Organic Lawn Care

It's that time of year - tune up your lawn mower and get out your fertilizers. Wait, before you get out your fertilizers, do a little research into natural or organic lawn care and make some educated decisions about your lawn. Or, just use this search that I already did for you.

There are some easy basics that everyone can use even if still using petro-based fertilizers and pesticides: mow to about 3", water thoroughly only once per week.

Looking for an organic lawn service to replace Chemlawn? I heard a radio ad for Child's Play Organic Lawns while driving through South Bend, IN. Unfortunately they're a little far from my place, and I like to do it myself anyway. The search I linked above and the Child's Play site are both good resources for you if you're interested in not only reducing harmful chemical exposure to your family, pets, and the environment, but if you simply want a healthier and less maintenance-extensive lawn.

Please Consider the Environment Before Printing This ...

Do you know anyone who prints nearly every Email they receive? Do you print them? Have you ever thought about how wasteful that is? Do you cringe when paying $35 for an ink cartridge?

A few suggestions:

• Keep a "used" paper box under your desk for all those useless memos and messed up letters that only have print on one side. Take them home or use them again at the office if you must print Emails.
• Save or export your Email as a .txt file or Word doc so it's always there if you need it. Most Email programs allow this, but print to file works no matter what you have. Honestly, you don't need that much hard copy CYA (cover your a$$) material!
• If you're going to send a letter or report, scan the original and keep your copy electronically instead of on paper.
• Explore electronic signatures
• If you have trouble reading the small print: try adjusting your monitor's resolution, or hold the "Ctrl" button while rolling your mouse scroll wheel - it zooms.
• Add this statement to your Email signature: Please consider the environment before printing this email
• But, for heaven's sake, stop printing every Email!

Dryer Balls

I always see adds for dryer balls in eco catalogues but never paid much attention. Then my wife got some from Gaiam (the manufacturer's site is more interesting) and we've been using them for probably a month now. Basically, the spiny oblong balls are supposed to do the job of fabric softener and decrease drying time. Believe it or not - it works! We haven't used fabric softener since using the balls and the laundry is comparably soft.

I have not gone to the extent of a side-by-side softness or drying time test, but there is no doubt that we're saving money and exposure to chemicals (not to mention all the upstream pollution avoided). One important thing we've learned since starting our kids in cloth diapers almost 3 years ago is that fabric softener seriously reduces cloth absorbency by literally gooing up the fabric. 'Stripping' them is a very water and energy intensive process. So another benefit to eliminating fabric softener is that our towels, and our workout clothes, are more absorbent.

I see that there are 3 or 4 other brands out there, and I read some mixed reviews on them. I did not find a review for the brand we have. I'll let you know what happens.

My Favorite CFL

I wrote about lighting and compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs here and here before, as any treehugger should. The conflict comes when people (clear throat) actually use them. The complaints immediately spew forth as their delayed-on flickering blueish white light comes alive. I have a few of those crappy bulbs as I've made unconscious grabs at the 'energy savers' section at Lowe's or Home Depot. BUT, the very first CFL I ever bought, around 7 years ago, is still with me today and performs just as well as any incadescent - well except for the fact that I've had it 6 more years than any incadescent.

I finally, weeks ago, looked at it to see the brand and to finally be able to buy more CFLs that I can actually stand to have on in the living spaces of my home. The brand is Commercial Electric. So, since I didn't need any bulbs I completely forgot about it until a trip to Home Depot a few days ago where I picked up a round vanity light Commercial Electric bulb. It's now in the bathroom and it the brightest bulb in the row (the wasteful row of 6 bulbs when the room only needs 2; I have the rest unscrewed and just sitting there). It's instant on and the color is right.

I just did a quick search and found that a pile of Commercial Electric bulbs were recalled in 2004 because they can spark and burn up. I trust that problem has been solved by now.

So if you're like a lot of people and want to have CFLs in your home but are tired of the junk, go get some Commercial Electric bulbs.

$0.05 per bag @ IKEA

Beginning March 15th, customers at all US IKEA stores will have to pay 5 cents for each plastic bag. Finally a significant chain has adopted this policy! All the proceeds will go to American Forests, the nation's oldest non-profit citizens conservation organization, to plant trees to restore forests and offset CO2 emissions. Also, to help alter customer behavior and endorse environmentally responsible habits, IKEA will be selling its iconic reusable 'Big Blue Bag' for 59 cents, a cost that has been reduced from 99 cents.

IKEA gave away 70 million disposable plastic bags last year and they expect that to be cut in half during the first year of this new program. IKEA launched this program in the UK in the spring of 2006 and achieved an amazing 95% reduction in bags!

IKEA has been at the forefront in a number of environmental initiatives. IKEA specialists work diligently to promote healthy forestry practices. Wood used for IKEA products comes from well managed forests and not from intact, natural, or old-growth forests.

I've been planning on stopping at the Chicago store on one of my trips through, and now I have another reason to.

Bye Bye Incandescent

A congressman in California recently discussed his intention to propose a bill to outlaw incandescent light bulbs, which received quite a lot of press. Well now, Australia is planning on outlawing incandescent bulbs by 2010. I think the population of southern Cali exceeds that of Australia, but it's still a huge step. They estimate a reduction of 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases as a result. Thanks BBC.

I spent time in Australia and one quickly obvious differences is that nearly every toilet has the full and half flush buttons on top of the tank. These are just starting to show up in the US - why has it taken so long? It's a very simple, yet very effective, method of saving water.

Feng Shui Paint

Just look at this picture for a second.

Any guesses on what that turquoise greenish color is? Nope, not valuable turquoise stones.... it's paint. According to this article, this quarry in southwestern China was painted green for $60,000 at the request of the forestry department, if for nothing more than to increase the feng shui. I just don't know what to say.

