Lovin’ Those LEDs

April 13, 2012 by 1 Comment

If you are still hanging on to those Edison bulbs, it is time to let go my friend. I understand; you just couldn’t embrace those compact fluorescent bulbs. The CFLs lacked the warmth and fire you desired, I get it. You were concerned about mercury in your home, disposal and radiation.

Now you have a new way to do good for the environment, have the warm glow of the sun, be free of mercury spilling in your home and have no guilt of tossing a bulb in the trash. The new LEDs are here and better than ever.

Now, brace yourself, they are not cheap. Think of replacing those old incandescent bulbs with an LED like you think of replacing your drafty, old, inefficient windows; not cheap, but worth the investment. LEDs can last up to 20 years, yes, years. LEDs cost pennies to run compared to dollars to run the old-time bulbs. The new LEDs can be dimmed almost as well as an incandescent and there is no buzzing like you get from even a dimmable CFL. We even had some LEDs that were labeled dimmable, but flickered terribly.

Philips AmbientLED lit.

My favorite new bulb is the Philips AmbientLED. I have replaced many bulbs, including CFL bulbs, in our house with this new bulb. I know, it does look a little funny, but most of the time you don’t see the bulb or notice it. It is very bright. It seems brighter than what is stated on the package. I love the warm glow from it. I love that it does not flicker or buzz when dimmed. Although these bulbs are no where as cheap as an incandescent at the register, they cost far less than LEDs from just a year or two ago. Not only that, but an incandescent is about 90 percent inefficient. Literally, it makes a better heater than a light.

There is a very good reason that governments decided to phase incandescents out, it is technology from over a hundred years ago. Do you get in touch with friends with telegraphs? No, you call them on your phone, probably your cellular phone. Do you beat your clothes on a rock next to a river? No, you throw them into a washing machine, maybe even a super efficient front loader. Do you go and turn the crank on your automobile engine? No, at this point you may not even turn a key, but instead push a button to start your car.

Come on, join the 21st century. Let go of your incandescents and embrace LEDs; your wallet, energy bill and planet will thank you.

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Home Toxins, Recycling, Reduce and Reuse, Sustainable Energy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Slow Cooking for Busy, Green Families

September 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Slow Cooker Chicken

Sorry I’ve been so quiet here, but I’ve been swamped getting my kids ready for back-to-school and going back to school myself. Fall is always incredibly busy for me, as it is for most moms and families. I’m pulled in so many directions this time of year, that cooking at home is difficult.

The challenge is to stay green and healthy, while keeping my sanity. No small task. I have found one thing that helps me, if I plan ahead. Oh, planning, that is a challenge for me too. When it comes to meals, I often find myself in the category of “fly by the seat of my pants.”

If you can manage to plan ahead, just a little bit, slow cookers are an ideal way to stay on your healthy, green path. You can add all those glorious local ingredients in the morning and return home to a delicious, organic, local, home-cooked meal. It also uses less energy than turning on the oven.

One step greener is to use a solar oven. Unfortunately, my yard is too wooded and shady to take advantage of the free solar energy. When we tried it in our yard, we literally had to move the oven four times. That’s OK if you can be there all day, but it doesn’t work if you are gone.

The other night my family and I ate a delicious meal that was waiting for us when we came home. That morning I sliced an organic onion, and put it  in the bottom of the crock, added browned organic chicken, fresh thyme, rosemary, minced garlic, organic chicken broth and some leftover green olives. I then set the slow cooker and went about my busy day. When we came home that night, Voila!

So, dust off your slow cooker or pick up a second-hand one at a thrift sale or a new one at the store, and make your crazy, busy life a little saner and greener.

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Food, Health, Local, Organic, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Saying Goodnight to Blazing Lights

August 26, 2011 by 1 Comment

Earth at Night

I am happy to see that more and more businesses are not leaving lights blazing all night long, while the business is closed. In particular, car dealerships left huge, glaring, wasteful lights on all night.

