My Green Approach
Going Green. There are lots of ways to do it. I will not, however, preach or demonstrate specifics on this site.
This site is about what I am doing, personally, to be more environmentally aware.
Let's face it, the government cannot make us become green or environmentally conscious. Business will
always look for the cheapest way to accomplish things - and often that is not the most green way.
It is up to us - WE THE PEOPLE - to take actions, show preferences for cleaner products, and to build the
habits of living just a little more green than we did the day before.
Keeping with this idea - that we have to take actions and show preferences, I openly endorse The Pickens
Plan. By creating a grass-roots organization (the Energy Army), we can make our individual voices louder.
I strongly encourage you to become a member of the Energy Army. The Pickens Plan web site offers several
quick and easy tools to help you write or email your government representatives to help push them toward
the idea of making American energy independent - and green.
If you would like, I can have information sent to you on The Pickens Plan. CLICK HERE to fill out a simple
form.
Going Green. There are lots of ways to do it. I will not, however, preach or demonstrate specifics on this site.
This site is about what I am doing, personally, to be more environmentally aware.
Let's face it, the government cannot make us become green or environmentally conscious. Business will
always look for the cheapest way to accomplish things - and often that is not the most green way.
It is up to us - WE THE PEOPLE - to take actions, show preferences for cleaner products, and to build the
habits of living just a little more green than we did the day before.
Keeping with this idea - that we have to take actions and show preferences, I openly endorse The Pickens
Plan. By creating a grass-roots organization (the Energy Army), we can make our individual voices louder.
I strongly encourage you to become a member of the Energy Army. The Pickens Plan web site offers several
quick and easy tools to help you write or email your government representatives to help push them toward
the idea of making American energy independent - and green.
If you would like, I can have information sent to you on The Pickens Plan. CLICK HERE to fill out a simple
form.
This site (or sub-domain, actually) is new. Keep coming back. I will be posting new information fairly soon.
06/17/2009
06/17/2009
My Green Approach
The Basics
Around the house, (apartment) I do what we all should try to do. Compact bulbs are in every light fixture. I
conserve were I can. I am waiting anxiously for LED bulbs. I do have 1 in the utility / laundry room. A 1 watt
bulb that produces the light of a 40 watt incandescent - sort of. Clearly, LED bulbs need more work, and I
wait for the day when GE and others finally give us a good, broad spectrum LED bulb.
Rechargeable Batteries
I have begun using Rechargeable Batteries for everything - flashlights, remote controls, cameras, bike
lights, the Swiffer Spray Sweeper, you name it. Batteries are easy to come by, so you might figure, why
bother. But when you consider the energy that goes into manufacturing batteries, the pollutants, the
petroleum in the packaging, gas and pollution involved in shipping to your local store - and the gas and
pollution involved just with you driving to the store to get them - the amount of energy used to Recharge a
power cell is insignificant by comparison.
There are some important considerations with Rechargeable Batteries, however. They have come a long
way. But many of the cheap little rechargeable units do you almost no good at all. Do a little research first.
But I will give you some quick keys points:
As for the batteries, most any current NiMH (Nickel Metal-Hydride) battery will do you well. The key is the
charger. The inexpensive chargers generally are of poor design. There are several conditions that must be
taken into account with Rechargeable Batteries: 1. Cycles (number of recharges), 2. Charge Memory, and 3.
Overcharge, 4. Conditioning.
Cycles - how many times you can recharge a battery, is what really gives Rechargeables more value. If you
could only recharge a battery a few times, you're better off buying 1 time use batteries. Most NiMH batteries
these days can provide from 500 to 1000 Cycles (recharges). With good care, a set might outlast the device
you have purchased them for.
But the number of Cycles you actually get depends on how well you recharge them. If you charge a battery
while it still holds some charge, Charge Memory may kick in, not allowing the battery to get a full recharge,
and not allowing it to drain properly.
Overcharging - if you charge a fully charged battery, you can get worse that Charge Memory. You can literally
destroy the battery. Quality Recharges will have an Auto-shutoff or have a "Float" feature - as soon as the
batteries are charged, the charger turns off.
Conditioning - the real key is Conditioning - fully draining a battery before recharging it. Most of the
inexpensive battery rechargers (especially the little ones) do not have Auto-shutoff, and most certainly do not
have a Conditioning feature.
My local Radio Shack had the answer. For a bit over 30 bucks, a Universal Ni-CD / Ni-MH Recharger unit
that charges, NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) or NiMH (Nickel Metal-Hydride) batteries, AAA, AA, C, D, and 9volt (up
to 8 AAA, AA, or 4 C's or D's, or 2 9volts at a time). Moreover, the unit has Auto-shutoff, (no chance of Over
Charging) and a Conditioning feature - it can make sure the batteries are totally drained before it starts
recharging them (no more Charge Memory) - and it switches from Conditioning to Recharge automatically.
I'm sure other manufactures have similar units. You just need to know what to look for.
Computers:
I am making the switch over (as money allows) to laptops. True, laptops are not quite as powerful as
desktop units. But they are growing more powerful all the time. Moreover, laptops conserve energy.
