Green Pug is More Environmental Than You

Happy Earth Day everyone!  And since I spent the entire day doing wedding invitations and not being particularly earth-friendly, here is Green Pug.  Go Green Pug!

Recycle that newspaper!  Change those CFL's! Gooooooo GreenPUg!

Update - Nuclear News in Japan

Fukushima Daiichi Before the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on 3/11/11.

Wow, seems there's more interest in nuclear energy among my friends than I had thought. I have gotten all sorts of links and references so I thought that instead of editing my post from yesterday, I'd just write another one today.

First of all, I'm sure the thing that most people care about right now is the situation at the Japanese power plant Fukushima Daiichi. Now, I try not to get too much into politics because that is an environment (pun haha!) that I don't think I could pull my weight in, but I realize that my blog will move into hot-topic territory now and again and I'm going to be forced to address these problems from a position that's more political.

I guess this means that I'm going to have to get some things straight so as not to confuse my audience. I am, if it weren't obvious already, far more liberal on a lot of issues, maybe even most issues, and certainly on issues concerning the health of people and the environment. However, I realize that overly "liberal" people are just as bad as the "conservative" people they oppose, so I will try to at least be open to both sides of the argument.

Damage to Fukushima Daiichi after the earthquake and tsunami on 3/11/11.

Ok so...Fukushima Daiichi.A lot of media sites seem to be blowing it out of proportion and there are all kinds of conflicting reports. From a practical standpoint, I want to say that the situation has gone a lot better than it could have for the power plant going through a 9.0 earthquake and a tsunami.

Here are a few articles that describe the nuclear situation as "better than it could've been":
1). http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N13/yost.html says:
"From the information we have, we can draw a conclusion anywhere between “the reactor is undamaged and being cooled” to “the reactor cladding and/or fuel has been partially damaged, but the damage is contained and the reactor is being cooled.” The question that should be asked now is whether the reactor has any future value as an electricity-producing asset. The widely-hyped possibility of some Chernobyl-like event is inconceivable without a new, catastrophic disaster. Coolant flow has been re-established and the public is in no danger. Given the magnitude of the precipitating event — a 9.0 earthquake — and the vast property damage it caused, the events at Fukushima are not a serious reason to re-evaluate our own nuclear policy in the United States."

An interesting thing I learned from this article is that the parts that blew off in the explosions in reactor 1 and 3 were the fourth "layer" of protection which was a drywall building not intended to actually contain anything. It seems like its job was to protect the workers from weather as they work around the containment vessel. So that means that the steel-and-concrete buildings could still be intact (the third layer of protection) and the steel container also (the second layer).


 

2). And http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/14/fukushiima_analysis/page3.html:
"Radiation health effects have been pretty much zero. At times there have been heightened radiation levels inside the plants from short-life isotopes in the steam releases – sometimes enough that an unprotected person next to a reactor building might have sustained a year's normal dose from background radiation in an hour. This is not particularly terrifying, really – nobody is scared at the prospect of living another year on planet Earth – but it is being reported under scaremongering headlines. Another thing the weekend reporters have missed was the fact that all but tiny traces of the airborne radionuclides (from the salt in the seawater coolant) were disappearing before they could even cross the street; there is essentially no health hazard to people living nearby. Precautionary evacuations and tests were just that: precautionary."

3). The BBC is also saying about the same thing as these two articles above so at this point I'm still feeling confident in nuclear technology.

Reactor 1 after the explosion 3/12/11.

Green Holiday Tips

IT'S CHRISTMASTIME! Ok, well, at least I'm trying to psyche myself up for the Holidays even though I'm guessing this year I'll probably get coal (getting older is a bitch) and only a couple people have RSVP'd to my White Elephant Gift party =(. However, what I'm still psyched about is being green and luckily, green is one of the colors of Christmas! So here are some tips courtesy of the Denver Zoo and modified by me. Did you know that the Zoo is doing it's part to be green this year by using all LED lights in their Zoo Lights display? LED lights use 1% of the energy of traditional lights and 10% of the energy of little lights.  Also, if you guys are local, definitely check this out...it's going to be AWESOME!

Denver Zoo Lights!

