Greener Thinking

Energy Wasting Day (How We Live)

Ashley — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:56:57 +0000

There are many videos that talk about how to save energy, but not many that talk about how to waste it. Here is a video of a man that addresses the problem of people always wasting energy in a humorous way. He mentions all the many ways people waste energy and use products in careless ways.

Here’s the comical video showing how we waste energy every day:

And here’s the music video for energy wasting:

Although it is meant to be funny, it’s important to learn a lesson from videos like these. We all know that actions like these are quite common and have probably seen others do them before, or we even do them ourselves! Usually this is out of laziness or carelessness and it is seriously hurting the environment. As young adults, we need to take responsibility of the world we live in and the acts needed to make it better. Even if we don’t incorporate green actions in our live everyday, we can at least not include wasteful ones. I have seen many people open the refrigerator to cool down on a hot day, which is extremely wasteful. If you’re ever wondering which of your actions wastes the most energy, this video gives a lot of good examples of them.

Reusing “Old” Items

graulise27 — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:10:19 +0000

Sometimes when you no longer feel the need to use a certain item you just throw it away without thinking of other uses for it. For example, clothes can be turned into rags to clean your room or apartment, they can be used for making a quilt or if they are still in descent condition they can be donated to a charity. We don’t always think of these things when we begin to throw things away. Spring cleaning is a big time when things just get thrown out. Instead, why not have a garage sale or donate items, who knows you could even find a new use for things in your own home. You see, reusing items is sometimes better than recycling. This is because there’s no processing involved it’s just taking and “old” item and making it into something “new.” The link below will take you to a website that is full of green living standards and ways to utilize the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle). The first page you will come to is about reusing items. I believe it is important to reuse items. I myself love making new things out of old items and going to garage sales and seeing what other people have to offer. As they say, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Tips on How to Reuse

4 Easy Reuse Tips to Create a Better Environment

greenerthinkinggosling — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:09:21 +0000

Textbooks

Textbooks are forever expensive in more ways than one. Breaking down wood fiber to make paper consumes a lot of energy, which usually comes from coal plants. Therefore, the production of brand new textbooks contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. If some of your courses don’t require a new edition, take advantage of used bookstores or websites that specialize in used textbooks. Don’t forget to borrow, trade, and sell textbooks among friends and acquaintances as well.

Dishes

If you’re moving into your first dorm room, you might be tempted to buy disposable plates and cups in order to save time. But a semester’s worth of Styrofoam, plastic, or paper dishes will only accumulate unnecessary waste and expense. Buying inexpensive dishes from a secondhand store and washing them in your dorm’s kitchen is a more practical option for students and a more responsible choice for the environment.

Napkins

College students eat out a lot, which inevitably means a lot of paper napkins. The easiest way you can decrease unnecessary waste when dining out, bringing fast food back to your dorm, or eating in your school’s cafeteria is to simply use fewer paper napkins. In fact, just one will probably do the trick. Dishtowels and cloth napkins won’t add so much to your weekly laundry cost that you can’t replace your paper towels and napkins either.

Water Bottle

Skip the plastic water bottle, get an eco-friendly bottle. It may be convenient to just grab a bottle of water on the go, but think about all of the energy it takes to transport the water and make that plastic bottle, not to mention that the bottle takes a very long time to biodegrade. Instead, buy a re-usable bottle and fill it with tap water. If you do not like tap water, buy a Brita filter for your faucet.

Reuse to Create Art… and Perhaps Make Money?

greenerthinkinggosling — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:28:31 +0000

I am a broke college student, what can I do to be green? Some students think that you have to spend money to be green. Unfortunately, this is a very wide misconception. Steven Rodrig, a structural mechanic, is saving the environment and the planet by reusing printed circuit boards to create art. An ingenious idea that has the potential to even generate revenue.

It’s incredible just what you can do with a few old printed circuit boards and a bit of imagination. Steven Rodrig has created some hauntingly beautiful pieces from the innards of dead computers, reprocessing their abandoned circuitry into animals and plants from the natural world.

In an age where circuit boards are fast becoming one of the most dangerous sources of waste – containing, as they do, toxic chemicals such as mercury and lead – they not only pollute our environment, but also pose a serious threat to the natural habitat. Rodrig has devised a way of reusing them for an aesthetic, rather than functional, purpose.

This sea turtle’s beauty is fascinatingly appealing. These elegant creations inhabit the intersection between the electronic, new-age technological and the natural, age-old organic. They present us with a hybrid of how things are, how they once were, and what they might be like in the future.

Rodrig is keen to promote the use of discarded electronic waste as a form of reuse and recycling, and ultimately art. His work encourages us to find beauty in technology and understand how it can be reincarnated over and over again with a multitude of different purposes and effects.

