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How Green are you?

mikedt said:
They also have toxic mercury and electronics, and no doubt many will end up in landfill. Also I bet it takes much more energy to make a CFL than a traditional light bulb, maybe more energy than the things are supposed to save in their lifetime.
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Like batteries, you're supposed to safely dispose of the CFL bulbs. Traditional bulbs last 6 months at my house. The CFL lasted 4 years. That's 8 normal bulbs for one CFL bulb.

My colleague forward this to me and it's quite disturbing what mecury exposure from the CFL bulbs cause.
Health & Safety Warning - energy saving bulbs.pdf - 4shared.com - document sharing - download

If you don't want to download the pdf through 4share. The article was posted in this forum Be noted that there's really horrible graphical images.
 
I recycle, compost, unplug and turn off things when I am not using them. I let my computer and laptop sleep and only power them off at night. I even ride my bicycle when taking my motorcycle or car is impractical. i once spent an entire day downtown getting around on buses and my bike.
 
Roze said:
Like batteries, you're supposed to safely dispose of the CFL bulbs.
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I did bring my burned out ones to the recycle day thingy. I haven't gotten any new ones and won't. One did crack when I was taking it out of the fixture...between that (escaping mercury!) and the burned look I am finished with them. Just don't see the safety of it all, I don't believe the 'risks' outweigh the benefits.
 
I'm going to hell for sure. My American made V-8 has had the catylitic converters removed. In addition to that,The smog pump and every other smog related device was removed from under the hood. Not being happy with that I decided the best way to continue the path I was on was to install a supercharger so I can shove every last bit of fresh air and gasoline down the intake and out the exhaust.

I try to turn off lights in the house but my 5 year old turns them back on.

I try to recycle water bottles (we use about 1 1/2 cases a week) but my wife throws them out because they are "in the way"

My gas cap on the lawnmower is cracked so everytime I fill it up and use half the tank to mow, I come back the next week to an empty tank because the other half evaporated into the atmospere

I smoke, Im sure thats doing something bad.

My wife does half loads of laundry because her OCD kicks in and it kills her to see clothes in the hamper.

Man I hope when my household goes to hell we are all together....
I'm a good guy I promise. I guess I'm just not to green
 
76ford90lx said:
I'm going to hell for sure. My American made V-8 has had the catylitic converters removed. In addition to that,The smog pump and every other smog related device was removed from under the hood. Not being happy with that I decided the best way to continue the path I was on was to install a supercharger so I can shove every last bit of fresh air and gasoline down the intake and out the exhaust.

I try to turn off lights in the house but my 5 year old turns them back on.

I try to recycle water bottles (we use about 1 1/2 cases a week) but my wife throws them out because they are "in the way"

My gas cap on the lawnmower is cracked so everytime I fill it up and use half the tank to mow, I come back the next week to an empty tank because the other half evaporated into the atmospere

I smoke, Im sure thats doing something bad.

My wife does half loads of laundry because her OCD kicks in and it kills her to see clothes in the hamper.

Man I hope when my household goes to hell we are all together....
I'm a good guy I promise. I guess I'm just not to green
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lol The only way you could get worse is if you fuelled your fireplace with live puppies and kittens :D (apologies for the bad taste, animal lovers)

After reading this thread yesterday I rolled up my sleeves, furrowed my brow and put a green bin next to the other one in the kitchen. Now I have to try not to forget about it.
 
I recycle only because the garbage company here gives me a bigger recycling trash can than a normal trash can :rolleyes: and the normal one isn't big enough :mad:. Other than that the only thought I give to "being green" is how I can help "global warming"... This was one of the coldest summers ever in Seattle.

If it saves me money (fuel efficiency, etc) I do things to save money, but only for that reason.
 
76ford90lx said:
I'm going to hell for sure. My American made V-8 has had the catylitic converters removed. In addition to that,The smog pump and every other smog related device was removed from under the hood. Not being happy with that I decided the best way to continue the path I was on was to install a supercharger so I can shove every last bit of fresh air and gasoline down the intake and out the exhaust.

