Don’t Have Green Electronics? Make Them Green!

If you didn’t purchase the latest in green electronics, you can make them green quite easily.  Powering your electronics with rechargeable batteries makes all of your electronics eco-friendly.

Every year in the world 15 billion batteries are manufactured.  Only a very small fraction of the batteries made are from recycled batteries.  It takes a whole lot of fossil fuels and other resources to manufacture batteries and most people just toss them in the trash when the batteries have kicked the bucket.

Batteries are recyclable and there are more and more battery recycling plants popping up as people begin to realize that they can make a good impact on the environment by not throwing them away.  But even the process of recycling batteries uses up our resources at an alarming rate; just not as alarming as making new batteries.

Make a small investment into some rechargeable batteries and a battery charger.  A good battery charger will cost less than $50.  Rechargeable batteries are more expensive than alkaline batteries, but they will pay for themselves the first time you recharge and reuse them.  And you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars replacing all of your batteries with rechargeable ones right away.  Have some on hand and replace the old batteries in your electronics as they die.

A note about rechargeable batteries that you should be aware of.  Rechargeable batteries will lose anywhere from 15% to 60% of their power within a month of sitting around in storage.  One way to keep your rechargeable batteries good and powered up is to store them in the freezer.  Heat makes the power drain faster.  Just make sure to allow the batteries to sit for a while when you take them out of the freezer.  You want them to be at room temperature when you put them into your electronics.

There are two kinds of rechargeable batteries to look for.  Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries, which are used for things like notebook computers and cell phones, and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries, which are usually standard sized batteries like AA and D.  Anything else is a disposable battery and won’t charge in your battery charger no matter how long you leave them in.

Going Green with Electronics

Think you need to install expensive solar panels to your house and buy an electric car to go green?  You can do these things if you can afford to, of course, but you can be green by making some simple changes with your electronics.  Green electronics are now available around the world with energy efficient use and by being made using less chemicals and fossil fuels.  But how can you find green electronics?

Look for electronics like televisions and computers that have the Energy Star sticker on them.  This sticker means that these electronics will use less energy than the alternative.  That’s good news for you because less energy use means less carbon footprint, which means less of a utility bill each month.

Another way to green up your TV and computer is to put them on power strips and turn off the strip when they are not in use.  TV’s and their peripherals (DVD players, cable boxes, etc.) as well as computer peripherals go on standby mode when you turn them off.  Standby mode is not off and is still sucking the electricity from your wall sockets.  If they are on a power strip and the strip is off, then the electronics are off.  Here’s a scary fact, on average 40% of the electricity used in the home is used by electronics on standby mode.

On smaller electronics like PDA’s, notebook computers, and even cell phones, look for the EPEAT sticker.  EPEAT is the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, and means that the product has been assessed to be environmentally friendly.  Either it uses less energy or it was made in an eco-friendly way, or both.  EPEAT is more popular in Europe than in the United States right now, but it’s making its way into the hearts of green Americans.  The more we ask for EPEAT, the quicker it will become as easy to find as Energy Star.

If you really want to make an impact on the environment, buy your electronics used or refurbished.  Give them the long life they deserve and make sure that they don’t end up in a landfill somewhere.

Recycling Electronics Is One of the Best Ways to Go Green

Did you know that of all the hazardous waste in the world, 70% of it is electronics?  That doesn’t sound very environmentally friendly, does it?  There is a way to be green with your electronics that won’t cost you a dime and you can make a huge impact on the environment.  Recycle your electronics.

Recycling electronics is not as easy as recycling plastic bottles and tin cans.  You won’t see a big recycling bin that says “Cell Phones” on one side and “Laptops” on the other.  You will need to do a little research and find out where to take your dinosaur electronics when it’s time to say goodbye to them.

Cell phones are an easy recyclable.  Most cell phone stores will take your old cell phones and recycle them.  Many of the cell companies turn them into 911 only cells and give them out to the elderly and underprivileged.  They won’t be able to receive calls with them, and they can’t call their grandkids on them, but if they find themselves in need of emergency help, the cells will call 911 for them.  Recycling your old cell phones isn’t just saving the planet, but you could be saving a life.