Go green this year for Christmas
Your Christmas Tree

• After the holidays, don’t just throw your tree away- Recycle it! Denver Recycles offers free pick up of your Christmas tree.  Visit their website, www.recycleyourchristmastree.com, for specific rules and regulations regarding when and how to have your tree picked up.  They list tree pick up by county to make it easy for anyone in Colorado to recycle their tree. (out-of-staters check for something like this in your area!)
• Instead of purchasing new ornaments this year for trimming your tree, try edible or compostable items like popcorn or cranberries on a string, gingerbread cookies or items made from recycled objects around your home.
• Or...get a fake tree! Reuseable every year!

Your Holiday Decor Purchase holiday lights made with energy-saving, light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. LEDs use only a fraction of the energy of conventional bulbs and are much better for the environment. LEDs use only about one percent of the power of standard (C7) holiday lights, and about 10 percent of the power in mini-lights. Try www.environmentallights.com.  Get outdoor light strands that are wired in parallel. These have separate circuitry so that if one bulb blows out the rest will keep shining; all you have to do is replace the bulb rather than the entire strand of lights. Strands sold with series wiring stand or fall together, making it almost impossible to find and replace a single blown-out bulb. Sending Your Holiday Cards Send E-Cards and you will not waste a single tree. Send cards made of 100 percent recycled paper or tree-free cards made by environmental organizations. In addition to "tree free" cards, you can get cards made of old subway maps, cards made of recycled junk mail, and cards that you can plant which are imbedded with a seed mixture that will grow in the spring. Glue pictures from old cards onto homemade or store-bought recycled paper to create new cards.Yay crafty! Glue pretty paper on the inside of old cards to cover previous writing--and send them again. Avoid cards with glossy, shiny or gold foil coatings since these cannot be recycled. Look for the PCF label on cards (Processed Chlorine Free) -- they're printed on unbleached paper.   What to Buy During Your Holiday Shopping Try making something for those that you love.  People love to get homemade cookies, fudge, bread, or jam Other gifts that will create little to no waste include things like concert or movie tickets, a gift certificate for dinner, or an IOU for services such as a massage, cooking a meal, or baby sitting. Planting a tree is great because you can do it together. Make it a contest for your kids to see how many old toys they can come up with to donate to a local charity; and then the one who collects the most wins a prize. Give someone a gift that keeps on giving, such as a live plant or a donation to Denver Zoo or other local charity to support worldwide conservation projects or the construction of the Asian Tropics exhibit for endangered Asian elephants.  Gifts that don’t require batteries are a great alternative and don’t create as much waste when having to dispose of and replace these batteries.  Try also to look for gifts that are made from recycled materials. Best of all, adopt an animal at Denver Zoo or give a Denver Zoo Membership (or your local zoo)  in someone's name.  Your friends and family will think of you every time they visit! Also, shop on Ebay. There's a lower chance of the toys and stuff being "new in box" which will cut down on all the plastic waste that cannot be recycled. Wrapping Your Gift Try using colorful pages torn from magazines or last year's calendar pictures to wrap small gifts, and old maps, posters or the Sunday comics for larger boxes. Use crayons or sponge paint to decorate brown grocery bags and wrap with natural raffia ribbon. Reusable cloth ribbons can be used in place of plastic bows or you can save bows and reuse year after year. I swear, my mom has bows from when I was like 5!! Avoid using paper entirely by using reusable decorative tins, baskets or boxes, fabric bags (canvas grocery bags are great!)or give a gift in a gift. Un-wrap gifts carefully and save wrappings for reuse next year. Use old scraps of wrapping paper or cut up old cards to make gift tags. If you do buy wrapping paper, look for ones made of recycled paper. Avoid conventional wrapping paper with metallic colors. Such paper is often produced in an environmentally unfriendly manner. If you have wrapping paper left over from last year and want to have different paper for this year’s presents exchange it with a friend, co-worker or family member’s paper from last year and you will both have “new” paper.<-- I like this idea a lot b/c I get bored of things easily! Gift mailing You can re-use packing peanuts. Call the peanut hotline at (800) 828-2214, for locations of mailing centers that reuse the packing peanuts or go to www.loosefillpackaging.com. If there is no location in your community, check with local gift or craft shops, artists galleries or elementary school art programs for reuse opportunities.Great idea! I didn't know this but will try for the future. Use corrugated boxes. More than 70% of corrugated cardboard is recovered and recycled into new boxes and paper products. The fibers from one corrugated box can have up to seven or eight lives. Breakdown and flatten your boxes for easier transporting before taking them to your local recycling center. If you do not have a center available, check with a local grocer or department store to see if they will bale your cardboard in their in-house recycling program. Shred your old catalogs to make great packing material when mailing gift packages.  Reuse tissue paper from clothing store purchases as packing material or gift paper. Holiday Parties Use "real" dishes, cups, and utensils that you can wash and reuse year after year. Switch to cloth napkins. Make it easy for your guests to recycle bottles and cans. If you must use disposables, buy napkins and plates made from recycled material. Try www.biodegradablestore.com.  Get corn-made cups and utensils which can be composted afterward. And if you don't have compost, at least if you throw them away, they'll break down faster than plastic! Serve sustainable seafood and fish.  Check out Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch page, www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp, for consumer guides and more. Serving local organic food at your parties will help to protect the environment because organic products don’t require pesticides and local food doesn’t have to travel far, creating more carbon emissions, to get to your table. You can make a difference just by being aware of the ingredients you are using in preparing holiday foods.  For instance, palm oil or palmitate is included in many of the foods that we eat and the harvesting of palm oil in Indonesia contributes to the destruction of critical habitat for endangered orangutans and Asian elephants.

