Sorry about that yesterday, it's been a busy week and I couldn't make time to get a post up. But I wouldn't want to just leave you hanging until next Tuesday. I mean, the environment's just going to keep getting worse and any days I take off will be days where Global Warming wins.
So this will be sort of a rare post, not only because it's on Saturday, but also because this will be one of the few Green Tips that don't live up to the "Impractical" part of the "Impractical Green Resource." Possibly. I mean, Green Tip #32 is going to apply to only a small part of the population of the world. So if you don't live in Ohio (more specifically northern Ohio) you won't get a whole lot out of this.
Anyway, Ohio recently unveiled its EZ-Pass system for the Turnpike which makes it quicker and easier to use the tolls in Ohio. This is something that's been done in other states around the Midwest, so Ohio was just slow in getting around to it. Basically how it works is that you pay online however much you want on your account. Then you get a little box that attaches to your windshield and sends a radio signal to the toll both when you drive through and it deducts it from your account. So much quicker, so much simpler!
So I got mine this week and tried it out yesterday driving from Cleveland to Toledo. First of all, it was amazingly simple not worrying about change and getting my wallet out and worrying about where to put my ticket and-
Wait! No ticket! Suddenly this whole EZ-Pass thing is even better then I thought! No tickets means no using paper to print tickets! Yay for hidden environmental benefits! And, to make it even more environmentally friendly, this is just one step closer to a coins-less society. While discussing how bad coin printing is for the environment could be an entirely separate post, let me just say that the less coins we use, the less coins we'll need to print which means less mining of various metals.
So, in conclusion, if you live in a state with an EZ-Pass system and you plan on making some trips on toll roads, do the Green thing and get one of these EZ-Pass transponders!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Green Tip #31: Ditch Those iPod Touches!
Hey everyone! Sorry I almost didn't get to this today. It's been a very busy day for me. So anyway I thought I'd get a short one out before midnight strikes and it's technically Wednesday.
So I was thinking about how happy I am that CD's are fading out and being replaced with mp3 players. And the reason for this is several fold. First of all: less CD production and shipping. If there is not physical object that is being manufactured and transported, then there is less strain on the environment in general. Second, if there is no object sitting in the stores, ultimately the stores will end up shrinking by a degree. For example, imagine a Best Buy store, then imagine what would happen if you took the CD section out of it. (And to a related degree, the video game section and the DVD section will someday fall by the wayside (probably a few years later)) And if you read Green Tip #29, you'll know that big stores are worse than little stores.
So CD's = bad for the environment. That's established. But are mp3's that much better? Well, yes and no. I mean, they do use more electricity. But if you go with the iPod shuffle (the one without the screen) then you can use a whole lot less electricity than if you have one with a touch screen and all that fancy stuff. (Again I put in the disclaimer that I'm only singling out iPods because they're the most common. You can use any other mp3 player in this example)
So ditch those mp3 players with the screens! You don't need to know what the song that's playing is called, do you?
So I was thinking about how happy I am that CD's are fading out and being replaced with mp3 players. And the reason for this is several fold. First of all: less CD production and shipping. If there is not physical object that is being manufactured and transported, then there is less strain on the environment in general. Second, if there is no object sitting in the stores, ultimately the stores will end up shrinking by a degree. For example, imagine a Best Buy store, then imagine what would happen if you took the CD section out of it. (And to a related degree, the video game section and the DVD section will someday fall by the wayside (probably a few years later)) And if you read Green Tip #29, you'll know that big stores are worse than little stores.
So CD's = bad for the environment. That's established. But are mp3's that much better? Well, yes and no. I mean, they do use more electricity. But if you go with the iPod shuffle (the one without the screen) then you can use a whole lot less electricity than if you have one with a touch screen and all that fancy stuff. (Again I put in the disclaimer that I'm only singling out iPods because they're the most common. You can use any other mp3 player in this example)
So ditch those mp3 players with the screens! You don't need to know what the song that's playing is called, do you?
Friday, September 25, 2009
Green Tip #30: Stop Eating Our Fuel!
So, corn-based ethanol is something that has been debated quite heatedly for the past few years. Let me just give you a run down on a brief history of corn-based ethanol. Keep in mind that this is only from what I know, so it is probably on par with Wikipedia in terms of accuracy.
So, about 8 or so years ago, some people did some horrible things in New York City which made a bunch of countries invade Afghanistan. Through some nebulous logic and overblown fears made worse by someone waving around a vial of anthrax, a few of those countries then proceeded to invade Iraq (again). Anyway, this whole fear thing and invading thing made people nervous about using Middle East oil.
