Jan
31
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For those of you who have became regular listeners to the podcast, Im still here. Life gets busy and passions slide up and down our scales of priorities. GBY continues to be a passion of mine and will continue, though a few months off was necessary. For those of you who have never listened to the show, thanks for joining us. I say us, because this is a community effort. Perhaps even a world wide effort. There are people listening to this show on 5 of the 7 continents. My hope is that we all share a goal of reducing our impact on world resources, cutting waste out of our lives, increasing biodiversity in our local communities and most of all, doing it because it is the right thing to do, not because we feel guilty about all the GREEN causes out there. If that all sounds good to you, Im sure you will enjoy the podcast. And, feel free to send comments or stories that I can share with everyone else. Be sure to tell your friends and family about the show, we have a larger impact when more of us look to each other for support, advice and accountability in our green endeavors. And now, on with the show….
The podcast this time will focus on making the most of the new year ahead of us. Many people need a date to mark a change in their lives. So heres your chance. Decide to make 2011 the year you made a serious commitment to do everything you can to reduce your impact on the planet and your community. This is going to include some tough love, so be ready for a challenge and don’t’ give up.
Green: In past shows we focused a lot on reducing electrical and energy usage. A good thing to do, something we all need to do. but have you really done it? The green portion of the show will cover three items. Energy is the first, then consumption, and last but not least, STOP generating so much damn waste. Energy for starters is essential to everything our modern society does. Using less of it means we reduce pollution, save resources for later, lower our bills, help tame world conlicts and so much more. I have said it many times. Change your incandescent lighting to CFL or LED. Just shut up and do it. But, let your current bulb go dark first. Throwing out a working lightbulb and replacing it with one that is more efficient will reduce your energy use. But it will increase your carbon footprint temporarily. That incandescent bulb took energy, resources to make, and created pollution in the process. And because an incandescent doesn’t last nearly as long as a CFL or LED, just give it those last few weeks or months. Then replace it when its life has run out. CFL or LED? This is an economics question. LED replacement lighting will use far less energy than incandescent or CFL. But, they are still pretty darn expensive, though coming down in price every few months. If you can afford to replace your table lamp with an LED when it goes out, do it. If a $35 bulb is out of your range, go with a CFL replacment. The CFL will still have an impact on reducing energy use, save you on the your electricity bill, and when the CFL goes dark in 3-5 years, the LED’s will be about the cost that CFL’s are now. It’s OK to take steps. But just do it. Heating and cooling are huge consumers of energy. Upgrading to a new heating/cooling system is not something that a lot of people do. Its more likely you will just move into a new home first. But our homes use so much energy, this is becoming an increasingly important area of concern. There are still federal and state incentives that will take the financial edge off of replacing your energy eating heaters and AC units. Got a tax return coming? Commit some or all of that tax return to replacing that old AC unit. New ones use about half the power that they did just 15 years ago. But be sure to read the labels and don’t let a salesperson tell you what to buy unless that person is certified to give advice on energy star or LEED certified appliances. Now what about phantom power? Everything you have plugged in is using some power all the time. Here are the top 5 that you want to be sure are unplugged whenever you are not using them. 1. Anything with a power converter, that little black box attached to the cord. Those converters are constantly using power and releasing it in the form of heat. They do this so they are always ready to be used. But as Im sure you know, heat loss is energy loss. And a lot of it. Unplug these whenever not in use or plug them all into a outlet that has an on/off switch. 2. All phone, pda, laptop and battery chargers use power when you aren’t charging anything. Never leave these plugged into the wall when your device has reached full charge. 3. The second freezer or regrigerator. Get rid of it by having it picked up for recycling. No one buys an energy efficient second unit. These are always the old ones that were replaced by a newer one. What the heck was the point of buying the new energy star refrigerator if all you were going to do was put the old on in the garage to hold an endless supply of hot pockets and clearance tv dinners. No one needs a second cooler. Buy the food you will eat in a week or two. It will always be fresher, you won’t end up tossing the bags of veggies that have become so encrusted in ice that you can’t even tell what they are, and you will reduce your energy bill. 4. Any appliance that you aren’t using daily should be unplugged until you use it. Coffee makers, toasters, anything with a digital clock, these are all using power just sitting there. Seriously, how hard is it to plug in the stand mixer when you use it? 5. The computer! Anything you have heard about computers in standby mode using so little energy it isn’t worth powering them down is a lie. At the very least , shut it down when you go to work or leave for the day.
Oct
25
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On our past two episodes we have been talking about the three R’s. Reduce, reuse and recycle. We covered the first two, now its time for Recycling. We saved recycle till last because everyone thinks they know all they need to know. But I guarantee you, if you already know each of the overlooked sides of recycling, you will still get proper motivation to get moving.