This practice not only wasted energy, but it ruined the night sky for star gazers, confused animals, and disrupted circadian rhythms of humans, flora and fauna. As a matter of fact, little good comes from this practice. There are studies that suggest it could even increase certain cancers.

Besides humans, light pollution could also harm trees, insects, birds and more. Why keep up this practice of turning day into night? Habit and a false belief that all these lights deter crime. Studies I have read about suggest that these light-up-the-sky habits are not a great theft deterrent. A few strategically placed lights and motion sensors are better.

My house is just outside of the city limits. We can do some pretty sweet star gazing, especially since a couple of the car dealerships near us have lowered the glare coming from the lots. Now there is only one obnoxious dark sky foe. I would love to explain to this business how much money it would save by turning most of those lights off when it is closed. I am sure the neighbors of the dealership would thank them as well.

There is an organizations called The Dark Sky Society whose mission is to educate people on the harm of lighting up the night. It also supports legislation to eliminate light pollution. Its website has information about the negative impact due to light pollution. The Dark Sky Society can help you and your community bring back our night skies.

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Environment, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

The Good, Bad and Ugly Paper Products

June 23, 2010 by 3 Comments

Some of you have heard this message from me before; if you’ve converted good for you, if not….well, isn’t it time you got on board?  What am I writing about?  Recycled toilet paper.  I know some of you are hold-outs due to the perception that recycled toilet paper isn’t soft or cushy enough.  I promise you, there are some very nice and cushy toilet papers out there now.  I’ve tried a number of brands, and the softest one I’ve come across so far is Trader Joe’s 100% recycled toilet paper.  It is 80% post-consumer waste and is bleached without toxic chlorine.  Marcal Small Steps is probably the next softest, but it only has 30% post-consumer waste in the 100% recycled paper, and is bleached without chlorine.  Green Forest  and Seventh Generation are tied for 3rd place in softness, both have greatly improved over the last few years.  Green Forest has 90% post-consumer waste, the highest of any toilet papers on the market, and Seventh Generation has 80% post-consumer.  Both these papers use an eco-friendly, non-chlorine bleaching process.  There are other toilet papers on the market, but I’ve not seen them where I live.  Greenpeace has an online, downloadable guide that rates the different paper products on the market.  It rates toilet paper, facial tissue, paper towels, and paper napkins.  Of course, most of those items could be replaced with cloth options, but if you have to use one of these in their paper form, then at least pick the most eco-friendly one you can.

One piece of good news is that Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle has stopped cutting down old-growth forests for toilet paper and other paper products.  Yeah!!!  I wrote a satirical paper about toilet paper and old-growth forests.  I’m happy that the paper is obsolete, but it’s still a fun read.  If you haven’t read it, you can find it on my blog at The Poor Consumer and Their Toilet Paper.  If your reason for not buying recycled TP is cost, then consider this: if you replace your paper napkins and paper towels with cloth napkins and paper towel replacements like Skoy or Mü, you will save enough money to offset the slightly higher cost of recycled TP.  Remember, even though an old growth forest is not being cut down for toilet paper, doesn’t mean it’s not hard on the environment.  Does it make sense to cut down a tree for your hind end?  Turning trees into toilet paper uses massive amounts of energy and water.  Changing to recycled toilet paper is a choice you can feel good about, and it will reduce your Carbon Footprint.

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Summer and a Fan

May 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Well, I don’t know about where you live, but where I live summer has hit, hard.  I know A/C is a huge energy suck, so I try my best not to use it and to set our thermostat as high as my family will let me.  When it’s hot your ceiling fan is your friend, well, any fan is your friend.  There is a secret to fans.  They do not actually cool the air, no they don’t.  Fans create a windchill on your skin to make you feel cooler.  It’s like when it’s -15 in the winter and there is a wind to create a -30 windchill.  The air is not actually that cold , but your body responds like it is.  Fans create a windchill for our bodies, but when we are not in the room they simply take more energy and give no benefit.  Also, make sure your fan is blowing down, and not pulling up towards the ceiling.  So, remember, turn off your fan when you leave the room, just like you turn off your lights.  By taking advantage the fan’s secret, you’ll save money, and be more comfortable.

