Posts tagged ‘environmental benefits’
Spotlight: Cow Farts
Cow farts are a major source of greenhouse gas, predominantly methane – in fact, the leading source of methane emissions in Australia. According to this video from National Geographic, the manure from an average dairy cow (in the UK, though) equates to about 1.5 tonnes* of carbon dioxide – apparently about the equivalent of a commuter driving to work alone every day. I do wonder if that commuter is driving short distances in the UK, but with heavy traffic. It might be different in different parts of the world. It also depends on what the cows eat. In Australia, most cows are just put out to pasture, although often their feed is supplemented in times of drought. In other countries, it’s very common to feed cows on wheat, maize, soy beans, sugar beet and other similar foods.
Suffice it to say though, 1.5 tonnes is about five times as much carbon dioxide as we offset on one flight from Brisbane to Melbourne last week. Dairy cows and farts. Yeowch.
A cow sniffs at a photographer's camera in Hamburg, Germany. Photograph: Ulrich Perrey/EPA
There is the obvious solution – don’t eat beef or consume dairy. Clearly if even I, a super hardcore greenie, is having trouble giving up cheese, the rest of the world won’t necessarily love this idea. So a more complex (yet, actually quite simple) solution has been put forth.
Feed the cows a diet that is more natural. This means mixing finely-cut straw and hay in with their food. Apparently, this natural diet means the cows are chewing longer and more, increasing saliva production and fermentation in the stomach – thus less gas. Other benefits include increased milk yield (more food is digested so can go towards making milk), the cows are healthier and happier. All this even though the cows aren’t particularly keen to eat the straw, so it has to be hidden in their ‘regular’ (read crops, not pasture) food.
Folks in the UK and New Zealand particularly are getting on the bandwagon – even major chocolate producer Cadbury is keen.
I still want to reduce anything produced using animal products (I drink soy milk, don’t eat yoghurt, custard or sour cream, and I’m dramatically reduced my chocolate and ice-cream intake… it’s really the cheese that is the kicker). At least in the meantime though, and for all the other omnivores in the world who can’t imagine going vegan, this is a better thing for the cows and the environment.
Of course, you could always convert the cow manure to biofuel and use it to power farm trucks like they’re doing in California. I might take a pass on the methane-catching back-pack for cows though. I kinda feel sorry for the cow.
*Note: Some other sources put this figure much lower. For example, the article about Cadbury puts it at 80kg – 120kg per cow per year; clearly much less than 1.5 tonnes.. yet strangely, still the equated to annual carbon emissions from your average family car.
Recycle: CFL Lightbulbs
Earlier today, @LighterFootstep tweeted that in three years of using CFLs (those squiggly lightbulbs that save energy and money), not one had needed replacing. That’s pretty cool, and valid – mine haven’t needed to be replaced either, although I don’t think it’s been a full three years we’ve been using them yet. We just replace our regular bulbs with CFLs as they blow.
Talking about replacing them got me thinking about recycling them though, and lo and behold, Lighter Footstep has a challenge going (kind of like a pledge) over at their site. CFLs have mercury, and need to be recycled sustainably so the toxic chemical doesn’t screw over the world. The challenge asks that you pledge to become a CFL Recycling Superhero.
Take the CFL Recycling challenge at Lighter Footstep.
I’m all for that.
Brisbanites, check here to see where you can recycle your CFLs. Everyone else – google, or look in that article I mentioned if you’re American. I know we’ll end up at Ikea – what better excuse for a couple of eco lesbos to take a trip to the dykiest furniture store ever, than recycling lightbulbs?
Reduce: Cotton Tips
What can I do to reduce the number of cotton tips (q-tips) we go through? Although the ends are made of cotton (biodegradable), the stems are plastic, I think, so you couldn’t compost them.
I used to at least buy them in cardboard boxes, but these days I can only find them in plastic containers… and I don’t think it’s the right kind of plastic to recycle either. I tried keeping the containers to reuse, but I just don’t really have anything to use them for. Maybe I’ll try Freecycling them.
These are the cotton tips I bought most recently from Coles.
