We have added many go green products to reduce energy in our homes. But have we forgotten about many of the small energy consumers in our home that are wasting energy every day? I am talking about those small little black power supplied plugged in all around our home.
Every time we purchase some new going green product, cell phone, portable vacuum cleaner, radio, battery charger, computer speakers or audio surround sound speakers to name a few they come with these little power supplies. When you look around; you will be surprised how many you will find plugged in.
Another area to look at is audio/video equipment, TVs, video games, converter boxes, computer equipment or the latest green products. This equipment comes with a standby or power down mode of operation.
In business small and large alike we all have those little power supplies connected to our printers, USB hubs, network hubs, desk lights and a few personnel items wither they are go green product or not. Each one of these devices and even many of those new going green products are consuming power even when an electronic device is not connected to it.
The amount of electricity each device is using is small but when you add together the total number of units plugged into the wall the number gets quite large. Remember they are drawing electricity every hour they are plugged in even if its one of the new green products on the market.
They can't use that much energy!
Most utilities will state that close to 15% of your electric bill is those little power supplies and standby electronic equipment. That will amount to $65-$95 dollars wasted per year.
So what does going green products, video components and black power supplies have in common? They all have a step-down power supply connect to the power grid. What is a step-down power supply? It is hundreds of feet of small copper wire. Both sides of this wire are connected to the plug and when the unit is plugged into the wall socket, it is using tiny amounts of power. Don't believe me? Feel one that is plugged in, its warm isn't it?
In order for a TV/stereo/DVD to respond to the ON/OFF button on the remote it must have some power supplied to the unit that senses this action. This sense unit requires electricity to operate and is where the other end of the transformer is connected. So in order for it to work it must be supplied power 24/7 to operate.
What is the best way to stop this power drain?
It is not that hard. One of the simplest ways is to use more going green products or a device that has been around for years, a power strip with an on/off switch. Remember the thin power consoles with switches that sat under power hungry monitors? This was a solution a little ahead of its time.
Make sure you buy power strips with an on/off switch; this is the only way to make sure there is no connection to the 120 volt power in your home. When you turn the switch off you are truly disconnected from the power company and therefore no power consumption.
This may seem a little inconvenient but it will save you money and it gets to be a habit in a few weeks so you don't even notice.
How soon will I see the savings?
I pass my electric meter daily and see it spinning away even though I am using many go green products. I have also noticed my neighbors meter rotating about 1-2 rotations per minute when there is nobody home.
I bought 4 power strips with ON/OFF switches. I plugged in all my green products, audio/video equipment, then did the same in the area I do recharging, the computer area and some odd electrical equipment.
After turning off the power strips I checked the power meter, instead of the 1-2 times a minute I had dropped to one rotation every 2 minutes. That is a vast improvement and money I don't have to pay the utility company.
Try it and see what you can do. It will only cost you a few power strips, if I am right this will pay for itself in a few months and you can spend that money on more go green products.
Michael
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
How To Go Green – The Carbon Footprint
In my last article on “How To Go Green” we talked about what it meant. So lets look a the next leg in going green, what is a carbon footprint? A carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas produced directly or indirect by individuals, organizations, events or products. Once you know the size of your personnel carbon footprint, you can reduce it.
With all that said is there tangible evidence that the warming of the earth is a non-recurring event, or is this the only time it has occurred or perhaps it is part of a large cycle? Having looked at a large amount of articles, I found that most of the research leads back to a few oceanographers’ studies and the study of the ice pack. Good information indeed, but something kept nagging me. So I looked up the age of the earth, the best guess is around 4.54 billion years.
If I take this figure and divide it by the ice pack age, 680K we get about .01 percent. This .01 percent is the sample we are using as evidence the earth is getting warmer based on the amounts of C02 found in the ice pack. The recorded temperature data is even smaller at .00004 percent.
Does not seem like very compiling evidence, but evidence all the same. Does it mean I should ignore this evidence, No! On the contrary, we use smaller samples everyday to tell us air quality, percent of cancer cells, counts of red blood cells and even samples as small as parts per million of air borne poison that can kill us.
After looking at the numerical data the reactions vary from,” The sky is falling,” to the other extreme “Who cares, it doesn’t effect me!” Both are a little extreme. The effects technology has had on this problem in my lifetime have been very positive. For one technology has greatly reduced out demand for electricity. One of the new products to reduced energy is the compact fluorescent lamps, originally developed in the 1920’s. In February 2007, Australia enacted a law that will ban most sales of incandescent light bulbs by 2010, followed by Finland, Canada, and the UK by 2012. Why? The average reduction in energy over incandescent bulbs is usually around 50% percent, with the compact fluorescent lamps lasting 6-7 years longer and producing a similar lighting effect.
With the development of the liquid crystal display (LCD) this has further reduced the demands for new power plants. It is very difficult to purchase a CRT monitor for your computer today and in fact, the sales of LCD TV in the 4Q of 2007 surpassed CRT units in worldwide sales. So, if you have a working CRT Monitor or TV still using a tube replace it and then take a look at your electric bill. My electric bill has dropped 20%, not the cost mind you but the amount of energy I used. The single biggest use of energy in your home is the refrigerator; if your refrigerator is over 10 years old, you are wasting money. Go down to your local Home Depot and check it out. The consumption tag is inside most refrigerators. Take that information down with you and compare it to the cheapest floor model, you will be surprised. I did this and it has helped to reduce my household carbon footprint.
