Earth Day Thoughts - We have not begun to fight!

[webbie]

The Energy Wars, that is....

Was thinking today - how can it be possible that most states in the USA don't yet have a can and bottle bill? Not only are those containers littering our country, but they are also filling landfills - and last time I heard, glass bottles don't break down and produce methane!

It used to be that states did not have bottle bills because of pressure from the industries - bottle and drink manufacturers! It would be a shame is that was still so.

Technology is coming along nicely - a bunch of electric and hybrid cars are set to hit the market in the next few years, and I think a lot of urban and small town drivers will buy them. Solar PV is at the "tipping point" of being cost effective, and massive amounts of capital and brainpower are being applied solar/batteries/etc.

The US now leads the world in Wind Power growth. Large corporations such as Google and Klein-Perkins (Venture Capitalists) are putting BILLIONS of dollars into solar, wind, electric cars, etc.

A lot of the pieces are in place for major change......that's the good news!

On the other side of the coin, many of the problems caused by our lack of action (traffic, pollution, trash, war) are still getting worse....there is very little investment in mass transit and fast trains (alternative to air travel). Government has to get on board more (as with the bottle bills), and our society has to get on board. I hope the current "green" revolution is not just a blip on the screen caused by high energy prices.

 

[webbie]

I agree, Pooker....file those under "our society and government has to come along for the ride". When people start giving "the finger" to sport fishing boats like they did to Hummers, then the "status" might look a little different.

 

[RedRanger]

And it is also a mind-set. Small example, a year ago we bought those nice canvass bags for our grocery shopping. But it has taken almost a year to remember to take them out of the car when we go into the store on a continous basis, and still sometimes I forget. almost got it down to 99% of the time though.

You are right on about how much easier it is to be green when ya have the loot to do so. Ever watch (living with Ed?) sweet if ya have the loot to do all that stuff? Most of us don`t, so it is going to be gradual. I know that I can`t afford to do all of our windows and doors at one pop for 15k,and I think that the majority of people are in the same boat. Just do what you can one year at a time.

Even here in so called Socialist Canada, all or most of the incentives for conservation have disappeared under our minority conservative gubment.

So what`s a poor man to do? heh,heh get a bigger and bolder and more effecient wood insert or stove ;-P

 

[webbie]

theres a bottomline i darenst even think about mentioning [logically speaking]. what's your fingerings on your axe?

Ahh. somewhere around the 8th Fret (C, I think)

 

[Redox]

theres a bottomline i darenst even think about mentioning [logically speaking]. what's your fingerings on your axe?

Ahh. somewhere around the 8th Fret (C, I think)

what it is make it shine
bottle whysky, jug o wine, barreloil...etc
no,no your own sweet love & thats what it is so
thwts what it is & when it starts to flow,gro,glow it goes somrthing like..............?
c minor or diminished going towards a major!
maybe?

You musicians! Go get a real job!

Many things don't cost anything. You just have to look at everything you do with an eye towards the environmental impact. It used to burn me up when buying 2 liters of soda and the cashier double bags it in plastic! I can get 4 in one bag and it won't break. They are a lot stronger than they look! It was really infuriating when I bought ONE thing at HD and the cashier put it in a bag. I told her to "save the bag" and she wadded it up and threw it in the trash! I should have called the manager.

I look around at our neighbors (the Consumers) on trash day and often see 3-4 trash cans on the curb between the minivans and SUVs. We don't even fill up one can with a family of four! The county does curbside recycling, so it is almost a no effort thing; you just have to think about it. When we go to BYO social events, we slip the empties back into the cooler unless the host is obviously recycling.

BTW, not a plug for Wally, but the wife just picked up a couple of shopping bags from Walmart that are made of recycled plastic and only cost a dollar. Now, if we can just remember to throw them back in the car...

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. - John Kay

Chris

 

[jebatty]

Many of the "green" marketed products, and the magazines that hype them, are very expensive, and maybe even worse they are not manufactured in a "green" process.

But truly being "green" is very easy and quite inexpensive. Start with wood heat - its saves lots of money and is carbon neutral.

Get a high mpg auto, more than 30 is readily available and no less expensive that anything less than 30. Get rid of the SUV or pickup truck - a small trailer to hook up to the car when extra hauling is needed handles just about anything. And buy that over 30 auto used, saves a huge bundle.

Downsize to a livable house rather than a wasteful house. Less expensive to buy, heat and maintain, and invest the difference. Live near where you work and shop. Saves lots of gas and time. Ride a bike, walk - healthy too.

Shop garage sales and second hand stores. Great clothing and almost everything else in good condition, nobody knows the difference.

Prepare your food from scratch, better, less sodium and chemicals, and less expensive than prepared foods. The often criticized bread machine can make a loaf of bread from scratch (not prepared mixes) for about 25 cents a loaf, and it's really good.

Use CFL light bubs; get power strips to shut off the "always on" TV, stereo, computer, etc. Get used to a little heat and humidity and reduce or stop air conditioning. Use low-flow shower heads, and shower or take a bath with that special person - can be really fun.

