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How To Take Eco-Friendly Living To The Next Level

by Melodee5461 Posted on October 25, 2016

You know when you buy a product that you really love and you end up raving about it to anyone who will listen? That’s kind of how going green feels. Once you do all the work it takes to minimize your carbon footprint, you find yourself eager to help others do the same. Unfortunately, it can be hard to push people toward eco-friendly living without coming across as preachy.

If you’re looking for a few simple, nonconfrontational ways to encourage friends, family and neighbors to join the earth-friendly movement, consider the following avenues.

Your Local School

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

If you have children, set aside some time to work with their schools. (Even if you don’t have kids, you can still volunteer in a nearby school to start an eco-friendly program.) You might begin by offering to help out with events and joining the PTA. Then, get a group of like-minded parents and teachers together and start putting forward some green activities and initiatives. You can engage the whole school community by:

Coordinating an International Walk to School Day. Walking to school not only promotes a healthy lifestyle, it helps reduce air pollution!
Encouraging the school to go digital where possible. Newsletters, field trip information, PTA meeting updates, volunteer requests, etc., can be sent home via email rather than being printed out and copied for each student.
Establishing a recycling club. Place recycling bins in classrooms, offices, the gym, music room, art room, cafeteria and copy room. Have student members of the recycling club collect and empty the bins during lunch and recess or after school.
Starting a compost pile. Kids will learn how food waste can be recycled into nutrient-rich fertilizer for their gardens.

Kids love to learn, and you’ll find so much joy in helping them look at the world in a new way. After all, the earlier we start educating children about how our lifestyles affect the environment, the easier it is for them to adapt to healthier ways of living on our planet.

Your Workplace

Photo credit: Shutterstock.com

Does life in the office make you feel like you’re taking two steps back? There’s paper everywhere, recyclable items going in the trash, and enough waste to drive a person crazy. It’s time to step up and institute a change!

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Effecting change from the bottom up is often easier than heading directly to the CEO. Mobilize fellow eco-warrior team members and managers to help set in motion the following changes:

Standby power is a huge energy expense. Set computers to energy-saving settings and shut them down at the end of the day
Use natural light wherever possible.
Use compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) in fixtures. They cost 75 percent less to operate and last 10 times longer.
Turn off lights in spaces that are unoccupied.
Arrange an office carpool or encourage use of a car-sharing service like Flexcar or Zipcar.
Extol the virtues of working from home — and see if you can’t convince your higher-ups to let you do it more often. Not only are employees just as productive when working from home, the environmental effects of commuting are reduced.
Start an office recycling program. Cut back on the number of trash cans around the office while simultaneously adding more recycling bins.
Since paper use can’t be entirely avoided, ask your company to invest in recycled paper and envelopes that have been processed and colored using eco-friendly methods.

While these measures may not seem like much, each small step adds up to big energy and resource savings. Your co-workers are bound to feel good about doing their part to help the environment, and management is likely to see overhead costs go down dramatically. That’s a win-win!

Your Community

Photo credit: Shutterstock.com

Inspiring a change in your community takes a bit of legwork, but it’s well worth it. Start by establishing yourself as an engaged member of the community. Chat with your neighbors and get an idea of what’s going on around you, as well as what’s missing. Then, take your place as an eco-leader by organizing community lectures, roundtable discussions and book clubs related to green initiatives.

Coordinate environmental cleanups at neighborhood parks, rivers and beaches. Take part in the community garden — and if you don’t have one, get one going! Start a “buy local” initiative. Shopping locally conserves energy, reduces greenhouse gases emitted during transportation and keeps resources circulating in the community. And last but not least, organize an Earth Day celebration and plant some trees!

It’s also important to talk to your local government officials. Ask whether they have environmental efforts in place, and offer to volunteer your time to ensure change is actually taking place.

The time and effort you put into effecting green change is not only vital for the health of your community, it’s also incredibly valuable. If environmental conservation is your passion, consider making it a career path. The nonprofit sector is awash with employment opportunities, having grown 25 percent in just 10 years and currently employing 10 percent of the U.S. workforce. By working for a nonprofit, you can impact policy and procedures more significantly than you may have ever imagined.

Eco-friendly living at home is just the first step to a more eco-conscious world. To really move forward, we need to take it upon ourselves to get involved in our communities and be a force for change. So get out there and get moving — the environment needs your voice!

Ready to take your eco-friendly living up a notch? Get inspiration from the amazing women we featured in “Sustainable Living: 6 People Proving Plastic-Free Possible.”

About
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Liz Greene

Liz Greene is an animal-loving, history-studying, pop culture geek from the beautiful City of Trees, aka Boise, Idaho. You can catch her latest misadventures on her blog,

Instant Lo

.

