End of Project Reflection

This project has been eye-opening to say the least. I never thought being green in everyday situations could be so simple, and I also didn't realize how "green" I already was. Making simple changes can make a dramatic impact on the environment for the better, and as a collective group, I can say for sure that we helped out Elon's environment in the past two months. I can honestly say that it will be easy to continue what I have done to go green in the past few months and will strive to make even more changes in my life to be more environmentally friendly. There really is no other choice at this point due to the current state of the earth. We dug ourselves in this whole and now we must get ourselves out of it.

Wes

Get Some Fresh Air!

Take advantage of the string of amazing weather and be green at the same time. Turn your lights and AC off, open a window, maybe leave a fan running and do your work outside or just hangout outside. It’s so much nicer than being cooped up inside all day and you wont have to have a thousand things running for you to function. Personally, I have been doing much of my work outside (where I am writing this) and I go fishing if I get some time off. There are a thousand billion things you can do outside so go take advantage of it. For those of us that will be returning to a less than sunny state (like Ohio for me), make the most of the remaining North Carolina weather, just remember to shut off everything in your room before you leave!

-James

Come on Varsity!

I think one of the least green institutions on this campus is possibly the varsity. All of their drinks come with plastic straws wrapped in plastic. Every time an order is ready to go it is put in a plastic bag for easier carrying. The tops of the cups are plastic. Even with condiments, the ketchup is in individual packets now instead of the easier and more environmentally friendly tubes. Throughout the course of this blog I have slowly stopped using many things that are found at the varsity. Now it is time to get rid of one more.
Every time one of us orders take out from the varsity guess what it is packaged in. Styrofoam. Styrofoam which is the bane of the earth. Styrene one of the building blocks of the styrofoam containers we carry food in has been classified as a possible carcinogen. That means it can cause cancer. These harmful chemicals leach out into the food contained inside them especially with heat. I mean today my fries were cold so in the styrene container i put them in the microwave. I unknowingly increased my rick of ingesting a carcinogen that is hazardous to my health and human reproductive systems.
The principal ingredient to polystyrene and its use make it the 5th largest hazardous waste producer in the world. We are creating tons of these possibly carcinogenic materials and it makes up twenty five to thirty percent of our landfills. You do not need to have more than a brainstem to realize that this is a big problem.
Oh yeah and do not think that this problem will just go away. If styrofoam was being used just before humans came into existence it would still be around today. It takes styrofoam 5000 years to biodegrade. Before the first humans evolved to walk on two legs was about 5000 years ago. It is quite possible that in 5000 years the world could be completely gone. we may have made the planet Earth uninhabitable in 5000 years at the current rate we are producing garbage.
Now to my point. We all should stop using the to go boxes that the varsity uses just order and tell them that it is for here. They will bring it to you in a paper open container. Just use the thin sheet of plastic and cover it, that way nothing will fall out and you will be helping out the earth a great deal. You will not be producing garbage that will outlast even your descendants. Your entire bloodline could die out before styrofoam reaches its half life. Please stop using styrofoam, it is so easy to stop using it just be smart and be eco-conscious about what you eat and what you use. Also you may be sparing yourself from eating something that could cause you cancer further on down the road. Your body and the Earth will be thanking you later.
-Danny McGeough

TV

You know those old, fat TV's everyone had before LCD and Plasmas became the big deal? Well a 27-inch CRT, as these are called, uses about 100 watts of electricity. Although these TV's are older and may not seem as good to some people, they are very energy efficient. What about our new fancy LCD TV's? When we decide to upgrade to these new, more "hip" TV's from our old fat ones, how many of us actually get the same size? We usually get bigger ones, right? These TV's may have better quality and be nicer than what you previously owned, but are they really better for the environment? NO! A 42-inch LCD TV can use up to 320 watts of energy! Plasma's tend to use more, sometimes up to 460 watts. Bigger TV's of this sort can use up to 600+ watts. Although these TV's are nice and are today's newest technology, some are not environmentally friendly. When buying a new TV like this make sure you look for an Energy Star appliance or one that has a green friendly logo.

Since we are not all going out and buying a TV today or anytime soon, I think that we should give up TV for the weekend. If there are shows you need to watch, try using a computer instead. Think about it, how many of us need the TV, and how many of us actually use ours? Leave the TV off all weekend, even unplug it, and save some of this energy that we are selfishly using.