On another, more believable note: the state of Florida has decided that the artificial tire-reefs they created 35 years ago are not working. I have to admit that I would have made the same mistake - dump a bunch of tires offshore and wait for the corals and fish to arrive. Well, it didn't happen. Now those tires look like they were dumped there last week. Worse, they've broken from their steel or rope bindings and are being smashed into real reefs by waves and currents. This same mistake has been made all over the world, and it seems that nobody has had any luck. Now we're spending millions to begin cleaning them up. The good news is that the ships they sink are usually successful as artificial reefs.

Reporting Season

January through June every year is reporting season for environmental compliance people like myself. As annual reports go, the first is due on January 10th (a Michigan requirement), and the last is due July 1, with a bunch in between. So basically from January 2nd through the end of June most of industry's environmental peons are collecting, sorting, compiling, calculating, wading through, and sinking up to their chins in data. Different agencies and different states require pretty much the same data in different formats or for different purposes. I for example, report the amount of emissions generated from casting xx tons of iron in a given year. Some agencies want to know how many materials we have on site over 10,000 lbs, for emergency response purposes. Some agencies want to know how much air pollution was generated while we made xx tons of iron. Others want to know how much of all types of pollution was generated. Still others want to know only how much waste was generated. And others want to know how much water we sucked from the ground and how much we put back in. I also report that we're doing what our permits say we're supposed to be doing, or that we're not. I also have to create reports for nobody at all - files that sit in the file cabinets on the chance that an inspector will come by the facility and want to read them over, which does sometimes happen.

I generate a LOT of paper and I hate it. It is quite ironic that the environmental people at businesses create such incredible amounts of paper. Luckily, more and more agencies are converting to electronic or online report preparation and submission. In that case, the only paper actually required is usually just one signature page. That covers reports, but doesn't always cover your a$$. When an inspector shows up to view a report, we have to be able to show how we arrived at the numbers we've reported, and show backup documentation that supports them. Yep, more paper. Then, the electronic programs often don't let you copy last year's report and just change the production index, you actually have to enter all or most of the information again, which means you have to have a hard copy of last year's report. Yep, more paper.

Our environmental agencies, while getting better, are just as bureaucratic as any other government entity. They have an increasingly important job to do, so we should be fighting to streamline and improve the functioning of those agencies so more of the money can be channeled to the efforts that really matter.

BBC Climate Challenge

The BBC is hosting a cool online climate challenge game. It is sort of like the Sim_ series of games, but you make policy decisions on every level to try to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions while maintaining enough money, food, water, and your popularity as president of Europe.

On each turn (a decade), you play 6 cards from your stack of options of National, Trade, Industry, Local, and Household policies. Each card shows the cost/income and the effects on the other parameters, along with the popularity of the choice. Supposedly you can get kicked out of office if you make enough unpopular decisions. Also, 3 times during the game, you meet with the presidents of the other continents of the world and try to get them to agree to reduce their CO2 emissions, often requiring you to subsidize them.

The goal is the reduce your CO2 emissions to zero over 100 years while maintaining food, water, and money for Europe, and keeping the people happy enough. I have no idea how realistic the effects of the choices are, but they seem pretty good to a political ignoramus like me.

I think this game is a good exercise for some of the high and mighty out there who believe that going green is a matter of simple choices, and also for those who simply want to try to understand the cause and effect, or unintended consequences, of going green. For example, small scale organic farming is obviously more green than medium or large scale factory farming, but then your people will go hungry and you may have to import food, which produces a lot of CO2 and other pollution in the transportation.

On my first try, I got good grades for meeting my CO2 reduction goals, but I left Europe in ruins as nobody had any money or food to eat.

Kick plASStic

Now that's a granola phrase if I've ever written one. But seriously, we just simply use - most often waste - far too much plastic and other disposables. Reusable Bags, which is a great place to get shopping bags, mugs, and other reusable goodies, estimates that over 1,000,000 plastic shopping bags are consumed per minute.

The latest site to promote the BYO lifestyle is aptly called Bring Your Own. Check them out and learn something about the problem, the impacts, and some solutions. Thanks TreeHugger.

I'm having a hard time deciding how to take on three huge topics: our disposable lifestyle, energy (oil) security, and waste. My challenge is delving into each while highlighting how intertwined they are, and how political they are. Any suggestions or discussion starters are welcome.

Gigoit

Huh? Gigoit is an acronym for "garbage in, garbage out", followed by an "it". It's a new free garbage exchange (one man's is another's treasure, after all) site that simplifies the models used by Freecycle and Craig's List (which I mentioned here). You don't need a user ID or PW, or have to search through posts to see if the item you want is still available. It's in beta, and there aren't many items listed yet, but keep an eye on it.

Reuse is unquestionably our most efficient mode, at least until the rethink catches on, and you can bet that is a long way off. Thanks TreeHugger.

Stumptown Coffee

A guest post from me pops:

"I don't know if you want to pay $12 per pound of coffee, but I recommend that you review Stumptown's great coffee. I have read in several places over the last few years that Stumptown - in Portland - makes the best coffee of all the "gourmet blenders". They are not big like Starbucks, and only have a few stores in that area, but they are consistently rated the best. I also found them rated tops in Consumer Reports, as I recall. I read somewhere that Portland folks will line up at length each morning just to drink Stumptown's coffee. I think they are a green company, also, and that much of their beans are free trade. If you visit their site www.stumptowncoffee.com you can read all about them. You can find their organic blends at between $12 and $13 per pound, which is high but may be worth the cost, at least for a treat." --Pappa Java

I checked out the site and found this bit: "Believing in the social, environmental, and economic benefits of sustainable business leads us to not only support coffee farms that are committed to the well being of their workers, land and water, it compels us to be a sustainable business in our own community. Providing health insurance for our employees and donating freshly roasted coffee to the Oregon Food Bank are some of the ways that we act on our belief in sustainability."