The Importance of Recycling

graulise27 — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:18:52 +0000

Recycling is really important. It takes old products that have already been used and takes all or part of it and reuses it in a new way. Most products these days are purposely made from recycled materials so once they are used they can be remade into something else. This helps to reduce the amount of trash in landfills which in turn extends the life of these landfills. Since there is not much more room for new landfills to be placed it is important that we extend the life of the already established ones. Different materials need to be recycled differently. You wouldn’t recycle metal and plastics together because they have different processes in which these materials are recycled. You can do your part on campus to reduce the amount of unneeded trash in landfills by recycling your old water bottles, and paper and glass products. Normally recycling bins are right next to trash cans, so don’t use the excuse of, “Oh I didn’t know there was one there.” Do your part and recycle, that way the world we live in will still be there for future generations to use.

Recycling

Save Our Water

greenerthinkinggosling — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:54:29 +0000

Burning Trash is Green!?

greenerthinkinggosling — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:43:40 +0000

Learn what it fully means to be green before you try to take actions towards being green. Watch this Green Trash video to see how some people may think they are being green when in all actuality they are harming the environment. In the video, Charlie wanted to be green by not adding to existing landfills and thought to reduce his trash by burning it to create stars. While, reducing your trash is a green initiative, burning it isn’t and contributing to landfills may not have only adverse effects.**

Surprisingly and unbeknownst to many, trash could end up powering your lights, computer, and washing machine. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), every person in America produces an average of 4.5 pounds of garbage per day. Much of that trash goes into landfills, which are the largest human-related source of methane in the United States. Since methane is both a pollutant greenhouse gas and a source of energy, it offers a good opportunity to reduce greenhouse emissions and provide energy.

The process of converting landfill gas into energy is relatively simple. A series of wells sunk into a landfill collect the gas. According to the EPA website, two-thirds of the current waste to energy projects are being used to generate electricity, producing approximately nine billion kilowatt-hours per year. The other third of operational projects supply gas for direct-use applications, such as fueling boilers, engines and greenhouses.

**Note: We are not advocating creating landfills for alternative sources of energy.

Sustainable Seafood

Ashley — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:13:57 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Tilapia has been called ”the chicken of the sea” and is extremely sustainable. It’s an alternative to salmon, bass, and other fish species that are being hunted down to dangerously low numbers. This kind of fish tastes great and is naturally accustomed to living in high densities, as they do in fish farms. What’s great about Tilapia is that sea cucumbers can feed on their waste in their tanks. This helps create a birth to birth cycle rather a birth to death cycle.

Many countries consider sea cucumbers as a delicacy. Although this seem “gross” to some people, however, I’m sure some of the greasy, processed foods we eat include ingredients that are much more unhealthy and repulsive. For those of you that are open minded, there are many great tasting and healthy options out there that can drastically reduce your ecological footprint. Many species of fish are being caught and sold at rates that are much higher than their birth rates. Sometimes it’s nice to know that fulfilling your appetite doesn’t come at the cost of a species sliding closer extinction. Every fish species has an important place in their food chain and their extinction would put a lot of pressure on other marine species.

Try to research food products that you plan on buying before you go to the store to see if there are any eco-friendly alternatives, like this one. You may be surprised by all the options you have to make a different in the way you shop. Who knew going green could taste great!.

Tasting the future of farmed seafood (cnn.com)
A Fishy Debate: Farmed vs. Wild Seafood (fooducate.com)

Recycling: The Right Way

greenerthinkinggosling — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 23:15:44 +0000

Recycle! Recycle! Recycle!! Thank you for such a small and easy action as recycling! However, simply tossing your garbage in a recycling container does not mean anything unless it’s in the “correct” container. So, make sure you recycle the right way because someone will not always be there to let you know when your garbage ends up in the wrong container as in this video.

Today, it is very easy to recycle as we can see from the numerous recycling containers on campus and all around us. Just toss your rubbish in the bin and walk away knowing that you helped maintain a clean surrounding and helped to save the environment. Unfortunately, it is not that simple, there is a right and wrong way to recycle.

When wrong items end up in the wrong container, recycling machines and/or equipment can become jammed which slows, ends, or increases the cost of the process of recycling. Certain items when mixed with some other items result in the entire batch being thrown out and thereby decreasing the value of the act of recycling. So, before you recycle next time, please ensure that you are following some basic rules to recycling.

Check out these Basic Recycling Rules and Tips!!!

Swarthmore College

graulise27 — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:47:16 +0000

This college is going above and beyond what it means to be a green campus. They are using available roof space to plant shrubs and grasses that will capture rain water and save the drain systems from over flooding with wasted rain water. This water is stored, recycled and used when there is less water available. The plants also provide a protection for the roof which extend the roof life by about 40 years. In addition to capturing rain water the plants provide a natural cooling system for the building which cuts down on air conditioning costs. Students are even trying to find ways to reduce energy usage in their own dorm rooms. The college cafeteria uses composting in order to cut down on the amount of food that reaches a landfill. It is important to find ways to reduce energy usage and improve the life of the earth we live in. Swarthmore College is taking huge steps to conserve the environment and utilize every natural resource available. Check out this video on how they are trying to save the earth.