R-E-C-Y-C-L-E According to Rocko

The other day, I was reminded of a song about the environment from Rocko's Modern Life, one of the cartoons I watched as a kid. This was probably done in the mid- to late 90s, before even Boulder did city-wide composting. It is extremely catchy and to this day I have the chorus memorized:

You need to R-E-C-Y-C-L-E, recycle!
And C-O-N-S-E-R-V-E, conserve!
And don't P-O-L-L-U-T-E, pollute the river, sky or sea
Or else you're gonna get what you deserve!

So now, please join me and Captain Compost Heap in this fun and responsible little ditty! (You now know the chorus, so no excuse not singing along!).

Score 1 for Lyndsie and Composting!

Right when I heard that the Peloton was going to cancel the composting service I posted a note on the Peloton's Facebook fan page with my thoughts.  I was thinking that nothing would come of it and I was unsure it was even going to be responded to but the following conversation ensued: 

Me:  At least I used to like this community. Now that they're canceling the composting service I'm not too sure. My family has been using it religiously since it began and we were very excited for this option. It advertises as this progressive, Boulder-type facility but in practice maybe they're not so much.
Peloton: Lyndsie, thanks for your candid feedback. The HOA is managing the composting program. They recently polled The Peloton homeowners and unfortunately a large percent of the homeowners who responded choose to cancel the program. There are other options being considered for the few who want to keep the program in tact. Please check in with the HOA office to share your thoughts. They truly do their best to make decisions for the whole community based upon the majority votes.
Me: Thanks for your comment! I have contacted the HOA and board as well as some of the residents. What I would be really interested in knowing is why some residents voted to cancel it. I have been slowly gathering opinions via email from some of them and I'm getting a better idea. Also, I am interested in having a more active role in the community to work on things like sustainability. I believe that if we get enough people to care, we can work out something to help all residents!
Peloton: That's great news Lyndsie. There is currently a Sustainability Committee in place, however I understand they are in need of a homeowner lead to take on some projects. You might really enjoy this role if you have the time and capacity within your schedule. There is no limit to what The Peloton community can achieve with passionate homeowners such as yourself!
Peloton: Lyndsie, I just wanted to let you know that I confirmed there is a possibility for composting to continue for the homeowners who are interested in sustaining it on their own. Please contact the HOA office for more information. Thanks for bringing up this topic.

WOOHOO!! As it appears, no one has brought this up until now. And that's what's so important about environmental issues, don't just assume that someone else is taking care of it. That first post took me under 5 minutes to write and look at the change it's made so far! How great is that? So yeah, people, speak up!!! You never know what kinds of  good you'll do.

p.s. I also wanted to give 1 point to social media, namely Facebook, for being an important factor in communication and change.  Social Media is no longer just for being social, it works on proactivism too! (I made that word up, but I like it better than just "activism" because it sounds like you're really trying to do something good).

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