If you don’t know where to recycle your electronics, try selling them using your newspaper classified ads or an online auction.  People will buy them even if they are broken because they use the parts.  You can even make a few dollars in the process.  When you’re buying your electronics, think about buying them used or refurbished, too.

Kids love electronic gadgets.  Pass your old electronics down to your kids if they still work.  Have you ever seen a preteen turn down a cell phone or a PDA?  It’s not likely to happen.  And the best part about giving the kids your old cell phones is that you can call them and tell them it’s time to come home.  Or, if you don’t like their friends, call them every five minutes just to bug them.

Recycling electronics may not be as easy a task as we would like it to be, but please don’t throw them away.  Electronics give off toxins when they are crushed in the landfills, which seep into the earth, which ends up in our water supplies and kills the fish.  If you can’t recycle your electronics, find another use for them or give them away.  It’s one of the best ways to go green.

Green Energy Is Here And Now – Are You Doing Your Part?

Green energy is no longer a thing of the future.  Green energy is here and now, and you should know what it means and how to make use of it.  Not only will green energy save you a ton of money when used correctly, but it will also have an impact on the saving of our planet.  With that in mind, how can you say no to green energy?

Solar energy

Solar energy is using the sun as an energy source.  Solar energy has been around for many years and you may already be using it in some aspect.  Many people use solar energy in their landscaping and outdoor lighting.  If your outdoor lights don’t need to be plugged into an electrical outlet and automatically turn themselves on when it gets dark, then they are using solar energy.

The same concept that powers outdoor lighting using energy from the sun can be used to power your entire home.  This is done by installing solar panels in the roof of your house.  These panels will then connect to your home’s power source and everything that uses electricity will be using the solar power instead of the power supplied by your electric company.  Solar panels can be expensive to install but look for government grants before you spend your own money, this can cut down on the cost.  Most people who install solar panels as an energy source for their entire homes make their money back within five years or so by not having to pay an electric bill.

Wind energy

Wind energy works much like solar energy, except that it uses the wind to generate a power source for your home.  Wind power is created by turbines, or windmills, that generate power as they are turned by the wind.  A large enough wind turbine, in the right conditions, can generate enough power to take care of all of your energy needs.

Water energy

Water energy is a wonderful source of energy if you live near a running stream or creek.  It works just like wind energy except the running water turns your mill instead of the wind.  Water energy has been used on farms for many, many years in outlying areas that were late to get power from the electric companies.

Giving and getting back

You can use one or all of these sources of green energy to power your home and help to save the planet.  You already know that you are giving resources to the environment by not using up so much of the electric company’s power source.  But did you know that you can also get back from the electric company by using green energy to power your home?  You will have to check your local laws, and with your electric company, but in many places if you generate more energy than you use the electric company has to buy that extra energy from you.  Yes, you read that right, the electric company could actually pay you a monthly electric bill for the remainder of the years that you own your green home.

Who Is Driving Electric Cars?

Do you remember watching the news 20 years or so ago when they showed that first electric concept car revealed at one of the auto shows?  It was a funny looking spaceship like vehicle that very few people would be caught actually driving around town where somebody might recognize them.

Times have changes over the years and electric cars are looking hot!  Electric cars are not being made in the form of sports cars, luxury sedans, and even family coupes and station wagons.  There is even an electric pick up truck waiting for release.  So where are all of these great zero emissions, Earth saving vehicles?  Why don’t more people have them?

There is still some work that needs to be done on electric cars.  The battery charges don’t last long enough to really leave town and most don’t drive fast enough for highway use.  Now there are the $100,000 plus electric cars that will go a couple hundred miles between charges, but where would you charge it if you happen to be out in the middle of nowhere when your battery dies?  AAA probably couldn’t help you much more than offering a tow.

A comparison of the costs to run an electric car and a gasoline powered car is quite shocking.  Independent studies have shown that where it costs a gasoline powered car about $8 per 100km traveled (this is based on gasoline prices at the time of the study), it costs an electric car under $2 per 100km traveled (again, based on current electricity costs at the time of the study).  Even if someone were to pay a few thousand dollars more for an electric car, the savings would reimburse them in no time.  Electric cars cost less to maintenance as well, except for the batteries, of course.

