eco friendly Archive

Can We Save The Planet Through Green Living?

Is our earth breaking down or is it simply a hoax? Is it a conspiracy or are natural resources becoming dangerously consumed? For the world to endure, do we all need to adopt an earth friendly way of life? Will change better our health at a time when health costs are rising? The next generation must learn about how to follow a greener lifestyle to help the planet.

Older generations grew their own food and enjoyed maintaining their gardens. The kids of today do not know the fun of growing veggies in the back yard, or having a flower garden, or even planting a tree. How many children even understand that a green plant takes carbon dioxide out of the air and creates oxygen? Our bodies and health depend on nutritious eating, unpolluted air and good drinking water. If the world is to endure, we may have to go back to a greener lifestyle.

There may be consequences as a result of the manner in which we live nowadays. People are able to a long time, but are they living better? New health problems develop from modern living even if other conditions have been eliminated. Going green will improve the health of the world and make life worth living. The profits of living green has to be taught to our kids.

The use of fossil oil and coal has distinctly not helped our wishes for cleaner air and so wind and solar energy solutions are needed. We are likely to react to a problem after it has become too big to solve. Are there individuals who are prepared to see the end of our earth? Why else would we take it easy and watch the environment envenomed in this way? At what point is the air overly impure, and the water overly contaminated, and the food sources excessively impure that things cannot be overturned.

There was an era when the world moved at a slower rate and people were important for more than just what they were going to purchase. It was critical to keep people healthy rather than make big bucks off of their illnesses. We can all help by discerning what the environment needs to better the lives of its inhabitants.

If we realize that it is not simply about money, we can begin to make changes such as using wind and solar power instead of oil. It is time for our youth to be educated in living a healthy way of life, using natural resources without wasting them, and that there is not another earth to move to. For the sake of our youth, we need to understand what we need to do, so that they have a future on this world. Certainly, reducing our dependence on depleting resources is a good start. A good way to do that is to create your own energy with a home wind generator, which is also referred to as a home wind turbine or small wind turbine. Acquiring green living habits should become a priority for every one of us.

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What Is A Real Green Business

Over the last decade, many companies have been labeled as an environmental business. The number of companies attempting to go green has increased dramatically over the past few years. The factors which determine whether a company is green really means: are their products safe for the environment, do they recycle instead of wasting, use less electricity, and cut down on their water usage. The real question is can they truly be a real green business?

So it is just not enough for a green business to sell a selection of environmentally-friendly products in order to have a positive impact on the community and environment. The company must take part in civic activities to bolster the future of environmental, social and financial preservation. A green reputation is a fantastic point of distinction that gives companies a competitive edge. Promoting this reputation can be a powerful tool; however, its promotion must be clearly communicated to company shareholders and the public. Using a corporate website is an excellent method of conveying this message.

Companies that have have gained such reputations will have an advantage that will put them ahead of their competitors. Although this type of image can be a powerful tool, its reputation should be backed up by its actions. Its promotion must be followed by company shareholders and clearly communicated to the public. A fantastic tool for such communication is use of a corporate website.

It’s no secret that businesses use the internet, to inform shareholders about a company’s role, and political views. A corporate website holds an advantage because it’s an opportunity to cheaply provide necessary information to its audiences and provides an outlet for quick feedback which can help improve company policies. This also allows you to be a better environmental business, because it produces less paper waste.

It’s important when judging a company’s appearance as a green company; you look at its role. The critics must be able to distinguish between companies who actually are environmentally friendly and companies that are just labeling themselves to boost sales, by labeling themselves with such a label that appeals to the public.

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Your House Can Be Earth Friendly

Learning how to live a little more greenly is an essential part of getting along in today’s society, no matter who or where you are on our delicate, barely sustainable earth. Fortunately, living green doesn’t cost you much effort or cash. It really isn’t that hard to lessen your carbon “footprint”. Following are a number of ideas to help you decrease your use of carbon-based products and join in the universal environmental fight to save our planet.

For a lot of of us, essentially doing something about carbon emissions seems impossible. We’ve been lied to, specially about how hard it is to do something worthwhile. In fact, if you’ll purely do a couple of these things, you’ll discover how easy it can be:

1) Turn down the thermostat, even if it is merely a few degrees! This can have a significant outcome on the sum of electrical energy that your family uses on a day after day basis and it is hardly noticeable.

