Solio Mono-i Solar Charger
As we’re entering Spring, even in Seattle, we ought to start seeing a bit more sun. And nothing would show our gratitude for the change in weather than for us to actually harvest it’s potential with a solar charger.
Sold in a variety of makes and models, these little gadgets collect energy from the sun for your personal appliances. Be it a laptop, an I-Pod, or a cell phone, you can easily find a solar charger out there to match your needs, even essentially universal ones with a multitude of different plugs. One that’s caught my attention recently is the Solio Mono-i. The company boasts it’s compatibility with 3,200 devices, and also lists the other features typically found on a variety of such chargers.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
Our landfills are filling up faster than ever, and the garbage problem, is only getting worse. Recycling the obvious cans, bottles, and cardboard are the first step. Beyond that, it’s our job to develop green shopping habits that will help us lead a more sustainable lifestyle. I’ve listed some of the eco-friendly shopping tips that have come in handy for me, as I’ve tried to rethink the way I shop, and develop more sustainable habits in my life.
Tips for eco-smart shopping:
- Try out your local thrift stores. Second hand stores are great, and they’re full of things for you to reuse. I live in a very affluent area of California, and the thrift stores are full of clothes and books that have barely, if ever, been used. Plus they are dirt cheap! I can find the greatest button up shirts and cookbooks at thrift st
ores. I not only get to feel great about reducing my monthly spending, but I get to feel good about buying used products instead of adding to the landfill.
- Give your old stuff to charity. Just as thrift stores are great for finding great stuff, they’re also a more eco-friendly way of getting rid of your stuff. Most charities for the homeless, or lower income families, are always in need of used clothes, books, or toys. This is a great way to give back to the community while reducing your net output.
- Cut back on your purchases. With the economy the way it is, it’s the perfect time to cut down on your purchases. Reducing your “stuff”starts by reducing what you buy, and keeping it down to the essentials. How many times have we found a screaming deal on something at our favorite store, only to watch it sit in our house unused, and wasted? Supply increases with demand, so if we can keep our societal demand low, the supply will decrease as well, leading to less being shoveled into a landfill at the end of the day.
- Buy quality, not quantity. My mother is notorious for purchasing things over, and over, and over again. Instead of buying quality products that will last throughout the years, she buys the cheapest she can find. While I applaud her bargain shopping, if she had purchased the higher quality item for a higher price tag, she probably would have only had to buy it once, reducing her overall cost for the item, and making her shopping more sustainable. How many times do we buy the cheap thing, instead of the quality thing, and end up just repeating the same purchase over and over?
- Buy with the end in mind. When you buy something, really think about the entire life-cycle of your purchase. Where will it end up at the end of it’s life? Is it bio-degradable? Will your use of the product, justify it’s purchase? If we can be smarter about our shopping, we can cut down on our waste and make our lives and our homes more sustainable.
- Use a reusable bag. Most of us know to do this at grocery stores, as it has become more and more mainstream. But before you go patting yourself on the back, think of the last time you went to the mall. Did you bring your reusable bag when you walked into Nordstroms or Macy’s? Probably not. The grocery store isn’t the only place where we can put our reusable bag to use. Retail stores go through hundreds of bags every day\. But what would happen if we all took a reusable bag on our next mall trip? Think of the waste we could eliminate.
These are only a few ways to rethink your way of shopping and green up your habits, but they’ll get you started in the right direction. I’m one of those kinds of people that loves shopping. I love getting new clothes, trying new funky gadgets, and just the joy of getting things. However, as I’ve come to terms with the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle way of life, I’ve realized that my way of doing things is not environmentally friendly, to say the least. All these “things” I end up accumulating just end up getting thrown away most times. I can just think of all the things I’ve thrown away in my life, that I purchased without ever using, or only using once. It’s time to rethink our purchases and green up our shopping trips, one thing at a time.
Eco-Development and Sustainable Renovation
I’ve noticed an interesting trend lately. The renovation of old buildings. Gorgeous old buildings gutted and rebuilt from the inside-out, as green and sustainable new structures.
An exciting (and well-publicized) example of this is the Sanctuary development on Capital Hill in Seattle.
The original church was built in the early 1900s and has been a distinctive landmark of the neighborhood for years. Through the renovation of this historical icon, ecological- minded urban residences are being created.
