Environmental Action 9

[samv]

It is apparent from the thread regarding Kyoto that we will never all agree on Kyoto, climate change - why it's happening it and what to do about it...

However, it looks like everyone agrees to some degree that reducing pollution is beneficial

So, as an educational exercise, I'd like to ask you in this thread to share initiatives that have been undertaken by

1. your family / household
2. your workplace
3. your city
and if we can do this without dragging in politics

Thanks
4. your state/province and/or country

 

[rhodie]

The recommendation to "plant trees" is half-hazard.

It should read: "Plant trees where there aren't enough".

Too many trees out of native geography can suck up all the water out of the aquifers. Too little water endangers the life that was delicately holding on before.

 

[CRG]

I do not agree with Zapster’s environmental action of exporting pollution. He does infer one significant point. Do your efforts to reduce your environmental impact make a significant difference in the total environmental footprint your create. I can understand many people who simply do not have the required skills to make a numerical analysis of their efforts. We are engineers, and math is the tool of our trade. I would like to see some realistic numbers to illustrate the benefits of your personal efforts. An honest numerical analysis may shed some light on the feel good efforts vs those efforts that make a real difference. The average person in North America consumes about 300 million BTU per person. If you were to post the actual BTUs per year saved by your efforts, it could illustrate the significant of your efforts. In addition, it would show what actions yield the greatest results.

Please post the average energy consumption for your geographical location and then post the actual reduction for your environmental efforts so that all of us can see the benefits of your efforts.

 

[GregLocock]

I'd be very interested to see the actual net benefit you get by throwing away your old appliances (say pick fridges as an easy example) and replacing them by modern ones. A fridge has a fair amount of plastic (oil) and aluminium (frozen electricity) in it. And somebody, somewhere, gets to dispose of the refrigerant.

Now, are you sure that saving a bit of electricity is going to pay that lot back any time soon?




Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[ivymike]

somebody, somewhere, gets to dispose of the refrigerant.
Yeah, I'd bet the guy with the beat-up old truck who goes around in the middle of the night scavenging scrap metal disposes of the refrigerant by venting it directly to the atmosphere... but that whole ozone thing was just another big hoax perpetrated by the scientists anyway, so what's it really matter?

 

[JayMaechtlen]

I read there's a big market in poor/3rd-world nations where they can't afford equipment that uses the new refrigerents.

Now that the compact flourescent lamps are pretty cheap, I've installed a number of them.
My car gets the same mileage that my last two did, or maybe a tad better. I'm certain that it is cleaner, and it is more powerful and handles and stops better. (ABS saved me from myself more than once...)

We make an effor to seperate our 'stuff' into the three bins that our service provides. (Waste, recyclable, and "green" waste such as grass clippings)

I expect that our waste disposal fees will increase as time progresses, as SoCal is getting crowded and there aren't many (acceptable) places for landfills nowdays.

Exporting pollution- don't like it? Too bad. Can't avoid it anymore. Will you stop buying anything imported, including stuff made from imported steel? (Ouch)


Jay Maechtlen

 

[CRG]

Here is one University Paper’s commentary on the standby power usage of appliances:

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2001/02/09_energ.html

Perhaps one of the most compassionate and effective ways to reduce power usage is to share you home with someone less fortunate. This will prevent additional trees from dieing to build a new structure, and stop the associated energy drain the structure will cause over it lifespan. Share your house with a homeless family because it is good for the environment. Hot-bunk to get the most out of your living space. I cannot think of a more effective means to reduce your environmental footprint. If you car-pool and hot-bunk, you could significantly cut you environmental footprint.

Now with all joking aside, the top link may be worth the effort to evaluate. About my second suggestion, yes I have written this tongue in cheek; however, the point is that the energy consumption is a lifestyle choice for most first world countries. It does not take much effort to figure out how to reduce our energy usage by half. The problem is that we as a society do not want to. We can poke around the edges of the problem; however, the simple solution is unthinkable for many in our culture. For those who want to make a real difference, may I suggest hot-bunking and car-pooling.

 

[2dye4]

What can we do about the collosal energy wasted
because of traffic lights.

Can the signal switching algorithems be improved ?

Everywhere I go on the main road, the light will switch
causing 30 cars to go from 60 mph to zero, to let one
car through??

I guess hybrids excel at recovering this waste but there
is a lot of energy wasted.

 

[samv]

-> star to CRG for the standby power article. thanks.

-> for appliances I should have said if you are planning on replacing appliances, buy energy star.

A typical 10 year old refrigerator uses twice the power that a recent model energy star rated refrigerator uses

I agree that replacing good working appliance is another ball game that would be interesting to analyze...

-> and here's some tidbits taken from

http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/onetonne/english/about.asp

"A typical late-model vehicle driven 20,000 kilometres a year produces:

Sport utility vehicle 6 tonnes of CO2

Mid-sized sedan 4 tonnes of CO2

Hybrid vehicle 2 tonnes of CO2 (gasoline-electric)"

the site is full of useful info on environmental action - lots on how many green house gas tonnes your lifestyle generates if this is of any interest to you.
I'm sure we could generate lots of questions and debate on how the scientists behind the site arrived at their conclusions, but I think it's a great site, something most everyone can learn from, and a very useful tool for those that do want to reduce their footprint whether they believe global warming is due to humans or not. after all, finding simple ways to reduce your consumption = more money in your pocket

 

[Ashelin]

On a tangential note to Greglocock's March 5, 2005 posting on the material pollution caused by disposing older appliances for newer "more efficient" applicances, how are refrigerator coolants, computers and circuit boards supposed to be recycled? Are there any technological developments in relation to electronic waste disposal?

Ashelin

 

[EddyC]

I pick up the bottles and cans left in the street in front of my driveway by drunken rebellious teenagers and put them in my recycle bin.

 

[samv]

http://www.eia.org/

Ashelin - I found this website advertised in a magazine. It has links to electronics recycling/reusing locations in the USA.