Save Water to Save Money
Posted by Laird on Nov 24, 2008
Save Water to Save Money
In the 1970s, water used to be free. Due to human beings’ negligence, water is no longer a free product as well as no longer pure and clean. People now buy drinking water unless they want to drink contaminated water. Measures must be taken to recycle resources and clean the water system before water becomes scarce.
For starters, people should reduce their usage of water by taking shorter showers, which will decrease their water and electric bills. Also, installing inexpensive low-flow showerheads and toilets will decrease water and electric bills. Furthermore, a faucet aerator, on all faucets in the household, is inexpensive, as well. These gadgets will reduce electric and water bills. But the water pressure will remain high.
Conserve water by using xeric gardens. Plants in xeric gardens are native to the area and do not require much water. In order to water them, it is recommended to use gray water. This gray water is the water from the kitchen, bathrooms, sinks, showers, tubs, laundry, washing machines, and dishwasher. Only biodegradable soaps are used in order to create this gray water. Recycle this gray water by watering gardens, plants, and lawn.
Use the machine washer/dryer and dishwasher after seven in the afternoon. Wash most of your clothes in cold water because hot weather uses up a lot of energy. When drying clothes, only place big and thick pieces, like towels, sheets, jeans, sweats, blankets, robes and pajamas in the dryer with dryer balls in order to reduce the length of drying. Try to lay out smaller pieces of clothing as well as the delicate and gentle garments to air dry. Recycle the gray water from the washing machine and dishwasher for watering the plants. Do not flush the toilet too many times during the daytime in order to decrease water bill.
As people learn to reduce their water usage, they should also take appropriate measures to religiously practice the three R’s on a daily and ongoing basis. The three R’s include reducing, recycling and reusing so that valuable natural resources do not become scarce. Important products that need to be recycled include aluminum, steel and tin cans, glass bottles and jars, and paper and plastic products. Old electronics should be recycled since they contain lead and mercury, which can taint the soil and water. Thereby, poisoning drinking water as well as vegetation. Car fluids, parts, batteries and accessories as well as auto bodies and tires should be recycled. Recycling old compost to create your own fertilizer will assist in the growth of nutrient-enriched plants and garden. Furthermore, be sure to buy merchandise in bulk or large boxes to save on packaging. Such bulk shopping can be found in warehouse stores, such as Costco.
Other products to watch out for when recycling include using VOCs and petrochemicals. Cotton and linen products do not emit VOCs in the air; and thereby, improving air quality. Organic cotton is a lot better because it does not use up petrochemicals. Also, using cleaning products that do not have harsh chemicals and that are not scented will recycle better. Do not use foam products, such as cups, bowls, plates, and clamshell boxes, because they use up petrochemicals and they do not recycle well.
Therefore, the secret to saving water requires reducing your water usage, recycling products, and reusing old products. But people need to remember that some products give out harsh chemicals, such as lead, mercury, petrochemicals, and VOCs, and can contaminate drinking water. To be safe, they should not buy such products that are scented or have chemicals. As people practice the three R’s, their water and electric bills start to decrease, their environment is cleaner, and they are saving the planet in the process.
Green Your Heating This Winter
Posted by Laird on Nov 24, 2008
Green Your Heating This Winter
Winter is coming and with it the high heating bills not to mention the amount of gases that are sent into the air we breathe. The winter season does not have to be spent wrapped in a blanket or thermal wear and turning the heat full blast. There are many simple ways you can stay warm and keep the air you breathe cleaner.
One of the simplest ways most people do not even think of when they are considering the cold winds blowing is their windows. The windows are one source of cold air that adds to the work your heating system is doing when it is struggling to keep the temperature at the setting you have chosen.
If you do not have storm windows or cannot afford them right now, the next best alternative is to get plastic insulation. It is clear so you can still see out your windows. The type that can be fitted by heating is a good alternative to letting the windows add to the cold air in the room. You will be surprised just how much of a difference this can make in your home.
Another way that is often overlooked and will work for both heat and air is the ceiling fan. They are not as expensive as they once were and one with a low setting that turns slowly can spread the heat or air. Everyone knows heat goes up so what better way to push it back down to where you are than to put up an inexpensive ceiling fan and enjoy the warmth.
Solar power is one source of energy that many people are finding is a great alternative to electrical power. There are many solar appliances becoming more commonplace today. For instance, there are many solar hot water heaters in use. This is an excellent way of heating your water. Solar panels are being installed in roofs to capture the warmth of the sun and distribute it to many different household uses. Much of the recent news about solar power is concerned with using it to actually generate electricity to save on your utility bills.
Here is another way of saving on heating bills as well as energy. The rooms that you do not use do not need to be as warm as the ones you are spending your time in. Besides which the rooms you are in until time to retire will be warmer just by having more people in them. Everyone generates body heat and if there are several people in one room the temperature will go up by more than you would think possible. By keeping doors closed and confining activities to certain areas of the house you will be using less energy and utilizing something you already have. This can also be a way to save energy when you are not home.