Latest posts by Liz Greene (see all)

How To Take Eco-Friendly Living To The Next Level – October 25, 2016
What I Learned My First Year Of Container Gardening – October 13, 2016
What Green Makeup Means To Me – July 20, 2016

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How To Take Eco-Friendly Living To The Next Level

Posted in eco-friendly, FF, GE, LG, Natural Light, ONA, OXO, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How To Take Eco-Friendly Living To The Next Level

The Ultimate Guide To Creating A Greener Kitchen

by FaithZoxbuqajj Posted on August 25, 2016

When setting out to create a greener kitchen and home it’s hard to know where to start. Information overload is definitely a problem. Five minutes on Google and suddenly I have 42 checklists, 700 “green” products to buy, and if I don’t make the changes today I’ll be diagnosed with 6 different cancers within the year.Alright, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m sure you’ve experienced something similar. There is so much info out there it’s hard to know what to do.

Creating a greener kitchen environment

In our home I focus on making small changes each week to create a greener environment. One week it’s adding more organic produce to the shopping list. The next week we’re taking time to wash and recycle cans and jars.

In order to help you take small steps towards a greener home I’ve put together this guide to help you create a more sustainable, greener kitchen.

I’m not saying you need to dive in and make every one of these changes today. But pick one thing and implement that. Once you’ve mastered that, move on to something else. The path towards a more sustainable life is taken one step at a time.

For simplicity I’ve broken this list down into the 3 R’s; Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Reducing kitchen waste

Food waste

Image Credit: KaliAntye / Shutterstock

Food waste is a major issue facing the world right now. In the U.S., it is estimated that 40% of the food produced is never even consumed.

When you think about all the water, energy, and time that goes into producing food, that’s a ton of wasted resources!

So what can you do to reduce food waste in your home?

We often end up purchasing more food than we need. This may be because we need a certain amount for a recipe and have no choice but to purchase more than we need. Or, maybe we just shop hungry (always a bad idea).

One way to reduce your food waste is to more carefully plan your cooking. Figure out what recipes you like that share similar ingredients and plan to cook them in the same week. If you don’t enjoy leftovers, learn to cook smaller quantities of food that are better suited for your household’s size.
Another way to reduce food waste is to store your food properly. When stored properly, food will last longer, giving you the chance to eat it before it spoils.

There’s an app for that

The USDA FoodKeeper app is a great way to learn more about the shelf life of various foods and how to store them properly. The best part about this app is that it goes well beyond produce, covering baby food, baked goods, condiments, and even meat. You should definitely take a minute and download the app. You’ll be amazed at how helpful it is.

If you do end up with extra produce that you know will go bad before you can eat it all, you can always freeze a portion for later. We do this in our home all the time with berries and bananas.

Consider composting

Inevitably you’ll have food that goes bad. At home composting can be a great way to put that spoiled produce to good use.

Earth911 took a tour of Singh Farms to learn the technical details about composting. If you’re interested in learning the science of composting click here.

The greatest benefit to composting is that you end up with nutrient rich soil that can be used to grow delicious new produce. To help you get started we put together a video on all you need to know about composting.

You can also check out this article on composting in an apartment as well as the “Do’s and Don’ts of Composting”.

Cleaning products

Image Credit: jordache / Shutterstock

We all have cleaning chemicals in our kitchen, frequently stuffed under the kitchen sink. Have you ever taken a minute to read through the ingredients? Unless you’re a chemist you probably can’t pronounce most of them.

When wiping down your kitchen, floor, and dishes, these cleaning chemicals often leave behind residue that will later come in contact with your hands and food. We recommend replacing these toxic cleaning products with natural ones that work just as well.

Lemon, baking soda, and vinegar are some of the best natural cleaners out there. Here are a few quick suggestions on how to use them to clean your kitchen.

Quick tips

Remove stains from food storage containers: Squeeze the juice from a lemon into the containers, then add a little baking soda. Rub the mixture into the stains. Let sit overnight if necessary.
Clean your microwave: Slice a lemon, put it in a bowl of water and microwave for 45 seconds. This should make stains easier to wipe away and eliminate unpleasant odors.
Clean your coffeemaker: Run the machine with equal parts water and vinegar. Halfway through the cycle, turn it off and let it sit for an hour. Then complete the cycle.
Unclog a drain: Pour 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup baking soda down the drain. Rinse with water.
Make glasses sparkle: Put one cup of vinegar in the bottom of your dishwasher before you run the cycle. After you run the dishwasher, your glassware shouldn’t be cloudy.
Remove stains from coffee and tea mugs: Fill mugs with one part baking soda and two parts water and let sit overnight. Scrub and rinse in the morning.
Remove burnt food from the bottoms of pots and pans: Sprinkle baking soda over the burnt areas, add hot water and let sit overnight. Scrub in the morning.
Remove odors from food containers: Simply rinse containers with baking soda and water to remove smells. Let sit overnight if necessary.
Clean spills in the oven: Scrub the bottom of the oven with steel wool and baking soda. (Note: If you have a self-cleaning oven, don’t use this method.)

For more tips and tricks on using these natural cleaning products, download the DIY Cleaning Recipes PDF available in the Earth911 Resource Library. Click here to sign up for free.

Energy use

Image Credit: Aprilphoto / Shutterstock

Though it doesn’t happen often, when you do need to purchase new appliances be sure to purchase energy efficient ones.

