Dating ideas

Huddler's Green Home — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:55:04 PDT

Looking for something more environmentally friendly than your typical dinner-and-a-movie date? Here are several green ideas:

Pick up your date in something other than a car

Tandem bicycles or Rollerblades are a fun green way to get around. For bikes, check your local rental shop. Rollerblades can often be found at secondhand stores. Be sure to bring a backpack to carry spare shoes!

Skip the store-bought cut flowers

They are covered in pesticides, and won't last more than a week or two. If you really want to give a token of your affection, consider a potted plant, or flowers picked from your own garden. Or bring some fresh, local, organic produce! Nothing says "love" like strawberries.

Consider an outdoors date

Long walks along the beach (or lake, or river) are romantic, free, and non-polluting.
Check out what events are being held by your local state parks. Some parks even offer rental equipment (canoes, skis, etc).
Think about packing a picnic using Pyrex dishes to store the food, and real plates, silverware, and glasses that can be taken home to be washed afterward. Local food and organic winewill definitely set the mood.

Think about staying in

No transportation needed!
Turn the lights off for a candlelit dinner.
Cook with local, in-season ingredients.
Pretend you're old-school and woo your date with poetry, or perform a little serenade on that dusty guitar.
Get a little crazy and play board games!
If the weather permits and if you have a backyard, get cozy in a two-person hammock.

And if things go really well, check out this wiki on how to Green Your Bedroom Fun.

Huddler's tight-knit community of eco-minded consumers share their knowledge about sustainable products and services ranging from electric cars to organic toothpaste. This post was originally published at http://greenhome.huddler.com/wiki/dating-ideas. Click here to participate.

Junk your junk mail

Huddler Green Home — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:27:02 PDT

Use these nine tips to help save some of the 100 million trees chopped down annually to produce junk mail in the United States:

Register your name with the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service. After you do this, the DMA will add you to its "Do Not Mail" database.

If you do business with a company via mail services, it will put you on its contact list. So the first time you make a transaction (such as placing an order) with that company, ask to be put on its "in-house suppress" or "do not promote" lists. Tell the company not to "rent" or share your name with other companies.

To stop junk mail from credit card, mortgage, and insurance companies, try going to OptOutPreScreen.com which allows you to remove your name from lists generated by the four major credit bureaus-- Equifax, Innovis, TransUnion, and Experian.

Get the Stop the Junk Mail Kit from the Consumer Research Institute. This kit comes with pre-addressed postcards for you to send to companies that send you those annoying catalogs, wasteful postcards, and unnecessary brochures.

Several subscription services will reduce your junk mail for you. You can pay a fee to join Stop the Junk Mail which offers an online service to reduce junk mail. Also, check out GreenDimes - for a dime a day, this service will reduce your junk mail and plant a tree in your name every month.

If you're fed up with other types of junk (faxes, email, phone calls, etc.), take a look at JunkBusters.com.

Try calling the phone number listed under the publisher details on the junk mail. Often if you call or email, the company will remove you from the mailing list for a publication.

Yahoo! Green invites you to:

Kick the catalogs

Reduce the number of catalogs jamming your mailbox by 75%. We'll show you how to do it, and lower your CO2 emissions by 30 lbs this year.

Challenge provided by Carbonrally

If you've done everything above and there's still a trickle of junk still getting through, try one of these "Return to Waster" stamps, stamp the junk, and put it into a mailbox. Unless the marketer paid for first-class mail, the the junk isn't likely to make it back to the company; stamping the junk is more of an act of protest. The more people who do it, however, the more attention the issue will get.

And if, after all that, a few pieces of junk mail get through, try upcycling. Turn your junk mail into pieces of art, bookmarks, packing materials, envelopes, and more.

Huddler's tight-knit community of eco-minded consumers share their knowledge about sustainable products and services ranging from electric cars to organic toothpaste. Click here to participate.

Guide to pocket guides

Huddler's Green Home — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:32:24 PDT

Huddler’s tight-knit community of eco-minded consumers share their knowledge about sustainable products and services ranging from electric cars to organic toothpaste. Click here to participate.

These days, there's tons of stuff to avoid ... seafood with mercury ... produce covered in pesticides ... chemicals in cosmetics. How do you keep it all straight?

Have no fear. Green pocket guides (or wallet guides or cell-phone-accessible guides) can be your backup when you forget what's good for you and what's not.

Here's a rundown of some of your (free) options for green pocket guides to seafood, toys and more:

Format	Guide Name & Source	Description
Seafood
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Pocket seafood selector from Environmental Defense Fund	This pocket guide outlines all the best, ok, and worst choices for seafood. It has information on choices that are low (or high) in environmental contaminants, as well as which choices are high in omega-3 fatty acids.
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	2008 Seafood Watch Pocket Guides for the US (as well as 6 regional guides) from the Monterey Bay Aquarium	The new 2008 guides offer best, ok, and worst choices for seafood on a national scale, for the west coast, southwest, Hawaii, central US, southeast, and northeast. They also come in Spanish.
Cell phone guide	Seafood Watch mobile guide from Monterey Bay Aquarium	Log on to "mobile.seafoodwatch.org" for the latest mobile pocket guide.
Cell phone guide	Seafood selector from Environmental Defense Fund	Visit m.edf.org/seafood on your cell phone to get the EDF Seafood Selector (complete with health and environmental information).
Cell phone guide	FishPhone from Blue Ocean Institute	To find out about your seafood choice, text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question. They’ll text you back with an assessment and better alternatives to fish with significant environmental concerns. For their mobile guide, log on to http://www.fishphone.org/ on your phone.
Plastic
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Smart Shopper's Plastic Picks from The Green Guide	This guide goes over plastics 1-7 and tells you which to use, which to avoid, and what products commonly use those types of plastic.
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Healthy Teethers and Pacifiers from Healthy Child Healthy World	This guide gives advice for selecting teethers and pacifiers made from natural materials and plastic ones that do not contain BPA or phthalates.
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Healthy Toys from Healthy Child Healthy World	This guide gives advice for selecting toys made from natural materials and finding plastic toys that do not contain BPA or phthalates.
Produce
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce from FoodNews.org (Environmental Working Group)	This guide tells you which types of produce rank as the highest 12 (worst) and lowest 12 (best) in terms of pesticide use.
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Organic Essentials from the Organic Center	This guide is a nice (visually pleasing) run-down of which conventional domestically grown and imported fruits and vegetables pose the greatest risk for pesticide exposure (i.e. which types of produce you should buy organic).
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Healthy Formula and Food from Healthy Child Healthy World	This guide explains which formulas are safest (low or no BPA contamination), which baby foods are best, and tips for reducing children's exposure to contaminants in food.
Restaurants
Pocket/walled (PDF)	Chefs Collaborative Restaurant Guide from Stonyfield Farms and Chefs Collaborative	This guide gives you a list of 160 restaurants (and their locations) all over the US that promote sustainable cuisine.
Cosmetics
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	The Dirty Dozen from The Green Guide	This cut-to-the-chase list gives you the names of 12 ingredients to avoid in personal care products.
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Pocket beauty guide from Ideal Bite	This wallet guide tells you the top 5 synthetic chemicals to avoid in your beauty products.
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Healthy Baby Care Products from Healthy Child Healthy World	This guide outlines what ingredients to avoid in baby care products, which products are safer, recipes for safer alternatives, and tips for reducing chemical exposures.
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Healthy Mommy Care Products from Healthy Child Healthy World	This guide lists which ingredients to avoid in women's care products and cosmetics, which products are safer, and tips for reducing exposure to chemicals.
Pocket/wallet (PDF)	Healthy Sunscreens from Healthy Child Healthy World	This guide lists ingredients to avoid in sunscreens, tips for safely using sunscreens, and the safest sunscreens to purchase.

How to maximize hybrid efficiency

Huddler's Green Home Community — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:08:41 PDT

Huddler’s tight-knit community of eco-minded consumers share their knowledge about sustainable products and services ranging from electric cars to organic toothpaste. Click here to participate.

The key to a hybrid vehicle's gas sipping tendencies is that it's not always relying on the gas-powered engine to propel the car. The electric batteries in the car have enough juice to move the vehicle at certain speeds for periods of time, so the key is to maximize the opportunities for relying on the batteries.

Check out this wiki to learn how hybrid cars work. Some tips are below and please add your own:

Avoid driving in windy, snowy, rainy, or otherwise inclement weather conditions. Poor weather will decrease your hybrid’s fuel economy.
Avoid driving during rush hour. Ideal driving conditions in a Prius include long stretches of road with few stops and an average speed limit of 45 mph.
Accelerate as much as possible on the battery before letting it switch over to the engine (for example, if you stop at a light or in traffic, etc.). Acceleration is a big gas guzzler in any car, so putting even part of the load on the battery will minimize your most inefficient driving.
Try to time a well-known route so that you'll hit all the green lights. Do this by adjusting your speed between lights so that you'll arrive just as the green switches or traffic starts moving. You won't miss every light every time, but reducing the number of times you come to a complete stop will increase your mileage. (Plus, you won't be sitting there twiddling your thumbs on red.)
Try to plan your errands in the most direct route to accomplish all of them in one outing.
Make sure your tires are fully pumped. Incorrect tire pressure is responsible for the production of an additional 18.4 metric tons of CO₂ which end up in the atmosphere each year.
Take your foot off the gas pedal as soon as you know you need to slow down.
Maximize the “glide” action of the vehicle. The speed range which works bests for the “pulse and glide” technique is between 30 and 40 miles per hour. When driving less that 40 mph, gliding can occur with the engine off; above 40 mph, the engine will spin even when it’s off. Pulsing refers to gently holding the accelerator down after reaching the appropriate speed. After a brief pulse, ease up and glide. Repeat as needed.
Don't speed! The faster you go, the more gas you use. If you decide to "pulse and glide," you might gently accelerate to the speed limit, then glide on the battery as far as you can. Gentle acceleration is key.
Driving on hilly roads: Instead of trying to maintain one speed up and down the hills, let yourself speed up a bit going down and slow down a bit going up. Just be careful not to speed or anger the cars behind you -- they probably won't appreciate the technique.
Don't run your heater or A/C. This is a bit more extreme, depending on where you live. Roll down the windows in summer, and wear gloves or a hat in the winter. Rolling down your windows is better (mileage-wise) than using the A/C (although at faster speeds, like on the highway, opening your windows can increase drag). Bring a beverage either way, preferably in a reusable mug!

Old nylons, new uses

Huddler's Green Home Community — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:04:43 PDT

Huddler’s tight-knit community of eco-minded consumers share their knowledge about sustainable products and services ranging from electric cars to organic toothpaste. Click here to participate.

We dedicate this to all our stockings that have bit the dust.

Many women have felt the frustration of being all dressed up when disaster strikes -- a run in your nylons. Maybe it's small and in an inconspicuous spot and can be salvaged with clear nail polish.

But if the run is beyond hope, here are some great alternative uses for your damaged stockings.

Nylons can:

Tie up things, like plants that need to be staked.
Filter old paint from one can into a new can. Just stretch the nylon across the top of the new can and pour the old paint through it. It will filter out lumps and dried paint.
Store scraps of soap. Collect enough pieces, and tie the stocking off. It will made a good soap scrubber
Protecting very small items, like handkerchiefs and doilies, in the washing machine and dryer (low temp). They may need ironing afterward, but lace trim and hem-stitching will be safe from the zippers and rivets of other clothes, and they won't find their way into the lint trap.
Be made into sachets ... put in some lavender flowers, cedar chips, or your favorite potpourri; tie a knot; cut above the knot; repeat up the leg and then toss the little bundles in drawers, shoe boxes, the pockets of stored coats ... wherever.
Remove cat hair from furniture. Pull the stocking over your hand, and wipe down your couches and chairs. It creates static and the hairs come right up.
Find lost contact lenses, earrings, or other such tiny items. Put the stocking over the end of the vacuum hose and gently vacuum the area where the item was dropped.
Repel deer and other animals from your garden. They hate the smell of humans, so you can use nylons with ivory soap staked in the garden to keep the deer away.
Shine shoes like the best of them.
"Scrub" silver, plexiglass, and other easily scratched surfaces.
Store things like screws, nails, nuts, etc. Pour the items into the stocking, tie it off and hang it over a work table.
Be attached to the discharge hose of your washing machine to catch lint before it goes down the drain and clogs pipes.
Be pulled over a yardstick to dust under the fridge, washer, dryer, or under any hard to reach area.
Be used like a bungee cord to tie things down. Keep an old pair in your car trunk.
Become a pet toy -- for cats, fill the nylon foot with pieces of old fabric, then tie off the opening. Add a bit of catnip for an extra treat. For dogs, put a tennis ball in an old stocking and tie a knot.
Apply varnish or finish in the hard-to-reach places where a brush won't fit.
Keep kids warm -- on extra cold days, use clean old stockings as mitten liners for children. They are ideal because they can provide warmth at least up to the elbow.
Keep kids entertained -- nylons can be used to make a crafty seed sprouting creature.
Bind piles of newspapers and magazines. Cut the top of a pair of nylons off and voila! You have a large rubber band.
Reduce your heating bill. Make a stocking snake to prevent drafts by filling the leg of a nylon with sand and tie the end shut. Place at the bottom of the door to prevent cold air from seeping inside.
Haul around small toys, like action figures. This works great for road trips.
Replace expensive stuffing in homemade pillows or dolls. When the stuffed toy wears out, you can take the nylons out and use them again.
Protect shoes from scuffing while traveling. Store one shoe in each leg of the nylons.
Create an outdoor hand-washing station. Put a bar of soap into an old nylon and tie it to an outdoor faucet. If you don’t have a convenient outdoor tap, an old laundry detergent container can be filled up with water. Tie the soap to the handle. You can use a hammer to poke a hole near the bottom of the container, and stick a golf tee inside to create a lower level of water flow. Now you can wash your hands after gardening, walking the dog, and playing or working outside.
Be used to create a non-slip bar of soap for kids’ bath time. Put the bar of soap into the nylon, and tie off the edges. Cut off any tail. This makes the soap have better grip for kids.
Be used as a disposable headband. Cut the nylon across the leg to create circles. In a pinch they can also be used as hair bands for ponytails.
Be turned into an inexpensive softball that won't hurt kids or your furniture. Stuff an old stocking with other old pairs of nylons, and sew the top closed.
Scrub your back when you can’t reach -- place a bar of soap in the middle of a stocking, and tie off both ends. Now you can grab each end of the stocking and seesaw your back clean.
Help someone with a broken arm or leg get dressed. Cut the foot part off of a stocking, and stretch it over the cast. This nylon will keep clothing from getting caught on the cast.
Make you rich quick -- go to a bank, pull the nylons over your head and ... um … maybe not. ;)

Frugal expert's guide to green

Huddler's Green Home — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:08:37 PDT

Huddler’s tight-knit community of eco-minded consumers share their knowledge about sustainable products and services ranging from electric cars to organic toothpaste. Click here to participate.

These days there's a lot of talk about "going green" and saving money. Some steps are easy to take and don't cost anything. Others are easy to do if you have money to spend.

The following improvements cost $55,000 (total) and save about $18,000 over 5 years. They recoup their full cost, and more, with additional time.