By turning the thermostat down to a cooler setting, you are saving energy that would just be wasted when the house is empty. Many people use timed thermostats for this purpose - turning the heat on/up just before rising in the morning, before everyone is due to be home, and this can also be used for turning the hot water tank on and off.
Get the whole family involved. Sit down together and make a list of everyone’s suggestions when it comes to saving energy and making the air we breathe cleaner. You might be surprised at some of the ideas your family will come up with.
Why Reducing Deforestation is Crucial
Posted by Laird on Nov 24, 2008
Why Reducing Deforestation is Crucial
When it comes to doing our share to save the environment, it is absolutely essential that we know why reducing deforestation is crucial. Each year, a large number of trees all over the world – particularly in the rain forest – are cut down. It has been estimated that the amount of trees that we use annually is somewhere in the billions. Even worse than this, the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere is horrific! It is absolutely essential that we all work to take part in the fight that will reduce deforestation because of the fact that it is absolutely essential to the overall well being of our world!
Deforestation Explained
While deforestation is a serious issue when it comes to the environment and the atmosphere, many individuals do not quite understand what it is all about. The truth is that it is actually quite simple to understand. This is simply the destruction of forests, the trees in the atmosphere, as well as important woodland areas in the world. While there is a lot of deforestation occurring in the area of Latin America and even Africa, it is also evident in Asia and even North America. There are a number of reasons why these sensitive areas of the environment are destroyed. Wood is used in building materials, paper products, and more. Unfortunately, when they are destroyed, the dangerous greenhouse gas of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere.
How You Can Help
If we continue to engage in high levels of deforestation, we will contribute heavily to the greenhouse effect. In turn, the potential for global warming will be increased. We all know the devastating effects of global warming. These effects mean more health problems, financial hardships, and many more complications such as flooding of areas near the ocean and more. The following steps will help you; help others to understand the hardships posed by deforestation:
1. First, you should educate yourself on deforestation as well as the role that forests play when it comes to reducing the overall emissions released into the atmosphere. You should then, in turn, work to educate others on these issues.
2. Next, you should enroll in the many incentive programs out there today that focus on preserving the forests and putting an end to this drastic complication.
3. It is important that you spread the word about the dangers associated with deforestation with your local and state government. Inform them of the many different ways that we can get the things that we need – like, through recycling.
Conclusion
If we want to slow down the effects of global warming, it is crucial that we work on the issue of deforestation. This will prove to be a great start in reducing our carbon footprint, and literally saving the world as a whole! Become educated on the importance of our forests, spread the word, and encourage others to take part in your cause. If we come together and work to reduce this problem, we will save ourselves a lot of trouble when it comes to global warming later.
Conservation of the Scottish Highlands
Posted by Laird on Nov 19, 2008
Conservation of natural forest and wilderness in Scotland
Scotland is universally known as one of Europe’s last remaining wilderness areas. Unfortunately, like most of the natural unspoiled wilderness areas left in the world, Scotland’s wilderness areas are under threat.
The planting of commercial forests mainly composed of Scandinavian pine rather than the native Scots pine, further threatens this ecology.
In nature, the mixture of trees, undergrowth and brush as well as open land forms an eco-system that enables a diverse range of animals and birds to live.
The mono-culture approach of the commercial logging companies destroys these eco-systems with their diverse flora and fauna as well as the natural beauty of the environment.
Cutting great swathes of land as the trees become commercially viable further hurts the eco-system. Mixed forests with trees of different ages and different species encourage a much wider range of insects, animals and birds – all evolved for their own ecological niche.
Natural pathways, fallen trees, brush and undergrowth are removed in favour of efficient pathways for machine access between trees of the same type planted in ordered rows.
Even these pathways are often blocked with machinery or piles of logs awaiting further processing in the factory forest.
Like an organism, nature has the ability to regulate itself, and return any damaged parts to a healthy condition. Unfortunately, this self-healing process of nature is being prevented in most places by the scale and intensity of human exploitation.
Ecological restoration seeks to allow the natural regeneration of ecosystems to take place again, and, where appropriate, to assist and accelerate it.
Ecological Restoration in Scotland
Scotland is a prime candidate for ecological restoration work, as it is one of the countries which has suffered most from environmental degradation in the past. The Highlands in particular have been described as a ‘wet desert’ as a result of the centuries of exploitation which have reduced them to their present impoverished and barren condition.
Become a Scottish Laird or Lady and help conserve the Highlands
Since being established in 1983, South Angus Survival has acquired tracts of land in the Scottish Highlands and it is their intention to acquire more land in these areas which are in danger of being changed into blocks of identical Scandinavian pine-forest
As a necessary part of our ongoing conservation, restoration and regeneration program, South Angus Survival are currently replanting these areas with many native species of deciduous trees; including, Rowan, Alder, Willow, Hornbeam etc,
This will help to create a natural mixed woodland where local flora and fauna can survive and live in safety in a diverse eco-system encouraging a .native animals and birds before they become endangered species or worse still, join the growing list of extinct species that we and our children will never see again.