Electric cars have come to be fine looking cars that anybody would be proud to own, and work is being done on them to make them more efficient, more practical, and more affordable for the general public.  Perhaps once the electric cars have come a little further in technology more people will be willing to give them a try.  Until then we’ll have to leave saving the atmosphere to the tree huggers of the world, and they deserve a thank you from the rest of us.

The Trouble With Electric Cars

Electric transportation has been around since the early 1800’s, but of course not in the form that we consider a car today.  Electric cars, also called electric vehicles, are zero emissions vehicles that produce none of the greenhouse gasses and emissions that a gasoline powered vehicle produces.  They are so good for the environment that the state of California actually tried to pass a bill which would set consumer quotas for owning and driving electric cars.  This bill was shot down by lobbyists for the motor companies and oil companies.

Today electric cars are being sold, but at a price that makes them unattainable to most people.  An affordable electric car can be had in the United States, but their range between battery charges top out at 110 miles, which is double the range of most of the affordable electric cars sold in America.  The more expensive electric cars being sold for $100,000 to $400,000 will take you about 200 miles between charges.

The problem with the popularity and sales of electric cars could be that there are few public places in which to charge the battery.  Very few states have strived to make accommodations for drivers of electric and hybrid cars.  For example, in California many shopping mall and grocery store parking lots have outlets on light posts in the parking lots so that people can plug their cars in while they shop.

Maybe if more states would make these kinds of accommodations, more people would opt for electric cars.  At this point it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for a family to travel across the country by car on vacation if they have an electric car unless they tow a generator along behind them.  Of course, even at the maximum of 200 miles between charges, it still wouldn’t be feasible even with a generator.

While electric cars do save on greenhouse emissions, how much do they actually save on the total carbon footprint?  How much electricity needs to be generated in order to charge an electric car?  Could the increasing costs of electricity be another reason why electric cars haven’t caught on?  Perhaps someone is working on a solar powered electric car.

With All The Renewable Energy Sources, Why Use Anything Else?

The world will never run out of renewable energy sources.  It doesn’t make sense that more of the world isn’t utilizing them.  Much of the world, including the United States, is still using up fossil fuels in order to produce energy.  The frightening thing is that the places that are using the fossil fuels are the countries that use more energy than any other place on the planet.  We will eventually run out of fossil fuels, then what will we do?

There are renewable energy sources that can be used in every city, every region, and every part of the world.  Sources such as the sun, the wind, and water are very easy to use to produce energy, and they are cheaper to use than fossil fuels, too.  Some smart cities are going green and realizing the benefits of it.  The rest of us should follow suit, and fast.

The most common sources of renewable energy are solar energy, wind energy, and hydropower energy.  Solar energy comes from the sun and can be used to produce electricity, heat water, and for solar cooling.  Wind energy can be used to produce electricity, as can the energy that can be captured from flowing water, called hydro energy or hydropower.

Some less commonly known sources of renewable energy are hydrogen energy, geothermal energy, biomass energy, and ocean energy.  Hydrogen and biomass energy come from plants and the organic matter that they produce.  These energies can be used as fuel sources to power automobiles and farm equipment, as well as to produce electricity.  Geothermal energy comes from beneath the Earth.  It captures the internal heat of the Earth and can be used to produce electricity as well as to heat and cool buildings.  Ocean energy is sort of a combination of geothermal and hydro energy, using the water heated by the sun as well as the energy from the ocean’s waves.

With so many sources of renewable energy, why would we use anything else?  Renewable energy is cleaner, with little to zero carbon output, it is much cheaper, and just as efficient as fossil fuel energy.  If those in charge are worried about miners losing their jobs, put them to work building wind turbines instead.

How Wind Energy Can Work For You

Wind energy is one of the simplest ways to reduce your use of fossil fuel electricity at home.  Wind is a renewable source of energy and can be used to power a generator large enough to significantly cut your electric bill, and in very windy areas of the country you may even be able to completely power you home with wind energy.  In fact, some city utilities have wind power plants to supply electricity to entire cities.

Wind energy is produced by wind turbines.  These are tall windmills with two or three blades.  The windmills are on towers and should be a minimum of 100 feet high in order to utilize the fastest wind and be above the turbulent winds.  This gives the turbine the most consistent spin.  The wind will then turn the windmill, which is hooked to a generator.  The spinning of the blades in turn spin the generator and produces electricity.  One large wind turbine can produce 1.5 megawatts of electricity.