That's a lot of money for coffee, and most of us will need it shipped, but I'd gladly support these guys because of what they do.

Top Green Power Users

For the first time, a corporation ­leads EPA's national Top 25 list of green power purchasers. Wells Fargo & Company claimed the top spot, purchasing 550 million kilowatt hours annually. Organizations that purchase electricity generated from clean, renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro make up the quarterly list. After Wells Fargo & Company, Whole Foods Market ranks second and the U.S. Air Force ranks third. The U.S. EPA ranks fourth, with Johnson & Johnson rounding out the top five. Newcomers to the list include Cisco Systems Inc., New York University, Carbonfund.org, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Kohl's Department Stores.

EPA's Top 25 green power purchasers are buying more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours of green power on an annual basis. This is equivalent to the energy needed to power more than 350,000 average American homes each year. The EPA Green Power Partnership encourages organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the use of electricity from fossil fuels and to diversify America's fuel supply. The partnership is comprised of a diverse set of organizations including Fortune 500 companies, small and medium businesses, government institutions as well as colleges and universities. EPA's Top 25 Green Power Partners is as follows, listed in order of purchase size:

1. Wells Fargo & Company

2. Whole Foods Market

3. U.S. Air Force

4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

5. Johnson & Johnson

6. Starbucks

7. DuPont Company

8. U.S. Department of Energy

9. Vail Resorts Inc.

10. HSBC North America

11. Cisco Systems Inc.

12. Staples

13. New York University

14. The World Bank Group

15. University of Pennsylvania

16. IBM Corporation

17. Carbonfund.org

18. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

19. NatureWorks LLC

20. Sprint Nextel

21. Safeway Inc.

22. Pennsylvania State University

23. Kohl's Department Stores

24. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

25. The Tower Companies

So what? Well, if you're interested in putting your money where it may do some good (or at least less bad), buy some groceries from Whole Foods, take a loan from Wells Fargo, or buy some staples at Staples.

Green Super Bowl

The Super Bowl has gone Green. The NFL is offsetting the carbon created by producing electricity consumed during the super bowl by planting native trees and purchasing renewable energy certificates. They even think that all of their efforts will make the event carbon negative. They are also pushing recycling at the event and will be donating any uneaten food.

The NFL isn't the first big player to host a green event. The Turin Olympics and the last World Cup were carbon neutral or negative, and the IRL is converting to ethanol from methanol (way more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas). Thanks Forbes.

DIY

One mainstay of treehugging is doing it yourself, or DIY. There are a few reasons for doing it yourself, such as saving money. You also have a much better chance of being able to buy locally made materials than buying a locally made complete product. Other environmental advantages depend on what the finished product is, but sometimes it's more efficient to ship the raw materials than to ship the finished product. If nothing else, it is rewarding to know that you made something yourself.

There are lots of sites out there that guide you through everything from knitting a toy to building your own wind turbine. Knitting toys, animals, scarfs, etc. is a great way to be green because you can often find organic yarn, especially if you live near Amish areas. Knitty.com is a good site for finding patterns and instructions. Howtopedia is a newer cousin of Wikipedia, but is made up of articles on how to make to do things. That's where you can find instructions for your own wind turbine, or even a biomass digester. Instructables is a favorite, where among others things, you can learn how to wire your own LED lights. There is a DIY network, where they've combined guides from TV and online about most things under the sun. eHow and HowStuffWorks have been around a long time too.

One last resource that I'm sure no one has thought of is the good 'ol library. Try it - libraries are the ultimate communal efficient way to share entertainment and information.

WaterSense

You've likely heard of the EnergyStar program under which products and buildings that meet certain energy efficiency criteria may display the EnergyStar logo. It's a convenient way for you and I to pick out appliances that are more efficient.

The EPA has a similar program for water efficiency called WaterSense. And now you can get your own throne with the WaterSense logo. Yep, efficient toilets are getting the nod. The news release says that by reducing from a standard 1.6 gallon flush toilet to a 1.3 flusher, it can save you 10% of your water bill. I don't think I flush that much, but who knows.

Right now they've only got irrigation systems and toilets, but hopefully they expand to things like dishwashers, clothes washers, and shower heads.

TreeHugger Hit It

Here's another lazy copied post for you. I think this TreeHugger post captures the heart of the current environmental movement - or at least my current mindset. Here's part of the post:

"TreeHugger was conceived with the intent of showcasing those cool products and services which could help the hesitant move toward a more sustainable lifestyle, without feeling they’d have to revert to hippydom. But from the outset we were very aware that it is simply not possible to buy a greener life. Money can open up choices, but it cannot be traded for core values or attitudes. And this is one of the determining factors for the dilemma we find ourselves in. We are conditioned by advertising, TV, cinema, and so on, to believe that more stuff will make us blissful. If the glow of owning a new plasma TV wears off, we jet away to the Bahamas, or buy another pair of shoes to fill that gnawing happiness void. (It is the materials extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use and subsequent disposal of all this desired ‘stuff’ that is at the root of our environment (and social) woes. Yet, while it has been long studied and reported that there is no link between wealth and happiness, we still pursue them. Recent related research now suggests that wealth and longevity are not good travelling buddies either. The US is up the top of list when it comes to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the measure of a country’s ability to spend money. But it ranks way down in 30th spot for life expectancy."

