You may have seen something on the news about Spokane, Washington where there is now a ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates. While this may seem to be an isolated case, there are actually several states (including the rest of the state of Washington) that will make dishwashing soap made with phosphates above a very small level illegal in 2010.
What is phosphate anyway and why is it used in dish washing soap? Phosphate is an inorganic chemical that is a combination of salt and phosphoric acid. Because it can clean things like hard water stains, and grease, phosphates are used in all kinds of things including dish washing soap.
Why all the fuss? Phosphate is a problem when it finds its way to freshwater rivers and lakes. The phosphate encouraged the growth of algae which depletes the oxygen in these rivers and lakes, killing off fish and other wildlife.
While there are green alternatives out there, deleting the phosphates from the dish washing soap can leave one unsatisfied with the resulting product-and a lot of dirty dishes. Plus some of these green alternatives are pricier than their cheaper phosphorous counterparts. This has caused people to travel outside their state to obtain contraband detergent from other states-which, of course, defeats the purpose of the bank in the first place.
What should you look for in a green dish washing soap? Are there green products that work as well? While there is no direct substitute for phosphorous, but there are other substances that can be used. How well they will work depends on a number of factors, perhaps the most important being the hardness of the water used for cleaning.
One ingredient that be used is a surfactants. Surfactants are usually biodegradable and are used to provide cleaning power and increase the ability of the water to separate the soil from the dish. Anionic surfactants work well as detergents, but can be less than effective in hard water. Amphoteric surfactants are used for their foaming power and can often be found with anionic surfactants. There are other substitutes for phosphates, but these can be even more dangerous than the phosphates. They include nitrilotriacatic acid (NTA) and caustic alkaline chemicals (which are particularly dangerous when ingested-as sometimes happens with children).
It may take some trial and error to come up with the phosphate substitute that works best in your water. It is unlikely that the ban on phosphates is going away, so it is better to start exploring the options now. In the meantime, the soap manufacturers continue work on the perfect phosphate substitute, but there are some excellent alternatives out there.
“Dr. Robin”, the well known MLM Radio personality is and has built his “honorary” doctorate in the Network Marketing world and has had experience in numerous other network marketing companies. He is a nationally recognized expert in the network marketing business.Dr. Robin is the current host of his radio show, “Networking with the Blindguy” with up to 4.7 million listeners daily. http://drblindguy.com
Also time to help you with going GREEN. http://gobewisenow.com DR Robin will help you with going green with products that do work and are safe.
A lot goes into making new products; energy, fuel, non organic materials and more. If we buy more items used, we will use less of the things that contribute to hurting God’s planet. Plus, we are being good stewards by making the most of everything we buy and use!
Some things we can buy used:
* movies. what’s the difference, really. used is cheaper, the same and better for the planet.
* music. see above.
* clothes. thrift stores can save you tons of money as well.
* books. buy them used or go to the library.
* cars. how used is up to you.
* furniture and appliances. garage sales and eBay are great places to start.
* homes. old houses are cool anyway.
* household items. there are many items you can pick up at a local good will or garage sale that are just as nice as going to the store and buying new.
* electronics. just be careful and always try it our before you buy.
* bikes. have you ever seen the price tag for a new bike recently. yikes! buy used and ride the bike as often as you can instead of driving. Double green for your trouble! lol.
* video games and systems. places like game stop are great. you can buy used, beat the game and then trade it in for another used game. too cool, right?
* toys. obviously clean and good condition are key here. if you look you can find some goodies. i have found a lot of cute items that my kids love.
As you can see, there are many ways we can help contribute to being good stewards of God’s planet. Including, buying used and spending our money wisely!
About the Author: Cindy Taylor is a Christian stay at home Mom who love the Lord and cares about God’s planet. You can see her passion and writing at her website, Green Christian Network (http://greenchristiannetwork.com).
We have all heard about Global Warming, where the planet’s atmosphere is supposedly heating up. Of course, we as common citizens have no real proof, only what our scientists tell us, along with the Think Tanks and mass media. But how can we trust this when Global Warming researchers have been paid 100s of millions of dollars, and they know if they disagree with global warming theory the money stops being funded and they are out of work?
One of the most fascinating debate points for Global Warming goes something like this; “The majority of scientists say global warming is real and we are already seeing its impact (the drought in the Western USA and the long term drought in Australia.”
This is seriously a flawed argument and let me tell you why. You see it is irrelevant and may not even be true. After all, 55% would be most of the scientists and thus the majority, still leaving a huge contingency of doubters, with plenty of data and research to back up the opposite point of view.