Green: Resource extraction takes a lot of energy, uses hug amounts of water and creates pollution on the process. Everything we use was a different resource before it was changed into the laptop, TV, car, or aluminum can your drink from. These are reasons enough to recycle everything and consume only products that can be recycled. Closing the loop on loss is more essential than people think about. If the earth has a finite amount of everything, we have to admit to ourselves that we will run out everything at one point. If we don’t work now to close all the loops we will live in a future that none of us want to imagine. Lets start small and look at the aluminum can. Aluminum comes from bauxite ore. This ore is actually in great supply, could even last a few centuries before we mine all of it out of the earth. So if supply is not an issue, why recycle it? Because the energy, water and pollution from smelting metals is a huge issue. Taking a raw ore compose of many compounds that have to be separated, melted, skimmed, combined, remelted, cooled…and so on, takes a lot of electricity, uses a lot of unrecoverable water creates green house gasses in the process. But if all you need to do is remelt pure aluminum and shape it into the next can, you save 95% on energy costs and use about 80% less water. Maybe you thought you were taught to recycle cans because of the trash it creates. Or maybe you thought we may run out of aluminum. Perhaps you just never thought about it but knew it was a good thing. It doesn’t matter why. Because now you know how much of what is saved by recycling those cans. What about all the plastic you put in the green can? Are you recycling because plastic shouldn’t end up in landfills where it will last forever? Is it be because you were told plastic kills fish and most other animals? Or because it’s some from EVIL oil and leaches toxins into our food? Well, I’m going to tell you why recycling plastic is important and promotes sustainability. Because we (the human race) have no business using up so much of the planets resources and discarding the left over into the environment. We are just one species on this globe and we must protect all the other species from US. Recycling plastics and purchasing recycled plastics ensures that our society moves as close as possible to sustainable. If we could make sure that every bottle, bag, wrap, fork, or cup made of plastic never ended up in the trash, we would reduce millions of tons of trash each year. And in the process we create jobs for people in an industry that we actually need. You further awareness that closing the loop can perpetuate a circle of sustainability. From the extraction of the resource, to the manufacture of the product to the recycle of the material and paying the salary of the person who works in one of the factories. And, if you buy domestic recycled products you further reduce the energy footprint. Even if energy becomes free or abundant in the future, there is no good reason for us to develop habits that use more than we need. Less should always be the goal. The can and the plastic, just two small examples of recycling that we all know about but think little of. But there are even more impactful forms or reuse/recycling that we all need to advocate. Your home or office building is also comprised of natural resources. Glass, metal, wood and plastics all come together to create a structure that serves our needs. But over time, even the best construction must be updated, remodeled or removed entirely. Deconstruction is the process of building in reverse. Homes and other buildings are taken apart so their pieces can be reused. Wood can be cut and made into another home. Glass can be recycled or reused. Metals can be used again. Even concrete can be broken apart and reformed for another purpose. But again, it takes consumers who do their homework to make the most of all of this. If purchasing a home or having an office built you got to ask. Is the builder using reclaimed materials whenever possible? They will if you demand it. And often the price is the same. Close the loop. You may have noticed that our take on recycling is more about individual behavior rather than recycling itself. Everything we use or consume should be part of the circle, never the end result. Take a moment to think about where things come from and how you can modify your behavior to use as little as possible and reuse as much as possible.
Check out Building Materials Reuse Association for more info
The EPA’s website isn’t very pretty, but it has a lot of great info on recycling just about anything and how to do it.
Send your comments to: mail@greenblueandyou.com
Sep
13
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On our last show we discussed reducing our need/use and want of resources. This time we’re talking about reusing what we already have. When it comes to reusing, it seems that the youngest two generations of human beings were never taught how to make use of things they already have. Why? Well, that’s exactly what we explore on this weeks podcast, as well as give some simple tried and true examples of reusing everyday items.
Green: Everyone says they want to reduce their impact on our over burdened planet. I’ts a socially popular thing to do. But are you really ready to DO what it takes? To find out, just follow your waste stream and try to reuse anything you can. This in turn should help prevent you from buying other items (or consuming more resources) and keeping the items you have already purchased out of the landfill. The start of the waste stream for consumers (that’s you and me) is the grocery store, convenience store, coffee house, fast food joint, gas station, big box retailer and so on. When you walk in the doors of any of these establishments you do so with one purpose. To consume. Whether you eat what you buy, wear it or use it once and throw it away, you are there to consume. All consumption causes waste if you don’t have a way to close the loop. Lets start simple. Maybe you want coffee for your morning pick me up. You grab a can probably made of plastic (they all used to be made of more planet friendly recycleable metals but those days are behind us). This is the first step of your consumption. Do you take the plastic tub of coffee, the unrecycleable multi material vacuum sealed bag of coffee or maybe one of the few remaining brands that still uses metal cans? Why choose one over the other? Because it matters. That vacu bag of coffee cannot be recycled. Those bags are a combination of metals, glues and plastic. We just don’t have a process that can separate those resources turn them into something else. Essentially that packaging is going to the landfill unless you reuse it somehow. (Check out teracycle for some interesting options on this, a link has been added to the podcast notes) The plastic can is recycleable but it is plastic. Plastic should be avoided whenever possible because it continues our reliance on a fossil fuel that pollutes and will eventually run out. So we focus on the metal can. Do you ever put any thought to what size you purchase? You should. The larger a package the less packaging that is used by overall weight. Every time the volume of a container goes up, the packaging mass to product ratio decreases in favor of using less overall packaging eventhough it’s a larger box or can. So, if you can use the larger amount of coffee before it loses its flavor, choose the large can. Finish your shopping and head to the check out. Here you have another choice of consumption. Did you bring your own reusable bags? Good, you did. That choice alone keeps plastics out of landfill where it will NEVER break down and worse, you know the bag you reused won’t be one of the plastic bags that gets out of the trash and blows around till it ends up in an ocean or river. You can also ask the checker to pack as much as they can into each bag. In my experience this reminder tends to ensure that what I have purchased will fit into the bags I have brought with me and I won’t need to use any plastic at all. Now your on your way home. You get home, unpack your groceries and go about your life. The next morning its time to make coffee. Nothing much to do but start thinking about what you might do with that can when its’ empty. The trash is not an option, even if you have a recycling option. Remember, this weeks show is about reusing. What can you do with that can? You could use it to hold all those plastic bags that everything comes in these days. Bread, bagels and food of all sorts comes in plastic bags that could be used another time or two. So keep those bags in your tin can and keep it under the sink or somewhere in the kitchen where you will want to use the bags. Large coffee cans also make great kitchen scrap holders. When its full take the scraps and dump them into the compost bin or the food waste can if your garbage collector has them. I have used coffee cans for plant pots and to sort odds and ends. Our garages are often full of little home improvement doo dads that’s clutter drawers and counter space. Label a can and toss them in. What about using that can and lid as a way to wrap a gift? Sure. Fill it up with packaged foods around the holidays when you normally make cakes and cookies for friends and family. Or fill it with baby needs for the new mom you know. Giving a small gift of any kind, you can put it in the can, put the card inside as well, snap on the lid and give it. Don’t wrap it! Anyone who thinks this pratice is tacky or inappropriate is no friend of mine. And most of my friends would expect it. OK, you followed that coffee can from the store shelf, to check out, to your car and now once at home you have found another purpose for it. Good job. You could do the same with the plastic cans, but the tins sure are nicer when you reuse them. Use this coffee can example and see how many other items you can follow from purchase to reuse. I bet you can get creative. The internet is full of suggestions for reusing just about anything. I have included links for you to check out. So start reusing everyday items as often as possible before the finally end up in the recycling bin.
