By Kathryn Lambert
Until July, 2007, I lived in Michigan. Green living wasn’t really part of my life. Like all of my friends, I complained about my electric bill (especially in the winter!), I worried about the rising costs of things like food and gas, and I made an effort at eco friendly activities like recycling. And then I moved to Hawaii! Instead of paying 8 cents kWh for electricity, I started paying nearly $0.40. Gas cost nearly $5.00 a gallon as opposed to the nearly $3.00 I had grudgingly grown accustomed to paying. My already slim budget was hit even harder by the price of food – things like milk cost nearly $6.00 a gallon and orange juice was nearly $10.00!
It was tempting to turn around and head straight back to the mainland, but after what I’d spent to get here in the first place, that certainly wasn’t an option – at least not right away. I had to find a way to make it here, and I needed to do it fast.
It wasn’t only the cost of living that opened my eyes to the need for green living though. When I stopped to think about it, I realized that if there was a crisis of global proportions, it would be pretty simple for a little island like Hawaii to be forgotten. As a chain of islands, we depend on the mainland United States for almost everything from gas to food. I’m not one to worry about “what-ifs,” but it was certainly worth thinking about. Why was it that this little island needed to be so dependent on other for its very survival?
I was also saddened by the amount of waste that I saw around the island. Research taught me that Hawaii produces more waste per person than any other state in the nation. How is this possible? We have the least amount of space to put it…unless throwing it into the ocean is an alternative – it’s not, by the way.
It was time to make a decision to change the way that I was used to living. There was no denying any longer that there was an absolute need for green living and I had to be the one to make the change for my family. What a change it’s been. Simple common sense has given me a lot of great eco friendly ideas and the rest have come from research and talking to others has helped me with the rest. While I certainly have a long way to go, I’m proud of the changes that we’ve made. I would have never pictured myself as a gardener, for example, but my family now has a vegetable garden that would make my grandfather, an old farmer, jealous. We’re also growing fruit trees and it’s a great feeling to know that if something did happen that stopped food from coming to our little island, we’d at least have enough to eat.
We’ve learned the importance of recycling, choosing eco friendly products, combining trips, reducing our energy usage, and much more. Not only has the switch to green living allowed us to stay in Hawaii without going completely broke, it’s given us a better outlook on the way that I should have been living for a long time.
Whether you live on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, or you live in the middle of the United States – making the choice to live a more eco friendly lifestyle is a good decision. Take the time to think about small changes that you can make in your lifestyle and purchasing habits. If we all made small changes, the resulting impact would be HUGE!
http://www.green-living-made-easy.com
http://www.mylilgreendress.com
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By: Susan Young
Retirement is more about new beginnings than endings. Leaving the old life behind, starting out fresh, looking for new adventures. It is also a time for introspection and renewal. For the last thirty or forty years I have been driven by needs, first my own and then my family’s. There was little time for thought about the impact my choices had on the world around me. Now there is time and the needs are not so impelling. Now I have no excuses left as to why I can or can not do something different. I can, the question is “Will I?”
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Being green is becoming fashionable but not fast enough to suit the serious environmentalists. As the alarms go out about global warming and species extinction I rememberl sitting in the first “environmental” studies class offered at Cal Poly in 1966. I don’t recall the instructor’s name but I do remember the alarming predictions he presented to the class. If his predictions had been accurate the our world would have self-destructed ten or twenty years ago. He taught that we were headed for the end on all fronts: fossil fuel depletion, air and water pollution, and the biggie…overpopulation. As far as I can tell we are still on that road to destruction but we seem to have slowed the pace. Industry has been reined in and is polluting less. Vehicles and fuels have been designed to produce less toxic byproducts and use less fuel. Some countries have even taken the population problem to heart and set limits to child bearing. I heard a few days ago that Japan is actually encouraging women to stay home and have babies now because their population growth has declined so much.
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Seems like we come a full circle on one hand but on the other it seems like we have move far at all.
By Budda Oliver
Often times, instituting a new policy in a place of business can be like pulling teeth. It seems that no matter how clearly you present the proposal, how successfully you outline the goals and the methods, and however much time and sympathy you give to your employees, that inevitably, you will face resistance and obstacles in successfully achieving a new goal.
There is almost no area where this policy conundrum is more apparent than in the arena of environmental sustainability. Truthfully, this type of inertia is present in every aspect of environmental policy from the levels of federal government to simple behavioral changes at home, but at the business level, for a manager or a supervisor, instituting new, green-friendly policies can be a seriously frustrating and halting process.
