GOING GREEN.............real green..............
Submitted by eldoggg on November 3, 2009 - 1:21pm
.............ahh , ya gotta love Tommy Lee's old roomate......inventor of the internet.....purveyor of "carbon credits".......BRILLIANT !!!.......selling nothing but air for dollars....selling a clear conscience for a six pence........Gore's moonies were out this summer collecting donations to purge the conscience of guilt........."here , give me three bucks to make up for the carbon emissions you caused on the way here , you'll FEEL better".........."how bout 50 cents for Rover's biscuit HE left on the lawn?"..............."let's show some love for modern day medicine man , ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!".......(applause)
Newser) – Al Gore is going to become the world's first "carbon billionaire" thanks to investments in firms that will profit from policies he advocates, his critics say. The ex-VP is a partner in a venture capital firm that stands to make huge profits from investments in green technology, causing accusations of profiteering, especially from global warming skeptics, the New York Times reports.
Gore—who says he sinks "every penny" earned from his investments into his nonprofit Alliance for Climate Protection—rejects the accusations and says that he is just putting his money where his mouth is. "Even though the vast majority of my business career has been in areas that do not involve renewable energy or global warming pollution reductions, I absolutely believe in investing in ways that are consistent with my values and beliefs," he said in a statement this week. "I encourage others to invest in the same way.”
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........it was JUST a matter of time...........
( Newser) – You can't force a Muslim to eat pork, or a Jew to pray to Jesus, and a UK man is claiming in court that his religious belief deserves similar protection. Climate change, that is. Tim Nicholson of Oxford is suing for religious discrimination after an employer, annoyed with his attempts to calculate the company's carbon footprint, gave him the axe. The fired man says his devout environmentalism counts as a religious belief; the company says it got rid of him for "structural" reasons.
"Belief in man-made climate change and the alleged resulting moral imperative is capable of being a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by the 2003 religion or belief regulations," the Daily Telegraph quotes the man's lawyer as saying.
Article comprised by Jane Yager
Source : Daily Telegraph
eldoggg
You know guys, I have tried so many times to help out with the cause, but I stopped and asked myself why isn't anyone else taking this seriously! Most of the new generations are and the ones that aren't find it lame or not true, but where does that leave me. We never heard to much about going green in school or global warming until the last few years..... I find it very hard to convert from the old ways, so I have to ask myself how I am going to do it and help out..... Just my thought!
I look at going green this way, what can I do to save myself some money. I buy those fluorescent lighbulbs, I might pay a little bit more at the counter, but in the long run I save money, they are cheaper to operate and last longer. Yea, they might be greener, but it saves me money. I've been looking at putting solar or wind power on my house for the last couple of years, they are starting to come down in price some, but haven't come down enough for me yet. It will save me money in the long run, but I don't want to shell out that much cash right now. Side benefit of that is that it helps out the pollution. Front loading washer and dryer, same thing, it dropped my water bill 50 bucks a month right from the get go and I didn't have to do as much laundry. I've had em 4 years now so I've recouped the cost of buying them already and now I'm back in the black on that.
One thing that I'm adamant about though is that no one in my family throws trash on the ground. We go camping, the campsite is cleaner than when we got there. So that doesn't save me any money, but I think it's the polite thing to do.
I'm with Civil in regards to that we don't know if global warming is a man made thing or a natural thing, but 6 billion people on the planet have to be contributing to something.
I have switched all of my light bulbs to the corkskrew bulbs and I'm with DShrout we have had to replace ours a couple of times in the last 1-2 years. We have thought about getting front loading washer and dryers but have heard mixed results on those. As for saving me on my water bill, that would be great, but there again I don't use that much water to begin with.... I was mainly talking about the paper, the ISD has the capability to go up and recycle but I keep forgetting about it and just throw it in the trash. I hate going to campsites and people leaving as if it is a landfill, it irritates me when people are that disrespectful that they cannot clean up after them lazy selves.....
Oh, I highly agree with Civil that global warming is definitely man made and they need stiffer fines for some of the companies that allow it. I wish we could also afford the solar panels for the house and this year I'm going to have our fireplace fixed so it can be used more, that will cut back on the heating bill.......
It took me 4 or 5 months to pick out my washer and dryer. I really researched the ones that we bought and then researched the best place to buy them. I also bought the extended warranty on them as well. At the time I could do laundry all day long every day, but after I got them I could do a couple of loads a day. I've had them for 5 years and haven't had any problems with them at all.