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Tipping Point Near

May 24, 2010 by 2 Comments

Are we near an environmental tipping point?  From the classes I’ve taken, and from the articles and books I’ve read, the answer is yes.  The tipping point is not just about climate change; it’s about species extinction, resource depletion and too many toxins in the environment effecting water, air and soil.  The thing that so many people miss when this is discussed is that we as a species are at risk as well.  It is not just about the frogs or the giant mountain gorillas disappearing; it’s about humans disappearing.  We live in a closed loop system.  What we put into the atmosphere doesn’t dissipate into space.  It’s in our Earth system until the system can break it down.  Things like plastic are in the system, essentially, forever.  We have to see the big picture and the long-term.  We need to stop focusing on the millisecond, and focus on the millennium.  Here are some  articles about the tipping point.

Tipping Point

Science Daily

OK, so that’s the bad news.  There is good news.  We can change the direction we’re going.  We can all make small changes that can help.  We can also make big changes that can help.  Many of these steps can save us money too.

1) Switch to reusable bags instead of plastic or paper

2) Switch to reusable bottles for water.  Maybe that means a filter pitcher for your kitchen or a filter attachment for your faucet.

3) Switch to fluorescent or LED light bulbs.  Especially in the summer, stop heating your home with your lighting.

4) Switch to cloth napkins and rags instead of paper products that you throw away.

5) If you HAVE to have paper napkins or paper towels then at least use recycled paper.

6) Oh, yeah, stopping using virgin fiber old-growth trees to wipe your derriere!

7) Ditch the gas guzzler.  If you need a larger vehicle, then save it for when you really need the space or towing strength.  Stop running little errands with one person in the car with a vehicle that gets pathetic MPGs.

8 ) Eat locally.  Grow your own food, join a CSA (community supported agriculture) and shop you local farmers market.  A very large amount of energy goes into shipping food.

9) Eat as much organic food as you can afford.  Please refer back to my blog on Pesticides and ADHD.  I have a list of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 when it comes to pesticides and organics.

10) Think about EVERY purchase.  Do you need that thing?  Can you find that thing in a renewable or recycled material?  Can you find that thing used?

11) Set your thermostat to a higher temp in the summer and a lower temp in the winter.

12) Replace old, inefficient windows and doors.

13) Seal up cracks around your home.

14) Use window treatments to keep your house more comfortable in any season.

15) Plant trees strategically.

16) Recycle, let me repeat, recycle.

17) Invest in renewable energy.

18) Reuse; before you toss something, ask yourself if you could somehow reuse that item.

19) Compost; indoor or outdoor, traditional or worm.

20) Walk, bike, carpool, and combine car trips when you can.

There, 20 things you can do.  You don’t have to do all of them to make a difference.  There are many more, and I bet you can think of some pretty quickly.  We just have to stop thinking like we have unlimited resources and unlimited places to throw stuff.  We live on one planet, and have finite space.  We have finite water resources.  There is a finite amount of fossil fuels left.

Here is a list of resources to find some of the items to help you live more sustainably.  You’re children and grandchildren will thank you.

Reuseit

www.composters.com

Earth Easy

Earth 911

TerraCycle

Arbor Day Foundation

Green Chip Stocks

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Lights Out in Boston

September 4, 2008 by Leave a Comment

We could all take a lesson from Boston. Boston is embarking on a two month pilot program to raise awareness about energy conservation by turning the lights off on it’s most prominent buildings after 11 PM. An added benefit is the money savings they’ll see. Just imagine the energy and cost savings if everyone and every city did the same thing. I know businesses need to keep some lights on for a theft deterrent, but most don’t need as many lights as they use. Another benefit to lights out is the reduction of light pollution. Imagine being able to see more stars and sleep better without all the stray light.

If you learned something or enjoyed this blog, please pass it along.

Filed Under: Energy Efficiency, Environment, Sustainability, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,