Going Green and Saving the environment

[Sadoun]

Ok, this months Sadoun contest has some great entries and great ideas. The question was, "Tell us your idea of saving the environment and going GREEN!?"

Since members are allowed one entry into the contest, let's use this thread to dwell on the ideas and continue the discussion.

 

[toto]

I grow 7 species of bamboo. Bamboo consumes a huge amount of carbon dioxide. It is earths fastest growing woody plant. Bamboo can be used for Erosion control (earthquakes go around bamboo groves in china) clothing, flooring and a miriad of other products. It does such a good job of cleaning the air, that it is as much as 10% inside the grove as out.

 

[guapoharry]

Use energy sources that work when the sun doesn't shine or when the wind doesn't blow.

Coal, and petrochemical fueled energy production produces waste and gases that are expelled into the environment by design. This only happens with nukes when there is an accident.

Recycle nuclear fuel instead of burying it somewhere.

 

[Inno]

As I mentioned in the contest thread, I'm gathering materials now for solar hot water heaters.
I will be building my first collector this coming weekend, perhaps this evening I will get a start.
See I heat my garage/workshop with oil currently and of course the price of oil, not to mention the burning of fossil fuels are two major reasons for experimenting with solar. Even if it only takes some of the load off the oil furnace it will still go a long way toward accomplishing my goal.
In addition to being environmentally friendly and inexpensive, I am also planning on recycling some of the materials I will be using. Just picked up two large double glazed windows for free. These will act as the glazing for the heat collectors. The seal on them is still good but the wood frame had rotted away so the homeowner replaced them.

Once the first "prototype" is built I will evaluate it's performance and try to come up with some hard figures. Then I can build more collectors to size the system properly for my workshop.

This is a fluid (water with anti-freeze) based system which uses a large storage tank to retain heat for night time and days when the sun is not particularly strong. It will never be able to produce 100% of my heating needs due to weather and extreme low temperatures in my area but 50-75% would likely be a realistic goal. Heck, even if it keeps the temp. above freezing in the workshop that saves me from hauling all my cleaners, chemicals, glues, paints, sealants etc. in to the house for winter.

We also plan to implement such a system in our barn to keep the critters from freezing.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I grow 7 species of bamboo. Bamboo consumes a huge amount of carbon dioxide. It is earths fastest growing woody plant. Bamboo can be used for Erosion control (earthquakes go around bamboo groves in china) clothing, flooring and a miriad of other products. It does such a good job of cleaning the air, that it is as much as 10% inside the grove as out.

Where can one get bamboo cheaply? I want to use it to grow a privacy fence rather than cut down a bunch of cedar trees. And using the live bamboo as a fence also provides for a sound barriers and helps recycle the air, CO2 back to oxygen. Good stuff!

But, everywhere I've looked, bamboo is insanely expensive, it would cost me thousands of dollars to buy enough to go around my rather large yard.

Any suggestions? I have thought about finding some in the wild but I don't know if it even grows wild in Texas and I'm afraid I would get in trouble for taking some.

Oh yes! And I saw on the "Daytime" show on RTV the other morning, they were featuring CLOTHING made from bamboo. Now how they do that, is beyond me. But they claim it is really durable and very soft, softer than cotton.

 

[Sadoun]

Last spring I rejuvenated my garden and setup six new 4'x10' garden beds.
All my light bulbs at home are CFL and will be converting to LED soon.
I installed motion sensors for the lights in the office.

New Solar Electric system will go on my house this Spring. Followed by Solar thermal panels.

 

[guapoharry]

What qualifies as insanely expensive bamboo to you?

I have seen bamboo at the 99 cent only store for cheap... yeah, it was a couple of sticks for $0.999 , but grow them and cut them off or however they reproduce....whatever

I see they are located in some Texas places.... Search on 99 cent only store and select their store locator for info.

Like everything they sell, tthe bamboo was available cyclically, but keep looking, or ask.....

You might try freecycle or craigslist- free forums....

 

[Digital Logic]

i've done several things to "go green" recently.
1. dont leave PC running all day anymore. or turn the TV to listen to DirecTV's (soon to be gone =/) XM channels.
2. refuse any bags at the convenience store or supermarket when i can easily carry everything in my own two hands.
3. recycle. (seriously, i was lazy to separate until i started getting guilt trips about throwing soda cans & bottles away.)
4. since i work at a community college, i took a vacation for the time that classes aren't in session since im in a work vehicle all day idling burning gas. let alone using my own vehicle and gas to and from.

 

[Jim S.]

What qualifies as insanely expensive bamboo to you?

I have seen bamboo at the 99 cent only store for cheap... yeah, it was a couple of sticks for $0.999 , but grow them and cut them off or however they reproduce....whatever

That stuff they sell in vases in every shop I've ever seen, even oriental ones, isn't a true bamboo, but a tropical plant in the dracaena family. It may be hardy in Texas for all I know, and it's not hard to multiply by cuttings, but it doesn't grow anywhere near as fast as the real thing in terms of either height or natural multiplication.

 

[PopcornNMore]

I'm going to be installing a motion sensor light switch in my daughter's bathroom which should cut down our electric bill since she often forgets to turn it off when done. I also converted over to CFL bulbs around the house.

 

[Inno]

I did the CFL conversion in my last house but found a few problems with them. First of all, they didn't last nearly as long as they should have, second, they don't work well in the cold (for outside lights) and they are definitely not all created equal as far as light output and color temp. (ie yellow or blue). Oh and you have to buy special dimmer switches for them. All of these factors plus the added cost at the beginning made them seem a much less environmentally friendly decision. They also contain mercury which is an environmental hazard. The one place I do really like them is in the trouble lights I use in the shop, no more burned arms!!
Hopefully LED will meet my expectations. Still waiting for the price to drop a little more though. Should be no problems with them in the cold, use WAY less electricity than even CFLs and last virtually forever!