Global Warming

The globe is warming. In the past fifty or so years, an alarming rate of carbon dioxide has steadily been released into the atmosphere and trapped under the suns radiation, thus trapping heat on the earth. The heat is causing polar ice caps to melt and this is causing a large biological problem. If they continue to melt, the sea level will rise anywhere from 20-40 feet! This would be devastating because that would mean there would be hundreds of millions of refugees trying to find a place to live. For example; NYC and London, two of the largest cities in the world, would be under water. See ya later Big Ben, have a good swim Statue of Liberty.

Another problem coming with global warming is the political issues. It is dividing the republicans and the democrats even further than before, causing heated political debate over whether the globe is heating, as opposed to working together to find a solution.

The biological issues that come with global warming are overwhelming. It would destroy ecosystems, kill polar bears and penguins, make it mad hot, and the extinction of species.

Buy Used Textbooks

For our last wednesday post, I'm posting about an idea for being green in all semesters to come. Please buy used textbooks. There is no reason that we really must have brand new books every semester. It shouldn't be detrimental for anyone to have to use someone else's books!

So when fall semester comes around, lets all try to do one good thing for the planet if nothing else: buy used textbooks.

-Adrienne

2 for 1 Shampoo! And other ways to cut down in the bathroom

From now on, I want us all to buy two for one shampoos. They really are essentially the same as having separate bottles, one shampoo and one conditioner. After doing some research, I found that if one if seven households replaced its shampoo and conditioner with a single two-in-one bottle, the amount of plastic saved per year could fill a football field 27 stories high (Bankrate's 2007 Living Green, Saving Green Guide)! Just ONE household. If we purchase only one bottle the next time we shop for shampoo and conditioner think about how much we will save collectively! We will not only save immense amounts of plastic but also money!

Another suggestion is to purchase bars of soap rather than bottles of body wash and fancy liquid soaps. I use bar soaps now and they are just as good as liquid washes (especially if you put them on a loofah!). I highly recommend it and it will save tons of plastic!

The final way for us to save in the bathroom is simple. If we change from antiperspirants (deodorant that contains aluminum salts to seal up pores) to aluminum-free deodorant we could save the amount of power that could power a laptop for 30 minutes! This is because aluminum takes a tremendous amount of energy to mine (Bankrate's 2007 Living Green, Saving Green Guide. Make the switch! It will pay off.



Works Cited:

"Bankrate's 2007 Living Green, Saving Green Guide." Bankrate.com. Bankrate, 2007. Web. 4 May 2010. .

-Ellie

Going Digital

Media consumption is arguably one of the greatest destroyers of the environment. From the plastic wrapping and paper on CD's, DVD's, and video games, to the wasteful paper in magazines in newspapers. It seems like everything you buy somehow hurts the environment, and that it would be easy to not use so much material when packaging products. Fortunately, we live in a pretty high tech society. There is little need for us to actually buy the physical products anymore when we can get them all digitally.

You can buy digital music on a number of sites, such as iTunes, Zune, and Rhapsody. I buy an average of three albums a month, and I've saved a lot of money and material by going digital. iTunes also offers movie rentals, as does services such as Netflix, where you produce virtually no waste. As for magazines and newspapers, those can be consumed digitally as well. I recently bought an iPad and have been getting all my magazines and books on it instead of buying the physical copies. It is cheaper and much more convenient.

While there are some limitations to going completely digital for media consumption, it is getting easier than ever. In a few years, I believe that almost everything in the media world will be digital.

Wes

Green on the Go

After going down to Charleston for getaway last weekend with my roommate, I learned a good tip from my hotel I had since forgot about from the last time I stayed at a hotel.

Most hotels with a cleaning service offer signs that instruct the maids, if the occupant decides, to leave the towels and sheets instead of replacing them everyday. This is a great practice, it cuts down the water usage greatly and is something we can all duplicate in our own dorms and homes.

Similar to the old saying, "if it ain't broke don't fix it", if your sheets and towels aren't dirty, there's no need to wash them. This is not an excuse to become a pig but there certainly isn't a need to wash everything, everyday. Plus, it means less work for you! So if you're going away for the weekend, use this practice and take it back with you when you come home.

-James

P.S.- The picture is a sign that you can print out and leave so if you go to a hotel that does not offer this service, you can still stay green.