The preservation of the beautiful building was a cornerstone of the project planning. Architectural details, bricks, wooden pews, flooring and windows were repurposed and used within the new residential development as stairs, detailing, in-fill and patching. New sustainable aspects of the housing itself include dual flush toilets and tankless water heaters. › Continue reading
Biosolids and Compost
Last week, the Organic Consumers Association took a stand outside the mayor’s office in San Francisco to protest the city’s recent free composting program. (Read the article from their site here). It might sound like an odd thing to protest, especially with all the amazing benefits of composting. The national group chose San Francisco to demonstrate against since it is one of the most “green” cities in the U.S. and they felt that it would reach the best audience.
This group claims that the compost that was handed out “usually includes a number of heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals, steroids, flame-retardants, bacteria (including antibiotic-resistant bacteria), fungi, parasites and viruses.” They cite an EPA survey that found heavy metals, steroids, anions, and pharmaceuticals in the biosolids from around the country
Many local governments have adopted the practice of turning biosolids into fertilizer to be sold or handed out for free. A biosolid is made from treated and processed sewage. The EPA claims that these biosolids contain “nutrient-rich organic materials”. Be careful to realize that when they say organic here, they do not mean certified organic, but organic as in organic chemistry. Read more about biosolids on the EPA’s website.
The reasoning for taking sewage and turning it into biosolids for farms and gardens sounds compelling at first glance. In the past, this sewage was dumped straight into lakes, streams, and other natural water sources. › Continue reading
Eco Labels and Logos
Eco Labeling can be confusing, and with so many different green logos out there, who do you trust? Luckily, many of the statements, such as Organic and Fair Trade, are regulated to some degree, so you can feel safe knowing that it isn’t ambiguous. With all that greenwashing out there, others can be a bit tricky, such as ‘Natural’ and ‘Eco-friendly’. Here is a quick guide covering the basics when it comes to organic, fair trade, humane, cruelty free, animal testing and more. These are the logos and labels you want to look for and trust.
An Alternative to Lead-based Solder
Anybody with a rudimentary understanding of electronics, especially the person that habitually tinkers with and “fixes” the various appliances at home will know how regularly solder is used and needed, even more so for those in the industry.
Up till just recently though, solder wasn’t exactly a milestone of technological achievement. Rather, the basic premise behind solder has remained unchanged; it is still simply a little bit of lead (or other metal substance with a low melting point) which, after being melted, acts as an adhesive, holding together important parts of circuit. These parts being essentially an integral and regularly used component of those everyday tools like cell-phones and computers that we take for granted. Naturally, something so universal, and so small as to be oft-overlooked, is bound to have far-reaching consequences over time.
These consequences were not taken lightly by Ainissa Ramirez‘ and her team at Yale, who like many other scientists around the world had sought out a greener alternative for quite some time. Recently, the culmination of this teams research is to be published. An essential summary of the idea is that new tin-silver solder with iron particles will present a viable alternative to replace the afore-mentioned lead-based solder. But there’s more, asserts Ramirez, as “in addition to helping make the fabrication of microelectronics more environmentally responsible, these new solders have the potential to solve technological challenges.”
The Climate Change Argument
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattu/ / CC BY 2.0
Last week I quite literally found myself in the middle of one of my favorite arguments, climate change.
Let me set the stage for you. We were at a public talk on astronomy; the lecture was going well, proving to be both informative and engaging, when the speaker threw out a passing comment questioning the legitimacy of climate change. At first the audience was a bit surprised at the seemingly off topic tangent, then one after another a number started questioning the logic behind the speaker’s claim. The conversation got pretty intense, and I have to admit, I was thrilled to listen to all the arguments defending the existence of climate change.
The speaker’s point seemed to be, at first, that while climate change was undeniably occurring it had yet to be fully proven that humanity was the cause. This assumption is something that is, frustratingly, encouraged by the media’s portrayal of climate change. In an attempt to create suspense and the dramatic conflict often needed to retain audience attention, journalists will present both sides of an argument as equally valid, even if – as in the case of climate change – one has far more scientific data supporting its claims. › Continue reading
USGBC’s Green Home Guide Beta
Margarido Home, LEED Platinum Certified.
