Archive for the ‘Carbon Footprint’ Category

If you are planning a trip to Europe or any other place in the world and would like to make it a green vacation, why not consider biking through your destination. Many countries are bicycle friendly but especially Europe and there are hundreds of tours that can be taken, from seaside rides to mountain top climbs. You can arrange tours that provide you with the rented bicycles. There are self-guided tours or completely guided tours depending on your budget and preference. Just Google “European Bike tours” for example and you’ll find many tour companies that will provide many choices.

Contact a travel agent that can hook you up with some cheap hotels, and one of the hundreds of bike tours available throughout Europe. Just imagine yourself on a bike through Venice, or the beauty of the Tuscan hills and vineyards. Landscapes that can only truly be appreciated on two feet or two wheels. And at the end of a fruitful ride ending up in one of the beautiful Roma hotels.

There is no better way to enjoy the sights than doing it up close and personal. There is so much that we miss while touring in a car. But I realize that we cannot possibly get everywhere we want to go on foot or on a bike. So a drive and bike plan can work when we are considering long distances. Nowadays they even make bikes that you can fold up and stick in the trunk for just that kind of situation.

Being green on vacation can be a fun adventure, it can be a healthy way of seeing the world, and it’s environmentally friendly. What better way to go.

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My previous post covered public transportation and how the gas prices of the day are pushing people to look for alternatives to driving. In this post we will cover even greener ways of transporting oneself.

Let’s look at walking. What happened to the days when people walked everywhere. We have gotten so lazy that the thought of walking to the corner store makes us break out in a sweat. We would rather spend a couple bucks, in gas, so that we don’t have to move so much. But the consequences stemming from our inactivity is catching up with us. Obesity is rampant in our society, look at these Obesity Statistics:

USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions

• 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese
• Eight out of 10 over 25’s Overweight
• 78% of American’s not meeting basic activity level recommendations
• 25% completely Sedentary
• 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

Now that looks scary to me. If we could only understand that regular physical activity is essential to good health and that simply walking can get us there, will benefit our pocketbooks, and is better for the environment too, we’d all be better off.

Another option is something a reader over at Swiss Bikes brought up to me which is the Drive and Cycle commuting option. In situations where it is too far to bike all the way but there is a possibility to drive part of the way and then bike the other part, why not take advantage of that. It kills three birds with one stone. You can take care of your daily dose of exercise, save money on gas and help save the environment.

Again this is something that is commonly done in Europe, where gas prices are double that of the US. In England for example, parking is very popular and sought after. People park their cars somewhere, pull out their fold up Swiss Bike from their trunk and ride the rest of the way on their bikes.

Those are my thoughts on greener and healthier forms of transportation.

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Every little bit that we can do to conserve helps the environment and saves money too. Here are some tips for Greening your machines.

• Power Management: he power consumption from leaving our computers on all the time, is staggering. If your in the habit of turning off the computer when you go home from the office that’s great, but we forget about the energy that is still being used when the computer is not being used, while you go to lunch, or are doing something else. “the biggest savings come from enabling Monitor Power Management (MPM) and Computer Power Management (CPM) to put monitors and PCs into low power states when not in use. This saves between $20 and $100 per PC per year, and requires little staff time and capital expenditure.” Read More
  • Tips for reducing power consumption in computers and peripherals: from EDTECH.com
  • Check your computer manual to find out how to turn on your energy-conservation settings.
  • Screen savers do not reduce energy use for monitors. Instead of screen savers, automatically switch to sleep mode or manually turn off monitors to save power.
  • Energy Star computers and monitors only save energy when power management is activated on the computer.
  • To maximize power savings with notebook PCs, put the AC adapter on a power strip that can be turned off because the transformer in an AC adapter draws power even when the notebook PC is not plugged in.
  • Don’t forget peripherals and components — printers, copiers, scanners, processors, motherboards and power supplies all have potential energy-saving features
• Bamboo, Crank and Solar Powered cell Phones: With all the millions of cell phones out there only about 10% get recycled.
  • How about a phone made out of sustainable Bamboo with a cranking charger
    • The case of the phone is totally degradable, after removing the battery, antenna and the print board it can be thrown in the compost bin. The “Bamboo” is made out of bio-plastics of renewable raw materials such as corn, and bamboo which is also a renewable resource.
    • The battery can be recharged with muscle power. It comes equipped with a cranking charger and a monochrome display for maximum efficiency. Read More
    • Check out this great Solar Powered Charger
• Energy Star Appliances: When you need to replace appliances, of course go with the Energy Star Label, it will save you about a third on your energy bill. That’s a significant savings.
• How good is your HDTV at saving Energy: Before you buy your new HDTV, consult the following chart to see how energy efficient the new TV will be. HDTV power consumption compared
• Get Paid to Recycle Electronics: There are companies out there that will pay you for mailing in old electronic devices and others have buy back program. Here is a list of a few.
  • BuyMyTronics
  • SecondRotation
  • CellforCash
  • SimplySellular
  • SellYourCell
• Mail-In Program Free of Charge: The Post Office has come out with a pilot program that allows customers to recycle small electronics and inkjet cartridges by mailing them free of charge. Check it out: USPS
• Find a Responsible Recycler: Recycle your old electronics with an Environmentally Responsible Recycler:
  • Electronics Take Back Coalition