Likewise, during Copernicus’ day only one man believed the world was round, everyone else said it was flat; so the “majority of scientists” argument is irrelevant; majorities don’t mean anything. If you were one of a 100 people and they all jumped off a bridge because they agreed to, would you jump too? That is illogical.
Now then, the second part of the argument has to do with droughts in the world. And we all know that droughts come and go. Remember the Dust Bowl “Grapes of Wrath” in the US? And in the 1950s Australia had a drought just as bad during the same period, same as the one they are having now. This one we notice more because there are more people demanding the same amount of water.
In California, the snowpack this year is normal and anymore puts us above normal, thus, the drought theoretically is over? So, does that mean this so-called Global Warming is over? Of course, not the powers that be, behind global warming will continue to pursue this until it’s no longer in their interests. Think on this.
Antarctic Peninsula has been experiencing warming trends for over 40 years with an increase of 2-3 C, thus correlating with lower sea ice conditions in the Amundsen Sea and Bellinghausen Sea. Warming temperatures around the Antarctic Peninsula is changing the dynamics of the ecosystem. The rise in atmospheric temperature is causing increasing in melting of freshwater glaciers and ice shelves. Fresh water emerging into the sea counteracts the salinity within a regional area. Changes identified are;
• Decrease in sea water salinity up to 60 miles offshore
• Lower sea ice
• Decreased krill population
• Increased salp (open ocean tunicate that is reminiscent of a jelly-fish) population
• Increase in cryptophytes (single cell phytoplankton algae)
• Decrease in diatom phytoplankton
• Increase in carbon sequestering in deep ocean sinks
• Decrease in carbon availability in the food chain
The Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba), a small shrimp like crustacean is the most important zooplankton species associated with the sea ice and plays a crucial role in the Antarctic food web. On a regional basis the amount of krill appear to be declining in the southern ocean. There are definitely lower trends in krill population during lower sea ice years around Antarctica. Part of the rational for the population decline is that ice algae rely on the sea ice for protection and growth. The krill need the sea ice in order to feed on the algae and phytoplankton.
Krill occur in groups or large swarms. They are less than 3 inches in size and feed primarily on phytoplankton and sea ice algae. Krill filter diatom phytoplankton out of the water column and scrape algae from the sea ice. Apart from frequenting the sea ice to feed, krill in particular juveniles, seek protection from predators in the many nooks and crannies formed by the deformed sea ice floes. Krill is the staple food of many fish, birds and mammals in the Southern Ocean. The biomass of Antarctic krill is considered to be larger than that of the earth’s human population.
Sea- ice algae utilizes atmospheric carbon dioxide for its energy source, the same as plants do on land. Krill diet of the sea-ice algae and phytoplankton is essential for converting the carbon for use in higher animals such as fish, birds, and whales. This carbon conversion is a very critical role in predatory nutrition. Additionally krill do eliminate some of the silica from the diatom shells and carbon in sticky balls that sinks nearly two miles into the deep ocean. These cold, deep waters are able to contain carbon dioxide and prevent the gas from rising to the surface, thus immobilizing carbon that is not passed into the food chain.
In recent years there have been increases in algae phytoplankton called cryptophytes. Mark Moline, California Polytechnic State University, states that the cryptophyte population correlates with warmer temperatures and lower salinity waters that are produced by the melting of the freshwater glacier. Cryptophytes measure around 2 mm, while other plankton in the Antarctic waters are much larger and measure 15 to 270 mm. Along with the increase in cryptophyte population an increase in salp, a pelagic tunicate, population has also occurred. There are differences between salps and krill. Salps feeding efficiency is capable of grazing on smaller food sources less than 4mm, whereas, the Antarctic Krill efficiency declines on any food less than 20 mm. The salps compete with krill for the phytoplankton and thus decrease the krill population. Additionally the salps feed on krill larvae, which also cause a decline in krill numbers.
The warming trend in the Antarctic Peninsula is showing a pattern of increasing cryptophytes over other phytoplankton and the increase in the salp. This influence is due to the low sea ice and the lowering of the salinity in the seawater. Salps and cryptophytes do better in the lower salinity, while the krill and other plankton are unable to tolerate the increased freshwater regime from the glacier ice melts. This selectivity gives preference to the salps as the dominant species while decreasing krill abundance. During lower sea ice seasons the density of krill declines while the salp population increases.