I can’t think of a replacement for the thing we use them for the most – nothing else cleans your ears quite the right way! Even Yankee Elv, who has the cleanest ears ever, uses them to itch the ear her hearing aid goes in.
Ideas? Anyone? Beuller?
EDIT: Jun, aka Beuller, commented below that in Asia people use reusable metal ‘ear diggers‘ (nice name) to clean their ears. Thanks Jun!
Spotlight: Urban Farming
- Photos like these inspire me.
- Blogs like this intrigue me.
- Sites like this help me.
- Stories like this help me realise urban farming is a bona fide movement now! (Yankee Elv, clearly less obsessed than me, saw this post and commented that she liked the woman’s sleeve [tattoo], although she claims it looks better from a distance.)
In my own forays into urban farming (or urban homesteading):
My spinach has all sprouted except for one seed, and most of my experimental onions sprouts are just poking their tips out of the soil. Mr Teeny-bop helped me plant them, and I was hoping he’d take an interest in their development, but he seems to have gone back to the land of emo-teen again. Maybe next time? I can keep the soil nice and damp now, because Yankee Elv got me a watering can and duct-taped the hose so it won’t spurt on me or the clothesline anymore. These veges are the first things I’ve grown from seed since I was seven, and I’m very proud of myself. Modest too, as you can tell. Now I have to see if I can keep them going! (Sorry no pics, it’s dark outside – I’ll take some later).
I can't wait until I'm eating spinach I grew my very own self! (As opposed to this spinach, which I bought from the grocery shop.)
Next on the list: carrots and snow peas. I have to get the garden bed sorted and work out a trellis. I’ve done nothing with the compost bin since last week’s big clean. Also, I need; herbs for the front verandah, something (what? ideas anyone? maybe nasturtium?) for the hanging baskets, a succulent for Yankee Elv’s bedroom dresser and some water and steam-loving green something for the bathroom.
Not all at once, clearly. I still have a day job.
Spotlight: Digital Dumping Grounds
I knew developing countries were, to a degree, the rubbish dumps for electronic waste (e-waste) shipped in from developed nations, but I didn’t know how bad it was. I watched this episode of Frontline World this morning that really made it hit home for me. Here’s the promo:
You can access the full 20 minute segment about Ghana here. Sorry Deafies, there are no captions (which annoys the shit out of me – c’mon PBS!), but underneath the video there is a transcript of the segment (if it’s not exact, it’s pretty close). You can also see some photos with captions here on Jane Hahn‘s site.
It’s not just Ghana either – Vietnam, Pakistan, Malaysia, China and lots of other third-world nations are being taken advantage of. In fact, the segment discussed how the average computer-owner (and dumper) is also being taken advantage of, by companies who say they’re dumping responsibly, but who ship out unusable computers for reuse. Clearly, since they’re unusuable, they’re only going to become scrap, but labelling them ‘for reuse’ enables their export courtesy of a legal loophole.
I have a bunch of e-waste here at my place that I was looking to dispose of responsibly, but now I’m unsure how I can do that if I can’t even trust the recycling companies. Plus, I want to make sure no-one has access to my data (that image of the FBI guy smashing the hard drive with the hammer also make an impression on me). Is it really best for the environment for me to be smashing stuff up, regardless of how cathartic that may be? However, is it best for me to not smash it? Ghana is one of the world’s leading areas of cyber crime, after all – there’s has to be link between that and the dumping of e-waste, it’s too convenient a co-incidence.
The one ‘positive’ thing to come out of the whole thing isn’t even very good. I wrote a while ago about the impact of metal mining on the environment (here and here). Trawling through the e-waste for scraps of copper and other precious metals does at least eliminate the need for so much mining… but at what cost? The toxic fumes produced by the burning needed to scavenge this metal is detrimental to both the environment and the unsuspecting people who participate, not to mention every man and his dog who lives nearby.
Aside from making pretty earrings, and giving away old items on Freecycle, what can we do with this stuff? Does anyone know of a recycler who actually recycles stuff responsibly without exporting it?