That’s all for now…

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In honor of Earth Day: Take a few Green Steps…

Give the Earth Some Love…

Walk to work or play. With the price of gas these days, taking this step won’t be as difficult as it seemed before. Take a walk on the wild side, walk to work, the grocery store, the library, the kids school. Who knows maybe you will like it, and will continue the trend, it’s not only good for the environment, but also good for your health.

Earth Day Footprint : Want to know what kind of a footprint you are leaving on this earth? Check out the Ecological Footprint Quiz over at Earthday.net, and here is a version of a Ecological Footprint Quiz for Kids over at Kidsfootprint.org

Buy Local but watching what you buy is just as important: If your food comes from afar, you can be sure that energy was spent to get it to you, but also the type of food you eat can make a difference… Check out this article over at GreensSAHM.com ” it’s not so much where your food comes from, it’s what you’re eating.”

Read Green and Make Some Money while your at it: Intriguing book by author David Bach discussed over at TheGoodeLife.com covers 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying)!

Save Gas: Don’t Turn Left: Huh????? Groovy Green has a story on how UPS saves gas…UPS-No Left Turns Allowed

It’s not all about “Good Energy Policy” : Follow the reasoning of the “No Impact Man” for whether Individual Lifestyle Changes will make a difference.

Get rid of those water bottles: give up convenience for the environment. Here are 5 good reasons to give them up on Earth Day… from LighterFootstep.com

Lose those Hazardous Chemicals : Learn to identify hazardous chemicals and replace them with greener, healthier ones that do the job just as well. Clean Green to Stay Healthy and Save Money

Earthday is the perfect day to start a garden, an Organic Garden at that. Here are some great tips for doing just that.

Put the Three R’s to work: How about Reduce,Reuse, and Recycle. Salvage Yard finds are a great place to start putting some Green Style in your home…

Noise Pollution: Imagine a world without noise. GreenLivingTips.com makes some great points on the effects of Noise on the Environment. Make Earth Day your No Noise Day…

Anything you and I can do, will help…

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Earth Hour Goes Global

Today is the day

Join the rest of the world

When millions of people turn off their light

On March 29th at 8pm

join the movement against Global Warming

by turning your lights off for one hour

Turn out for Earth Hour

Earth Hour Lights Out America

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Don’t forget about Lights out America, and Earth Hour

March 29th 8-9 pm, turn out your lights, for just one hour!!!

Join the World…

Earth Hour Lights Out America Lights out movement

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In case you haven’t heard yet, Lights Out America and Earth Hour are events that started last year where many cities throughout the U.S. and the world turned off their lights simultaneously for one hour. It was a great success and a trend has begun.This year the event will be happening on the same day, March 29th world wide…If you would like to join the Global Lights Out Movement, all you have to do is turn your lights off for one hour on March 29th, from 8-9pm, wherever you are.

Check out all the cities involved: Is your City Involved?

Sponsor a candlelight dinner at home or better yet your favorite restaurant, invite your family and friends. Make it fun… Make it every year, make it more often…

If you’d like to get more involved in this and other projects, Sign up at Earth Hour, Join the world…

Tell your friends…send them this link: Join Lights Out Movement.

Earth Hour Lights Out America Lights out movement

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Will your Candidate be Green enough? Do you know how they stand on the issues? Here’s a peek…

John McCain

• Believes that climate change is real and that greenhouse gases are damaging the environment, but even if the science cannot prove it, doing nothing is not an option.
• Introduced Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007 .
• Committed to using Nuclear Power, conservation, and new technologies.
• Would sign a Global treaty but has to include both India and China.

Hillary Clinton

• Would develop new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, focusing on global deforestation.
• New mission for Department of Energy would be to move in the direction of energy independence towards solar, wind, bio-fuels, hydro-power, geothermal, and other renewable sources.
• Market based cap and trade system to reduce carbon pollution, including efficiency and fuel economy standards, to lower the U.S. contribution to Global Warming below the 1990 levels by 80%.
• Opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Fund new research by taking away subsidies from the Oil Companies and putting that money to work in the Alternative Energy Field.
• Believes turning the focus on Green Building and Alternative Energy could create millions of jobs for the American Economy that could not easily be outsourced.