Carbon sequestering into the deep ocean from the algae and phytoplankton occur by both the salp and krill. Both species eliminate the atmospheric carbon received from the primary producing algae by producing fecal pellets by the salps and sticky balls by the krill, thereby, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The salps though sequester more carbon into the cold deep ocean than the krill. However, the krill provides the most efficient pathway for carbon transfer up into the food chain. The cryptophyte dominated waters are less efficient in the food chain due to increased feeding by salps and the difficulty of the krill to utilize the cryptophytes as a food source. Migration patterns by penguins are changing, in part due to the changing krill population. Krill is a mainstay diet for penguins, and if the krill population changes, many other ecological changes occur with it.
Steve Bynum has worked at Palmer Station along the Antarctic Peninsula. He not only enjoyed the ecosystem along the Bellinghausen Sea but he has also witnessed the changing climate conditions.
Is Making Biodiesel at Home Safe? - Home Bio Diesel Production
The flammability point of biodiesel.
I’ve mentioned that it’s biodegradable that it’s safe to use blah, blah, blah, all these different things, but I want to show you how safe this is. This biodiesel, I’ve made from canola oil, so I’m going to pour a little bit in here, and now it’s time to play with fire. We’re going to come down here. Light up our torch, notice I have my fire extinguisher people.
We now have a nice blow torch going. Notice I’ve got some nice biodiesel on the ground here. I want to show you that biodiesel is very, very safe to have around. I can’t light it on fire. This torch is a really hot torch. I’m actually using map gas. Map gas actually has a higher flame temperature. So I’m just trying to light this sucker on fire, and you know what, she’s not going. That’s because biodiesel isn’t actually that flammable. It has a much higher flash point than normal diesel, and I’ve just proven it.
And that’s one of the reasons people like biodiesel is because it’s so safe to use. In fact, if this stuff spills on the ground the MSDS and things that it calls for is get a garden hose and wash it off. It’s not going to light up. It’s as safe to have around as vegetable oil. No I have to cavy up that this biodiesel has been cleaned. We have got all the methanol out of it, and we’ll talk a little bit about that later, but I just want to show you that it’s very clean and it just doesn’t burn. That’s that little fun experiment. We want to show you that biodiesel will burn though. When it’s under pressure it does burn quite well. For this experiment I’m just going to start a fire, and I’m going to spray it into it. As you can see it will burn, so when it’s in your diesel and it becomes injected, it will burn beautifully. That’s biodiesel burning.
Everyone is looking for ways to save money and help conserve our natural resources. There are many methods that are easy to start in your own homes, but one very simple and obvious way to save is by reducing water consumption. Here are just a few easy water saving tips that you can begin doing today.
1. Turn off running water in your sink or shower when you’re actually using the water. You can easily fill the sink with a enough water to wash your face, or fill a cup to brush your teeth. You may consider turning off the shower faucet while you’re washing your hair and then turn on again to rinse. Think about how much water is wasted. The same goes for dishes in the kitchen, turn off the water until you’re ready to rinse.
2. There are low-water consumption toilets available that use only a couple of gallons of water each time they are flushed. If you have a standard toilet, one green living tip you may consider is placing a plastic bottle filled with sand into your toilet tank. This little trick helps the tank fill up faster and use less water.
3. The laundry is another area where it is easy to waste water, and just as easy to save. Do your laundry in large loads rather than several smaller ones.
4. Limit your water waste outdoors. Don’t wash your car or driveway as often as you have been, and when you do, turn off the outside faucet until it’s time to rinse your car.
5. Look throughout your home, checking the faucets, toilets and pipes for any leaks. The very smallest of drips coming from a leaking pipe can eventually cost you a lot of money. Fix any leaks that you find.
If you are looking for simple ways to save the planet and save yourself money, start at home with these 5 easy steps. The planet and your wallet will thank you.
Who is Responsible For Residential Solid Waste Removal?
Residential solid trash, also called urban solid waste and municipal solid garbage, is refuse that normally comes from households. It is either in solid or semisolid form. There are five general categories of solid garbage that include:
1) Biodegradable waste: food and kitchen
2) Recyclable material: paper, glass, bottles, cans, metals, and certain plastics.
3) Stagnant rubbish : construction, dirt, rocks, and debris.
4) Assorted waste: clothing, plastics,etc.
5) Household hazardous waste: toxic such as paints, chemicals, light bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers, batteries,etc.
Cities and towns generally contracts out solid garbage removal services. They will submit bids, assess each bid, and recommend a company. The rubbish company will bill the city or town. These companies are privately owned so if a person has a lot of waste after a project such as home renovation, they can hire a garbage removal company to remove the refuse.
