Tag Archives: being green

Being Green: Radical Transformations

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Hi Folks:

Friday once again, so that means it’s ‘Being Green‘ day here on our blog.  It seems to me there are basically two ways to progress, and both can have their place.  One is to take an existing technology and improve on it.  For example, virtually every fixed-wing aircraft in the world today is a variation of the ‘Wright Flyer‘ first flown by the Wright Brothers in 1903.  However, when Igor Sikorsky first flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 in 1939, he ‘launched’ (pun intended) an entirely different mode of flight. (NB: The VS-300 is popularly known as the first successful helicopter.  The De Bothezat helicopter did fly some 20 years earlier, but was highly unstable and the project was scrapped.) Continue Reading →

Being Green – Car Alarms…

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Hi Folks:

Friday has wound its way around once again, so it must be time for this week’s ‘Being Green‘ post.  Now, if you’ve been around for more than the past few decades you probably remember a time before car alarms were invented.  While these alarms have gotten a lot more sophisticated since they were first invented, what most people associate with them is the screeching siren that accompanies them.  When these alarms first came out people were generally appreciative of them, but that transitioned to annoyance, and now, for the most part, people ignore them.  One poll in England found that car alarms are the ‘most irritating piece of technology ever invented‘.  When a car alarm goes off today, most passersby won’t even bother to lift their gaze from their smart phones. Continue Reading →

Being Green – Consciousness and the Environment

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Hi Folks:

Friday once again, and time for this week’s ‘Being Green‘ post.  I’m going to take a slightly different tack this week (and some people might think I’ve gone off track completely) but if you have a wander through the 14 different post categories on our site you’ll find that we cover scientific topics in some and more esoteric topics such as poetry and spirituality in others.  In truth, however, our lives are a blend of both and we make no effort to separate or distinguish our spiritual lives from our day-to-day existence.

Having said that, in this post I’m not going to be covering the topic of religion per se, but rather what some might refer to as esoteric sciences.  And no, that’s not a contradiction in terms.  Skeptics aside, there have been and continue to be a number of people who are working to combine the fields of science (quantum physics, for example) with fields such as parasychology and different spiritual traditions.  If I was going to pick two names off the top of my head I’d probably go with Dr. Fred Alan Wolf and Dr. Dean Radin, but there are many more, people like Lynne McTaggart or Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, current director of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Continue Reading →

Being Green – Celebrate!

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Hi Folks:

Happy Friday!  End of the week and time for the ‘Being Green‘ post.  It’s going to be a short post this week, mostly because it’s too beautiful outside to invest too much time in front of a computer.  So, in honour of today’s beautiful weather and in honour of summer in general, I thought I’d just offer a couple of links to things that are worth celebrating (from a ‘green’ perspective):

First is a development I recently heard about in Germany called ‘Solarsiedlung (Solar Village)‘, which has the main building (Sonnenschiff (Solar Ship)) at its heart.  This community  incorporates many ‘green’ standards, including rooftop gardens, rainwater collection, passive solar orientation, a woodchip boiler for winter heating and Passivhaus standards for construction, but the reason for the ‘Solar Village’ moniker is the huge number of solar panels in use in the project.  Not only does their use make the project ‘net-zero’, it actually produces more energy than it uses.  Four times more energy… which definitely makes it energy positive.  The designer of the Solar Village project is Rolf Disch.  You can find out more about this and other projects on his website; he also has a site on what he terms ‘PlusEnergy‘.  In a time when people are wondering what they can do to help reduce their energy costs, this development proves that it’s possible to go far beyond that, in a practical way.

Second, Cree Lighting and Habitat for Humanity have begun construction on the first Habitat house that will incorporate all LED lighting.  According to the Cree website, lighting is the single biggest energy user in the average home, at 22% of energy use.  I did a blog post on lighting a while back, and while LEDs do have some disadvantages, at the moment they’re the most efficient and most environmentally friendly lighting technology.  Continued development can only make them better.

Next, a little fun with a story about three swimming pools on Park Avenue in New York city.  The project was done by the development company Macro Sea, in cooperation with the city of New York.  Each pool is made from a converted dumpster, and completely portable.  Drop it off the back of a truck, fill it with water, plug in the filter and have fun!  The pools opened at 7:00 a.m. daily, and from the images I’ve seen there was no shortage of participants!  Given the heat islands presented by most cities, this is a great idea.

And finally, for now, also from New York, the office tower at One Bryant Park has become the first office tower to achieve LEED Platinum certification.  That’s something that’s definitely worth celebrating!!

