FLGreenLiving

Setting a goal of living green is not only a nice thing to do, it is an urgent priority if we want to leave a livable world to our children and our grandchildren.  One of the many problems we need to tackle is reducing the amount of trash we all generate every year that gets stuffed into our ever-growing landfills.

Here are ten ways you can easily reduce your contribution to this nasty problem. If  everyone followed at least half of these suggestions, our world’s trash problem would be well on its way to being handled.

1) Stop using paper towels and switch to rags for basic cleanups.  Rags are reusable just by washing them.  When you do use paper towels, buy recycled!

2) Get a reusable grocery bag or two, they are sturdy and stop the plastic and paper bag clutter that can get out of hand in our homes too.  And now, there are so many styles to chose from.

3) Donate old clothes to charity or sell them on eBay instead of throwing them away, and buy used clothes from consignment shops, eBay or Overstock.com.   Buying used products as much as possible also helps keep them from ending up in landfills.

4) Recycle EVERYTHING that can be recycled.  Kids are especially bad at making sure things end up in the recycle bin, so be sure to impress upon them the importance of not simply throwing everything into the trash because it is easier.

5) Practice “JIT” (just in time) living.  Most of us buy far too much when we go to the grocery store.  Then we end up throwing away much of it, which ends up in landfills.

6) If you have a baby, use washable instead of disposable diapers. It may be more hassle, but it is better for your baby and for the earth. For traveling away from home, be sure to look for bio-degradable diapers instead.

7) Buy concentrated products such as shampoo, conditioner, dishwashing soap, and laundry detergent.  Packaging is then smaller and takes up less space if it accidentally ends up in a landfill and isn’t recycled.

 Make your own drinks instead of buying them, and use reusable containers such as pitchers and cups.  Limit use of disposable items such as paper plates, cups, and dinnerware.

9) Start a garden and compost table scraps instead of throwing them away.

10) Only buy what you need, and avoid impulse purchases.  Impulse purchases often end up at the bottom of landfills.

Our landfills are dangerously overflowing, be sure to do your part to stop this overwhelming problem.

Airplanes may be convenient and easy, but they are major contributors to global warming as jet fuel is very dirty!  Business culture traditionally has put a high value on “face time” ,meaning actually being in the same room with a client in order to make a deal. But times, they are a changin’.  Recent economic woes have forced travel cutbacks, which is a good thing for Mother Earth.   And technology has come to the rescue.

In the past, the alternative to business travel has been videoconfererencing.  Old style video conference systems were hard to use - the voice sounded like an old CB radio (Breaker, breaker good buddy…), and the people on the other side seemed to have disproportionately small heads.   Enter telepresence - which is the next step up from videoconferencing. Telepresence uses technology to make it appear like you ARE in the same room with your client, even though you may be on the opposite side of the globe. Companies like Cisco, Tandberg (just acquired by Cisco), Polycom and HP have created systems that look like something out of a sci fi movie, but they work - saving both the earth and travel budgets.

These systems require a dedicated room, as the acoustics, lighting, etc. all have to be right so the illusion of actually being there is maintained.  This means making sure your business real estate needs are updated to include one dedicated room if you want to be green and keep more of your green instead of giving it to the airlines.  If your sales people travel a lot, this extra room will pay for itself in short order.

And telepresence does pay off.  California based Cisco Systems uses its own technology, and saved $150M in travel budget last year.

Being green is cool these days, meaning lots of people have made the obvious lifestyle changes like recycling and using less nasty chemicals around the house.  But there are some not-so-obvious changes that are easy to neglect - as they don’t immediately brand you as a ”hip” green person.  If every0ne who has taken the first steps would continue to “green” their lives, the impact would be major.

What are some of these steps?  First of all, although there are some green dry cleaners out there (Ecolav in Brickell being my absolute favorite)- lugging the dry cleaning to and fro adds to your carbon footprint.  Advances in fabric technology means there are many wonderful new suits out there that are actually machine washable.  And “green” laundry detergents are all the ‘rage” these days.