I just took a bunch of paper and cardboard up to the recycle bins at school a month ago. I cleaned out my garage and it was too much for my weekly trash pick up. I didn't want to pay for taking them to the dump. So off to the school they went.
We have a fireplace as well that has a blower on the front of it so once it warms up it heats the heck out of the room it's in. I've had it 15 degrees warmer in there than the rest of the house. When it's cold outside that comes in handy.
We've decided to get the front loaders, it is just a matter of were to get them now! Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. I usually buy my appliances at Sears off of front street, but back in Feb I bought my dishwasher from Lowes, and I have had to get it fix numerous times and they still won't give me a new one. I have had to have recalibrated, new circuit board, new jets, etc and they said it is practically brand new anyway.... That wasn't the point, the point is I buy it brand new I shouldn't have to have it fixed every 3 times it is used.... OH WELL!
With all the paper we go through around here, I need to start remembering to recycle, but my hubby would have to take it to the school.... That wouldn't be a problem if he didn't work constantly, even after his shift is over at work, his employees call here every 15 to 20 mins every night. Usually by the time he walks in through the door at 3:15 pm the phone calls don't stop until 8 pm. So, I just don't have him do anything like that, b/c he makes sure his employees are doing everything right so there isn't any complaints. That is okay!
The only problem I have with my fireplace is that the old couple that put it in, put it facing toward the west window wall and not facing into the living room..... I've wanted to rip it out and face it correctly, but don't have the money to do that. No one will help and I have no clue how to do it myself w/o it costing a bunch of money. I have thought about leaving it there and installing a woodburning stove like my grandparents have, but it cost to much to have the flue run out the side of my house. So, I deal with the air gradually getting to the other side of the room 5 hours later or I just don't use it. The fireplace downstairs is in the middle of the wall and in a room that cannot be used for anything b/c it leaks.... If I could get that one to stop leaking down there I would love to use that fireplace and have it as a family room! ANY SUGGESTIONS THERE GUYS?
We bought our front loaders from Home Depot. We bought LG's. After reading the reviews of Home Depot's warranty work, we decided to go there. Plus, Home Depot has a 110% price guarantee which means they match the price plus go 10% over that. So I shopped around and found out that Best Buy was about a 100 dollars cheaper than Home Depot, so they knocked a 110 dollars off the price. I haven't had any problems with them at all in the 5 years we've had them so I don't know about Home Depots warranty work. I would say that when you get some though, make sure they are absolutely level and on concrete. If they aren't on concrete and they aren't level they will shake the crap out of your house and sound like they trying to explode. I also remember that one of the reasons we went with LG was because the they had glass on the doors instead of plastic like a lot of front loaders do and in the washer, the barrel is direct driven so you don't have any belts to replace in it ever. They just felt sturdy compared to some of the other washers. Ours also came with a internal water heater so like when you wash dog bedding or your kids come down with lice (which happened to us last year) you throw it on the sanitary cycle and it heats the water to a 175 degrees and kills all that stuff.
I don't know much about fireplaces other than the bricks were loose in the back of our fireplace and the fireproof mortar you put back there comes in a container that looks like caulk. There's a shop on 23rd St just east of Noland that specializes in fireplaces. They do repairs and cleaning stuff like that. I don't recall the name off the top of my head though.
......my friend put in a wood burning stove in his downstairs splitlevel..........we cut a hole and ran a flu out in a few hours........simple stuff............of course I helped HIM do it..........lol...........but I'm just saying.......we laid some tile in front of the stove and it was a HUUUUUUUUUUGE success in his house ...........
eldoggg
COOL.... What would I put around the flue on the outside since it is siding? Do I need to put the tile under the stove too? I would think so, so that way it would put burn marks on my floor, but I don't know!
........the siding piece can be taken out and replaced with one with a "cut out".........unless you have steel siding.......we put tile under his stove.........we just made a square ........we left tile out a few feet for ease of cleaning wood chips off the floor......or ashes..........
eldoggg
I'll have to call and find out how much a piece of siding with a cut-out will cost..... I was kind of thinking it would be easier to clean if it was under and a few feet out too.... I just love keeping my furnace down to 66 degrees and watching the fire burn. It is not only relaxing, but soothing if you aren't feeling good........