Before you enlist the services of an environmental consulting firm, or consider walking out of your job out of frustration, try reaching your employees through multiple mediums of communication. While there is no substitute for a well thought out meeting and a persistent, patient approach, your employees will certainly appreciate the effort and the accessibility of repeated environmental reminders through multiple mediums of communication.
You will need to reinforce your commitment to sustainable ecological practices through multiple avenues of environmental consciousness. Surely, you should call a brief meeting with your coworkers to address the issue of sustainability and field any questions that they have on the issue, but you should broach the issue through other communication mediums as well. Consider combining an environmental meeting with such techniques as an office wide environmental memo, a posted list of office environmental guidelines, and bi-weekly update of environmental progress in the office.
You will definitely want to be careful not to turn office sustainability into another of those dreaded time wasting office procedures and you will not want to over saturate your coworkers and lose their attention through repetitive statements and commands, but you should certainly take the time and energy to show your coworkers that you are not simply giving sustainability lip service. If you treat greening your office as a real goal and a real challenge, your employees will follow suit.
The key to greening your office is to understand the particular challenges and obstacles that face the success of your goal. It is one thing to say to yourself or to your employees that you’d like to make your workplace an environmentally friendly place, but it is an entirely different thing to actually achieve energy efficiency and a green work environment. Realize that you will need to reinforce your message through multiple communication mediums to achieve the results you would like to see in your place of business.
Mr. Oliver is a marketing agent of Servidyne. The green building consultant provides building performance efficiency throughout the nation. For more information on their Green Building Consultants please visit their website.
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http://EzineArticles.com/?Using-Your-Resources—Environmental-Sustainability-in-the-Workplace&id=1918706
How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days
by Vanessa Farquharson
I don’t know about you but I have it on my wish list!
I must admit, I am not very experienced at going green. This site is the result of two things. First, several years ago, I was required to take several courses in a non-major topic to get my degree. I chose Environmental Studies. Several of my posts to this site started out as class assignments for those courses. Second, having retired from my day job, I am now pursuing a new career on the web. Looking for topics of public and personal interest lead me to this subject.
I have found that others far surpass me at both designing sites and adopting a green lifestyle. So I am here again as a student rather than an expert. I look forward to reading Farquharson’s book, Sleeping Naked is Green when it is released by Amazon.
By Caitlina Fuller
The nature is a gift given to the mankind. This nature is not safe if it has excessive amount of inorganic and non biodegradable items. Polythene and plastic are two major non biodegradable items causing great damage to the ecosystem. Many environmentalists believe that ecosystem should be protected properly to ensure the safety to the life on the earth. Bio degradation is a process in which the organic substances are broken down by the enzymes which are produced by living organisms. This term is mainly used in areas of waste management, ecology and environmental remediation.
The best thing you can do to safe guard the ecosystem is: Prevent usage of non bio degradable items. The change should start from your home. If you start using these natural green items, then surely the world around you turns green within less time. Some of the common green items which should be used for protecting environment are: leaf bags, green cups, paper bags, cotton hats etc. There are many varieties of organic hats in the market.
Hemp hat is one such green item which is made of hemp linen fabric. This hat is mainly used by horse riders. These hats are made of breathable and durable organic hemp canvas. These hats have less weight and can be easily paced on your head. As the canvas used in hat design is natural it does not form any sweat. Special types of these hats are used for babies. These organic hats are made of wool and cotton. Organic cotton hats are natural and do not induce any side affects to babies.
Biodegradable bags are special green items available in the market. These items can be used for carrying things or for throwing garbage. Most of the garbage bags are made of special HMHDPE & LDPE material. These bio degradable bags are durable and can stay fresh for long time. These bio degradable bags are leak proof. Some of the special features of these garbage bags are they are photo and oxo degradable, the degradation period of these bags is around one year. Some of the common colors in which these bags are available are green, blue black and yellow. Most of the companies sell these bags for small amounts.
Today, plastic bags are also being made by recycled material. Flat plastic bags are special polythene bags which are made from bike inner tubes. These bags can be used for all purposes.
Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. There are many varieties of organic hats in the market. Hemp hat is one such green item which is made of hemp linen fabric. This hat is mainly used by horse riders. Biodegradable bags are special green items available in the market. These items can be used for carrying things or for throwing garbage.
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http://EzineArticles.com/?Green-Goods-For-a-Green-Environment&id=1912875
By Paul M Allen
Flying back to the UK for Christmas was so much better this year.