Energy Star rated products are the go-to choice when it comes to finding the most energy efficient appliances. They (Energy Star) have put together a great tool that allows you to put together a profile of your whole home. After you’ve created your home profile they’ll give you recommendations on how you can save energy.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy your appliances account for about 13% of your home’s energy use. Purchasing newer, more efficient models can save you a significant amount of money over the lifespan of the appliance. When you do replace your appliances be sure to recycle your old ones properly, but more on that later.

Reuse in the kitchen

Food Storage

When it comes time to store leftovers it’s important to use sustainable food storage, and glass and stainless steel are two good options.

Glass

Glass containers such as Pyrex and Glasslock are certainly among the best options available. Glass is a long lasting material and is microwave and oven safe.

In our home, we use this set of Pyrex storage containers daily. My favorite part about using these glass food storage containers is that you can cook your meal in them and then throw the lid on and stick the leftovers in the fridge for later. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Stainless steel

Another great option is stainless steel. Stainless steel has the benefit of not breaking when dropped like glass containers do. (When I was 16 my mom baked my favorite cake in a glass pan. We took it to the park for a party and it got knocked off the table. Glass went everywhere and the cake was ruined. If it had been in a stainless steel pan, we still could have eaten it.)

Stainless steel containers are also completely recyclable. If they get bent out of shape you can take them to your nearest scrap yard and they’ll pay you for the metal.

Another great benefit of stainless steel containers is they can be set right on your stove top to heat up leftovers.

Plastic perhaps?

We are big fans of Preserve products which are almost all made from recycled #5 plastic. Preserve products are microwave safe, dishwasher safe, BPA free, and when you’re done with them they can be sent back to Preserve to be recycled. Image Credit: Preserve Products (Instagram)

If you can’t find a glass or stainless steel container for your food, there are plastic options that are better than others. We are big fans of Preserve products which are almost all made from recycled #5 plastic. Preserve products are microwave safe, dishwasher safe, BPA free, and when you’re done with them they can be sent back to Preserve to be recycled.

One last thing before we jump in to the recycling section. If you aren’t already, start using reusable shopping bags, preferably the canvas or fabric type rather than the plastic ones as there’s no recycling solution available for the large, reusable plastic bags.

Kitchen recycling

Plastic bags

I know I just mentioned using reusable shopping bags but inevitably you’re going to have plastic bags around your home that need to be recycled. Fortunately plastic bags can be recycled at most grocery and retail stores.

While this widespread access to plastic bag recycling is still relatively new, it’s become more and more popular as retailers have set their own sustainability initiatives.

What many people don’t realize is that grocery bags aren’t the only type of plastic bag that can go in these drop off bins.

Plastic bags are typically made from plastic #2 or #4 and can be recycled together. Here are a few other products made from these plastics that you can drop off in these bins.

Ziploc type plastic bags, as long as they are clean and dry.
Plastic, air filled, shipping pouches. (Just cut them and let the air out).
Plastic bread and bagel bags, as long as you empty all the crumbs out.

Find out more about plastic bag recycling and find a location near you by visiting our Plastic Bag Recycling Guide.

Cardboard and cartons

Most city curbside recycling bins accept cardboard so check with your local area collector. Image Credit: sevenke / Shutterstock

Most city curbside recycling bins accept cardboard. To make things easier on space in your own bin, be sure to break them down so they’re flat. Don’t worry about tape and other paper that’s attached to the cardboard as this will be removed during the recycling process.

Most city curbside programs also accept paperboard which is the cardboard-like box that holds cereal, pasta, and other boxed dry goods.

Frozen food boxes, a.k.a. waxed cardboard, unfortunately are not as widely accepted. These boxes require more work to recycle so check with your city or county to find out if you can place them in the recycling bin.

Another product to check on with your city is milk and juice cartons. Many cities do accept them though it is best to double check. Visit the Carton Council to find out if your city accepts cartons in your blue bin.

Appliances

Large appliances, like washing machines, clothes dryers, water heaters, ovens, stoves, refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, and air conditioners are a big source of waste in the United States. However they often aren’t that difficult to recycle.

In fact, if you are replacing an appliance with a new one the company delivering it will often take your old one for recycling. This service has made appliance recycling far easier over the last few years.

When you do replace an old appliance with an Energy Star model, you may be eligible for a rebate. Check the Energy Star rebate finder to see if you qualify.

If you need to recycle an old appliance, be aware that there are often fees to cover the cost of removing and properly disposing of the Freon commonly found in refrigerators, freezers, and A/C units.

Find out more about large appliance recycling and find a recycling location near you by visiting our Large Appliance Recycling Guide.

A homework assignment

As mentioned, cleaning chemicals often contain toxic ingredients that are hazardous to your health. Fortunately, the Environmental Working Group has put together some fantastic resources to help understand what cleaning products are hazardous.

If you’re looking for a first step to greening your kitchen this homework assignment below is perfect. In this assignment we’re going to figure out just how hazardous your cleaning products are. Here’s what to do:

  1. Pull out some of the cleaning products you use most frequently.
  2. Click here to visit EWG’s cleaning product search.
  3. Using the search bar at the top of the page, or the Product search on the left side of the page, look up your cleaning products.

