Turn this recycling clutter into top of the line stylish recycle center

Mode™ Premium Home Recycling Center $299.95 from williams-sonoma.com
Perfect for the affluent neat-nick who needs to reduce clutter at any cost by home recycling in orderly and luxuriant style.

This Mode home recycle center has a built-in compactor to crush cans and plastic bottles to help save energy on reducing the frequency of walking to your outdoor recycle container or pickup. No electricity – just the power of the foot pedal – so you will need to expend some energy. The extra time you will spend neatly arranging your newspapers, magazines and junk mail to fit into the small area for paper will allow you opportunity to slow down from a busy, hectic day and perhaps reflect on why did you every buy this thing!

It is now only a little more than a month away until analog TV broadcasting will end and be switched over to digital broadcasting. With the economy crashing there has been some talk about postponing it but right now this conversion remains on schedule.

The 15.5 million people in the US who still only watch TV with antenna reception will have make the change by either getting a digital TV converter box or signing up with a digital cable or satellite service if they want to continue watching TV. However, this change is confusing to many people who think they also will need to go out and buy a new TV (if they haven’t already) Many will be tempted to buy the giant 40″ – 60″ Plasma TV’s with their insanely cheap pricing but what they might not realize is how amount of energy they consume. A 42″ Plasma screens can use up to 600 kilowatt-hours per year – add another 250 kWh from the cable box and you are talking massive energy consumption, a 42-inch plasma TV set can draw more power than a large refrigerator, even if the TV is only used a few hours a day.

If millions of people start adding this additional new energy drain on our electrical grid it starts to become a significant percentage of energy use. Televisions now consume about 4 percent of household electricity nationally we can expect this percentage to grow as more people opt for the big screens.

Most of which is not only wasted by the vast emptiness and mindlessness of network TV programming but also from the fact that much of this power is used when the TV isn’t even being watched or turned on. This is all happening at exactly the wrong time, when we should be figuring out how to reduce energy use, reuse and recycle – millions of TVs will now be headed for the dump and millions more brand new energy hogs will soon be let loose to forage our electric grid.

If you want find the best green options for the your TV, the best solution is to simply keep whatever TV you currently have and hook it up to a convertor box – and unplug it except for the rare occasion you need to actually watch it. Or just use your computer to watch many programs. But if you are like me and want to watch the Colbert Report and the Daily Show, Lost, Sundance and HBO in high-def then a newer and smaller LCD (32″ or less) is your best option in terms of saving energy. Here is a good Scientific American article on choosing an energy efficient TV.

Sony recently announced its new 32-inch Bravia KDL-32JE1 LCD model as “the world’s most energy efficient television.” It went on sale in Japan in August 2008 but I couldn’t find any information on when it would be available elsewhere. Sharp has some more energy-efficient models and also showed a prototype of a solar-powered energy efficient TV, which seems a bit strange – but there you have it. Treehugger recommends the Sharp Aquos LC-20B8U-S 20 inch set as being the least power hungry of high def TV’s.

For some excellent information on everything you would need to know about reducing energy use from your TV check out the GreenNav’s Open Blog article here.

With the ever increasing prices of heating oil and natural gas some people are starting to look into the feasibility of geothermal heating to heat their homes. In the US this technology isn’t as advanced and popular as in Iceland or parts of Europe but as energy prices go through the roof maybe its time we start thinking about what’s under the basement.

Once you start to get below 6 feet in the ground the temperature —stays between 50˚F and 60˚F year round so it is cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter in most areas. The basics of Geothermal heating and cooling is very simple; just circulate fluids through the ground to cool the fluids and then that cool fluid will then cool the air that circulates through your house via some type of ducts. The same principal is used for heating in the winter, the fluids and then the air is warmed in a similar manner. However, the heat generated is often not as warm as what most people prefer so a compressor is used that increases the temperature somewhat. Here is an excellent link, The Case for Geothermal, that goes into this explanation in far greater detail.

Here is a European based site, Geothermie.net which has some good information on how you might or might not be able to use it for your home.

However, in many parts of the US, like New England, the cost is steep upfront, like up to 15-30 Grand. However, overtime it may be cost effective and certainly will add to your home value.

Here is a link to the Geocomfort site that can get you hooked up with even more info as well as a local dealer.

Kitchen Compost Crock $42.00 (white ceramic model) $75.00 (stainless steel model) at RealGoods.com

Maybe you compost in your yard, but what about your kitchen? An utterly depressing and amazing amount of useful nutrients are thrown out by most people everyday. Your banana peels, veggie peelings, etc could be put to far better uses than simply making more methane gas somewhere in some humongous landfill.

Consider the compost crock as one solution, the Kitchen Compost Crock looks great on your counter and is ideal for holding scraps of food that can eventually make compost for your garden plants. As food prices continue to grow through the roof, a home veggie garden is making more and more sense.

The crock’s interior is glazed so it won’t stain and the filtered lid leaves odors trapped inside. You will need to change the filters every few months, replacement filters are $10.00 for a set of 6. Some users complain of a loose handle on this ceramic model. For a bit more money you can spring for the stainless steel model. Speaking of money, The composting stainless steel crock we reviewed last year seems perhaps a better deal at only 39.00. Check out our previous Great Green Gadgets article here on kitchen composting.