I always had a feeling that they did, but wasn't sure. So I did a little research. Here is a link to an interesting
NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) report I found that proves (to me at least) that laptops are
better for the environment than desktop computers. In the first few pages (after the Table of Contents) you
will find some graphs that cut right to the chase.
Timers:
I'm a big believer in Timers. Some things only need to run for certain periods. Why remember to turn them
on - but more importantly, why forget to turn them off. Timers easily solve the problem. They are especially
useful in regards to regular items - decorative lighting, aquarium or terrarium lighting - and especially
Holiday lighting. Don't burn those lights all night - put them on a timer.
It can't be debated that the timer itself consumes energy - it does. But most modern times use very little - far
less than 1 night of leaving Holiday lights on all night long.
Around the house, (apartment) I do what we all should try to do. Compact bulbs are in every light fixture. I
conserve were I can. I am waiting anxiously for LED bulbs. I do have 1 in the utility / laundry room. A 1 watt
bulb that produces the light of a 40 watt incandescent - sort of. Clearly, LED bulbs need more work, and I
wait for the day when GE and others finally give us a good, broad spectrum LED bulb.
Rechargeable Batteries
I have begun using Rechargeable Batteries for everything - flashlights, remote controls, cameras, bike
lights, the Swiffer Spray Sweeper, you name it. Batteries are easy to come by, so you might figure, why
bother. But when you consider the energy that goes into manufacturing batteries, the pollutants, the
petroleum in the packaging, gas and pollution involved in shipping to your local store - and the gas and
pollution involved just with you driving to the store to get them - the amount of energy used to Recharge a
power cell is insignificant by comparison.
There are some important considerations with Rechargeable Batteries, however. They have come a long
way. But many of the cheap little rechargeable units do you almost no good at all. Do a little research first.
But I will give you some quick keys points:
As for the batteries, most any current NiMH (Nickel Metal-Hydride) battery will do you well. The key is the
charger. The inexpensive chargers generally are of poor design. There are several conditions that must be
taken into account with Rechargeable Batteries: 1. Cycles (number of recharges), 2. Charge Memory, and 3.
Overcharge, 4. Conditioning.
Cycles - how many times you can recharge a battery, is what really gives Rechargeables more value. If you
could only recharge a battery a few times, you're better off buying 1 time use batteries. Most NiMH batteries
these days can provide from 500 to 1000 Cycles (recharges). With good care, a set might outlast the device
you have purchased them for.
But the number of Cycles you actually get depends on how well you recharge them. If you charge a battery
while it still holds some charge, Charge Memory may kick in, not allowing the battery to get a full recharge,
and not allowing it to drain properly.
Overcharging - if you charge a fully charged battery, you can get worse that Charge Memory. You can literally
destroy the battery. Quality Recharges will have an Auto-shutoff or have a "Float" feature - as soon as the
batteries are charged, the charger turns off.
Conditioning - the real key is Conditioning - fully draining a battery before recharging it. Most of the
inexpensive battery rechargers (especially the little ones) do not have Auto-shutoff, and most certainly do not
have a Conditioning feature.
My local Radio Shack had the answer. For a bit over 30 bucks, a Universal Ni-CD / Ni-MH Recharger unit
that charges, NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) or NiMH (Nickel Metal-Hydride) batteries, AAA, AA, C, D, and 9volt (up
to 8 AAA, AA, or 4 C's or D's, or 2 9volts at a time). Moreover, the unit has Auto-shutoff, (no chance of Over
Charging) and a Conditioning feature - it can make sure the batteries are totally drained before it starts
recharging them (no more Charge Memory) - and it switches from Conditioning to Recharge automatically.
I'm sure other manufactures have similar units. You just need to know what to look for.
Computers:
I am making the switch over (as money allows) to laptops. True, laptops are not quite as powerful as
desktop units. But they are growing more powerful all the time. Moreover, laptops conserve energy.
I always had a feeling that they did, but wasn't sure. So I did a little research. Here is a link to an interesting
NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) report I found that proves (to me at least) that laptops are
better for the environment than desktop computers. In the first few pages (after the Table of Contents) you
will find some graphs that cut right to the chase.
Timers:
I'm a big believer in Timers. Some things only need to run for certain periods. Why remember to turn them
on - but more importantly, why forget to turn them off. Timers easily solve the problem. They are especially
useful in regards to regular items - decorative lighting, aquarium or terrarium lighting - and especially
Holiday lighting. Don't burn those lights all night - put them on a timer.
It can't be debated that the timer itself consumes energy - it does. But most modern times use very little - far
less than 1 night of leaving Holiday lights on all night long.
 |  |  |  |
| Hey - Green Holiday Lights! No - not lights that shine green... ;) I have replaced all my Holiday lights with new LED lights; the icicle lights from the roof, the tree lights, everything. These lights use 1/3 to 1/10 of the power of conventional holiday lights - and are just as bright and pretty. A string of 60 tree lights uses 4.8 watts (about as much as a night light) compared with about 30 watts for an equivalent, conventional string. Heck, I even found a string of lights that I use on the front door garland that is Solar Powered! No power use at all! |