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Turn your trash into useful stuff
Sep
3
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Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Most of use have been hearing about the three R’s for about two decades or more. How much thought do you give to each of those three words? Recycling is the rock star of the group followed by Reuse and finally Reduce, the red headed step child. Why does recycling get all the attention? Probably because there is money involved. Paper, cardboard, cans and bottles can all bring some cash back to our wallets. But Reduce, the most important of the three R’s just doesn’t seem as cool. That’s why this weeks show is all about REDUCING your need, want and use of everything. Get ready for some tough love.
Green: Lets start by talking about energy use. It’s Summer across the Northern Hemisphere and a very chilly winter in the Southern part of the globe. Whether you are using electricity to cool your home or gas, oil, wood or electricity to heat your home, you can reduce your need for energy and the waste and pollution associated with using energy. Up here in the states we are having one of the hottest Summers on record for most of the country, while a few areas are actually experiencing the coolest. How do you keep cool? If you are like most, you use air conditioning or fans or a combination of both. I grew up in a home without AC. There were some miserable times in the heat and humidity of September. But we lived. My mother was a fan crazed mad woman. She had us all trained which window the box fan should be in, which other windows should be opened to allow air flow and which curtains and windows should be closed. When I was young I hated this practice. Open, close, open, close. I even worried what my friends thought about the fans in the windows because they had AC and we didn’t. But when I moved into my first apartment and got my first Summer electric bill that all changed. It became a game to see how little AC I could use and still stay cool. What you need to think about is just how much juice that AC uses compared to a fan. The average AC unit uses 1700 kwh of power over a month when used approx 16 hours a day at an average rate of 15 cents a kwh. That the average time and expense the typical home in the western US uses their AC during the Summer. That comes out to $260 dollars. Ouch. Lets compare that to ceiling fans. A large ceiling fan used 24 hours a day for that same Summer month only uses 56 Kwh of electricity and you will spend just 8 bucks. That’s a HUGE difference. You can put a ceiling fan in every room of your home, leave them all on all day, all Summer and still go nowhere near the cost of using the AC all Summer. Im certainly not advocating leaving the fans on when your not in the room or not at home, its just an example. And don’t forget using both air conditioning and fans. Set the AC up at 84 degrees rather than 78 or 75. Then put a room fan nearby and use less power by combining AC and fans. Open those windows at night and turn on the fans. Pull or push the cooler air into your home. Just before it starts to warm up outside, shut all the windows. This is all stuff our grandparents did, but it works and it saves you a lot of money and reduces your use of power. On the flip side, keeping warm in the Southern hemisphere is the issue right now. It is always easier to keep warm than it is to stay cool. You can always put on another layer, throw on a jacket, sweater etc. to make a chilly room feel more livable. As energy becomes more and more expensive, more and more of us will go back to the days of wearing more clothing rather than cranking up the thermostat. But why wait, do it now. Heating typically uses oil and gas. Burning these resources releases lots of CO2 in the process and depletes the resources that in most cases will NEVER be renewed. Reducing your impact isn’t just about heating and cooling. Have you thought about what you buy at the convenience store or grocery store? Do you bring your reusable bags? It’s a small thing but it adds up. Those disposable and rarely recycled plastic bags end up in rivers and oceans and wild life eat them or they sink in the ocean. There simply is no good reason to use the darn things. And while shopping do you ask yourself the need vs. want question? Are you holding an item because you WANT it, or because you actually NEED it. Americans are brainwashed to think they NEED everything. When in reality we NEED very little but WANT everything. If you say to yourself “I don’t need this and I have something similar that still works” then put it down. Save yourself some money and save some resources. Public transportation helps reduce everyones impact, as long as we use it. Many cities have decent to good public transport options. If you live in one of these places, challenge yourself to use public transport more often. Sharing a bus, train, monorail, ferry with lots of other people means the person to energy ration is decreasing each time more people use it. And our politicians see no reason to improve our public transport if we don’t use it. And, when you use public or shared transport you tend to notice the things about it that suck. Is the bus stinky? The train noisy and scary like a rollercoaster? Is that downtown trolley needing a coat of paint or a some new seating? Well, start writing those emails and tell your city, state and federal officials that you are using shared transport and you know more people would join you if it was a little less “scary.” Help make a difference and encourage others to join you. When Im in Las Vegas I tend to park the car at the hotel Im staying in and take the monorail everywhere. Its also nice to drive for a few days but still be able to get everywhere you need to go. Not dealing with the stress of traffic. Not having to worry about being sober when you get on the train. There are other benefits besides reducing the energy used and pollution generated. Before we move on to our BLUE segement I want to preach a little about our biggest opportunity for changing the future and reducing our impact. It’s children. The habits you have will be repeated by your kids, grandkids, nieces/nephews and friends kids. Be a role model. And explain to them whey you do or why don’t do things. Kids are always asking why, so tell them. Let them know you turn off all the lights and open the curtains because sunlight is free. Show them how fast the electric panel meter spins when the AC is on and then show them how slow it spins when you use fans to stay cool. Make it a game, the slower the dial spins the better they are doing. By the time they are going away to college or getting their own apartment they will have the good habits you want them to. They are little sponges after all, be sure they soak up the right habits and learn to live a lifestyle of REDUCED need.