I try to turn off lights in the house but my 5 year old turns them back on.

I try to recycle water bottles (we use about 1 1/2 cases a week) but my wife throws them out because they are "in the way"

My gas cap on the lawnmower is cracked so everytime I fill it up and use half the tank to mow, I come back the next week to an empty tank because the other half evaporated into the atmospere

I smoke, Im sure thats doing something bad.

My wife does half loads of laundry because her OCD kicks in and it kills her to see clothes in the hamper.

Man I hope when my household goes to hell we are all together....
I'm a good guy I promise. I guess I'm just not to green
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Nice!! What kind of car?
 
Snow_Fox said:
I don't consider myself "environmentally conscious" I consider myself "logical".

On one hand I do have an understanding and respect for the fact that we have limited resources and I am a firm believer in reducing the amount of waste I as a person put out.

A few years ago when I had the option of getting a truck or a car, I choose a car that gets 39 highway MPG (toyota yaris) because it was cheaper than a prius, looked better, and got great mileage. Benefits me in the form of being cheaper, benefits the environment by being easier on our resources. A great symbiotic relationship!

When I was disposing of 2 computers about a year ago, I took them to best buy hoping they would be recycled. The guy at bestbuy said I had to pay 10$ each to have them recycled and I would receive 20$ back in the form of a best buy gift card.

I was perfectly willing to put for my own gas money to drive to best buy, spend 30 minutes to an hour of my time to recycle and receive nothing in return for my efforts in order to do the right thing and recycle those products.

I am not willing to spend my own money to receive a gift card I can't use to pay my bills just to do the "right thing".

Since best buy wouldn't take them, and I heard of no other recycling place I just threw the computers right in the garbage.

I am willing to do the right thing up to a point. However, I am a firm believer that there are a lot of voltures out there who want to capitolize on your good intentions..

EX: a hipster friend I had who was all pro environment only ate organic food because it is "better for the environment" then turned around and bought an suv because "I wanted to take advantage of low gas prices while I can".. (When she was considering her vehicle.. gas prices dipped a lot due to the recession)
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I have just thrown computer in the garbage in the past because I wasn't going to pay to recycle them, and when I had looked into it Best Buy wasn't even giving a gift card, just charging for recycling.

Just so every one knows, best buy is now recycling for free :cool:
 
Snow_Fox said:
I don't consider myself "environmentally conscious" I consider myself "logical".
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Same here. I don't drive a fuel efficient car, I have my car because its practical for my use. A lot of highway driving. Its big and comfortable. That being said, I do try to make it a little more fuel efficient by doing the little things. Almost all of the bulbs in my apartment are CFL, and I try to shut off the lights when they're not needed. I don't always recycle, but I try when I can.
 
We compost all vegetable based waste for the environment as well as for the good of our garden. We've drastically reduced our garden water usage by replacing lawn with less water consuming plants and gardens and are almost totally organic. Once again, partially to help the environment, but mostly to improve our health and save $$$. We recycle aluminum, steel, #1/#2 plastic, county rules. I walk/cycle whenever possible instead of driving (for health) and use mass transit to and from work. I am replacing our old worn out and now broken lawn mower with a rechargeable model, the last gas operated tool we have. Our cars aren't new, but we don't drive a whole lot compared with our neighbors (~10k/yr for 2 drivers/cars). When the time comes to replace them, it will be with smaller fuel efficient vehicles. Although not a New Englander, I'm a Yankee at heart and attempt to reuse whatever I can. The compost heap is made out of re purposed stuff, as are many things around the house. All the non dimming lights in the house have been replaced with cf bulbs, as the conventional bulbs burned out. The dimable ones proved a waste, but as prices fall, I'm looking to move to LED's as current bulbs fail. I keep up with the houses envelope and insulation. We have installed programmable thermostats and keep much off the house at lower winter and higher summer temps without the loss of comfort. My heating and cooling is not cutting edge, but is well maintained. Most of what I've done is to save money as well as help the environment. I'm conscious of not being knee jerk and creating more waste (and carbon) by needlessly replacing things that otherwise don't need replacing. You don't need to be a "save the planet weenie" type, just use a little common sense.
 
