OT: The GREEN Thread!
- Thread starter NaClH20NMYVEIN
- Start date
thepircs
Member
Living in sunny AZ has its advantages, here in NY we do not get enough sun to really get electrcity...have you thought of placing your tank where the sun can hit it for part of the day? Or there are tubes that will direct the sunlight to your tank in place MH...aluminum bottles are great! That is what we use also.
You can also put in rain barrels to catch your rain water...knowing it rains usually in the winter or during monsoon, but you can then use it for your xerioscape...
You can add newspaper to your compost as a brown ingredrient...the less food you throw away, the better!
This is a great thread...please keep the ideas coming!
When we moved out here from AZ we reduced our waste from a big barrel 2 times a week to one bag once a week...composting and recycling are great!
Carol
You can also put in rain barrels to catch your rain water...knowing it rains usually in the winter or during monsoon, but you can then use it for your xerioscape...
You can add newspaper to your compost as a brown ingredrient...the less food you throw away, the better!
This is a great thread...please keep the ideas coming!
When we moved out here from AZ we reduced our waste from a big barrel 2 times a week to one bag once a week...composting and recycling are great!
Carol
NaClH20NMYVEIN
Red Dragons!
Just wanted to bump this thread back up in hopes for some more discussion.
I just found a place today that recycles carpet and padding. It's called A1 Planet Recycling and they have 3 valley locations. They will recycle the carpet and pay you for the old used padding which they will then recycle. They can be found on google under their name.
I just found a place today that recycles carpet and padding. It's called A1 Planet Recycling and they have 3 valley locations. They will recycle the carpet and pay you for the old used padding which they will then recycle. They can be found on google under their name.
Pescado Racing
different orbital
I installed an Eco tech vortech pump to reduce the electric consumption on my tank. I went from 230W, two closed loop pumps. Down to 40W and more turn over.
NaClH20NMYVEIN
Red Dragons!
My wife does that and it is very commendable. I try to limit myself as best as I can......
psimitry
New member
The concept of the electric car is an interesting one. It really drives me insane when people say that it's "emission free." I hear it rather commonly, and I'm like "yo! Electricity doesn't just poof out of thin air!" (yes, I know there's Solar, but at present not a lot of our power comes from solar (which should hopefully change soon)).
Additionally, the pollution produced in making an electric car battery is REALLY, REALLY nasty.
Which is not to say that I'm not a fan of Electric cars, but personally I don't see them as the be all and end all. I especially laughed when I saw the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car." And there was a bunch of conspiracy theories as to why the GM EV1 didn't work out. Not one theory was posited in that documentary that "The EV1 was crap." And it was. I test drove one over at Saturn of Tempe when they came out. Performance on them was abysmal. They accelerated poorly, had crappy top end, near zero cargo space, and was all-in-all just crappy. More importantly, the EV1 was ONLY worth it to a family that had a second vehicle (yet the movie posited that it could be a family's only car).
But yeah - the sad thing is that when I go into one of these rants about electric cars, people assume that I don't like them. In fact, that couldn't be further from the truth. Electric only cars are great IF you have another vehicle that you can take on vacations and whatnot.
I personally think that the better option for now would be for us to try to turn our attention from gas-burning vehicles to high-efficiency diesel. My buddy's diesel VW currently is able to pull down about 55-60 MPG (though to be fair, his engine isn't stock).
The best possible option, in my opinion (short of the pipe-dream that may be hydrogen fueled cars), would be plug-in hybrid cars with high-efficiency diesel engines on the fuel burning side.
Veganman
New member
We are overpopulated.
That's a little drastic IMO.
I'm Vegan to help stop the suffering and death, not provoke people to commit murder. LOL!!!!!
Enjoy your burgers!
After all, A LOT of water and energy was used inefficiently to make them.
I couldn't agree more! My Smart car averages 41 mpg on gas. The US didn't allow the diesel Smart (70+ mpg) to be imported last year.
We could be doing so much more................
Big Oil conspiracy? LOL!
SonsOfLeda
New member
Thanks! I figure I'm doing my part to reduce the 18% of all greenhouse gasses produced by cattle, hogs, poultry and other animals by eating them (compared to 13% from trucks, cars and other transportation).