So now, you know a little more about going green and some of the products that can reduce you carbon footprint. There are many other ways to reduce your footprint, which may include a new car with increased mileage or how about a pre-heater for your water heater or solar panels that will run electrical appliances. Some other new products include home insulation, new roof material, reduced heat loss windows, better doors, and the list goes on. But, before you run out and spend all your money saving energy check out your local and federal tax incentives. Some will help your defer or offset the cost of these new technologies.
What is your personnel carbon footprint? To see check out the carbon footprint calculator and see what your carbon footprint is today. With this information, you can change your carbon footprint, reduce your energy bills, and provide for future generations to come.
I hope this is some help in how to go green.
Michael
With all that said is there tangible evidence that the warming of the earth is a non-recurring event, or is this the only time it has occurred or perhaps it is part of a large cycle? Having looked at a large amount of articles, I found that most of the research leads back to a few oceanographers’ studies and the study of the ice pack. Good information indeed, but something kept nagging me. So I looked up the age of the earth, the best guess is around 4.54 billion years.
If I take this figure and divide it by the ice pack age, 680K we get about .01 percent. This .01 percent is the sample we are using as evidence the earth is getting warmer based on the amounts of C02 found in the ice pack. The recorded temperature data is even smaller at .00004 percent.
Does not seem like very compiling evidence, but evidence all the same. Does it mean I should ignore this evidence, No! On the contrary, we use smaller samples everyday to tell us air quality, percent of cancer cells, counts of red blood cells and even samples as small as parts per million of air borne poison that can kill us.
After looking at the numerical data the reactions vary from,” The sky is falling,” to the other extreme “Who cares, it doesn’t effect me!” Both are a little extreme. The effects technology has had on this problem in my lifetime have been very positive. For one technology has greatly reduced out demand for electricity. One of the new products to reduced energy is the compact fluorescent lamps, originally developed in the 1920’s. In February 2007, Australia enacted a law that will ban most sales of incandescent light bulbs by 2010, followed by Finland, Canada, and the UK by 2012. Why? The average reduction in energy over incandescent bulbs is usually around 50% percent, with the compact fluorescent lamps lasting 6-7 years longer and producing a similar lighting effect.
With the development of the liquid crystal display (LCD) this has further reduced the demands for new power plants. It is very difficult to purchase a CRT monitor for your computer today and in fact, the sales of LCD TV in the 4Q of 2007 surpassed CRT units in worldwide sales. So, if you have a working CRT Monitor or TV still using a tube replace it and then take a look at your electric bill. My electric bill has dropped 20%, not the cost mind you but the amount of energy I used. The single biggest use of energy in your home is the refrigerator; if your refrigerator is over 10 years old, you are wasting money. Go down to your local Home Depot and check it out. The consumption tag is inside most refrigerators. Take that information down with you and compare it to the cheapest floor model, you will be surprised. I did this and it has helped to reduce my household carbon footprint.
So now, you know a little more about going green and some of the products that can reduce you carbon footprint. There are many other ways to reduce your footprint, which may include a new car with increased mileage or how about a pre-heater for your water heater or solar panels that will run electrical appliances. Some other new products include home insulation, new roof material, reduced heat loss windows, better doors, and the list goes on. But, before you run out and spend all your money saving energy check out your local and federal tax incentives. Some will help your defer or offset the cost of these new technologies.
What is your personnel carbon footprint? To see check out the carbon footprint calculator and see what your carbon footprint is today. With this information, you can change your carbon footprint, reduce your energy bills, and provide for future generations to come.
I hope this is some help in how to go green.
Michael
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
How to Go Green, is it a Scam, the Truth, or just extreme passion?
Earth month is here, during this month I will attempt to take a look at how to go green, how I live and the depth and volume of my carbon footprints. After visiting 10-20 Green Earth web sites I was overwhelmed by the amount of information. Every site I visited has a diverse opinion, the more I read, the more bewildered I became!
Well change is inevitable, but where do you start. Do I change the products I use? How do I achieve Green? I have always believed that in order to accomplish anything you must set a goal. Something that is measurable and attainable.
Where do we start? Google is as good a place as any! Typing in “go green” returned over 226,000,000 keyword hits or around 83 pages of results.
But after looking at a few of the sites I still don’t have a definition. Yes there are sites on light bulbs, heaters, windmills, car, organic food, but nothing on how to go green and when do you arrive.
Trying this from a different angle, will use Wikipedia! Typing in "go green" returned some excerpts from my search.
Wikipedia returns: "Environmentalism can also be defined as a social movement which seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism, and education in order to protect natural resources and ecosystems. In recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the environmental movement is centered on ecology, health, and human rights."
So does Environmentalism mean to "go green", must be something here so let's look a little deeper into the Wikipedia article. Three definitions of "Green".