While my family still buys our share of stuff, we're doing some things differently: really thinking about whether or not we need the item, looking for the most environmentally sound choices, looking for something made locally, and looking for the item used on Freecycle, Craig's List, or Ebay. It is difficult to fit in (keep up with the Jones') when you show up with a beaten and faded slide for your kids while the neighbors have a new Rainbow Play Set, but the feeling of doing something positive for the environment while saving money is really starting to feel good.

State of the Union

Well, he was better than his usual speaking self last night. As usual, the address was full of hope and great ideas and new spending with no way to pay for it. Apparenlty I don't know enough about the current budget status because he spoke about how he cut the deficit in half. I thought it was balanced when he inherited it. Hmm ... maybe I was dozing off.

His environmental/energy content was pretty disappointing relative to what it was built up to be. I think he spent about 5 minutes on it. So his plan is to cut gasoline (note - not oil) usage by 20% in 10 years. I thnk it will be really easy to accomplish based on all the current and almost-here technologies. At a large corporation I used to work for, we used to have all sorts of goals, and the hardest part was always determining how to set a goal that appeared hard to achieve, but that you knew you could meet (since bonuses were paid on them). I think Bush set an easy goal last night that we shouldn't have any trouble meeting. We're talking 10 years here!

Gasoline only. In this post, I noted how Sweden pledged to elmininate fossil fuels in 13 years.

Also notice GW had nothing but a general reference to global warming.

What a joke we are.

State of Environmental Policy

Tonight's State of the Union Address will contain more environmental lingo and hot topics than any in my lifetime. Even though it's on past my bedtime, I might have to stay up to watch. Unfortunately the environmental issues are more a result of energy security than environmental concern, but I'll take it where I can get it.

My favorite thing ever said about Bush is, "George Bush giving a speech is like a drunk man walking on ice."

Geothermal Energy

NPR had a bit about a new geothermal energy study performed by MIT which claims that "...mining the huge amounts of heat that reside as stored thermal energy in the Earth's hard rock crust could supply a substantial portion of the electricity the United States will need in the future, probably at competitive prices and with minimal environmental impact." So all we need to do is drill down a mile, inject water which is boiled by the earth's heat, and channel the steam back to turbines on the surface. Sounds great.

There are a few drawbacks, among them being a shortage of water in the parts of the country where the hot spots are most readily available (west), and the possibility that drilling into and fracturing rock may cause earthquakes like this one in Switzerland.

I honestly haven't heard of this type of geothermal energy before, but am familiar with the geothermal heating and cooling available in all sizes. I've been in a home equipped with a system that simply had the pipes laid underground throughout the yard. I've also seen them work very well with the pipe coils in nearby ponds or lakes. I commented on TreeHugger here about how geothermal deserves a lot more press.

Fort Wayne is actually home to a large geothermal company called WaterFurnace International, as well as some smaller businesses.

If you are in the market, please do a little research on geothermal for your heating and cooling. You will be amazed at what it has to offer.

Arm & Hammer

I just read this on top of the baking soda box:

"Our Environmental Commitment. For over a century Arm & Hammer has helped the environment. Since 1888 we've encouraged protection of wildlife with our bird cards. Our boxes have used recycled paper for more than 80 years. Recently we've developed technology to purify drinking water and reduce smokestack pollution. Environmentally sensible products are part of our heritage. Century old Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and ... Super Washing Soda are environmentally acceptable alternatives to other household products. A&H Laundry Detergent pioneered the 1970 introduction of phosphate-free detergents. We remain committed to providing products that help you and our environment."

I can't find anything more than a general sustainability statement on the parent company's (Church & Dwight Co) or the Arm & Hammer site that expounds on that box-top statement, but now I'll have to do a little research to get the details.

Organic Birthday

I wrote about my wife's 30% organic shopping trip to Meijer, and yesterday was the day we celebrated by birthday and got to eat all those goodies. The breakfast was smoothies with organic yogurt, bananas, blueberries, and orange juice; and organic eggs and turkey sausage. The highlight was the organic ice cream cake (no cake mix). The crust was a layer of crushed organic chocolate cookies held together with organic unsalted butter. Then two layers of Meijer Organics ice cream of different flavors, and topped with melted organic fair trade chocolate chips. It is excellent!

Meijer has come out with their own brand of organics called Meijer Organics. All the containers have this wording: "All Meijer Organics products are made with: No artificial ingredients; minimal processing; no pesticides, antibiotics, or growth hormones; dedication to renewable farming practices." The orange juice carton I read that off of does have a USDA Organic cert stamp.

Cash Cows

I'm pretty much just copying this post from an EPA Enewsletter for lack of time today. It's an interesting topic and one way to clean up the dirty agriculture industry.

EPA and its partners have released guidance that can help farmers manage livestock waste and boost farm earnings while reducing greenhouse gases. Processing livestock manure under controlled conditions can produce biogas, a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Farmers also benefit because the biogas can be used to generate electricity.

"Using biogas has multiple benefits; it decreases greenhouse gas emissions, produces renewable energy for rural communities, and safeguards local air and water quality," said Bill Wehrum, EPA's acting assistant administrator of Air and Radiation. "This guidance will help farmers and potential investors make informed choices about which systems work best for farms, for profits, and for our environment."

Biogas is made up of methane and carbon dioxide. Because methane is more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, capturing biogas provides significant environmental benefits. Also, farmers and project developers can increase their incomes by using biogas for on-site electricity generation or delivery to a local electric utility.

Waste methane recovery systems, also known as anaerobic digestion systems, are estimated to be feasible at about 7,000 dairy and swine operations in the United States. In 2005, about 110 systems were operational or under construction, and another 80 were in the planning stages.

The standardized guidance was developed jointly by EPA's AgStar program, the Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions, and USDA. The guidance will provide a standardized method that will allow farm operators and investors to compare the effectiveness of available waste methane recovery systems.