Because of environmental regulations and a growing demand for a cleaner environment, junk companies are now performing the following services:
Recycling Programs: Curbside recycling is usually available to all residential customers. Customers will separate their recyclables according to paper and plastics for curbside pick up. Depending on the contract, this is normally done every two weeks. There can be special recycling programs such as Christmas tree recycling. The trees are then made into mulch. Other special programs a town or city can offer are Spring and Fall Clean Ups. They are designed to encourage residents to get rid of large amounts of garbage.
Hazardous Materials: Every year, millions of people accumulate such hazardous waste products as batteries, paints and stains, cleansers and polishes, motor oil, antifreeze, pesticides and herbicides,etc. These are dangerous to the environment, people, and animals. A rubbish removal service is trained to remove these products safely and responsibly. They will sort and categorize the hazardous materials before storing them in containment units. The contracted hazardous waste hauler packs the items in drums and sends them to hazardous rubbish incinerator or other treatment facility for proper disposal. Some materials, such as used motor oil, lead-acid batteries and antifreeze, are recycled.
Compost Services: Many cities and towns offer a compost service. They will provide compost bins for people to place such items as kitchen food garbage, newspaper, and other items that can be composted. A contracted junk removal company will pick up the compost left on residential curb sides.
Energy Recovery Plants: Plants that convert rubbish to energy are popping up all over the country. These plants burn garbage to heat water which produces steam in much the same way power plants burn coal, oil, natural gas, or wood. The steam can cause a turbine to produce electricity. Junk removal companies that have energy recovery plants in their area will make use of these services.
Special Handling waste Removal Services: Cities and towns will have a contracted service to remove large items such as tires, air conditioners, household appliances, and construction debris. Tires are sent to a recycling or recovery facility and household appliances, after chlorofluorocarbon gas removal, are taken to recycling stations.
Individual Contracted waste Removal Services: There are situations where a person has too much waste to be removed by a city or town removal service. They will then enlist the services of a private company. They are trained and certified to dispose of waste, compost, and recycle residential goods. For a nominal fee, a company will come to your home and remove all of your excess trash.
Because of growing environmental concerns, most companies dispose of waste in ways that will have the least environmental impact. You will feel good knowing that you are doing your part to protect and conserve the environment.
It is important for individuals to be mindful of what is in the trash. That way, the environment can be better protected. If you are looking for a junk removal and rubbish company located in the GTA please visit us at: Garbage Removal Toronto.
How often have we come across lovely historical sites suffering from neglect and misuse? Every country needs to take good care of its historic places. Because things like malls, stadiums and highways can be built again. But a historic place which is neglected and misused will lose its glory and slowly disintegrate into zilch. And no amount of action plan or noble intentions can ever bring a historic place back to its former glory when it has been totally neglected and abused by us. The oldest of historic sites can be preserved for the future generations if we have a proper plan for their conservation.
Conversation of historic places requires a systematic approach. If the historic site is conserved with the help of a proper plan, it will show amazing results. While chalking out a plan for the conservation of historic sites, it’s very important to keep the costs under control. If the costs go up to an unwanted level, it will draw criticism from the general public and act like a death sentence for the conservation of other similar projects in the future.
The first thing which should be done by the restoration experts is to check the age of the historic site. This can be easily achieved by conducting a series of scientific tests. It can also be done if there are public or archaeological records of the site. Once we know the actual age of the historic site, we get to know the actual worth of the site - this doesn’t mean that if a site is not very ancient - it’s not worth taking care of.
Also check the sturdiness of the materials which have been used on the historic site. This will need a proper list of all the materials used on all the structures found on the site. Factors such as the effect of temperature, humidity, weathering, fire, air pollution, storms and flood on the material found on the site needs to be studied in detail, so that best possible plan to prevent further degradation of the site can be prepared.
Don’t forget to note the architectural design of any structures present on the site. This is needed to take help of conservation experts according to the style they specialize in. Taking the help of the best of experts who are not competent in the architectural design displayed at the historic site would create a major problem for your conservation project.
Your team of conservation experts also need to keep a track of all the past repairs and changes made on the historic site. The problems faced by the previous restoration team while restoring or repairing the historic site too needs to be researched and noted down. Always remember materials like wood and leather rot quite easily, on the other hand stone articles and pottery items always manage to survive better. Once you have finished your complete study of the historic site, you can then do the restoration part of the site step by step in a phased manner till it is complete. You might even have to restrict the number of visitors, once it has been restored, as although the site has got its former glory, it might not be in a state that it can be exposed to an endless number of people everyday.