2) An additional great method to diminish your electrical usage is by changing your customary bulbs with the new “eco-friendly” light bulbs. Not simply are they less expensive to make use of, but these light bulbs burn longer and brighter than your old bulbs. A further means to save is to bear in mind to turn all the lights off if you’re going to be out of the home for any extended period of time.

3) Wrap an insulated sheath covering your hot water tank. It sounds funny, but you can genuinely diminish your carbon footprint by decreasing the quantity of electricity you need to use to maintain your water heater’s temperature.

4) Take a look at a few of the environmentally focused products out there, like particular air fresheners and all-purpose cleansing items. These might seem like pretty insignificant measures, but taken all collectively they can have a real effect on the maintainance of a healthful ecological system.

5) Stick to the age old technique of recycling as much as achievable. With just a modest forethought, nothing could be easier. Initiate by separating your garbage by sorts, such as plastic, paper and glass, and then start throwing each away into labeled containers – there’s nothing to it. You’ll discover there are drop-off points for a good deal of this material, often situated right at the busier shopping centers and other useful points around town.

As you can distinguish, these are modifications that can be made without any investments or large amounts of time. Promoting a green lifestyle to create a healthier ecosystem for our children and ourselves is easy, if we all get as one and try.

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Ecological Energy Solutions for Property Owners

Sustainable energy means energy that is renewable. The consumer consciousness is now firmly on the side of green and ecological resources. Governments all over the world are tasking corporations and residences to lower their C02 emissions, to have a ‘low carbon footprint.’

How do you do your bit for our planet? Are you aware what amount of energy your home or business is using or wasting? London and virtually all of the cities are energy monsters using considerable levels of energy for business and also for every day appliances. What can you do about reducing your ‘Carbon Footprint?’

The initial item on any ecologically sound business or home is to discover how much energy is being used and how much is being wasted. Thermal imaging equipment will tell you right away just how much energy, in the form of heat, is leaking out of your property or business premises. A specialist survey will show you much more than just where the building is in need of insulation.

A proper survey will also identify hidden moisture and existing poorly fitted insulation. By identifying these points you will improve comfort levels, save energy costs, building deterioration and health risks with regard to damp.

Once you identify the leakage points of your property you can move on using a ecological power source. But first your business or home must be able to make the most of your thermal imaging survey and that’s where thermal insulation comes into play. It is vital you look for the R-Value (‘R’ standing for Resistance) on the insulation materials being used in your property. The ‘R’ scale runs from R-10 to R-30. If in any doubt use a qualified building professional to confirm the insulation materials being used. A positive side effect of using the correct materials is less noise so if you suffer from road noise or general environmental sounds you’ll win twice.

Power from the sun is free. The cost comes from gathering that energy and sending it to your business or home. London gets an average of 1,750 hours of sunshine every year. This is plenty to run a home and make great savings on a business’s bottom line. You can choose between Solar Water Heating collectors or Photovoltaic panels. The main difference being either to heat water or using turn solar energy directly into electricity using the Photovoltaic panel.

All you have to make sure of is mounting your panels on a south-facing roof at a 30-degree angle away from shadows that may be cast from trees, chimneys or other buildings.

You can choose between Solar Water Heating collectors or Photovoltaic panels. The main difference being either to heat water or using turn solar energy directly into electricity using the Photovoltaic panel.

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categories: green energy, solar energy, eco-friendly, constructions, photovoltaic

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Green Energy And Its Many Advantages

Green energy is expected to be the great industry with the 21st Century, paying great dividends to the country or countries that pioneer and successfully capitalize on it. Economically, environmentally, and even militarily, the capability to produce sustainable forms of energy is a prize which will set the fate of the world for centuries to come.

Unfortunately, the United States is in danger of losing the green energy race. Our nation is addicted to oil and the politicians are addicted to corporate money, so change has been almost impossible.

On the other side of the globe, literally, are the leaders of China, who have embarked on an ambitious plan to produce solar panels as well as implement solar farms themselves for domestic use. The Chinese are also big on wind farms and nuclear power, other technologies which Americans first developed but have now abandoned.

Sounds ominous? The chattering classes are all up in arms about the issue, but nothing has been getting done, not even with the election of Barack Obama. The interests are just too entrenched. Everybody stands to lose something, and contemporary American culture seems to have lost sight of any notion of the common good.