AgStar is a voluntary program that encourages the use of waste methane recovery systems on dairy and swine farms. Each year, these systems have reduced methane by about 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, while providing enough renewable energy to power over 20,000 average American homes. The program also assists countries throughout the world in developing biogas recovery projects through the Methane to Markets Partnership.

Information on the AgStar Protocol: http://www.epa.gov/agstar/resources/protocol.html General information on Methane to Markets Partnership: http://www.epa.gov/methanetomarkets

Doomsday Clock

According to this article on the BBC, the scientists at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) have moved the minute hand two minutes closer to 12 on the symbolic doomsday clock they maintain in Chicago. Why? Global Warming!

The clock is meant to symbolize imminent threat to human civilization. When the clock strikes 12, it's all over folks. The sky will be falling. They moved it to 11:55 this time, which is as close as it has been since the doomiest parts of the cold war. In 1953 it made it down to 2 minutes, and to 3 minutes in 1984.

Global warming isn't the only reason they're moving the minute hand; there are also the obvious nuclear threats in North Korea and Iran.

I've never heard of these guys or this clock before, and therefore do not know if this group tends to lean left or right. Nonetheless, it's interesting to hear that they view this risk so seriously. They state that "the world has not faced such perilous choices" since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I don't view it THAT seriously: I'm only building a raft around the foundation of my house and stocking up on guns.

Permitted to Pollute

I often get the impression that many people do not understand what an environmental permit is - and that's OK because few people ever deal with them. Well, permits and figuring out how to comply with them happens to bring home my bacon.

A permit is just a document issued by a regulatory agency. An environmental permit is the same, but the issuing agency has some authority over the air, water, or land. So an air permit is issued by an agency (usually the state) to a facility and describes how much of a list of pollutants that facility may emit, legally, into the air.

For example, your local dry cleaner has an air permit that may list VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds - many solvents fall into this) and may give a limit of 2.0 pounds per hour. That means that your dry cleaner may legally release up to 2 pounds per hour of VOCs into the air, or up to 17,520 pounds per year (2 pounds/hour * 8760 hours/year). They have to demonstrate compliance with that limit by testing the stack once in a while.

Water permits work in much the same way - describing what that maximum concentration of a pollutant may be in the water they discharge to a body of water.

For more info on permits, let me know what specifically you're curious about and I'll send you the info. For general info, start at the US EPA.

Gas Price!

I saw gas this afternoon for $1.88! I haven't seen that in an awfully long time. Then I stumbled across this article on CNN.com about why gas prices skyrocket at a mere oil sneeze, but take their sweet time coming back down. I've always wondered why it happened that way, and of course it quite simply boils down to ... because it can.

Mission Accomplished

I covered Mission Organic 2010 here, and described the mission to purchase 10% organic products by 2010. Well, my wife whipped that goal yesterday: of the 82 items purchased on her weekly Meijer grocery trip, 25 were organic for an astounding 30%!

Two of those items were organic cotton clothes, which grabbed her attention with the large "organic" sign above them, and they were on sale. It's a brand called I.W.I., which I can't for the life of me find any reference to online. The label says cut and sewn in Taiwan, and finished in China.

If she had gone to "Fresh Market" or "Whole Foods" or "Trader Joe's", you might not even be able to get under 50% organic, but we're talking Meijer in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The bill? A lot! There's no doubt we paid more for many of the organic items vs. their normal competitors. And I can't say that we'll get 30% every time from now on, as this trip was in preparation for my bday, when I will be treated to all-organic breakfast and dinner - including ice cream pie!

Why Buy Green?

I very recently wrote here and here about buying green, and a good blog called Celias that I have linked to your left has a feature article about why we shoud buy green. I highly recommend it.

Oak Farm Montessori

We were very surprised to find, just a short drive north of our house in Avilla, Indiana, a fantastic place called... "Oak Farm Montessori School and Oak Bridge Montessori Middle School provide a unique opportunity for each student to be at home in the world of nature. Strengthening a child’s connection with nature and the environment is an important part of our curriculum. We seek to give students, parents, and faculty a reverence for the earth, its waters, and all living things. We also encourage caring for the environment based on our individual responsibility for the beauty of the land and the health of our ecosystems. We believe that being at home in the world of nature is basic to being a whole and healthy person."

By that read, you're probably picturing some hippie teachers with dreads working in Quonset huts. Quite the contrary! I toured the school and it was amazing. It is located on an old farm, with a few buildings into which the different ages are segregated. I toured the youngest-age building, which is a renovated/added onto beautiful Victorian home. I was simply amazed at the facility and by watching the kids interact. I won't go into the Montessori methods, but I suggest you do if you have little ones or plan to.

Our application is to be submitted any day.

Buying E Green

I just wrote about buying green, and then today found this great post on TreeHugger. It's so in line with what I'm into that I don't need to paraphrase or reword; I'll just copy:
"Working from the idea that electronics are both ubiquitous and helpful in our everyday lives, they don't want you to quit using them (and certainly don't want you to just throw them away); myGreenElectronics hopes to help you learn more about minimizing the environmental impact of these gadgets and toys through responsible use, reuse and recycling. They've also added a fourth "R" to the common Reduce, Reuse, Recycle mantra that gets bandied about these pages: Rethink, and we think that's a biggie. By considering the environment before you ever go shopping, and then finding electronics and accessories that use less energy, are made with recyclable and recycled materials and are easier to upgrade, fix and recycle, you make it easier on yourself, your energy bill, your conscience and your planet."

I love the 4th R: Rethink. In fact, it should be the 1st R.

For more e-recycling ideas and information, including where to take your used electronics, go to the EPA Plug-In to eCycling pages.