How do your products rate?

Feature image credit: alexandre zveiger / Shutterstock

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Brian Brassaw

Brian manages the Earth911 Recycling Search, making sure there are plenty of recycling resources available for our users. He also shares green living tips and tricks on

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The Ultimate Guide To Creating A Greener Kitchen – August 25, 2016
7 Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergents For Fresh Clothes – June 24, 2016
Earth Day: 23 Of The Greatest Environmental Quotes – April 22, 2016

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The Ultimate Guide To Creating A Greener Kitchen

Posted in A Greener Kitchen, eco-friendly, FF, GE, LG, Mop, ONA, organic, oven, PUR, solar, solar power, Ultima, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Ultimate Guide To Creating A Greener Kitchen

How To Give Your Bathroom A ‘Go Green’ Makeover

by WillDriggers Posted on June 22, 2016

If you’re an eco friendly individual looking to go green, there are a few obvious places to start — perhaps you create a recycling command center in the garage, outfit your backyard with a compost bin, and stock your fridge and pantry with minimally processed, minimally packaged healthy food and drink.

These are all fantastic ideas and indeed, essential components of an eco friendly home, but in planning for the garage and the backyard, the kitchen and pantry, we’ve left out one very important area: the bathroom. Chronically overlooked and left to last on the list, the lowly bathroom presents a fantastic opportunity to go green by making just a few simple changes.

Go green in the bathroom in 3, 2, 1

Chronically overlooked and left to last on the list, the lowly bathroom presents a fantastic opportunity to go green by making just a few simple changes. Image Credit: Iriana Shiyan / Shutterstock

First, the basics. It’s easy to make a massive reduction in paper waste just by switching to 100% post-consumer recycled toilet paper. Over 27,000 trees are cut down every day worldwide just to make toilet paper — so choosing a recycled roll can put a significant dent in the number of trees lost with virtually zero effort on your part.

Second, if you’re a woman, consider rethinking the way you have your periods. Rather than using committing to a lifetime of disposable pads or tampons, it may be worthwhile to do some research into cloth pads or menstrual cups like the Moon Cup or Diva Cup. Cloth pads are an easy go green switch and they simply get tossed in the washing machine (just like cloth diapers would) to be washed and reused. Likewise soft silicone menstrual cups are a great, virtually waste-free alternative for tampon users. Full disclosure — There’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s also a great way to reduce the amount of waste associated with your monthly cycle.

Also for the ladies (sorry, we do most of the heavy lifting in the bathroom it seems), evaluate your makeup and see if you can cut down on the packaging, the number of cosmetics products used, or even switch to a more eco friendly brand. If you’ve established a loyalty to one specific brand, don’t worry! You can go green while still looking good.
Recycling powerhouse Terracycle offers a recycling brigade for cosmetics and beauty products, where you can collect and send back an incredible array of product packages which would ordinarily be destined for the trash. Products included in this recycling program include,

Hair gel tubes and caps,
lip balm tubes,
lipstick cases,
lip gloss tubes,
mascara tubes,
eye shadow cases,
bronzer cases,
foundation packaging,
powder cases,
eyeliner cases,
eyeliner pencils,
eye-shadow tubes,
concealer tubes,
concealer sticks,
and lip liner pencils.

That’s a whole lot of waste that can completely bypass your bathroom wastebasket!

A sharp idea

A gender-neutral way to go green? Switch out your razor! Image Credit: Nejron Photo / Shutterstock

Next, a gender-neutral way to go green — switch out your razor. When your shave gets less than smooth, instead of buying some eight-bladed monstrosity where a package of replacement heads cost as much as a nice meal, invest in a stainless steel safety razor, instead. There’s a reason the world shaved this way for decades — it works! It’s clean, efficient, and waste-free, and replacement blades are a few bucks for a pack of five razor blades. It’s also an excuse to avoid gendered marketing. I don’t have to pay more for a pretty pink razor to fit my delicate lady hands, I’ve been using a “man’s” safety razor for almost three years now and I absolutely love it. Find one secondhand and disinfect it by boiling, or visit your local shave shop for options.

Prescription to go green

It’s now time to tackle the medicine cabinet. Disposing of medications properly is rarely mentioned, but it’s a vital part of prescription medicine safety. Emptying expired or unused pills into a garbage can be quite dangerous because of the possibility of small children or pets ingesting them, and if you think you’re being safe by flushing them down the toilet – think again. A story in the Harvard Health Letter states,

“A study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1999 and 2000 found measurable amounts of one or more medications in 80% of the water samples drawn from a network of 139 streams in 30 states. The drugs identified included a witches’ brew of antibiotics, antidepressants, blood thinners, heart medications (ACE inhibitors, calcium-channel blockers, digoxin), hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), and painkillers.”

Yikes. Moral of the story? Don’t flush your pills! Take any old, unused or expired medications back to your pharmacy to ensure that they’re disposed of in a safe manner.

