New Year’s Resolution

When I had originally planned this post, I had these grandiose plans of creating this great New Year’s resolution list.  Then when I started thinking about all of the different resolutions, they weren’t different at all.  Like the great Bon Jovi once said, “they’re all the same, only the names have changed.”

My resolution is to consume less and produce less waste.  Reduce.  Reuse. Recycle.  Simple as that.  The question now is, how am I going to do that? I’ve already taken a lot of steps to reduce my waste and footprint overall.  I would like to be even more diligent about recycling.  There are always scraps of paper that get put in the trash that should be recycled.  Our worms are doing a great job on the food scraps.  I need to get my fuel consumption down a bit, too.  Not only gasoline, but also electricity. 

There is one other dilemma in this whole process – how to make strides without spending a ton of money on green products.  Sure somethings are easy like turning down your thermostat a degree or two.  I really want a nice dual-flush toilet – but I’m not sure I’m ready to spend the $300-500 on the one I want when I have a working toilet already.  I guess I’ll stick with putting a brick in the tank for now.  I know there are retrofit kits, too – but I’m torn whether to spend the money on that or save it towards the true dual-flush.  As for other water consumption without spending much, we are doing better already.  I have one rain barrel that I made for ~$15 and I have another barrel sitting there ready to be made.  I picked up the barrels for free from the local Coca-Cola bottling plant.  We use the water for the trees and for all of our outdoor gardening.   I could write an entire section on “gadgets” that I want, but can’t afford.  Like a turbine and solar shingles and did I mention a dual-flush Caroma toilet?

Another resolution is to educate others without preaching to them.  Sometimes it’s difficult when people ask about a certain “green” thing to not get preachy – but to be able to tell them why they need to make changes in a manor which is easy for them to follow (without telling them they suck).  Many times I’ll give them the information they need to find the answers or I’ll recommend a simple product that they can replace (like Dr Bronners soap). 

Third resolution is to eat healthier, organic, and locally.  Eating healthier is my main focus.  The other two elements can support that quest.  I don’t necessarily strive to be a locavore (2007 word of the year), but I will buy local as much as I can.  I’m always looking for more sources of local foods.  I’m also always looking for organic products - but I’ll generally buy local over organic.  I miss this time of year when the farmers markets are closed.  There is an indoor one in the city each weekend, but that’s a long haul for a farmers market.  We’re lucky to have a store near us that will carry things like grass-fed beef, organic apples, and eggs. 

Oh yeah…I want to lose about 20 pounds, too.

What are your green resolutions for 2008?

Sky Sail Propulsion for Cargo Ships

Think large cargo ship with a parasail attached.  Only this sail can rise over 300 meters above the sea and reduce fuel consumption by 10-35%.    If they can average 20% fuel savings – that is roughly $1,600 every day.  SkySails is a new company that hopes to have more of these out in the ocean in the coming years.

As always – watch the video – this one’s from Current TV.

Environmental Print Ads

My friend Amy sent me this blog post that has a bunch of environmental ads from all over the place.  Some of them are great (I like this one, too), some could be construed as offensive (re: 9/11 ad), and some are just okay.  I guess that’s how it is with advertising, though.  I still like the Eskom ad from South Africa that we wrote about around a month ago. 

 Enjoy the ads! (and thanks, Amy!)

[UPDATE: Here are some more World Wildlife Federation ads.  I really like  some of them - but the first one on this page - is just - wow - can't believe they made it.]

Waste-to-Energy: Plasma Gasification

What if I told you that there is technology that could take a standard disposable diaper that would normally decompose in 500 years and demolish it in 5 seconds?  Well the technology is here and being used today.  It’s a process called “plasma gasification.” 

