Green Living Works!

Why You Shouldn’t Wash Your Laundry in Hot Water

GreenLiver — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:01:31 +0000

It seems intuitive to do wash your clothes in hot water when doing your laundry. It just seems like hot water should clean dirty clothes better than warm or cold water ever could, right? Wrong! You need to switch to washing in warm or cold water. Here’s why. First, hot water does not clean clothes better. Hot water is also tougher on clothes, helping to wear and tear them faster, as well as fade colors quicker.

More importantly, using hot water to do your laundry is an energy drainer. When washing, 85 to 90 percent of the energy used is for heating the water. Using warm water instead of hot water for two loads of laundry a week will save 500 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution, if you use an electric water heater, or 150 pounds of carbon dioxide, if you use a gas heater. Always use cold water when rinsing!

Save Energy By Eating Veggies!

GreenLiver — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:01:31 +0000

Eating vegetables has all kind of nutritional and health benefits, we all know. But, what you may not know that adopting a more plant-based diet uses less energy and water than if you followed a meat-based diet. In fact, meat is the least energy-efficient food on the planet. It requires an enormous amount of water to produce it for human consumption, and the production of it causes a lot of pollution. To produce one measly pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water. Further, livestock produce 130 times the waste of humans–that’s a lot of manure! In fact, livestock actually produce eleven billion pounds of manure, sludge, and slurry waste every year. This same waste turns releases volatile organic compunds (VOCs), endotoxins, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide. Methane, a VOC, is the second leading greenhouse gas, which causes gobal warming. The livestock industry is responsible for 20 percent of the methan in the atmosphere. Got the gist? So, give thought to reducing or eliminating the amount of meat in your diet and adopting a more plant-based diet. Not only is eating more vegetables healthy for you, it helps out the earth. Try growing your own veggies and fruits!

Switch to Recycled Paper in Your Office

GreenLiver — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:01:38 +0000

You probably have a good idea of how much printer and photocopy paper is used in your office on any given day. It’s a whole lot! According to the Environmental Defense, it takes about 24 trees to make one ton (2,000 pounds) of standard (20 pound) virgin printer and copy paper, which is 40 cartons of paper. One tree produces less than two cartons of paper. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Americans use 14 million tons of printer and copy paper a year (28 billion tons!), which equals about 93 pounds for every American. Now so much of what we do at our place of employment and home offices has to printed or photocopied. The American Bar Association states that one lawyer at a large law firm might go through two cartons of paper a year, individually, which equals more than one tree per person a year. In addition, just to produce the paper, a tremendous about of energy, waste, and pollution is generated. For one ton of virgin paper, 38 million BTUs of energy are used, 19,075 gallons of waste water produced, 2,278 pounds of solid waste created, and 5,690 pounds of greenhouse gas produced. Further, other forms of pollution and volatile organic compounds are also created in producing one ton of virgin paper. That’s really terrible.

We cannot stop using paper in the office–that would be impossible. But, there are some steps that we can take to reduce the amount of printer and copy paper we use and ultimately the amount of trees that have to be cut down. Here are some tips:

Try speaking with the your manager and/or office supply person about switch to recycled paper instead of virgin paper. Chances are they will be receptive to the suggestion. For your home office, make the switch–you’re the boss!
Choose a recycled paper that has the highest postconsumer content available. Even switching from using a ton of virgin paper to a ton of 30 percent postconsumer recycled paper will save seven trees. Switching to 100 percent postconsumet recycled paper will save 24 trees!
Reduce how much printer and copy paper you use. Print only when necessary, stop printing needlessly. Print on both sides of the paper. Many printers allow for double-sided printing or you can print alternating pages (e.g., odd pages first) and then send the paper through again for rest of the pages on the backsides.
Recycle the used paper. You don’t need to save every sheet once your finished with it. Be sure to recycle as much used paper as possible.
If your office doesn’t have a recycling program yet, insist that they start one promptly! Offer to help implement the program.

Six Tips for Coloring Your Hair the Greener and Safer Way

GreenLiver — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:01:43 +0000

So, you aren’t satisfied with the hair color God gave you or those gray hairs that insist on reappearing? Why not dye your hair then? Well, there are plenty of reasons to not dye your hair if you use conventional hair dyes. Hair dyes and colorings are extremely toxic. Many of the product boxes warn that the ingredients can cause cancer, skin irritation, or lead to blindness. Some of the terrible ingredients that appear in hair dyes are ammonia, benzene, coal tar, lead acetate, p-phenylenediamine, and toulene. The ingredients are toxic to human and the environment.
Even the most eco-friendly, green-living citizen has a vain side, so, thankfully, there are greener, less toxic alternatives to traditional hair dyes and colorings. Henna is a non-toxic semi-permanent dye made from a shrub that is native to India, Sri Lanka, and northern Africa. It stains the hair, coating and sealing the strands, which actually protects the hair from the weather and harsh elements. Henna is also used as an ink for body art on the nails and skin. There are also new non-toxic hair dyes and colorings that use plant botanicals and are free of synthetic and chemical ingredients.
Six Tips for greener and safer hair coloring:

Dye your hair less frequently. This will reduce your exposure to chemicals and toxic ingredients if you are using a conventional hair dye.
Choose safer coloring products. Select plant-based and henna-based products. Look for products that are low in p-phenylenediamine and other toxic ingredients.
Keep the process short. Don’t prolong your exposure to toxic chemicals and ingredients by leaving hair dyes and colorings in your hair any longer than necessary. If you go to a salon to get your hair colored, make sure you tell your stylist that to keep the process short, as well.
Use less-intensive processing. Try foiling and streaking techniques to expose your scalp to less product. You’ll also have less maintenance.
Rinse completely. Do a thorough wash after processing to make sure no product residue is left on your head.
Find a natural salon. A natural salon will use natural, less toxic products and less harsh treatments. Your hair and body will thank you!

