Tag Archives: space

Green Your Tailgating, No Matter Your School’s Colors

by ClaritaINAJ Posted on September 6, 2017

Shares

What happens when you get 92,000 people together in one place on a Saturday before a football game? Tailgating is one of the most fun parts of watching a football game (both college and pro), but it isn’t one of the most environmentally friendly. Have you ever seen what those parking lots and lawns look like after a game?

Image source

Even when trashcans are provided, trash is littered everywhere. The residents, cities and schools end up spending lots of time trying to clean up the trash from the event. Even with recycling programs in place, all the recyclables never seem to end up in the right collection bin.

However, there are some practical ways that fans can green their tailgating and still have fun. Ready to find out how? Green 32, green 32 … set … hike.

1. Reusable plates, utensils and cups

Even the red Solo cup has a reusable cousin. Recycled plastic plates, reusable utensils and cloth napkins can be used for tailgating, and you can save them and use them again at the next game. These products are more durable than the traditional disposable products and can be tossed in the dishwasher when you get home.

2. Recycle at home

Keep a bag or box in your tailgate area and take your empty cans and bottles home to recycle, or drop them off on your way out of town at the local recycle center.

3. Low-waste or zero-waste food

Avoid individually packaged foods, buy in bulk and bring fresh food whenever possible. This will cut down on the amount of waste that you have to dispose of at the end of the day. Food scraps can be composted; just toss them in a bag to take home and compost.

4. Take an extra trash bag and share with a neighbor

Perhaps a neighboring fan forgot to bring their own trash bag. By sharing, you are helping keep the area clean. Before you leave for the day, perhaps you could pick up just a few pieces of trash from the surrounding area for any fans who may not be as tidy (or may be too intoxicated to realize what they’ve done).

5. Leave only footprints, take only memories

It’s a pretty easy concept, really — take everything you brought with you. Don’t leave any games, broken chairs, tables or trash behind. When thinking about souvenirs for the day, consider the items carefully and make sure they are durable.

It amazes me just how bad these parking lots and lawns can look after a game. We all know better, so let’s enjoy the football season sustainably.

What “green” tailgating tips do you have to share? Leave them in the comments.

Feature image courtesy of Daniel X. O’Neil

About
Latest Posts

Calley Pate

A self-described eco-junkie, Calley Pate is the owner and editor of

The Eco Chic

blog covering eco-friendly living, cloth diapers, parenting, photography, and life in general. Her passion growing up was the arts and the ocean. After working as an environmental contractor, Calley took the leap into blogging full time in 2011.Calley is also Marketing & Social Media Manager for Kelly’s Closet cloth diaper retailer.

Latest posts by Calley Pate (see all)

Green Your Tailgating, No Matter Your School’s Colors – September 6, 2017
9 Eco-Friendly, Upcycled Thanksgiving Decoration Ideas – November 20, 2015
The Upcycled Office Space – November 9, 2015

earth911

More: 

Green Your Tailgating, No Matter Your School’s Colors

Posted in eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, PUR, solar, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Green Your Tailgating, No Matter Your School’s Colors

Recycling Solar Glasses After the Eclipse

by AthenaFatnowna Posted on August 21, 2017

Shares

Plenty of people are rocking eyewear today with funky rectangular paper frames.

In peak demand for the Aug. 21 solar eclipse in North America, these specs are all about protecting the peepers. As you probably know, it’s not safe to look at the sun without appropriate eyewear. Regular dark sunglasses are not sufficient protection, according to vision safety information from NASA and the American Astronomical Society.

ECLIPSE GLASSES. PHOTO: SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE/NATIONAL CENTER FOR INTERACTIVE LEARNING

With the buzz about the exciting event darkening the daytime sky, eclipse glasses equipped with solar filters have sold out at retail stores and online vendors. Some variations are plastic. Others are bamboo. Lots feature relatively inexpensive paper frames.

About 2.1 million paper versions provided by Space Science Institute/National Center for Interactive Learning in partnership with other organizations were distributed by thousands of libraries in the United States. American Paper Optics in Tennessee sent out a press release stating that the firm would be working to produce 100,000,000 pairs of eclipse glasses. American Paper Optics is among various vendors with products meeting safety standards as listed on the American Astronomical Society website.