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Aug
14
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On this weeks show we are talking about voting green. Regardless of your feelings on the current state of western democracy, voting is still the cornerstone of the political process. Or is it? Can we rely on our political leaders to make the necessary changes needed to restore our environment to a more healthful state? Will corporations do the right thing because the environment depends on it? How can individuals cast their votes and expect the biggest impact? These are just some of the subjects covered on this weeks podcast.
Green: The news lately has been so filled with worst case scenario stories it has proved to be very depressing. Ice bergs 4 times the size of Manhattan breaking off glaciers in Greenland, July has been the hottest month every recorded in planetary history, energy consumption continues to rise faster than our efforts to reduce need, drought and wildfires are breaking out on every continent except Antarctica. It’s a lot to be worried about. But rather than worry we need to take action. Each time you hear bad news, ask yourself what you can do about it. Remember, no matter how big the problem or how enourmous the issue, YOU can make a difference. Use your vote to make that difference. We all have three ways to vote and its important to understand each. First, you are all probably thinking about the policical process and casting an actual vote. Yeah. That would be the most obvious and its how you show your support for candidates that are doing something to promote green energy and reduce consumption. But you also cast a vote every time you buy a tangible good or purchase a service. If we all continue to buy plastic, we are essentially voting for the continued manufacture and sell of a product that we know is toxic to us and our environment. On the other hand, if you buy recycled products from companies that promote the three R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle) then you give those corporations the ability to expand and sell more products that are sustainable rather than unsustainable. But its not just what you buy and put in your shopping cart. What about that summer vacation you went on. Did you fly halfway across the planet, purchase silly trinkets, stay in hotels that waste resources? Or did you look into the travel and accommodations. Did that hotel chain have a sustainability statement? Your dollars are votes. And the more you spend the more you vote. So if you think about it, the purchase of goods and services are potentially much more important ways to vote than casting a ballot. Now that third way of voting, is spreding your influence. When you talk to friends and family you have a moment to tell them about the habits and practices you engage in. Are you going to talk about only trival matters? Or do you throw in a few comments about the solar panels you just installed and how happy you are that your electric bill is going down and your reducing your need for fossil fuel use. Think about every vote you make and make them all count. Now that we covered the ways we can vote, lets look at some things that need to be voted on. Have you heard about a mining process called mountain top removal? If you live in a coal producing state you sure have. This mountain top removal process is essentially the blowing up of entire ecosystems so that the coal is easier to get to. And the environmental impact is catastrophic on both ecosystems and watersheds. But recently the big banks that finance these coal companies have backed out. Why? Because those banks are under increasing pressure from consumers. People writing letters and organizations like the Rainforest Action Network have sparked enough outrage that the big banks decided “hey, we don’t want to piss these people off.” See, letter writing and action groups do make a difference. Another great example of success is the battle against BPA or Bisphenol A, a compound in plastics, paper, clothing, food containers, basically touching every facet of our lives. This compound burst out as a hot button issue in 2008 when the FDA said baby bottles and microwaveable plastics containing BPA should not be used. Why, because the chemical is known to cause problems with estrogen compounds and may pose siginicant risk to infants, fetuses and children. Very similar to lead. And most recently it was made known that this chemical is in about half of all the receipt paper that you are handed at the check out stand. What? In paper? Yep. Every time you are handed a receipt you have about a 50/50 chance of coming in direct contact with this chemical, having it on your skin and then touching your eyes or mouth where it could be absorded directly into your body. Because this receipt tape issue popped up, people started asking stores if their paper contained BPA. Some stores are already working to remove this chemical from their paper and also working towards becoming BPA free spaces. This is happening because people are writing letters, asking store managers questions and excercising their influence. Lets not forget about traditional voting. Americans and Europeans have a huge opportunity to cast their vote in support of GREEN matters right now. In the USA, it has been estimated that 2.5 million jobs can be created directly by building the wind farms, solar plants, geothermal facilities and other power infrastructure that we need to get off fossil fuels. But, our government is moving VERY slowly. Why? Lots of reasons. The companies that sell oil and oil products are obviously lobbying to survive. But, if more and more Americans and Europeans continue to send letters and make phone calls to our elected officials we will make more of a difference sooner. It’s not just who you vote for in the future but who you send those letters to now. You may disagree with your governor or senator, maybe even the president. But you should still take the time to tell them by phone or email that you expect them to promote green jobs, green energy, waste reduction etc. Be sure to use phrases like “I will not vote for you in the future if you don’t do more to spur green jobs.” Or “I expect you to support solar energy in our state, my vote for you depends on it.” Whether you are voting by email, phone, purchasing of goods or casting an actual ballot, you have many votes to cast each and every day. Vote wisely. Vote often. Vote Green.