Secondly, green plants clear the air by absorbing carbon dioxide.  Add a few plants to your home or office, they will brighten your day as well as help to purify the air around you.

Ladies, did you know of the toxic terror soaking into your skin right this very moment?  Be sure to check the labels on your favorite cosmetics and do some research to see if any of the ingredients are made from petroleum products.  You will be amazed at how many have really nasty stuff in them.  It is a welcoming surprise to see how many green cosmetic companies are starting to pop up.  Even Sephora has jumped in on the bandwagon with a “green” cosmetics page on their site.

When you go to wash your car, search a little harder and find a green, waterless car wash.  This helps conserve our water resources and keeps nasty detergents from being washed into the earth as well.  In fact, your car stays clean longer too, which means you’ll clean less and spend less!

These changes may seem small, but they are like ripples in a stream that get larger and larger  over time.  Being green is not just a fad - if you truly care about the earth, it becomes a total way of life.

The weather is gorgeous, flowers are in bloom, and brides everywhere are hustling to complete last minute preparati0ns for that traditional June wedding.   The popular Billy Idol tune from the 80’s “White Wedding” runs through our minds as we open invitati0ns to the many weddings happening this season.

What if the lyrics were changed to “Green Wedding” instead?  A green wedding not only helps save the earth, it makes a statement to all wedding guests who might not be as clued-in to earth events as the wedding party.  The more converts we get to the green movement, the greater the benefit to Mother Earth.

Some ideas for greening y0ur wedding include using Evite.com instead of mailing paper invitations.  If you have relatives who are not computer literate, send them ones printed on recycled paper.  How about  a vintage/used wedding dress?  With the beautiful weather upon us, you can hold the wedding and/or reception in a park or ecologically recognized sanctuary while serving locally grown foods at the reception.  And if you haven’t checked out the latest lines of eco-friendly serveware, you gotta go to Bambu.  Instead of manufactured wedding favors, place bags of seeds, h0memade beeswax candles, bags of hand-c0llected sea shells, or other natural items that have no carbon impact. And with reusable tote bags all the rage these days, you can customize your very own for all your guests!

And no, you don’t have to wear a green wedding gown!

New Appliances Are Greener, and Sell Houses Faster!

Earth Day is right around the corner and what better way to celebrate by going out and buying a Energy Star appliance!  Why not?  The State of Florida is giving you back 20%; after all, the state giving back money isn’t something that happens everyday!

We all know those old appliances are energy vampires and hideous to look at, so consider replacing them.   The 20% rebate program is open to all residents in the State of Florida who purchase the appliance for their primary residence.   What a great way to add value to your property and make it more salable in today’s continuing tough market!  To top it off, you  will save you money on your monthly electricity bill and help save the earth in the process.

The launch date for this rebate program is planned to loosely coincide with this celebration of our planet.  Starting on April 16th, through a launch on the State’s web site, it will continue through April 25th — three days after the 0fficial Earth day of April 22nd.   Purchases of large, Energy Star compliant appliances must be made during this time frame to qualify.   Appliances covered include washers, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, tankless water heaters, and room air conditioners.

Residents can get up to $1800 per household, and an additional $75 towards recycling the old energy-sucking appliance they are replacing.  This move will not only help to conserve Florida’s air and water resources while reducing overall carbon footprint - it will inject capital to help jump start Florida’s retail sales as well.   Purchases are expected to add $62M to Florida’s economy, as well as $4M in tax revenues.  A word of caution, READ THE FINE PRINT because not all Energy Star appliances are viable for the rebate and you cannot purchase the appliance through the internet (boo)!  In addition, to better your chance for getting the money back is to log on the state website and request a “reservation”.  This will “save your spot” in line.  Because once the money is gone, it’s gone!

According to our Governor:

“I encourage Floridians considering the purchase of a new appliance to plan to do so beginning April 16 in order to take the first step toward qualifying for a rebate,” Governor Crist said. “Making these purchases this month will benefit consumers, businesses and our entire state economy, as well as increase energy and water savings for years to come.”