It’s a crazy scenario. There are American citizens, engineers and scientists, educated with American tax dollars, who now conduct their work in China or are employed by firms that do the rest of their work there. In effect, United States tax dollars are educating the individuals whose work will ultimately benefit the Chinese!

Of course, these scientists and engineers are only working for the highest salaries. But the firms they work for – American firms, owned by American citizens – complain that they simply can’t do business here; they need to go where the action is, and that’s China. To do anything else would be like trying to sell ice at the North Pole.

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Environmental Benefits Of LED Lighting

LED lights are a wonderful invention that has changed the way the world is lit. Not only are they long lasting, they have many environmental benefits. LED lights are four times more efficient than a regular incandescent light bulb and last 10 times as long. LED lights also use between 50 and 80 percent less energy than an incandescent bulb.

LED lights are considerably less expensive to operate, however are a little more expensive to purchase. LED home lighting requires only one third of the energy that an incandescent bulb will use. A single 18-watt LED light can replace a 75-watt incandescent and in the lifetime of the LED light, will save 570 kWh of energy. At a basic eight cents per kilowatt rate, that equals $45 dollars in energy bill savings.

By switching to low energy LED home lighting in your home, even one bulb will keep one half of a ton of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere through the lifetime of the bulb instead of using incandescent bulbs. Switching also keeps sulfur oxide and nuclear waste out of the atmosphere as well, leading to a cleaner world and one that will last much longer. By simply switching, our environment could easily revitalize itself without having to deal with the excess carbon dioxide, sulfur oxide and nuclear waste emissions that are currently being released into the atmosphere every day. Even changing one lonely bulb in every home to LED home lighting would make a significant impact on the environment.

If every home in the United States were to switch to LED home lighting, 90 power plants could be retired, a potentially powerful impact to the long-term health of the environment. Being energy efficient and environmentally conscious doesn’t have to disrupt your entire life. The switch is as difficult as changing one light bulb in your home, the results of which would save you money on your electricity bill each month. Just one home lighting fixture, one light bulb can be a positive step forward for your household. Take a look around your home and count how many bulbs you use and consider how often you change them. Say, for example that you change a bulb every two months. Now, consider that by changing them all to LED lighting for your home, you could leave them and not have to replace them for 20 months. The slightly higher upfront costs of LED lights make sense.

LED lighting is finding its way into many niche markets. You can get a LED flashlight that also uses less battery energy, ensuring that the next time the power goes out in your home, you can be confident that your batteries will last. There are also LED lanterns that you can choose from that are ideal for camping or hunting. They last for considerably longer than other lanterns because they use 10 times less energy to run than standard incandescent bulbs and even less energy than a kerosene lantern.

For LED home lighting, there are many options available other than just bulbs. You can find LED light fixtures for your home, indoor and out, that will provide low energy, environmentally-friendly lighting that can save you money on your energy bill.

We all are challenged to do our part to conserve energy. By making small adjustments to the way we live, we can begin to make an impact on our world. One small change we all can make is to switch our home and outdoor light fixtures to LED light options. There are a large number of options for LED home lighting and LED camping and hunting outdoor equipment available on the market, all of which provide the energy efficiency benefits inherent in LED products. The benefits can become apparent very quickly as we begin to see our energy bill costs reduce over a period of a few months.

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Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

What is CPTED? The official book definition is “the proper design and effective use of the built environment that can lead to a reduction in the fear and incidence of crime and an improvement in the quality of life.” It is simply a goal to reduce opportunities for crime that may be inherent in the design of structures or in the design of neighborhoods. In other words, make your home or neighborhood unappealing to burglars and thugs.

Cities and Counties throughout the country are adopting CPTED ordinances requiring site plan reviews with crime prevention in mind. Law enforcement officers who are specially trained in CPTED are now working closely with Planners, Architects, City Officials, and Educators to ensure the proper design of structures, schools, and neighborhoods. These experts know how the design and use of the environment can control human or criminal behavior and reduce the fear of crime. They used natural means such as landscaping to deter criminals. Access control, natural surveillance, different aspects of lighting and its effects on human behavior, all deter crime.

Many landscape specialists incorporate CPTED into their layout & design of landscapes. Each of the following CPTED strategies are low cost guidelines that they apply to reduce the fear and incidence of crime and improve the quality of life.