For the other portions of this weeks show, listen to the podcast. Click the play button above or listen with iTunes of your favorite RSS feed.
For more info on US federal climate policy and green job creation
Learn about BPA, Bisphenol A, the chemical we all come in contact with but know little about
What does the EU have to say about water resources and shortages?
Learn more about coal mining, mountain top removal and why big banks are no longer funding this
Visit our page on facebook and follow us on Twitter for more timely updates on green and blue matters that you can help with.
Jul
31
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On this weeks show Im sharing more of an opinion rather than quotes and references to specific subjects. Why? Because the more I educate myself on just how far from sustainable our society is, I feel the need to sound the alarm. I want to help develop the bigger picture that we are all a part of. No one person on this planet can escape the fact that we were born on the same globe and will die on the same globe. What You and I do has an impact on everyone else in so many ways we never consider the impact. And time is running out. As a society we have already passed a critical point for sustaining our world so that humans can continue to live on it.
The Story: Many years ago, before anyone listening to this podast was born. People lived and died a sustainable life. Mostly. We tend to think of a time prior to the industrial revolution as a sustainable time. A time when people grew their own food, built their own homes of natural resources and only consumed what the earth provided for them. This is actually a fairy tale. Humanity has been killing and raping the planet since the beginning of time. And our current problem is that WE have not learned from those past mistakes. But we must. Or we will all live an increasingly lower standard of life and eventually reduce our numbers to pre industrial levels. Lets look at a few examples of past societies that turned their backs on mother nature and tried to manipulate the Earth to suit their desires, and as a result perished. The island of Rapa Nui or Easter Island is a story of environmental catastrophe. The tiny and isolated island nation once had a population of 30,000 or more. But for whatever reason the inhabitants squandered their natural resources in favor of building giant statues called moai. These giant carved rock statues could only be moved by rolling them on cut down trees. As competing tribes continued carving statues they cut down more and more trees to transport the statues. It was a contest to say “mine is bigger than yours.” If you use the analogy that an island is just like a planet, you can see how over use of a natural resource can kill a society. Without trees, meaning no wood, how do you start a fire to cook your food or heat your living space? Where do you or animals seek shelter? How can you build a home on an isolated island without a source of building material. Well, you can’t. And as a result the island society collapsed, thousands died of starvation and the ensuing war over what was left. It was pretty ugly. And yes, there were a few other factors such as the introduction of rats and illness that were brought over by European colonizers. But the overwhelming single factor was total loss of resources and sustainability. Another society that collapsed due its own short sightedness was the Maya. Once the crown jewel of Central American cultures, the Mayans had a group of cities-states with temples, developed agriculture, sports, art/culture and intellectual properties like the Mayan calendar. But as the city-states grew they cut down all the trees, over hunted the local fauna and allowed their civilization to grow faster than the water supply could sustain. Again, there are additional debatable causes for their collapse but it really comes down to stepping out of balance with nature and resources. As supplies of food and water dwindled, warfare ensued and the people destroyed a once great civilization. Last but surely not least, lets take a look at Rome Many economists and historians have already compared our modern time to the collapse of mighty Rome. At the time it was happening the Romans didn’t think their world was about to fall apart. Sure, people knew that times were getting tougher. Food and water was harder to get. A higher percentage of the population had to be drafted into the military to support the acquisition of resources. Religious zealots clamored for control by spreading fear and hate. Citizens were offered distractions in the form of gladiators battling to the death in huge theatres that were built as a way to spur the economy. But it all boils down to one thing. Too much growth too fast cannot be sustained. When dry spells hit or famines strike a mighty civilization can find itself scratching at the side of the coffin to stay alive. These stories should be all we need to prevent repeating such disasters, but our modern world society has not learned from the mistakes of Rapa Nui the Mayans or Rome.
Catch the rest of this weeks blog by listening to the podcast. Click the bar or links above to listen now.
Read more about past civilizations that collapses due to environmental catastrophe.
Read this book to better understand just how dire the situation is.
Jul
25
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On this weeks podcast we’re talking about the fatal flaw of consumersim. Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods or services in ever greater amounts. Clearly, this ism is not sustainable. Today we will cover sustainable alternatives to consumerism, or as the kids are calling it these days, conscious consumerism.