At last, after years of hoping, the budget Irish airline Ryanair have opened up a route between Girona – the closest airport to us in northern Spain – and London Gatwick.
That means no more two-hour drive to Barcelona, a big relief when you have children in the car. Flight prices were cheaper than the carriers that operate out of Barcelona too. Plus we saved on the petrol consumed and the motorway tolls. And parking at Girona airport was about half the price.
All of which makes it cheaper and easier to make more frequent trips back to the UK to catch up with family and friends, or for people to come visit us. Our home town, and everyone we left behind there, have become that much more accessible, making the living abroad experience less isolating.
The explosion in cheap air travel, fuelled by a raft of budget airline companies, has had a similar impact for millions of other expatriate families around the world too.
In the old days moving abroad was more or less a permanent goodbye. Families wouldn’t see each other for years, if not decades, such was the expense of making the trip.
That’s no longer the case. The world is shrinking, and with it comes more upside and less downside to a life overseas.
But … there is an environmental price to pay for our globetrotting.
The UK government’s official Directgov website points out that air travel’s contribution to climate change is growing*. At present the sector accounts for 6.3% of UK total CO2 emissions, but by 2020 flying could make up 10-16% of the country’s contribution to climate change if the environmental impacts aren’t lessened, it notes.
And the increasing demand for air travel was highlighted with the recent announcement that the UK government has given the green light for a third runway to be built at Heathrow airport. The move, reports the BBC, will increase the number of flights at Heathrow from about 480,000 a year now to 702,000 by 2030**.
Other airports around the country are growing their traffic at the same time too – and this is to take the UK as just one example. Tally that up with the infrastructure expansions and rising flight volumes being seen at other airports around the world and we have a sizable problem.
And while we can all do our bit to reduce the environmental impact of our journeys through carbon offsetting, ultimately there are only two real solutions: clean fuel technologies, which don’t look like happening anytime soon, or reduce the number of flights taken – whether that’s through personal choice or governmental actions such as raising taxes and levies on flying to make it more expensive.
If costs rise though then the distances involved in moving abroad might start to look that bit greater once again, and bridging the separation from friends and family by shuttling back and forth increasingly difficult.
* Directgov, http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/Greenertravel/DG_064429
** Go-ahead for new Heathrow runway, BBC News, 15 January 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7829676.stm
Paul Allen is a freelance journalist and writer who has lived in northern Spain since 2003. He is the author of “Should I Stay Or Should I Go? The Truth About Moving Abroad And Whether It’s Right For You,” a comprehensive e-book guide for people seeking advice on whether or not to move abroad. For more details about the book, and to get lots of free information and advice on moving and living overseas, visit his website at http://www.expatliving101.com/
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http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Environmental-Impact-of-Living-Abroad&id=1900858
By Lynn Blevins
Making your wedding, meeting, or party into a zero-waste event can be a clear display of your stewardship for the environment as well as an educational experience for attendees. Done successfully, there are benefits for the environment including waste management (nothing goes to the landfill) and energy savings. However pulling it off is not as easy at it might seem. There are three questions to ask yourself when planning your zero-waste event.
First, can you use durable goods such as ceramics, silverware, glasses, and cloth tablecloths and napkins? If so, use them! This is often an option when events are held in churches or halls that have their own durables. Yes, there is some extra work since they need to be washed, but there will be much less trash to dispose or which will save you some money.
When durables aren’t an option and you’d like to use compostable food service items, can you avoid contamination of compostables and/or recyclables? For example, can you instruct your attendees either verbally or through signage to separate out compostables, recyclables and any remaining trash? If not, you will likely end up with contaminated compostables and/or recyclables. Most people are not accustomed to this level of separating out their waste (yet!). Recycling has been around for a long time but even now at any given airport you’ll find recyclables in the trash receptacles, so people are bound to make mistakes. These factors help avoid contamination:
• Only use compostables for the event.
• Instruct event attendees as a group as to how to dispose of their waste.
• Have someone present by receptacles to instruct attendees.
• Post very clear signage on waste receptacles.
Last, if you think you can avoid contamination of your compostables, do you have a place to compost your compostalbes? Check with your municipal waste facility to ask about drop-off composting options or commercial composting facilities in your area. You can also look for local composters at findacomposter.com. If there is a local commercial or municipal composting facility, be sure to ask which compostables they will accept. Many do not accept bioplastics.