After enjoying the eclipse experience, lots of observers are likely deciding what to do with their solar glasses. Here’s what you should know:

Recycling

Remove the protective solar-filter lenses before tossing paper frames into the recycling bin. While recycling rules vary in different regions, if the frames are paper or cardboard, they’re likely acceptable with other paper recyclables, according to Patrick Morgan, recycling specialist for Oregon Metro in Portland. The solar filter doesn’t belong in traditional household recycling, he says. Most paper products are recyclable, unless they feature a moisture-resistant coating, such as frozen food packages.
Toss out the solar-filter lenses. Or perhaps phone a camera store that processes film and ask if they recycle that type of film, suggests Brooks Mitchell, education coordinator for the nonprofit Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
Trash unwanted plastic frames, which likely would not be acceptable with traditional plastic recycling, says Morgan and other recycling representatives.
For any questions, phone your local recycling authority.

Solar eclipse. Photo: NASA.gov

Reusing & Repurposing

Display the glasses as a souvenir. Mitchell says he’ll likely hang them on his bulletin board. The glasses, he says, will serve “to remind myself of the awesome celestial experience.”
Depending on the style and instructions, the eclipse glasses may be reusable, at least for a limited time, as long as the protective filter is not scratched, punctured, torn or damaged in another way. Read instructions printed on or packaged with the glasses. Because the glasses are so inexpensive, some solar observers say you should avoid the risk of saving an older version for the future, even if the packaging does not specify a time limit. (By the way, the next total eclipse in the United States rolls through the sky April 8, 2024.)

Astronmers Without Borders

 and partners are launching a project to distribute eclipse glasses to schools in South America and Asia for eclipses in 2019. Information about where to submit glasses is going to be featured on the organization’s

Facebook

 page.

For an extra effort to repurpose the glasses, ask officials at schools, libraries and recreation programs if they want them for astronomy activities, says Irene Pease, board member of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York.
Be innovative. “I wouldn’t mind a pair of eclipse-filter earrings … as an astro-fashion statement,” Pease says.
Kristan Mitchell, executive director of trade association Oregon Refuse & Recycling Association, says the glasses are so dark, she may devise a way to repurpose them as a sleeping mask.

Image: Shutterstock

Read More:

Everything You Need to Know About Paper Recycling
The 5 Weirdest Things You Can Recycle Through Terracycle
Top 10 Companies Using the Sun for Power
About
Latest Posts

Patti Roth

Patti began her writing career as a staff writer for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Still based in Florida, Patti serves as editor for Fort Lauderdale on the Cheap. She regularly writes about environmental, home improvement, education, recycling, art, architecture, wildlife, travel and pet topics.

Latest posts by Patti Roth (see all)

Recycling Solar Glasses After the Eclipse – August 21, 2017
University Recycling 101: How College Students Go Green – August 16, 2017
Bike Baristas Create Coffee with Their Own Pedal Power – June 28, 2017

earth911

See the original article here:

Recycling Solar Glasses After the Eclipse

Posted in bamboo, FF, GE, LG, ONA, PUR, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Recycling Solar Glasses After the Eclipse

Scott Pruitt is making nice with EPA employees, but big changes are to come.

by JeffereTbl Posted on February 21, 2017

In December, when Musk got stuck in traffic, instead of leaning on the horn or flipping off the other drivers, he decided to build a new transportation system. An hour later, Max Chafkin writes in Bloomberg Businessweek, “the project had a name and a marketing platform. ‘It shall be called The Boring Company,’” Musk wrote.

Musk told employees to grab some heavy machinery and they began digging a hole in the SpaceX parking lot. He bought one of those machines that bores out tunnels and lays down concrete walls as it goes. It’s named Nannie.

Musk is the grown-up version of the kid who decides to dig to China: He doesn’t pause to plan or ask what’s possible, he just grabs a stick and starts shoveling. Maybe that’s the approach we need. As Chafkin points out, “Tunnel technology is older than rockets, and boring speeds are pretty much what they were 50 years ago.” And Bent Flyvbjerg, an academic who studies why big projects cost so much, says that the tunneling industry is ripe for someone with new ideas to shake things up.

Musk is a technical genius. But the things that make tunnels expensive tend to be political — they have to do with endless hearings before local government councils and concessions to satisfy concerned neighbors and politicians. For that stultifying process, at least, Musk’s new company is aptly named. If Musk figures out how disrupt local land-use politics, it would mean he’s smarter than anyone thinks.

Link to article:

Scott Pruitt is making nice with EPA employees, but big changes are to come.

Posted in alo, Anchor, Citizen, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, OXO, Ringer, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Scott Pruitt is making nice with EPA employees, but big changes are to come.