Stop the Junk

I am constantly bothered whenever I go to check the mail and I find advertisements or other pieces of junk mail sitting in the mail box. These pieces of paper invariably end up in the trash. It is not always easy to stop junk mail but what about the rest of it. The letters and magazine subscriptions, even Netflix envelopes that get thrown away. In the school mailbox half of the stuff I find is an advertisement. Every one of these actions could become more green. Most magazines that you have to pay to subscribe to you could go paperless for. With websites you could buy a subscription and instead of getting a magazine that is half advertisements and a huge waste of paper you could go online and if needed buy a subscription to the website. Also letters hurt the environment. Whether they have more sentimental value than an email is up for debate but they undoubtedly end up in the trash sooner or later. Something that has surfaced over the past few years are E-cards. For birthdays or any other occassion that you would send a card you could send an E-card. Essentially it is an email that is themed and gets across the message with a personal touch. Every bit of mail we need/receive could end up paperless with just a little bit of extra work. I also see a lot of people printing out articles that are for homework that we need to read. In a class about environmentalism we are really not being that environmentally friendly. We could honestly do a bit better. I read the article and if something is important or it seems to me to be a good idea I write it down. I use one sheet of paper for a 10 page article. You do not need to cut paper out of your life just cut down. By "cutting down" on the paper you use you do not cut down the trees it would cost to fuel the printer.

Car Wash Anyone?

A standard water hose uses 10 gallons of water per minute, this means if you wash your car for a short 10 minutes, you will use 100 gallons of water. If we were to go to a commercial car wash, a 15 minute car wash would only use around 55 gallons of water. That is a significantly lower amount then washing your own car. Going to a car wash is a much more efficient way of washing your car and even though it may cost a small amount, it could potentially save on your water bill in the future. This week I think we should stop or reduce self washing our cars and start taking them to a commercial car wash location. If washing them yourself is still your favorite way then here are some tips to help you conserve water when doing it yourself. When washing your car, always wash it on a grassy surface instead of pavement. When washing on pavement the soapy water runs off into the sewers and other ditches polluting what is there further. Instead when washing on grass the soapy water seeps into the grass where it will eventually be cleaned and become groundwater. Also, use a water hose with a automatic shutoff nozzle to save water as well.

How To Print (The Green Way)

Have you ever thought about ink cartridges? Did you know that the plastics inside of them will take over a thousand years to decompose? It's time to start recycling your empty ink cartridges. You can either have your ink cartridges re-filled yourself or give them to companies that will take them back for you (such as Staples). Also, if you do have a computer on campus you should really think about printing double sided. At least try and save scrap paper which you can re-feed through the printer later on. It's little things like this which can help.

http://www.printcountry.com/recycle_facts.asp

-Adrienne

Back to Basics

http://www.hulu.com/watch/109986/the-office-recyclops

It seems like everywhere you look, there are crazy new ideas for how to be more green. What ever happened to good old recycling? Sure, the new methods and practices are helping, but I feel like recycling is the most important thing we can do as a community to help save our resources. Examples of things we can recycle include plastic bottles, newspapers, almost any other old paper, cardboard boxes, and the list goes on and on. What some people fail to recognize is that electronic items such as old cell phones, laptops, and iPods can be recycled as well. All you need to do is drop them off at a local Best Buy and they'll take care of it for you. It's amazing how much damage electronics can do to the environment if not properly disposed of.

This week, we are going to take recycling up to the next level. Instead of just recycling the occasional water bottle or newspaper, we are going to try to recycle everything possible. Doing this also means buying things that we can recycle when we are finished with them. Companies are doing a pretty good job of letting you know if their products are recyclable. We are also going to try to buy products made out of recycled material. Doing this decreases our carbon footprint and helps the environment.

-Wes

I wanted to switch things up a bit today and do my post on something that is making it a little easier to be green. I have had an iPhone for a few years now and even though it may seem cliché to say, I couldn’t live without it. At first it was just my source of entertainment and kept my life on track but now it’s helping me be green as well.

Green apps have been floating around for a couple of months as the green “movement” gains popularity but on Earth Day this week there was a rush of green apps to help everyone do their part. Everything from tips to being green, green recipes, analysis of so called “green companies” and new social networking opportunities that allow you to see how everyone else is being green have popped up. I’ve downloaded a few and they really make being green fun. They are very convenient and in a world where convenience and knowledge “on the go” seem to work, I think it’s a great thing app developers are doing.

I encourage those with an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to check some out. If you don’t own any of those, remember, it’s always fun to mooch off of your friends. Have fun!