Chicken Little

Even with almost all of the skeptics now agreeing that global warming or climate change is real and is affected (at least to some extent) by human activity, there still exists a powerful minority of dissenters. I'm ashamed to read the comments (BBC News) of Daimler-Chrysler's chief economist, who has attacked "the quasi-hysterical Europeans" and their "chicken little attitute" towards global warming. He believes, and obviously will try to pursuade DCX, that little should be spent on greener efforts.

My view? I don't know and I don't really care if human activity is affecting the natural cycle of warming and cooling. We do KNOW that humans, and especially Americans, emit way more than we need to. So WHY NOT make changes that we KNOW will reduce our footprint? I'm not talking about going broke trying; I'm talking about making sensible investments that are proven to be sustainable (i.e. let you keep making money in the long run).

The next question: why are Europeans' and Americans' attitudes different? My question is: on what issues are their attitutes the same? Not many I think.

Buy Green

Of course many of my posts have already offered green purchase options, but I'll go a little broader with this one. Really, I just want to provide you with knowlegde and options for how or where to buy green.
CNN has a special report called Buying Green. There will can find a fair amount of information including sales figures through 2005 on food, consumer products, and construction. There is a survey and a forum, and also some help decoding the labels (which can be very misleading).
TreeHugger has a great series called How to Green Your Life, with topics including work, water, lighting, wardrobe, and many more.
I also really dig The Green Guide, which claims to be The Green Living Source for Today's Conscious Consumer. The feature today is The Eco-nomical Bedroom, and at a quick glance it looks very well done. It offers you different options from different manufacturers and includes pricing.
Those are a few of the better sites that I've encountered. I'm sure there are many more that I've missed.

Green (colored) Lumber

I'm talking about the lumber that is visibly green - the wolmanized, or pressure treated lumber that takes up the majority of the lumber area in Lowe's or Home Depot. You've probably read or heard about some of the controversy over that lumber, like you should not burn it, or that you should wear gloves when handling it.

The EPA announced yesterday that they will not approve one of the treatments called Acid Copper Chromate (ACC) for residential use because of the potential for harmful effects on humans. ACC is just one of a handful of different pesticides used, and the others are linked in a box on the right side of the page.

If, like me, you've always wondered about treated lumber and why it's dangerous, browse those pages and you'll be much better informed.

Alternatives? Again, I'm sad to tell you that many alternatives are costly and have widely varying properties. One just simply cannot keep untreated lumber outside for very long without it literally falling apart, so unless you have a lot of money to spend, you may be stuck with treated lumber. Some alternate treatments are listed here.

I built a play set last summer and used treated lumber except up on the decking where the kids will be in contact with the material the most. Up there I used a composite, which is recycled plastic extruded with sawdust or wood chips. It's more expensive, heavier, and not as strong so you'll need more joists. But, you'll never have to seal it and it won't warp or shrink, and it's safe for the kids to play on (no slivers either).

So if you're thinking about building something this summer, start your research now and see what's available in your area. You may even ask you local lumberyard to order something they don't normally carry. That kind of request is one of the few ways to help bring more environmentally friendly products to the masses. Many people believe that if Lowe's doesn't have it, it doesn't exist.

Local Agriculture

I've been talking about organic groceries, and also about buying local. Local Harvest is a great resource for finding local organic produce from small farms near you. There are literally thousands of sources listed. We found a farmers market just about 2 miles from our house on this site, and also discovered Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). If you haven't heard of a CSA, they are membership programs in which you buy "shares" (a full or a half, usually). Each week you stop by the market and pick up a box of whatever is in season.

So, check out your farmers' market or jump right into a local CSA.

Mission Organic

A non-profit group called The Organic Center has launched a campaign to try to get Americans to get to 10% organic consumption by 2010. Right now, America is at about 2%, which is higher than I expected. They're calling the campaign Mission Organic 2010. Whether you pledge to or not, check out their site. It has a lot of very good information and links about organic food, including recent science on human and environmental health related to the fertilizers and pesticides used in "non-organic" food production.

I believe that knowledge is the only way to get many more people to change behaviors (buying organic as one), and The Organic Center seems to offer quite a bit. And I did check to see that it was non-profit before suggesting it.

As I mentioned before, organic products are more readily available every day. Via TreeHugger.

A Local Story

This is a guest-written post by a friend in northern Michigan, about the local environmental council and their efforts and problems.

The local council is apparently divided;

the good news: several (mostly young) leaders actively seek locally sustained renewable resources (ranging from intelligent forestry, recycled animal and human waste, fresh produce, meat, milk, in a rather old-fashioned cycle which can (allegedly) be linked to the four seasons via production on the land round about -- but outside the vertical (one way) system of chemically polluting agribusiness (from chem loaded orchard to table). Their claim: this, when in place, will produce profit. I find the details fascinating. In the local business community support is growing.

The bad news: I see no evidence they can compete with Meijers or Walmart. I shop at both since on Soc Sec I have no choice. Gas prices restrict me to one trip a week, but I save more on produce imported from Chile and S. Cal.

The other bad news, if I read the literature correctly: many who appear to support these renewable alternatives actively crave a hippy-like return to the land, as if we can all survive only if we all become anti-tech like the Amish. Do these folks drive to the meetings?

He goes on to mention a well-intentioned art show about once a year from which the proceeds are donated to an environmental organization, but there are never any bikes among the gas guzzlers. On the other hand, he knows at least two locals that ride their bikes year round. Whether they do it for exercise or for the environmental benefits is beside the point.

The writer offers good examples of the challenges faced by, in my guess, a large majority of our population. Being green is not easy or cheap in many areas, and therefore is often not an option.

---------------

There are a few topics mentioned here that I'll hit on in later posts: local products (edible or not) and how competitive they are, and the 'holier-than-thou' attitude of some of the more vocal environmentalists.

