CATALOGUE CLUTTER: Canceling unwanted catalogues saves trees and brings you one step closer to an Earth-friendly lifestyle.
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The Best Science Writing Online 2012
Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...
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A Bus with Legs
Remember the good ol’ days when kids walked to school? Those treks weren’t as rough as some people recall them—five miles through the snow, uphill both ways!—but they did burn calories instead of fossil fuels. Today kids need more opportunities for exercise, but many parents feel it’s not safe for them to walk alone. One simple solution is to organize a “walking school bus” or “bicycle train” for your neighborhood, with one or more adults supervising a group of children traveling together. It’s a good way to build muscles and communities. For details on how to get started, see www.walkingschoolbus.org.
Click Click Click
An estimated 147 million gallons of gasoline evaporates into the atmosphere in the U.S. every year because of loose, damaged or missing caps on vehicle fuel tanks. Keep gas in your tank by checking the cap occasionally for cracks. In older vehicles, you can prevent evaporation by making sure the cap is tightly secured. For most newer vehicles, turn the cap until you hear it click three times. That will not only keep gas where it belongs but will also help avoid the dreaded “check engine” warning light that appears when your vehicle’s emission sensors detect a leak.
Cancel the Catalogues
The average American household receives 88 printed catalogues a year. All that paper adds up to millions of dead trees. Recycling ensures that catalogues don’t end up in landfills, but an even better solution is to eliminate unwanted catalogues before they are printed. To do so, sign up for a free account and set your preferences at www.catalogchoice.org, an online service sponsored by the California-based Ecology Center.
Shrink Your “Cookprint”
Many foods don’t need sustained boiling to cook. For example, hard “boiled” eggs can be made by placing the eggs in a covered pot of water, bringing it to a full boil, then turning off the burner. In 20 minutes the eggs will be done. Known as passive cooking, this on-and-off technique not only saves energy but can also help avoid overcooking vegetables such as corn on the cob. For more tips see the new book Cooking Green: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen by Kate Heyhoe (Da Capo Press, 2009), or visit www.globalgourmet.com.
Green Bullets
From Bambi’s perspective, there may be no such thing as an environmentally friendly bullet. But for hunters who are determined to take a shot, lead-free bullets are the “greenest” choice. They can cost twice as much as bullets containing lead but perform better because they don’t break apart on impact. That helps keep toxic metal out of forests, fields and waterways—and the digestive systems of humans who eat game animals. Last year, in an effort to protect endangered condors from lead poisoning, California banned lead bullets in areas of the state where the birds live. Most of the major ammunition manufacturers, such as Winchester and Remington, now offer copper bullets as an alternative.
Process of Elimination
Low-flow toilets can save a lot of water. They use a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush, compared with five gallons or more for an older toilet. Another option is a dual-flush toilet operated by two buttons: Push the No. 1 button, and the toilet dispenses less than a gallon of water to whisk away liquid waste. Push No. 2 and the toilet releases the full 1.6 gallons to flush solid waste. Widely used in Europe and Australia, dual-flush toilets are catching on in the U.S.
Make Your Own Toys
Why buy Silly Putty, Chia Pets or sidewalk chalk when you can make your own toys for less than $1—and recycle a few toilet paper tubes, nylons and plastic bottles in the process? A mom and dad in Ohio, John and Danita Thomas, have created recipes for hundreds of environmentally friendly and safe toys that can be made from common household ingredients such as cornstarch, rock salt and coffee grinds. Check out The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions (The Kid Concoctions Company, 1998) or go to http://kidconcoctions.com.
Smart Metering
PowerMeter software from Google Foundation can be paired with “smart” electric meters to give homeowners direct access to information about their energy use. For example, PowerMeter can reveal which appliances in your home are consuming the most electricity. Google predicts that having this kind of information will prompt people to reduce energy use by 5 to 15 percent. Only 200,000 U.S. homes have smart meters now, but the Obama Administration has called for another 40 million to be installed over the next three years.