A clean slate

And last but not least, the task that we often leave until the bitter end: cleaning the bathroom. It’s easy to whip up a few simple recipes to give your bathroom a sparkling green makeover. Tub scrub, shower door spray, and an easy toilet cleaner — the recipes are all here and unbelievably easy to whip up with just a few natural ingredients. These DIY cleaners are a great way to go green in the bathroom without spending a ton on cleaning products with questionable ingredients, packaged in wasteful plastic bottles. They work like a dream and they make the often-onerous chore of bathroom cleaning seem a little less like drudgery.

Being able to go green means taking on all aspects of your house — from the fun and glitzy eco-tech to the more, ahem, down-to-earth aspects of green living, like embarking upon an eco friendly bathroom makeover. By addressing everything from your toilet paper to your cosmetics and beauty care products, tackling menstrual care and shaving gear, and even being a responsible adult by disposing of medications and finally getting rolling up your sleeves to get rid of that toilet ring, going green in the bathroom is a great idea.

Feature image credit: Steve Cukrov / Shutterstock 

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Madeleine Somerville

Madeleine Somerville is the author of

All You Need Is Less: An Eco-Friendly Guide to Guilt-Free Green Living and Stress-Free Simplicity

. She is a writer, wanna-be hippie, and lover of soft cheeses. She lives in Edmonton, Canada with her daughter. You can also find Madeleine at her blog,

Sweet Madeleine

.

Latest posts by Madeleine Somerville (see all)

How To Give Your Bathroom A ‘Go Green’ Makeover – June 22, 2016
When Is Composting Better Than Recycling? – June 9, 2016
TrailRider Proves Access To Nature Is Attainable – June 4, 2016

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How To Give Your Bathroom A ‘Go Green’ Makeover

Posted in Down To Earth, eco-friendly, FF, GE, LG, ONA, Oster, PUR, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How To Give Your Bathroom A ‘Go Green’ Makeover

Tennessee Lawmaker Insists On Giving Away a Rifle Similar to the One Used in the Orlando Massacre

by Jed24A25995 Posted on June 13, 2016

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

The day after a rifle similar to an AR-15 was used to massacre 49 people at an LGBT club in Orlando, Tennessee state Rep. Andy Holt is standing by his decision to give away an AR-15 as a door prize at an upcoming campaign fundraiser and turkey shoot.

In fact, he’s now giving away two. Holt, a Republican, told a reporter who asked if the prize was insensitive in light of the recent shooting, “absolutely not.” Holt told The Tennessean that the only problem with the assault rifle is that “it’s black and it looks real scary.”

“If I beat somebody to death with a hammer that’s just a hammer,” Holt continued. “But if I was to take and wrap it up in electrical tape and make it black, I guess that would make it an assault hammer.”

Holt was a cosponsor on the state’s recent anti-transgender bathroom bill, which ultimately failed, and he introduced a successful bill that permits full-time employees of Tennessee colleges and universities to carry a handgun on campus.

In a Facebook post Monday morning, Holt issued a call to arms to his constituents. “I want you to arm yourselves and learn to shoot with deadly accuracy should the need arise,” he wrote. “Protect your family. Protect yourselves. Protect your friends. Our government has made it quite clear that it is incapable of doing so. At the end of the day, it’s your responsibility anyways.”

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Tennessee Lawmaker Insists On Giving Away a Rifle Similar to the One Used in the Orlando Massacre

Posted in bigo, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, Radius, Ultima, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tennessee Lawmaker Insists On Giving Away a Rifle Similar to the One Used in the Orlando Massacre

Maybe Quantum Physics Can Explain How An Object Can Be So Hot and Cool at the Same Time

by Sean92Smkbcoygz Posted on April 15, 2016

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Canada (a country to our north) has a prime minister (a sort of president-type person) who is very handsome (sexually appealing). People like (like like) him because he says charming things and is liberal.

So anyway Justin Trudeau was visiting some chalkboard factory or something and a reporter jokingly asked him to explain quantum computing thinking that har har no way could the attractive liberal president type person answer this question but them BAM he did answer it.

This is pretty great and everything but FYI the United States also has a very handsome liberal president-type person and he did this years ago.

Your move, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Originally posted here: 

Maybe Quantum Physics Can Explain How An Object Can Be So Hot and Cool at the Same Time

Posted in Anchor, ATTRA, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Maybe Quantum Physics Can Explain How An Object Can Be So Hot and Cool at the Same Time

Renewable Energy Roundup: 5 Myths About Solar Energy

by ZulmaKeynes Posted on April 13, 2016

Renewable energy continues to advance, particularly the solar energy market which is dynamic and evolving quickly. Proof you say? Let’s take a look at a few facts first.

The solar industry had another record-breaking year in 2015, with installed capacity increasing 16% over 2014 installations.
At the same time, solar system prices fell by 17%.
For the first ever, solar beat natural gas in new power capacity last year, with solar energy contributing 29.4% of total new electric generation capacity.

