Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Blog posting by Mary Kelley


With alternative energy taking over the headlines last year as gas prices soared and the economy fell many individuals that may not have otherwise paid any mind to the topic started to take note. As people started looking to gas efficient cars they also started looking into other aspects of efficient energy use. Although phantom energy has always been around not until the past year or so has it really made it into main steam media. I was chatting with a friend the other day about the topic and they mentioned that they had even seen a commercial on television about it, I went to youtube to see if I could hunt it down and although I didn't find the one they saw there were about 60 others that were similar. Many of the ads were tailored to kids in particular. With growing awareness it appears that the industry is responding with user friendly products to help monitor and manage the phantom energy, although some resources may be pricey there are some fairly economical options, like the smart strip that you could maybe break even on with the money you save over a month or two. Maybe your vice is your cell phone, and you could use a friendly reminder to unplug it after it has charged: or maybe it's your super sweet entertainment system that's sucking your energy at night. What ever the case there are options and there will likely be even more options at better values as companies go the green route.

I recently had a conversation with my husband, Dennis, when he arrived home after work. He works swing shift so he gets home at about 12:30am after myself and our son, Jacob, are already in bed and asleep. This particular evening he woke me up and asked me why the DVD player was still spinning and if thought Jacob might still be awake as his television was still on. Mind you this is not a new topic of discussion for us, so it must have really irked him this time in order for him to wake me up. I know these comments are also going to spur some discussion around falling asleep with the television on and my parenting style, but this blog is really about energy use, specifically "phantom energy."

It wasn’t a huge deal in my mind, this energy consumption, until doing some research on it. According to www.mygreenelectronics.org leaving my DVD player on 24 hours a day costs me approximately $12.43 per year. Now, when my DVD player is plugged in, but turned off you would think that it would cost me nothing. This is not true, however. It still uses 2.9 watts even when turned off! That is $2.41 per year, which doesn't sound like much when thinking in individual terms. The U.S. population, however, is over 300 million people according to the CIA factbook estimated in 2008. Therefore, if just half of the US population unplugged their DVD players when not in use it would save an estimated 300 million dollars per year. 300 million dollars per year!

I’m not even going to touch on the television issue this time. The bottom-line is that this energy that is being zapped from our electronics even when they are turned off is called “phantom energy.” To stop this kind of unknowing waste of our resources we should all do our part and unplug anything that we can when we aren’t using it. Think of all we could save.

posted by Catherine Martell-Straight

I was fascinated by the slideshow the professor uploaded: "Understanding the Economics of e-waste Recycling." It really opened my eyes and revealed my own naivety when it comes to recycling e-waste. I always trusted the companies that offered to take my electronics - computers, computer accessories, cell phones, etc - would stick to their word and dispose of the waste with "green" care. This slideshow really jolted me into realizing that it's important to research the backgrounds of companies that take this waste, to make sure they're actually true to their word and won't let the stuff end up in situations as depicted in the photos. Now that I think about, it angers me that I put such a blind trust in random recyclers that promised to be green. I will definitely be researching their backgrounds from now on. The great thing about the slideshow are the photos themselves - there's nothing more jarring than seeing pictures of where the waste ends up, because pictures are worth a thousand words. Another thing that strikes me about the photos is the negative effects of rampant consumerism. All of this garbage... Did we really need it in the first place? It makes you think.

- Cassie H.

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http://sites.google.com/site/ecomerge2008/

Before long we should all be recycling experts. Here are some articles on recycling, including a handful of the latest headlines.

e-Waste

• Proper recycling of electronics is vitally important
  
  
• Recycling Keeps Toxic TVs from Landfills
  
  
• Recycle your ink cartridges - I do this myself. This is a cool thing. The only downside is that the envelopes only fit two cartridges, and I have about 10 more to dispose of myself.
  
  
• The Computer Recycling Problem
  

• Is Recycling Your Old Clothes Worth It?
  
  
• Trends in Fashion Recycling - How trendy is it? (And I wonder if recycling 'trendier' clothes is trendier.)

• Ontario to set OK recycling fee on electronics
  
  
• Fee yet to deter recycling - (Columbus, OH)
  

• Delhi to regulate recycling e-waste
  
  
• Wal-Mart steps up recycling in Fairbanks
  
  
• Eureka, Arcata both on the path to mandatory recycling
  
  
• West Bridgewater residents urged to recycle more
  
  
• New recycling plan cleaning up

Don't know how to recycle your electronics? Not convinced you should? Want to know how it's done? Check out these short clips.

Basic information on recycling computers:



"Electronic waste is the fastest growing kind of trash in America...":



Dangers of e-waste:



More data shows concern over chemicals in e-waste:



More corporations 'going green':



Computers aren't the only type of electronics you can recycle. Search Google for more important info. and instructions on how to recycle old electronic item(s) you want to get rid of. And your old cell phones are important too--instead of tossing them in the trash, consider donating cell phones to soldiers.

~Anna

“The refuse from discarded electronics products, also known as e-waste, often ends up in landfills or incinerators instead of being recycled. And that means toxic substances like lead, cadmium and mercury that are commonly used in these products can contaminate the land, water and air.” (wired.com) 4.6 million tons entered U.S. landfills in one year alone. Some of the metal is removed and recycled but then we exploit poor in other countries to do the dirty work of removing the guts. The National Geographic states that: “Much of the waste ends up being discarded along rivers and roads. Often it's picked apart by destitute scavengers, who may face dangerous exposure to toxic chemicals in the broken equipment.”

Here is an interesting point from vital graphics: “The Computer Report Card says that some U.S. companies have a double standard when it comes to recycling. While some companies have implemented recycling policies in the European Union and Japan, where such programs are mandated, they've yet to do so in the United States.”

This is a real problem and we here at PSU would like your input. Take this quick survey with comments by others and see the results at the same time—but don’t hit “submit” until you see the results.

David Best-PSU student

Everyday your name is being sold to random companies wanting to send you advertisements about their services and products. You may casually glance through a portion of it, and there is the rare usable coupon, but most of it ends up in the recycle bin or even the trash! The average person receives about 41 pounds of junk mail every year. Seeing as most advertisers don’t use post-consumer products, millions of trees are cut down every year to produce your junk mail. After the trees are cut, energy and water are wasted to turn it into paper, pumping tons of CO2 into the air. Finally, millions of tax-dollars are wasted delivering it all. The worst part is, junk mail is an irritation!


www.41pounds.org is an organization that will contact most of your junk mail companies and reduce it by 80-95% for 5 years helping you to help the environment!

Visit our website:

http://sites.google.com/site/ecomerge2008/

I have been thinking a lot lately about buying a new laptop. My computer is only 2 years old in human years, but I think that converts to 18 in computer years. I am frustrated that there isn't just some chip I can buy to make my computer faster and better, instead I have to buy another one (granted: a laptop would be nice!). I still have the even slower computer from 5 years ago collecting dust in the closet. So despite the physical waste factor there is involved with technology, there is also the manufacturing waste factor. "Manufacturing a single MP3 player releases about 17 pounds of planet-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere." (Wall Street Journal) So who is at blame for all this waste? Is it US companies that hire Chinese manufacturers? Or is it China who’s primary source of energy is still coal? This is going to be a major point of contention at United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali on December 14th, 2007. Stay tuned.
Justine Aylward
Ecomerge

Visit our website:

http://sites.google.com/site/ecomerge2008/

• Info on the conference:
  http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_13/items/4049.php
• Info on coal (very interesting!):
  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/worldbusiness/11chinacoal.html?ex=1307678400en=e9ac1f6255a24fd8ei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss