The End Of August And The Start Of A New Challenge

Today is the last day of the month. August was the first month I decided to start blogging about my green adventures. The blog has made me examine and explain myself and I feel much better for doing so. I am getting quite a few views a day. I like to think that I'm building a good back stock of posts for others to read when they first get here. I'm still taking suggestions and I plan on posting with the same frequency until I completely run out of ideas (which shouldn’t be any time soon).

On to the challenge for September: My girlfriend and I have lived together for almost 8 years. We have changed schedules a lot over the years but now she has a set schedule and mine is a little more fluid. She goes to bed at the same time every night and many times I stay up much later. How do I spend my time? In most cases I either play video games or I watch movies. Some times I read. I use one lamp (with a cfl bulb of course). I have on the television, the xbox, and the dog and I stay up playing video games. So for the month of September I'm going to try something a little different when my girlfriend goes to bed:

No electrical use for entertainment

No unnatural light

Not as much sitting

Basically I'm going to light the room I'm in with soy candles (I would prefer to use beeswax and will have some in the next few weeks but I can get soy candles today). Most candles are made of paraffin wax that can release toxic fumes as they burn. I do have a few paraffin candles left and will use them first because I don't want to waste even half used candles and there are only a few remaining in the house (remember that being green means using up everything you have first before replacing it with a greener alternative).

So what am I going to be doing in the dark aside from barking my shins on things?

I've always been an avid reader, mostly novels but a bit of everything. I have quite a little library (I know, I'm using paper but books—especially well made one—are a bit more permanent than ebooks, plus I can read them with no power source). And to quote Richard Steele, "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."

I'm also a writer. Not just this blog either. I've had a few hundred articles and a few short stories published over the years and I do like writing by hand. I have a refillable fountain pen I can use over and over again.

And last and probably least, I am also a visual artist. I do little doodles and have had a few commissions in my life. I'm not great but I'm not terrible either.

All those things involve sitting still, so what am I going to do when I'm not sitting. Chores don't stop just because it is night. And it is always better to wash your dishes and do your laundry at night when the power companies aren't using peak energy.

So let's see if I can make it a month with no video games…

A Trip To The Farm And To The Farmer's Market

Yesterday I made a short little jaunt out to Tewes Farm for some locally raised chicken eggs. They don't use hormones and they let the chickens roam about. I paid $2 for a dozen white, extra large eggs. Not a bad deal at all. He was nice and answered all my crazy questions like whether or not I could bring the egg carton back to have it refilled (he will reuse them but give me a different one, instantaneous recycling!).

After reading and watching No Impact Man I am really trying to cut down on the packaging I'm using. It is not enough to go green by using green products, I have to go the extra step and cut down on packaging. Not only do I have to cut down on what I send to the landfill, I have to cut down on what I send to the recycling center.

So I stopped by a local farmer's market on my way home from work. It was really cool. I was able to ask my crazy questions and get straight answers. I'm not much of a grocery buyer but I have a good idea. Here's a picture of my take:

It costs me $22; it is all local; and there was no packaging used (the plastic container the tomatoes are in is my container). This farmer's market had staples we usually eat so I'm going to stop by a few others to see what they have. I plan on eventually buying all of our produce at farms, farmer's markets, or growing it myself. 

Double Review: No Impact Man

No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process

written by Colin Beavan

published by Picador

ISBN-13: 978-0312429836

How much do we need? How much can we do with out? Or are these the wrong questions? Should the questions be: How much do we need to be happy? And are we doing without by giving something up, or are we gaining something?

Colin Beavan wanted to run an experiment. He wanted to go an entire year without making a negative environmental impact. The experiment was staged into phases. Stop making any trash and stop sending things to recycling. Don't buy anything new. Don’t buy any food that came more than 250 miles away. No carbon-based transportation can be used (which is really all mechanized transportation). And finally, no electricity. Here's the big catch: he has a wife and an 18-month-old. Colin is pushed several times to find what he can really do without and is surprised to find that his life was actually getting better as he went along.

I really loved this book. It sounded like some sort of oddity and that is why I picked it up. But what it really did was made me rethink quite a few things about my own green actions. I use more and more organic and natural products but look at all the packaging they come in. I drive less and have a hybrid but I am still added CO₂ faster than it can be taken out. Colin shows us that not only can greener living be done but an extreme version can be done. He brings up great points to like how much do we give up before it begins to effect our quality of life, recycling plastic is better than nothing but only just, and it is better to know where our food is coming from in order to know where it can take us. There were quite a few moments that I saw as funny but at the same time could totally relate to what was happening.

It gave me tons of ideas and changed the way I think about something I truly believe in. What a great book should do. I can't recommend it enough. There is an amazon link above or you can get it used at Half Price Books.

5 out of 5

No Impact Man: The Documentary

(2009)

directed by Laura Gabbert & Michelle Conlin  

I feel pretty much the same way about the movie as I do the book. The movie leaves quite a bit out but it is only 91 minutes long. It is a great thing to share with your friends and family or skeptics. You do find out how they went without toilet paper for a year.

Again, I loved it and loved sharing it. It is streaming on netflix right now but you can always get a few copies and give them out as gifts. 

The trailer is below:

For more about the No Impact Movement go to http://noimpactproject.org/

I Don't Know What To Think Of This

A fan-made trailer for Captain Planet:

Henry Rollins For Drop In The Bucket

Here's a silly commercial of one of my favorite writer, singer, actor, poet, comedian, and all around great entertainer.

Green Links For The Week 8.26.12

Here are a few good stories I've come across this week. Enjoy:

Feds Grant Ocean Power Technologies Permit to Build First Commercial Wave Farm in U.S.

Food Industry Ditches Trans Fats, Kids' Cholesterol Levels Drop

Sustainable Furniture – Reclaimed Barnwood Dresser

The Past and Future of Wind Power

Do Your Part With Seasonal Foods & Make Ahead Meals

Diving Into Cycling Without Hitting Your Head

Buying a bicycle and using it for a form of locomotion or a method of exercise is good for the environment and for your health. But bikes can be freaking expensive. And there is an ecological impact on manufacturing new bikes (though much less than cars).

About a year ago we decided we wanted to get back into cycling, at first for exercise and eventually for transport to local places. We looked at our local sporting goods store and had to have help getting our jaws up off of the floor. All of the bikes were super expensive! And there were a ton of different types. And since we were at a chain sporting goods store the employees were of absolutely no help.

Our next stop was at a local bike shop, Montgomery Cyclery. Since the store specialized in bikes we thought it might be a better place to start. The sticker shock was just as hard but the salespeople were much more useful. We told the man at the counter, I didn't catch his name, what we were up to. After he laughed a bit he told us to find some cheap used bikes and get used to riding first. Once we had that down we could come back and he would help us get the bikes we needed for what we planned on using them for. I asked him what kind we should get and he said it didn't really matter. He told us to get cheap bikes that fit us and get used to riding.

After spending a few weeks going through craigslit we found bikes for both of us for less than $150. The saying, "it's just like riding a bike," doesn't seem to apply to riding a bike. After buying a couple of helmets (something they never used when I was a child) we went to the local public works, where we drop our recycling, and tried to ride. I had quite a bit of trouble figuring out how to start moving. After calling my brother (a police officer that also does some bike copping) I was set to start. I quickly realized that I may have been "in shape" but I was not in biking shape. The salesman as Montgomery Cyclery was absolutely right in buying something cheap to get used to first.

Our inexpensive bikes on their way to be used

If you want to get back into cycling I highly recommend starting off with something used. You can use craigslist or freecycle to find a bike and start practicing. Don’t' forget to get a helmet and check with your doctor if you have any type of health problem. Try to find a shop that specializes in bikes to bring your questions to as well as your bike when you need repairs.

So after a year am I biking anywhere yet? The short answer is no. I have had some problems with my knee throughout the year and I'm trying to get that healed up. But I am trying to find good places to safely take the bike to work or to the store. 

Quick Tip #6: Shutting Off The AC At Night

If it is in the early or late months of summer (or spring or fall for that matter) and the temperature outside is equal to or lower than that of the inside of your house, shut off the air conditioner and open the windows. It shouldn't get hotter while you're asleep and it will save you a chunk on your electric bill. The air will be just as cool either way and you won't notice so why not let the outside cool down your house.

Carbon Nation

Carbon Nation

(2010)

directed by Peter Byck

written by Peter Byck, Eric Driscoll, Karen Weigert, & Matt Weinhold

With most movies about global warming we either get doom and gloom or some sort of false science, it's not really happening nonsense. Carbon Nation may be the sole exception.

Carbon Nation forgoes the doom and gloom and instead shows us potential fixes for the Climate Change crisis. From wind farms in Texas, geothermal plants in Alaska, to using your plug-in hybrid as a back-up power source for power companies. It also shows the green retrofit that was done to the Empire State Building and how some changes in farming can reduce the amount of carbon in the air.

I really enjoyed watching this! They continued to use real world examples of how everything done in the movie impacted the environment. I think the Climate Change message would be easier to get across in terms like those used in the movie. The filmmaking made it easy to watch and entertaining. The complaint out there is that the movie doesn't mention the huge political and finical opposition to the green movement. All things that are showcased throughout the film are wonderful and inspire hope. However we do need leaders to help push these things along and make them cheaper, cleaner, and better.

It is streaming on Netflix right now. Watch it.

5 out of 5

The Trailer is below:

Quick Green Tip #5: Setting Your Hot Water Heater Temperature

An easy way to save energy and money is to set your hot water heater temperature to 120ºF (50ºC). It is hot enough to kill germs, get your dishes clean, and it won't burn you. There are tons of DIY videos on youtube but if you still don't feel comfortable doing it yourself get a professional to do it for you. It is fast, easy, and will save you a lot of money. 

Book Review: The Green Year

The Green Year

written by Jodi Helmer

published by Alpha

ISBN-10: 1592578292

Jodi Helmer's The Green Year is a nifty little book that has a new green tip that can be done each day of the year. Some of the tips include simple things such as changing your furnace filter or your car's air filter. Other tips are a bit more complicated like scheduling green get-togethers or professional inspections on your HVAC unit.

This book, written in 2008, is still largely up to date. There are a few websites listed that are no longer active. Most of the information is good and almost all of it aimed at a beginner to going green. There was a lot of white space in the book that doesn't seem very green at all but you can use it to take notes. I'm a fan of progressively stepping up your involvement in the green movement but stepping it up every day seems like it would lead to a quick burn out (the book does not advocate this). I have done most of the things listed but it is always nice to see new, cheap ideas.

Great for someone just getting started into the green life, but pick and choose the methods you want to use verses trying to do all of them. And you can pick it up used for less than a dollar on Amazon or Half Price Books Marketplace (search the ISBN 1592578292).

4 out of 5

Our First Hybrid; And Why That May Not Be The Answer

Every time you get in your car and press on the gas pedal you are adding to the pile on that is climate change. Gas burning is in the top three leading causes of climate change. Not only that but last year America imported 20% of its oil from the Middle East. There are quite a few groups in the Middle East that don't have our best interests in mind and oil helps to fund them. 

The simple solution is to stop driving so much. Easy to say, isn't it? If you live in a large metropolitan area this could be easy. A lot of the things you need could be within walking distance and the next best option is public transportation. If you are in better shape and are careful you can get a used bike pretty cheap on craigslist.

If you live in a more rural area, like I do, then that option is a little more difficult. We can walk to a few things. There is a store that is only about 30 minutes away (that's 30 minutes one way and 30 back). Not terrible but still quite a jaunt, especially if you have some cold groceries. There is a Subway close by so, like Jared, we can walk there and get some low fat sandwiches. But getting to and from our jobs poses another problem.

Public transport won't work for us either as it would take several hours for us to travel a trip of only a few moments by car. In fact it takes almost as long to walk as it does to ride the bus to our respective places of employment. I find this fact highly unfortunate because I would love some extra time to squeeze in some reading but the amount of time I would lose would negatively affect my quality of life. It is nice to have the option if necessary.

So moving on to biking. Unfortunately biking isn't highly thought of in my area and there are very few bike lanes for travel. There are plenty of signs to share the road but plenty of terrible drivers texting and checking facebook that make me weary of biking on the road itself. I have been trying to map out a safe path to bike to work. But my girlfriend works in Ohio and would not be able to get there by bike.

So our last option is to use automobiles. Since she drives quite a bit, we began to replace her car (a 2000 Camry that was no longer getting great gas mileage) with a hybrid. Ideally we would want an all electric car but that is not feasible for two reasons: we live in a townhouse with shared parking and would have trouble charging it and if we charged it with our current electric provider we would be charging the car on almost pure coal. So a hybrid was our answer.

photo from wikipedia

Once we had a few bills paid down we began saving specifically for a used hybrid. We went to various dealerships and test-drove a few to find the one she wanted most. We settled on a 2010 Toyota Prius for a few reasons. The first one, she really liked it. If you are going to spend a large amount of money on anything make sure that you like it quite a bit, I mean bordering on love. Also it is more aerodynamically designed, some of the interior is made of plant plastic versus petroleum plastic, and by time we pay it off it will still be fairly new. As we were saving we kept checking how much they were going for at various places. We had a set minimum in mind to save for but I had a lower minimum in the back of my head if something came up and we had to move earlier on it.

Something came up.

The Camry has been a good little car for some time. It was coming up on 200,000 miles on the engine but we thought it could hold out between 25,000 and 50,000 more. It couldn’t. It started to have more and more problems and the cost of repairing them was going up. We fell on plan B and took the plunge.

We decided we were going to buy a car from Carmax. First we are buying used which is greener than buying new. We also like their business style. There is no haggling over price and most of their cars come with some sort of guarantee. We were able to check through their national database and pick the car we wanted. They delivered the car and we had no trouble getting what we wanted. I highly recommend using them for your next car as I plan to.

So what is the car like? Quiet. Does it live up to its advertised miles per gallon? Sort of. You can get the MPG advertised but you really have to watch how you drive. It has some amazing displays that give you real time feedback on what you are doing. Is it real? Yes. I did some math using miles traveled and the amount of gas we put in it and she goes between 46-50 MPG. A huge improvement over the Camry and it's better than most cars out there.

So why is this not a good solution for climate change? We are still addicted to driving as a country and not everyone can afford hybrids or think they can't. If we are still falling back on our bad habits we are only making a small step forward instead of a huge one that we could be. So a better solution would be better bike paths/roads. More efficient public transport with greater reach in cities. High-speed rail could take quite a few trucks off the road and all the diesel that they burn.

Pipe dreams? Maybe, but enough people get behind these ideas they can start being implemented. It starts with one person trying to change. Join me and then there will be two. 

Green Link Of The Week 8.19.12

Here is the next batch of some of the things that I read and found interesting this week. Enjoy:

Small House In Czech Republic Recycled From Ruins of Barn

Huge Dinosaur Fossil Found

DOE Report States Wind Accounted for 32 Percent of New Generation in 2011

Just 2% Of Canadians Deny Climate Change

Buy Once, Buy For Life: Tools

Quick Green Tip #4: Dishwasher Drying Mode

A quick and free way to save some energy and money is to turn off your dishwasher's drying mode. The dishes will dry just fine without it. In the winter you can open the dishwasher door and let the heat and humidity into your house. A second tip with the dishwasher is try to run it only at night when energy is cheaper for your electric company and makes them wastes less.

Organic foods vs. Natural foods

You walk over to the healthy side of your grocery store and you see two different types of the same food. Both are brands you like but one says Natural and the other says Organic. Which one do you choose? Which one is better?

Lets start off by defining the two:

Organic Food

Organic food is food produced without the use of synthetic chemicals and the meat is raised without antibiotics or hormones. Organic foods are heavily regulated. Most countries do not allow genetic modification of the food either. Organic farming has a much lower impact on the environment in general which is its major benefit. There is no concrete proof out there saying Organic food is healthier for you or tastes better. I know a lot of people like to point out a few poorly run studies on health benefits but the consensus still says there is no difference in health/nutrition. Taste is too subjective to really get a good idea on.  The benefit is great for the environment and helps some of the smaller farmers. The drawback is that it does cost more to buy as it costs more to grow and raise.

Natural Foods

In the United States there is no definition for Natural foods. You read that right. It is nothing more than a marketing tactic. This isn't to say that all companies are out to fool you and get your money. A majority of them really mean what they say in bringing mostly natural foods to the product you're enjoying. They just getting a little help from a few ingredients that some people wouldn't consider natural. Assuming the companies strive to use natural ingredients that would be easier on the environment but there are no regulations requiring them to do so. If you are curious about your favorite natural brand just google it and add an "is" before it and a "natural" afterward and you'll get your answer.

Back to our questions: Which one do you choose? Organic Foods are much better for the environment but it depends specifically on your goals. If you are trying to do the best for the environment go organic, but if you are trying to eat the healthiest just avoid the more processed versions of both. Which one is better? Again it all lies in your goals. The Natural label may mean nothing so it may not hurt to buy the normal version of something verses the Natural and save some money. Having a choice between the two (and having the money) I go with organic each time, with all else being equal. But in the end I tend to eat in a specific manner that benefits my health the most, which doesn't always include the above options.

Food for thought…

Green Hand Soap Dispensed From A Work Of Art

Something we have been using for a while is Method Hand Soap, we use the gel. It is made from naturally derived ingredients, with no animal testing, and they offset the carbon they use in production. Method has two other neat aspects to their soap. One is design. All they products come in a neatly designed packaging. The second benefit is that you don't have to buy a new bottle when yours runs out. Method sells refill bags that can fill up three bottles (or one bottle three times). Method Hand Soap should be widely available and easy to get a hold of.

Effective, green, safe, and including the refill bags for use, not that expensive:

5 out of 5

Quick Green Tip #3: Reusable Water Bottles

Water bottles came into fad in the 1990's and unfortunately are here still. They are a convenient way to get your water in but they are a terrible pollutant. People swear by the taste but in blind taste tests people can't tell the difference between bottled and tap water. Do the world a favor and pick up a reusable water bottle and fill it with filtered water out of your tap. Or if you do buy a bottle of water because you are out and you're thirsty try refilling it over and over again until it wears out. 

Green Dryer Sheets And What To Do With The Old Ones

If you can you should avoid using your dryer. There isn't really a green or energy star dryer. Your best bet is to get a gas powered dryer. Still that is consuming energy for something that can be done a little simpler. The ideal solution is to line dry your clothes. There are a few different ways to do this and I'll go over them in an upcoming post. But there are plenty of times when you can't line dry, for instance: it is raining, it is night and without the sun it takes a lot longer to dry, or you are just in a hurry.

When you do have to use the dryer you thrown in a dryer sheet and don't really think about it as it keeps your clothes from getting staticky and makes them smell a little better. The only problem with these sheets are the chemicals in them and the fact that the are not biodegradable. Considering how often you do laundry this can add up to quite a bit of sheets over time.

One possible solution is Seventh Generation Free & Clear: Fabric Softener Sheets. These sheets are plant derived, made with unbleached paper, and can be added to your compost pile. They do all the same things as your regular sheets but with little environmental impact. I picked up a box at a local store, Jungle Jim's, and I think they are just wonderful.

5 out of 5

So what do you do with the dryer sheets you have? Finish using them first. Part of going green means you need to use what you have before getting something new. And when the laundry is done you can take the used sheet and use it one more time for things like dusting, put one in your vacuum cleaner bag to make your rooms smell better, wrap one around your belt when you go out as they act as bug repellants, put them in your shoes to soak up odor, or stick them around your register vents so the AC or heat passes through them making the air in the room smell better. Get as much as you can out of everything you have.

The Importance Of Pre-, Re-, And Upcycling

Everybody knows what recycling means, or so I hope. You take something that normally would have gone to a landfill and instead send it off to be made into something else. The reason we do this is so we don't have to procure new raw materials. When the raw materials are things like petroleum (used to make most plastics) recycling can be great for the environment. But this all comes with a price that we tend to look the other way on.

The recycling process itself can use great amounts of energy. It often takes secondary vehicles for pick up, thus using more gas. And the recycled material is often more expensive to use in manufacturing new products. And a few studies have shown that some of the materials that gets set aside for recycling ends up in landfills anyway. Most products and packaging are not designed with recycling in mind. With the exceptions of paper and aluminum, everything else gets recycled at a high cost.

Before you turn around and throw your recycling bin in the trash let's take a closer look at precycling and upcycling.

Precycling

This strange to say non-word, has a pretty neat meaning. Precycling is a step to take to avoid throwing things out or recycling. For example, instead of using a plastic sandwich bag to pack your lunch sandwich in everyday, you use a useable plastic container like Tupperware or Gladware. This container can be used thousands upon thousands of times without being thrown away or recycled. Yes there is some environmental impact on the initial stage of making the product but it far outweighs using thousands of plastic bags that have to be thrown away. Using canvas bags at the grocery store (or at every store) is a great example of precycling. You get hundreds if not thousands of uses out of them versus one use out of plastic grocery bags.

The second meaning to precycling is using post-consumer recycled products. We can use paper towels for an example. For starters, use less. If you need to dry your hands in the kitchen use a dishtowel that can be washed. Buy a set of cloth napkins to use versus paper towels. It is a tad more work but saves a ton in paper waste. For the remaining jobs use recycled paper towels (I use Meijer Ecowise, 100% recycled paper, 80% post-consumer content, also it is one of the cheapest options).

Buying recycled products also help the recycling industry. Though part of the cost is higher material cost another is simply supply and demand. While there is supply coming in from various sources the demand for recycled products isn't as high. If more and more of us buy these products the price will come down with time.

Another thing that can be done is switching some of your media over to digital. Mostly I think disposable media (newspapers and magazines) should be read on tablets computers and smart phones without the need for a physical version anymore. I still like physical books, records, and artwork.

Upcycling

This word makes you think it has something to do with bicycling in the mountains, it simply means taking something you were going to throw away and turning it into something else. An example of this would be taking a jam jar and instead of recycling it you can work with your kids and turn it into a soy candle. Vinyl records can be turned into bowls or even curtains (only use terrible bands though). If you are on Pintrest or Etsy you can see tons of examples.

Final Thoughts

Remember it is not just reducing the things that go to landfills that is important to a healthy planet. We also have to reduce the things that go to recycling by using them more and more. It is important to get the most mileage out of everything not to mention it can be fun and save you some money. 

15% Off Of Seventh Generation's New Skin Care Products

Below is a link to Seventh Generation's new skin care products that are currently 15% off:

New! Seventh Generation Personal Care

Green Links of the week 8.12.12

Here are some of the great green articles that came out this week. As with last week, I try to focus more on the positive things that are happening. There already is enough doom and gloom out there without me adding to it. If you have a story that you really enjoy let me know.

Abe Connally, Josie Moores Discuss Life Off The Grid

Colorado Utility Got a Record 57% of Its Electricity From Wind Power

Colonel Smith Middle School: Net Zero Energy Classrooms Open In Fort Huachuca, Arizona

Google's Self-Driving Car Reaches 300,000 Miles Without an Accident

Living Fences in Costa Rica a growing idea

Drink it in: Local residents score big wins for clean water

Study Finds Greening Vacant Lots Reduces Overall Crime

Green Shaving Cream

Along with using Burt's Bees aftershave, I'm also using Kiss My Face Fragrance Free Moisture Shave shaving cream. Kiss My Face has been around for about 30 years making environmentally friendly products with natural ingredients. I have yet to find whether they are organic or not but they only use the word with some of their products making me think that there entire line is not organic or not 100% organic. Like Burt's Bees they focus on hygiene products. They are not quite as well known but it is becoming easier and easier to get your hands on their products.

Once my regular shaving cream ran out I went to the store to find a green alternative. That's not entirely true, I went to buy Burt's Bees shaving cream but they didn't have any so I picked up a bottle of Kiss My Face Fragrance Free Moisture Shave instead. I went with the fragrance free because perfumes can some time irritate my skin.

For starters, it is not like shaving cream or gel. It comes out with the consistency of lotion. The smell is not good or bad. There is no chemical smell to it. Again the smell reminds me of cheap sun tan lotion. As for spreading it on and shaving it works just as well as any other shaving cream without the environmental cost. The only down side is the cost, but you don't really need much to get a good shave so it should last for a bit.

Combining it with Burt's Bees aftershave still results in no razor burn, though I could attribute that to either product.

Give it a try

5 out of 5

Whole Foods Coupon

Here is a link to the current coupons at Whole Foods Market. Using as many as you can will help you go green while saving some money:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/coupons/

And the Canadian coupon site:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/coupons/?country=CAN

Green Fitness

Making the world a better, healthier place to live in is no good if we're not healthy enough to enjoy it. With more sedentary lives and more and more processed convenient food coming at us, it is easy to get unhealthy and stay that way. Going to the gym can be costly and even embarrassing. So here is what you can do:

For starters, who needs a gym? They can be expensive, the station you want to use is always busy, Fox News blares on the TV's, and you can get a deadly case of foot fungus from those locker rooms. Gyms are anything but green. There is tons of equipment plugged in sucking energy with no one using them. The air conditioner runs really high to combat the heat increase from people working out. And a lot of them are open 24 hours with power running overnight with very few people there to use it.

The free, green alternative is outside. The outdoors can be a great gym. You can walk, run, climb stairs, and cycle for free. In the winter you can ski. Taking a hike through the woods is great exercise and a great way to stay in touch with nature. A jump rope is cheap and a great way to stay in shape, or just do jumping jacks for free. For the more advanced, climbing is a great challenge and great fun.

If strength training is more of your thing you can get into really good shape using bodyweight exercises: push-ups/press-ups, chin-ups, crunches, dips, squats, and lunges. Yoga is great for increasing strength and flexibility even into your golden years as is Tai Chi. As for myself; I bought quite a bit of used equipment and put it in my basement. In the morning I can roll out of bed and walk to the gym in less than a minute. I bought most of my equipment at a local used sporting goods store, Play It Again Sports.

Here is an article I wrote a few years back about cheap ways to get in shape:

Frugal Fitness

As with all exercise you should consult your doctor before you begin and start of slow. If you want to work out outside in the summer try to do it in the early morning or evening avoid the full heat of the sun. If you are trying to lose weight keep in mind that the maximum recommended healthy weight loss is 2 pounds per week. I'll say that again, it is the maximum. Try setting your goals on a little easier to attain numbers like 1 to 1.5 pounds per week or 5 to 6 pounds lost per month. If you are trying to gain muscle mass remember to use weight that allows good form and slowly add weight when you are ready. Consistency is what gets you in shape above all else.

Drink plenty of water (from reusable bottles) and enjoy yourself. 

Quick Green Tip #2: Reusable Bags

Here's an easy tip you may have heard a few times or smacked yourself for forgetting, bring reusable bags with you when you go shopping. Don't limit the bags to only the grocery store. Take the bags with you wherever you go shopping. This may seem cumbersome in some instances but they do make a variety of reusable bags and most of which can be folded up. You can get thermal reusable bags for your cold stuff and some places are selling reusable bags made of recycled plastic bottles. Every time you unload what's in the bags, take them out and put them back in your car. It only takes a minute and the environmental impacts could be massively positive.

Here's Tim Minchin's NSFW silly song on canvas bags that may help remind you to take them with you:

$1 off Method cleaning products at Lowe's

Here is a $1 off coupon for Method cleaning products at Lowe's. Method makes some pretty great stuff. The coupon expires on August 31, 2012:

http://www.lowes.com/pdf/method_lowes_coupon_artwork.pdf

Quick Green Tip #1: Curtains, shades, and blinds

A quick and easy way to save some energy and money is to use your curtains, shades, and/or blinds. During the summer when you have the air conditioner on close your curtains, shades, and/or blinds. It blocks out some of the sun and a lot of the heat. This is especially useful if you're not home during the day. Why heat up rooms and then run the AC longer attempting to cool them? In the winter do the opposite. Allow the sunlight to come in and heat up the rooms some.

Also, if you need some light to do something, open the blinds a bit and let some light in instead of turning on a light during the day. It is silly to light up a room when you have a giant free light up in the sky. When you are done in that room close the shades again. You won't get rich doing these practices but every little bit helps.  

Go green and saving green at…Big Lots???

When you think of green shopping and/or companies you think of places like Whole Foods, Starbucks, and Seventh Generation. Big Lots isn't usually thought of. If they have green/sustainable practices they don't talk about it, or at least not that I'm aware of (feel free to correct me). Generally when you think of Big Lots you think of bad customer service, some great cheap stuff and some hilarious off brands:

Who would have thought?

But on a whim we checked it out the other day and found quite a few good deals on a bunch of green products. We found Kashi cereals and snack bars real cheap (Kashi is labeled as "natural" but they are not organic, they are however centered around protein and fiber which we eat for health reasons). Also we picked up some Tom's Mouthwash for about half of what we would normally pay for it. At the time we were there, they were also selling Martha Stewart's green brand of cleaning supplies, Martha Stewart Clean.

Now Big Lots buys overstock and sells it cheap so there is always going to be different products at any given time. If you happen to live by one stop in every so often and see if you can find any green treasures on the cheap. 

Tom's Peppermint Mouthwash

Tom's Of Maine Peppermint Mouthwash

Tom's Of Maine has been making personal hygiene products since 1970. They only use ingredients that are natural, environmentally friendly, and are not tested on animals. Colgate owns most of the company now but they have retained their policies that make they products green.

My dentist (who is a dentist in Kentucky, so we should al take our hats off to him) told me not to use alcohol-based mouthwashes any longer as they dry out your mouth and actually make your breath worse.  So I hadn't used mouthwash for some time, in case you have been wondering what that smell is.

We were able to pick up a bottle of Tom's Peppermint Mouthwash on the cheap so I figured I'd give it a go.

First things first, the taste:

Well, I don't like peppermint so maybe I'm not the best judge on that front.

As far as the breath freshening qualities, it works as well as the leading brands without the negative environmental effects. It doesn't have the strange texture that non-alcohol based mouthwashes have but I can live with that.

Great product, better for you and better for the world.

4.5 out of 5, I still don't like the taste.

Green links of the week 8.5.12

Every week I'm going to post links to the best green stories for that week (or at least the best I've read for the week). I don't know how many I'm going to do each week but no less than three. If you have a green story let me know.

Germany Installs Over 4 Gigawatts of Solar Power in First Half of 2012

Number Of Farmers Markets In U.S. Surges

2012 Toyota RAV4 EV first drive: The electric SUV stands alone

Climate Change Study Forces Skeptical Scientists to Change Minds

US Carbon Emissions From Energy Production Lowest Since 1992

Making the change, again

A relatively cheap way to same money and energy is to switch from regular incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL's). As I mentioned here, I switched to CFL's about a decade ago and never looked back. As soon as I learned about how much money they save and how little energy they use I went out and bought enough to change over all the bulbs in the house. I took my remaining incandescent bulbs and gave them to people who still used them.

CFL's have come up in the news a few times as both a money saver and as a potential hazard. They do contain mercury (3-5 mg per bulb. Incandescent bulbs on the other hand do contain lead, so they are not entirely safe themselves). Mercury is poisonous and terrible for the environment. However, if you live in an area that is predominantly powered by coal, such as Kentucky, then the power saved from the CFL's is significantly less than that which would be used by the coal burning to power incandescent light bulbs. Lowe's now recycles CFL's, so when they burn out, take them in and drop them off. This way no mercury goes to the landfill. Be careful if you do break one and take it in to Lowe's.

CFL's are great for saving energy but they do have a few problems. If they are turned on and off frequently they can burn out much faster than advertised. They don't like the cold or recessed fixtures. Completely enclosed fixtures also don't do any favors for CFL's.

We have a few enclosed light fixtures in our house. They look good and serve their purpose well, except they kill of CFL's in a couple of years instead of 7 or more. A simple fix for this was switch out the fixture. As a Christmas present I was given a few Good Earth Lighting fixtures. These fixtures have what is known as a gu24 socket as opposed to the Edison Screw socket. There are two little prongs that lock into place. The nice thing about these sockets are: there are no longer tied to wattage, they all come energy star certified, and the make both CFL's and LED's bulbs that fit. The wiring was simple and easy to do yourself and so far the lights are working great. We'll still have to give it time to see if they last longer than the other bulbs.

But all of that aside, there is a new kid on the block for home use.

The other switch we've been making is to LED bulbs. These bulbs are not bad for the environment, they use even less energy than CFL's, they give off better light, and they last much longer than CFL's. We started by putting them in the rooms where the lights get switch off and on more often, like the bathrooms. Since they don't have the same problem as CFL's they are ideal for rooms such as these. We're not just switching bulbs straight out. If, say, we have a bulb go out in the basement, we'll take a CFL out of the bathroom and put it in place of the dead bulb. And then we replace the bathroom bulb with a LED bulb.

LED are much more expensive but the price has fallen quite a bit in the last year. One by one our entire house will be changed over and we may only have to change the bulb one other time in our lifetime.

Don’t go hog wild and change out things that don't need it. But as your bulbs burn out, replace them with something more efficient and greener.

Chlorine Free Bleach

Seventh Generation Free & Clear: Chlorine Free Bleach

Chlorine seems omnipresent. We swim in it. We wash our clothes in it. Even our drinking water is purified with it. So what's the problem? The problem isn't with the chlorine itself (though chlorine gas is deadly). The problem lies in the by products, chlorinated hydrocarbons. These nasty buggers are blamed for a score and terrible things. Not using chlorine doesn't seem to be a suitable answer because it does keep bacteria out of our drinking water. But we can take some steps at reducing what goes down the drain.

Seventh Generation has been making environmentally friendly products since 1988. Their stuff is clean, effective, but not cheap. Their products come in nice post-consumer recycled containers or in biodegradable containers. All of which, I find very cool.

I stopped using hot water to clean my clothes because most modern laundry detergents don't need hot water to kill germs and get things clean and it saves me about 80% energy usage on laundry. I went looking for an alternative to bleach and found this neat little bottle. It is safe for colors and doesn't need hot water. It is better for the environment but it does not disinfect. After using it for a while now I can say it does a fantastic job.

The price is steep but you are paying for the convenience. Here in the near future we'll talk about making your own cleaning products.

5 out of 5

Bill Nye and renewable energy

This is one of the best videos on renewable energy and America. Enjoy:

Green Aftershave

Burt's Bees Aftershave

Burt's Bees has been around making earth friendly products since 1984. While I've seen their stuff for most of my life I never really had a desire to try any of it. As I've said, I've had strong environmentalist yearnings but only recently began doing something about it. And besides, isn't there stuff for women and hippies? Well it never really was and now they have a line of products aimed specifically at men. This is probably for the macho, manly types like me that were afraid to try something less than skin burning products that showed how tough you are.

Shaving and I have had a difficult relationship over the last 18 years or so. I generally wear a beard in winter but come summer and that fuzz is just too much (besides the weird tan lines you get from having a beard). Now when I do shave, my face,  and especially my neck, always succumbs to razor burn. Liberally applying aftershave helped but never held the burn at bay.

At the natural/organic section of Kroger, I saw the black tube of Burt's Bees aftershave. The company's color of yellow was never really a girl's color but black makes you want to pound your chest a bit. Anyway I picked up a tube and figured I'd give it a shot. Worst-case scenario: I spent a little more money but used a product that did hurt the environment as much in its production.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. It doesn't smell bad but in no way does it remind me of aftershave; the smell does remind me of cheap suntan lotion of my childhood. Going on, it feels a bit oily but there is no burning that you usually get after shaving. And the following day…no razor burn! Not a bump one. I've been using it for about a week now with the same results. It does cost a bit more, quite a bit, but it is well worth it for its effectiveness and its low impact on the environment.

5 out of 5

A new, cheap light bulb!

Okay, so most people don't get that excited about new light bulbs; in fact almost no one does. And generally speaking I don't either. I switched to CFL lights about a decade ago and have never thought much about it. It saved me some money every month both from using less energy and not having to change the bulbs as often. But I'll save this for another post.

The biggest problem I had with using a CFL bulb was outside lighting. On the front of my house there is an outside motion sensor light and it helps quite a bit when you're coming home and need to find the right key to get in the door. However CFL's weren't working with this light. We live in Kentucky where you get a full range of weather from really hot (105ºF/40ºC) to really cold (-5ºF/-20ºC) and when the temperature dropped so did the light output of the bulb. Of course a normal CFL isn't designed to be put in extreme conditions (or turned on and off frequently). I could have switched to a CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) but they aren't easily available in my area.

So for the past six months or so I've been using the remaining incandescent bulbs I had around the house. A few days ago when I went to take the dog out, Pow, the last bulb went kabluey. CCFL's are available now but I wanted something better. I've been making the change to the even more energy efficient LED bulbs and I figured now was my chance. I immediately ran into a few problems. The outdoor LED lights are floodlights and they run upwards of $70! I went to Lowe's anyway and found a Sylvania 50-watt LED outdoor floodlight on clearance for $13 (they are normally around $30). The package had some mild damage but I didn't mind.

This light has an estimated cost of $1.32 per year and a life of 46 years! So in the course of 46 years it will cost me about $60 to run this light. A 50-watt light bulb would cost me $215 to run for that long not to mention the amount of times I would have to change it out. It looks a bit strange (see picture below) but it serves its purpose. And when they come out with a light that is a bit more fitting, I can move this light and use it for many years to come.

Baby Steps And Giant Leaps

The first idea I had to go green and save money didn't cost me anything. It was simply a change in behavior.

The average showerhead puts out 2.5 to 3 gallons of water a minute. So a ten-minute shower washes 25 to 30 gallons of water down the drain, water that has to be heated. A free solution: The navy shower. On boats in the navy there is a finite amount of fresh water and most of that is used for drinking. So to save water they turn the water on get wet, shut the water off, lather up their hair and body, and then rinse off. Doing the same thing, I can get a shower only running the water for 90 seconds, or at the high end, 4.5 gallons of water. That saves me about 9500 gallons of water a year. Remember this is only from one person. And all of that water that is saved is energy saved on not heating it. It costs nothing and you can start doing it the next time you take a shower. If only one person in each household showers in this fashion the savings could be tremendous over the course of a year.

As an added bonus: put a bucket under the spigot and catch the water that runs out while you wait for it to warm up. You can use this water to flush the toilet or water some ornamental plants around the house (plants you are not going to eat).

A second bonus, for me anyway, was that I was showering much faster (who wants to stand there and be cold when the water is off). Which gives me more time in the day to do other things.

After doing this for a few months we took the savings and bought a low flow showerhead (Waterpik EcoFlow® Hand Held Shower Head). Now even when we aren't doing a navy shower we can still save water.

Give it a go. It is very easy to adapt. 

Welcome and what this is about

I've always thought that the environment was worth caring about. Even as a child I wanted to save the trees and stop pollution. But aside from saying that, I had nothing. Time went by and life got in the way of these notions. They were still there poking me in the back of the brain every time I did something wasteful but still there was no clear picture of what I should do, if anything.

Fast forward to 2010. Global Warming was becoming climate change and seemed real bad. Again, the only thing I was doing about it was sitting around hoping something would be done. I didn't have a job at the time so I spent a lot of my time watching things on netflix and reading.  A movie came up called The Age Of Stupid. It seemed like a good way to kill about 90 minutes so I hit play. The movie absolutely blew me away. It didn't preach, it didn't lecture, and it didn't even try to call us to action. It just mixed the truth with some speculation and some dark humor. I turned to my girlfriend and said we should do something. Her response, which is the response of the majority, was that it costs a lot to go green. She was right, or so I thought.

The next day I went for a walk outside. I have a treadmill in my basement. It is old but it still works well. I've always used it as a good form of exercise and I can stay in the air conditioning, but not that day.  I racked my brain trying to come up with something I could do that would help cut back on my carbon footprint that wouldn't bankrupt me. While I was beating myself up my girlfriend found a recycling drop off site near by. And I sat down in front of the internet and began to drink up as much information as possible.

Over the last two years we have cut our electric and water bill down by a third and we are only sending one quarter of what we were sending to the landfill! And with all of these changes we have spent very little money. On this blog I'm going to talk about what I've done in the past, my current green projects, and the future. Hopefully I'll give you a few ideas. And I hope you give me some as well.