Meanwhile, solar technology advances are making systems more energy efficient and resistant to shade from trees and buildings, allowing them to produce a larger percentage of overall household energy consumption. Many solar installers now offer solar system monitoring, so homeowners can view historic and real-time solar system output data. With such a dynamic market and with technology advances, things that were true a few years ago may no longer be true today. 

Researching renewable energy

Separating fact from fiction, let’s take a look at a few myths about solar energy that still prevail. Here are the Top 5 myths about renewable energy — specifically solar.

Myth 1: Solar PV systems require a lot of maintenance and upkeep

With no moving parts, grid-tied solar renewable energy electric systems (without batteries) requires virtually no maintenance. Image Credit: LUCARELLI TEMISTOCLE / Shutterstock

With no moving parts, grid-tied solar electric systems (without batteries) requires virtually no maintenance. This is impressive, considering the design life of most solar systems is 25 to 30 years. Most solar panel manufacturers even provide 20 to 30 year warranties, because the technology is so reliable.

It is however recommended to inspect solar panels for dust or debris a couple times a year, and clean them with the garden hose if necessary to ensure optimum energy output. Use caution when viewing or cleaning solar panels from high heights, if they cannot be clearly viewed from the ground. Most solar system owners never do inspect panels for cleanliness or clean them however and their systems continues to perform well. 

Most residential solar systems are connected to the electric grid and have no batteries, which makes them more efficient than a system without batteries. Most utility companies across the country have net metering programs to credit solar system owners for feeding solar electricity to the power grid, when the system is generating more than the home consumes at the time.

Batteries decrease the sustainability and efficiency of the solar system, as not all the power is actually captured and used. Like any other kind of battery, solar system batteries do require maintenance and will need to be replaced every five to ten years. They are also bulky and the batteries themselves have an environmental impact, even if they are recycled at the end of their life.

Myth 2: Solar power is very expensive

Although this was a true statement just a decades ago, the cost of solar panels and equipment has plummeted. As solar technology advances, solar energy production is also increasing significantly, allowing the system to produce more of the overall household electricity. Now that solar electricity has grown nearly exponentially in popularity, solar equipment is mass produced, allowing prices to fall significantly.

A similar phenomenon happened with digital cameras, DVD players, and laptops. Although these gadgets were very costly when they first hit the market, prices have since declined dramatically, making them more affordable for many people. Likewise, solar technology is advancing and becoming more efficient as well.

“There are higher efficiency solar panels available on the market now, which come at a slightly lower price [per watt],” says Nir Maimon, CEO of Sol Reliable, a solar installation and green energy solutions company headquartered in Los Angeles. “Average panel efficiency is now 17%-21%, while previously, it was closer to 16%-17% efficiency.”

At the same time, residential electricity rates have also increased over the last decade, especially in certain areas of the country. The financial performance of a solar system is largely dependent on the cost of electricity that a homeowner would otherwise pay. Today, solar energy systems have never been as affordable, or a better investment, especially in certain markets.

Myth 3: Solar panels don’t generate much electricity during the winter

When the temperature of the solar panels is cooler, they can generate more renewable energy. Image Credit: Bernhard Richter / Shutterstock

Unless you live on the North or South Pole, solar energy systems typically generate a lot of electricity during colder weather, unless they are covered by snow or ice. Despite the angle of the sun being lower in the sky and the days being shorter, solar energy systems can generate significant amounts of electricity throughout the winter months.

This is because solar panels use light, not heat, to generate electricity. When the temperature of the solar panels is cooler, they can generate more renewable energy. Once they reach temperatures around 32 degrees Celsius or 90 degrees Fahrenheit, solar panel output starts to decline. Since panel temperatures are roughly 20 degrees Celsius warmer than ambient temperatures, these temperatures are commonly reached in most climates. 

Myth 4: Solar technology is not reliable

Solar PV systems are very reliable and durable throughout its 25 to 30 year design life, requiring few if any repairs. Of course some of this depends on the components by specific companies, as some solar panel and equipment companies offer higher quality products than others. 

Solar panels are manufactured to handle extreme weather, including medium-sized hail and falling branches. In fact, the EU Energy Institute found that 90% of solar panels last for 30 years or longer. Because solar electricity is so reliable, it is frequently used to power vital systems, including railroad crossing signals, construction safety signs, aircraft warning lights, and navigational buoys.

Myth 5: I will be off grid and store solar energy in batteries

Most solar homes are still connected to the power grid, for financial and environmental reasons. Most solar systems produce more electricity than is needed during the day. Being connected to the power grid allows homeowners to feed excess daytime electricity to the grid under a program called net metering. Studies show that an average of 20% to 40% of a solar system’s output is fed to the power grid, where it helps to power neighboring houses. Credits appear on the electric bill for energy sold back to the power grid. During overcast weather and at night, solar homes draw power from the grid.

If a home is located in a remote area away from the power grid, a standalone solar system with batteries may be the most practical solution. There is typically a charge for extending the power grid, which can be thousands or even tens of thousands, depending on the distance and other factors. Sometimes stand alone solar systems are more cost-effective to install than extending the power grid, even when taking the costs and upkeep of batteries into account.