Light Greens see protecting the environment first and foremost as a personal responsibility. They fall in on the reformist end of the spectrum introduced above, but light Greens do not emphasize environmentalism as a distinct political ideology, or even seek fundamental political reform.
Dark Greens believe that environmental problems are an inherent part of industrialized "capitalism", and seek "radical" political change.
Bright Greens. This group believes that radical changes are needed in the economic and political operation of society in order to make it sustainable, but that better designs, new technologies and more widely distributed social innovations are the means to make those changes. Ross Robertson writes, "[B]right green environmentalism is less about the problems and limitations we need to overcome than the "tools, models, and ideas" that already exist for overcoming them. It forgoes the bleakness of protest and dissent for the energizing confidence of constructive solutions.
We now have a definition or three to be exact. Light, Dark, or Bright seem to be our choices on how to go green. I have in my short lifetime seen many changes with most revolving around the development and use of new technologies. The new technologies have slowed the need for new power plants, improved farming, advanced medical break throughs, defined new ways of transportation, and shown us how to conserve. So I like the Bright green.
So let's see if any companies are onboard "How to Go Green".
In another article from Wikipedia: "Green Companies are companies which act, or claim to act, in a way which minimizes damage to the environment. As global warming continues apace and becomes an increasingly "hot" topic amongst world governments, more and more companies in the USA and abroad are doing their part to become environmentally more responsible or "green". Companies such as apple have showed some steps towards moving to a greener production environment by phasing out dangerous chemicals and other such materials."
Well it seems we have two views; conservation can be achieved through technological with the development of new and better products and protection of the environment through education, information and the wise use of current product, and better laws and tax incentives to enhance conservation.
Now we have a base to stand on. So how do we know what products or services to use? It seems the next article in "how to go green" will involve the concept and definition of what a "carbon footprint" is and its effects on the environment.
Until Tomorrow.
See Wikipedia, Environmentalism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentalism (as of Mar. 31, 2009, 17:26 GMT)
See Wikipedia, Green Companies, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green Companies (as of Mar. 31, 2009, 17:30 GMT).
Well change is inevitable, but where do you start. Do I change the products I use? How do I achieve Green? I have always believed that in order to accomplish anything you must set a goal. Something that is measurable and attainable.
Where do we start? Google is as good a place as any! Typing in “go green” returned over 226,000,000 keyword hits or around 83 pages of results.
But after looking at a few of the sites I still don’t have a definition. Yes there are sites on light bulbs, heaters, windmills, car, organic food, but nothing on how to go green and when do you arrive.
Trying this from a different angle, will use Wikipedia! Typing in "go green" returned some excerpts from my search.
Wikipedia returns: "Environmentalism can also be defined as a social movement which seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism, and education in order to protect natural resources and ecosystems. In recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the environmental movement is centered on ecology, health, and human rights."
So does Environmentalism mean to "go green", must be something here so let's look a little deeper into the Wikipedia article. Three definitions of "Green".
Light Greens see protecting the environment first and foremost as a personal responsibility. They fall in on the reformist end of the spectrum introduced above, but light Greens do not emphasize environmentalism as a distinct political ideology, or even seek fundamental political reform.
Dark Greens believe that environmental problems are an inherent part of industrialized "capitalism", and seek "radical" political change.
Bright Greens. This group believes that radical changes are needed in the economic and political operation of society in order to make it sustainable, but that better designs, new technologies and more widely distributed social innovations are the means to make those changes. Ross Robertson writes, "[B]right green environmentalism is less about the problems and limitations we need to overcome than the "tools, models, and ideas" that already exist for overcoming them. It forgoes the bleakness of protest and dissent for the energizing confidence of constructive solutions.
We now have a definition or three to be exact. Light, Dark, or Bright seem to be our choices on how to go green. I have in my short lifetime seen many changes with most revolving around the development and use of new technologies. The new technologies have slowed the need for new power plants, improved farming, advanced medical break throughs, defined new ways of transportation, and shown us how to conserve. So I like the Bright green.
So let's see if any companies are onboard "How to Go Green".
In another article from Wikipedia: "Green Companies are companies which act, or claim to act, in a way which minimizes damage to the environment. As global warming continues apace and becomes an increasingly "hot" topic amongst world governments, more and more companies in the USA and abroad are doing their part to become environmentally more responsible or "green". Companies such as apple have showed some steps towards moving to a greener production environment by phasing out dangerous chemicals and other such materials."
Well it seems we have two views; conservation can be achieved through technological with the development of new and better products and protection of the environment through education, information and the wise use of current product, and better laws and tax incentives to enhance conservation.
Now we have a base to stand on. So how do we know what products or services to use? It seems the next article in "how to go green" will involve the concept and definition of what a "carbon footprint" is and its effects on the environment.
Until Tomorrow.
See Wikipedia, Environmentalism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmentalism (as of Mar. 31, 2009, 17:26 GMT)
See Wikipedia, Green Companies, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green Companies (as of Mar. 31, 2009, 17:30 GMT).
Saturday, March 28, 2009
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