That's not a big deal when you think about it. We (the people who live in the so called "West") have always been afraid of the Middle East, from the whole Rome and Cleopatra thing through the WWII invasion of the area and on through the whole Iran hostage thing and beyond. So our relationship with the area has been spotty at best.
No, what really made the situation a problem was what China and India were doing at the time. (Don't worry, this is getting back to corn, I promise!) China and India (who I've mentioned before in a not so favorable light) had to go and grow their economies. I mean, who do they think they are, advancing economically and technologically? So they start sucking down all that Middle East oil that the US has work for a few hundred years to secure. That means that the whole world was going to run out of oil, so we all started looking at new sources of fuel.
That leads me to corn-based ethanol. Yay! All the environmentalists started cheering! It comes from the earth, so it can't be bad!! (Don't tell them oil comes from the earth) Well, everyone started pumping a lot of money and resources into making corn refineries and pretty soon corn prices were going up all over the world. This made livestock people mad and environmentalists mad because it uses more energy to make ethanol than you get out of it and basically the whole thing fell apart like a house of cards.
And it didn't make sense to use corn for fuel when so many people around the world were starving. But what if you looked at it a different way? What if the issue wasn't "Why are we turning food into fuel?" but instead "Why are we eating our fuel?" I mean, what if we came up with a fantastic oil-based pie that is sooooooo delicious? Nobody would let you eat that pie without giving you a guilt trip about destroying the environment. So Green Tip #30 is start guilting all of your friends and family whenever they eat corn based food. "Stop eating our fuel!!!"
So, about 8 or so years ago, some people did some horrible things in New York City which made a bunch of countries invade Afghanistan. Through some nebulous logic and overblown fears made worse by someone waving around a vial of anthrax, a few of those countries then proceeded to invade Iraq (again). Anyway, this whole fear thing and invading thing made people nervous about using Middle East oil.
That's not a big deal when you think about it. We (the people who live in the so called "West") have always been afraid of the Middle East, from the whole Rome and Cleopatra thing through the WWII invasion of the area and on through the whole Iran hostage thing and beyond. So our relationship with the area has been spotty at best.
No, what really made the situation a problem was what China and India were doing at the time. (Don't worry, this is getting back to corn, I promise!) China and India (who I've mentioned before in a not so favorable light) had to go and grow their economies. I mean, who do they think they are, advancing economically and technologically? So they start sucking down all that Middle East oil that the US has work for a few hundred years to secure. That means that the whole world was going to run out of oil, so we all started looking at new sources of fuel.
That leads me to corn-based ethanol. Yay! All the environmentalists started cheering! It comes from the earth, so it can't be bad!! (Don't tell them oil comes from the earth) Well, everyone started pumping a lot of money and resources into making corn refineries and pretty soon corn prices were going up all over the world. This made livestock people mad and environmentalists mad because it uses more energy to make ethanol than you get out of it and basically the whole thing fell apart like a house of cards.
And it didn't make sense to use corn for fuel when so many people around the world were starving. But what if you looked at it a different way? What if the issue wasn't "Why are we turning food into fuel?" but instead "Why are we eating our fuel?" I mean, what if we came up with a fantastic oil-based pie that is sooooooo delicious? Nobody would let you eat that pie without giving you a guilt trip about destroying the environment. So Green Tip #30 is start guilting all of your friends and family whenever they eat corn based food. "Stop eating our fuel!!!"
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Green Tip #29: McDonald's PlayPlaces Are Causing Global Warming
It's not very often that I will specifically attack a specific brand or company (other than Hummers or Target) because I don't think it's fair to single out one over the others. So whenever I say McDonald's in this Green Tip, you can substitute it for Burger King or Taco Bell or any of the other fast food companies that hate the environment.
So okay, you're probably wondering about the title. I mean, what's wrong with PlayPlaces? If anything, they're keeping our kids healthy (er). Healthy is a bit of stretch... Anyway, I was watching TV today and I saw a commercial for Rally's (Checkers to some of you in other parts of the country) and I was happy with the hidden environmentally message that they had in their commercial. They might not have even known it, but Rally's was being very Green.
