Green and progressive ideas

Throwing out used water without adding to sewage waste

2011-08-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

There are times when one or more person each drinks from a glass of water and does not finish the rest of the drink. The picture below is what we all see when someone doesn't finish their water:

The unfinished water will naturally not be consumed by anyone else since it is considered unclean and no longer drinkable.
Most people tend to throw it down the sink from where it goes into the sewer system.

I don't know how advanced recycling or converting sewage waste into electric energy is, but we are all encourage to contribute to it to a minimum.
My method is simple. Not only does it not contribute to sewage waste but also slightly beneficial for the environment.

If you have used water left over in a glass or a bucket and wish to dispose of it, simply throw it to the plants which can make use of it. It is preferable that the water be thrown to plants outside in a gardened area. If not, then throw it into the soil since water is good for it. As long as the water is not contain soap or other chemicals and as long as it goes into nature.

Even if thrown outdoors, the used water will evaporate into the air instead of going into the sewer where it would only contribute to environmental denigration.

Dumping organic waste in sand

2011-08-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

I unfortunately can't link or create any images to demonstrate this green idea so I'll try and word it as best as possible.

In the part of North America where I live, we have separate bins in household for waste that comes from living things. Weather it is food that no one wishes to eat or waste from food such as apple skins, banana peels or any other waste from food.

This organic waste goes to farms and is recycled to grow crops. This is obviously not possible in most other countries. But instead of throwing organic waste with regular garbage which attracts germs and can be a health hazard when dumped into the environment, it can be thrown into plain sand.

But one has to also be careful that it is not in a populated area where it will be a health hazard and removed from there or birds and other animals might take it away. Therefor it should be thrown in an unpopulated sandy area where it will decompose.
Items like apples, banana peels, corn covers and just about any natural food item can be thrown into the sand where it will dissolve. Processed food such as packaged chips or ice lollies (known as "popsicles" in North America) should not be thrown.

Any sandy areas such as a desert or beaches on sea/lake shores is good enough to dump the organic waste provided there are no people and/or animals who may remove them.

Cleaning out an item that you want to throw away for recycling without wasting water

2011-06-08T00:58:00.000-07:00

In the city which I live in all recyclable waste can be thrown into a separate bin for pickup just as the garbage is.
All the regular recyclable material we buy and use we dispose of in the recycling bin before being trucked away twice a month by the municipal service in our city.

So as it is I throw regular recyclable waste as well as anything that can be recycled and not in use. But sometimes a disposable product requires washing especially if it carries liquid such as a shampoo bottle or a soap bottle.
I had to dispose of such items as well a small plastic ink bottle once but they required washing out before being thrown into a dry waste bin.

So I decided when I was showering I would use the shower water to rinse out the liquid from the recyclable bottle. That way no extra water would be used. The water already flowing out of the shower and being used for bathing can also be poured into the bottle and clean it out. This way no extra water is used to clean out a plastic bottle before disposing of it.

I urge everyone to use this method to help conserve precious water.

Buying milk cartons instead of milk pouches

2011-03-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

If you are a strong environmentalist and believe in making sacrifices for the environment, this one is for you.
If you live in Europe or North America, you usually divide your waste between recycling and garbage. Here is a chance to reduce your garbage and make it recyclable.

The milk pouches you see pictured below are normally bought and have larger quantities of milk also available in lower prices. However, once used these milk pouches made of plastic cannot be reused and become garbage.

Milk cartons can however be recycled though they come at a higher price and have less quantity of milk. But if you're an environmentalist and can sacrifice some money to reduce waste and do good for the planet, then buying these recyclable milk cartons pictured below is your best choice.

How you can make a difference from behind your computer

2011-01-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

Signing petitions for good causes is a way one can make a difference without having to go out of his/her way and devote time to good causes.
Good examples of these are clicking on the petitions below and signing them. Many such petitions can be found by simple online searching. It is important to agree with the cause that you are petitioning for.