Preaching to the Choir
I read a couple of interesting blog posts the other day, written by the Change.org bloggers.
The first is a post called Animal Rights is a Mainstream Movement, by Stephanie Ernst on the Animal Rights blog. She discusses how she doesn’t like the way people, including herself, dismiss her concerns about animal rights as too extreme or radical to take seriously. I know where she’s coming from – I do it myself sometimes, playing down the seriousness of veg*nism and other animal rights issues because it’s too confrontational for most people. I had a rant the other day about how people were all wigged out about cows loose on the Gateway bridge after a cattle truck turned over. Considering they were probably going to be slaughtered for meat anyway I found that incredibly hypocritical, (not that I can talk, what with the cheese I still eat), and I said so to my co-workers. The got a funny glazed look in their eyes and sort of nodded and smiled until it was over.
It’s not normal to talk about things like that, and I know I often try to present the friendly veg*n face as I’m of the opinion that you catch more flies with honey, so to speak. I understand where Stephanie is coming from though, and empathise with her frustration. I also find it interesting that it’s far more socially acceptable for me to be an outspoken tree-hugging leftist greenie lesbian than it is to be a hardcore vegan, even though going veg is one of the most important things you can do for the environment, and you would think it would be standard for ec0-friendly folks. I guess we’re a fringe group within a fringe group.
Pigs should live happily, like this cute piggy I saw in Mooball, NSW. He came when I called to him! So cute.
The second post is called Living the Animal Life, and it’s by Natasha Chart on the Sustainable Food blog. The topic is different to the Animal Rights post, but having read it immediately after Stephanie’s post, I got a similar message from it. Whether that was the message the author intended to convey is debatable, but one particular line sounds so like something I have said in my ‘carrot or the stick’ approach that it kind of hit home to me, especially in contrast to the horrible descriptions that followed. Natasha was talking about a law that would limit the use of anti-biotics in cattle, which Obama supports, and she said:
‘It won’t pass. Even that’s okay I suppose, considering how the discussion is off to such a good start.’
Later in the same article, she talked about how the animals are living in their own effluence – conditions so bad the anti-biotics are all that’s keeping them alive – and so introducing laws limiting anti-biotics really means changing the way animals are farmed, which is why the bill is so contentious. Now, remember the line from the start of the article? She doesn’t think it will pass, but that’s ok because it’s sparked off good discussion. Isn’t that awful?
At the same time, that’s so something I would say. (I promise I’m not dissing you, Natasha).
Taking the middle road is a valid action in some cases. I’ve been known to tell people who are against same-sex marriage that all I want is my legal rights. That’s not true. I want to get married – I want the social status that comes along with marriage, all those intangible things that have nothing to do with law. I’m not going to convince anyone with that argument though, so I water it down. I do the same with the environment at work. I tell people if they have to print, to at least do it double-sided. Really I want to tell them to read on the screen, gosh darnit, since they have their computers turned on anyway. There are some people who still review on paper. Seriously. I tell people it’s a great effort if they just cut back on meat one meal per week, when I really wish everyone would give it up for good.
I’m very good at taking the middle ground, and there are times when that’s appropriate. When we’re preaching to the choir, however – even just talking to ourselves – why can’t we be upfront? Sometimes, I want to have the freedom to say what I mean and not get that funny, glazed, nodding and smiling look.
So! Onward to same-sex marriage, reading on-screen and giving up meat for ever!
Reduce: Winter Heating
Ok, onward to this getting-back-in-the-swing-of-things thing.
Today I want to talk about staying warm in winter… because it’s winter here and I’m bloody cold! Apparently it’s going to get down to 3°C (37.5°F) in the next few days, there is sleet falling already – this is unheard of in Brisbane! What’s an eco-lesbo to do?