 

[Tron]

I just had an outdoor flood CFL PAR burn out on me, probably from the cold. It had been in service for some time, but not nearly the lifetime that is advertised when they sell these. In the case of this bulb, however, the price wasn't that much more than a 90w Halogen would have been, and its been using only 26w of power throughout its life. I'm sure it has still saved me tons of money.

 

[digiblur]

Been using CFLs for about 10 yrs now. Love 'em...bring with me when I move

When I recently moved the water heater had to go...old and electric. Swapped over to a 8 GPM tankless natural gas. Love it. Best money I've ever spent. Unlimited hot water and saving money every month.

Also been using some digital timer light switches for my outdoor CFL lights. Swylight is the name I think...awesome little switches, also brought them with me when I moved.

 

[ken2400]

I recycle all my film plastic. That is the kind that is used for shopping bags and bread. I use the reusable shopping bags too.

Thanks

 

[Sadoun]

One of the things that would really save you a lot of money down the road is having a will insulated house. I can't emphasis that enough.

 

[Dee_Ann]

What qualifies as insanely expensive bamboo to you?

I have seen bamboo at the 99 cent only store for cheap... yeah, it was a couple of sticks for $0.999 , but grow them and cut them off or however they reproduce....whatever

I see they are located in some Texas places.... Search on 99 cent only store and select their store locator for info.

Like everything they sell, tthe bamboo was available cyclically, but keep looking, or ask.....

You might try freecycle or craigslist- free forums....

Well, I checked several places online that sell bamboo and it's like several thousand dollars for enough of the stuff to "seed" the border of my yard. I think my backyard is like 150' x 66'. I would like to find some that only grows to about 10' tall and makes a thick privacy curtain and noise block.

I forget the exact cost per clump of the stuff but it was high. I instantly was put off by the cost. I really like bamboo for privacy and sound and of course that it's good for the environment.

As to the 99 cent store stuff, the only thing I've seen is a little plant called "Lucky Bamboo". Well, it's not really bamboo, it's a member of the lily family. Yes, it looks sort of like bamboo but it is not. And it can't survive outdoors very well, it's really meant to be grown indoors and out of direct sunlight. I have some of the stuff.

I think I will try the craiglist place though.

 

[rv1pop]

Just a note -- I have seen comments about short life of CFL's. A major requirement for any of these (chemical) type of bulbs is a minimum run time of 20 minutes. IF you can find the testing information, it says you lose an hour of use each time the bulb is turned on. If not allowed to fully warm up (recommended over 30 minutes with 20 minutes being the tipping point) you will lose even more because of the degradation of the chemical (mercury in this case).

Therefore, here we use LED flashlights for short term and guidance and the CFL's for longer term. I have some I use every day that are now almost two years old. Before I learned about the run time they were only lasting about 2 to 3 months. BTW, I find that a 100 watt inverter will only start one 13 or 26 Watt CFL at a time, but will start 2 - 26 watt or 3 - 13 watt bulbs in sequence and hold them on.

 

[Greysquirrel]

My biggest problem is that I think my wife has shares in Duke Power and PSNC {gas } because she is forever going out both in summer and winter and leaving the door open, we do have a storm door but that is of little when the wind is blowing and it is in the teens. On the other hand we keep or house thermostat at 62 in day and overnight and 68 in mornings and evening this is a programmable thermostat so it is not as cold as it sounds.

 

[Greysquirrel]

Well, I checked several places online that sell bamboo and it's like several thousand dollars for enough of the stuff to "seed" the border of my yard. I think my backyard is like 150' x 66'. I would like to find some that only grows to about 10' tall and makes a thick privacy curtain and noise block.

I forget the exact cost per clump of the stuff but it was high. I instantly was put off by the cost. I really like bamboo for privacy and sound and of course that it's good for the environment.

As to the 99 cent store stuff, the only thing I've seen is a little plant called "Lucky Bamboo". Well, it's not really bamboo, it's a member of the lily family. Yes, it looks sort of like bamboo but it is not. And it can't survive outdoors very well, it's really meant to be grown indoors and out of direct sunlight. I have some of the stuff.

I think I will try the craiglist place though.

Find someplace where it is growing wild, it reproduces rapidly so you don't have to have a lot of plants if you can wait for it to grow.

 

[toto]

Where can one get bamboo cheaply? I want to use it to grow a privacy fence rather than cut down a bunch of cedar trees. And using the live bamboo as a fence also provides for a sound barriers and helps recycle the air, CO2 back to oxygen. Good stuff!

But, everywhere I've looked, bamboo is insanely expensive, it would cost me thousands of dollars to buy enough to go around my rather large yard.

Any suggestions? I have thought about finding some in the wild but I don't know if it even grows wild in Texas and I'm afraid I would get in trouble for taking some.

Oh yes! And I saw on the "Daytime" show on RTV the other morning, they were featuring CLOTHING made from bamboo. Now how they do that, is beyond me. But they claim it is really durable and very soft, softer than cotton.

Most bamboo that grows in the US will grow in Texas. Running bamboo is best. I have a windbreak of about 100' of golden bamboo and about 30' of Red Margin. bamboo spreads and 2 or 3 plants should give you a nice wind break in a few years (7 in my case). Most of the bamboo I purchased was from Lewis Bamboo in Oakman Alabama. They offer greater support and a wide variety at reasonably priced bamboos of many different species. If its windy there stay away from Vivax. I'm further north, but I like pigskin.