1. Natural Access Control guides people entering & leaving a space through the placement of entrances, exits, fences, landscaping & lighting. Access control can decrease opportunities for criminal activity by denying criminals access to potential targets & creating a perception of risk for would-be offenders. Walkways & landscaping should direct visitors to the proper entrance & away from private areas. The design should create a perception of risk for would-be offenders. Walkways should be installed in locations safe for pedestrians & keep them unobscured.

2. Natural Surveillance is the placement of physical features, activities & people in a way that maximizes visibility. A potential criminal is less likely to attempt a crime if he or she is at risk of being observed. At the same time, we are likely to feel safer when we can see & be seen. The landscaping should be selected and installed to allow unobstructed views of doors & windows. The front door should be at least partially visible from the street. Shrubs & bushes near windows should not restrict full visibility of the property. Sidewalks & all areas of the yard should be well lit.

3. Territorial Reinforcement is use of physical attributes that express ownership such as fences, signage, landscaping, lighting, pavement designs, etc. Defined property lines and clear distinctions between private & public spaces are examples of the application of territoriality. Front porches or stoops should create a transitional area between the street & the home. Property lines & private areas should be defined with plantings, fences or retaining walls. Use thorny plants along fence lines and under windows to deter access by intruders.

4. Maintenance is a well maintained home, building or community, and creates a sense of ownership. A well kept area tends to make someone feel like they will be observed by neighbors or business owners as it is obvious people care about the area. Keep trees & shrubs trimmed back from windows, doors & walkways. Keep shrubs trimmed to 3 feet & prune the lower branches of trees up to 7 feet. Use exterior lighting at night & keep it in working order. Keep litter & trash picked up & the yard neat & free of items that might attract theft.

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Chinese Environmental Law For Foreign Invested Enterprises

Chinese foreign investment law requires the issuance of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in before many types of projects are commenced,particularly construction and renovation projects (this requirement applies to both new and existing enterprises). The EIA is used to evaluate whether proper and effective protective measures have been taken with respect to the project’s potential environmental impact. The trend in China is towards stricter environmental standards and more consistent enforcement.

Since certain Foreign Invested Enterprises may be exempted from the EIA, it would be wise to submit a brief but thorough environment impact self-assessment in the feasibility study report, addressing the following issues:

* Raw materials and chemicals stored or in use * Technical aspects of the production process * Types and discharged volume of pollutants, including sewage, solid wastes and atmospheric emissions * Discharge of liquid waste (sewage), and volume and concentration of key parameters * Measures for prevention and control of environmental impact.

In the event that an Environmental Impact Assessment is nevertheless deemed necessary, its scope will be decided by the Environmental Protection Bureau at the level of government (township, local, provincial, national) that supervises your project, but will likely be more extensive. In general, an Environmental Impact Assessment must cover water pollution (sewage), atmospheric pollution, solid wastes discharge and noise pollution. If, for example, only one type of atmospheric pollutant is assessed likely to pose environmental problems, the scope of the Environmental Impact Assessment may focus only on this type of pollutant. If pollutants must be discharged, a permit will often be required. Failure to obtain an approved EIA and the necessary permits can result in various penalties including the shut-down of your project.

Although the time taken to complete an Environmental Impact Assessment depends on its scope, it usually takes 2-3 months. There is no fixed tariff system for Environmental Impact Assessment reports, but the regulations provide for 5 fee-based components: research, supervised sampling, laboratory experiments, testing, evaluation and reporting.

Cleaning Up – If you are purchasing a site with existing environmental contamination, be aware that the Chinese law usually attributes liability for clean-up to the party that caused the contamination. However, the environmental regulatory regime is rapidly developing, and future regulations may require current Land Use Rights holders or occupants to clean up environmental contamination. Accordingly, due diligence should include a thorough environmental survey before land use rights are acquired.

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Cincinnati Schools’ Environmentally Sound Building Featured In National Education Magazine

Cincinnati Schools’ Green Renovation

Cincinnati School’s has in effect a long term $1 billion building project that will help to renovate and rebuild many of its older buildings. One Cincinnati School ‘s elementary school, Pleasant Ridge Elementary School, has been recently featured in District Administration. This national magazine focuses on issues in K-12 education. The article from the August issue discusses the growing concern and interest in green building and environmentally friendly construction. The article states that even though the upfront cost can be more the long term benefits of green construction are quite clear. The construction of Cincinnati Schools’ Pleasant Ridge Elementary School is not only a gain for green construction strategies but it also teaches the students important lessons about the environment and responsibility.