Feature image credit: lovelyday12 / Shutterstock

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Sarah Lozanova

Sarah Lozanova is a renewable energy and sustainability journalist and communications professional, with an MBA in sustainable management. She is a regular contributor to environmental and energy publications and websites, including Mother Earth Living, Earth911, Home Power, Triple Pundit, CleanTechnica, Mother Earth Living, the Ecologist, GreenBiz, Renewable Energy World, and Windpower Engineering.Lozanova also works with several corporate clients as a public relations writer to gain visibility for renewable energy and sustainability achievements.

Latest posts by Sarah Lozanova (see all)

Renewable Energy Roundup: 5 Myths About Solar Energy – April 13, 2016
Why One Family Of Four Chose To Downsize To 900 SF – April 8, 2016
Has Solar Energy Technology Evolved? – April 1, 2016

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Renewable Energy Roundup: 5 Myths About Solar Energy

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The US Solar Market Is Growing Ridiculously Fast

by KathieNordstrom Posted on March 9, 2016

Mother Jones

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At the end of 2015, the solar industry experienced something of a Christmas miracle when Congress unexpectedly extended a package of vital tax credits for renewable energy that were set to expire. Overnight, 2016 went from looking like it was certain to be a bust to looking like one of the biggest growth years on record.

New analysis from the energy market research firm GTM paints a picture of the awesome year solar installers in the United States have ahead of them. GTM predicts solar installations to jump 119 percent in 2016, adding 16 gigawatts of new solar by year’s end. (For reference, in 2011 there were only 10 gigawatts of solar installed total across the country.) Most of that is utility-scale solar farms, with the remainder coming from rooftop panels on homes and businesses.

This clean energy boost isn’t just a boon for the industry; as a result of the tax credit extension, greenhouse gas savings from solar and wind installations could add up by 2030 to the equivalent of taking every car in the country off the road for two years, a recent study found.

Here’s the chart from the report. Show this to anyone who still thinks solar is some kind of fringe, hippie pipe dream:

GTM Research/SEIA

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The US Solar Market Is Growing Ridiculously Fast

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5 Unlikely Industries Where Workers Are Clamoring to Join Unions

by WhitneyClogstoun Posted on January 22, 2016

Mother Jones

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Fifty years ago, one-third of American workers belonged to a union. Today, it’s 1 in 10. And that number is likely to slip further if, as expected, the Supreme Court weakens public-sector unions, which today account for nearly half of all union members.

Yet despite decades of setbacks, the labor movement still shows signs of life—and not just in its typical blue-collar stomping grounds. Workers across the economy are realizing that unions can help them win better working conditions and higher wages. Here are five industries where unions have made surprising gains:

Digital News Media

Maxx-Studio/Shutterstock

Last month, more than 220 writers, editors, and other staffers at the Huffington Post voted to join the Writers Guild of America, East. The guild’s victory followed other successful drives in recent months at Gawker, Salon, ThinkProgress, and Vice Media. Another union, NewsGuild-CWA, last year helped organize the Guardian US and digital staffers at Al Jazeera America.

Although unions have represented many newspaper reporters for decades, they’ve only recently begun to penetrate web-only publications. These fast-growing startups typically woo young writers with the promise of huge audiences and considerable editorial freedom—while offering little in the way of salaries, benefits, or family-friendly scheduling.

But as digital reporters have matured, so have their expectations. “The idea that someone will continue to work all his waking hours is not sustainable,” Bernard Lunzer, president of the NewsGuild, told the journalism site Poynter.org. “If owners are doing well, workers will say, ‘Let’s get a bit more reasonable.'”

Security Firms

Fh Photo/Shutterstock

Most of America’s 1 million security guards don’t have much security on the job. With scant health benefits and pay that averages just $11 an hour, they are often just one mishap away from disaster.

So some of them are looking to unions for protection. Since 2003, more than 50,000 security guards have won contracts through the Service Employees International Union—often with big improvements in wages, health care, paid time off, and other benefits. In 2015 alone, more than 2,100 security officers in Baltimore, Sacramento, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh formed unions.

The SEIU has focused primarily on the 60 percent of security guards employed by independent contractors, which tend to pay bottom-of-the-barrel wages. In May, responding to pressure from labor groups, Facebook announced a $15 minimum wage and a new-parent benefit for all its subcontracted workers. Google and Apple recently went even further by bringing their security guards in-house and offering them the same benefits as their other workers.

Tech Shuttle Services

Bauer’s IT

In 2014, private buses for tech workers in the San Francisco Bay Area became potent symbols of inequality and gentrification. Last year, however, they became known for something more positive: union contracts.

It all started last February, when newly unionized drivers employed by Facebook contractor Loop Transportation won a sweetheart contract through Local 853 of the Teamsters. It guaranteed a $9 raise to $27.50 an hour, fully paid family health insurance—a first—up to five weeks of paid vacation, 11 paid holidays, and a pension. “It was just an amazing first contract,” says Doug Bloch, the Teamsters’ Northern California political director. “They were literally catapulted into the middle class overnight.”