-James

Laptops Equal Energy Saving?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.singleparticles.org/school_2008/img/laptop.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.singleparticles.org/school_2008/laptop_req.html&usg=__7f2GGF99ToZxyJPz7q16iQEByKc=&h=324&w=400&sz=16&hl=en&start=3&sig2=Hf8R0oP0BKI_eQbl96J8Gg&itbs=1&tbnid=GZillys9Cx6dLM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3DLaptop%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=SwjVS_uJFoH78AbIqrGtDw

I have been thinking about computers lately. It seems that turning them off is not really doing that much. Computers are still the device that probably uses the most energy out of every electronic device in my room. I am almost always on it watching videos, emailing, on facebook, playing games, and whatever else anyone does on the computer. I found a tip recently that should help people save more energy. Use desktops only when absolutely necessary. Laptops actually require less energy than desktops do. Using a laptop instead of a desktop cuts a whopping three quarters off of your energy usage. Not only that but when you are using the battery your are not using any electricity at all. Whenever I go to the library with my laptop I leave my charger in my room and can use my computer without any detrimental effect to the environment. This should be a relatively easy step for everyone in our group considering the fact that all of us have laptops. In fact the only time I ever use a desktop computer is for printing stuff out in the library. I write the paper on my laptop and once I am ready to print it I save it to a draft in an email. Then I quickly log on to a school computer in the library log in to my email find the draft and print my paper. At the most it takes only five minutes and for people who have printers need not even bother with this technique.
The cut down in power comes from what needs power. The laptop uses power for only itself the entire package requires one power source. For a desktop one at least needs to power the monitor as well as the tower (aka Pizza box aka big box that has the power button on it). Desktops also require a power source for speakers if the user wants to have sound. With a laptop it is also combined into one energy saving package.
As laptops become more compact and power efficient I encourage everyone who reads this blog to buy a laptop and you will be doing the environment a favor without ever knowing it. The more blogs I post and read on this topic cause me to think that the title of this blog is becoming more and more laughable. "It's not easy being green?" To the contrary with many of these tips it is.

Happy Earth Day

Since today is Earth Day, I was thinking really hard about the problems that our planet faces. In my thinking, I remembered the Food Inc. video and the problems our society faces with the food and meat industries. Approximately 35 million cows are killed a year, solely for the purpose of meat and food products. The byproducts and manurer of these cows also affects us, creating more than 18% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions. For the remainder of the year, we are going to give up meat one day a week, Meatless Mondays. Although this seems difficult at first it really won't be that bad. There are other main dishes such as pastas that do not contain meat but are filling. Nuts are also a good alternative source to protein. This is a good way to give back to your planet.

I also attended that Annie Leonard speech tonight and though we only watched the same video we did and class, followed by Mrs. Leonard proposing some more of her opinions it was interesting to hear her speak. She is a prime example of what we are doing with our blog and project, one person changing a big problem. Hope everyone else got to attend.

Wes found a cool article and although I am supposed to post it on the other groups blog, I liked it so I am posting it on ours also so here it is.

http://www.newsok.com/big-retailers-set-goals-for-stores-going-green/article/3455833?custom_click=pod_lead_local-financial-news

- Liza

Green Light Bulbs

Beginning today when our light bulbs die we are going to replace them with energy efficient ones. Compact Fluorescent light bulbs will save a lot of energy without adding cost to your shopping list! It is such a small contribution to the environment to switch light bulbs but every light bulb counts. It is time to realize that every person does make a difference. Once we start switching over to compact fluorescent light bulbs, maybe our friends will too, maybe even our parents will.

"FACT: If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars."
-http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/22/earlyshow/living/home/main2965734.shtml

- Adrienne

Let's Think Twice

Today in class we had a discussion about the notion of gratitude. It is interesting to think about how much we really appreciate the things we own. As stated multiple times in our blog, our culture revolves around convenience. This simple idea has rooted many of our bad habits of our nation. It is the reason we created plastic water bottles, disposable silverware, straws and paper towels.

We have been taking active steps to decreasing our usage of these types of things but starting now we will think twice about throwing away our physical possessions and getting the most out of what we own. Things like clothes, shoes, cups, towels, PILLOWCASES, and other things we will think twice about before throwing away. Another way to ensure we get the most out of our things is trying to recycle them and give them away. For example, instead of throwing away a pair of shoes or a sweatshirt lets try to bring them to goodwill or donate them to another organization or person. Because everyone knows, "one man's trash is another man's treasure." :)

Happy Saving!