Do this…	Conserves this…	Costs…	Saves...	Saves in 5 years…	ROI over 5 years
It's electric!
Install solar panels.	Energy	$35,000-$45,000 for a 5 kW system (minus $2,000 in tax credits or so)	$600 per year in energy costs	$3,000	7.9% (39.5% over 25 years but lots of good karma and positive environmental externalities)
Potty mouth
Install low flow (or composting) toilets.	Water - The average family of 4 uses 27,000 gallons of water for toilet flushing every year.	A low-flow toilet costs about $50 more than a conventional toilet. A composting toilet costs about $1,100 more.	With a low-flow toilet, $25 per year; with a composting toilet, $43 in water costs	$125 (low-flow), $215 (composting)	250% (low-flow), 20% (composting)
Install a greywater system to recycle some of your used water from your sinks, laundry, shower, etc.	Water	Variable (averages roughly $300)	3,000 gallons of water per month = $5 on water bill = $60 per year	$300 ($720 over 12 year lifespan)	100% (240% over lifespan)
Baby, it's cold outside
If your heating equipment is over 15 years old, install a more efficient unit like a geothermal heat pump.	Energy	$3,500-$7,500	Can save 30- 70% on heating and 20- 50% on cooling costs over conventional systems ($358-$1,475 per year)	$4,582.50 ($18,330 over 20 year lifespan)	83% (333% over life)
Add insulation to your home.	Energy	Complete insulation on a single family home averages $2,500-$5,500	Using R-22 insulation (which is 7" deep of fiber glass or rock wool or 6" of cellulose) can save 5-25% on your heating and cooling costs ($92-458 per winter based on 2007 averages for heating oil bills).	$1,375	34% (pays back in as fast as 9 years)
Plant trees for passive solar design.	Energy - Deciduous trees shade your home in summer. In winter, they will lose their leaves and let sunshine.	Three 8' trees might cost $1,500	$100-$250 in energy costs annually	$875	58% (pays back in about 8 years)
Install Energy Star rated windows.	Energy	$3,000-$10,000 (for a one-story single family home)	$25-$110 per year if you're replacing double paned windows, $125-450 per year if you're replacing single paned windows per year	$337.50 (replacing doubles - $2,700 over 40-year lifespan); $1,437.50 (replacing singles - $11,500 over 40-year lifespan)	5% (41% over life) for replacements of double paned windows; 22% (177% over life) for replacements of single paned windows
Vroom, vroom
Get a high-mileage vehicle. The Toyota Prius is roughly double the average fuel efficiency in the U.S. But if you're filthy rich, might as well spring for the Tesla Roadster, right?	Gasoline	$5,000 extra for the Prius or roughly $90,000 extra for a Tesla.	With a hybrid, 200 gallons per year at $4/gallon = $800 per year 464 gallons per year with an electric vehicle = $1,856 per year	$4,000 for a hybrid; $9,280 for an EV	80% for a hybrid (payback of a little more than 6 years); 10% for a high-end EV (payback of 48 years)
This little light of mine
Use LED light bulbs instead of incandescent or compact fluorescent light bulbs.	Energy	$60/bulb	A 5-watt LED will save you roughly $375 over the course of its lifetime (compared to a 75-watt incandescent) – running 12 hours a day, it will last you 11 years.	$170	283% (625% over its lifetime)
Install photo cells or occupancy sensors to turn off lights for you when you forget.	Energy	A manual-on occupancy sensor costs about $45.	Using 2004 average electric rates, fitting a 100-watt outdoor light bulb with a motion sensor - instead of operating it each night for 10 hours - will save about $33 per year.	$165	367%
Think tank(less)
Get a tankless water heater or a solar water heater. Water heating typically accounts for 14% of your energy bill (about $266 per year).	Energy	$200-$1200 for a tankless system; $6,000-$6,500 for a solar water heater	Electric tankless water heaters generally cost 10-20% ($40 - $80/yr) less to operate than comparable tank-type water heaters. Gas savings may be about 20-40% ($50-$100/yr).	$300 for electric tankless; $375 for gas tankless; $1,330 for solar	About 48% for tankless (193% over 20-year lifespan); 22% for solar (89% over 20-year lifespan)
Waste not, want not
Get a compost bin.	Waste	$125-$300	$50 in enriched soil, fertilizers, and growth enhancers every year	$250	118%
Xeriscape with native and drought resistant plants.	Water - Most lawns need about 1 inch of water a week at minimum (which uses 620 gallons of water per 1,000 sq-ft)	$1.37-$10 per square foot of property	At least $52 for a 1,000 sq-ft lawn in watering costs and $200 savings in maintenance costs per year	$1,260	42% (if you spend $3/sq-ft – pays back in less than 12 years)

Definitions:

ROI stands for "return on investment." It is an assessment of whether the investment is justified by the savings it will create. In this case, we look at the ratio of savings during 5 years to the cost of the products (which are frequently one time expenditures).

In the case that the change does not cost anything, you'll find "N/A" in the ROI column. This stands for "not applicable" because you are investing only time and brain power. You could also think of the ROI as infinite in those cases.

How to reduce vampire power

Huddler's Green Home — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:10:33 PDT

Huddler’s tight-knit community of eco-minded consumers share their knowledge about sustainable products and services ranging from electric cars to organic toothpaste. Click here to participate.

Vampires, phantoms, and bears, oh my!

Okay, so there aren't any bears in this story. But there are vampires, phantoms, idlers, and warts. We're talking about vampire power, phantom loads, idling standby current, and wall warts however.