Stop fertilizing and week-killing the lawn you just look at and don't use. So what if the snooty neighbor complains about your dandelions and crab grass? Lawns aren't natural anyway. Get rid of the garbage disposal and start composting all of your raw vegie scraps, really good for the garden, which if you don't have, start one. Even in pots. Really, really good food for pennies.

Quit the sodas and bottled water, not as healthy and certainly no better than tap water almost everywhere. Will greatly reduce trash. Fill your insulated coffee mug rather than getting a throw away cup at the Starbucks, or better yet, buy your own coffee beans and make really good coffee at home. Saves a bundle. Recycle everything you can, but better yet, stop buying things you don't really need and come in containers you don't want.

And remember to use that cloth shopping bag.

 

[colebrookman]

Great tips Jim. There is no question, it has to start with little every day things that we all do. The politicos are all talk and many of the so-called green magazines tout as green the 4000sq.ft.++ homes with more bathrooms than bedrooms. If we in the trenches don't start with our own lives our children and grandchildren will be asking why we were so selfish and squandered their world.
Ed

 

[Telco]

On the yard, grass works better when it's left alone anyway. In my neighborhood there's not a lot of choice due to the HOA Nazis ready to pounce on anyone that doesn't conform. I've already got them cheesed off with my aerial antenna on the side of the house, but they aren't willing to risk FCC fines to make me take it down.

On my own yard, I put down a combo liquid weeder and fertilizer twice during the spring, and this is all the watering it gets. I also have the lawn mower wheels set high so as to not scalp the yard. I probably spend 50 dollars a year total on my yard, and this includes doing the lawn mower oil change and maintenance, fuel, water, ect. Everything. Got a nice 6HP pushmower that burns about half a tank for the whole yard. Last Sunday was the first time I touched the yard this year. I've also got an old mower out back of the shed, if I ever get around to it will be converting to a solar mower.

My neighbor, on the other hand, started working his yard in Early March and has probably already spend 500 bucks on it what with the professional fertilizer company spraying the place, repeated targeted weed killer applications, and whipping up the 'ol riding lawn mower for his 80x120 lot with the 2500 sq ft 2 story house on it. No idea what he spends on water a month, but he has his watering crap going 2 hours a day, EVERY day, all summer long every year. He also usually mows twice a week, too.

All that crap the neighbor does, and my yard is already greener than his. It'll be green long after his is brown too, since I leave enough of a blade for the grass to keep making food and force the grass to have to reach deep for water. He's GOT to be putting 20,000 gallons of water a month into his yard, whereas I probably only put down 200 gallons for the year. :cheese:

No idea why people have to be so wasteful. It's only freakin' grass.

Really looking forward to implementing jebatty's Suggestion #3, moving to a smaller house. My son moves out this year, and my daughter won't be far behind. Probably in about 2 years, maybe 3 I plan to sell out and move into a nice, small house in the sticks. Maybe then the neighbors will be happy, since they don't like my TV antenna on the side of the house (why pay for crap when I can get more than I can handle for free?) and every Christmas my house is the one dark place on the block since I refuse to install 2KW worth of Christmas lights on the roof. Christmas isn't about the lights anyway, it's about the birth of Jesus Christ.

 

[billb3]

My own pet peeve is plastic bags and people who throw trash out their car windows, but that's a rant (for another day).

Our town got some federal funding years back for recycling trucks. Instituted a program.
Fair results, considering.
Prop 2-1/2 is breaking town finances (another story), but pay per bag for trash was instituted the first of the year. A dollar per bag.
Big piles of recyclables at every house now.

There aren't always buyers for the stuff (newsprint used to go in the landfill when it cost more to ship it than what they'd get for it) Now it sits in bales sky high waiting for the price to go up.

 

[JustWood]

The Energy Wars, that is....

Was thinking today - how can it be possible that most states in the USA don't yet have a can and bottle bill? Not only are those containers littering our country, but they are also filling landfills - and last time I heard, glass bottles don't break down and produce methane!

It used to be that states did not have bottle bills because of pressure from the industries - bottle and drink manufacturers! It would be a shame is that was still so.

Technology is coming along nicely - a bunch of electric and hybrid cars are set to hit the market in the next few years, and I think a lot of urban and small town drivers will buy them. Solar PV is at the "tipping point" of being cost effective, and massive amounts of capital and brainpower are being applied solar/batteries/etc.

The US now leads the world in Wind Power growth. Large corporations such as Google and Klein-Perkins (Venture Capitalists) are putting BILLIONS of dollars into solar, wind, electric cars, etc.

A lot of the pieces are in place for major change......that's the good news!

On the other side of the coin, many of the problems caused by our lack of action (traffic, pollution, trash, war) are still getting worse....there is very little investment in mass transit and fast trains (alternative to air travel). Government has to get on board more (as with the bottle bills), and our society has to get on board. I hope the current "green" revolution is not just a blip on the screen caused by high energy prices.

I read somewhere a couple of months ago that the states with bottle bills in place were considering raising the deposit from 5 to 10 cents because the # of returns has been dropping off for a couple of years.