So, if you have been putting off getting rid of your dinosaur appliances, there will never be a better time to upgrade than now!

[Photo Credit:  Flickr: Les_Stockton under a Creative Commons License]

Going green is not just a trend or fad, it is an earth-saving complete lifestyle that extends to every facet of our lives.  Our decor is a reflection of ourselves, so if we have a strong committment to being green our home decor should also be green.

Greening our homes means using sustainable materials such as bamboo for furniture, flooring, and decorations - bamboo grows faster than most other wood and is more readily replaceable.   Paint should be VOC (volatile organic compound) free, and upholstery and bedding should be made from organic fabric and sans harsh chemicals.

Buckwheat hull filled pillows are natural and non toxic, and they feel better than foam created from petroleum byproducts.

Local flea markets, garage sales, and yes - even dumpsters can be good places to find furniture that just needs a bit more loving and keep it out of the landfills.  Another great resource is Freecycle, which is a grass roots Internet-based movement that encourages people to post free items they would otherwise throw away.  Most local areas have a Freecycle group, and you can post wanted items as well as browse items offered.

Another way to show your committment to a green lifestyle is to choose a clutter-free, minimalist decorating scheme, with a Zen-like ambiance.  Less is more, and clutter is symbolic of our consumption oriented, non sustainable society.  A Zen decor is a subtle form of protest……

Old fashioned spinning meters are soon to be a relic of the past, with their inefficiencies and energy wastage.  Enter the smart grid!  Once a smart grid system is in place throughout the US, smart meters will “read themselves”, and energy usage will be optimized in real-time based on the electronic information relayed back to the home office about overall power use.

What does this mean to the average homeowner?  First of all, it means that a new system called Demand Response will be put into play.  Consumers will get information that was never before available that will help them reduce energy usage in times of peak demand.

“Demand response, the heart of the smart grid, could account for a fifth of U.S. electricity.”

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, cited by Reuters, “Smart Grid Good for Big Solar, Wind: US Regulator,” October 2009 view source website »

It will also allow more renewable energy sources to come into play.

“Cutting demand by a few minutes or seconds also could let the U.S. grid cheaply incorporate renewable sources like wind and solar that otherwise would need backup from plants that stayed idle most of the time.”
FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, cited by Reuters, “Smart Grid Good for Big Solar, Wind: US Regulator,” October 2009
view source website »

This will not only help green the earth, it will help prevent blackouts by allowing more efficient management of peak energy demand and help you save on your power bill by being more informed of what your power “profile” is.

As smart meters read themselves, this will also take all the meter reader trucks off the road and save on carbon emissions.  The downside is that a lot of meter readers will need retraining, but they won’t have to worry about which houses have dogs who look forward to terrorizing them during their journeys either.

The smart grid is being enthusiastically supported by DoE (the Department of Energy), and  networking and technology giants such as IBM and Cisco Systems.   It will take quite some time to get it up and running across the entire country, but the process has started and homeowners in test market locations such as Northern California are already getting used to their new smart meters.

[Image Credit:  The Department of Energy]

It’s  Springtime!   As our thoughts turn toward  that dreadful time of year– spring cleaning,  consider how you plan of ridding yourself of all that accumulated junk.  Instead of simply filling up our garbage bins or dumpsters, we can put some green in our spring cleaning by giving our old stuff a new life.

By now, all of you have heard of  Craigslist.  If you haven’t tried it out, it is worth a shot.  Up your odds of  selling with a picture attached to the ad.  I sold my whole house in just a few days.   But move over Craigslist as there is a new guy in town; Freecycle.   It is a grassroots movement that now boasts 7,090,000 members worldwide! Freecycle consists of local groups headed up by a local (volunteer) moderator - your neighbors post either things they have and don’t want or things they need.  Through emails or Yahoo groups, you stay informed of either needs or wants, and can either give items a new life or get rid of things you no longer need.