-Ellie

One may not think that a simple trip to the local Barnes and Noble does any harm, but this is not the truth. From the gas you waste driving there, to the plastic bags and recepits that come with the book, and not to mention how much paper is actually used in most books. Most of the time, people will only read the book the purchase once and either throw it away or let it sit on a shelve, untouched for years.

Today, we are giving up purchasing new books. There are many other alternatives to buying books from Borders or Barnes and Noble, such as the library, used bookstores, and digital books. While we are not all going to go out and buy new Kindles or iPads to read digital books, Kindle does make a computer application that allows one to read books right on their screen. The library is probably the best resource because of how "green" it is and how no waste is being produced by simply walking there and renting a book.

-Wes

Going Green for Green

Something we are all going to have to start soon, if you haven’t already is managing our personal finances. You’re going to have to start paying pills, keeping track of your income and your spending. This all sounds like a bit of a hassle, which it is, but there are ways to make it easier and help the environment at the same time.

First, switch to online banking and receive e-statements and keep track of your money online. Not only is this easier than driving to the bank or calling and more organized but it saves the lengthy paper statements they send you frequently. Next, sign up for electronic billing for all your credit cards. You get your statements online and can see pretty much everything that goes on so you can more easily prevent fraud and manage your spending. Again, this makes your life easier and saves tons of paper in the process. You can also tell your phone company to switch to online billing. This is one of the most important things to switch, I mean who really needs 100+ pages listing all texts and calls you made or received in a month when you could get them online? Lastly, if you have a job and need to keep track of your job spending then keep track online and tell the cashier you don’t need a receipt and save the paper.

It may be tough to find ideas for going green that truly make your life much easier but this is definitely one of them. Ask for electronic everything when you sign up and stop the waste before it starts.

-James

Heating Up

Every year Americans all around the world use Air conditioning and heating to help keep themselves comfortable. Whether keeping cold air throughout ones house on a hot summer day. Or heating the house to defend against a cold winter night we use electricity to power these devices. I have wondered why people always use thermostats. I notice that it always feels great to walk inside the house and feel cold air where one used to be burning up. However has anyone considered shedding layers? I think we should regulate our comfortability by changing clothing not by using a thermostat which requires constant power to keep the air cool or warm. I think that when it is freezing cold put on a sweatshirt or a fleece inside. You can save power and be just as toasty as if you were heating your room. When it is burning hot outside wear a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops or something similar to help beat the heat. Everytime I go to sleep in the summer I wear at most basketball shorts and a T-shirt. We could all do our part to reduce electricity costs by giving up the ability to regulate heat and still stay comfortable for the cost of a couple of minutes for changing. It is easy and it saves electricity

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Each year, 2.5 paper towels are thrown away. We use paper towels every day when drying our hands, cleaning up spills, and many of us use them as a napkin when eating in our rooms. Instead of using paper towels, let's pick an alternative to stop this excessive use. When getting ready to grab a paper towel, instead grab a hand towel to dry your hands off or to clean something you spill. This will help save some of the 51,000 trees that are used for paper towel goods each year.

Response to Taking Root.

I thought taking root was an amazing story about the amazing changes some people can make. It started out as one person who saw what was going on and refused to sit by and let Kenya slowly die. It was amazing to see the snowball effect how what started out as one passionate person grew to include almost all of Kenya. I thought it was also very interesting how them planting trees and crops that served them rather than cash crops made such a difference that people were noticeably healthier and younger looking. I did not know that doing something like that would make such a difference. Although the amount of resistance that the Kenyans had to put up with from the government was a bit disheartening. I am not sure if I would be willing to risk death and life imprisonment to plant trees. I would hope that a government would be more willing to protect its people and less concerned with squashing peaceful protest. It is amazing how many people united behind a common front. One difference that I definitely noticed is that in Kenya they were only fighting the government whereas in most other areas they are fighting the government and gigantic corporations that want to leach all of the resources out of one area and maintain a strong presence in the region. This achievement was made even more impressive by the fact that it was done in Africa which is an impoverished an uneducated nation. Another difference I noticed was that everyone in Kenya ended up behind the issue even the Kenyan military. In the United States our attention is divided between so many different environmental initiatives everyone is more concerned about getting there voice heard that they drown out everybody else. I think that if everyone in the nation was behind a certain issue like releasing carbon into the atmosphere we could make a difference but the divisiveness hampers us.

All Aboard The Bio Bus!