In the past, Scottish forests were home to many species of wildlife no longer seen or endangered – the European beaver, wild boar, lynx, moose, brown bear and the wolf.
As a “Laird of Glencairn” or “Lady of Glencairn” you will help these natural areas to survive. It’s a small beginning - but it’s a beginning. This could be the last chance to preserve one of the most strikingly beautiful landscapes in Great Britain (perhaps even in the world) for future generations.
Can You Recycle Your Toothbrush?
Posted by Laird on Nov 3, 2008
Can You Recycle Your Toothbrush?
A Toothbrush has its own lifespan and we usually change one after just a couple of months, at the most. But what happens to the toothbrushes we keep on discarding? And if we strictly follow our dentist’s advice, we would have been tossing toothbrushes every quarter! In America alone, each year, around fifty million pounds of used toothbrushes end up in landfills!
But the good news is that, the Green stores and some with online availability option have come up with the eco-friendly versions of toothbrushes. Eco-Dent has come of with their Terradent variety of toothbrushes with replaceable heads. The beauty of this product is that, the head with frayed bristles could be changed for a fresh head, thus retaining the handle part, leading to bare minimum waste. Again, planned by the dentists, the Recycline Preserve one’s handle portion is manufactured from Polypropylene Plastic recycled from the second-hand cups of Stonyfield Yogurt! And after such a toothbrush completes its life, one has the option of either putting it back to Recycline or put it with other ecologically reprocess-able plastic items, into the blue bin. The polypropylene plastic toothbrush, so finds its application in the manufacture of long lasting durables as outdoor tables and deck. If you are not that keen on mailing back your discarded toothbrush, Carol Duvall, the Craft guru from HGTV has an idea! And the idea is that of curving bracelet for the young ones, rather than leading the old toothbrushes to landfills. Following Carol’s idea, you may try this idea as well. The steps involved sounds simple. Just one minute boiling (and removing the bristles) the toothbrush could be enfolded around a mini jar and let it cool down to the desired shape. Meanwhile, nature’s own product cellulose is also getting used in the making of recyclable as well as chic toothbrushes from the Radius stable. Radius has also come up with battery driven “Intelligent Toothbrush”, to reduce environmental hazards by using replaceable heads. They are even open to taking back the toothbrush after eighteen months, once is the battery goes off completely. But definitely, many of us don’t just want to shift from our regular mass-market toothbrushes. We all have our choices and preferences. So, here lays the solution to follow our heart while caring for the environment and recycling. Toothbrush Express, the online website designed towards retailing, has an approach much alike the Recycline, towards toothbrush recycle. You can get new toothbrushes delivered at desired intervals (may be monthly to even half yearly). And after use, you can post back your old toothbrush for recycling, through a pre-paid mailer. But off course, Toothbrush Express charges for this additional service.
Easy Things You Can Do To Help Stop Global Warming
Posted by Laird on Nov 2, 2008
Easy Things You Can Do To Help Stop Global Warming
You may not realize it, but there are many easy things you can do to help stop global warming. In recent years, it has been discovered that temperatures have risen approximately 1°F higher than the average. Over the next decade, we could see temperature increases up to 6 degrees higher. Small increases in the Earth’s temperature could result in a drastic change in the climate. This has the potential to impact the sea level in the oceans of the world, changes in the productivity of crops, changes in the air that we depend on, and the water we drink may also experience a change. In addition to this, our overall health and the standard economy will be drastically affected. This is why it is essential to know and understand that there are easy things you can do to help stop global warming.
1. One of the first things that you can do to contribute to preventing global warming is to start with your own home. Take a look at the lighting. Are you still using those standard bulbs? If so, it is time to pull them out and replace them! Go to the store and buy energy efficient bulbs and put them in all of your sockets. It has been estimated that for each bulb that you replace to the energy efficient type, you are saving approximately one hundred pounds of one of the major contributors to global warming – carbon!
2. The next thing that you can do is not only easy, but fun as well! Go to your local garden store and pick out a nice tree that will grow to be large and strong. Then, take it home and plant it! Trees help provide oxygen, and they also work to absorb all those nasty carbon dioxides that are in the air. In turn, they use it to convert into a source of energy. If you plant the tree near the home, you will find that it will eventually provide shade. As a result, you will save money on the costs to cool your home!
3. Next, you should focus on reusing the products that you purchase as much as possible. For example, if you have a bottle of bleach, and it is getting low, add some water and keep using it! It may not be as strong, but it will be just as effective! You should also focus on purchasing products that are recycled from other products in order to save money and reduce the amount of carbon that is emitted into the atmosphere.
If you work to follow these simple steps, you will be ensuring that the atmosphere receives as little pollution as possible from fossil fuels and other materials that are used to provide electricity, water, and the items that you purchase at the store. The important thing is to remember that you can make a difference in the world. This is especially true when it comes to global warming. These are just a few of the many easy things you can do to help stop global warming.
