Comments for GreenCouple.com

Comment on Making tooth powder by kelsey

kelsey — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:27:22 +0000

I think the best reason these days to use tooth powder would be the fact that there is glycerin in toothpaste which apparently coats your teeth and doesn’t allow calcium and other minerals the help rebuild and protect your teeth! Has anyone else read or heard of this?

Comment on Showering With the Sun by Cozy Up Your Water Heater | GreenCouple.com

Cozy Up Your Water Heater | GreenCouple.com — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:15:34 +0000

[...] shower. We are leaning towards the latter, although hoping to build one nicer than the camp shower we experimented with in 2010. The challenge is figuring out a good design and location – [...]

Comment on How to Commute Like a Lady by Maggie

Maggie — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:04:09 +0000

I hope to at least become a proficient fair weather biker this year, and build from there. Bloomington is much less intimidating than LA and I imagine there is less bicycle theft too. We can start biking together when you come back to Indiana!!

Comment on How to Commute Like a Lady by Heather

Heather — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:45:16 +0000

I have to admit that when it started to snow and/or ice, I left the bike in the house and either walked, took the bus or drove. I really hated slush and ice and snow and bikes. No amount of fenders helped, in my opinion. And the bike stayed put away until the stuff melted enough that it wasn’t in the street anymore.

And if I was going to be out later than the bus ran, and coming home in the wee hours of the morning (like 11, 12, 1am), I would definitely drive.

I would sometimes bike in the rain, although I was much more likely to either walk or take the bus. Since well, I also hated getting soaked.

Cold was fine. It’s the stuff falling from the sky that make me a fair-weather bike-ist (is that a word).

And I don’t ride anymore in LA at all. My last bike was kindly stolen from our locked parking lot garage. And I’m sorta terrified of the traffic here. I keep thinking that I’ll get a new bike and try it though….

Comment on Can you recycle shrink wrap? by Ralph

Ralph — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:39:37 +0000

This whole response smacks of someone who cruised the internet, but really doesn’t have a clue otherwise. Shrink wrap can be HDPE, LDPE, PP, co-polymers of multiple materials, PVC and may other special types of plastic.
On top of all these materials, there are additives in many shrink wraps that would further complicate re-use.

If one doesn’t know what the above acronyms mean, then you stand about a zero chance of sorting out the various types of shrink wrap into a clean enough stream for economical recycling.

I really would like to find a bona-fide success story that lasts beyond a pilot study AND be proven wrong….BUT “SHRINK WRAP CAN NOT BE ECONOMICALLY RECYCLED”

Next time the responder digs…he needs to dig deeper.

Comment on Solar Furnace Verdict: We Like It A Lot But Our Savings Are Minimal Because We Live in the Cold by Open House Feb 26th | GreenCouple.com

Open House Feb 26th | GreenCouple.com — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:46:12 +0000

[...] For a sneak preview, check out our post about how it works and our more recent post about our experience so far. We have enjoyed the extra heat a lot and think it is a very neat form of solar technology. [...]

Comment on Winter Laundry – Will It Dry? by Ulla Linenthal

Ulla Linenthal — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 03:56:11 +0000

I grew up hanging laundry in close-to-arctic Finland and have hung laundry outside in the U.S. for 38 yrs in Wisc and here in Btown. 2 babies in cloth diapers. I combine my love of outdoors w chores; listen to audiobooks, NPR.
Retractable clothes lines are easy to set up. Choose a convenient and practical location for the lines. In the sun is better here bec there’s not much wind. Partial drying still helps and racks can be moved indoors to finish. Bigger items go on lines and smaller ones draped quickly on rack. Choose laundry day based on weather. Indiana is more challenging than WI! My folks still don’t own a clothes dryer; you can manage and have impeccably clean textiles

Comment on Energy Star Appliances Rock! by Solar Furnace Verdict: We Like It A Lot But Our Savings Are Minimal Because We Live in the Cold | GreenCouple.com

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:44:30 +0000

[...] was 1,156. That’s a difference of 787 kW-hrs but a big chunk of that can be attributed to our new refrigerator, which we found uses 1.9 kW-hrs less per day, or about 342 for the winter. That leaves us with an [...]

Comment on Solar Furnace is Here! by Open House Feb 26th | GreenCouple.com

Open House Feb 26th | GreenCouple.com — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:30:58 +0000

[...] furnace (that big black box shown behind us). For a sneak preview, check out our post about how it works and our more recent post about our experience so far. We have enjoyed the extra heat a lot and [...]

Comment on Open House Feb 26th by Maggie

Maggie — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:05:35 +0000

Bloomington is in southern Indiana (about an hour south of Indianapolis) so it would be a bit of a drive for you (6 hours, I think). It is a great city and you should totally come visit but maybe wait until there’s a weekend’s worth of activities that appeal to you. Highlights include the Lotus World Music Festival in September (http://lotusfest.org) and the Hilly Hundred bike race in October (http://www.hillyhundred.org). Spring and summer are also nice and there is Lake Monroe nearby if you’re into boating/swimming. I think we may be on a couple solar tours later this year, one around the solstice and one in October, but we’d also be happy to schedule a private tour sometime.