A blender to take camping or use next to the outdoor grill isn’t on my top ten list of things I wish for, however, some people might be thrilled that you can now mix up smoothies with an energy efficient and portable blender. This battery operated blender be recharged anywhere there is an outlet, blenders aren’t real energy hogs so you probably won’t save too much juice but being able to mix up your drinks off-grid is cause to celebrate. The Rechargeable Blender is lightweight but has a large pitcher for your outdoor gatherings (or during your next power outage)

$59.99 at Eco Geek Living

Our move from New England to Southern California brings the issue of water usage to the forefront. Water conservation in Boston isn’t nearly the issue it is here in San Diego. It is amazing that so many here take for granted the diminishing source of water that is brought from the Colorado river 250 miles away. The politics of water is huge and too complex to discuss here but an excellent and fascinating read on the subject is Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition by Marc Reisner from Amazon. This book is still very timely and is one of the best books written on the subject.

Southern California is in a near-drought state after 1 year of record low rains so we are looking into ways to save on water use. It amazes me how much water is used and then “discarded” by simply washing your hands, showering, clothes or dishwashing. Naturally you want to think about ways to reuse this “greywater”, if more people were able to reuse this “greywater” for flushing toilets and/or watering lawns and gardens it would result in a significant savings of water.

For home owners with the money available to install new rewater systems in their home there exists some terrific but pricy solutions, the ReWater system captures, filters and reuses shower, tub, bathroom sink, and laundry water, 50% of all water used inside a residence. This can then be ReWater’s under or above ground drip irrigation systems which are claimed to be at least 30% and up to 60% more efficient than sprinklers. The pricing will vary significantly on several factors but you could expect to pay several thousand for both the filter and irrigation systems.

Sadly, we don’t have that kind of cash and only rent our place. But there are still some options that range from free to affordable. One approach, offered by GreyWater Guerrillas shows how to simply remove the piping under your sink and let it drain into a bucket that you can then pour into your toilet tank to flush with (or water plants, etc) They also put out a book “Dam Nation Dispatches from the Water Underground” that they discuss on their website and have many other resources on water issues.

The bucket under the sink definitely won’t fly with my wife although my dog is cool with it. A more elegant solution that does somewhat the same thing is the Aqus, that helps you capture and reuse sink water to flush toilets. They claim their technology can save 10 – 20 gallons of water a day. The Ecogeek blog has a good article about this system here.

Another possibility to save on bathroom water use is offered from Caroma, an Australian toilet maker’s Profile toilet suite that directly convert your toilet tank into a sink. A more basic and affordable possibility is the Toilet Lid Sink from Peddler’s Wagon for only $89.00.

Treehugger’s excellent article, “How to Green Your Water” is another great place for more info on saving water at home.

Sick of singing your body electric? How about using that bod to pedal wash your clothes? Healthy for the planet and healthy for you, and especially for those (like me) who a prolonged use of this method might help them go down a couple of waist sizes. Sadly, the various offerings all seem to be in prototype – with the exception of some hand powered ones covered in this previous post.
The Cyclean seems to be the furtherest along in its development (shown in the video above) Here is a site, homelessdave.com that has some extensive plans and photos of his efforts is making a pedal-powered washing machine.

Here is another model, invented by Bart Orlando, that also shows promise.

As global warming matures with serious heat waves become increasingly commonplace, many of us will crank up the AC for relief, perhaps even survival, but this will worsen climate change when fossil fueled power plants spew out even more greenhouse gases. In the United States, Air-conditioning for buildings uses something like 18 percent of all electrical consumption. Most new construction all comes with central air-conditioning, most modern offices, stores and many workplaces all have the AC cranking during the hot summer months, many workers even have to bring extra sweaters to keep warm the temperatures can be so frigid. Occasionally, during really hot days the city or other agency will plea with us to be more reasonable with the temperature settings on the AC but most times any environmental concerns related to air-conditioning use are ignored. We have come to see air-conditioning as a basic need and right. We expect there to be a comfortable, air-conditioned setting in virtually all of our public spaces. It is hard to imagine that only 30 or 40 years ago air conditioning was the exception and not the rule. What will happen when we no longer have cheap energy so readily available?

Alternet has arguably the best online article discussing air-conditioning and the environment available. Written last summer in two parts, the article discusses how in little more than 50 years cheap energy has allowed air-conditioning to rapidly grow from a rare luxury to an unquestioned basic necessary utility present in virtually every aspect of our lives, especially in the southern regions. It seems unthinkable today to imagine shopping in any big store during the summer without air-conditioning. Can you imagine people in the southern states ever giving up their air-conditioning, even though I grow up in the south myself and remember what it was like to live down there without air-conditioning. What price will people be willing to pay to keep up this lifestyle?
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RSVP Stainless Steel Compost Pail $39.99
from the Grist Store at Amazon

Food and paper make up the largest percentage of items in most landfills, food waste is considered the #1 least recycled material. The nature of today’s landfills are such that food waste often doesn’t break down properly and contributes to landfills producing methane – a harmful greenhouse gas.

Large urban areas often have to ship the garbage to distant, rural landfills, using fleets of trucks spewing tons of greenhouse gases into the air on a daily basis. At the same time farms use chemical fertilizers to grow their crops that contributes to pollution and soil degradation. Finding ways to reduce landfill waste and generate sources of rich, organic fertilizer is clearly the way to go.

I read Elizabeth Royte awesome book, Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash recently, who gives an excellent account of her investigations into all things pertaining to garbage and has much useful information on composting. The wonderful and ever fascinating everydaytrash blog has a terrific interview with Ms. Royte well worth the read.
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Switching to energy efficient light-bulbs is great but tubular skylights go even further in that not only do you save electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions but you get free natural lighting. This natural light is not only brighter but also shows true color, unlike incandescent bulbs. It can also help reduce seasonal affective disorders. Green builders are often incorporating this type of lighting in their projects and works particularly well in commercial workplaces where most activity takes place during the day.
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