Green: If consumerism is all about buying stuff to support our economy, how do we stop buying stuff without the economy tanking worse that it already has. The answer is multi faceted and you will likely get 1 million different opinions from folks working in many different fields. But from the point of view of being as GREEN as you can be, think about it this way. When you buy something, read the label. Where did it come from or where was it made? What is it made of? How far was it shipped? The closer to you the product was made the more GREEN it is, at least in the respect of how much fossil fuel it took to deliver it to you. If the product is made of plastic, you would be purchasing an item made of fossil fuels that both depletes resources and pollutes our world at the same time. Look for another option. Often when we are shopping for an item we have already convinced ourselves that we NEED it rather than WANT it. Lets all think about that, NEED vs. WANT and how those two simple words can help us choose the GREENER path. Just the other day I went to the local big box store looking for a new dish strainer for my sink. I had convinced myself that I NEEDED it because the one I have has a few rust marks on it. Rust is bad right? Not really. The rust was not leaving marks on my sink or my dishes. It was merely uncitely, but I realized Im the only one who notices it. And if im the only one who notices the issue and it is causing no harm to anything I guess I don’t really need to replace the item. But I didn’t finish this discussion in my head until I was already at the store looking for a new one. What a waste of time and gas. Americans have been trained by media to dispose of anything that is no longer sparkling clean and new looking, and buy a new one to replace it. Without any thought to the waste. Without any thought about how quickly some of the product we purchase become obsolete. This leads us to the next criteria we can all think about that will help us get better use out of the things we already have and reduce our impact on resources. If you can ask yourself if you NEED vs. WANT something and make that routine, its time to add the next criteria. How long will something last? The only good answer is FOREVER. Now, I know most things don’t really last forever but the longer the better. Inspect an item before you put it in the shopping cart. Is it strong enough to stand up to whatever job it is intended for? Is it welded correctly, if it is plastic, is it made from recycled plastic? If it were dropped would it break instantly? Can your kids use it with ease without you having to worry about it getting damaged? Is it made of a resource that can be renewed like wood, bamboo or a recycled material? Does it really serve the NEED you think it does? If you can say yes to most of these questions, go ahead. Buy it. Then, as the weeks and months pass by, take care of IT. Whatever it is, take good care of it. I find that most things people replace are only replaced because they became dirty and were to lazy to clean or repair. Laziness is just about the worst reason to purchase a good. Really, you don’t have the time to scrub something clean but you do have time to drive to the store and buy another one? That’s ridiculous. That kind of thinking is the result of you being brainwashed by commercials, all the ads on the billboards you see and the pesky full page ads in every magazine you read. Did you know that average magazine is 81% advertisements and just 19% content. Its easy to see why we feel trapped in the world of consumerism. But, if you use your brain more often you can override those thoughts. Now, lets review a few things we just covered. The next time you feel the urge to go out and purchase anything at all, ask yourself these questions. Do you NEED it or WANT it? Is it long lasting and durable or will it break quickly? Will it serve its intended purpose for a long period of time or will it be rendered obsolete quickly? Is it made of a renewable or a recycled resource? By asking yourself these questions and answering them honestly you can help break the needless consumerism cycle. So what about the economy part of this? If we all stopped buying stuff our economy would collapse further. This would be bad for everyone. It really wouldn’t matter how green our lives were if we were all unemployed and homeless. So what about that? Well, if you think about it, buying less stuff means you have more money in your checking account at the end of the day. You can do things with that money that spur the economy without purchasing THINGS. Just about the greenest way to keep our economy humming is to buy experiences rather than things. Rent a movie and make a snack at home. Go out to a movie. Take a carbon neutral vacation, they do exist. Go to the park, have a picnic. Get a gym membership, its good for you. Go to the spa, relax a little. Vegas is nice, you gamble, eat, drink, see a show. Actually far less waste involved than visiting a lot of places because you are paying for an experience, not buying a thing. But no matter what you decide to do with your hard earned money, ask yourself all the questions we already discussed. Some experience based purchases are far greener than others and there are a plethora of websites out there that rate places on their environmental impact.
For the Blue and You portions of this post, listen to the podcast!
Check out these links for more info on the subjects covered in this post:
Sustainable explained, what does it mean?
Eco-Friendly Volunteer Vacations
Jul
16
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (22.3MB)
On this weeks episode we are talking more about the status of things rather than what you can do about them. Each show so far has focused on conserving water, power, resources and the like. But this week I wanted to remind all of us why it is so important to do so. I have no intention to scare anyone, but if this real life info does scare you, it just means you understand how bad things are in regard to world resources. You may want to sip a cocktail while listening, and for that I recommend you visit our sister podcast the Zen Tiki Lounge where you can find a much less professional level of conversation but some great cocktails and music to take your mind off things.
Green: Responsible use of power is necessary to ensure we have it to maintain our world society. Electricity, juice, power, the big E. Whatever you call it, our world would cease to exist as we know in a matter of days if the power went off. Without out electricity there would be NO WAY to support the population of our planet. In fact, those fun loving doomsday scientists estimate that our planet could only support 1 billion people at the most without electricity. That means if the power goes off and stays off, approx 6 billion people would die over a period of days, weeks, months, and years. How could this happen? One worst case scenario would be a massive solar flare, or sun storm. They happen about every 100 years or so. The electromagnetic disturbance sent racing across space towards earth would have the power to literally fry almost every power line and computer system on the planet. Should we prepare for such a thing? I think so. 100 years ago electricity was a novelty, we didn’t NEED it for anything really. We were just learning about all the things it could do for us. But since the late 1870’s we moved from an agricultural self sustaining society to one that depends on electrical power. A lot of people don’t understand this. But because electricity powers everything we do, eat, move, cool, heat, and light up, our society would move from controlled chaos to total anarchy in just days. Some think that the world would be in shock for about one or two days. Immediately after that people would take matters into their own hands. Unable to communicate beyond their local area, fear would take over and the rioting, shooting and gang mentality would revert us back to prehistoric times so quickly you better hope this never happens. If you think man has evolved past this don’t forget that people riot simply because the Lakers win a game. That’s proof enough for me that man has the ability to be very very stupid. Personally, I think anyone who thinks this is not possible is clearly a moron. Without power we couldn’t use a phone, computer, radio or any other form of modern communication device. All of us would be cut off from the rest of the world instantly. All the stored food in freezers and refrigerators would go bad in a day or two. Without electrical power we couldn’t refine or pump gasoline. Our cars, trucks