These terms all basically refer to the same thing: Electronic devices with two sharp, pointy teeth that latch into your wall sockets and suck electricity day and night, whether they're on or off, charging batteries or not. These can include TVs, VCRs, DVD players, answering machines, iPods, cell phones, stereos, laptops, desktops, anything with a remote, anything with a charger, and anything with a clock display. They are everywhere. Lurking.

Top 10 ways to fight vampires

Unplug your devices. It's as simple as that. Pull TV/computer/stereo/etc. power cords out of the outlet. If they're not in use or if they're totally unneccesary (are you really going to ever use that VCR player again?), unplug.
Reduce your demand. Sure, electronic gizmos are fun. But do you really need 2 TVs for one room? If the answer is yes, then at least follow No. 6's advice!
Use the other off switch. Many devices also have an 'off' switch in the back. For example, most computers come with one 'soft' power switch on the front, which takes it from standby to on. Separately, there is usually a real 'on/off' switch located in the back on the power supply (near where the power cord goes in).
Turn off your power strip. Plug your devices and chargers into a power strip. And when you're not using those devices, turn the strip off.
Remove chargers from the wall when you're not charging. Your cell phone charger, iPod charger, laptop charger, etc. keeps drawing electricity even if your phone/Ipod/laptop/etc isn't charging. So if your phone says "Charge complete" (or worse, isn't even attached to your charger), pull the charger out of the wall.
Buy Energy Star certified appliances if you're in the market for new stuff. Energy Star takes standby power into account, and devices that qualify for certification draw less energy than others in "off" mode. Some of their best electronic items include cordless phones and audio equipment.
Get a cell phone that tells you to unplug it. Nokia will be rolling out new phones with audible alerts that say, "Battery is full, please unplug the charger." This feature will first appear in models 1200, 1208 and 1650 and will most likely debut in Europe.
Use a smart strip for your computer accessories. These work really well when it's not feasible to unplug your devices. Check out the Isole Plug Load Control. This power strip saves energy by monitoring occupancy. The Smart Strip Power Strip monitors power differences between computers and peripherals. This way, when you shut down your computer, the Smart Strip automatically shuts off the accessories. The Mini Power Minder also works by communicating between your computer and your accessory.
Use a Kill-A-Watt device to measure your electronics' power consumption. It can actually be kind of fun (and definitely enlightening) to run around your house and see how much juice each piece of equipment takes. You'll likely be surprised. (If you want something a little more hardcore, try Watts Up?).
Check out the GreenSwitch wireless home energy control system, which let's you cut power to various electronics quite easily. For other whole house devices and monitoring, this interview that might be right up your alley.

(Image from Transparency Issue 008, Jan/Feb 08, GOOD Magazine)

Energy vampire basics

Most people think that when you turn something off, it actually turns off and stops drawing power. Unfortunately, that's not true in the case of many electronic devices. They hover in standby mode, waiting for you to 'turn on' the power again.

A 1999 study in New Zealand conducted by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority indicated that 40% of microwave ovens used more electricity to power the clock and the keypad over the course of the year than actually heating food. Big screen TVs (and their respective cable boxes and satellites) draw up to 30 watts when off. A computer left turned on can potentially draw as much current as a refrigerator. And what about those chargers? Even when your cell phone (or other battery-operated device) isn't plugged in, it's still drawing power that will need to be replaced later. It may even add as much as 10% to your energy bill.

It all adds up to bad news for your wallet and bad news for the environment. Studies conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimate that standby power consumption in the U.S. accounts for 5% of all residential power consumption. That means Americans spend more than $3.5 billion annually on wasted power. It also means that our standby power is responsible for 27 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Yahoo! Green invites you to:

Give your computer a rest

Idle PCs still use electricity. Unplug your computer every night for one month, and you will reduce your CO2 emissions by 51 lbs this month.

Challenge provided by Carbonrally

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that globally standby power is responsible for 1% of carbon dioxide emissions (to contextualize that number, it is estimated that 2-3% of CO2 emissions are from air travel). And let's be honest. Those numbers are probably growing given the affinity many of us have for new gadgets and fancy appliances.

What's being done on the manufacturer and policy side?

Some manufacturers are making appliances and electronics more efficient (we applaud them): Energy Star takes standby power into consideration when evaluating products.
In 1997, the EU negotiated with consumer electronic manufacturers to reduce standby losses of TV's and VCR's; in 2000, the EU worked on an agreement to reduce standby losses of audio equipment; in 2003, an agreement was reworked for TV's and DVD players.
In 1999, the IEA launched the One Watt Initiative, an international action plan to reduce standby power in all appliances to one watt by 2010. The plan would reduce CO2 emissions by 50 million tons if OECD countries participated (that's the equivalent of taking 18 million cars off the road). In 2000, Australia endorsed the One Watt Initiative.
In 2001, President Bush signed Executive Order 13221 requiring the federal government to purchase electronics with one watt or lower of standby draw.
On January 1, 2006, a California Energy Commission regulation went into effect limiting standby power-consumption of consumer-electronic devices, including DVD players and stereos. Under this legislation, TV's and DVD player that consume more than three watts in standby mode are illegal, power adapters are limited to 0.75 watts (which will fall to 0.5 watts in January 2008), and as of 2007, stereos without permanent display clocks are limited to 2 watts, while those with clocks are limited to 4 watts.