Rally's message was something to the effect of the stores being small, but the taste being big. And that got me thinking. If you think back to the last time you were at Rally's, you'll remember that the store has no place to dine in. Ultimately, that means less space is being taken up by each store. Just think if every McDonald's (with their space consuming PlayPlaces) were replaced with the tiny little Rally's stores. All that extra space could be turned into parks or space for wind turbines. According to a Google search (most reliable source in the world), McDonald's stores take up 4,000 sq feet while Rally's only use a minuscule 700. If McD's cut out all the PlayPlaces and seating area and all that crap, they could save 3,300*31,000=102,300,000 square feet or about 2350 acres. To put that in perspective, that's the size of Lake Providence, Louisiana.
And really, when you think about it, you can eat in your car just as easily as you can in the store. Especially if you drive a Hummer. I mean, those things are the size of McDonald's practically...
So okay, you're probably wondering about the title. I mean, what's wrong with PlayPlaces? If anything, they're keeping our kids healthy (er). Healthy is a bit of stretch... Anyway, I was watching TV today and I saw a commercial for Rally's (Checkers to some of you in other parts of the country) and I was happy with the hidden environmentally message that they had in their commercial. They might not have even known it, but Rally's was being very Green.
Rally's message was something to the effect of the stores being small, but the taste being big. And that got me thinking. If you think back to the last time you were at Rally's, you'll remember that the store has no place to dine in. Ultimately, that means less space is being taken up by each store. Just think if every McDonald's (with their space consuming PlayPlaces) were replaced with the tiny little Rally's stores. All that extra space could be turned into parks or space for wind turbines. According to a Google search (most reliable source in the world), McDonald's stores take up 4,000 sq feet while Rally's only use a minuscule 700. If McD's cut out all the PlayPlaces and seating area and all that crap, they could save 3,300*31,000=102,300,000 square feet or about 2350 acres. To put that in perspective, that's the size of Lake Providence, Louisiana.
And really, when you think about it, you can eat in your car just as easily as you can in the store. Especially if you drive a Hummer. I mean, those things are the size of McDonald's practically...
Friday, September 18, 2009
Green Tip #28: Car-Powered Energy
Huh? This goes against everything that you thought you knew about cars and energy, right? I mean, I've often said over and over that cars use energy. Some use more than others (ahem, Hummers...) but when it comes down to it, all of our cars use a lot of gas and electricity (yes, even your fancy new Chevy Volts and your brand new shiny solar-powered hybrid Priuses (Priusi?) use energy. Don't feel all high and mighty, because you use energy too, just like the rest of us.)
So when you read Green Tip #28: Car-Powered Energy, you probably figure I just mixed up the words and I actually mean Energy-Powered Cars. Nope, not this time. I actually thought of a way to generate electricity just from driving your cars. So, I hope by now that you've heard of wind power (it has been around for a few thousand years, so I'd hope you've heard of it by now.) Anyway, most wind power comes from very large industrial sized wind turbines and somewhat large residential wind turbines. But what about tiny wind turbines?
Think about this: along the shoulders of all the major roads of this country, rows and rows of tiny little wind turbines. I mean, you probably know that when a large truck or van drives past you, you can feel the wind that is being pulled along behind them. What if we could harness that wind power to light the street lights and traffic lights?
I know this will never generate enough energy to make up for all the energy that we use driving cars (I'm looking at you Hummer drivers, and to a much lesser extent the Prius drivers) but at least it will offset some of it. So get out there and get those little wind turbines put in! You can start by stealing all those annoying little sunflower pinwheel things from peoples' yards and hooking them up to batteries. I mean, what's more eco-friendly than sunflowers?
So when you read Green Tip #28: Car-Powered Energy, you probably figure I just mixed up the words and I actually mean Energy-Powered Cars. Nope, not this time. I actually thought of a way to generate electricity just from driving your cars. So, I hope by now that you've heard of wind power (it has been around for a few thousand years, so I'd hope you've heard of it by now.) Anyway, most wind power comes from very large industrial sized wind turbines and somewhat large residential wind turbines. But what about tiny wind turbines?
Think about this: along the shoulders of all the major roads of this country, rows and rows of tiny little wind turbines. I mean, you probably know that when a large truck or van drives past you, you can feel the wind that is being pulled along behind them. What if we could harness that wind power to light the street lights and traffic lights?
I know this will never generate enough energy to make up for all the energy that we use driving cars (I'm looking at you Hummer drivers, and to a much lesser extent the Prius drivers) but at least it will offset some of it. So get out there and get those little wind turbines put in! You can start by stealing all those annoying little sunflower pinwheel things from peoples' yards and hooking them up to batteries. I mean, what's more eco-friendly than sunflowers?
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