........it's a different kind of heat too than furnace heat.........nice to take chill off a house or make it toasty..........I always liked the smell of wood............the siding piece should be minimal.........Craig will have to cut it out to spec..........what kind of siding do you have?...........and how long is the piece?............
eldoggg
Exactly, and I love the smell of the burning wood..... I have the vinyl siding and I'm not sure how long it is, I would have to measure it, but I think it runs the entire side of the living room area to the girls' room....
........well the piece that is on there could be cut out to accomodate the piping flu.......you don't need a new piece........you would have to cut the sheet rock of course.......you wouldn't even have to remove the siding piece to do it...........you would have to find out what city code is for a few things........there has to be proper space around the flu............
eldoggg
dwood, were'nt you just telling us last week you sit your non-working used appliances(trash) and furniture in front of the ole campsite with a 'free' sign on it? I changed all of my incandesent bulbs to the energy conserving bulbs that say they have a 5 yr life and I've replaced 2 of them 2 years later. They're about $5 ea and probably will still save if the reduced wattage is accurate, but it still irritated me.
I've been using the new lightbulbs for the last 6 or 7 years, Every once in awhile I'll get one that only lasts for a couple of months. But then most of them seem to be like the one that I put on the front porch of the last house I lived at. It's been there for almost 5 years. I've lived at my current house for almost 3 years and have changed out all the lightbulbs as they burned out with the fluorescents. I have 3 recessed lights in my bathroom and one only lasted a month, the other 2 have lasted since I changed them out in 2007. I also buy the lighbulbs in bulk and Ace hardware had a sale once, which had something to do with IPL, and I bought a bunch of them for like .99 cents each. As the LED lights come down in price I'll probably start getting them instead.
And yea, I do put my appliances out front for free. I have no idea where to take them that they don't charge me for them and I figure the people that are picking them up are taking them to a scrap metal place. I don't know if they do or not though.
And you DO know that those little CFL bulbs contain mercury...which, once in a landfill, kind of defeats the whole "save the environment" reason to use them?
Yea, I was aware of that and that's another reason I'm switching to the LED lights when the prices on those come down. As far as I can tell right now the only LED lights you can get are flood lights and they are still pretty expensive.
How many people on the blogs use disposable batteries and put them in the trash as well? Those are supposed to go to the same place. We've had fluorescent lights running around for a pretty long time as far back as I can remember and nobody really said anything about them. I'm careful with the lightbulbs, but I don't get in an uproar if one breaks.
After doing a little research, I found out that you can drop your old CFL lights off at the Home Depot for free. There is also a place in Lee's Summit that will take up to 50 pounds (might be a 100 pounds) a day for free as well. I'm starting to sound like a Home Depot commercial here, but I've found that they have the largest fluorescent light bulb selection around and they're pretty cheap as well so while you're up there buying these, just turn in your old ones. They even had the CFL that replaced my mercury vapor light over my shed.
Yeah, I used to be BIG on the rechargable batteries. I still have and use a bunch of them. But I've gone back to the disposable ones for two reasons:
1) They last longer. And on my motion sensors, it takes me about 10 minutes to change the batteries on one of them, because I then have to reprogram the sensor after the new batteries are in. Doing this on the same sensor every two months is a real time-waster. (And I've got an mp3 player that apparently draws on the battery even when it is off, as it will be totally drained within three days if I let it sit with a rechargable in it. A normal battery will hold out longer than a week.)
2) They don't put out a STRONG enough charge. I discovered this a few months ago. I forget how. I was building something and somebody warned me that the rechargable ones would not be powerful enough. They may SAY they're a certain voltage, but I guess after a couple of recharges, they don't do as well.
I'm with you on the rechargeable batteries. I tried them once and they were a big disappointment. My mp3 player has a battery you can't replace so it charges inside the device, my phone of course has a rechargeable battery, and we have a couple of cordless tools. Anything that requires AA's or a 9 volt gets the non rechargeable ones.
You know DRaasch, I didn't know those had mercury in them and here I thought I was doing a great thing. Do you know the status on how much mercury is in them?
Looks like 4-5 milligrams per bulb, on average:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp
They need to be disposed of at a toxic waste disposal area, not the normal "garbage route" aka landfill.