How many of you Elon students chose to come to Elon due to its surroundings and close proximity to the Target? That's what I thought. We all know that Elon offers a bus service, the Bio Bus, but how many of us take advantage of this opportunity? I have used the Bio Bus a few times, due to the fact that I don't have a car here - and I am proposing that now we all start to use the Bio Bus, car or no car. If you do have your car here with you at school, just consider the amount of gas you will be saving by hopping on the bus to go to Target or Alamance Crossing.

-Adrienne

Fill it Up!

The average household does about 540 loads of laundry per year which consumes up to 21,000 gallons of water. In fact, 90% of the energy in washing machines just goes to heating up the water.

I know I am very guilty of doing small loads of laundry at times just because there is one article of clothing that I want to be clean. However, it is extremely wasteful and its time to make a change.

Today, we are going to start washing our clothes in cold water and putting together half loads to save energy and water. As college students, most of us have to pay for our laundry so we will not only be saving water but money to! In order to measure this, we will only do one load of laundry per week and it must be a full load!

Doing just a couple less loads per week really does make a difference in saving water.

Good Luck! Happy Washing.

-Ellie

Peter Barnes and the Commons

In "Capitalism 3.0," author Peter Barnes argues that we need to update our current system of capitalism into one that better utilizes the commons in a more efficient, environmentally friendly way. The first section introduces us to the harsh reality of our current environmental state. Americans use a vast amount of resources and we will eventually run out. Then what? This problem cannot be pushed back any longer, and it is up to our generation to combat the damage that is being done to the environment. When talking about our future, Barnes states something worth worrying about, "little by little, we're pushing the others out of their living spaces. The result is a wave of extinctions comparable to that which wiped out the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. The difference is that, while the dinosaurs' extinction was triggered by a freak event, the current extinctions are being caused by our everyday activities" (Barnes 4).

This startling statement brings forth the reality that we are only hurting ourselves with our mass consumption of resources and wasteful nature. What can we, as individuals, do to help stop this? There are loads of actions we can take to help save the commons and our own local environments. Each day, our group has given something up, such as straws, plastic utensils, etc. in order to do our part.

Today, our group will be giving up newspapers. Instead of wasting loads of paper every day on a newspaper that we will probably only read for 20 min, we will get our news from digital sources, such as the internet or television. It is amazing how much paper is wasted with newspapers.

Green Spree

My roommate and I went grocery shopping the other day. I was shocked at how many choices people are given for various different types of products. There seemed to be dozens of choices for each item. So how do you choose? Well, you could always do a little homework prior to going shopping and choose the most environmentally friendly company.
Think about it, what’s one of the most common excuses for not going green? “I’m just one person, I can’t make a difference.” However, when you support green companies, you help them grow and prevent more harmful companies from growing further. So you’re purchase of two cans of a certain good from a green company on a weekly basis could help the company branch out to support thousands more. This really is one way a small change could lead to a big impact. When organic is not an option, you could still buy from a green company.

And I’m not just talking about food, from cars to computers to a flight home for Spring Break, you can make a green choice when it comes to almost anything. Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson and Starbucks are all in the top 10 greenest companies. So do a little homework, and support green companies when you can. It took me less than 10 minutes to come up with a green alternative for the products I need to buy next time we go out. Supporting green companies has a larger impact than you think!

-James

Power When You Are Out(age)

Most people use 4 to 5 electronic devices no matter what they are doing. Personally I have a study lamp, laptop, iPod charger, electric shaver, Kindle charger, camera charger, Xbox360, cell phone charger, controller charger, wireless headset charger, tv, fridge, microwave. alarm clock and more on my room mates side of the room. Now granted these are never all plugged in at once because frankly I do not have enough outlets but at the time I am typing this I am utilizing 4 power outlets and one with a surge protector. Even when all of these electronic devices are off they are still sucking power out of the outlets and wasting electricty. These are called vampire appliances. My shaver is fully charged yet it is still at this moment sucking power out of the outlet. According to the U.S. Department of Energy 20 percent of all power used in American homes is a result of vampire appliances. If we could stop using these it would be like shutting down 36 coal powered plants and therefore reducing greenhouse gasses as well as the electronic bill. It is not enough to just turn off your computer when you leave the room because the outlet is still sucking power. When you turn off these appliances the outlet is still in use and most of the power gets pulled out but does not charge your phone any more than normal. To actually cut the current you have to unplug the device. Waste money from vampires comes out to around $3 billion a year just from vampire appliances. The total amount of power that we use but is wasted would be enough to handle the electric needs of Peru, Greece, and Vietnam combined.
I think that we should turn off and unplug all of our appliances when leaving the room. I spend a lot of time on my computer and I usually just close the screen and let it sleep while I am at class but my computer is still sucking power. Even if I turn it off it is still using power. I am now going to unplug my circuit protector which actually does save power. The reason we are all made to unplug outlets when we leave for a break is because Elon does not want to pay for vampire appliances staying plugged in when the school is empty. Not only does this help you save power but it also prolongs the efficiency of your electronic devices. So next time you leave your room make sure that the power is off and you have unplugged some of your electronic devices. You may also want to turn off your surge protector. It takes maybe a minute and you save a ton of energy.
-Danny McGeough

