Join us as we go Green, one step at a time
Coming soon to a TV near you… some new advertising which will educate the public on global warming, as well as call for a bipartisan coalition (featuring unlikely pairs such as Pat Robertson and Rev. Al Sharpton).
Gore is funding a portion of this $300M ad campaign which will run for three years. The goal is to recruit 10 million advocates to seek laws and policies that can cut greenhouse gases.
The first ad will be shown this Wednesday - you can learn more about the “WE” campaign here.
In case you hadn’t already heard, Earth Hour was quite successful this year - tens of millions of people across the world participated this year, compared to 2.2 million last year.
In Christchurch, New Zealand, power consumption decreased by 13% during the blackout period.
Good stuff - love how this helped build some more awareness, but the question remains: how do we do this on a more frequent basis and engrain this type of behavior into society at large? We still have a lot of work to do, but it is definitely encouraging to see the participation rates this year!
Depending on where you live, Spring is here, or is coming soon. And of course, Spring is the time when young men and womens thoughts turn to … gardening. We’ve got a few gardening posts percolating , but today I want to talk about drip watering systems.
A drip watering system is a basically a way to water your plants without sprinkler systems or having to stand around spraying water on plants. Instead, you set up a series of tubes and hoses that bring water to your plants. Water drips out of small emitters, that you strategically place in the tube.
I’m not a pro-gardener, but I’ve set up a few of these systems myself, and there are some really huge advantages to drip watering.
First, because drip systems deliver water directly to the plants, and at a rate that the soil is able to soak up more easily, it’s less wasteful than regular watering. In fact, according to eartheasy.com, which has a great writeup of drip watering systems, drip watering systems can use 30-50% less water than ordinary watering.
Second, it’s much more convenient. Why? Because the flow of water is much slower (imagine a leaky faucet), so you leave it on for longer and not waste huge amounts of water. Also, by getting simple garden timers, you don’t have to remember to water your plants for days at a time, which is a huge boon when you’re on vacation.
It’s really easy to get started. When I set up my drip systems, I just went to Home Depot or Orchard. They usually have whole aisles of drip watering supplies. A simple Google search also unearthed a whole treasure trove of drip watering resources, such as:
You can even set up drip watering systems if you have an apartment if you like to tinker. More on that in my next post!
Previously, I spoke about the virtues of recycling old electronics and how it’s one of the easiest things we can do to help our landfills and the environment. Now, I’ll tell you how you can get paid for it too. I’m a huge fan of Costco already, thanks to their low prices, interesting array of items, overall quality of products, and liberal return policy. This may be stretching it, but Costco’s bulk purchase philosophy is fairly green itself (assuming you consume everything). You pay lower prices, buy in bulk, and you don’t need to refill on staple products as often. I can’t remember the last time I purchased paper towels, but that’s also probably because I use cloth towels when possible.
The other day, I had a post talking about how dumping electronics into our landfills is harmful to our environment. Well, I just discovered that Costco offers a Costco.com Trade-In & Recycle Program online. This fantastic program is offered via a partnership with GreenSight, and you can get paid some real money (in the form of a Costco Cash Card) by recycling your old electronic equipment. I went through a few examples, and most of the items I entered would have earned me anywhere from $25 - $100. The best part of this program is that you can ship your equipment away for free via UPS Ground. All it takes to recycle and do your part are a few easy steps:
The program gets better though. Even if your equipment has no monetary value, you can still ship it for free to the recycling center and rest assured knowing GreenSight’s zero tolerance landfill policy means that all material subject to recycling is carefully separated by hand. They dispose of items using EPA approved guidelines. Also, I’m sure Costco did a lot of due diligence with GreenSight before putting their reputation (and cash cards) on the line.
This makes me love Costco even more! I’m going to head home, recycle some old electronics, and buy myself a nice present with the money I’ll earn.
Hi all, don’t forget that tomorrow (Mar 29) is Earth Hour 2008. Turn off your lights for one hour at 8pm, and send a united message for the need for global warming action.
Google Israel did its part for Earth Hour in raising awareness… Google.co.il “turned off the lights” all day by sporting an all black theme.
Fun stuff. I love it when companies get in on the action.
