With an ongoing 30 year debate on nature vs. nurture and which influences children more, we can agree to disagree that both nature and nurture play the leading role in the influences of children. For the topic of ecological intelligence, let’s concentrate on parental influences. No matter how you slice it, your parent’s help you become the person you are today. Children tend to do as their parents do and they come up with their initial routine by what they learned in the home.
If we as parents live our lives with sustainability in mind and make green choices our children will not even know any other way up until they are teenagers. For example: recycling; even as early as a child can scribble. Rather than have them color on one side of the paper, flip it over. Have multiple garbage cans and practice sorting. Try not to waste anything! These are basic little things in life that are usually not given a lot of thought. So many of us are targeting the big ticket items but if we all did our part it would make a huge difference. If a child is taught from the beginning of his/her life to leave the faucet off while brushing their teeth and only turning it on when needed they would be very unlikely to deviate from this process during the rest of their life. For the simple reason of who cares how you brush your teeth?
At this point in our society we realize the need for change but it is a new way of life that will make the greatest impact. When a child is raised in a green home and has a routine of all the little things it takes to keep it green they are learning the way of the future. My point is, our routines are routine. It is as simple as that. We are raised to do things a certain way and it is not over emphasized. Whether it be cleaning the light bulbs bi-monthly to get the most light out of them or turning the lights off as you leave a room. Let’s start our kids off on the right foot and it will be the only foot they know.
Joe Curnes
In times of mass pollution, poor economy, high gas prices, and a general realization that our society is running out of resources we all need to take a look at our current lifestyles. With sustainability in mind and priding myself in making green decisions it has always bugged me to see an unloaded full size truck or SUV carrying a single passenger. This has never made sense to me. I’m not talking about the once a month trip to the store to fetch a gallon of milk. I’m referring to the people you see everyday on your commute to work while driving Bigfoot or the decked out H2 rolling on 44” mud tires with central tire inflation. A daily occurrence on the I-5 corridor while on your way into town from an adjoining state…i.e. Vancouver, WA.
Not only is this not an ecological intelligent decision, it also prevents the driver from taking advantage of the car pool lane so it may take them longer to get there. I decided to research some of the operating costs of a realistic comparison of two of the most popular vehicles on the road. I chose to avoid comparing purchase prices since it doesn’t factor in the year of the car or whether or not it was bought new. For example, one could buy a three year old SUV for the same price as a brand new, more efficient 4 door sedan since; excluding hybrid vehicles; automobiles have retained their efficiencies for the past 10 years.
With an average round trip commute to work of 25 miles while driving 15,000 miles annually I compared these two most popular vehicles on the road today. A 2009 Honda Accord featuring a 4 cylinder engine with an automatic transmission and a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 with automatic transmission and 4WD. Given these stipulations the Accord emitted 7.7 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere and the Burb emitted over 70% more totaling 13.1 tons of CO2. That’s an additional 10,800 pounds of carbon dioxide in a single year. The owner of the Accord spent almost $1600 less to drive those same 15,000 miles than the owner of the Suburban. One trip to work and back will cost the Accord driver $3.58 compared to $6.14 with the Suburban.
Keep in mind; neither of these automobiles are extreme in one way or the other. They are just the two most popular. The Suburban is fairly efficient in comparison to other like vehicles and the Accord is not a small economy car so the comparison gap can spread to a much greater distance. For example, a Smart car, which still burns more fuel than a hybrid will drive about 3 times as far on the same amount of fuel as the Suburban. So, if you still insist on traveling in an eight passenger vehicle, try to have almost eight passengers with you.
Joe Curnes
http://www.fueleconomy.gov
Throughout this site we’ve been informing you to make green choices and purchase high efficiency products. The term efficiency stems from the word “efficient” and Chambers Dictionary defines it as: producing satisfactory results with an economy of effort and a minimum of waste. You might be asking yourself what do furnace filters have to do with efficiency anyway? A furnace filter affects 5 to 15% of your total heating/cooling bill so one can see the importance of taking this seriously.
As a motorcycle fanatic I was appalled to find out what a high efficiency furnace filter was. The term high efficiency or high performance air filter in the motorcycle or automotive field means that you will increase power and decrease fuel consumption by installing one. A high performance air filter for these applications allow for more air flow to the engine while still keeping the debris out of the intake system. Why would I not want one of these for my heating system in my house? You absolutely do, but they are not considered efficient. In fact, unlike the high performance air filter which costs almost double what a standard one goes for; a low efficient furnace filter costs around a dollar. These would be the standard fiberglass pleated 1 inch filters. Usually blue in color.
The American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) came up with a standardized rating system, based on the European concept for heating/cooling system air filters. This is known as the MERV rating, or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. Whatever that means! The higher the MERV rating, the more efficient the air filter is. Their definition of efficient is the amount of airborne particles the filter removes. In other words, the higher the MERV rating, the more air flow restriction or pressure drop, the more cost, and the more wear and tear on your heating and cooling system.
Heating systems are designed to run at their highest temperature limits in order to meet their rated output. Most new heating systems are designed to run with all registers open, free of any airflow restrictions, and a clean, 1 inch standard air filter. Any deviation from any of these and the maximum operating temperature in the plenum or the heat exchanger will be exceeded. This causes cycling of the heating system which equals overheating shut down and restarting which drastically affects your bill…far more than 15%. If this persists for an extended length of time it will lead to damaged high limit (temp. %) switches, then ultimately a cracked heat exchanger requiring a complete new heating system.
There are many types and styles of air filters on the market today and unless you have asthma, where micro particles can cause you grief; a standard 1 inch low cost filter will suit you fine. If your respiratory issues are severe enough, you might want to consider an electrostatic air filtration system or a completely isolated HEPA filtration system that does not interfere with your current heating system.
Now that you are familiar with the MERV ratings and how a dirty air filter can reduce air flow and increase operating cost. Let’s try to use this information to make the right choices in trying to decrease how much fuel we actually need to heat and cool our homes. If you are unsure of the location of your furnace filter Northwest Natural can come to your home at no additional cost to help you locate your air filter for inspection.
Joe Curnes