Most people know the three main states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.  Add heat to a solid and you get a liquid.  Add heat to a liquid and you get a gas.  Add heat to a gas and you get plasma.  Some good examples of plasma are lightning and the sun.  Scientists create an electrical arc with electrodes creating a plasma torch.  With the plasma gasification, the temperatures can reach up to 10,000° Celsius.  To put that in perspective, the outer layer of the sun is about 6,000° Celsius.  This heat torch will obliterate garbage.  The byproduct of which is gas and minimal solid slag.  The glass-like slag can be used in roads, jewelry, and other applications.  The gas and steam can be converted into energy.

While these are waste management plants, their goal is to be a power plant and not necessarily just a garbage facility.  Once the plant is up and running, it is self-sufficient – easily generating enough energy to sustain itself.  PLASCO in Ottawa, Canada recently began delivering energy back to the grid.  They process around 100 metric tonnes of garbage each day.  There is a plant underway in Florida where they not only want to keep garbage out of the landfill, they want to empty the existing landfill there within 18 years – that’s a lofty goal.

Eco-Tech from The Science Channel on Plasma Gasification

(more…)

Help Argentina

I read this post of TreeHugger and thought this was a worth charity.  I’d never heard of it before, but they give several examples of how something as little as $10USD can make a difference. 

-Donate one month of a scholarship for a student in a rural school, to allow them to finish their secondary school studies;

-Buy one veterinary first aid kit for farmers from the Argentine “gran chaco” with sufficient materials to attend five goats;

-Secure access for one child with cancer to the Pain Relief Program, designed to reduce pain produced by shots, identified by the children as “the worst part of the treatment.”;

-Buy 90 bricks for a poor family in Buenos Aires province to build or improve their homes;

-Pay a professor one hour to train 40 teachers in rural schools for them to know how to promote reading among children;

-Donate one camera for a student in the workshop ‘ph15′, which helps teenagers who live in poor or dangerous neighborhoods overcome exclusion via photographic expression;

-Give access to recovery for a child with a cleft palate;

-Buy 20 afternoon snacks for students in La Cumbre, Cordoba province;

-Donate one shovel for the development of gardens and farms in rural areas of Patagonia,

-Get five bags with urgent needs for patients with AIDS who are visited by volunteers in various hospitals;

-Buy two books for the reading space of an Argentine school;

-Protect 3.9 square miles of native forests in Junin de los Andes, Neuquen province; or

-Buy art materials for three young artists on scholarships in the ProyectArte school.

Since you know that we all love videos… 

Source: TreeHugger.com

Need A Present…Like Right Now?

Still need a gift for the holidays and it’s like Christmas day?  Don’t forget about the Green Dimes sale!  You can always email a gift certificate for a green item from a store in our (Not) My Green Gift Guide.  Maybe buy some carbon credits from TerraPass or CarbonFund.org?  Maybe some MP3s – who doesn’t love music?  You can always Do The Green Thing for December – give someone an old thing (like an heirloom)! 

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

-The SCREAM Team (of one)

P.S. Use a gift bag and then reuse a gift bag.  It’s greener than all that wrapping paper.  Maybe we should make “I’m not wrapping paper” gift bags?  Patent pending.

My Weekend Of Encouragement

I found some encouragement this weekend that I am not alone in my quest of being green(er).  It was quite welcoming at the time of year where you go into big box stores and look around and you just want to run and hide.  The more you learn about the way things are made, energy consumption, waste, and so-on, the more you look at the world differently.  Go into a big box store and look around – look how much product there is – cheap stuff from China.  Look up and see how much dead space there is being heated (or cooled) and lit. 

On Friday night, we decided to go to Wheaton, IL for dinner.  We knew that we weren’t in the mood for a chain restaurant.  Sometimes a chain is comforting because you know what you’re going to get.  So we remembered seeing a place that looked good last time we were in town.  On the way there, we passed a store called “It’s Our Earth.”  We passed it and went to dinner and figured we’d look in the window after and go back another time when it was open.  Dinner ended and we walked to the store.  Luckily for us, it’s the holidays – which means extended hours – even for this locally run business. 