and other vehicles would run out of gas very very quickly. Now we couldn’t move the millions of tons of food and supplies needed to keep us all alive. Next you have a medical emergency. Too bad. The ambulance isn’t coming cause you can’t call. If you were having a heart attatch or other emergency that depends on seconds or minutes of response time, you are a goner. I think that’s enough to paint a picture. But lets suppose a man made disaster like a war is the reason for total loss of power. People are more likely to go along with this next scenario, but I think both are just as plausible. What do you think might happen if OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) cut off all oil exports? Since all of our vehicles run on gasoline we would have to rely on domestic reserves only. At this point in time the US does have a decent amount of oil reserves, most other western countries haver little to none, but the impact on price would be horrible. Perhaps $10 a gallon ore more some analysts assume. The federal government may step in say that gas was only available on certain days of the week, just like in the 70’s. But in the 70’s the average American home had 1.3 cars. Now we have 2.5 cars on average per home, that’s double what we had just 35 years ago. So you have to decide which family member keeps their job, or how you ration use of the car to get where you need to. Maybe you take public transportation, a possible positive for Co2 emissions, but our public transporation system in the US is one of the worst in the world. It would most likely be over burdened immediately. And without cheap oil, the price of everything we eat, buy and use would skyrocket. You may have heard of rice and grain in Africa jumping 1000% in price in a matter of weeks. It happens because of lack of infrastructure or war. Don’t think the USA or Europe, Australia, Canada is immune to this. Wars, embargos or fizzled diplomatic relations can cut off supplies can diminish our quality of life very quickly. SO! What does any of this have to do with being green? A lot. The more of our energy we get from solar, wind, hydro, geo thermal and the like, the more we don’t need other countries to supply us with the energy we can’t live without. This applies to all countries in the world. Germany is moving the fastest at becoming completely self sustaining with green wind/solar power. And they should be. Germany is surrounded by 10 other countries, all of whom work together in some ways but also have their own political and social problems of their own. Power lines that cross those borders could be cut in time of war or disagreement. But if Germany generates its own power independently, the worry is much less. The USA is bordered by just Canada and Mexico. Though war may seem like an impossibility, don’t bet on it. As water and energy determine most of our diplomatic relations, it doesn’t take much before a water rich country shuts off the hose to the water poor country. Canada is blessed with a lot of water. The US is not. Canada also has a lot of coal, much of which has already been snatched up by China in long term agreements. If the USA needed coal from Canada it may not be available. No matter where in the world you live, it makes sense to go GREEN, especially with energy. I have included quite a few links if you would like to do some reading on the geopolitical subjects covered in this part of the podcast. Check it out, the more you know the more you will WANT to do about encouraging your elected officials to move towards GREEN energy.
Current world oil reserves, who has it? Who does not?
Learn about how our power grids work and what can knock them out.
Water poverty is real. Learn about those who suffer from a lack of the most basic need, water.
Water shortages will become NORMAL all over the world if we don’t learn to live sustainably.
Jul
10
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (25.3MB)
On this weeks show we are talking about event planning the sustainable way, at least how it applies to your home BBQ. And since Summer is upon us it’s a good time to talk about some of those outdoor projects that can save you some electricity, water and money. Keep in mind that the subjects discussed in this podcast are based on the experiences of an individual and should not be used as the only source of information. Be sure to look into the resources and information in your area for more details on the projects and topics we cover here on the podcast.
Blue: I admit that I learn something new every day. And while I have put a lot of thought into the plants in my yard, I still have room for improvement. All of the plants are low water need and beautiful. But it doesn’t matter how little water a plant needs if you aren’t applying the water directly to the plant. I had installed a mini sprinkler system last Summer, but took a moment and watched where all the water goes when I turn it on. I don’t have any over spray, meaning my cement areas aren’t being watered. But I noticed that areas of dirt that don’t need water were still getting plenty of it. Remembering that my mini sprinkler kit also included drip irrigation supplies I decided to upgrade, or downgrade depending on how you look at it. Since about half of my small yard is covered with ground cover I put an individual drip irrigation spout at each planting site. One plant actually grows to cover several square feet of dirt, but the actual root system only occupies about 1 square foot. So I put a drip spout on each plant. Each drip unit can be adjusted to use between 1 and 10 gallons per hour. For my plants I only needed 2 gallons per hour, and I water just three times a week. This means that my entire yard can get by on about 100 gallons or less per week. That’s less than the average American uses on their daily shower. And since I also put a bucket under my kitchen spout while Im waiting for the hot water to start, I can sometimes cut out one day of watering. Every drop matters. When to water is a huge deal. If you water at night, you will most likely get lots of snails, slugs and other critters coming out to eat your plants. Many of these critters are active at night so watering at night gives them what they need to survive. So water in the early morning just after the sun has come up but before the sun is directly on your plants. This reduces the pests and prevents evaporation. When I see sprinklers on in the middle of the day it drives me crazy. Stopping to look up the city agency to call about watering at the wrong time may seem like a lot of work but most city websites actually make it pretty easy to contact them. My city for example thanked me for telling them that the medians were being watered at 1pm, as they were supposed to be set for 1am. Someone made a mistake and who knows how long it took before a person did something about it. For those of you who don’t have much of a green thumb, heres a little lesson in water use and plant selection. When you choose plants for your yard or patio you want to look for native species that don’t require terraforming (literally translated, forming earth) or changing the water cycle of your area. You can get lots of information about what plants are native to your area online or at a respected nursery. If you plant a high water need fruit tree in your yard, but you live in a dessert community, you will obviously have to import far more water than would normally fall from the sky. You are changing the water cycle. If you planted a drought tolerant citrus tree you may still need to apply a little more water than would fall by natural precipitation but the overall usage is much much less. Basically we just have to accept that we can’t have everything we want just because the hose has always had water flowing out of it. That thinking needs to go extinct. But there are still many options for your home and yard that do comply with the climate you live in and the natural amount of rain fall. There is one exception. When planting a new tree or plant, you will almost always have to water it by hand for the first 6 months to a year while the roots take hold. After that, many plants and trees can be left on their own if you chose them carefully. Again, seek out advice from a respected nursery before spending your hard earned money and digging the hole. Many communities have a Home Depot but my experience is that many of the people working the garden center have not been trained to give any advice, they seem to say what they think. Im sure there are folks that have been trained, but they seem harder and harder to find at the big box stores.