Reduce Your Air Conditioning Energy Costs

GreenLiver — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:01:55 +0000

Depending on where you live, using an air conditioning unit, especially during the summer, may seem like a necessity. Sometimes, despite your best interests, a ceiling fan or open window just won’t cool down you home adequately. Well, fortunately, there are ways to improve the performance of your air conditioning unit and reduce the energy needed to run your A/C.

Be sure to clean the filters for your air conditioning unit regularly. Check the filters once a month, especially during the summer when your unit is being used heavily. You should change your filters a minimum of every 3 months for optimal performance. Dirty filters slow airflow, make your unit work harder, and waster energy. A clean filter can cut your unit’s energy use by 5 to 15 percent. Changing your filters regularly will reduce dust buildup and save money on maintenance.

You can also improve the performance of your air conditioning unit by shading it. An air conditioning unit in the shade uses up to 10 percent less energy than one in the sun. You can shade your unit by planting bushes or tress on the south side of the unit, but just don’t let them block the airflow

Keep Dioxins Out of Your Coffee with Unbleached Filters

GreenLiver — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:01:20 +0000

So many of us need a caffeine jolt from coffee to get our days started. Nothing is wrong with that. But, you should know, especially if you brew your own coffee at home, that there are dioxins in your bleached coffee filters! Yes, dioxins, which are carcinogenic chlorinated hydrocarbons that add up in our bodies and stay in the environment. Dioxins are persistent organic pollutants, meaning that they can move within the ecosystem, as well as from coffee filters to the coffee. Actually, almost 25 percent of the residual dioxins in bleached coffee filters can end up in brewed coffee and become ingested. Dioxins bio-accumulate, making drinking small amounts regularly add up to dangerous levels. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that the exposure to dioxins from bleached coffee filters alone is enough to exceed the lifetime “acceptable” limit of dioxins (there really is no “safe” level).
Fortunately, unbleached coffee filters are available, and using them are a great way to have dioxin-free coffee. You can even order them online from Amazon.com below. Don’t forget to use a reusable mug!

Save on Gas and Money with Proper Tire Pressure

GreenLiver — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:25:05 +0000

It might have sounded like a trite and overly simplistic solution to America’s dependence on oil and the surging gas prices, but there is definitely truth to Sen. Barack Obama’s suggestion that Americans maintain a proper air pressure in their car tires. Having properly inflated car tires can improve gas mileage by more than three percent. It will also extend the life of the tires. In fact, the U.S. can save 2.8 billion gallons of gas a year, ultimately saving billions of dollars and slowing global warming, if every American kept his or her vehicle tires properly inflated. That’s a lot too gain for a little bit of effort! Be sure to check your vehicle’s manual on the recommended tire pressure. So, remember, while inflating your tires is not the only solution to our gas dependence and crises, it will definitely help your wallet and the environment.

Save Energy and Money with Light Dimmers

GreenLiver — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:01:27 +0000

You can’t go wrong by choosing to install light dimmers. Not only do they make a room a little more cozy and romantic, they also will help you save money and energy. The even better part is that they are pretty cheap to buy and easy to install. You can choose a dimmer with a slide or dial…they’re all good!

Greener Alternatives to Stove and Oven Cooking

GreenLiver — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:01:44 +0000

Your stove uses plenty of energy to cook even the most simple of meals. To help save on your energy bill, try using your microwave, toaster, and convection ovens to tackle some of your meals. While microwave ovens do actually use a lot of energy, the cooking time is significantly shorter than using the stove or conventional oven. So, the energy use will be reduced by two-thirds. Newer “rapid cook” ovens that combine microwaves with halogen lights or convection will cut cooking time and improve food quality compared to the typical microwave oven. Cooking using a convection oven can cut energy use by 20 percent. Because heated air is continuously circulated around the food in the convection oven, the cooking time and temperature are reduced. Toaster ovens can work as well as a conventional oven and are pretty versatile. They also need less time to heat up and use less energy to stay hot. Try to make use of these options more often in your green kitchen to not only save on energy, but also on that ever-precious time!
Check out the convection ovens below at Amazon.com.

Switch to a Recycled Trash Bag

GreenLiver — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:01:18 +0000

Yes, even your trash bag can be greener. Did you know that the usual plastic trash bag that you use in your kitchen creates an enormous amount damage to our earth? If every U.S. household switched twenty of the usual virgin plastic tall kitchen drawstring trash bags to twenty 65 percent recycled bags , we’d save 39,000 barrels of oil (enough to heat and cool 2,200 U.S. households for a years). We’d also free up 720,000 cubic feet of landfill space (1,100 garbage trucks’ worth). And, we’d reduce the air pollution by 30 million pounds. That’s not insignificant at all! The numbers only get better as the percentage of recycled material used to create the bags goes up, so find some recycled trash bags today and give up your virgin plastic bags.