The deal sent ripple effects through the Bay Area labor market. The following month, Apple and Google announced a 25 percent raise for all contract shuttle bus drivers. In May, unionized shuttle drivers at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency won a 44 percent wage increase, 25 days off (up from 12), and a 401(k) plan with an employee match.

Other drivers scrambled to join the union, too. In November, Local 853 won a similarly sweet deal for nearly 200 newly organized employees of Compass Transportation, which serves Apple, eBay, PayPal, and Yahoo, among others. Next up on the union’s radar is Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation, a contractor for Twitter, Yelp, Cisco, and Salesforce.

“In the Bay Area there’s a lot of discussion about the intersection between the high-tech economy and income inequality,” says Bloch of the Teamsters. Tech companies “are politically vulnerable for the exact same reason, and that created an opening for us.”

Colleges and Universities

Duke TIP

In the 1970s, two-thirds of college and university faculty was tenured and a third was not. Now those percentages are flipped: Nearly half of professors don’t even have full-time jobs. As with other involuntary part-time workers in restaurants or retail, these “adjuncts” often have a hard time making ends meet.

Enter the SEIU’s Faculty Forward campaign. Since launching three years ago, it has won union contracts for more than 10,000 adjunct and nontenured faculty at more than 30 colleges and universities, including Georgetown, Tufts, Boston University, and the University of Chicago. Some profs have seen raises of 30 percent.

In a related campaign, the United Auto Workers is unionizing graduate student workers such as teaching assistants and resident advisers. There are already grad student unions at some 60 public university campuses, but a 2004 National Labor Relations Board ruling has prevented similar unions from forming at private colleges—until now. In 2013, worried that Obama appointees on the NLRB would reverse the Bush-era ruling, New York University agreed to let its grad students form a union. The UAW now has campaigns at Harvard, Columbia, and the New School in New York City—the union also is in talks with students at many other private campuses. The NLRB is expected to revisit its 2004 ruling sometime this year.

Bike Share Companies

Oran Viriyincy

In 2013, Citi Bike became the nation’s largest public bike-sharing program after opening 332 bike stations across Manhattan.

“When it first started we didn’t pay much notice,” admits Jim Gannon, a spokesman for the New York local of the Transport Workers Union. “It was just a bunch of bikes.”

But then the union heard from some of the company’s 150 workers—mechanics and “balancers” who make sure that the racks don’t go empty. They joined the TWU in late 2014 and last year won a contract that guarantees parental leave, paid vacation, and 20 percent raises within five years.

The company’s workers in Jersey City, the District of Columbia, Boston, and Chicago soon followed, becoming union members over the next several months. “We kind of take the position that if it’s public and it moves on wheels,” Gannon now says, “it should be TWU and it should be unionized.”

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5 Unlikely Industries Where Workers Are Clamoring to Join Unions

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Science Says: Drink Your Coffee

by ShannonEsh Posted on November 18, 2015

Mother Jones

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Coffee is one of the pleasures of existence. It’s also really good for us, an ever-expanding body of research suggests. The latest: an analysis of three large population studies by a team of researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They concluded that regular consumption of between one and five cups a day is associated with significantly lower risk of dying from from cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and brain disorders like Parkinson’s. (For those who drink more than five cups per day, the association unravels.)

Interestingly, the benefits are roughly the same for regular and decaf coffee—suggesting that something in the beloved beverage besides caffeine is the trigger. “Bioactive compounds in coffee reduce insulin resistance and systematic inflammation,” the study’s lead author, Ming Ding, said in a press release. The authors make clear that their results are consistent with “numerous” previous studies.

Now that coffee’s health-giving value is well-established, we should probably think harder about an always–vexing problem: how to ensure that the people who tend and harvest this tropical crop get their fair share of the profits generated from it.

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Science Says: Drink Your Coffee

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This Aunt Is Suing Her 12-Year-Old Nephew For an "Unreasonable" Hug

by EdnaHarpur Posted on October 13, 2015

Mother Jones

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Today’s spotlight for some internet outrage can be directed towards Jennifer Connell, a human resources manager who hails from New York.

According to the Connecticut Post, 54-year-old Connell has filed a lawsuit against her 12-year-old nephew claiming he acted “unreasonably” after giving her a hug that caused her to fall and break her wrist.

The unabashed display of affection happened four years ago at her nephew Sean Tarala’s eighth birthday. He is the only defendant identified in the lawsuit, which claims his “negligent” hug caused her serious harm.

“All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground,” Connell testified before a jury last Friday. “I remember him shouting, ‘Auntie Jen I love you,’ and there he was flying at me.”

She says did not complain to her nephew at the time because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, she told jurors. But four years later, Connell is now seeking $127,000 in damages, which include compromising her ability to eat gracefully at social occasions.

“I was at a party recently,” she explained. “And it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate.”

On Friday, local media reported Sean Tarala sitting next to his father in court looking “confused.” His mother died last year.

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This Aunt Is Suing Her 12-Year-Old Nephew For an "Unreasonable" Hug

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