Going Green in Small Things

Posted on November 5, 2012 by mastadonzq

Going Green in Small Things

When we think of going green we typically think of things like adding solar panels to your home’s roof or massive wind farms or building a home out of used tires. However, going green does not have to mean making massive, expensive changes to your lifestyle. You can just do a few little things and make a big impact on the environment. Here are some little things you can change –

  1. Light Bulbs – We all know that the classic light bulb is a huge waste of electricity and heat. Thankfully we have other options today. Even big chain stores carry a variety of eco-friendly lighting choices. LED lights are becoming cheaper every year and use almost no electricity while still providing more than enough light.
  2. Car Maintenance –Keeping your car maintained is an easy way to help the environment. A well maintained car does not give off as much pollution and a car with inflated tires and a clean fuel injector assembly does not use as much gas. Not only are you reducing emissions, but you are also reducing the drain on non-renewable resources and the transportation and processing required to get them to your local gas station.
  3. Insulation –An easy and inexpensive way to make your home more eco-friendly is to replace your insulation. A well-insulated home stays warmer in winter and cooler in summer, reducing your need for utilities to heat and cool your home. It also helps to replace your windows with double paned glass. This double layer of glass means that less cool air will escape in the summer and fewer icy breezes will get in during the winter. You can even have your windows tinted or add dark colored screens to reduce sun exposure and keep your house cooler.
  4. Recycle –This simple idea has been around for a long time but is still something that we need to be reminded to do every once in a while. You should be recycling everything you can. Things like soda cans, glass jars, and plastic jugs can be recycled into new, useful things. Even paper products can be recycled. If your community does not have a recycling program you can form one or find your closest recycling center. Oftentimes your local public school will have a recycling program in place and would be glad for any donations you care to provide.
  5. Shop Smart –Las but not least, learn to shop smart. Try to buy locally as much as you can, reducing the transportation costs and emissions to get the products to the store. Try to find items that are made from recycled materials and thingsthat can be reused instead of thrown away.

All these little steps add up to really help the environment. Remember that you do not have to be rich to be green. Just a few thoughtful changes and a little effort on your part can help us to keep the Earth in shape for the next generation.

Author Bio:

Jason Miner plays a vital role for www.blogcarnival.com. He is an expert in writing topics of different categories. He is helping the carnival team to grow & working on making this an even better place for bloggers. 

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Filed under: Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Green Building, People, Philosphy | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

General Electric doesn’t have a very high opinion of the consumer

Posted on October 16, 2009 by mastadonzq

GE,

I’m disappointed.

I work in a hardware store and we have three basic types of lightbulbs for general use,

Incandescent:  The original Thomas Edison invention, they use 3% of the electricity to produce light and the rest of the electricity produces heat.  Essentially it is a very small fire.

Compact Flourescent (the spiral bulbs) :   A smaller version of the long straight flourescent lights most frequently used in supermarkets, they use about half the electricity to produce the same amount of light as an incandescent. Unfortunately they contain mercury and in a perfect world would be thrown out at a hazardous waste dump.

L.E.D (Light emitting Diode):  An old technology redone is our modern age, they can use 4 watts of electricity to produce the same amount of light as an incandescent 60 watt.  They also last five times as long as anything else.  They cost way too much right now.

So to come up with an “energy efficient” bulb, GE reduced Edison’s 60 watt bulbs to 57  to respond to California’s demand that they waste less electricity.

light-bulb ge 75 watt

bravo

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LED part two

Posted on June 25, 2009 by mastadonzq

A while back I wrote a post on how LEDs might suck because my personal experience with them has been bad.

Well I’ve done the research and it seems clear that all lighting will eventually be LED lighting.  My father just built a house lighted entirely with LEDs and his electric bill is ridiculously low. The problem at the moment is that there are a lot of poor quality LEDs coming out of places like China.

It is also very difficult to tell quality from crap just by looking so I would go by price. An LED bulb with room lighting capabilities will be about 3-4 dollars apeice.   The investement is worth it for the lower electric bill plus you won’t have to change bulbs for more than ten years.

I reccomend Cree Lighting Products, particularly their xlamp series.

Edison’s incandescent bulbs take standard 60 watts

Compact flouesent take maybe half that about 20-30 watts

For the same amout of white light emitted (lumens) an LED takes 5-10 watts

led-light-bulb

Filed under: Energy, Gadgets, Green Building | Tagged: , , , | 7 Comments »

LED lights, Theory vs Practice

Posted on February 19, 2009 by mastadonzq

LED technology is the current favorite for lighting in the future. They use less energy than fluorescent lights and can emit more pleasing light.  They also in theory do not need to be replaced for many years.

I worked at a hardware and furniture store when I was in college and we carried many different LED desk lamps over the years.  That experience showed me that LED light bulbs break all the time and are often very difficult to replace.

Now it is certainly possible that these were cheap lights not on par with the LEDs of today but given the simple construction of the diode, I don’t think it should matter.

I understand why in theory these light would last longer, IE there is no filament to burn out etc.   So are some types just better than others?

led

Filed under: Green Building | Tagged: , , | 8 Comments »

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