Category: Environment

50 Tips on Living Green

This is exactly what you think it is: 50 Green Tips for Earth Day and Beyond

A nice reminder of all the things you can do on a daily basis to make the world a little better.

Some samples from the list:
14. Go to your local library instead of buying new books.
18. If you use plastic grocery bags, recycle them for doggie poop bags or for small trashcan liners.
21. Consider organic cleaning products like vinegar, borax, and baking soda.
33. Limit the length of your showers. Even better, take a “navy shower,” shutting off the water while soaping up and shampooing.
46. Good to the last drop. Switch to fair trade coffee.

Public Transit Best Way to Cut Carbon Output

Taking public transit is a fast and easy way to reduce the amount of carbon that you release into the air every year. According to the American Public Transportation Association taking public transit instead of driving is the best thing one can do to cut their CO2 emissions.

That personal carbon reduction deserves a closer look. Twenty pounds a day works out to more than 4,800 pounds a year, assuming a 240-day work week. That impact is much greater than many other changes people are frequently encouraged to make, including weatherizing the home and adjusting the thermostat (about 2,800 pounds a year); replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (about 90 pounds per bulb a year); and replacing an old refrigerator with a high-efficiency one (about 335 pounds a year).

New Zealand to be Powered by 90% Renewable Energy

Kiwis like the environment so much that they want to make their country carbon neutral! For now, they have committed to produce 90% of their energy by using renewable resources. This is fantastic news that will hopefully inspire other developed nations to do the same.

The country already uses 70% renewable electricity, primarily hydro- and geothermal power and will continue to increase its use of renewables over the next 20 years.

Eventually, the Prime Minister would like to see the country carbon-neutral. “I have set out the challenge to our nation to become the first truly sustainable nation on earth…to dare to aspire to be carbon neutral,” Prime Minister Clarke said.

Green TV

There are already a lot of video sharing services out there on the internet, and some clever folks have caught onto this and have created a site dedicated to the environment.

green.tv is a web TV channel dedicated to the environment. The aim of green.tv is to raise awareness of environmental issues, especially climate change. We try to do this by collating watchable, engaging films and publishing them online.

It’s too bad that they don’t have embedable videos because I would have loved to put one here.

Countries Agree that Ozone Layer is Good

In what is deemed an historic agreement all the nations of the UN have agreed to speed up the pace of phasing out of a dangerous chemical compound known as HCFC. HCFCs replaced the more dangerous CFCs (they both cause damage to the ozone layer) many years ago and now are now ready to be replaced themselves. It’s good to see another damaging chemical will be used less and less with every coming year.

Governments of 190 countries, in addition to the European Commission, agreed to freeze production of HCFCs at average 2009-10 levels in 2013. That deadline replaces an earlier target of 2016.
Developed countries also have agreed to end HCFC production in 2020, instead of 2030. The pact also says that by 2010 they will reduce production and consumption of HCFCs by 75 per cent and then by 90 per cent by 2015, five years before their final phase-out.