Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Turning off unused lights or remembering to unplug unused electronic devices are simple and easy ways to save energy but another important and equally simple way to reduce energy waste is by recycling. According to earth911.com, “Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to make another product.” The recycled product requires less energy to produce it but also saves money and valuable resources.

Two important functions of recycling are: 1.Keeping, “valuable material such as aluminum and paper out of landfills, so this material can be reused in other forms and not wasted” and 2.Preventing, “hazardous materials and chemicals such as lead and mercury from ending up in landfills, which can contaminate soil and leach into our drinking water” (earth911.com).

Recycling has become a simplified task thanks to Single Stream Recycling which allows an individual to combine household products in one container for roadside pick-up. Recycling can also save you money by literally reducing your waste and ultimately lowering your garbage bill. I was surprised to learn just how many items I throw away on a daily basis that is recyclable. I bet you will find at least one item you can be recycling and didn’t even know it.

Recycable Items

Items such as opened mail, sticky notes, index cards, file folders, plastic bottles, jugs, tubs, and screw-top jars, paperback books, white or pastel office paper, paper egg cartons, cans (uncrushed and clean), balled aluminum foil, pie pans, empty aerosol cans, magazines, blueprints, newspaper, phonebooks, glass bottles and jars, lose metal jar lids, cardboard (flattened), brown paper bags, milk cartons and drink boxes can all be recycled in one container (earth911.com). It is important to note that plastic lids or caps, plastic bags, Styrofoam or paper takeout containers/cups and shredded paper are not allowed to be combined with the rest of your recyclables. Plastic bags can be disposed at most grocery stores or at your local recycling center.

I recommend visiting earth911.com http://earth911.com/reduce/energy-costs-and-conservation-facts/
to learn about recycling and the significant benefits a simple task can have.

Interesting facts I learned on earth911.com include:

•Recycled paper saves 60 percent energy versus virgin paper.
•Recycled paper generates 95 percent less air pollution: each ton saves 60 pounds of air pollution.
•Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water.
•Every year, enough paper is thrown away to make a 12-foot wall from New York to California.
•Production of recycled paper uses 80 percent less water, 65 percent less energy and produces 95 percent less air pollution than virgin paper production.
•Recycled glass saves 50 percent energy versus virgin glass.
•Recycling of one glass container saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
•Recycled aluminum saves 95 percent energy versus virgin aluminum; recycling of one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hour.
•Recycled aluminum reduces pollution by 95 percent.

Posted by: Johnny Tran

It's no secret, electricity bills have been steadily rising. It's especially noticeable when the Bonneville Power Association no longer provided energy credits for Northwest residents after June 2007. Click for details here:

So what can one do to keep bills at a minimum? Aside from purchasing devices that measure kilowatt usage from electric gadgets (look at the Kill-a-watt entry from January), there are several ways to keep power usage low while reducing your carbon footprint:

Common Reasons

1. Hot and Cold Weather - The weather is cited as the #1 reason by various power companies for higher bills each month.

- During hot months, air conditioning accounts for more than 1/2 the energy bill for most customers. Turning on the a/c to maintain "comfort" in humid conditions substantially increases energy use.

- Bills are often at their peak during cold months since heating is 2 to 3 times more expensive than cooling. People habitually take longer showers in colder weather, increasing the bill from water heating as well.

2. Use of appliances and electronics

A class priority this term is to increase the awareness of "Phantom Power," which is described as consumer electronics and appliances draining power even when not in use. These devices include, but a not limited to:
◦ TVs (Large/plasma TVs have more power and heat, making A/Cs operate even more.)
◦ Stereos
◦ DVDs and DVRs
◦ Cell phone or battery chargers

Cautionary Note: Turning off some devices may require reprogramming once turned back on.

3. Household Size and Activities

Having more bodies uses more power. An increased amount of showers, laundry, cooking and dishes are activities that use hot water can jack up the bill. In most cases, washing through a dishwasher whenever possible minimizes the usage of hot water and soap when compared to hand washing.