We don’t have central heating here in Queensland, and I really don’t like using the reverse cycle air conditioner to heat the house. It’s inefficient. I purposely didn’t tell Mr Teeny-bop how to use it when we first moved in here, because it’s not good for the environment and also because we were dead broke a couple of years ago and couldn’t afford the electricity bill spike that would have ensued, had we used it. These days we’re just broke to the point of being severely injured (as opposed to dead broke… that was a pun, get it? no?), so I still don’t really want to use it, plus, you know the eco thing. Unfortunately Mr Teeny-bop is old enough to figure out things for himself these days, so we’ve had to have a chat recently about not using the air conditioner to heat (or cool) unless we REALLY need to (which in my opinion is never, in our climate).
Beanie, favourite ugly cardigan, blanket and Diva Princess the kitty hot water bottle. I'm toasty warm!
So anyway, here’s a list of the top ten things the Elv family do instead (and what I recommend you all try) to keep warm.
1. Wear more clothing. Layers are my friend. I especially like my old woolen cardigan that Grandma gave me. It used to be hers from years and years ago and it’s my favourite jumper ever even if it is a weird beige/camel/sand/mustard colour. (Some uncharitable people call it baby-poo brown, but they’re just jealous.) It fits perfectly and I’m very sad it’s now getting thin at the left elbow. Note to self: figure out how to make one just like it. If anyone can help with that, it would be much appreciated.
2. Wear beanies. Keeping your head warm is important. Home-made beanies are especially good because they fit your head just right, which keeps the heat in even better. Plus, they’re fair trade and you know where they came from. Yankee Elv makes some awesome ones with tassles in the corners. They looks better than they sound – I’ll add a picture when I can find one.
3. Keep your feet warm. I’m a big fan of keeping your extremities warm, and for me this definitely means feet. Even in summer I can have cold feet. No, there’s nothing wrong with my circulation. I wear thongs or shoes around the place so my feet don’t get cold on the tiles or polished floor. My favourite thing to put on my feet is my heatie wheatie feeties (they’re heat wheat pack slippers – I seriously don’t know how I lived without them). I wear them watching tv, on the computer, when working from home, in bed…
4. Invest in heat wheat packs. It’s amazing how much a little pack, warmed up in the microwave once or twice an hour for two minutes, can keep you toasty. You can get all different sizes and shapes. They are also great to take to bed, to get you warm when you first get in. There’s nothing worse than getting into a cold bed with cold sheets in winter.
5. Put flannelette sheets on your bed. Add lots of blankets too. I really like to be warm when I’m sleeping. I will actually wake up and be unable to get back to sleep if I’m too cold when sleeping, so adding an extra blanket can really make a difference.
6. Have a lounge room blanket. We have a couple of older quilts that live on the backs of our lounge chairs when they’re not in use, and they make sitting down together of an evening much more comfortable.
7. Combine body heat. Don’t sit on separate couches. Sit together and share the warmth. Let the dog cuddle up with you. Cats have a higher body temperature than humans, and they do love to snuggle. Why not have a mutually beneficial cuddle? I worked from home today and spent the last hour with the cat on my lap while I typed. Very cosy.
8. Use the heat of the sun. In the morning, I get up and open all the windows on the eastern(ish) side of the house, to get the sun in. I leave the insulating blinds on the other side of the house closed up. Then as the sun starts to move to the west, I open other windows to get the warmth in, and remember to shut everything up just as it starts to cool off, so I don’t lose that heat. I also love to sit in the hammock-swing on the sunny back verandah around midday on the weekend.
9. Warm up from the inside. Have a hot milo or a cup of tea. Some people like hot cereal in the morning (I don’t, but you know). Eat hot food. Bake more too (you’ve got to eat anyway, right?) – the oven will help warm up the house.
10. Shut doors to rooms you’re not using, to keep the heat in the main areas of the house. I’m not very good at this last one, but when I do remember, it definitely makes a difference.
What else can you do to stay warm in winter? I’m going to need all the advice I can get to make it through this cold snap…
For those of you in the northern hemisphere looking for ways to keep cool, check out my Reduce: Summer Cooling Costs post from the last southern summer.