It’s Our Earth  was a refreshing surprise.  We talked with the owners as we browsed.  They were very knowledgeable about every product in the store – and a big reason is that they either made it themselves from recycled materials or they facilitated having the product made.  Some example products include: juice box purses (which they collect from local schools), bags from candy wrappers, bags from coffee sacks, bags made from seatbelts – that were actually cut out of cars versus being made with new belts, earrings made from scrabble tiles and old typewriter keys, cloth napkins, lip balm, paper made from elephant dung, books, journals, and much, much more.  Lucky for you, they have a store online where they sell items directly or through their eBay store.  My wife and I didn’t buy much, but we’ll be back.  We purchased a Cherry Pit Heating Pad (made by the owner) and some natural lip balm.  We’d been thinking of buying or making a cherry pit pad, anyway.  It’s a great replacement to an electric blanket.  Just throw the sucker in the microwave for a minute and put it under the covers and it makes a nice little oven.

I’m not sure where exactly we heard of Heritage Prairie Market.  It was either through the paper or a website or wherever.  I’m not sure – I’m just happy I know now.  This place was fantastic and I wish there were more stores like it.  The only unfortunate part is that the store isn’t exactly close to my house.  Once we did hear of it about a month back, we wanted to go.  So finally the opportunity presented itself.  We had a clear Saturday and it was well worth the 30min drive just to know that the place exists.  Heritage Prairie Market is a small store off a country road in the far western suburbs – in a town called Elburn, IL. 

It was a pleasure to walk into a little store and feel so much at home and connect immediately.  One of the first items I saw was a kitchen composter – which I had to buy online and search for.  Then I saw local honey and candles made of pure honey.  They sold local products such as greeting cards and photos, homemade candles and ceramics.  There was winter produce like squash and some herbs.  I gravitated first to the fridge/freezer.  This is where I found eggs – in cartons that were labelled by hand.  I found real local organic beef and pork.  I found milk from a dairy in Wisconsin – it is pasteurized (heated to kill bacteria), yet not homogenized.  So the cream will rise to the top – real milk from cows that were raised in a responsible way.  There were several varieties of cheeses from both cow and goats milk. 

After shopping around for a while, it was time to checkout.  At the counter, much to our delight and dismay, was a small bowl full of Chico Bags.  We were shocked to see them at a store.  We bought ours online about a year or so ago, so they were surprised, too, when we pulled ours out to pack up our goods.  We bought a couple pounds of ground beef, a dozen eggs, butter (made from only cream and salt), various cheese sticks, a pint of cream, some homemade candles, and some chocolate turtles.  Then when we were about to leave, the kind cashier asked me for my coffee cup so that they could compost it.  How great is that?

It was a refreshing weekend in many respects.  Whenever you can go into one of these places and meet good people who have similar interests to you.  It’s just great – to feel like you’re not alone in this thing.  There are other people out there that care.  I wanted to give them my money.  I didn’t care that it costs more than the chain grocery store or something you’d buy at Target.  I’d gladly pay more to get real food – food that you know isn’t filled with pesticides and hormones – the real cost.  I’d gladly pay for goods that are recycled or are locally made – and I think you should, too. 

Pivot Design Is In The Ecolution This Holiday

A friend at work (Señor Doyle) brought in this holiday card from his wife’s company, Pivot Design.  It’s perhaps the best corporate holiday card that I’ve ever seen.  Sure, a lot of it has to do with the fact that it is very eco-friendly (and yes, I know, from you purists out there, that maybe you shouldn’t be sending cards in the first place, but you know what – people do and businesses do and its a tradition that will continue).  Beyond the green factors, the design is fantastic. 

I am sure there are plenty of other companies out there doing something similar.  I kinda like the fact that this is coming from a regular company – not a company that is green as a product or green to sell their services.  They just care.  There doesn’t seem to be some ulterior motive behind it. The end-goal is to do business as usual in a socially responsible way. 