Elon Musk has started digging a tunnel under Los Angeles.

by CharlaCapasso Posted on February 16, 2017

In December, when Musk got stuck in traffic, instead of leaning on the horn or flipping off the other drivers, he decided to build a new transportation system. An hour later, Max Chafkin writes in Bloomberg Businessweek, “the project had a name and a marketing platform. ‘It shall be called The Boring Company,’” Musk wrote.

Musk told employees to grab some heavy machinery and they began digging a hole in the SpaceX parking lot. He bought one of those machines that bores out tunnels and lays down concrete walls as it goes. It’s named Nannie.

Musk is the grown-up version of the kid who decides to dig to China: He doesn’t pause to plan or ask what’s possible, he just grabs a stick and starts shoveling. Maybe that’s the approach we need. As Chafkin points out, “Tunnel technology is older than rockets, and boring speeds are pretty much what they were 50 years ago.” And Bent Flyvbjerg, an academic who studies why big projects cost so much, says that the tunneling industry is ripe for someone with new ideas to shake things up.

Musk is a technical genius. But the things that make tunnels expensive tend to be political — they have to do with endless hearings before local government councils and concessions to satisfy concerned neighbors and politicians. For that stultifying process, at least, Musk’s new company is aptly named. If Musk figures out how disrupt local land-use politics, it would mean he’s smarter than anyone thinks.

Originally from:  

Elon Musk has started digging a tunnel under Los Angeles.

Posted in alo, Anchor, Anker, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Landmark, LG, ONA, organic, Ringer, Sprout, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Elon Musk has started digging a tunnel under Los Angeles.

Here’s a Scientific Concept More People Should Know: Gravity

by StacieY77so Posted on January 1, 2017

Mother Jones

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

Happy New Year!

Every year, Edge.org asks scientists a question. This year it’s “What scientific term or concept ought to be more widely known?” Various worthies proposed things like neurodiversity, regression to the mean, Bayes’ theorem, matter, and—

Wait. Matter? That’s pretty widely known already, isn’t it? Sure, but Hans Halvorson doesn’t think most of us really get matter. Fair enough, and in that spirit I offer up my concept: gravity.

The truth is that I’m twisting the spirit of the question to gripe about one of my pet peeves. What I really want is a permanent ban on the infamous trampoline picture used to illustrate how Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity explains gravity. Here’s an example:

The idea here is that the trampoline illustrates the concept of warped spacetime, and it’s adequate for that purpose. But if you place a marble on the trampoline in the picture, what causes it to roll toward Earth? This illustration only makes sense if there’s some kind of secret gravity machine underneath the trampoline that pulls on the marble. This is not just oversimplified, as complex concepts often are in books for general audiences, it’s flatly wrong. But even notable scientists continue to use this metaphor in books on relativity.

So how does relativity explain gravity? The weird thing about the trampoline metaphor is not just that it’s wrong, but that the correct explanation is both easier to understand and way more interesting. All bodies in the universe are in motion: even if they’re stationary, they’re moving through time at a rate of one second per second. However, in the presence of mass (or energy), spacetime is warped very slightly and this causes motion through time to be converted into motion through space. In a slightly more formal sense, we can say that neither space nor time by themselves are constant under all conditions, but the spacetime interval is. However, in order for that interval to stay constant, motion through space has to increase (i.e., objects speed up) whenever motion through time is reduced (i.e., time slows down).

The equation that describes this includes the term c2 (the speed of light squared), which is a huge number. In the famous equation e=mc2, it explains why a tiny amount of mass produces a huge amount of energy in an atomic explosion. In general relativity, it explains why a very tiny change in motion through time gets converted into a pretty large change in motion through space.

Now, in addition to being correct, isn’t that more interesting? In the presence of mass, time slows down slightly, and this slowdown is converted into spatial motion toward the mass. That motion is gravity. And because spacetime is warped only slightly by mass, gravity is a very weak force compared to all the other forces we know about. Better than anything else, this gets across the idea that space and time aren’t truly separate entities any more than length and breadth are separate entities. They are merely components of the broader concept of spacetime.

So here’s what I think more people should know: how gravity actually works. And here’s my New Year’s resolution for other people: knock it off with the trampoline. You can find other ways of illustrating the warpage of spacetime, and it causes nothing but confusion when you (incorrectly) use it to explain gravity.