Fair arguments or not, we each have our points.My problem isn't with your lifestyle (it's actually the best thing than any of us could do to live green), but with your condescending tone - intentional or not. I simply don't see eye to eye with anyone who would lump the following statements into the same group: "Using nuclear bombs in moderation is good. Eating meat in moderation is good. Violence against kids in moderation is good. Racism in moderation is good. AIDS in moderation is good."
Having said that, I am absolutely aware that if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. We don't all have to be anchors in this tug of war - we just need everyone pulling in the same direction.
You do your thing, I'll do mine.
Now, to stay on topic: Get a "recycled pet"! One of the biggest misconceptions about animal shelters is that the only companions available are "damaged goods". I think both my dog, Mackenzie, and my cat, Isis, would find that statement just a bit offensive. Yes, a percentage of these animals have been physically or emotionally scarred, but who's to say that an animal acquired from breeder won't be? Humanitarian issues aside, the environmental impact of this is huge! They have to eat, be sheltered and even the destruction process is resource intensive. Animals that turn feral wreak a heavy toll on the environment, killing billions of native animals a year. By going through your local animal shelter, you'll more than likely be getting a pet that has been both immunized and spayed/neutered. The pet would have also been screened to a degree to see if it is able to assimilate into a new home. Not to mention that the money you spend will go toward the incredible work of finding each and every one of these pets homes. There really isn't a more environmentally friendly way of finding a pet than getting one that's been tossed aside by another thoughtless person.
*The More You Know*
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Veganman
New member
Illogical.
This only makes the problem worse. Supply & demand.
I would like to know who said this:
"Using nuclear bombs in moderation is good. Eating meat in moderation is good. Violence against kids in moderation is good. Racism in moderation is good. AIDS in moderation is good."
What horrible rhetoric! LOL!!!
See how easy it is! Just 1 meal a week makes a BIG difference!
Awesome!
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SonsOfLeda
New member
I absolutely agree. I even said myself that it wasn't sound logic by any stretch of the imagination.
My intention was simply to setup the comparison between the sources of greenhouse gasses that we are directly/indirectly producing.Now we're seeing eye to eye.
While thinking about my response to your original post, the phrase, "Everything in moderation," kept running through my head. Then, when I really thought about it, I realized how simpleminded that philosophy actually is. So, rather than including it and consequently get (justifiably) squashed for doing so, I wanted to make it quite clear that that's not at all what I was implying. I did a pretty good job of doing so, don't you think? At the same time, there are those extremists that do lump these "evils" together, which I'm sure we'd agree is nothing short of insane.Isn't it?
NaClH20NMYVEIN
Red Dragons!
Earth Day/Earth Week Bump!
GlaringToast
New member
This thread Is a little to controversial for my blood. Especially being a meat lover. All I would like to say is, you're all conscious of the environment which means you're doing SOMETHING no matter how big or small, so who cares who is the more effecient of the two? You never hear anyone razzin' the guy that's not recylcing his heroin needles, only the guy that is actually doing something but refuses to give up a part his lifestyle. It's cool that you want (and are) contributing in the best way you feel possible, but it doesn't mean you have to become a Vegan to be proactive in making a change. If you make the choice to do so, that's great and that decision is for you, but not everyone can or is willing to sacrifice their lifestyles. In short, if you're trying to make a difference in any way, you're already doing more than most people.
macboat
Nano simplicity
Driving habits
Following good driving habits will save a lot of gas.
This came up to me one day and I experimented on my new car.
Here is what I did.
1). Drive at 65 miles on highway.
2). Use cruise control.
3). Smooth driving, easy on the pedal.
Before my experiments, my average MPG is 16.6 and now it sustained at 19.5 to 19.7. That is 18% improvements.
If you go extreme, accelerate to 55 mile in 40 seconds, try not to use brake at all and keep at 55 using cruise control, the result is even amazing. I tried it one day and got 21.6 MPG, which is 30% improvement! (Well, not recommended...)
Following good driving habits will save a lot of gas.
This came up to me one day and I experimented on my new car.
Here is what I did.
1). Drive at 65 miles on highway.
