Earth Hour 2009

On Saturday at 8:30pm local time, you can participate in Earth Hour. The concept of Earth Hour is pretty simple - the organizers ask that you turn your lights off for one hour, and thereby show your "vote" for the Earth.


I like events such as Earth Hour - shows how creative humans can be when trying to get other people's attention. However, turning your lights off for one hour on one day out of the year won't have much of an impact on your overall footprint. But perhaps it can get you (and maybe your neighbors, family, friends, etc.) thinking in the right direction.

• Am I in the habit of turning off lights I don't need?


• Do I have the correct amount of light for my current task (not too much nor too little)?


• Am I using the most energy efficient bulb and fixture possible?


• Can I make better use of ambient light?


• Do I need to be using lights at all?

It can also be a moment for each of us to think about how dependent we have become on electricity. In a previous post, I wrote about some of the lessons learned when a major storm knocked out our power for several days. We can all work together to reduce our consumption of electricity - and we must if we are to prevent further damage to our planet. Please support Earth Hour, and then commit to doing more. Thanks!

What's Inside?

So, do you know what's inside the cleaners that you use in your home? Unless you make your own cleaners, the answer is probably no. There is not currently a national requirement for all of the ingredients of the cleaners to be listed. So how can you find out what's inside?

Acronym of the day - MSDS

While they may not have to list the ingredients on the label, each manufacturer is required to provide information on their products to those who use it. This information is usually supplied in an MSDS - Material Safety Data Sheet. Industries that use any chemical mixture or compound, even the same ones sold for residential use, must have available for their employees MSDS for each item. The MSDS provides detailed information on the chemical components of the mixture, any related health and safety information (like fire fighting info or spill response info) and any other information required by an individual state.

Manufacturers are also required to provide MSDS to any consumer that requests one. Usually you can find the MSDS on the manufacturer's web site, or by contacting the phone number listed on the product's label. However, MSDS are not exactly user friendly - and you still may need a chemistry degree to understand some of the compounds that are in use.

Another Option?

One manufacturer has created a web site to try and provide information on their products in a more user friendly way - SC Johnson. Their "what's inside" site is still in progress, but has information on several products that a lot of us likely use (or have used) around the home. And it's great to see a site like this that begins to put information into a format that is more usable. But it still gets a little complex, especially with the more complex chemicals used in everyday cleaners.

For those who want to delve deep into the world of chemistry, you can pick a chemical and go here to find out more information.

Option #2

Of course, if you want to really know what's in your cleaners you can make your own. A quick google search reveals a number of articles on how to make your own cleaners using things like baking soda and vinegar (I recommend vinegar for cleaning coffee makers).

Be on the watch for future posts - I intend to delve into some of the most common chemicals used today so we can all learn a little bit more about them. Remember - knowledge is power!

Easy Solution - Decoration as Gift

This easy solution comes courtesy of my wife and shows a great example of how not to create waste! While preparing for a baby shower, my wife purchased several baby blankets - these blankets were put to use as decorative table cloths during the baby shower (used for the gift tables). As the party ended, said blankets were folded up and given to the moms-to-be for their use with their new arrivals.

Why This is Great....

This is an example of waste reduction in action. Rather than purchasing and using a disposable, decorative tablecloth (or a cloth version that may not be useful to a new mom), my wife used something that was able to serve a valuable function after the party. Anyone who has had children knows that there are certain things you can't have too many of, and blankets are one of those things. Babies are messy - that's just how they roll, so most new parents like having lots of blankets available in case of an accident. So the moms-to-be received a very useful gift.

In addition to preventing some waste from being sent to landfill, this solution also avoided the use of the energy and materials that would have gone into making the tablecloth. So there is a double savings involved with this simple substitution.

The Bottom Line

So here we see an environmentally friendly solution that is simple and easy to do. It's not part of some major lifestyle change and it's not a new, "green" product that is three times as expensive. It's simply putting something to use twice and helping out the Earth at the same time.