Additional resources

Check out "How to Side Step a Two-Pronged Vampire" from The New York Times for information on transformers and two men working around them.
For more information, tips and helpful products, check out "Smart Power Strips: The Garlic of Vampire Electronics" via Cleantechnica.

Organic local solar-powered booze

Huddler's Green Home Community — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:48:57 PDT

In 2006, wine sales totaled $26 billion and liquor sales totaled $17 billion. That same year, the average American drank 2.3 gallons of wine and 21.6 gallons of beer. That's a lot of alcohol. In 2005, 14785 tons of pesticides were used on wine grapes in California. It is also estimated that farmers spray hops (one of the primary ingredients in most beers) with pesticides 14 times per year. That's a lot of pesticide. In 2006, more than 208 million barrels (there are 31 gallons in one barrel) of beer, 673 million gallons of wine, and 425 million gallons of liquor were shipped across state lines. And that's a lot of transportation.

So why go organic? Protect yourself and your family from pesticide residues; protect farmworkers from having to work with the stuff; protect water resources from pesticide runoff; prevent soil erosion caused by big mono-crop agricultural practices. Why go local? Support your local economy; support local producers with sustainable practices; cut down on the amount of fossil fuel needed to get your beverage of choice to you. Why go (fill in your favorite renewable energy source here)-powered? Emit less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases; use less fossil fuel and reduce dependency on foreign sources; support renewable technologies; reduce air pollution and illnesses associated with it. And those are just to name a few reasons.

Conclusion: If you choose to drink, drink right.

Wine

Whether you drink red or white, there are plenty of eco-options. Bonterra offers certified organic wines ranging from cabernet sauvingnon to zinfandel to voignier. Frey Vineyards are organic and biodynamic (they seek to be self-sustaining within the surrounding ecosystem). Benziger winery is known for their sustainable farming practices. Try a taste of Grgich Hills, a winery in California that not only grows its grapes organically but also added 860 photovoltaic panels to its roof. In a similar vein, Frog's Leap is solar-powered and organic. Of course, we can't forget Shafer Vineyards that became the first 100% solar-powered California vineyard. And while we highly recommend the Californian wines (cutting down on the transportation used to get the wine to your table), if you're looking for imported organic, check out Organic Vintners and the Organic Wine Company. One winery to check out down under (i.e. in Australia) is Elgo Estate which is wind-powered!

Beer

Here's where you can really go local. Microbreweries are a great option to cut down the distance from production to cup. Check out BeerTown.org for a directory on local breweries. New Belgium (makers of Fat Tire, among others) became the first brewery in the US to be powered by wind, back in 1998, and they've continued to embrace environmental programs since then. Organic is another good choice. Wolavers and Butte Creek offer organic pale ales, IPAs, porters, stouts, etc. Butte Creek also brews and bottles an organic yerba mate beer with Mateveza (a few of us at Huddler had the opportunity to try the beer and meet its creator, Jim. Our conclusion: an awesome experimental beer with a nice little energy kick). Anheuser-Busch couldn't be left out of the organic beer surge. The nation's largest beer company now offers Wild Hop and Stone Mill as their organic options. Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, CA generates 125 kWh above its brewery. Sierra Nevada is almost off grid with a combination of fuel cells and solar panels (not to mention, they have put in great effort around recycling, heat recovery, carbon-dioxide recovery, water conservation, and energy efficiency).

Liquor

Vodka, whiskey, rum, choose your poison but make sure it's organic. For vodka, there's Square One which says it is the first certified organic 100% American rye vodka (not to mention, the distilleries that make Square One get 25% of their energy from wind-generated sources). Two other great organic vodkas are Vodka 14 and Sunshine Vodka. Rain Vodka is made from organic grains AND an organic yeast strain. Last but not least, there's Liquid Ice made from 5 grains in Idaho. If you're looking for organic whiskey, you'll find two from Scotland. The Da Mhile Single Grain Scotch whisky is made by Springbank Distillery and Highland Harvest whisky fight for the title of world's first organic version. For that perfect gin and tonic, try Juniper Green made from organic juniper berries, coriander, angelica root, and savory. And if your choice is rum, don't think just about organic, think fair-trade. Papagayo Spiced Rum is organic and its production benefits 800 family-based sugar cane farms. Another 800 or so Paraguyan farmers produce Utkins White Rum under fair trade conditions and yet others make Matraga Organic White Rum in Brazil. VeeV is a spirit made from acai berries. Now what is acai you ask? It's a superfood full of andioxidants. The berries are sustainably havested, $1 from every bottle goes to protect the Amazon, and the company is certified carbon neutral.

Non-Alcoholic

If you don't drink (or if you happen to be designated driver for the night), try organic sodas like Blue Sky, Santa Cruz Organic, Maine Root, and Whole Earth Foods. For a coffee soda (that's organic and fair-trade), check out JavaPop. Organic juices are another great option. Santa Cruz Organic and R.W. Knudsen have a wide variety. And if all else fails, there's always water (as long as it's not bottled).

Bottoms up!!

