GREEN TIP: Business Energy Costs

Business Energy Costs

Business can reduce their energy consumption and costs by 15% to 25% by adopting sustainable energy practices.

Christine Watson

Follow Clear the Air

GREEN TIP: Plant a Native Plant a Native

Native plants are better for the environment because they adapt to our area, particularly sandy and coastal conditions. They require less maintenance and less water and far more resistant to pests and disease.

Christine Watson

Follow Clear the Air

Clear the Air eMagazine Nov 14, 2009

Check out the latest eMagazine from Clear the Air, featuring news on green articles from around the world.

As well as viewing it page by page, you can also:

Download it as a PDF

Download it for your Amazon Kindle/Sony ebook

Simon TurnerFollow us…

Join our Fan Page

The Dirty Lowdown on Disposable Nappies

Consider these facts when buying disposable nappies:
  

-                Nappies are the third most common item, by volume and weight, in American, UK, European, Japanese and Australian landfills.

-                According to Choice consumer magazine, 95% of Australian babies wore disposable nappies in 2007. In China, only 6% do, in India 2%.

-                It takes over 10 full sized trees to produce the number of nappies your baby will use in its first couple of years.

-                Production of a single disposable nappy requires 2/3 of a cup of petroleum. This adds up to over 3 billion gallons (1134 billion litres of oil) per year dedicated to disposable nappy production.

-                According to 2003 figures from the Women’s Environment Network, it takes on average 22,250 MJ of energy, 75,000 ha of land for raw materials and 70 cubic metres of waste water is needed to manufacture enough disposable nappies for just one infant over the course of 2½ years.

-                The estimated cost of disposable nappies per child is $3,500.

What to Do With Old Computers and Electrical Appliances?

What do you do with appliances such as fridges, microwave ovens, televisionsd, phones and computers that are well past their use by date and no longer work? For most of us, we wait until our local councils hold a household rubbish collection (different from our weekly rubbish collection). Most councils hold these at least once a year and many people “hang out” for these and walk the streets looking to make someone’s trash, their treasure!

Waiting for the council collection usually means those old items are cluttering up our garages or backyards waiting for that annual date and hopefully we don’t forget to place them on our footpaths the night before collection.

These old appliances have typically been buried as landfill, leaving toxins that leach into the ground and our waterways.

Each year 1.5 million televisions are disposed of and this is increasing rapidly because by the end of 2013 the government is switching off the analogue signal all over Australia. Most of us are upgrading our analogue televisions to digital.

If 75% of those 1.5 million televisions that are discarded annually were recycled, it would amount to a national saving of approximately 23,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents, 520 mega litres of water, 400,000 gigajoules of energy and 160,000 cubic metres of landfill space.

Finally we have a service available to us to correctly dispose of our old electrical equipment and help us achieve a sustainable future.   As a general rule of thumb, they believe that anything that “plugs in” can be recycled and state that between 95%-98% (by weight) will be fully recycled.

1800Ewaste comes to you, takes away your old appliances and delivers it to the appropriate recycling facility.

http://www.ewaste.com.au/

Recycling Your Old Jeans

You don’t have to be a seamstress – if you have basic sewing skills you can turn your old jeans into something fabulous. Here are a few suggestions:

Pillows: Cut the legs into a tube, stuff with cotton and sew the ends shut. Make a smaller version for a travel pillow, or a larger version to decorate a living room or bedroom. Add decorative touches like buttons or use the back pocket of the jeans for an interesting effect.

Handbag: Cut the legs below the crotch, sew each leg shut and thread a rope or ribbon through the belt loops for a handle. This can be used as a hip and unusual handbag, or as a shopping bag for the environmentalist. Various size jeans will create different sized bags. Pick a plain cotton rope as a handle for the eco friendly person, or use a decorative, glittery rope for the fashionista.

Potholders: Line denim squares with fleece, quilt batting or more layers of denim to create a thick potholder. Quilt together. Hem the edges, or seam with tape or ribbon. You can add rick-rack and other decorative designs too. The perfect gift for the chef in your family!

Coin Purse: The back pocket of jeans makes the perfect coin purse. Just cut closely around the pocket for an instant pouch. Add a zipper or button closure if desired. You can decorate with buttons, ribbons, fabric print or beads.