Cincinnati Schools’ Pleasant Ridge Elementary School will be the first LEED School in Cincinnati Schools upon its completion. The LEED Green Building Rating System was devised by the U.S. Green Building Council which has helped Cincinnati Schools write its new building plans and codes. The article refers to the work of Ginny Frazier as one of the major influences on the Pleasant Ridge Elementary School project. A private citizen who lives in the area, Frazier is the head of a local group that advocates environmentally friendly building. She went to the Cincinnati Schools’ authorities and administrators with proposals on how the school in her neighborhood could be rebuilt using green materials and environmentally friendly tactics. Some of the ideas she proposed included according to the article, “geothermal heating so the new building uses the earth’s temperature for cooling and heating, using natural building materials, noxious-free cleaning products and art supplies, as well as natural water filtration systems.”

The article discusses the five key areas that the Cincinnati Schools’ Pleasant Ridge Elementary School project uses innovative techniques or old-fashioned common sense to improve the building design. The Cincinnati Schools’ Pleasant Ridge Elementary School project will improve the lighting of the schools in several ways. The lights will feature sensors that will automatically turn off lights in unoccupied rooms. Currently Cincinnati’s City Hall is using a similar system that has greatly reduced energy costs. The Cincinnati Schools’ Pleasant Ridge Elementary School will also have photovoltaic panels, which convert solar energy into electricity. Saving energy with heating and cooling systems is also a concern. All the new and renovated Cincinnati Schools will have central air systems. The article states that, “Air conditioned classrooms prevent pollution from outside, and in the end, help asthmatic children breathe easier, he says. And moisture from hot, humid days can also cause ceiling pads to buckle or gym floors to sag”

Another area the article talks about is indoor air pollution. Cincinnati Schools’ Pleasant Ridge Elementary School project is using less carpet in the design in order to help reduce pollutants indoors. Plans for reducing the amount of water use in the Cincinnati Schools’ would also be based on sensors that detect movement around sinks and toilets. The article comments on the concerns that the Cincinnati Schools’ Pleasant Ridge Elementary School project has in this area. The main concern is in using faucets that have an automatic shut off system or a push button system.

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Computer Recycling – Switch To Environmental Friendly Mode

Computer recycling refers to the practice of salvaging useable components from obsolete electronic devices or safely disposing off electronic devices. It is a practice that each one of us must inculcate because inappropriate handling of discarded computers and other electronic devices can cause environmental hazards.

Studies estimate that over 40 million electronic pieces become obsolete annually. These pieces have constituents such as lead, cadmium, barium, and mercury, which are hazardous to the environment. In a landfill, these materials seep into the ground and then into our food and water supplies. This can cause serious health concerns over a long period.

Obsolete Computers: Environmental Threats Obsolete computers that are simply dumped in the garbage drums are the biggest threat to the environment. The computer monitors have cathode ray tubes containing four to five pounds of lead that contaminates the environment acutely. Besides lead, the computers have many other hazardous elements such as mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium. When inhaled over a long period, these elements cause high blood pressure, liver and nerve disease, blood with poor iron, and even brain damage to the exposed group. This causes great concern, considering several million computers become obsolete annually.

Therefore, we must handle the obsolete electronic devices carefully. Moreover, different Environmental Laws have banned the illegal landfills by the disposals of computers and other electronic equipment. These laws necessitate sending the un-functional computers to a reputable recycler for harmless recycling. The laws also specify the need for regular recycling to avoid such computers from piling up.

There are several methods to deal with old computers. Some of them are as follows:

Give It For Reuse: If your computer is in a decent condition, you can sell it to a company or an individual so that it can be used further, or simply donate it to someone needy.

Trade It In: There are many computer dealers (e.g. HP) who offer trade-in promotions on computers and peripherals.

Auction It: You can sell the computer on eBay or any other auction site. You can also organize a quick garage sale and see if any of your friends or neighbors wants the computer.

Set up a Server: You can continue using the old computer as a server to store and share data.

Salvage Some Parts: You can see which parts of your computers are in good working condition. You can salvage those parts and use them in your new computer.

Go for computer recycling and safe the planet earth!

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