Okay, the links for this week include:

Okay, that’s it for now. Have a great week!
Mike.

P.S. Looking for something to do with your summer? How about making some giant soap bubbles? (YouTube video) We’ve had a lot of fun with ours over the years – we even had them at our wedding reception!! You can get them here: BubbleThing The ingredients are non-toxic, and they really are a lot of fun for kids of all ages.

Being Green… Why?

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Hi Folks:

Friday once again, so that means it’s time for this week’s ‘Being Green‘ post.  I usually come up with a subject for each week’s post sometime during the week based on an inspiration that I have or something I come across, but this week I was coming up empty…

Then today I came across a blog post with the title, “Why Ask Why? It’s a Good Sustainability Starting Point“.  The post does make some good points for any company at the beginning stages of determining their sustainability strategy, and is well worth reading. Continue Reading →

Being Green – Virtually

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Hi Folks:

Yes, it’s Saturday and I usually do my ‘Being Green‘ posts on Fridays, but we had family visiting and between you and me I’d rather run around with a 2-year old at the park than sit in front of a computer screen.  There, my secret is out, and I can expect my offical ‘geek’ status to be revoked.  Oh well…

So, last Thursday (August 5) was the ‘Global Green Expo‘, a virtual tradeshow that lasted roughly eight hours and featured virtual booths, webinars, speakers and more on the topics of being green, sustainability and corporate responsibility.  Before someone raises their virtual hand and exclaims that computers aren’t ‘green’ in and of themselves, yes, I’ll concede that point.  Computers, from their manufacturer to their use to their disposal as ‘e-waste’ pose their share of toxic challenges.  However, it’s also true that computers aren’t going away anytime soon, and more and more people are transiting from stationary desktop units to web-enabled cell phones and tablet computers; if nothing else, less material is used in their construction.  Anyway, I’m not here to debate that point.  Even people like Dr. David Suzuki have lamented that his job of raising awareness on environmental issues requires him to travel in airplanes and make use of the  television/radio/ internet airwaves, but it’s a cost he accepts. Continue Reading →

Being Green – A Hand Up

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Hi Folks:

Well, since my absence from this area of our blog last Friday, in a way one could say this is last week’s ‘Being Green‘ post.

The phrase ‘A Hand Up, not a Handout‘ is a common one among those involved with programs around the world that help people improve their life situations, and in its own way it is a common thread running through all of them. There are many, MANY good programs around the world that are working in myriad ways, and while it’s impossible to profile all of them, I thought I’d mention a couple with the intent that these provide impetus for you to start your own search to find one that resonates with you. Many of these groups deal with food in one way or another, and while food may the most basic ‘green’ subject of all, the procurement of food is such a basic necessity that it can overlay other, larger concerns, like environmental destruction, deforestation, wildlife loss, etc. My own knowledge of this first came through a couple of friends who volunteered their time with a group called Plenty Canada. My friends and I have parted ways over the years, but at that time Plenty Canada was involved in a number of different projects around the world – from teaching farmers in Dominica to grow soybeans for consumption and sale rather than sugar for export – to installing wells and catchment basins for clean drinking water and planting fruit trees in Africa. I’m sure their work continues apace. Continue Reading →

Being Green – Literally

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Hi Folks:

It’s Friday once again, and normally that would mean today’s ‘Being Green‘ post. However, a few days ago a somewhat persistent bacteria decided to move in, and I’ve invested my time since then mostly in bed with all of the usual effects – fevers and sweats and general malaise. One might say I look a little ‘green around the gills’ as the saying goes. So, no post from me this week, but I do encourage you to continue living a ‘green’ lifestyle in all ways but this one!

Mike.

Being Green – Keeping Cool…

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Happy Friday, everyone!

Well it’s 28o C here in our little corner of the planet as I write this week’s ‘Being Green‘ post.  Not as hot as some of the places on the planet, but still enough to make one consider moving to Australia for the next little while.  As the recent grid failure in the greater Toronto area can attest, people are doing what they can to stay cool despite the heat – no matter the ‘cost’ – and that got me thinking about green tips to stay cool.  I did an Ecosia search on that and it pulled up over 8.6 million links; obviously I’m not the only one to consider this.

If you’re designing a new structure, the choices are many, limited primarily by budget and design.  Site selection, passive solar and extra insulation are all good considerations, and there are many green products, both existing and new that can make your new building more energy efficient.  A couple of things you may not have considered include both the colour of your roof and the colour of your exterior walls.  Black shingle roof tiles may look good, but they absorb a lot of heat.  I’ve seen several homes in this area recently that have been painted a dark charcoal and the same applies there.