2). Use cruise control.
3). Smooth driving, easy on the pedal.
Before my experiments, my average MPG is 16.6 and now it sustained at 19.5 to 19.7. That is 18% improvements.
If you go extreme, accelerate to 55 mile in 40 seconds, try not to use brake at all and keep at 55 using cruise control, the result is even amazing. I tried it one day and got 21.6 MPG, which is 30% improvement! (Well, not recommended...)
SonsOfLeda
New member
All based on how your car is geared, of course. That's why I've been a fan of my manual transmission car since the day I got it.
Regardless, good suggestions!
For a long time, the US focus on emission control prevented us from investing too heavily in diesel. More recently, the Europeans have really advanced the science of "clean diesel". It wouldn't be surprising to me if we saw an American diesel rennaissance in the next few years, whether as part of hybrids or as the only power source for cars.
There's a company in Texas called EEStor that is working on an ultracapacitor for plug-in electric vehicles. If it really works the way they claim it will, the electric car industry could shift into high gear very quickly. The Electrical Energy Storage Unit (EESU) is supposed to be able to give an electric car a 300 mile range between charges, fully charge in less than 20 minutes, cost thousands of dollars less than the equivalent lead/acid or lithium ion batteries, and have a self-discharge rate of 0.1% per month. With statistics like that, the car wouldn't need to be a hybrid at all. The catch is that the company hasn't demonstrated a prototype yet. Some scientists and engineers doubt that it's physically possible to build an EESU as described. Until they unveil a working prototype, it's just a neat theory.
In terms of the vegan/non-vegan debate, there was an argument made a couple of years ago that the high-intensity farming required to feed everyone a vegan diet would kill more animals each year (by accidental deaths during harvesting) than the meat industry. Since then, other authors have questioned the statistics used in the original article.
I'm reminded of an old Bloom County strip, where Milo, Binkley and friends wound up hanging from ropes tied to a tree to avoid stepping on insects, and breathing through handkerchiefs to avoid slaughtering bacteria in their lungs. The message in the end was that this is a morally complex world, and utter purity is just not possible here. I personally avoid eating animal flesh because of gout, but I'm not about to give up cheese.
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61scout80
New member
A few notes. i agree about the emission free statement with electric cars. While the driver may no see the damage coming from the car, it is indeed still derived from electricity. about 50% of the united states electricity is produced from coal. so, if we start fueling our cars with electricity we will be putting more demand on those coal fired power plants. I would love to see how much CO2 is produced per electric car charge. its also estimated that coal fired power plants in the us emit 48 TONS of mercury a year.
The electric car does indeed have a tail pipe, and this is what it looks like:
No on to your comment about diesel. I drive a 2003 diesel vw jetta. The car averages 48 mpg. we also have a 2008 gas powered vw rabbit. when i drive that car i only average 26 mpg, nearly half the fuel mileage as the diesel. A few friends of mine have full size diesel pick ups that average nearly twice the mileage their gas counterparts provide.
So some simple math would show that if America would switch to diesel for its daily driving fleet we would require less fuel. think about this, for easy math lets use my jetta and rabbit. the gas powered car needs fuel every 2 weeks, the diesel car needs fuel every 4 weeks.
if there were more diesels on the road less volume of fuel would be consumed, running the trucks to the fuel station from the refinery half as much, having the refineries produce half as much, and having the massive cargo tankers move fuel from the other side of the planet half as much. Imagine the impact of that? basically taking half the emissions of shipping fuel out of the equation because more people drive diesel powered cars?
Lets take it one step further. there is a local company ( www.azbiodiesel.com ) that collects waste vegetable oil from local restaurants and produces CLEAN burning biodiesel from it. there is also someone in new mexico developing a biodiesel from algae production method. now we all know americans are addicted to fast food, and algae is simple to grow. with both these technologies gaining steam, and with more diesels on the road we can greatly reduce the need to ship crude oil accross the planet, while become less dependant on other nations. Rudolf diesel developed his engine to run off peanut oil. lets get back to that.
and one more thought to tack on is that VW is developing a diesel electric hybrid that can get 85 mpg. imagine that? 850 miles on 10 gallons of fuel?