Reuse: Books
I like to read. I don’t get much time to do it these days what with work bending me over, but I miss it, and I read when I can. I usually have a couple of books on the go – one non-fiction, at least one fiction, and an old favourite that I can read in bed and put down easily (if my book is too interesting, I’ll get insomnia). I also usually have a fanfic on the go and read blogs like a crazy lady. Yeah, I like to read, ok?
Read green!
Keeping up with the reading habit sustainably isn’t that much of a challenge either. Yes, books are made of paper – which means deforestation. But I’ve been getting around buying new books for years (mostly cos I couldn’t afford them, but lately the environment has been factoring into my avoidance of new books too). Here’s how.
Go to the library. There’s more books than you could ever want or fit in your house, and you can ‘try before you buy’, so to speak. If you hate it, that’s ok – it’s going back in two weeks anyway. If you live in a city, like me, you’re extra lucky, because often the council will run all the libraries in all the suburbs under one umbrella. If your local library doesn’t have the book you want, you can order it in from another library – usually free or for a nominal fee. Look out for the late fees though!
Go to the second-hand bookshop. This is especially useful when buying text books that you’re not planning on reading again after semester is over. You pay for what you get – the better the condition of the book, the more expensive. They’re usually cheaper than new, and just think – you’ve not chopped down another tree just to read! Book fairs are also good – think Lifeline Bookfest. Tonnes of cheap, pre-used books!
Swap and share books. We always have books at our place that don’t belong to us, and some of our books are always out with our friends and family. Again, this originally was a financial consideration for me – if my best mate already had the book, why would I go out and buy it when I could read her copy? It ends up being as good for the environment as it is for my pocket.
Get free books from Freecycle. There are always people giving books away. Sometimes friends, family and other folks are giving books away too. Pick them up where you can.
Buy second-hand books online – you can get local books from ebay, and Amazon if you’re in one of the local countries (which is not Australia). You can also buy books from eco-friendly book vendors, like Better World Books.
Read ebooks. I haven’t done much of this, but I do have Adobe Digital Editions on my work computer to read the ‘inspirational’ ebook the company gave us as a Christmas present. (They only started with the environmentally friendly book giving last year – before that it was mass hardcover book buying. I bet the authors who wrote the books chosen as the present book each year had a massive boost in sales and probably hate us all now). If you really want that paper look (rather than the backlit monitor look), try a Kindle. Apparently they’re good. Personally I’d go a Netbook, but I’m not bothered by the backlight.
Read online. It doesn’t have to be stuff written by well-known authors, there’s plenty of good amateur fiction and non-fiction out there. You’re reading some now – a blog. There are millions of them. Fanfic is a another big winner, in just about any fandom you choose, and often branching off into original stories. Besides, reading online opens up the doors to what you can find to read. It might be hard to find a good lesbian crime novel in your local second-hand bookshop (who am I kidding, lesbian crime novels are a dime a dozen – maybe it’d be hard to find a good lesbian historical fic that isn’t Mills & Boon-esque), but online, it’s not that hard, and you can narrow it down even further based on the kinds of characters you’d like to read about. Heck, you can even write it. Don’t forget other kinds of reading too – news sites and websites with articles discussing niche areas you’re interested in, which often become less niche the more popular online reading becomes. (Think Afterellen.com, folks!)
So seriously… reading. It’s a pretty awesome thing. Your kids see you doing it and they’re more likely to do it. It keeps your brain active. It’s escapist, and sometimes, trust me, you need to get your brain out of your head and into a story. Don’t stop reading, don’t reduce it. Don’t think that reading sustainably is going to curtail your habit. If anything, it will broaden your literacy horizons. So remember, next time you’re looking for a book – read green!
Reduce: Shower Time
I’m still feeling a bit meh, so this is just a short post – me trying to get back in the swing of things.
Wasting water is bad. The biggest water waster is the shower. Most people shower every day. Yeah, most. Hmm.
Anyway, you guys already know all this.
Showers are massive water wasters
As we’ve been in a drought for ages over here, most Australians are used to having to reduce the amount of water we use in the shower. Here’s how.
