What are you watching?

I came across this little diddy on the Consumer Reports Electronics Blog.  Enjoy!

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2008/05/are-you-ready-f.html

Keeping it Green!

The Green Giant

 

Clean Hair, Clean Conscience

This is an installment in the series Green Products That I Live By.

I’ve spent a long time looking for a decent shampoo and conditioner. The cheap stuff leaves me with dazzling hair, but a filthy feeling in my head. Personal care products are among some of the worst silent polluters out there. Most people envision their waste going down the drain and into a high-tech, futuristic purifying center. Ummm, not so much.

Going Green and Living Clean

This is the first installment in a series on green products that I live by.

Of all the household chores that I do, my least favorite is cleaning the bathroom. This chore never fails to leave me with a headache. You see, my bathroom has no window and poor overall ventilation. So I’m left with a nasty chemical smell that lasts at least until the next day; especially so if the product contains bleach.

Happy Earth Day!

Just stopping in for a quick “Happy Earth Day!” greeting. I’ll be back later this week (after exams!) to talk about some green products that I have been using. In the mean time, do you have any green products that you use regularly? Do they perform as good as or better than their not-so-eco alternatives?

Green on!

Steven

KENAF PAPER

Just the other day, my friend, Kevin, said the words “kenaf paper”.  I had no idea what he was talking about.  He said it is an alternative to paper made from trees.  Intrigued by this possibility, I began investigating and here’s what I found out.

 

Kenaf is a 4,000-year-old crop originating in Africa that grows in many parts of the world including the United States.  It’s a member of the hibiscus family.  Rope, twine, coarse cloth, and paper have been the main uses for the kenaf fiber.

 

Kenaf has lower lignin content, thus it needs fewer chemicals for processing.  It is naturally brighter than wood paper, so it won’t use as much chemicals for bleaching.  Making paper with kenaf would mean not cutting down virgin trees.

 

The seeds from the kenaf plant provide another use.  They produce an edible vegetable oil that is high in antioxidants and can be used in cosmetics and industrial lubricants and as well as bio-fuel.

 

The word seems to be getting around about this paper.  Ecomall.com’s website says: “Companies like Apple, Sony, Warner Bros., REI, J.C. Penney, The Nature Co., The Gap, Esprit International and Birkenstock have begun to use kenaf paper for catalogues and other purposes.  Major Printing and Graphics firms such as Kinkos, Anderson Lithographics, George Rice and Sons, Ventura Printing and Lithographix now provide printing services on kenaf paper.”

 

Just when I thought everything about kenaf seemed fine and dandy, I discover a just concern.  If people bought kenaf paper, they might not buy post-consumer recycled paper.  The recycled paper has enormous benefits too.  It reduces land use; does not require water, fertilizers, or pesticides; and is less environmentally costly to make.  There is a reason environmentalists pushed hard for paper to be recycled.  Are they now abandoning that effort?

 

What are conscientious consumers (like us) to think?  Chime in with your thoughts. 

 

Keepin’ it Green,

The Green Giant

 

STARTING THEM EARLY

This is the second time I’ve addressed kid’s books.  I am a strong literacy proponent.  Mix that with my support for the environment and you will see that I’m always on the lookout for resources geared towards educating kids about the environment and what they can do to take care of it.

 

I recently read that School Library Journal named the winners of the 2008 National Green Earth Book Awards, sponsored by the Newton Marasco Foundation.  The award is intended to promote awareness of environmental issues.

 

This year, there were 75 entries in the categories of children’s fiction (up to 12 years old), young adult (13-21 years old) and nonfiction (up to 21 years old).

 

Each recipient received $2,500 and $500 to donate to an environmental organization of his/her choosing.

 

And the winners are….

 

Children’s Fiction

Winston of Churchill: One Bear’s Battle Against Global Warming by Jean Davies Okimoto (Donated to Polar Bears International)

 

Young Adult Fiction

The Light-Bearer’s Daughter by O.R. Melling (Donated to Golden Eagle Reintroduction Project)

 

Nonfiction

The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon (Donated to Stopglobalwarming.org)

 

Honorees include:

Adventures of Riley: Polar Bear Puzzle by Amanda Lumry and Laura Hurwitz

An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming by Al Gore

On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole

Secrets of the Sirens by Julia Golding

The Sorta Sisters by Adrian Fogelin

 

So hit your local libraries today and pick up a few of these titles for your little ones.  It’s never too early but we don’t want it to be too late.

 

 

Keepin’ it green!

The Green Giant

Special Delivery

On March 17th, The United States Postal Service began the “Mail Back” program, making it easier for consumers to recycle inkjet cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods, and MP3 players. 

 

Customers need only pick up a free, postage-paid Mail Back envelope.  Clover Technologies Group is covering the cost of postage.  Clover is a company that recycles, remanufactures, and remarkets inkjet cartridges and small electronics.  Whatever cannot be reused will be broken down and recycled.

 

The program starts in 1,500 Post Offices around the country and if successful, will expand to nation-wide.

 

Keepin’ it green,

The Green Giant

 

Earth Hour Event – Darken Today for a Brighter Tomorrow

Today is the Earth Hour event. The point is to get as many people as possible to shut off their lights for one hour, starting at 8 p.m. in your local time zone. I’m assuming this includes all sources of power, including PCs and TVs. Give us a shout out to let us know what you plan to do during the darkest hour of your day.

Get involved! Click the banner for more information and register to participate!

Green on with the lights off!
Steven

Saving energy, one kWh at a time

As part of a pleasant dinner conversation this evening, a co-worker of mine asked me what I thought about turning off fluorescent lights vs. leaving them on. “Turn them off!” I said. You see, a purported “scientific fact” had been proposed that the energy consumed by a fluorescent bulb upon it’s initial switch on would make it less energy efficient to keep turning on and off throughout the day. I had to dig into this for myself. How could a simple light bulb require more energy to turn on than it would use in an entire day?

According to Mythbusters – not an extremely scientific, though reliably accurate, source – in order to save enough energy to make it worth your while to save the energy used when turning on the bulb, standard fluorescent (tube) bulbs should remain off for 23 seconds. Sounds worth it to me. The only trade off is that, depending on the lighting ballast used, the bulb’s life cycle may be shortened by multiple on off cycles per day. The cost to replace the bulb is probably worth turning off the lights whenever you can.

Check out the Mythbusters Wiki for a brief description of the experiment and Annotated Mythbusters for full details, including the energy data for four other types of bulbs, including CFLs.

Thanks to Mythbusters for bustin’ it out.

Green on!

Steven

My First Post (hope it’s a good one)

The publishing company of Simon & Schuster will start releasing “Little Green Books” in fall 2008 for children. The aim of these books is to teach children (and their parents) about the environment and what they can do to help it.

These green books will be made out of recycled materials and printed with soy ink.

It’s never too soon to instill good environmental practices on our youth!

Keepin’ it green.

Green Giant