4. Length of billing cycle

(From the Florida Power and Light Company:) "A billing cycle is the number of days within each bill. Normally, your meter is read on the same day every month but some months are longer than others and weekends and holidays can sometimes get in the way. Occasionally, an employee can't get to your meter because a gate is locked or a dog is in the backyard, and it’s not safe to enter. As a result, some monthly bills cover as few as 25 days and some as many as 35 days."

5. Don't keep the meter running

Speaking of which, keeping a close eye on your own meter can be very beneficial. Keep all electric bills for at least a year in order to see how much kWh is used on average for each month. On occasion, meter readers don't do a correct reading, which is why having historical information comes in handy.

Also, turn off all power on your circuit breaker and check to make sure the meter is no longer moving.

By keeping these hints in mind, hopefully your reaction will be much more calm than mine once the bill arrives. (=

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.

Blog posted by Jonathan Elliott

I've had an ongoing "debate" with my wife for some time about who wastes more electricity. Her habit is to leave the lights on, mine is to leave the computer on, and we've gone back and forth on this matter about who's habit is worse. Now, only recently did I ever take the time to investigate this, to settle once and for all the most offending culprit.

According to Michael Bluejay, leaving my laptop on in active mode could use up to as much as a 45 watt lightbulb, and leaving a desktop on could use up to as much as four or five 60 watt bulbs. So in theory, my usage of the laptop has worked in my favor these last few months (and I won't speak of how many years before that I was using my desktop, leaving it on all of the time).

But for those of you who are especially concerned, as we all should be, with this very prevalent and constant use of energy, there is a great little feature called the "sleep" mode. In actuality, there are several modes to this, depending on which OS, or even which version of windows you are running. Prior to Windows Vista, you could "standby", or go into full-on "hibernate". The problem with these was that the first method was often unreliable and still used some electricity, and the second method would cause rather serious hard drive fragmentation over time.

Well, Windows finally got on the right track (yes, Mac has been heading in the right direction for a while, I have to give them credit for that), and in Vista has combined the speed of standby, with more reliability, and the low power usage of hibernate. In the new "sleep" mode, the current state is written to RAM (and only if desired to the hard drive), and the only electricty then used is what it takes to keep the RAM powered enough to store that memory. This uses only 1 - 6 watts, a scarce fraction of what it used to.

While this is still wasted energy, it is a nice compromise for those of us who absolutely refuse to take the time every day to reboot the computer. It is a baby-step, if you will. A step in the direction of energy conservation, while losing us no time, since the startup from "sleep" mode is almost instantaneous.

There’s a product on the market called the Swiffer. It’s a plastic mop-like contraption that is designed to replace the good old fashion mop. The Swiffer comes with a box of disposable, plastic-wrapped, chemical-soaked pieces of paper that’s guaranteed to get your floor cleaner than if using a traditional mop, but with less effort. At first this may seem like a great idea, but these chemical-soaked pieces of paper go straight from the floor to the local area landfill, where the chemicals leech into the ground. Yet, the designer of the Swiffer published a piece in Businessweek magazine about how he is all for the greening of the planet and this device is his way of contributing to that cause. He says: Cleaning the floor with an old-fashioned mop and detergent is a messy and unpleasant job that uses many gallons of hot water and great amounts of detergent every week in millions of homes around the world. The water, the energy needed to heat that water, and the environmental impact of dumping the detergent into the waste stream are terribly costly, and all for a job no one likes doing anyway.

Okay, he claims to be for the greening of the planet, but he did fail to mention that those millions of homes around the world, who would likely buy this product, will require the continual purchase of these toxic chemical sheets that are for the landfill -- sheets so toxic, that they should not be used on unfinished, oiled, or waxed wooden boards, non-sealed tiles or carpeted floors, because the chemicals will damage these surfaces. In my opinion, this is hardly a sustainable design solution.

Click here to learn more about the Swiffer.

Click here to read the Businessweek article.