Plasma versus LCD
The energy characteristics of TVs can vary as much as picture quality. For dark scenes, energy usage may not vary much between comparably sized plasma and LCD screens. But for most of the shows people watch, LCD screens use significantly less electricity. For both technologies, size matters; the bigger the screen, the greater its energy consumption. The largest sets have gotten so gluttonous that California state legislators are planning to ban the least efficient models beginning in 2011—which they say could reduce electricity consumption by an amount equivalent to that of 86,400 homes. For screens that are 50 inches or larger, a rear-projection TV is much more energy-efficient than either an LCD or plasma TV, but the picture is not as bright.
Think Globally, Date Locally
If you’re single, think twice about a long-distance relationship. All that commuting makes for a mighty big carbon footprint, according to “loca-sexuals” who are taking a more climate-friendly approach to dating. Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but loca-sexuals say that the benefits of dating people who live nearby include a smaller travel budget, a greater sense of community, and more sex.
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13 Comments
Add CommentI often find this kind of information to be naive and simplistic. Sometimes advice that seems like a no-brainer has zero real impact or, worse, causes net harm to the environment, so I always try to think carefully about "tips" before I follow them blindly. A couple of examples that spring to mind:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. A great example of thoughtful analsis is discussed in "Save The Planet: Eat a Dog?" (Dominion Post) http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/2987821/Save-the-planet-eat-a-dog
"The eco-pawprint of a pet dog is twice that of a 4.6-litre Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres a year, researchers have found. Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits, in their provocative new book Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living. The couple have assessed the carbon emissions created bypopular pets, taking into account the ingredients of pet food and the land needed to create them." P.S. Don't flame me. I have 3 cats, an SUV, and an electric bike--how's that for mixed signals--and I haven't read the original study.
2. The advice in the above article about plasma vs. LCD displays jumped out at me. It's true that energy consumption varies between technologies and, for all I know, this advice might be perfectly valid. But... a detailed analysis should include environmental impact of materials on the environment ( http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/takeitback/electronics/documents/FPDReport.pdf ), product lifetime... how often it has to be replaced, chemicals and energy used in manufacture, manufacturing waste quantity and toxicity, weight... cost of transport, and so forth.
... and continuing my comment about simplistic advice, I noticed a couple of relevant articles right here on Sciam:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=green-is-a-mirage
2. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=misleading-math-about-the
Go vegetarian or better, vegan. Plant food uses much less fossil fuel and causes less global warming to produce.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEat the watermelons.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@larkalt "Go vegetarian or better, vegan. Plant food uses much less fossil fuel and causes less global warming to produce. "
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSee http://www.sidewaysnews.com/opinion/going-vegetarian-planet for and Pollan's book "Omnivore's Dilemma" for the opposing point of view. Once again... the idea that vegetarianism is an ecological win is intuitively appealing to some, but it isn't necessarily based on rational analysis.
Toilets account for approx. 30% of water used indoors. By installing a Dual Flush toilet you can save between 40% and 70% of drinking water being flushed down the toilet, depending how old the toilet is you are going to replace.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you are serious about saving water, want a toilet that really works and is affordable, I highly recommend installing a Dual Flush toilet. Caroma toilets offer a patented dual flush technology consisting of a 0.8 Gal flush for liquid waste and a 1.6 Gal flush for solids. On an average of 5 uses a day (4 liquid/ 1 solid) a Caroma Dual Flush toilet uses an average of 0.96 gallons per flush. The new Sydney Smart uses only 1.28 and 0.8 gpf, that is an average of 0.89 gallons per flush. This is the lowest water consumption of any toilet available in the US. Caroma, an Australian company set the standard by giving the world its first successful two button dual flush system in the nineteen eighties and has since perfected the technology. Also, with a full 3.53 trapway, these toilets virtually never clog. All of Caromas toilets are on the list of WaterSense labeled HETs (High Efficiency toilets) http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pp/find_het.htm and also qualify for several toilet rebate programs available in the US. Please visit my blog http://pottygirl.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/what-you-should-know-about-toilets/
to learn more or go to http://www.caromausa.com to learn where you can find Caroma toilets locally. Visit http://www.ecotransitions.com/howto.asp to see how we flush potatoes with 0.8 gallons of water, meant for liquids only. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli,
@pottygirl "By installing a Dual Flush toilet you can save between 40% and 70% of drinking water being flushed down the toilet..."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe concept of "saving water" makes no sense in non-arid regions, since water is conserved in the ecosystem, i.e. there's no such thing as "using it up". The difference in water transfer by a low flush vs. conventional toilet is insignificant compared to the water turnover in agriculture and industry.