For more information on the historical sites of the world, visit Matt’s website about world historical sites, especially his favorite place, tikal.
A lot goes into making new products; energy, fuel, non organic materials and more. If we buy more items used, we will use less of the things that contribute to hurting God’s planet. Plus, we are being good stewards by making the most of everything we buy and use!
Some things we can buy used:
* movies. what’s the difference, really. used is cheaper, the same and better for the planet.
* music. see above.
* clothes. thrift stores can save you tons of money as well.
* books. buy them used or go to the library.
* cars. how used is up to you.
* furniture and appliances. garage sales and eBay are great places to start.
* homes. old houses are cool anyway.
* household items. there are many items you can pick up at a local good will or garage sale that are just as nice as going to the store and buying new.
* electronics. just be careful and always try it our before you buy.
* bikes. have you ever seen the price tag for a new bike recently. yikes! buy used and ride the bike as often as you can instead of driving. Double green for your trouble! lol.
* video games and systems. places like game stop are great. you can buy used, beat the game and then trade it in for another used game. too cool, right?
* toys. obviously clean and good condition are key here. if you look you can find some goodies. i have found a lot of cute items that my kids love.
As you can see, there are many ways we can help contribute to being good stewards of God’s planet. Including, buying used and spending our money wisely!
About the Author: Cindy Taylor is a Christian stay at home Mom who love the Lord and cares about God’s planet. You can see her passion and writing at her website, Green Christian Network (http://greenchristiannetwork.com).
LEED: In Houston Schools Get More Than an E For Effort
We send our children to school every day and ask them to learn. They are, after all, the future of our world; and so we ask them to learn about right and wrong, learn about the world, and learn how to take care of each other. But do we want them to learn how to take care of the world, too?
That is what LEED Green Building schools in Houston and around the nation are doing. They are teaching the children, through example, what it means truly to earn an A for awareness of the environment’s needs. They stand for the future of America as a benchmark of creation care.
LEED Green Building schools are K-12 schools that are tailor-made to produce an environment safe and healthy for children, comfortable for teachers, cost-effective for the taxpayers, and easy on the environment. By addressing the uniqueness of school spaces and children’s health issues, LEED for Schools provides a unique, comprehensive tool for schools that wish to build green with measurable results. The rating system addresses issues such as classroom acoustics, daylight and views, mold prevention, and environmental site assessment.
In addition, Green schools cost less to operate, freeing up resources to truly improve students’ education. Their carefully planned acoustics and abundant daylight make it easier and more comfortable for students to learn. Their clean indoor air cuts down sick days and gives our children a head start for a healthy, prosperous future. And their innovative design provides a wealth of hands-on learning opportunities.
No longer must they learn through books about environmental safety and/or green projects around the world. Instead, they can learn hands-on at school – through observation and through practice.
Houston has taken the lead around the nation in building green schools. The Houston chapter is dedicated to showing school district leaders how the LEED FOR SCHOOLS process can benefit them. Other leading organizations in the area are also committed. Earlier this year, the Houston-Galveston Area Council joined with the Houston chapter to produce a year-long symposia to educate the public and educators about the facts and costs for LEED FOR SCHOOLS.
They ideally will have all their schools “Go Green” over the course of the next 10 years.
Other cities are following their lead. Salt Lake City, Grand Rapids and Seattle are all among the top cities with at least three green schools. And more are being built monthly. Both students and parents, teachers and administrators see the need and the benefits for green schools, and are lobbying for all school to change their ways.
For students and teachers, green schools mean reduced incidence of asthma, decreased absenteeism, improved academic performance and increased teacher satisfaction. For parents, green schools offer the confidence that comes with knowing their children spend their days in an environment that is both healthy and conducive to learning.
Green Schools get more than an E for effort. They are the bright and healthy future for our children.
Copyright 2009 - 2010 theLEED.com and Green Efficient. Article may be reproduced, unchanged, as long as it retains author information and linking.
Rick Walker is the CEO of Green Efficient. GreenEfficient is the leader in the LEED building maintenance and operations market. Primarily serving Texas, their LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED-APS) manage commercial facilities using their integrated services portfolio of LEED-compliant janitorial services, Integrated Pest Management services, HVAC maintenance, lawn care services, purchasing oversight, occupant training and USGBC submittal services. Offices in Houston, Austin, Dallas and Corpus Christi enable the most active Texas LEED construction markets to be covered by their specialty services. For information on LEED, green building and sustainable products, visit their blog: theLEED