Wind turbine energy can be used in conjunction with solar and hydro energy to produce more than enough energy to run a household and not reduce, but eliminate your electricity bills.  In addition to eliminating your electric bill, if you are on a power grid the electric company may have to purchase any extra energy you produce from you.  That’s right; you can get paid by your electric company each and every month using renewable energy to power your home.

There are federal, state and local grants typically available to assist you in remodeling your home to a renewable energy home.  This would significantly cut the cost of the remodel and you could recoup any remaining costs in a matter of a few years with the reduction or elimination of electric bills, especially if the power company has to buy the extra energy from you.

It just doesn’t make sense not to consider renewable energy for your home.  Whether you are thinking of remodeling your home or building a new home, look into renewable energy options.  Not only will it save you money by going green, it will help to save the environment.

Green Energy: Solar Home Competition Scheduled

Have you heard of the Solar Decathlon?  If you get to Washington, D.C. you won’t want to miss the Solar Decathlon in 2009.  This is a contest in which 20 colleges from around the world are chosen to compete in a solar home building competition.  Each team will be responsible for building a home of approximately 800 square feet that is completely powered by solar energy.

To submit an entry for the competition, colleges must submit a preliminary plan for the solar home.  Each will be reviewed and the best 20 plans will be chosen.  The students and teachers involved will be from all sorts of majors of study like architecture, engineering, interior design, and marketing.  The homes must be marketable to the public upon completion.

Each home will be about 800 square feet in design and must utilize solar electricity, solar water heating, and solar thermal energy.  The homes must be able to maintain a specific temperature and must produce enough electricity for the normal consumption of a family that might live in the home.  This includes enough electricity to power an electric car.

The homes must be publicly marketable, too.  The Solar Decathlon’s 20 homes will be on display for guests to browse through each home to get ideas of things they can do to go green in their own homes, as well as to generate interest in the purchase of new solar homes.  The architecture must be pleasing and usable, and the interior decorating must be inviting and livable.  There are a lot of different aspects that need to be implemented into the Solar Decathlon homes.

It is believed that the Solar Decathlons will help to move renewable energy homes to the marketplace at a faster rate.  The first of these events was held in 2002, then in 2005 and again in 2007.  2009 will be the fourth Solar Decathlon, and undoubtedly the best one yet.  The dates for the 2009 Solar Village exhibition have not been set yet, but they have been traditionally open to the public in mid-October.  If you are interested in attending it is recommended that you allow two full days to see all of the houses.  You won’t be sorry you did.

Travel Tips – Green Hotels

Traveling green is easier than ever these days as hotels are making great efforts to go green and save energy, water and other resources.  New hotels are building green, too.  Not all hotels are green though, you have to know what to look for and what questions to ask if you plan to travel green.

If you don’t mind spending a bit more money for your green stay, look for newer hotels that were built within the past few years.  Check their websites to see if they advertise as an environmentally friendly hotel.  If not you can give them a call and ask if they are a certified green building.  If a hotel has spent the extra money to build green, then you should be able to assume that they also take measures toward conservation as well, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Some things you will want to ask the hotel is if they conserve energy by using longer lasting, energy saving florescent lighting throughout the hotel.  Do they have a way to encourage guests to turn out the lights, television, air conditioning, etc. when they leave the room?  One hotel in San Francisco is designed so that when you leave the room you have to lock the door from the outside with a keycard.  When you do this the electricity in the room is shut off.  This is a great energy saving concept, but don’t expect any older hotels to use it.

Ask the hotel about how they save water.  Do they allow guests to reuse towels and sheets or do they change them every day regardless of the guest’s wishes?  Do they have water saving showers and low-flush toilets?  Hotels can save millions of gallons of water each year by making some simple changes.

What kind of recycling program does the hotel have in place?  Do they place recycling receptacles in each guest room?  Do they have recycling receptacles in their lobby and restaurant and swimming pool areas?  How do they encourage their staff to recycle?

What kinds of cleaning products do they use and what brands of shampoos and lotions are they offering in the guest rooms?  Are they organic?  Organic cleaning products are now readily available for commercial and home use.  Find out how green your hotel is before you book if you want to travel green this year.

Next Page »