July 13, 2008

• What steps can average people take to live a "greener" life? Do you have any tips to share?

  Oh, it's about time people started considering things like this...

  ***Consider using clothes lines again.  Dryers use so much energy CREATING heat and drive up prices of energy (for air conditioning) by warming your house as you warm your clothes.

  From Wikipedia: Advantages of using a clothes line

  • Saves money for the user
  • Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
  • Clothes smell better when hung outside
  • Fabrics last longer when air dried
  • Provides frequent, brief exposure of the skin to the sun (Vitamin D)
  • Clothes can dry more quickly on hot, dry days
  • Eliminates heating up the house with a mechanical clothes dryer
  • Eliminates the production of lint which is unhealthy
  • Eliminates the increased ambient noise from a mechanical clothes dryer
  • No risk of fire as from a mechanical clothes dryer
  • No risk of toxic fumes from gas-powered mechanical clothes dryer
  • No static cling

  Doesn't sound like it is stretching the truth too much, does it?
  
  ***Eat less meat.  Meat is a good source of protein, but there are other great sources for that.  Much more energy is used in the production of meats than in the production of beans or peanuts, both of which are also sources of protein. 

  "A shift in society toward plant-based diets would reduce these problems
  simply by reducing livestock populations and their demand for land and
  other resources. On a per capita basis, the land requirements of
  plant-based agricultural economies are only a fraction of those with
  high rates of meat production. With fewer animals to feed, it might be
  possible to rebuild world grain reserves, ensuring dependable supplies
  for direct human consumption in countries facing food scarcity.
  Reducing land use by cutting meat production would also be a very
  effective way to ensure that wilderness areas are maintained and even
  expanded. Wilderness is crucial to providing biological diversity,
  climate control, and a store of carbon dioxide."

  So basically...by eating in lower trophic levels, you can save harvest more energy!  Consider this:

  

  So by eating things like grains or vegetables, beans, and such, we are a lot more efficient in that we need less energy to feed more people..

  ***Use less paper, or at least recycle more of it.  If you look at a profile of many landfills, you will find that paper or paper-products make up the majority of the trash.  According to one study (based off of notes from a class I took), trash consists of approximately:

  -39% Paper waste
  -17% Yard waste
  -12% Rubber, textiles, wood
  -9% Metal
  -8% Glass
  -8% Plastic
  -7% Food waste

  As a whole, it'd be best if we could also reduce other sorts of waste too...(Food?!)..Oh, another side note about trash--things like BATTERIES, COMPUTERS, & TELEVISIONS cannot be thrown away like ordinary garbage--they contain chemicals that can leak into our ground and contaminate groundwater.

  ***Then there are the basics like driving less, walking more (good for your health too, for those wanting to lose weight)...turning off unnecessary lights, better insulation (but this could decrease ventilation, so watch out!), carpooling, and such!

  Another note: I noticed that when I visited Greece this past winter break, they utilized their roof space by installing solar panels--almost every building in Athens had some solar panels...maybe we should consider something like that...and there were wind power generators on top of the mountains...It could help us with our energy bills for sure by heating or water, or something!  It takes more energy to produce heat then to keep things cool, by the way.
     

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  • 2:02 pm
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