Our Greener Life

Did you know that Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every 5 seconds? How about that 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags are used every hour? Or, that 2 million plastic beverage bottles are used in the US every 5 minutes. Since I keep encountering more statistics like these, I’ve become more and more fascinated with our trash. More specifically – what goes into it.

In the past, I’ve never really thought much about our trash. Sure, I knew that it eventually ends up in a landfill, but never focused on that. My point of awareness ended at the curb, where the garbage truck faithfully empties our can each week. When you really start to pay attention, you notice how much waste we produce as humans. It’s kind of amazing, really. But, when you stop to think about where it ends up – then it becomes disheartening.

It’s really overwhelming to try to fix everything at once. So, we’ve picked one place to start – use less bags. We’ve been avoiding bags altogether when not needed, and bringing our reusable cloth bags to the grocery store when we’ve got more to carry. Do we really need a bag for that magazine? Nope. How about the greeting card and candy bar? Nope. It’s actually quite entertaining to stop using bags for your purchases. Often times, you’ll get confused looks from cashiers. But we just smile, say thanks and grab our goodies.

One great way to reduce your household energy consumption is to switch to Compact Fluorescent light bulbs (CFL for short). They are basically the same as the “tube” style florescent light bulbs, just reduced down to fit in most places where incandescent bulbs are used.

Benefits:

• CFLs use 70% less energy than incandescent bulbs.
• CFLs last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
• They also produce much less heat, which definitely helps if you are sitting or working near one.

Drawbacks:

• Most do not work with dimmer switches.
• They aren’t good for ceiling fans, or applications where they might experience vibration.
• Light isn’t always as appealing as incandescent bulbs.
• Contain small amount of mercury, so it’s important to recycle them when done.

All in all, I would highly recommend trying out at least one Compact Fluorescent in your home or business. The prices keep dropping and they are pretty easy to find at your local store. If everyone would switch just one incandescent to a CF light bulb, we could dramatically reduce our energy consumption and save money in the process.

Ever thought of ways to make your computing more environmentally friendly? Since computers, monitors, printers and other miscellaneous peripherals use electricity, you can do so by reducing the amount of energy they consume. This will also save money on energy bills which is always a great thing. Here are some tips to help you do so:

Use an LCD monitor
If you are still using an older CRT model (i.e. the kind that takes up half your desk space), consider replacing it with a new flat panel display. LCD monitors use one third less energy than CRT monitors.

Look for Energy Star peripherals
The same program which is popular for home appliances is available for products such as printers, scanners and fax machines. Energy Star is a program by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy which sets standards for energy-efficient products. By using an Energy Star compliant scanner or printer, you can use as much as 50-60% percent less energy.

Put your computer to sleep
Both PCs and Macs have power saving features built into the system. Basically, this will put your computer into “sleep” mode when not in use. This results in big drop in energy use.

Turn everything off at night
As long as you don’t use your computer as a server, or need to access it remotely, you can simply turn it off at night, or when you’re done for the day.

Stop residual power waste
Did you know that chargers for cell phones, iPods and other gadgets will suck power from the wall even when a device is not plugged in? I had no idea that idle chargers still used power. It is a pain to unplug devices, let alone a monitor or computer (which may be hidden behind your desk). One option is to use a SmartStrip. These devices monitor power use and can tell when items are turned off, or not charging. It then stops sending residual power to the device.

Recycle or donate
Since technology is always changing, you may find yourself with older products lying around after you upgrade to the latest and greatest. Computers and electronics contain many toxic materials, such as lead and mercury, which can leech into groundwater if dumped into a landfill. So, instead of trashing your old computers and electronics, looks for recycling programs in your area, or donate to local schools or charities. Earth 911 has an excellent directory of recycling programs, so do a search for your area.