Many of us are familiar with the LEED rating system from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), which is a third party green building rating system for commercial and residential buildings. The LEED rating system has been adopted by the U.S. government and is used with all new construction and major renovation of federal buildings. LEED certifies buildings on a point based system in the areas of Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Locations & Linkages, Awareness & Education, Innovation in Design, and Regional Priority. Points are then added up to achieve Silver, Gold, or preferably Platinum certification. While mainly regarded as a tool for commercial building, there is also a LEED for Homes section that allows you to certify your home or neighborhood.
Recently, USGBC has launched a Green Home Guide. The site is an awesome resource for those of you looking to remodel or build a home in the near future. The site contains a myriad of resources for the casual and the serious green homemaker alike. The “Know How” section guides you through green building advice and educational articles to help you make better-informed decisions. They cover a diverse range of topics, and the content is growing everyday. With the rapid growth in the green building world, it’s a great resource if you need to get an idea of what’s out there.
› Continue reading
Worlds Largest Solar Powered Yacht – PlanetSolar
Just unveiled in Germany, this Swiss built catamaran dubbed PlanetSolar is the largest of its kind with over 5,000 sqft of solar paneling covering most of the surfaces. With a top speed of 15 knots (17 miles per hour), this 66-ton boat carries 50 people with its crew of two. It’s 38,000 newer generation photovoltaic cells have an efficiency of at least 22% to help with converting the suns rays to turning the propeller. It’s no Code-X speed boat, but it is probably more efficient and practical.
Sticking to routes near the equator, the crew hopes to maximize the suns exposure to keep their average speed at 8 knots. They will be embarking on a 140 day voyage to cities like San Francisco, New York, Darwin (Australia), Hong Kong, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Marseille. Maybe they could stop by the Pacific trash gyre on the way over.
› Continue reading
Antioxidants and The Greatest Health Discoveries
Super foods and Supplements are like the stock market – you want to invest over the long term and diversify for best results. With all the attention given to the ‘newest’, ‘greatest’ and ‘exotic’ super foods with mega antioxidants like acai, goji berries, pomegranate and blueberries, you may get sucked into the marketing hype and lose sight of the actual benefit. It’s like greenwashing for healthy foods.
At prices double or triple what you would expect to pay for other healthy fruits and vegetables, it makes you wonder- is this really worth it? The answer is, only if you like the way it tastes, because that is going to be the biggest difference you are going to notice.
While these may be high in a few beneficial antioxidants, you aren’t going to turn into superman consuming them, in fact you may lose out in other important vitamins and minerals by ignoring the less flashy fruits and vegetables.
New and Hot:
Açaí – A berry from the Açaí Palm, found mostly in Central America, has been a staple food of many of the Brazilian jungle dwellers for generations. Far from the antioxidant powerhouse it is marketed as- while it contains more than oranges and apples, it has less antioxidants than the more common blueberry, and black cherry, concord grape or even red wine.
It is a great addition to your existing food selection, but at $5.00 a bottle it’s probably just as healthy as a $1.25 bottle of grape juice.
Goji Berries (Wolfberry) – A berry originating from China has been associated with healing powers and high vitamin C content. Also greatly misrepresented, the dried berry loses a great deal of its potency and are comparable to the levels you would find in a citrus fruit such as an orange or lemon. While tasty, these berries don’t deliver on their lofty health benefits.
Is Organic Food Really Better For The Environment?
Flikr User: Dano
I eat a lot of organic food. In fact, about 80% of the food that goes into my body is organic. I cannot tell you how many times I get teased about eating “dirt” from many of my friends, and even my family. A friend recently quizzed me about my reasons for eating organic. I claimed that one of the reasons I opt for organic food is for environmental reasons and my friend gave me the most flabbergasted look on the planet. He flat out refused to believe that organic food is more environmentally sound than “normal” food. This set me on a quest to defend my position that organic food is better for the environment. So here are the top three environmentally based reasons I choose to eat organic food:
1) Organic farming practices can help decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. According to The Rodale Institute, each acre devoted to organic farming can remove and store around 7,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year. That means if we were to convert all 434 million acres of farmland in the U.S. to organic farmlands, it would be the equivalent to getting rid of 217 million cars, which is about 1/3 of the automobiles in the world, according to the Organic Trade Association .
2) Organic farming uses less energy. According to the same study, organic farming practices use 30% less energy, less water, and obviously no pesticides. Think of all the energy that goes into the production and transportation of pesticides and › Continue reading
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