If your home has an attic, proper ventilation of the attic space can prevent a buildup of heat above the ceiling.  Again, if you’re building or renovating, consider the most energy efficient doors and windows you can afford.  They’ll not only prevent heat loss in the winter, but they’ll help keep your house cool in the summer.  Careful installation is equally imporant, as air gaps will allow hot air out in the winter and in during summer.  If your location allows it, keep some of the windows open from late evening to early morning as they’ll help cool the house overnight but be sure to close them before the day heats up.  Blinds or draperies (especially those in a lighter colour) can help shield some of the sun’s rays, as do awnings.

Fans (whether ceiling fans or portable ones) do nothing to lower the temperature of a room but the movement of air will help with evaporation of perspiration from your skin, which can help to lower your body temperature.  Keeping that in mind, leaving a fan running when you go out serves no real purpose other than to drive up your electricity bill.  Also, if you live in an area that has both high heat and high humidity, consider a dehumifier.  Lowering the humidy of the air in your controlled space will allow you to raise the temperature of your air conditioning unit while still feeling cool.

Air conditioners, whether portable or central are becoming more and more common, and are adding to the energy demands of virtually every municipality.  Like your furnace, ensure that your A/C unit is properly serviced to keep it running efficiently.  If it has a filter, keep it clean.  Try to use it only as a last resort, and keep in mind that a thermostat is simply a switch activated by heat.  Turning down your thermostat will not cool your house any quicker, but it will force the cooling system to run longer to reach the lower temperature setting.

Heat pumps – whether air-source or ground-source provide both heating in cooler weather and cooling in warmer weather.  Ground-source heat pumps are much more efficient than air-source heat pumps, but they also involve more extensive installation and are more expensive up front.

Remember that everything that uses electricity generates heat, albeit some more than others.  Do you really need to run your clothes dryer in the middle of the day, or could you wait until evening?  How about a clothesline?  Can you wash your clothes in cold water?  Ditto the stove/oven; a microwave uses much less energy than an oven.  A ‘full’ dishwasher uses less water than doing dishes by hand, but leave the dry cycle off.    How old is your refrigerator?  What’s its efficiency rating?  Have you thought about what you want before you open the fridge/freezer door?  Make sure your kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans remove air to the outside, and/or open the window when taking a shower.

Have you replaced the incandescent light bulbs in your house with either CFLs or LED lights?  We owe a debt of gratitude to the inventors of the electric light bulb (Edison included) but the standard light bulb generates far more heat than light, as anyone who has ever used an ‘Easy Bake Oven‘ can attest.  Are you familiar with the ‘phantom electrical loads‘ in your house?  These waste energy, but they also generate heat.

On a personal level, wear loose-fitting clothing that is of a natural material.  Confine activity to cooler periods of the day when at all possible.  Drink plenty of water, and stay away from beverages that contain high levels of sugar and caffeine.  Caffeine stimulates the body’s systems and sugar inhibits water absorption by the cells.  Remember that if you’re thirsty you’ve already lost too much water.  Hunger is also often a sign of dehydration.  Drinking hot liquids/ eating spicy foods enables the body’s air conditioning system by making you perspire.  If you’re overheated, lie down and place a cool wet cloth on your forehead or at the back of your neck.  Be aware of the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, in yourself and others.

There are many more possibilities, some of them simple and some more complex.  Examples may be found here and here.  Above all, stay cool!  A relaxed mental attitude will go a long way to keeping your body healthy too.

Okay, this week’s links include many I’ve come across this past week, but there are also some links that I discovered when weeding out my bookmarks file – oldies but goodies:

Okay, that’s it for now.

Have a great week!
Mike.

P.S. Global Giving is a group that matches donors with non-profits, and their Green Open Challenge is currently underway. To win, a group needs to recruit at least 50 donors who will donate at least $4000 (collectively, not individually) – an average of $80 each. To some people $80 is a lot of money; to others it won’t even pay for dinner.

All of the causes are worth supporting.  As an example, one of this years participants is Vakan’Ala, a group from Madagascar that is working to reforest the country. Right now Madagascar loses 100,000 ha of forest per year, in a country that is only 58.7 million ha in total area. Their request is here: Primary Forest Restoration in Madagascar

Being Green – Celebrations

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Hi Folks:

Well, the topic for this week’s ‘Being Green’ post is ‘Celebrations’, and there’s a lot to celebrate this weekend. If you live in Canada or are an expat Canadian living elsewhere in the world, Happy Canada Day, +1!

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!

Continue Reading →