02.14.10
Posted in Green Ideas at 3:23 am by Administrator
Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s day. Did you know the full name? Most people refer to it as Valentine’s day leaving the Saint part off perhaps due to policitical or religious correctness. Hard to tell. The question on this Saint Valentine’s Eve is, can the red holiday be green? Is there an eco friendly gift that still say’s “I Love You”.
With all the type on going green ranging from Green Cleaning Products to Biodegradable trash bags, one just needs to peel back the onion a bit. Going green is fashionable beyond the commodities in the home.
Take for example Eco Friendly Handbags and purses made from, well, your garbage. Aghast you might be, but what you throw away has become an industry, specifically repurposing items such as soda can tabs and making them into purses that are eco friendly and fashionable. These recycled purses are great gifts for younger recipients as well.
How about Hemp? No flashbacks please from the Cheech and Chong days, but rather go way back to the time of George Washington when Hemp was a common fiber used in making rope for example. Nowadays, hemp shower curtains are all the rage. Probably not so much in Washington’s time, that was likely cotton shower curtains based on the fact that Washington grew cotton. It wasn’t as popular as tobacco in those days, but who ever heard of a tobacco shower curtain.
As we celebrate Saint Valentine’s day, remember, going green on the holiday most associated with the heart doesn’t make you a Grinch, it makes you smart.
till next time
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01.10.10
Posted in Green Ideas, Uncategorized at 3:34 pm by Administrator
In today’s Sun Sentinel newspaper, writer Seth Liss wrote a great article on group buying and its popularity growth with Social Media. It makes sense really and we have wrote about that topic on this blog previously. Check out the article here on the Sun Sentinel Website.
One of the areas that was not explored in the article which largely focused on the price negotiation, is the shipping costs. In general, the cost of shipping represents 20% of the price of an item, but buying in bulk as a group makes alot of sense if only due to the offsetting cost of shipping.
I use biodegradable dog poop bags as an example. These dog poop bags sell for $4.99/box and the shipping cost for 1 box in nearly 100% of that, or $5.00. Surely that can’t be right? But it is the cost of shipping itself that has components not related to the weight of the item, but rather the packaging and administration of that item. I bought some used books from Barnes and Noble over the holidays with a gift card I received. The books were only $1.99, the shipping cost, $3.99($2.84 postage, the balance handling charges) is another good example.
Anyway, back to the dog poop bags. If you and your friends are dog owners, you could buy an entire case of these, 12 boxes, which only cost $4.74/box when purchased by the case, and the shipping cost is only $9.97.
So lets do the math on this. If 12 individuals buy 1 box of dog poop bags at $4.99 per box and $5.00 for shipping, their unit cost to purchase is $9.99 and as a group of individual buyers, the cost is $119.88. Ouch! If this same group of individuals bought as a group a full case which is already discounted to $56.99 per case of biodegradable dog poop bags, add $9.97 for shipping, the total cost is $66.96 or a unit cost of $5.58. I am not a math genius, but I think that group buying when you take shipping costs into account, would give the buyer a 45% discount. Now that is power.
My hat is off to Seth Liss and the Sun Sentinel for their article. Don’t forget, you don’t need to employ a group buying website to get great discounts. Often, what you need to do is look at your circle of friends and find the similarities. You can generally contact a website owner directly through their emails or phone numbers and negotiate, or, just comparatively look at the shipping costs.
till next time….
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12.23.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 8:15 pm by Administrator
For the second day in a row, the morning walk here in Fort Lauderdale has brightened my day. I often forget during the normal routine of the non holiday time period, what waking up and taking a walk can do to refresh your entire day.
On this morning’s walk, I saw the Zephyrhills truck drop off cases of bottled water as well as a 5 gallon jug to two of my neighbors a few streets over. First, getting bottled water seems a bit ridiculous since I am reasonably sure that the grocery near by sells these cases for less that $6/case of 24, second having it delivered with all that plastic, seems like an old habit that is hard to break.