Take shorter showers. It seems pretty obvious, but it’s the most effective way to reduce water wastage. You can get clocks or timers which can help you keep to time. We have a clock from IKEA that attaches to the tile wall with a suction cap, and a similarly attached hourglass type of thing that goes for four minutes. Everyone got the hourglass with their newspaper, but you can buy them – an egg-timer even, would work.
Use a water-saving shower head. In Australia you can get rebates when you buy them – just Google. There are all different kinds – they don’t have to be that kind with the crappy water pressure or the kind with the sprays that bore through your shoulders.
Turn the water off when you’re not using it. For example, if you’re just putting shampoo in your hair, you don’t need to be under the water – so turn it off until you need it again.
Don’t brush your teeth in the shower. It’s much better to do it over the sink with the tap turned off. Just turn on the tap to rinse.
Only shampoo once. Apparently lots of people already did this, but I always did rinse and repeat, just like it says on the bottle. It’s a good idea to use less conditioner too – just condition the ends of your hair. These methods will require less water to rinse out.
Put a bucket in the shower to catch the water that comes out while it’s heating up. Just take the bucket out once the water is warm. You can use the water on your garden, or for any other purpose that takes your fancy. My friend’s cat used to drink out of her bucket!
Take cool showers as often as possible – that way you don’t have to wait for the water to heat up.
And my personal favourite – shower with your partner. While you’re shampooing, they can be under the water, and vice versa. At least, that’s the theory…
I’m sure people have other tactics – what do you do to save water in the shower?
Reuse: Green Bags
Ok guys – this post is kind of a continuation of yesterday’s post on reducing plastic bag use. Yes, I know it’s lame and unoriginal, but when this post appears on the blog, I’ll be in Perth for work so I’ve had to write some posts ahead of time. This is the last one left, it’s nearly midnight at my flight leaves in less than 8 hours.
So seriously… let’s reuse our green bags.
Reusable green bag from HEB in Texas (we used to shop there... cos there was nowhere else to shop)
Why? Cos it’s, you know, the right thing to do. See yesterday’s post for more detail on the why. Today, I’m more interested in the how. That is, how do you remember to bring them to the shop!?
The grocery stores have taken to putting up signs reminding us that green bags only work if you remember to bring them. The only thing that does is make me feel guilty that I’ve forgotten. A sign at the shop is a bit too little, too late, you know what I mean? As I mentioned yesterday though, before we switched to a mini-rubbish bin, I used to use way fewer plastic bags, and thus used green shopping bags all the time. I had some secret ways of remembering to bring them.
- Have quite a lot of bags so you can have bags in different places.
- Keep a bag in your work bag/backpack for emergency shopping on the way home from work. You only need one, as you don’t normally buy much on the way home from work when you have to carry things on the bus.
- Keep some bags in your car boot – we normally take the car when we’re going shopping for lots of stuff.
- Keep some bags inside the house in case you want to walk to the shops. Keep them out of reach of naughty cats who pee on things. Trust me on this one. Don’t think the top of the fridge is safe, either.
- Have spare bags so you can keep on using them while you’re mending the older bags that start ripping.
- Have at least one insulated bag so your cold stuff stays cold while you’re walking home from the shops – this is most important in hotter climates like Queensland. Yes, I know we’re not the ones having a heatwave this summer (sorry Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney), but normally it’s hotter up here. We also have an insulated backpack, which works better if you’re cycling, scootering or skating to the shop.
- Put your bags back where they go as part of your grocery-putting-away routine. For example, after a big shop, gather the bags up and put them back in the boot of the car. Otherwise, you’ll get to the shop next time and realise you left them on the kitchen bench. That sucks. Once it’s part of your routine it will seem normal.
- It’s ok to buy the odd new green bag, but don’t go crazy. That’s emergency times only, and only if you’re a bit low on green bags at home.
- You can use any old bag, not just a green bag, if your groceries will fit. I’ve carried lots of stuff home in my laptop backpack before. It also makes it easier to carry on the bus.
- Enlist other people to help you remember and help you put the bags away as part of your routine. If you’re too lazy tired old busy doing incredibly important things, you can always have the kids do it.
How do you remember your green bags?
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