And there are a lot of other ideas very similar to this one that provide the same benefits. So how about it.....let's hear from you. What you do to put stuff to work doing double duty? I can't wait to hear!

Who's to blame?

This morning I listened to my pastor and her sermon on "Making up our minds". And it came down to a simple choice - blame or action. One major fault I have with environmentalists (including myself) is that we are quick to point fingers and let people know how bad they are and what we think of them for being so bad. But is that what we should be doing? If I am a Christian then the answer (I believe) is no.

The easy way out?

Do we blame someone for the current environmental crisis that we are facing? If so, who?

• Governments around the world (including ours) for not acting soon enough and/or not strictly enough to regulate all forms of pollution?
• "Greedy" corporations for their pursuit of profit at the cost of the environment?
• Our "capitalist-pig" neighbors for driving a Hummer back forth on their 7 mile drive to work?
• "The man" for keeping us down?

We could, but where would that get us.....

• Is it the fault of the governments, or the fault of those who put them in power?
• Is it the fault of the corporations, or the fault of all of the investors who want to retire without relying on Social Security?
• Is it the fault of our neighbor, or is it their parent's fault because they wouldn't give them a pony when they were 7?
• I have no defense of "the man", but he is likely to blame someone else.

Time to choose

In place of blame, we can simply choose action. Yes - we should make our voices heard to our representatives in government. And yes, sometimes protests are required. But if each of us does not begin taking concrete steps to make this world better in our own lives, then we are no better than those we would blame.

Take action - do something, whether it's at home or at the office. But be humble and let others come to you. When they ask, talk to them about it in simple terms - how did you make this choice? what other options did you consider? give the financial incentive if it exists. If you did it just because you felt it was the right thing to do, its okay to let them know that - just make sure your message comes from a position of humility and not of self-righteousness. And be ready to lend your help if a friend or neighbor wants to take that same step, or another step no matter how small.

It is urgent that changes are made swiftly to begin healing our world - actions can help, but blame cannot. So let's all get out, take action and do good!

When Is Waste a Waste?

So I've been busy helping out with school projects this weekend, one of which was to make a sculpture using "waste" found around our home. A good time was had by all, and so far we have a pretty mad sculpture of a dog. And it got me to thinking about waste.


Definition Please...


So here's where the environmental geek in me gets excited - according to the EPA regs, a waste becomes a waste when it has "no value". And the school art project got me thinking about this very concept - the sculpture is made of items that were either going to be sent off for recycling or sent off for disposal. They didn't have any value to us....until they were resurrected and used for the project. And that brought to mind the difference between deconstruction and demolition.


Dewhat?


In an earlier post, I talked about the concept of "footprinting", or counting up the energy, water and materials used to make a product. So when something is disposed of, all of that stuff is disposed of also - we lose the value of those raw materials. And when this concept is applied to something big - like, say, a building - then we lose a lot of energy, water and materials.


An alternative to disposal (or demolition in the case of a building) is something called deconstruction. This is where the item that is no longer of value is literally taken apart piece by piece so that the value that remains in the individual pieces can be recovered. This also serves to "save" the energy that is in the materials since they displace a potential purchase of a new item.

Sometimes it easy - how many of us have disassembled something made out of wood that was either broken or no longer of use just so we could have the "good" wood that was still in there. It can be difficult to deconstruct things, though, especially when a lot of "modern" stuff is made of plastic. There can also be some pretty hazardous stuff, especially in items like old electronics (lead, mercury, and certain fire retardant chemicals). But there may be a way to reuse what's in there - maybe not by you, but perhaps by someone else. If you can't stand to throw stuff away, check your area to see if there is a Freecycle, or other swap group. Some folks run small businesses that specialize in repairing certain consumer goods (like computers of lawnmowers) and are often looking for spare parts of all kinds.


So before that "waste" of yours heads out to the recycle bin or trash can, take a closer look. There may yet be some value left.....after all, one person's trash is another person's treasure!