summer in Yosemite's Tuolomne Meadows and early morning autumn circuits in Yellowstone for the wolves and elk mating displays. Pinnacles National Monument has a great hike through a long cave that requires flashlights, not to mention its a great place to spot California condors. Zion is only a short drive from Las Vegas and much more up our alley than gambling. Olympic National Park has areas that look like the Swiss Alps, and others that remind one of New Zealand in the rainy season. The Canadian parks of the Rockies are especially beautiful, including Montana's Glacier National Park on the border. There really isn't a park we wouldn't go back to again.
Except California gas prices have just about doubled since our roadtripping days in the late 1990's.
Don't get me wrong. I have always thought our gas prices should be more like the rest of the world's. People complain about how fuel is so expensive everywhere else... but it's really about how our gasoline has been so underpriced. Our 5,000 mile trips became cost-prohibitive, not to mention the negative environmental impacts in terms of gas-guzzling for no particularly good reason. Despite the fact that we almost always supported the local businesses in the areas we visited, none of the cars we owned was particularly gas efficient. We moved on to more backpacking and hiking, and less driving. Flying and then traveling locally. Better all around.
When my husband announced he wanted to get a hybrid, I was only tentatively in favor.
Why only tentatively? Well, we had two cars already and so this meant shedding one of our existing cars. At the time, hybrid meant Prius to me, and I really don't like them. I find them uncomfortable and worry that they are more fad like the VW bugs were. I worried about safety, comfort, and options, but I didn't want options I thought frivolous and likely to make for lazy drivers (like the backing up video when you should be doing head checks). We are also planning to have kids soon, so this new car would have to be able to fit more than just the two of us (so no 80+ mpg Honda Insight, unfortunately).
My hubby wanted something comfortable for his commute, but still something that got decent gas mileage. Also, we both are suckers for a powerful car. Shane test-drove them all, and settled on one that met all his needs - the Honda Accord Hybrid. I was moderately horrified that it only came in Automatic transmission, but I admit, I have always been better at multitasking in the car than my husband, so having a free hand is a good thing for him on his 35 mile daily commute. We've had it for a while now, and I still consider it "his" car. I steal it when I plan to drive more than he does on his daily commute, in order to save gas. It's grown on me.
This past weekend, we took our first roadtrip with the car. To call the 1000 mile round-trip long is laughable, given our past treks. The time passed very quickly, even sitting in the back seat to make room for a motion-sickness prone grandmother. We had no complaints from anyone on the 10 hour drive, and I admit it was nice to be driving something comfortable instead of the Jeep Wrangler (our other, functional but not particularly comfortable car). It would have been a perfect trip report had it not been for some unrelated troubles.
The most impressive part, though, was the fact that we made it all the way there, from the Bay Area in central California to central Oregon, on exactly one tank of gas. Costco Regular, to be exact.
I always forget that Oregon gas stations are all Full Service. It's interesting to me that pumping gas is a profession there, offering thousands of jobs. Another benefit is that it results in a lot fewer gas spills at the pump, so it's good for the environment.
Posted by sorsha at 1:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 22, 2007
The World's Water Woes
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People & Cattle at a Waterhole |
Here in the US, we give our babies frequent baths. As they grow up and become mobile, we let them crawl around and then wipe them down with wetwipes to get rid of the germs. We spray them with Off to keep the bugs away and then we let them play in sanitized sandboxes and laugh at how cute they look with their little dirt smudges. Finally, we have them run through the garden hose to clean them up.
Most of the world doesn't have these luxuries we consider such simple pleasures. Frankly, most people would be horrified by the conditions in which many people live in the third world. The charity commercials you see on television show a very cleansed version for our delicate sensibilities. We've seen countless children playing in areas that make our landfills look clean, looking at us with huge smiles, batting the flies from their soulful eyes. The children form little packs, the older ones (like 5 or 6 year olds) often watching over the younger ones. Their parents nowhere to be seen.
How dare their parents leave them alone, you're thinking. What kind of negligence is this?
All over Africa and Asia, we witnessed local women and teenage girls walking for miles along roadsides to and from murky waterholes to fetch water. 
They share these waterholes with the local wildlife and their cattle and goats. They spent their days hauling water back and forth to their families. You ask where the mothers are; this is where you'll find them. Not in schools. Not with their children, except for the newborns strapped to their backs. They are wearing long dirt paths along the roads, hauling heavy containers of water, much of it is untreated but they have little choice in the matter.
When aid workers set up in a new village, perhaps the first issue addressed is providing people with convenient access to water. Very little else can be achieved until clean water is available. Think about it: cooking, cleaning, hygiene, farming... they all depend on water. All plans to provide education and such have to be tabled until these basic human needs are met. Many villages throughout the world still lack these basic building blocks of healthy life.
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Woman Walking To The Water |
The world water crisis is one of the largest public health issues of our time. Nearly 1.1 billion people (roughly 20% of the world’s population) lack access to safe drinking water. The lack of clean, safe drinking water is estimated to kill almost 4,500 children per day. In fact, out of the 2.2 million unsafe drinking water deaths in 2004, 90% were children under the age of five. Water is essential to the treatment of diseases, something especially critical for children.
More At: World Water Day: March 22, 2007
Today is the 15th annual World Water Day, and it's focus is the Scarcity of Water and to promote the fulfillment of clean water initiatives by 2015.
Some of the most amazing scenes of cultural significance that we witnessed in Africa took place at the clean water pumps. Villagers would come from miles around to get their water and they would meet each other and socialize while their children played in the mud puddles.
Posted by sorsha at 1:13 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
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