Mike Huckabee

• Whether or not Humans have caused Global Warming or not, believes it is our responsibility to leave the planet in better condition for future generations.
• Would pursue all areas of alternative energy including Wind, Solar, Clean Coal, and Bio-diesel.
• Would put limits on Greenhouse gas emissions.
• Supports drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Supports increasing offshore drilling.
• Would create a profitable market for alternative energy by making the government the biggest user.

Barak Obama

• Would implement an economy wide cap and trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Proposes a new International Global Warming Partnership.
• Plans to introduce a National Low Carbon Standards (LCFS), to speed up the introduction of low-carbon non-petroleum fuels.
• Create a new Technology Transfer Program within the Dept. of Energy, who’s mission would be to export climate-friendly technologies to developing countries.
• Incentives to maintain forests globally and manage them sustainably.
• Domestic incentives that reward forest owners, farmers and ranchers for planting trees, restore grasslands and undertake farming practices that capture carbon dioxide.
• Believes the cap on emissions would create a market for Clean Technologies.
• Reduce our dependency on foreign oil.

Source: CNN.com: Elections 2008

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From the makers of the $2500 dollar Tatanano, better known as the “People’s Car”, will also come the “MDI Air Car” which runs on compressed air. How about air for an alternative energy…

Guy Negre from MDI Industries in France is the inventor of the “air-powered technology” and has given Tata Motors, the Indian based auto manufacturer exclusive rights to manufacture and market the MDI car and it’s new technology in India. Tata will be the only large auto manufacturer to be given the rights to build the cars. He hopes to get investors to build smaller plants throughout the world.

This is thinking beyond the “Green Car”. This is the kind of thinking that Bill Gates was talking about in his speech about “Creative Capitalism” at the World Economic Forum, where companies don’t only concentrate on the bottom line but find ways to sell to and work with local communities to improve the quality of everyone’s lives, especially the poorest.

By building smaller plants, selling directly to consumers and sourcing 80% of the parts locally, it would:

1. Keep the cost of the car to a very affordable price of around $5000 dollars.
2. Create many jobs worldwide, not just at the plants but also by the sourcing of parts locally.
3. Cut emissions down from having to ship parts from long distances, saving on greenhouse gases.

The car would be made of Fiberglass composites weighing only about 770lbs and there are two possible types of engines:

• Mono: runs on compressed air in Urban Settings.
• Duel-Energy: which has a Hydrocarbon Fueled Burner which means more power and longer ranges. Can use Bio-Fuel or Petroleum based fuel.

The compressed air can be refilled at air pumping stations in about 3 minutes or at home with it’s own on-board compressor in about 4 hrs.

The same CAT technology (Compressed Air Technology) lends itself to other applications such as trucks, buses, forklifts, tractors, electric generators, boat motors, and aircraft.

The beauty of the technology is obvious, it’s good for the environment, but the beauty of the idea of this man, is that it not only helps mother earth but it’s also good for it’s people, in may ways.

Source: ENN: Thank Caron for Air Cars

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Xeriscaping is a way to garden using a minimum of water and energy. The following techniques are a must in dry-weather climes, but also provide useful guidelines for environmentally conscious gardeners everywhere.

Group plants by their water needs. When possible, put high-need plants in naturally wetter areas of your property. Test your soil. Add organic matter when necessary - maybe from your own compost pile - to increase your soil’s water-holding capacity. Limit your lawn. Grass is a water hog, so limit the amount of lawn in your yard. For those plots that remain, try varieties that don’t use much water. Mulch. Cover plant beds with composted leaves or grass to help retain moisture. Plant native species. Plants that have evolved in your area’s climate are more naturally adapted to its water conditions.

Grow Green & Save Water Facing a drought this summer? Live in an arid region? You can still cultivate that green thumb! Consider xeriscaping, which involves gardening in a way that uses less water than traditional landscaping. By choosing plants that are drought-tolerant or native to the area you can save water and have a yard that is easy to maintain.

Mix compost or peat moss into the soil before planting to help the soil retain water. If your yard is sloped, reduce water runoff with terraces and retaining walls. Limit the amount of area devoted to grass. Plant ground covers, native shrubs, and add rock gardens. Choose from among the many types of low water-using trees, shrubs, flowers, and ground covers. Many need watering only in the first year or two after planting. Install drip or trickle irrigation systems in areas that need watering. These systems use water efficiently and are available at garden centers. Use mulches like pine needles, shredded bark or leaves in a layer three inches deep to keep soil moist, smother weeds, and prevent erosion.

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