Apparently, I wasn't alone in calling Charles Komanoff to the mat after he was quoted in the NYT, saying that the average American family could reduce their CO2 emissions by 25%. In response to a dozen queries like mine, Komanoff got down to the nitty gritty in Gristmill. He even produced a spreadsheet for the truly detail minded.
Komanoff's top five are no real surprise:
1. Play and shop close to home to cut out 25% of non-commute driving (6.3%),
2. Switch to compact fluorescents (4.5%).
3. Upgrade insulation (4.0%).
4. Carpool, bike, walk or ride transit to work once a week (2.2%).
5. Turn down the thermostat 3ºF during the heating season (1.8%).
Here's a thought: how about vacationing close to home? What is the impact of middle class Americans jetting off on beach vacations?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Composter Arrives
As I mentioned before, choosing a home composter was difficult due to the lack of reviews or descriptive product information available on the Web. In the end, I chose an "Urban Compost Tumbler Uct-7." We ordered it through Amazon.com and the order was fullfilled by a company called Wheatgrasskits. The composter took about two weeks to arrive, and I spent a lot of that time wondering what exactly I was getting. The Amazon description doesn't tell you what is included and I could only hope that the base was part of the unit.
It was. The composter arrived in very minimal packaging, which was good to see, and the parts to put the base together were packed inside the barrel. I needed about an hour to assemble the legs; that was working with the "help" of my three- and five-year-olds.
The included directions get a C-. You need to follow the diagrams very carefully. We put the legs together the wrong way twice before noticing all of the information the diagrams were showing -- two different sizes of bolts, proper positioning of the leg parts, etc.
As soon as the composter was assembled, we packed in a load of twigs, leaves, and green things from the kitchen inside. The compost is supposed to "cook" for two weeks. In the meantime, we get to spin the barrel as often as we like. My kids like doing that *a lot.* One last note: This small-size tumbler is not nearly big enough to cope with all the composting materials our 1/2 acre lot throws out. It is about the size of a standard garbage can.
It was. The composter arrived in very minimal packaging, which was good to see, and the parts to put the base together were packed inside the barrel. I needed about an hour to assemble the legs; that was working with the "help" of my three- and five-year-olds.
The included directions get a C-. You need to follow the diagrams very carefully. We put the legs together the wrong way twice before noticing all of the information the diagrams were showing -- two different sizes of bolts, proper positioning of the leg parts, etc.
As soon as the composter was assembled, we packed in a load of twigs, leaves, and green things from the kitchen inside. The compost is supposed to "cook" for two weeks. In the meantime, we get to spin the barrel as often as we like. My kids like doing that *a lot.* One last note: This small-size tumbler is not nearly big enough to cope with all the composting materials our 1/2 acre lot throws out. It is about the size of a standard garbage can.
Is Draino Safe?
Right around the time I started reading about frogs being born missing limbs, I started wondering about the chemical stew we wash down the drain everyday -- ammonia, laundry detergent, Downy, dish detergent, Ajax, soap, shampoo, conditioner, and more. Can the municipal water treatment plants really render all of this stuff harmless?
The question always comes to the fore when one of our sinks gets clogged up. What is the environmental cost of dumping Drano down the pipes? This article from "Earth Talk," a Web site published by E/The Environmental Magazine implies it's not as bad as you'd think. Still, a metal snake is now my go-to option.
The question always comes to the fore when one of our sinks gets clogged up. What is the environmental cost of dumping Drano down the pipes? This article from "Earth Talk," a Web site published by E/The Environmental Magazine implies it's not as bad as you'd think. Still, a metal snake is now my go-to option.
Just a Fad?
Last Sunday, writing in The New York Time's Week in Review, Andrew C. Revkin explored the faddishness of purchasing credits to offset your carbon-footprint. The article is headlined "Carbon-Neutral is Hip, but is the Green?" To me, the most interesting part of the article was this quote from Charles Komanoff, an energy economist in New York: "There isn't a single American household above the poverty line that couldn't cut their CO2 at least 25 percent in six months through a straightforward series of simple and terrifically cost-effective measures." Strangely, the Times doesn't give Komanoff the opportunity to tell us what those measures are. Well, I'm curious enough to track Komanoff down and ask him. I'll let you know what he has to say. In the meantime, what do you think: Is purchasing carbon credits a useful tool, or a silly fad?
Amazon's Kindle is Eco?
The launch of Amazon's Kindle was widely reported in the media today in articles like this one from The New York Times: Amazon Reading Device Doesn't Need Computer. Perhaps that's because the e-reader will offer subscriptions to newspapers like the Times that are desperately searching for new revenue streams.
Missing from the coverage was any analysis of the green aspects of the new device. What's clear is that book publishing has plenty of room for improvement. According to Eco-Libris, only 5% of books published in the United States are printed on recycled paper. The same Web site says that about 20 million trees are cut down each year to print books.
If the Kindle can save a fraction of those trees -- not to mention the environmental costs of bleaching and transporting the paper -- I say it's worth considering, even if the $399 asking price is rather steep.
Of course, the Kindle and other ereaders can never really replace the book. Can they?
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/presspol/research_publications/papers/discussion_papers/D39.pdf
Missing from the coverage was any analysis of the green aspects of the new device. What's clear is that book publishing has plenty of room for improvement. According to Eco-Libris, only 5% of books published in the United States are printed on recycled paper. The same Web site says that about 20 million trees are cut down each year to print books.
If the Kindle can save a fraction of those trees -- not to mention the environmental costs of bleaching and transporting the paper -- I say it's worth considering, even if the $399 asking price is rather steep.
Of course, the Kindle and other ereaders can never really replace the book. Can they?
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/presspol/research_publications/papers/discussion_papers/D39.pdf
Friday, June 1, 2007
Brown Water?
I just spoke to the town Sewer department. Since we moved into the house three weeks ago, I've noticed that the water from some the taps is brown. Since the house was empty for nearly a year, I wasn't surprised that some sediment would have gathered. I hoped that the problem would resolve itself with time as any sediment present in the pipes flushed out. The woman at the Sewer department said that if the HOT water was brown, we may need a new hot water heater. Another item to research: What is the most energy efficient system? I am intrigued by tankless heaters.
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