5 Green Wedding Engagement Tips

Top Green Wedding Engagement tips

Get A Green Engagement Ring

Whether you decide to go diamond, platinum, gold, wood, antique – or with something completely custom and original – the most important factor to keep in mind when choosing the ring is the person you’re buying it for. Don’t let the salesperson talk you into the diamond if she’d rather have an amethyst; don’t buy a new ring that looks vintage when there are estate sales and antique stores that sell the real deal (without consuming the energy used to process something brand new). Have a family gem? Get it reset in a band made from recycled metals for a piece that fits the bill as something old and something new.

Pop The Question

You want it to be romantic. You want it to be memorable. You want it to be perfect. But does that mean it has to be environmentally un-friendly? Obviously hiring that plane to write “Will you marry me?” in the sky is a no-go – as is your weekend trip to Paris to propose under the Eiffel Tower (unless you live in France of course) – but you can still make your proposal green; try making an organic, home cooked meal with plenty of candlelight; putting together a scrapbook of photos and mementos from your relationship; or going down on one knee in the spot where you met. It doesn’t have to be elaborate to garner a “yes” from your sweetheart; it just has to be heartfelt.

Spread The Word

Congratulations! Now that you’re engaged – it’s time to share your happy news with eco-friendly engagement announcements. An electronic announcement is the greenest option, but if your families are too traditional to get the word out view email, look for announcements made from recycled paper, printed with non-toxic inks and made with low-impact processes.

Throw A Party

Ready to celebrate? The parties that go along with weddings-from engagement soires to bridal showers to rehearsal dinners – have a carbon footprint all their own; keep yours under control with an eco friendly engagement get together. Control the guest list, choose a restaurant that gets its ingredients from local farms (or cook at home); put together centrepieces that take advantage of the season with sticks, flowers and other natural elements. Light the room with soy candles, lay out cloth napkins and toast with organic cocktails.

Shop Smart

When it comes to picking out the china, appliances and sheets that will mark the start of your new life together, get off to a green start with your registry. Register at a smaller boutique store that carries pieces by local artisans for one-of-a-kind place settings that you won’t see on your cousin’s table at Thanksgiving, and look for sustainable fibres (like organic cotton) woven into sheets, towels, tablecloths and napkins. Scale back on kitchen gadgets – do you really need that Panini maker, or will a grill pan work? How often would you make ice cream from scratch? And choose items that will do double duty to save space and minimise clutter. If you’re combining two households and already have all your housewares, register for tools, camping equipment or donations to your favourite charity instead.

Christine Watson

Follow Clear the Air

Six Tips Toward An Eco Affordable Wardrobe

Here’s some tips to help you achieve a more eco (and affordable) wardrobe.
Take Stock And Weed Out. Are you even sure what you have in your closet anymore, and whether it all fits? This is the first step to building your green wardrobe. You need to get in your closet and give to your favourite charity anything too tight or loose, too stained, or too much of a fashion flop to be saved. Take notes! When you go through this process you’ll see what things you really may need to buy (ie no more black pants, yes to a versatile travel skirt, etc). One way to get over packrat mentality is divide stuff into “keep”, “undecided/swap” and “throw” piles. Keep the undecided/swaps through another few seasons – if you never thought about them it means you are ready to throw, though there’s always a possibility you look on some of these potential discards with new love when you open the bag months from now.

2.     Find and Cultivate That Rarest of Creatures, A Seamstress/Tailor. When you’ve de-cluttered the wardrobe chances are you’ll find a couple of good quality items that just need a decent repair. This goes for quality shoes too. Unless you are very handy, its best not to fool yourself that you will ever do these repairs yourself. Instead, you need to find someone who will make these alterations now and in the future, so you can buy quality items at higher prices and repair them when they need it rather than chucking.

3.     Shun Fashion Magazines, Except At The Dentist’s Office. I admit to obsessive fascination with celebrities’ fashion faux pas. It’s better to stay far, far away from the regular fashion mags, because they give us unrealistic expectations and make us unhappy with what we have. Being stylish and looking good is so much different from following fashion, and to be stylish you’ve got to develop your own individual aesthetic and then be able to adapt new trends to suit your own needs. So save yourself some money and clutter, and nix those glossies in the bud.