I don't drive, I use public transport. I seldom fly anywhere. My recycling bin fills quicker than my normal bin (although is emptied only 1/4 as much).

That said, I do have 2-3 computers on, 24 hours a day (sometimes not needed to be) and some otehr electrical equipment that goes into standby... There is almost always a light of somekind on somewhere in the house.
 
Sak01 said:
How environmentally conscious are you? Do you recycle, monitor your carbon footprint or drive a Prius? Do you limit your toilet flushes, use energy saving lightbulbs or have a kitchen compost bin? Let me know.

Personally, I use energy saving bulbs and I'm considering solar powering my house as well as driving an electric vehicle. But that is purely for economic reasons NOT for any environmental concerns.
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I sort the crap into three bins as prescribed by local rules and the garbage people. I pay for my water so no, if I need two flushes, I'll use two. I hate energy saving bulbs because they damage the environment; well, unless they redesigned or reformulated mercury and it is now safe.

I do take my used oil to the gas station.

I would never, ever drive a Prius because they are horrid little cars with no redeeming value. All they do is allow some people to feel that they are doing something important; they are not doing anything important. Your power must be generated somewhere so you are not doing much in my opinion.

Try a 1960 Olds Super 88 with a huge honking V8.
 
Thus made me think of my coworker. He drives a prius, digs through the trash for recyclables and puts them in the appropriate buns that he put in pkace, lectures others about the dangers of drinking cows milk vs. Soy milk and tells me ge is making the planet habitable for my kids :D

But me, i do recycle when i remember, i turn off lights because my electric bill is over 300, take quick showers, hate buying real Christmas trees..... Thats about it for me....
 
kool kat2 said:
Thus made me think of my coworker. He drives a prius, digs through the trash for recyclables and puts them in the appropriate buns that he put in pkace, lectures others about the dangers of drinking cows milk vs. Soy milk and tells me ge is making the planet habitable for my kids :D
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Tell him that there are studies that shows too much (unfermented) soy isn't good for your body.
 
Eh.. I'm not very green at all unless it somehow benefits me. My car.. hell no.. I drive an eight cylinder Crown Vic, and my second car is a Ford Taurus 6-cyl and all my other cars (sold them) also had large engines.

In my house? I use a lot of power. A few computers, and a large TV, and in the summer, AC of course.

Like I said, I'm green when it suites me somehow. Like eneloop rechargeable batteries.. they are an absolute godsend. I don't drink pop or other canned goods much, so I don't do much for recycling either, although I do put things in the recycle bin that belong there. I don't go out of the way to not be "green", but the same is also true of the opposite.

In order for "green" to hit the mainstream, costs have to come down first of all, and secondly it has to be convenient versus the alternative.

I wouldn't mind driving an electric car, except my line of work and location just wouldn't permit that sort of thing. Sometimes I have to take spontaneous long journies to get onsite somewhere to meet up with someone.

Although if I had a ton more money, I'd love to build a self-sufficient house, called a zero energy house. Again, this wouldn't be for the sake of going green, but to get off the dependence of other companies.

Zero-energy building - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Environmentalists aside,

Earth isn't weak, it destroyed dinosaurs and god knows what other lives before it destroyed,

If we pollute earth too much it will take its revenge anyways, doubt I'll live to see the day though...
 
I just helped do my part last week to help the global warming cause. I traded in my Saturn for a Jeep Wrangler, now I get about 16 mpg instead of around 25 like in the Saturn. Hopefully that helps global warming out a little, I can only do so much though!
 
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