Brush-a, Brush-a, Brush-a

How many of you green people out there turn the water off while doing things like brushing your teeth, washing the dishes or washing your hands?

Well how about we start today!

Each of these activities use four gallons of water per minute. Four gallons that are not being used and just going right back down the drain, wasted. If you brush your teeth for the dentist recommended two minutes, you are wasting eight gallons of water. When looking back to Ellie's video, we know water conservation is a big deal because soon enough we will waste what we have and not have any more clean water.

Lets give a helping hand today and help save our water!


-Liza

Video

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/dddaafa5d6/emergency-411-going-green-corporate-edition-from-emergency411

Saving The Planet One Bottle At A Time...

Today I am proposing that we stop using plastic water bottles. Personally, I don’t buy plastic water bottles to begin with; tap water has always been just fine with me. Once you add this to the fact that Elon handed us all metal water bottles at the beginning of the school year there should be no real conflict.

Water bottles are one of the most wasteful things in my mind. I know it is nice when you are on the go to grab a bottle of water; however, keep in mind that it will cost you under five dollars to go to the store and buy a water bottle that you can use for the rest of your life. The solution to this problem don’t even make your life harder, unless you don’t have access to clean tap water (but I don't think that this is the case at Elon).

-Adrienne

Stats:

Americans will buy an estimated 25 billion single-serving, plastic water bottles this year. Eight out of 10 (22 billion) will end up in a landfill.
-- Container Recycling Institute

1.5 million barrels of oil is used annually to produce plastic water bottles for America alone - enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year.
-- Earth Policy Institute

I found this interesting youtube video that includes different ways to conserve water! It is not extremely informative but it is cute and fun, check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOLf2RbxmzE

-Ellie

Shortening Our Showers

Some view the shower as an opportunity to think about the day ahead of them (or the day that passed!) or just to relax and this must change. The water consumption in the United States is signifigantly higher than anywhere around the world and long luxerious showers are a big part of the problem. The average water consumption per day for individuals living in the United States is between 60 and 120 gallons and more than half the world lives on less than 25 per day. Think about that difference.

During a typical shower, anywhere from 1.5 to 5 gallons are used per minute. That could be up to 75 gallons for just a 15 minute shower.

Water usage involved in flushing the toilet, dishes, washing machines, and drinking water are more out of our control because they are slightly more necessary. Not that showers aren’t, there are just ways we can cut down time spent in the shower to reduce water consumption.

Today, and for the rest of the semester we will cut down our shower time to 5 minutes and under and you should too! Along with this, we will take only one shower per day. It’s not going to be easy, but it will make a big impact. Here are some tips for cutting down shower time:

1. Next time you purchase shampoo and conditioner, choose the combined (2 in 1) option.

2. Don’t consider the shower a time to think and relax. Rinse and get out!

3. Leave less time (before work/class) to shower.

4. Take a luke warm or cold shower (trust me, you will want to get out).

5. Use a timer or create a playlist to listen to that is less than five minutes to know when your time is up.

Good Luck!

Ellie Booth

Stuff Notes

Planned obsolescence- "designed for the dump"
Perceived obsolescence

"Our enormously productive economy… demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction. In consumption… we need things consumer, burned up, replaced, and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate."

Dioxin can be stopped by not burning trash
Recycling reduces garbage, but it is not enough
Waste coming out of our houses is just the tip of the iceberg
Much of garbage cannot be recycled
Sustainability, renewable energy, local economies

Paper or plastic? Neither.