However, if you live where purified water is at a premium, then bathe in a washtub and flush with the dirty tub water, collect water from showers and sinks in a cistern to flush with, or use a septic tank or spray field. In most populated regions, I doubt a toilet makes much difference in the ecosystem, though it might help reduce local sewage treatment cost and demand for purified water. In this case, the savings are mostly infrastructure / economic, not environmental.
craighyatt,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll the suggestions were good.
Why did you go off the deep end?
Your missing the big picture by being petty and ridicules.
Great things are not done by impulse,
but by a series of small things brought together.
By Vincent Van Gogh
I'm not really a greenie, but a lot of conservation efforts I agree with. I can never understand why no one brings the Post Office to task. I may be wrong, but if the "free" information (advertising), most of which eventually ends up in a land fill, was eliminated, it would 1. help the PO save $'s, 2. save millions of trees 3. eliminate tons of waste and 4. help relieve the stress of this outrageous landslide of needless infofound every day in your mailbox.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@bops: "Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. By Vincent Van Gogh"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy point is that we need to think critically about what we read and not just take advice on the basis of emotional appeal or political correctness. For example, what does Van Gogh's statement really mean? To start with, the guy was a manic depressive who chopped off his own ear... how's that for an impulse? Also, why should we accept that impulsive actions *don't* accomplish great things? Just because a Dutch painter says so?
Don't do stuff just because you see it on the internet. Question the credibility of the source and the logic behind what you read. Read a variety of sources. I good recent publication is "Denialism" by Michael Specter, particulary the chapter titled "The Organic Fetish".
I am happy to tell you all that my company has recently developed biodegradable, eco-friendly, bamboo fiber toilet paper that is not only really soft, breaks down easily, but it is derived from a renewable and sustainable resource. A scientific university study recently solved the mystery as to why the chemical compound BPA is showing up in our ground water&it is because of recycled content toilet paper! When they recycle the material that goes into make the TP, they use all kinds of paper, including glossy paper like credit card receipts (source of BPA or Bisphenol-A a plastic!). Our bamboo bathroom tissue, the worlds first does not necessitate recycling because of how fast bamboo grows. In addition to all that, we plant a tree for every package of 4 rolls sold, and our bathroom tissue will come in a 100% recycled cardboard box instead of plastic packaging.We also lighten it without elemental chlorine! Please contact me with any questions. Visit www.bumboosa.com to see our current bamboo products and find out when our new bathroom tissue arrive sometime this spring 2010! We also on FACEBOOK. Have a great New Year!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am happy to tell you all that my company has recently developed biodegradable, eco-friendly, bamboo fiber toilet paper that is not only really soft, breaks down easily, but it is derived from a renewable and sustainable resource. A scientific university study recently solved the mystery as to why the chemical compound BPA is showing up in our ground water…it is because of recycled content toilet paper! When they recycle the material that goes into make the TP, they use all kinds of paper, including glossy paper like credit card receipts (source of BPA or Bisphenol-A – a plastic!). Our bamboo bathroom tissue, the world’s first – does not necessitate recycling because of how fast bamboo grows. In addition to all that, we plant a tree for every package of 4 rolls sold, and our bathroom tissue will come in a 100% recycled cardboard box instead of plastic packaging.We also lighten it without elemental chlorine! Please contact me with any questions. Visit www.bumboosa.com to see our current bamboo products and find out when our new bathroom tissue arrive – sometime this spring 2010! We also on FACEBOOK. Have a great New Year!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSomething else people should consider is to use Online Dispute Resolution. It is a paperless practice, saves money, you can solve your disputes online instead of in a courthouse and on a mass scale is a huge reduction in carbon emissions.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCheck out this article to learn more about how solving your disputes online is eco-friendly http://equibbly.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/going-green-is-just-one-of-the-benefits-to-solving-your-disputes-online/