Mike Taylor

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

Our group here at Ecomerge has written at random on several issues, each issue in some fashion relating to the threat of corporate or legislative 'greenwashing'. From fuel-efficient cars, to alternative fuels, hopefully you-the viewing public-have grasped some helpful information on the topic of 'greenwashing.'

Where I believe we have fallen short thus far, is failing to provide, you, with a primary source of 'greenwashing' and the damage that it actually can do overall. If you understand what 'sprawl' is, then you understand that it alone contributes to the overall collapse of our landscape, ecology, habitat, economy, and community. Through the unnecessary expansion of development, which is 'sprawl', the small low-density population that can afford to move into the suburban life-style; one which not only pulls housing away from city limits, it opens the need for extra driving. Driving, the mandatory mode of transportation, that we have all become accustom to. The one form of transportation that we all cannot live without; the one that contributes to the highest amount of greenhouse gases and pollutants in our air that enter the ozone. Yes, that transportation. Only a small part of the greed that developers and home owners try to justify in these small rural developments. Private lives that are granted, now open up the doors for higher emissions of these greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Exactly what we have been trying to eliminate since the so-called Clear Skies Initiative. The one that has had to be revised several times for not meeting emissions guidelines. Another story for one of our nations greatest 'greenwashers.' Remember, with power comes the ability to manipulate the minds of others. Hence, the power to 'greenwash' the nation.

Let's not forget the economic factor that 'sprawl' poses on the American communities. 'Sprawl' raises the costs of infrastructures and services (e.g., roads, schools). As the development spreads, so to does the need for roadways, sewerlines, waterlines, policing, and firefighters. Thus the costs will rise as well.

Don't be fooled by the fast-talking salespitch; if you have to try to sell it to someone, generally what you are selling has some loose ends. So the developers want you to think that the projects are 'new green projects', but no matter how green they make them, you cannot overcome the damage that they are creating through 'sprawl.' After all, all things being equal, if they really cared about being 'green' they would have stayed around the city limits.

For more on this topic go to the google page; (www.greenwashing/sprawl)

Steven Campbell

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I have never really stopped to think about how my recycling efforts are paying off in relation to the energy expended to recycle those products. I just recycle. I recycle because it is supposed to be good for the environment and save landfill space. Then I saw this really great article at http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4290631.html that addressed some of the most important aspects of the recycling ideology. I think that as consumers it is extremely important to take a look at the ways in which we have come to believe that something is good for the environment may really also be creating more problems at the same time. We should all take a step back and re-evaluate the ways in which we believe we are doing the "right" thing for the planet and make sure that what we knew 10 years ago is still the case.


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Watching a 9-11 documentary on NGC last week, I happened to catch this short snippet. Check it out.



-AML

Who knew there are countless ways we can increase energy efficiency in our homes while at the same time saving precious dollars. While researching this topic I found “A Consumer Guide to Buying Energy Efficient Products for the Home” published by The Consumer Federation of America. This document and website is dedicated to promoting awareness and information about how we can make more environmentally friendly purchases for our homes that ultimately saves money. There is an excellent list of the different ways people can become involved with community outreach in their respective locations to support energy efficiency. If you are interested in different ways to save money while providing your home with energy efficient products, check out this site.

http://www.buyenergyefficient.org

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Imagine the cold rain pelting against your window while you are sitting in your nice warm living-room; imagine not being able to turn up the heat because most of it leaks out underneath the door, or through leaky windows while running up a high energy bill. The Department of Energy has a website for one of the government’s longest running programs-the Weatherization Assistance Program for low income families. This website describes the program, the guidelines, the technologies used in weatherization and much, much more!! Those who qualify are provided services that reduce their energy bills by making their homes energy efficient. This website demonstrates an easy way to apply for weatherization and explains how the process works. This is also a terrific way to financially stimulate communities by increasing the spending power of its residents, improving the housing quality in the local area, and by making jobs available in the home improvement trade. If you think you may qualify, or if you just want to see how one of this country’s perhaps most successful energy efficiency programs work- use the website below – Check it out and see for yourself… http://www.eere.energy.gov/weatherization/

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