This article: 

Here’s a Scientific Concept More People Should Know: Gravity

Posted in FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, PUR, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Here’s a Scientific Concept More People Should Know: Gravity

Calculating the Cosmos – Ian Stewart

by Myrna Posted on October 23, 2016

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

Calculating the Cosmos
How Mathematics Unveils the Universe
Ian Stewart

Genre: Mathematics

Price: $18.99

Expected Publish Date: October 25, 2016

Publisher: Basic Books

Seller: The Perseus Books Group, LLC


Mathematics has informed our understanding of the cosmos on every scale: from the origin and motion of the Moon, to the intricacies of asteroids, comets, and Kuiper Belt objects. Math has taught us how interactions with Jupiter can fling asteroids toward Mars, and how a planet’s rings can spit out moons. In Calculating the Cosmos , Ian Stewart takes us on an astonishing journey—from the formation of the Earth and its Moon, to the planets and asteroids of the solar system, and from there out into the galaxy and the universe. He describes the architecture of space and time; dark matter and dark energy; how galaxies, stars, and planets form; why stars implode; how everything began; and how it’s all going to end. In his characteristically accessible and engaging style, Stewart uses math to explain our extraordinary universe and our place within it.

Visit link:

Calculating the Cosmos – Ian Stewart

Posted in alo, Anchor, Basic Books, FF, GE, LAI, ONA, PUR, solar, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Calculating the Cosmos – Ian Stewart

For the first time, bees have been added to the U.S. endangered species list.

by LorettaMarcello Posted on October 3, 2016

According to a paper released Tuesday by James Hansen, formerly of NASA and now at Columbia University*, the landmark Paris Agreement is solid C-minus work — but when it comes to climate commitments, mediocrity is criminal. Slacker countries making only modest emissions reductions will lock future generations into dangerous levels of climate change.

The average global temperature is already 1 to 1.3 degrees Celsius warmer than preindustrial levels, according to Hansen’s group. That’s on par with the Earth’s climate 115,000 years ago, when the seas were 20 feet higher than they are today.

Unless we phase out fossil fuels entirely in the next few years, Hansen told reporters on Monday, future generations will have to achieve “negative emissions” by actively removing carbon from the atmosphere. Seeing as we don’t even know if that’s possible, that’d be a helluva task for our progeny.

Hansen and his coauthors’ work, which is undergoing peer review, supports a lawsuit brought by 21 young people against the U.S. government. It charges our lawmakers with not protecting the “life, liberty, and property” of future citizens by allowing fossil fuel interests to keep polluting.

But a solution is possible, Hansen explained, if we commit to a fee on carbon pollution and more investment in renewable energy.

*Correction: This story originally referred to Hansen as a former NASA director. He was director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Visit source: 

For the first time, bees have been added to the U.S. endangered species list.

Posted in alo, Anchor, ATTRA, Citizen, FF, GE, LAI, Landmark, ONA, Paradise, PUR, Safer, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on For the first time, bees have been added to the U.S. endangered species list.

A decade from now, nobody will own their own car.

by AundreaLyzht Posted on September 19, 2016

Or so says Lyft’s cofounder and president in a manifesto published on Sunday. John Zimmer writes that he has loved cars ever since getting introduced to Hot Wheels as a 3-year old. But then college ruined all the fun.

“Next time you walk outside, pay really close attention to the space around you,” Zimmer writes, referring to an uncomfortable realization picked up in a city-planning class. “Look at how much land is devoted to cars  — and nothing else.”

For decades now, those with similar epiphanies have concluded that we just need to take that space away from cars, period.

Zimmer proposes something else: a Lyft-branded car subscription service. Composed of both self-driving and people-driven automobiles, it would eliminate the need for private ownership of cars, Zimmer argues. And as this goal gets within reach, the space formerly occupied by parking spots will gradually return to public space.

Zimmer doesn’t have a particular date that this subscription service will be rolled out, which is sensible, because it would have to take a very long time. For now, though, Zimmer’s proposal should be read for what it is — high-quality futurism.

Continue reading: 

A decade from now, nobody will own their own car.

Posted in alo, alternative energy, Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, ONA, The Atlantic, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A decade from now, nobody will own their own car.

Tens of millions of trees across the U.S. are dying.

by LarhondColorado Posted on September 19, 2016

Or so says Lyft’s cofounder and president in a manifesto published on Sunday. John Zimmer writes that he has loved cars ever since getting introduced to Hot Wheels as a 3-year old. But then college ruined all the fun.