Carbon Footprint Calculations

Huddler's Green Home Community — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:09:10 PDT

Since human carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from burning fossil fuels have been estimated to cause approximately 50% of global warming over the past 30 years (the other 50% being mainly due to other greenhouse gas emissions such as methane, and a small amount due to solar effects), a good way to evaluate your personal global warming impact is to calculate your carbon "footprint." A carbon footprint tells how much CO2 is released due to your various activities, such as travel, energy consumption, food consumption, etc.

The more information entered into a carbon footprint calculation, the more accurate it will be. For example, if you use a carbon calculator that only asks in which country you reside, it will give you a less accurate carbon footprint estimate than a calculator that asks in which state you reside (if you live in the U.S.), because power generation sources vary greatly from region to region.

Carbonfootprint.com provides a very detailed (and thus accurate) carbon footprint calculation. It also gives you helpful options, for example entering your yearly home energy consumption in U.S. dollars, kilawatt-hours, or British pounds.

If you would prefer to calculate your own carbon footprint without the aid of a calculator, here are some tips:

Transportation:

Try to find the precise CO2 emissions of your car (or motorcycle, or whatever mode of transportation you use). The simplest way to do this is to enter '[car make and model] CO2 emissions g/km' into a search engine. Car emissions are generally measured in grams of pollutant per kilometer, hence the 'g/km'. For example, the Toyota Prius emits 104 g/km of CO2.

Once you find your average transportation emissions, estimate the mileage you travel per year. In order to convert from kilometers to miles (or vice-versa), 1 mile = 1.61 km. Multiply your vehicle's average emissions and yearly mileage to get total transportation emissions. For example, if you drive a Prius 10,000 miles per year:

CO2 emissions = 104 g/km * 10,000 mi/yr * 1.6 km/mi = 1,674,400 grams of CO2 per year.

In the end you'll either want to know your emissions in pounds (lbs) or tons of CO2. 1 lb = 453.6 grams, and 1 metric ton = 2204.6 lbs.

In the Prius example, 1,674,400 grams * 1 lb/453.6 grams = 3,691.4 lbs of CO2, or

3,691.4 lbs * 1 ton/2204.6 lbs = 1.67 tons of CO2 per year from driving a Prius 10,000 miles per year.

Energy Consumption:

If you have some old energy bills, you can calculate your carbon footprint due to energy consumption. In the USA, the EPA has a very useful tool which allows you to input your zip code and find out how clean the electricity you use is. Using this calculator will give you a good ballpark of the CO2 emissions from your local electricity consumption pounts per megawatt-hour (lbs/MWh). Another way to determine this value even more accurately is to try and find the number directly from your electric utility provider. For example, Pacific Gas & Electric has its own carbon calculator.

Once you know your home electricity use and the associated CO2 emissions, it's another case of multiplication. For example, if you use 8,000 kilawatt-hours per year, there are 2 people in your home, and your utility provider produces 1300 lbs of CO2 per megawatt-hour (and a megawatt is 1,000 kilawatts):

CO2 emissions per person = 8,000 kWh/year * 1300 lbs CO2/MWh * 1 MWh/1000 kWh / 2 people = 5,200 lbs of CO2 per person.

Air Travel:

The simplest way to calculate your carbon emissions from air travel is to estimate the distance you fly each year. According to the Sightline Institute, based on Boeing 747 emissions and the average occupancy of USA flights, every 2,062 miles travelled accounts for 1 ton (2204 lbs) of CO2 emissions per person. So for example if you travel 1,000 miles per year on airplanes:

CO2 emissions per person = 1,000 miles * 1 ton CO2/2062 miles = 0.485 tons of CO2 per person.

See How Your Footprint Stacks Up:

The average annual carbon footprint is:

Californians: 23,000 lbs. = 10.4 tons of CO2 per year

Americans: 44,000 lbs. = 20 tons of CO2 per year

Industrial Nations: 24,000 lbs. = 11 tons of CO2 per year

Worldwide: 8,750 lbs. = 4 tons of CO2 per year

'Always stay true to your mission'

Huddler's Green Home Community — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:23:24 PDT

Huddler’s tight-knit community of eco-minded consumers share their knowledge about sustainable products and services ranging from electric cars to organic toothpaste. Click here to participate.

What is TerraCycle?

TerraCycle is one of the best examples of eco-capitalism in action. The company was founded in 2001 by two Princeton students, Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer. They started out with their flagship product, TerraCycle Plant Food, which is a liquid plant food. The catch, however, was that their product was made entirely from waste (worm poop, as it so happened) and packaged in waste (old soda bottles).

From there, TerraCycle blossomed into the great upcycling company it is today. They currently take a variety of waste products (think KoolAid containers, Capri Sun juice packs, cookie wrappers, soda bottles, and more) and turn them into new useful items (like tote bags and pencil cases).

TerraCycle Products

Here's just a small sampling of three of TerraCycle's product repertoire:

Huddler.com Interview with CEO and Founder Tom Szaky

Between July 14th and 20th, 2008, Green Home Huddlers got the chance to post and vote on questions for an interview with Tom.

To get all of Tom's insights on the ins and outs of eco-capitalism and TerraCycle's unique business, read the full interview.