Help save marine life and reefs:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/help-save-marine-life-and-reefs/

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/environment-and-wildlife/

There are also websites like these where you just click on the banner and help give funding to animal and environmental causes:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

Like these, there are many websites you can find for signing petitions and clicking to give help at no expense. These are the small contributions you can make to improve the world through good causes. All one has to do is search for them and sign them and if there is time, spread them all around.

Reduce paper waste or water waste?

2011-01-03T00:15:00.000-08:00

This post isn't much of a pro-environmentalist idea but more of an awareness one. Tim Hortons has been promoting reusable mugs for customers because they feel it will prevent waste going into the environment caused by their paper cups.

As a result, they have been posting persuasive ads in their shops and websites to try and get customers to buy reusable mugs because paper mugs are non-recyclable.

But here's the catch. A usable cup/mug might not be thrown after it's first use, but what about washing the mug each time after it's use and the amount of water being used to wash it in the lifetime of someone drinking coffee? Add to that the water waste going into the environment.

The paper cups to my knowledge come from wood which in turn comes from trees which in turn grow on water. So the way to end this post is with the important question that are you really making a difference by buying reusable cups that use up water to be cleaned each time it is used?

Something worthy for readers to think about.

Possible new green inventions for Pakistan and my suggestions

2010-12-27T19:24:00.001-08:00

Below is an iPhone charger powered by a hand grip. It is powered by a person constantly squeezing it. This could be useful for all cell phone users in Pakistan who miss out on exercise and seek to save costs on electricity.

The only problem I find with this is most people with a cellphone in Pakistan have full time jobs and may not have the time to exercise their hands and when they're not working, they'll be too tired and busy resting.

Below are lights that teach children how to save energy by changing colors. I don't know how it exactly works, but it be put in schools across Pakistan both in government and private schools.

These are staples that are supposed to be so bad to the environment that a company decided to create a staple-free stapler. This product promises to make collation eco-friendly. Instead of using those thin metal planet-killers, the staple-free stapler "cuts out tiny strips of paper and uses the strips to stitch up to five pieces of paper together." You can even order them customized with your corporate logo so you can, you know, brag about what your company is doing to stop the staple epidemic.

Companies in all over Pakistan could use this in their offices and others.

Designer creates a shower that forces you to leave when you've wasted too much water.
20% of our total domestic energy usage is from hot water for showering and bathing. That's over 6 times the energy usage of domestic lighting. So designer Tommaso Colia came up with his eco-friendly shower design that will force you to get out when you take too long and waste much water. The eco_drop shower features beautiful concentric circles that will rise to force you to stop showering when you take too long, and accordingly save water.

This is something hotels, households, public facilities and just about every place that uses a shower.

Designer creates a sink that uses wasted water to grow a plant. Made of polished stained concrete, the Zen Garden Sink has a channel that allows the water used while washing your hands to water a plant. Created by young Montreal designer Jean-Michel Gauvreau the sink comes in single or double basin model. The sink is designed in a way you won't get your plants all soapy. There is a main drain at the bottom of the basin for soapy grime. Your little plant friend just gets whatever you choose to dole out.

Perhaps this could be also installed in showers of houses in Pakistan that have gardens with a separate drainage that connects to the gardens?

University constructs a green roof as a gathering place. Green design is an enormously popular trend in modern architecture, just take a look at this amazing green roof at the School of Art , Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore . This 5-story facility sweeps a wooded corner of the campus with an organic, vegetated form that blends landscape and structure, nature and high-tech and symbolizes the creativity it houses. The roofs serve as informal gathering spaces challenging linear ideas and stirring perception. The roofs create open space, insulate the building, cool the surrounding air and harvest rainwater for landscaping irrigation. Planted grasses mix with native greenery to colonize the building and bond it to the setting.

I don't really understand this so well, but my guess is places in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad especially could use them if they help.

Company creates a desktop printer that doesn't use ink nor paper. Who says printers only use paper to print documents? It's time for you to meet the PrePeat Printer then. Different from conventional printers, PrePeat adopts a thermal head to print on specially-made plastic sheets. These plastic sheets are not merely water-proof, but could be easily erased, just feed the sheets through the printer again, and a different temperature will erase everything or just write over it. Also claimed by the manufacturer, such one sheet could be used up to 1,000 times so that you'll reduce your expenses on paper for sure.