Okay DRaasch, let me get this straight..... They are suppose to be energy efficient and they are shown as a very bright looking bulb, but the wattage is lower. They are suppose to be "going green" bulbs, but they have mercury in them that could hurt the ground. What is the problem with this again? Oh, yeah that is right....... They were retarded and didn't think much about it......... That makes sense, NOT! Why would they do that and compromise the whole point of what they are doing it for? Oh, by the way thank you for that info DRaasch, I will keep a better eye on what I buy now!
It's kind of 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. With regular light bulbs you are using more energy which around here in Independence means you're burning more coal which is throwing crap in the air. I'm not a tree hugger by any means, but the CFL's save me money and I found out that I can turn them into Home Depot for free and they will dispose of them for me like they are supposed to be disposed of. In all the time of using them I can only think of once or twice that I've had one break.
Yeah, I know... the idea of a company...or, in this case, rather, an industry..... I dunno... PUSHING a new product to market (with visions of dollar signs in their heads) while ignoring what happens at the end of the product's life-cycle? Impossible. Not in America, right?
......I DO believe we all have a responsibility to do whatever we can on a personal level........absolutely...........I love those fluorescent bulbs.........so ditto on energy saving devices and appliances..........try to keep "mother earth" as clean as possible from our daily lives........recycling plastic , glass , metals and whatever..........be responsible with the discarding of oil , pesticides , paint , computers , tv's blah....blah......blah......I'm quite sure we're contributing to something with 6 billion people on the planet...........warming?..........I don't know..........and I don't beleive anybody really DOES know.........
....as a spiritual person , I don't believe any of this is a suprise to the creator.........it's not like he didn't understand how long it would take us to produce 6 billion people through reproduction..........like when junior found out his two hamsters , Harry and Jim , suddenly have 10 in the family..........ROFLMDAO..............now did the creator plan for us all to ride donkeys around instead of SUV's?.......don't know THAT either............the dinosaurs didn't do anything wrong and THEY got wiped out..........maybe it's just our turn..................(in a century or so)..
eldoggg
In a century or so? That must suck for those people. I have hope that we'll figure something out before the earth figures out something for us.
......my point is that NO species WANTS to go extinct........we're able to verbalize , so we can talk about it............we also have the advantage of history , anthropology and science to predict things.............but just because we don't WANT to be wiped out , doesn't mean we won't..........despite our best efforts..........I am not saying we will..........I am simply saying that it COULD be a possiblity that we are unable to stop........I don't see it happening in the next century unless a giant asteroid lands on us...........I just think that people are of the opinion that because we're humans , we CAN'T become extinct...........I'm sure the T-Rex felt the same way.............ROFLMDAO...............there were allegedly neanderthal men and such............maybe we're just another link down the line.............maybe there's another group more evolved than us to come along.........and instead of studying the ice age as we do ?.........they'll study the "global meltdown" that wiped out modern man with meteorlogical disasters and crop failures..................whatever happens?........all mankind ultimately meets the same fate ...........it's just a matter of when..............
eldoggg
Al Gore has found the dream of every entrepreneur there ever was, an opportunity to pursue something he is passionate about and make scads of money at the same time. My only thought is he is rich beyond measure without profiteering from global warming. I think he could show his humanity and donate all profits from his green enterprises to help the world's poor. As for global warming, I believe there is a climate shift occurring. Whether man is responsible or not I don't know, but I can see no harm in attempting to move from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy. The problem is that it is a field requiring a large degree of technical knowledge and skills not enjoyed by the common man and those who do possess it will overcharge for its use.
.....with you there.......climate shifts have been going on for MILLIONS of years before man..........and they DID sometimes wipe out species and life.........moving now to further evolving technology of alternative fuels is critical to the future generations......fossil fuel CAN'T last forever.......but I still think we've been spoofed about how much is out there........it's being rationed to keep the price up...........I still see Gore as a 'televangelist" ....genuine or disingenuous?....... I can't say for sure.............how much good we can actually do with the modern day economy is questionable to me...........to rest of the world is waaaaaaaay more interested in "making some dough" for a change......while we have enjoyed an industrial revolution , many countries were still mainly agricultural in nature.........now they're manufacturing and exporting , and they'll be damned if they care about some Chinese emissions floating half way around the globe..............I am truly sorry for the polar bears , seals and other creatures of the Arctic..............man has only been around for a second in the big picture........and somehow I'm doubting that we're as smart as we pretend to be about climate change and how to manipulate it............or in knowing all the complexities that effect it............I think there's a LOT of educated guessing going on...........
eldoggg