Wind 1

I'm betting you've all heard a least a little of the controversy over wind turbine farms. Most of that controversy is based on a view that the turbines are "bird blenders". The other big problem is a perception of decreased property values.

Celsias has a post that does a good job presenting the animal vs. turbine arguement.

As with all new energy technologies, buying your own unit is expensive and may not ever pay itself off. I did some research for a foundry and, for any turbine smaller than the utility-scale 5MW jobs, the payback period was ∞. The cost of a 5MW unit is around $1.5 million.

For more info, check out The US Dept. of Energy Wind Power site, including whether wind power is even feasible in your location by searching for your windmap.

This Old House of Green

In February, This Old House will be doing a green renovation on a small bungalow in Austin. I found it on Ecorazzi, or get it straight from This Old House.

This is the kind of thing I love: traditional programs doing green features. If you're gonna do something (like renovate), why not do it as green as practicable? Same goes for just about any project, big or small. Take a few minutes to see if there are any greener options than what you would normally do.

Challenge - Truckless

Today is my last day with Pinky, Barbie Truck, Pink Panther; my 1984 "raspberry" Chevy S-10, 4-cylinder, bare bones, manual, no tape or CD, regular cab, short box, truck. We've decided to attempt to get by with 1 vehicle for a few months and see how it goes.

Honestly, it's more about economics that ecologics right now, and the main reason we can pull it off is that my wife will be able to simply walk next door for work starting Monday. Nevertheless, a reduction of dependence on personal vehicles is one of the holy grails of treehugging. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Trucks and Treehugging don't go hand in hand very well - or do they? This idea has really been bothering me for quite a while. The organic or natural lifestyle encourages composting, mulching, gardening, reusing spent materials, fixing things instead of throwing them away, etc. My little pickemup is just perfect for all of that. Last year I made many trips to the municipal compost site for the free biosolids (yep: crap), composted mulch, and lime. I made many trips to the lumber store to build a play set (used composite decking with recycled plastic), and made bunches of trips to nurseries for plants and topsoil. How will I do that with 1 family sedan between us?

You might say, "Buy a hybrid or electric." OK, I say, find me a truck. Other than a few used prototypes or fleet pickups one can find laying around (usually they need new battery packs $$$), the only pickup I know of is the GM Full-size made right here in Fort Wayne. The problem? Well, the cost ($30,000 base) is the first problem. The second problem is the mileage is only improved by 2 mpg city driving. So we're talking peanuts. I could go with an E85 - equipped Silverado for around $20,000. Then the problem becomes making sure I always have enough gas to make it to the few (but growing) stations that carry it.

So making trucks more efficient, hence environmentally friendly, is one of the big challenges I see in making treehugging more practical.

Big Newseses

Today on the MSNBC Environment Page are two very interesting articles. The headline, the same as on most news outlets today, is about the UK prediction that 2007 will be the hottest ever. They predict that a mild el-nino combined with the additional greenhouse gases introduced by us will be enough to break the record.

The other that peaked my interest is Sweden's pledge to phase out fossil fuels by 2020. That is huge! GDubya will barely commit to reducing greenhouses gases by 10% in that time. Seriously, can you imagine a good sized country eliminating fossil fuels? Can you imagine an average American family eliminating fossil fuels? There are a few, but only a few.

I'm looking forward to following these this year.

Oh, and the MSNBC Environment page is hardly worth a visit. They get a new article about once a week.

Natural 'Hoods

I wrote before about green neighborhoods, and today TreeHugger has a post about an article in Natural Home Magazine that rates America's top 10 Eco-Neighborhoods. No. 1 is the West Asheville Neighborhood in Asheville NC, followed by the South Congress Neighborhood in Austin TX. A newbie in the eco-world is Indiana's own Fall Creek Place in Indianapolis, ranked No. 7. I'll have to take a drive through next time I go down to wrangle with the regulators.

COMMENT !

I'm happy to see that I'm getting a few hits from across the US and around the world. As you can see, right now I'm just writing about whatever smacks me in the face that day. This site could be much more useful to all of you if I knew what you were curious about, or knew what you were having trouble with.

I like reading and researching about how people can be more green, and I feel that by sharing whatever knowledge I can gather, we will all be more able to make better decisions that help protect the environment.

So add a comment, ask a question, bitch, whatever ... I want to hear it.

LED Again

Ever wonder why you keep hearing, over and over and over again, that you should change your lightbulbs to flourescents or LEDs? Yes, I've mentioned it a few times already too. Well, it's because it's the easiest (how many average Americans does it take to change a lightbulb?), it's cheap, and it really makes a difference (energy=environment). In other words, it's where every aspiring treehugger should start ... Wait, no ... it's what anybody with common sense should do.

Thanks to my Brother-in-Law John for sending this email:

"And LED is truly the way to go if you can get the color temperature that you want. I have two fixtures that are designed for accent lighting right now that are fun ...http://www.chauvetlighting.com/fixtures/colorsplashjr_fix.shtml, but don't really do justice on the pure white or yellow tints since they use color mixing tech. These guys have a few heavy output jobs, but again, the prices...http://www.enluxled.com."

I couldn't get the Chauvet link to work this morning, but Enlux has a good site that discusses their green-ness very well. Enlux also has a photo gallery that really shows you what LEDs can do these days.

Organic Cotton

I don't believe one can talk about organic cotton without mentioning Patagonia. While they could never have made the conversion without the smaller companies that started the trend and the existing organic farmers, Patagonia kicked the trend into a higher gear. Since then, organic cotton has sprouted up almost everywhere you turn.

I got a very nice organic cotton blanket for my daughter from WalMart, where there is also a decent selection of organic cotton baby clothes.