“Next time you walk outside, pay really close attention to the space around you,” Zimmer writes, referring to an uncomfortable realization picked up in a city-planning class. “Look at how much land is devoted to cars  — and nothing else.”

For decades now, those with similar epiphanies have concluded that we just need to take that space away from cars, period.

Zimmer proposes something else: a Lyft-branded car subscription service. Composed of both self-driving and people-driven automobiles, it would eliminate the need for private ownership of cars, Zimmer argues. And as this goal gets within reach, the space formerly occupied by parking spots will gradually return to public space.

Zimmer doesn’t have a particular date that this subscription service will be rolled out, which is sensible, because it would have to take a very long time. For now, though, Zimmer’s proposal should be read for what it is — high-quality futurism.

Visit site: 

Tens of millions of trees across the U.S. are dying.

Posted in alo, alternative energy, Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, ONA, The Atlantic, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tens of millions of trees across the U.S. are dying.

Trump’s campaign chief once ran a major climate research center

by AlejandMasten Posted on August 26, 2016

biosphere the worst

Trump’s campaign chief once ran a major climate research center

By on Aug 26, 2016Share

This story was originally published by Mother Jones and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Long before Stephen Bannon was CEO of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, he held a much different job — as the acting director of Biosphere 2, a $200 million scientific research facility in the mountains outside Tucson, Arizona.

The original Biosphere project, completed in 1991 by a company called Space Biosphere Ventures and funded by a Texas billionaire named Edward Bass, was an attempt to turn science fiction into reality. Eight individuals were to live and work entirely within a series of domed and self-contained buildings, where they would grow their own food, recycle their own waste, and demonstrate that humans might be able to survive in space. But when that two-year experiment ended in disarray — it was overrun by ants and cockroaches — the company turned to a group of outsiders for help in turning it around. At the head of that effort was Bannon.

At the time he was hired by Bass to run Space Biospheres Ventures, Bannon was managing his own investment banking firm, Bannon & Co. Some Biosphere-ites were concerned about Bannon, who had previously investigated cost overruns at the site. Two former Biosphere 2 crew members flew back to Arizona to protest the hire and broke into the compound to warn current crew members that Bannon and the new management would jeopardize their safety.

Under his management, the focus of Biosphere 2 shifted from survival — the Survivor-like challenge of enduring two years inside a literal bubble — to planetary research. Specifically, as Bannon explained in a 1995 interview with C-SPAN, Biosphere 2 would be a place that focused on studying societal challenges like air pollution and climate change.

Breitbart News, the media company which Bannon ran for four years before taking a leave of absence to join Trump’s campaign, has adopted an antagonistic approach toward the topic of climate change, mocking climate science as “tosh” and “eco-propaganda” and claiming that the Earth is actually cooling. But Bannon sang a much different tune when he was interviewed by C-SPAN at Biosphere 2 in 1995.

“A lot of the scientists who are studying global change and studying the effects of greenhouse gases, many of them feel that the Earth’s atmosphere in 100 years is what Biosphere 2’s atmosphere is today,” Bannon explained. “We have extraordinarily high CO2, we have very high nitrous oxide, we have high methane. And we have lower oxygen content. So the power of this place is allowing those scientists who are really involved in the study of global change, and which, in the outside world or Biosphere 1, really have to work with just computer simulation, this actually allows them to study and monitor the impact of enhanced CO2 and other greenhouse gases on humans, plants, and animals.”

Bannon left Biosphere 2 after two years, and the project was taken over by Columbia University. (It is currently part of the University of Arizona.) But his departure was marred, as the Tucson Citizen reported at the time, by a civil lawsuit filed against Space Biosphere Ventures by the former crew members who had broken in.

During a 1996 trial, Bannon testified that he had called one of the plaintiffs a “self-centered, deluded young woman” and a “bimbo.” He also testified that when the woman submitted a five-page complaint outlining safety problems at the site, he promised to shove the complaint “down her fucking throat.” At the end of the trial, the jury found for the plaintiffs and ordered Space Biosphere Ventures to pay them $600,000 — but also ordered the plaintiffs to pay the company $40,089 for the damage they had caused.

ShareElection Guide ★ 2016Making America Green AgainOur experts weigh in on the real issues at stake in this electionGet Grist in your inbox

Read this article:

Trump’s campaign chief once ran a major climate research center

Posted in alo, Anchor, Citizen, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, organic, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Trump’s campaign chief once ran a major climate research center