Composting at home might be an option, but certified compostables are meant to be composted in commercial or municipal composting facilities where high temperatures and humidity are achieved. Most home composts do not achieve such conditions. Compostables made from paper and bagasse (residual from sugar cane) or other non-plastic compostables will likely break down more successfully in the home setting than compostable plastics, although information on home composting of bioplastics is lacking. Also consider the amount of compostables you will generate. If you have a family reunion for 50 people and a 3×3x3 foot bin, you will likely end up with an overflowing bin for a while.
Compostables require composting to fully break down and complete the biological cycle, but unfortunately not everyone has access to a commercial or municipal composting facility. Compostables can be used in areas where there are no composting facilities or home/farm composting options, but the benefits of using them are much less (if any). Bioplastics in landfills may last as long as traditional plastics, and landfilling them breaks the biological cycle that sustains us.
Author Description: Lynn Zanardi Blevins, MD, MPH is the founder of http://compostablegoods.com, a company offering compostable and biodegradable items and dedicated to the promotion of cradle to cradle product design. Dr. Blevins is a medical epidemiologist, an environmentalist, and an enthusiastic home composter.
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http://EzineArticles.com/?Zero-Waste-Event-Planning-Tips&id=1889515
By Nick Tart
Businesses around the world are going green but not all of them receive the same recognition as General Electric, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart. These innovative businesses have earned their share of acknowledgment and it is about time they receive some.
- Seahorse Power – Founder Jim Poss engineered garbage cans with solar-powered trash compactors that increase capacity and reduce the number of pick-ups required by Seahorse’s municipal clients.
- Voltaic Systems – This entrepreneurial business manufactures backpacks and messenger bags fitted with solar panels that can charge electronics, including cell phones and PDAs.
- Interface – Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Interface uses recycled materials and biodegradable corn-based plastics to manufacture carpet.
- Comet Skateboards – CEO Jason Salfi and company makes high-performance skateboard decks and wheels using only local, sustainable materials. They are currently experimenting with a soy protein polymer to hold the boards together.
- Memorial Ecosystems – Westminster, South Carolina is home to the nation’s first green cemetery. Memorial Ecosystems offers simple funeral services without the use of embalming fluids, other harmful chemicals, hardwood caskets or conventional headstones.
- Konarka – This innovative business produces flexible solar cells from organic chemicals, rather than silicon, which have the potential to turn handbags, lampposts, and other everyday objects into clean power sources.
- Teko Socks – Located in Boulder, Colorado, Teko Socks manufactures and sells socks made from organic cotton, recycled polyester, and wool from a farm that uses sustainable practices.
- IdleAire – Based out of Knoxville, Tennessee, IdleAire wires truck-stop parking spaces with hookups for heat and air conditioning, along with Internet accesss, satellite TV, and movies on demand, to encourage long-haul drivers to shut off their engines.
- Gridpoint – CEO Peter Corsell and company makes a refrigerator-size system that helps consumers monitor and manage energy created by their solar panel system or other renewable energy source. It also provides homes and businesses with backup power, allowing them to pick and choose the times of day their house pulls in energy.
- Zipcar – Based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, this clever business manages a car-sharing service for as low as $7.50 an hour that has taken an estimated 25,000 cars off the road.
Nick Tart is the editor of four main sites for Worldwide Marketing Solutions. One of which is Great Earth News. GreatEarthNews.com provides information and tips to help you better the world. If you enjoyed reading this article, please check out GreatEarthNews.com.
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http://EzineArticles.com/?10-Unheard-of-Green-Businesses&id=1860148
By Kenny Mills
So you’re going green huh? Seems like every day we see a commercial or an ad on a bus of someone who is going green. What is going green though?
Well there are several ways we can “go green” to be honest you can go green very easily! Some people may already be doing things and not have realized it.
So what are some ways you can help the environment out? Well lets take a look at some things we might be doing or might want to do, but for reasons that help us not the environment. Don’t worry though turns out your helping the environment whether you meant to or not.
One example is my wife wanted to start eating organic while she was pregnant. Thats just to help the baby right? no steroids or chemicals used in whatever it is she buys. Well while thats all true, it also is a great thing for the environment! When farmers plant all of there foods they normally use pesticides and all sorts of different stuff to help there plants. Well when its done organically it is maintained better (therefor cost a little bit more) , but there is no chemicals in it that could “float” into our atmosphere. Studies also show that the soil can retain water better which helps the plants to grown more. What about when it rains where down the run off go? into our streams and lakes right? well now it is clean water and not containing any sort of chemicals from pesticides that would be on a normal plant. Now you didn’t realize eating organic had such a big effect on our surroundings did you?