Freecycle is entirely free (hence the name!), and was founded in Tucson, Arizona by Deron Beal as a way of saving our earth by keeping stuff out of the landfills.   Although it started humbly with about 30 of Deron’s friends, Freecycle has now spread to 85 countries and is keeping an estimated 500 tons per day of random stuff out of landfills.   See what one person with vision can do!

In the Miami-Dade area, the local Freecycle groups are Miami Freecycle, and Miami Beach Freecycle.  When you start that closet or garage cleaning project, please remember to join and contribute.  Remember, one man’s junk is another man’s (or woman’s ) treasure!

Back in the 1950’s, Science Fiction author Isaac Asimov enthralled readers with stories about Multivac, a huge all-knowing computer that took up many rooms to house its “innards”.  Today, this vision is reality but through the Internet - not just one machine, but many.

Could Bloom Energy have created a new power solution similar to the Internet in its ability to transform our lives?

After roughly $400M and 8 years, Bloom Energy has released its Bloom Box, which is a fuel cell based energy “server”, directly analogous to the large data servers used by data centers today.   Priced at roughly $800k, this version of the Bloom Box is clearly targeted to corporate customers.  Google is one of the early adopters, and reports hefty savings in both power usage and CO2 emissions.  Other early adopters include Bank of America, Coca-Cola, eBay, FedEx, and Walmart.

The Bloom Box is based on oxide fuel cells, a technology that is not dependent on sunlight or wind like solar or windmill generators.   Bloom’s vision is to bring these boxes from the corporate front to homeowners within the next 10 years.

Will this happen?  A few obstacles remain to be overcome first.  Bloom’s boxes operate at about 800 degrees Celsius, which is a bit hot for most residences.   Secondly, projected pricing will be about $3k each, meaning it will take quite some time to realize a return on the initial investment.

This is a great breakthrough on the corporate front for now, and will help us green the planet by reducing CO2 emissions and fossil fuel usage that the first life changing innovation; the Internet, has cost us.

[Photo Credit:  San Jose Mercury News]

We Americans are spoiled compared to our ancestors.  No matter what season it is, we expect meat, grain and produce to be readily available to us - and prepackaged so we don’t have to work too hard to turn it into edible cuisine.

Many of the fruits and veggies we consume, have an “off” season, and therefore do not grow year around.  Unless you are cautious, the produce in your fridge right now has traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to arrive in your kitchen.  This increases your carbon footprint, consumes fossil fuels, and increases the profit dollars of the large conglomerates– instead of our own local farmers.

In Miami, we are lucky - we don’t have snow or frozen soil in the winter that would prevent our farmers from growing food.  In fact, Florida soil is great for growing a large variety of produce.  Purchasing local not only decreases your carbon footprint, but supports our small, local farmers.  You know- those guys that actually are in business for the LOVE of the profession, not for the $. It also helps uplift OUR economy here in Florida, which will have the long term benefit of creating local jobs and supporting local charities as our small businesses prosper and donate to them.

Did you know buying local produce instead of mass produced food is healthier too?  Mass produced food is stripped of many nutrients in the rush to grow more of it.  Local farmers use less dangerous chemicals to produce food and usually allow it to ripen naturally, instead of in storage sheds while being bombarded with gases to accelerate ripening. And the taste?  If you haven’t done a taste test already, RUN, don’t walk to your nearest local market and try something.  I bet you will realize how much you forgot how our produce is supposed to taste!

This argument can easily be extended beyond the idea of buying food locally.  EVERYTHING you buy from a local merchant that is created locally helps to save the environment by reducing fossil fuel consumption while putting money back into your local economy.  A recent study showed that for every $100 spent in a chain store, $14 went back into the local economy.  For every $100 spent with a local business, $45 went back into the local economy.

Where do you want YOUR money to go?

LOCAL FARMER’S MARKETS

[ Photo Credit:  Flickr- D.Sharon Pruitt under a Creative Commons License]