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Jun
25
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (20.0MB)
Green: The more I learn about how household cleaners work, the more I wonder why more people don’t make their own. It’s really only the last 60 years or so that commercial cleaners have been the norm. Prior to that, kitchens, bathrooms (or more appropriately, water closets) and all the other rooms of peoples homes still got clean, but how did they do it? Turns out, all it takes is a little elbow grease and some of the very common and very cheap items you have in your home today. But the biggest reason for making your own cleaners….store bought chemicals are bad for you, your home and the environment. Im sure Dow chemical or Procter & Gamble would disagree, but remember, the companies who make store bought cleaners subscribe to the theory that its safe till someone proves it isn’t. And, they aren’t even required to disclose what the chemicals are because US law does not require them to do so. The European Union on the other hand already requires these companies to disclose all the chemicals they use. If you have any brain at all, you probably agree that its better to KNOW something is safe before it becomes a part of our environment. Many of the long named chemicals in these store bought cleansers may even appear to be safe when they are invented, but years or decades later are found to be linked to cancer, birth defects and a myriad of other health problems. In this episode of green blue and you, Im going to share some of the most common and easily made homemade cleaners, as well as give you a recipe or two for the concoctions I have whipped up and used in my own home. (One little disclaimer first, never never never mix commercial cleaners with other chemicals or cleaners, and don’t even mix a commercially made cleaner with a homemade cleanser. When finding a bottle or spray bottle to use, it is highly recommended that you purchase a few heavy duty spray bottles with well made sprayers and hard plastic handles, these will last much longer and don’t clog and leak like the very cheap sprayers that your commercial cleaners come in. Those cleaners purchased at the local piggly wiggly are mass produced and are not designed for reuse, they fail quickly and will likely leak all over your hands while you use them. When in doubt, look up your local ganitorial supply or talk to someone who cleans homes for a living). Now Before you clean anything remember, use reusable rags rather than paper towels or other disposables. First, lets look at the basics, the short list of items you will want to have to get started. Vineagar. Great for cooking, baking and cleaning. Vineagar comes in many colors and strengths. When it comes to cleaning, you will want to stick with a clear vineagar, which is the most commonly sold in your grocery or convenience store. Whatever you do, don’t use balsamic for cleaning. The dissolved solids that give it the dark color can stain. Vineagar has been used as a cleaner and antiseptic for literally thousands of years, a simple liquid made from fermenting grapes. The fermentation process creates acetic acid, the active ingredient in vineagar. You can find vineagar in the standard 5% acidity, but also higher levels of acidity that are better for removing hard water stains from showers, sinks and bath tubs. If you can find it, 7 or 8% acidity vineagar is better for cleaning since you are going to be diluting it with water anyway. A simple glass cleaner can be made from 1 cup vineagar, 1 cup distilled water and a few drops of dish soap. Use a dish soap that does not contain phosphates, these are actually becoming the norm nowadays and will not be hard to find since many manufacturers like to lable them as “containing no phosphates.” You want to avoid phosphates because they stay in the water supply and make it all the way out to the ocean. So theres your glass cleaner, which also works well on cook surfaces like your stove or range. Just spray, let set for a few moments and wipe away with a clean cotton rag. You have probably already heard of using straight vineagar to clean your coffee pot. Just brew two cups of vineagar through your coffee pot and it removes hard water build up and coffee stains. But don’t run that vineagar down the drain. Use it again to remove hard water from your sink or the glass in your shower. Just pour over the glass or sink and scrub with the abrasive pad of your choice. For a cleaner that also sanitizes you can use 1 cup vineagar, 1 cup distilled water, and half a teaspoon of tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is a natural oil that comes from the tea tree plant of Austrailia. The oil is very potent and should be used with caution, a small bottle goes a long way, and can be found in most natural foods stores. It smells very nice and the aroma generally stays around for a few days after you clean with it. If you feel the scent is too strong, use less in your solution. I should mention that vineagar also kills some pathogens, but the combination of vineagar and tea tree oil is more effective. What about rust stains? Easy. In a bowl mix a quarter cupe of baking soda and a good splash of water, mix till it becomes a paste. Dab this on the rust stain and scrub. Baking soda acts as an abrasive and a mild bleaching agent. You could use bleach, but there is more and more evidence that bleach may be linked to some cancers, and of most concern, breast cancer. Now you have a few recipes for homemade cleansers that really work and cost next to nothing. In a future episode I will cover a few more of the home cleaners you can make yourself. One word of caution when using any cleanser, even the homemade ones. Wearing a pair of dish gloves is always a good idea because even vineagar can start to crack the skin on your fingers and cause irritation, it is after all an acid. Sure you can drink vineagar, but the inside of your body is designed to deal with acids, not the outside of your body. Never get the mist from your cleaners in your eyes or spray into the air, spray directly onto surfaces or onto your rag to prevent them from getting in your eyes, nose or other mucous membranes. Check out the links on this weeks blog for some books and helpful websites that go into much more detail on the use and preparation of homemade cleaners.
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