What my neighbors need is an in home Multipure Water Filter system. These are the best water filters on the market and the gold standard for carbon block filtration. Did you hear about the hotel in Miami last week? Apparently there was some contamination in the hotel water supply causing the hotel to shut down. I don’t know the total number of deaths but suffice it to say, anything greater than zero is a travesty in water filtration.
Back to the multipure water filter. The multipure corporation also provides stainless steel water bottles that are top of the line to complement the best water filter on the market. These stainless steel water bottles are an easy replacement for plastic water bottles and guess what, it is a one time investment. Simply fill the bottle from your sink connected multipure water filter and put it in the refrigerator for later use. What could be simpler?
Till next time….
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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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10.29.09
Posted in Green Ideas, Plastic Water Bottles at 12:53 am by Administrator
Unlike Reeses peanutbutter cups, these are two great things that don’t necessarily go together yet they came together this week in my life this week. Lets start with the first item, bulk trash Monday.
The primary work on this actually happens on Sundays (the day before based on limitations by the city) where we dedicate the appointed day to load up the curb with tree branches, hedge clippings and “stuff” we have in the house and garage that is generally considered by my wife to be clutter that we don’t need anymore. Nevermind that we apparently needed it previously, these items become like those gadgets on the island of misfit tows from the Santa Claus movie, designated for storage in the garage.
The green side of this deals with recycling. Like clockwork on the Sunday before bulk trash day, groups of trucks and vans cruise the neighborhood looking for items that can be ecocycled into someone else’s home. We make sure that when we put these items out, they are separated from the yard clippings so that anyone can come by and browse. Invariably, 90% of these items get picked up and probably reused in someone else’s home. The key here is make sure that you showcase the items well and give ecocycling a chance.
The second topic is corporate picnics. I attended one this week, employee sponsored, in Miramar, Florida. Great park by the way. I was in charge of the ice and coolers and someone else was in charge of, drum roll please, 27 cases of bottled water. That is 648 plastic bottles the that at least 25 cases were consumed. The park offerd 6 designated recycling bins for these items, hooray, but apparently people just can’t seem to read the label and invariably threw their used paper plates and cups in with the mix creating a mess for the recycling team that works for the city. One thing to add to add for the city, please consider using biodegradable trash bags in the recycling cans. Now the key question on this item. What is a better alternative for a large corporate picnic say 250 – 300 people instead of bottled water, that will allow the participants to enjoy the event and still keep green?
Looking forward to your input.
till next time
david
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10.11.09
Posted in Green Ideas at 3:28 pm by Administrator
Saturday mornings in our household are typically filled with a rushing around to various sporting events either practices or games but yesterday was a bit different. These events didn’t start until 11:00 a.m. so the kids slept in a bit as did I since it is truely a rare occurance. At 8:00 I woke up and reminded the girls to walk the dog. We have a King Charles Spaniel that weighs about 15 lbs but for this dog to do her business, she needs a walk. By 9:00 when I asked the kids again about the walk, it hadn’t been done yet and when I checked again at 10:00, the dog truely looked desperate, so I did the activity. I grabbed a biodegradable dog poop bag off the hook in the garage and set out.
It is a familiar walk for the dog and I as we pass the same set of houses heading towards her favorite spot. Funny how dogs are about this. As we neared the designated area, I noticed another dog poop bag laying on the grass, the same brand that we use. Curious I thought since it was unused but didn’t think more about it. Anyway, the dog does her business, a large amount of business I might add for such a small dog and I diligently picked it up and secured the bag. No sooner than me completing my end of the transaction, apparently, there was an addendum to this business transaction which to use a cliche, let me holding the bag with no room to spare.
Now this is where luck comes in. Remember that bag I saw lying on the grass previously. Well it saved the day on this occasion. I was able to retain my integrity as a good neighbor as well as ensure that our little dog didn’t become the pariah of the neighborhood. Chances are, it was my bag from the previous evening which had fallen out of my pocket. Either way, luck save the day on this occasion.
till next time
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