This could be used in offices all over Pakistan, no question.

Disco pub gets electricity produced by people dancing at specially modified dance floor.
All the flashing strobes and pounding speakers at the dance club are massive consumers of electrical power. So Bar Surya, in London, re-outfitted its floor with springs that, when compressed by dancers, could produce electrical current that would be stored in batteries and used to offset some of the club's electrical burden. The club's owner, Andrew Charalambous, said the dance floor can now power 60 percent of the club's energy needs.

I doubt Pakistan could make much use of this as nightclubs are still not as popular in Pakistan.
Perhaps this could be used for floors of large public buildings and offices as well as airports that thousands of people pass through on each day.

Hotel offers free meal to guests who are willing to generate electricity.
The Crown Plaza Hotel in Copenhagen , Denmark , is offering a free meal to any guest who is able to produce electricity for the hotel on an exercise bike attached to a generator. Guests will have to produce at least 10 watt hours of electricity - roughly 15 minutes of cycling for someone of average fitness. They will then be given meal vouchers worth $36 (26 euros).

These could be used at public gyms and health clubs all across Pakistan. It could reduce membership costs for customers and cover most of the electricity bills such as air conditioning.

How Pakistan might benifit from solar energy

2010-12-27T19:16:00.001-08:00

A science teacher explained to me the cons of solar power panels. They interfere with the natural distribution of sunlight to plants. So if you have a garden of various plants with solar panels the plants aren't getting the natural amount of sunlight needed because the panels are constantly absorbing sunlight coming through.

But in some areas of Pakistan we can still benefit form the use solar panels. Because of global warming areas in Balochistan are getting hotter and more sun radiation will harm people and plants so in those areas solar panels can be very useful they'll produce so much electricity and reduce the heat and radiation spreading on the landmass so in Balochistan and Sindh it can be beneficial.

But in northern areas there's alot of forests and plants so people there should use windmills or use water turbines instead of solar panels.

And because the southern provinces receive such heavy heat through out the year, solar energy can be saved and exported to countries that receive little of it in the winters like Scandinavian countries or parts of Canada.
These countries would desperately need energy in the winters to keep heating systems going and other things that require energy.

Additionally a good suggestion would be for Pakistan's population to slowly switch to electric stoves from gas stoves. This dependency on gas has to stop at some point or we have no future as a country.

Switching from pollutive, limited energy resources to clean electric equipment weather for cooking, transportation or many other uses we can make of clean electric energy.

Making better use of Agha Khan hospital's services

2010-12-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

Most Pakistanis especially those who have lived or live in Karachi know of the Agha Khan hospital.
This hospital is best known all over Pakistan for it's outstanding quality service.

Weather it is dental treatment, treatment for illness, medical emergencies, treatment for accidents or medical advice, this hospital's excellent quality facilities attract those who can afford to pay for such expensive services.

And due to it's popularity, it is filled daily with patients. But it's parking services are free. Everyday the dozens of vehicles of medical students, employees and patients fill these parking lots.

Imagine how much money could be raised each day if patients were charged a small fee of ten rupees per vehicle for parking.
Students and employees could be charged half the fees for the parking since the hospital is their place of work/study.

This money generated each day could be used to finance government hospitals that offer free but poor quality medical services to the poor population of Pakistan.

With better financing these hospitals can improve their facilities and services, giving the poor access to better quality medical care.

It's not necessary the money charged from parking services at Agha Khan be used or only used for improving low-quality government hospitals.
The money could also be used to support environmental organizations, building public infrastructure.

Anything that will benefit Pakistan can be financed with these kind of small charges that build up, since hospitals like Agha Khan receive dozens of parking a day.
I also believe small and achievable ideas like these should be put to full use.

These kind of small ideas bring actions along with suggestions which is sadly, not the case in Pakistan, where our newspapers and media are hit with ideas and suggestions, but no action or even strategies on how to achieve them.