The simple question, "Paper or plastic?" causes more environmental damage than we may realize. Imagine that you go to the grocery store or Wal Mart once a week to shop for food and other personal items. If you purchase about six plastic bags worth of food, that's about 324 plastic bags per year. This astounding number gets higher and higher as our consumption increases. More information on paper and plastic bags can be found at this website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/10/03/GR2007100301385.html?referrer=emaillink

Until recently, our only options were paper or plastic, both of which are not very environmentally friendly. Our recent obsession with being more "green" has led large grocery chains and stores such as Harris Teeter and Wal Mart to provide the more eco-friendly option of purchasing re-usable bags. These bags can be purchased for as little as a dollar each and are sturdy and long-lasting.

Today, we have decided to give up paper and plastic bags and instead start using re-usable bags for when we shop. It's such an easy thing that everybody can do to cut down our over-consumption of paper and plastic bags that immediately get thrown away. For only four dollars, four bags can be purchased from WalMart to be used when shopping for groceries and other products.

Wes Sankey

Assault and Batteries

Look around you, how many electronic devices do you see? Now eliminate everything that you plug into the wall or that is rechargeable. What are you left with? For me, I see four television controllers, four game console controllers, two calculators, an alarm clock, a pair of headphones and a shaver. Now what do all those things have in common? Batteries.

Batteries can be extremely dangerous. Most disposable batteries end up in a landfill after their time has been served (generally not a very long time either). The cheap metal casings that we see when we look at batteries cover up the real problem. Once these thin casings are easily crushed or erode in a landfill the toxins within are released into the environment. These toxins include lithium, thionyl chloride and, in older batteries, mercury. Lithium can spontaneous ignite, thionyl chloride produces highly acidic and corrosive fumes and mercury is obviously very deadly. Yummy! Worst yet, no one thinks twice about throwing away dozens of batteries. In my list of electronics above I found 36 standard disposable batteries that I would have otherwise just thrown into the trash but will now be disposed of properly.

Personally, I will be switching to rechargeable batteries, available at many general stores. These are pretty cool, much easier as you don’t need to run to the store and buy 16 trillion batteries every month and, in the long run, much more cost effective. You’ll definitely love the switch, trust me. I mean, c’mon guys, this one isn’t hard at all!

-James

Straws are just for Suckers!

As I was sitting at my desk thinking of what to write I found myself staring at my trash can. In it I notice that there were two paper cups from the Varsity with plastic straws inside them. I thought about it and realized yeah the paper cup will degrade but the straws that I have will never be recycled. Then I thought about how unneccessary a straw is to all of us. Do we reall y need a straw? of course not, all of us can just do away with the plastic lid while we are at it and save a straw as well and just sip our drinks.

Most drinks from places like Varsity or Octagon offers straws to put in your drinks. It is strange that they offer straws when you could just take the plastic top off of the drink forgo the plastic straw and just sip your drink rather than sucking it through a straw. These straws can even be recycled, although there is no container and all of the straws used at Elon end up in a landfill. Even though a straw is a seemingly small drop in the ocean of plastic garbage (or island of garbage) it is small steps like these that help people start to take the first steps to help out the environment. Sometimes it takes something as small as not using a straw that starts people on the route to becoming concious about the decisions they make and how they may affect our environment. A plastic straw is a baby step on the road to awareness.

Also, plastic straws are not always needed. If a straw is vital to some people there are reusable plastic straws that one can buy almost anywhere. Some restaurants are also starting to use paper rather than plastic straws which although they are more expensive helps out the environment because the paper biodegrades much more easily and is cleaner than plastic. Below are some steps to stop plastic in a bigger and more effective way.

Less Plastic Tips

We can all do our part!

Note: This blog is being posted early and does not apply until April 2nd.

-Danny McGeough

To Spork or not to Spork? That is the Question.

Plastic utensils are very convenient to Americans today however convenience isn't necessarily the easiest thing to achieve when trying to "go green." Although these small pieces of plastic can be washed and reused, people don't tend to do so and end up just throwing them away. In an act to become more eco-friendly, the first thing we are going to give up in order to change our wasteful habits are plastic utensils. This way we will begin using less plastic, if only for the time being, and do our part in reducing plastic waste.

Starting out it is going to be difficult to get used to not using plastic forks when they are available but thankfully most of the dining facilities on campus do not use them either. Though many places do use reusable utensils it might be helpful to carry your own utensils around in a book bag or something so that when you do come across places that offer plastic, you can use your own and stay away from the temptations of the plastics ones.

It may also help to chose foods that do not necessarily need utensils so you can avoid them all together.

Good luck guys! I know you can do it! Help our world become a more eco-friendly and green place. :)