11.30.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 11:38 pm by Administrator
Our Coral Ridge newsletter this month highlighted some ways to go green that I thought would be appropriate to share.
1. Be bright about light. Artificial lighting accounts for about 44% of the electricity use in office buildings. Make it a happit to turn off those lights when you leave.
2. Maximize computer efficiency. Make it a habit to turn off your computer and the powerstrip its plugged into when you leave for the day.
3. Print smarter. The average U.S. office worker goest through 10,000 sheets of copy paper per year, use both sides. Hemp and cotton alternatives are available. Yes hemp is used for more than rope and hemp shower curtains.
4. Go paperless when possible. Ask the basic question, do I need a hard copy of this or can I store it electronically.
5. Ramp up your recycling. Make it a habit to recycle everything your company collects.
6. Close the loop. Buy products made from recycled materials.
7. Watch what you eat. Use a mug rather than a nonbiodegradable alternative for your daily cup of joe? Ever tried to bring your own cup to starbucks?
8. Think about your pets and neighbors. Bring a biodegradable dog poop bag when you walk your pet and an extra in case someone runs short on their walk.
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11.24.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 4:18 pm by Administrator
One of my favorite lines from a movie about baseball, “if it was easy, everyone would do it, its the hard that makes it great”. Not sure if you recognize the quote but it was spoken by Tom Hanks in the movie “A League of their Own” and was about the womens professional baseball league. The question on going green, is it really that hard? It shouldn’t be in our every day lives if the producers and manufacturers just made the products we wanted that were environmentally viable.
While the corporations and consumers are being barraged by a pseudo media awareness, real eco-friendly results will depend on making products and processes more sustainable without consumers even noticing, and, if necessary, eliminating the ability of consumers and companies to opt for less sustainable alternatives.
Case in point is the common kitchen trash bag. With so many varieties of biodegradable trash bags available on the market, it is appalling that we still make the ones that will last forever. I had an interesting dream last night that the bugs that enhabit the landfills were starving because they couldn’t get inside the bag to do their jobs. The dream, quite vivid in fact, showed the bugs celebrating when the biobag biodegradable dog poop bag was discovered because the bugs recognized that a meal awaited them and they could eat the cornstarch based bag. Weird I realize.
I had a discussion with a friend of my wife’s the other day as we were discussing the reasons why going green isn’t easy. She was thinking of hosting a few parties to showcase how easy it is to go green and even starting with some basic green cleaning products for the home. An excellent idea I believe, but how do we get past the initial enthusiasm of the concept and really make the decision to go forward with solutioning at home? We all have very hectic lives.
In closing, start simple. Since most of my readers have kitchens, use a biodegradable garbage bag rather than the non eco friendly alternatives. If you have pets, use Biodegradable Dog Poop bags. Worried about your drinking water so you buy plastic bottles, invest in a multipure water filter and get yourself some of the stainless steel water bottles to go with it. Lastly, do yourself a favor, find a way to rid yourself of the PVC shower curtain in your bathroom and replace it with a hemp shower curtain. Worried about hemp, try the cotton shower curtain.
till next time
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11.17.09
Posted in Energy Consumption, Green Ideas at 2:52 am by Administrator
I attended the annual Florida Atlantic University football homecoming game this weekend with our church Men’s club. It is a great time to tailgate on a smaller scale with family and friends and while there, was able to pick up a great t-shirt that says simply, I got gas!
Hysterical to look at but the literature being handed out was relative to natural gas for the home. Pursuant to that, let me share some fun facts about having gas.
Hmmm. Looking through the literature, there isn’t any fun facts about using gas rather than electricity which makes me wonder, is having gas any fun at all? Is gas cheaper than electricity? Is having gas any greener than traditional electricity?
There are some rebates available which is always good news and I can speak from experience, when we have power outages during hurricane season, gas appliances especially hot water heaters would be a great addition. I can remember some years ago , we had a very busy hurricane season and we were without primary power for 13 days. I have never taken so many cold showers in my life. There was one saving grace however, specifically, my multipure water filter. This filter allowed us to have fresh drinking water when the city had recommended we boil or drink bottled water.
Showers were an exercise in quick get wet, step away. Soap up and shampoo, then get back under the cold water to rinse. I can’t tell you how many times we used our hemp shower curtain to dry with since it was conveniently hanging right there in the shower.
Looking for opinions on natural gas and specifically, what make better appliances for gas and of course, the opinion and facts on energy savings as well as a greener tomorrow.
till next time
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11.12.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 2:59 am by Administrator
We are selling our home. Not to worry, it isn’t because of a recession related issue or pending foreclosure, but rather, to move closer to the people we spend most of our time with, my wifes family and my inlaws.
Currently, we live 4 miles away, a round trip of 8 miles at least twice a day with the various pickup and drop off of children, backpacks etc that while a close distance by some standards, depending on the time of day, it can be a 45 minute round trip overall. So, we are selling our home and moving 3.2 miles closer, to a smaller home (think less cooling) and more importantly to a home with absolutely no green products installed as it was built in 1965 and the original owners have moved on to the next world.
Lets start with the selling of our current home. When we bought it 7 years ago, it was not what I would have called a green home but now, well we have done some changes. First we swapped out the 2 air conditioning units with high efficiency units, 16 SEER and higher which saves on cooling and energy costs. When we installed our pool, we opted for a salt systems rather than the chlorine type of treatment. All of our cleaning products certified green including the Ecover Floor Soap that is perfect for the wood floors to the BioKleen Laundry detergent that we use to clean our clothes. Additionally, we have biodegradable trash bags from biobag in our kitchen and bathrooms, have an excellent Multipure Water Filter hooked up in the kitchen providing clean drinking water for our family of 4 every day, and the bathrooms, nothing like hemp shower curtains and cotton shower curtains to bring nature into the home. If you are going to list your home, these are some excellent green items to mention so that pespective buyers know that the home is chemical free. Also, we have a tankless water heater which is great for instantly heated water without the energy required to keep a tank warm all day.
For our new home as I mentioned, it is non green in every aspect of the word. The house leaks from every window, the pool, chlorine, windows are non tinted and the appliances, well they are very 1960’s from an efficiency rating perspective.
For starters, the roof needs to be replaced and being in South Florida, white tile is the best for reflecting heat away from the home. The windows are next again, referring to the local, hurricane resistant will be a must. The home has lines in place for gas appliances so , well, that will be our next replacement followed by the pool moving from chlorine to the preferred salt systems. I could go on about the greening of the new home but I look for ideas from our readers to comment.
Till next time
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11.11.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 1:32 am by Administrator
All around Fort Lauderdale, the signs for the year end holidays, Christmas, etc are flourishing from Christmas tree sales to Home Depots annual order of holiday decorations. Yes, it is still 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. Are we insane?
Probably, but in the spirit of Christmas and thinking about what to do for the neighbors, my favorite is the biodegradable dog poop bags from Biobag. These bags are great stocking stuffers and realistically, if you have neighbors, they have pets. These items are a great value when purchased by the case and for less than $60, you have 12 gifts for your neighbors.
Another great item for the family is the Multipure Water Filter “H20 on the Go” stainless steel water bottles. You can read my earlier blogs on the adventures with my own bottle, but they are great for people on the go and highly durable. A recommended buy.
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