Then there is that high gas prices! So a lot of people are getting into the hybrid cars right? You get great gas millage and you start helping your budget out right away! Well what about the “going green” effect you are having? Well with producing so much less emissions you are helping out considerably to the green house effect!
Now This doesn’t mean your a bad person because you may be going green for the wrong reasons. My point is to show its not hard to “go green”. Matter of fact most people already are or they want to. So keep looking because there are several ways to go green and we can all have a small part in helping out the world we live in.
My name is Kenny Mills,for more information on Going Green visit my site at http://www.homeimprovementhelpguide.com
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http://EzineArticles.com/?Is-Going-Green-For-Me?&id=1860625
By Tracey J Smith
Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” Whether or not you believe the controversial arguments for or against global warming, the fact remains that there is a finite amount of land in our nation and the fundamental issue of sustaining it remains.
Companies continue to expand their efforts in the area of environmental sustainability. However, to be successful, we need the participation of every member of the community in order to implement energy conservation strategies and to maximize our recycling efforts.
How is my Aluminum Can Related to Energy?
Energy costs continue to rise. So, what does the cost of energy have to do with recycling aluminum cans? Consider the following:
- Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95 percent less energy than making a new can.
- Tossing away an aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half of that can’s volume of gasoline.
- In 2003, 54 billion cans were recycled. This is an energy savings equivalent to 15 million barrels of crude oil – America’s entire gas consumption for one day.
Now, consider this. The average American consumes 2.5 beverages a day while at work. Multiply that by the number of employees in the workforce and that’s a lot of aluminum… and a great deal of energy! Recycling programs and energy programs, as you can see, are very closely linked.
How Can We Save More Energy?
- Turn off monitors, printers and copiers nightly and on weekends. Do not use screensavers as an alternative to switching off the monitor. Screensavers consume energy. If you plan to leave your computer for more than two hours, switch off your monitor.
- Turn off photocopiers at night if a low standby feature is not available.
- Where possible, replace incandescent lights with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).Using CFLs instead of comparable incandescent bulbs can save about 50 percent on lighting costs. CFLs use only one-fourth the energy and last up to 10 times longer.
- Switch off all unnecessary lights. Use dimmers, motion sensors, or occupancy sensors to automatically turn off lighting when not in use.
- Where feasible, use natural lighting near windows instead of electrical lighting.
- Close or adjust window blinds to block direct sunlight to reduce cooling needs during warm months. In the winter months, open blinds on south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your workspace. At night, close the blinds to reduce heat loss.
- Unplug equipment that drains energy when not in use (cell phone chargers, laptop chargers, fans, coffeemakers, desktop printers, radios, etc.).
How Can I Reduce Waste?
- Use mugs instead of paper or Styrofoam cups for coffee or drinks.
- Consider a two-sided printer the next time you need to buy one.
- Photocopy only what you need. Always use the second side of paper, either by printing on both sides or using the blank side as scrap paper.
- Print email only when necessary.
How Can I Reuse Items to Reduce Waste?
- Set aside paper that is only used on one side so that it can be reused for such things as taking rough notes or phone messages. Paper can be stored in a centrally located storage box, possibly next to printers or photocopiers so that everyone can use it.
- Invest in rechargeable batteries and battery chargers for digital cameras, flashlights, and other small devices.
- Save and reuse packing material.
How Does Recycling Lead to Savings?
Recycle plastic bottles, metal cans, paper, batteries and more at the office, just like you do at home. You do recycle at home, don’t you? Let’s use paper as an example. Did you know that the average per capita paper use in the U.S. in 2001 was 700 pounds (318 kg) while the average per capita paper use worldwide was 110 pounds (50 kg)? Did you know that in the U.S., 45 percent of paper is recycled? Compare this to 52 per cent in Japan, 67 percent in Germany and 77 percent in the Netherlands. It’s time to really think about what we do with paper and other recyclables. Additionally, did you know that many companies receive rebates for recycled materials? Each time you recycle your cans, bottles and paper, you are not only helping the environment by diverting materials from landfill, but you may also be helping the bottom line.
As you can see, there is a long list of actions each person can take to support both your business and the environment. The simple recycling of a can or turning off of a light can go a long way. Remember that the environment, the cost of energy and recycling programs are strongly related.
This author writes on a wide variety of topics both business and non-business related (numerical modeling, environmental aspects, process improvement, business analysis) and runs a consulting business at http://www.numericalinsights.com
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http://EzineArticles.com/?Get-to-Know-the-Green-Stuff&id=1853017