One of my favorite brands, Speesees, uses fair-trade organic cotton for some very clever kids clothes.

Gaiam, another fav green shopping site, has organic cotton clothes among everything else green. My wife is wearing some organic cotton pants from there right now.

Organic Cotton yarn, fabric, batting, etc. is also available online for the do-it-yourselfers at places like earth friendly yarns and sewshoppe.

Kill 2 Evils with 1 Bike

My wife just called, which forced me over to my cellphonetalking position at my office window. I looked out at the long wintery shadow of the foundry on the nonwintery green grass. We've been talking a lot about the weather 'round here lately - especially since we spent 4 days up at Houghton Lake (Northern Lower Michigan) at my parents' house and there was no snow (it wasn't even cold enough to make snow - we tried!). Tip Up Town is scheduled for a few weeks from now and the lake isn't frozen. I guess the west and plains got the snow normally allocated for all of us this season.

We're going to try to get by with just 1 vehicle starting Friday - a nice treehuggerish thing to do. I actually don't think it will reduce our footprint any since we'll probably do the same or maybe just slightly less driving. We have talked a lot about getting me a good road bike so I can pedal the 18 miles to work. I figure it will take about an hour once I'm in shape for it. Well, the bike isn't in the budget for the near term, but the weather got me thinking (uh oh).

As you might have guessed, treehuggers are rightfully BIG on biking. Not only does our environment need a rest, but most of us rest way too much. Why don't more of us bike to work? I'm not kidding. I am confident that at least 30 people at my office live 5 or fewer miles from work, where there are showers and changing areas. So, if they could get to work in 20 minutes, take a quick shower, and have their workout done for the day, why not kill two evils with one bike?

The Evolution of Eco Books

Call this an addendum to the last post. While reading over those reviewed by BookPage, I couldn't help but think of a few on my shelf. As I pulled the dust bunnies off of them just now, I realized that the three books I'm about to mention pretty well cover the entire evolution of the environmental movement, and I think aptly demonstrate the knowledge level of the time they were written.

Few will deny that Silent Spring by Rachel Carson all but formally began the mass environmental movement. Writing in 1962, Carson noted that she could no longer hear the birds chirping as she once did, or how her parents or grandparents often described. She writes mainly about pesticides and their reckless use, but also about other social and political factors and the parts they play in the destruction of our ecosystems. This was, and remains to be, an accurate and well written "state of the environment." Even though it was published 45 years ago, I still recommend it.

Before An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore wrote Earth in the Balance; Ecology and the Human Spirit. I read this back in college, and even then thought "Whoa, easy there killer!" Gore didn't have very good data and often spewed diarrhea-like from his typewriter in 1992. I remember many people referring to this book and asking, "Do you want THAT guy to be our President??" when he ran against Bush. My answer was no. I don't recommend reading Earth in the Balance unless you like science fiction, but I think it nicely captured the knowledge level of 1992: we knew there were problems, but we were all over the board about what we should do about it.

And lastly, a super intriguing book called Cradle to Cradle; Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart (1992). Even after 4 years (or 5 today - Happy New Year), this book is still rattling heads. You may have heard the phrase Cradle to Grave, but this book challenges even the old mantra of the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. They consider traditional recycling "downcycling" and offer the alternative of "upcycling" - where a product actually becomes higher quality with use, or at least not lower quality. It is quite obvious that most of the things we recycle are only recycled once, and are no longer recycleable: the free pencils made out of recycled pop bottles that one can find anywhere, for example. The first chapter is named "This book is not a tree". Let me quote one paragraph for your thought-provocation. "This book is not a tree. It is printed on synthetic "paper" and bound into a book format developed by innovative book packager Charles Melcher of Melcher Media. Unlike the paper with which we are familiar, it does not use any wood pulp or cotton fiber but is made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers. This material is not only waterproof, extremely durable, and recycleable by conventional means; it is also a prototype for the book as a 'technical nutrient,' that is, as a product that can be broken down and circulated infinitely in industrial cycles - made and remade as "paper" or other products." I just got this one for Christmas so can't give my full review yet, but all the other treehuggers around are huge fans.

Save the Planet One Book Report at a Time

While checking out at the library a while ago, a high school girl next to me laid her books on the counter and the clerk immediately said, "Someones doing a paper for school." After smirking about the clerk's nosiness, I looked at the girl's collection and they were all about climate change. She didn't appear pleased about the assignment, but maybe she was just smirking at the clerk's nosiness too.

I remember doing my first environmental reports and it was really hard to find any good resources at most libraries. Now, of course, every ex-vice president and his brother have written books on the subject. Many of these books are specialized so you can get decent info on everything from ice caps to the deep see or the boreal forest.

Then last week I picked up the latest BookPage, which can be found at most libraries, and the cover story is about environmental books.

I've not read the five books they feature, but I'll list them here with a quick summary and you can check them out.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century is one I've heard a lot about. This is a true treehugger book and will present a new way to do everything you do. If you want to change and need ideas, read this.

Hell and High Water: Global Warming-The Solution and the Politics-and What we Should Do has too long a title, but sounds like it might hit the spot on how environmental protection is not about environmental protection - it's more about politics. The review says that the book offers many problems and not many solutions.

The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience sounds very cool to me, as one who wishes to put his money where his mouth is. The review points out that this book is very credible and current, hence useful.

365 Ways to Change the World: How to Make a Difference One Day at a Time is one of those books that offers you some idea every day, from donating money to simply meditating about some topic.

The Business of Changing the World sounds like it has more to do with philanthropy than granola. It's written by the head of Timberland (shoes) and focuses on how companies can make a difference through volunteering and giving. While this isn't directly environmental, it's easy to choose an environmental project or program when considering philanthropy.