Q: Hi Tom, thanks for taking questions. You've got a pretty big range of products I see (everything from rain barrels, to tote bags, to cleaning products). How did you get there from just starting with your original plant food product? (by Eli)

A: Thank you for participating! Our development and growth is definitely faster than your average company. At TerraCycle, our mission is to find a meaningful use for waste materials (read: smelly garbage). That mission led us to identifying so many different waste streams that needed addressing. From drink pouches to wine barrels to plastic bags, so much material is wasted. Because no one wants these materials, they are easy for us to come by; because sustainable products are ‘all the rage,’ retailers welcome us with open arms.

This combination has allowed us to develop an incredible number of products quickly. Unlike most companies, which spend years in product development and testing, TerraCycle moves through these stages very quickly. First we identify a waste stream, then we figure out what we can make from that material. This is our strength -- creatively solving the “what the hell do we make from it” issue. If a retailer bites, we are in full production in a matter of weeks.

Q: What is the typical product development process for TerraCycle? I'm especially interested in material selection. Do you start by selecting the ideal material for a new product and then do some product design and testing? How do you evaluate if there will be sufficient quantity of the waste (while there are obviously more than enough 20oz. plastic soda bottles, I imagine it's a lot tougher to determine if you will be able to reclaim enough cookie wrappers)? Where do the materials ultimately come from? (combined question by teej and dana1981)

Great follow up question to build off my answer to Eli. Actually, contrary to traditional manufacturing, our first step is identifying the waste materials. Because we are upcycling, not recycling, we have to come up with a finished product that utilizes the original shape and composition of the material. Once we have a material identified and product concept in mind, we test to see if our production costs and needs are environmental and economical.

Great observation, waste stream sourcing is difficult because it's not consistent. If you need to order 1000 rolls of a cloth, it can be made for you, but we are restricted to using materials that already exist. The waste streams we use by definition are in abundance. We are addressing the largest waste streams, the ones that are doing the most ecological damage, so that means there are 100’s of millions, if not billions, being produced every year.

Still, the issue remains that we must make a ship date for Target and how can we assure the collection of enough cookie wrappers in time? Luckily our partnership with Kraft Foods solves that issue. In addition to Kraft, or in this case the brand Nabsico specifically, providing enough funding to collect millions of wrappers post-consumer. We also have deals to take all of the brand’s post-industrial ‘kick offs.’ Any packaged goods manufacturer has some small percentage of off-spec, end run or unused packaging. That small percentage translates to millions of unusable impressions. These post industrial streams help us solidify our manufacturing needs and are just as eco-friendly. If not upcycled by TerraCycle, these ‘kick-offs’ go to a landfill or are incinerated to create energy.

Q: We all know that the upcycling is an amazing idea, and very important, but when you calculate the net cost of collecting, cleaning and using an old seltzer bottle for housing your cleaning solution, is it also cheaper for you as a business than manufacturing all your own packaging? Keep up the awesome work! (by Deej)

A: Thanks for the kind words! Surprisingly it is much much cheaper. Keep in mind the following figures are rough estimates. To buy a standard plastic bottle to package your cleaners is (let’s say) 5 cents. To get a 50% post consumer plastic bottle, it jumps to 9-10 cents, for a compostable bottle made from corn plastic you are now talking 20-25 cents per bottle. For our reused bottles, we pay an average of one half cent per bottle, all purchased from local recycling centers. We can clean 100’s at a time and are left with a bottle that cost about the same as a regular bottle, but is the most eco-friendly version possible. This is why TerraCycle prides itself on providing eco-friendly alternatives at no premium.

Q: Can you tell us what the single most important thing an ecopreneur should know before moving forward? Is there one piece of advice you wish someone had told you when you were starting out? (by jenGreenhance)

A: To a young ecopreneur? To always stay true to your mission. In its formative years, TerraCycle was broke and operating out of a dingy garage. Still I turned down a million dollar business plan contest, because the VCs providing the capital wanted me to move away from used soda bottles and our green focus and instead become a traditional fertilizer company. If I had agreed and gone with the money and the suggestions of the more experienced business men telling me what to do, I never would have moved from fertilizers to all the wonderful items were are manufacturing now.

If you have a plan and a dream and you believe it will work then stick with it, no matter what. It won’t be easy or quick, but the payoff is endless if you see it through.

For the complete interview, head on over here.

Dating ideas

Junk your junk mail

Kick the catalogs

Guide to pocket guides

Seafood

Plastic

Produce

Restaurants

Cosmetics

How to maximize hybrid efficiency

Old nylons, new uses

Frugal expert's guide to green

It's electric!

Potty mouth

Baby, it's cold outside

Vroom, vroom

This little light of mine

Think tank(less)

Waste not, want not

How to reduce vampire power

Vampires, phantoms, and bears, oh my!

Top 10 ways to fight vampires

Energy vampire basics

Give your computer a rest

What's being done on the manufacturer and policy side?

Additional resources

Organic local solar-powered booze

Wine

Beer

Liquor

Non-Alcoholic

Carbon Footprint Calculations

Transportation:

Energy Consumption:

Air Travel:

See How Your Footprint Stacks Up:

'Always stay true to your mission'

What is TerraCycle?

TerraCycle Products

Huddler.com Interview with CEO and Founder Tom Szaky

To get all of Tom's insights on the ins and outs of eco-capitalism and TerraCycle's unique business, read the full interview.