What are they doing exactly?  Well – first off, the card is printed with vegetable-based inks.  The paper is chlorine-free and made from 100% post-consumer waste. The card folds out and states how PivotDesign is going “From Red to Green.”  Pivot did a calculation on their carbon footprint for 2007.  This not only includes the carbon footprint inside their office space, but also counts for commuting to work, business trips, etc.  The end calculation was that their total carbon emissions for 2007 was 63.42 tons.  That’s the red. 

To go to green, Pivot Design purchased carbon offsets (or credits) from CarbonFund.org (Carbonfund.org is similar to TerraPass).   In addition to covering their footprint, they also bought additional credits on behalf of their clients and associates (instead of a gift-in-kind to the “Human Fund”).  After all the carbon purchases, their “footprint” is now zero (footprint is in quotes because even if you buy the credits, you still did the damage in the first place – kinda like getting a speeding ticket and then  you go to driving school and its not on your record). 

Anyway – I love the card and I think it makes a statement to everyone who receives it.  Maybe their clients will start to think differently about their corporate atmosphere and what they’re doing to our atmosphere.

Sorry – I took them with my camera phone

Power Strip? Smart Strip.

Generally, I never do this.  I received a package in the mail for Christmas.  It was in a standard cardboard box and I knew where it came from – Smart Home USA - and pretty much knew what was inside, but I opened it anyway – yes – five days before Christmas.  So…shhhh…I shouldn’t be opening and enjoying our new gift yet, but why not – its for conserving energy, so why not start sooner than later?

We got a Smart Strip.  If you’re down with the “movement” then you probably know what a Smart Strip is even if you don’t own one.  “Its a power strip, I get it.  What’s the big deal?”  This isn’t your ordinary power strip.

There are three main sections on your standard Smart Strip.  The blue outlet is your control (example: PC).  The red outlets are your “always on” outlets  (example: cable modem/router).  The white outlets are the switched outlets.  So when you turn off your computer, it will automatically sense the current stopage and turn off the control and the switched.  For example, you turn off your PC and the speakers, monitor, printer, etc. are turned off – not leaking power in standby mode.

If you think about appliances in your home, they are using power whether they are turned on or not.  A great example is a microwave.  Close to 99% of the power consumption of your microwave if from the digital clock.  Sure the power consumption is greater when you cook with it, but most of the time the appliance is sitting idle.  Your TV is similar – when you turn off a modern television, it is still sucking power.  All night long, your electric meter is spinning, round-and-round. 

Every television, vcr, dvd player, TiVo, computer, mobile phone charger is sucking power from your walls and money from your wallets.  That’s why they call it vampire power.  So stop sucking and do something about it.

Source: Economist

Bush Signs “Landmark” Energy Bill

Let me start off this post with my being annoyed.  So I knew this bill was happening.  I go to major US news outlets across the country.  CNN, Chicago Tribune, and so on. I finally find it buried on a page on the LA Time website and where else?  BBC.  Okay – now onto the meat.

Georgie signed this energy bill today.  Let’s take a look under the hood.

• Ban 100-watt incandescent light bulb by 2012 (75, 60, 40 by 2014)
• 35mpg standard on cars by 2020 (wooo…big deal – how about by 2010?)
• Bill estimates to cut CO2 emissions ~9% by 2030 (great.  9% we need a lot more reduction )
• Alternative Energy research will focus on ethanol (see other posts)

So I’m a bit of a pessimist – but yeah – great – they signed this bill…  It’s a start – but come on.  I think it’s too little.  There are too many lobbyist hands in everything that who knows if we’ll ever get to the standards and progress that is happening in Europe.

Look at it this way – in the US, two cars get 40mpg now – the Prius and Civic Hybrid.  In Europe, there are 113 different cars that get 40mpg...and oh yeah – of those 113 cars – nearly 2/3 of them are made by either US manufacturers or companies that have their largest amount of sales in the US…yet we can’t buy them if we wanted to.