4.     Get a Few Good Books instead to help you start to think about your own true and relatively timeless style. And take a hard look at the types of clothes you wear again and again, not just because they are comfortable and fit right, but also because they express something of your personality. It’s said women wear only 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time. When you see what you always wear and what looks good on you that’s getting close to your personal style, which will change and evolve but is probably not going to make huge shifts.

5.     Find Quality New Based Clothing Sites and Peruse Regularly With list in hand, you are ready for the brave new world of quality eco-shopping. If you can swing it, a clothing budget will help you stay on track month-to-month so you know when it’s appropriate to splurge on a organic wool sweater or vegan boots. Most of the time, this doesn’t mean walking through the large department stores or window shopping the chain stores – in fact, steer clear of impulse purchases for the most part. Instead, seek out the eco boutiques in your town armed with your perennial list of real needs and wants. Going to eco boutiques, even if you can’t afford them now, it’s good for trying on things you might eventually find on the web for cheaper. And bookmark your list of quality, eco-conscious sites to check back often for specials on your list.

6.     Use Swapping And Vintage Stores To Keep Novelty In Your Wardrobe. Once you have your basic wardrobe of high-quality (hopefully eco) basics, you can add quirky style bits by having clothes swapping parties and going to vintage stores. And last but not least, don’t feel guilty for the occasional cheap-clothing buy. You’ll find that once you’ve adapted your wardrobe with well made pieces in good, organic fabrics, the cheap stuff will start to look, well, cheap. An impulse purchase or the lure of the sale sign will happen less and less and you’ll save your $$ for stuff you love and stuff that will last.

Written by April Streeter

Christine Watson

Follow Clear the Air

Save Water: Turn off the Pool Pump

Our local paper now publishes a regular environmental initiative. This week we learned that by cutting our pool pump running time by one hour a day, we will save almost half a tonne of CO2 in a year and save money by cutting our electricity bill.

A pool filter pump running for eight hours a day at peak rates can cost $650 a year on the electricity bill and will cause 4.5 tonnes of CO2 pollution (about the same as a car in a year).

image (c) Reuters

Check that a timer is installed and working on your pool pump and ensure it is programmed to run no more than four to five hours a day. By only running them for the minimum time required to keep the pool clean, and in non-peak times, you will save money, take demand pressure off the electricity system, and help the plant.

Christine Watson

Follow Clear the Air

DID YOU KNOW: Save on Your Heating Bill

Turning your thermostat down 1 degree can save up to 10% on an annual heating bill.

Simon Turner

Follow Clear the Air

Clear the Air eMagazine October 27, 2009

Check out the latest eMagazine from Clear the Air, featuring news on green articles from around the world.

As well as viewing it page by page, you can also:

Download it as a PDF

Download it for your Amazon Kindle/Sony ebook

Simon TurnerFollow us…

Join our Fan Page

Clear the Air eMagazine October 20, 2009

Check out the latest eMagazine from Clear the Air, featuring news on green articles from around the world.

As well as viewing it page by page, you can also:

Download it as a PDF

Download it for your Amazon Kindle/Sony ebook

Simon TurnerFollow me…

Join our Fan Page

How To Avoid Wasting Food – Before It Goes Off in Your Fridge!

Here’s some tips on how to avoid wasting food:

Vegetables

1.              Make left over mashed potato into patty shapes and cook them in butter for a quick “hash brown”.

2.              Trimmed ends of from onions, carrots, celery, capsicums can be kept in the freezer and when a reasonable amount is stored, place in a pot with water and make a vegetable soup or stock.

3.              If only using part of an onion or capsicum, chop up the remainder and store in the freezer and use next time you need diced onion or capsicum.

4.              Left over roasted vegetables can be turned into a soup buy adding stock and blending. Or alternatively add to a pan of butter and fry and just prior to the browning completed, add an egg – bubble and squeak – yum.

5.              When preparing pumpkin or squash, do not throw the seeds out. Rinse them and roast in the oven.

6.              Celery leaves can be added to soups, stews, casserole and meatloaf – great flavour boost.

7.              If tomatoes are just about to turn bad, dry them in the oven and store them in a little olive oil in the fridge.

8.              Vegetables such as peas, beans, corn, carrots, broccoli, sprouts, cauliflower and spinach can be blanched in hot water and placed in the freezer.

9.              Zucchini about to go off? Make zucchini bread or muffins and store in the freezer.

Fruit

1.     1. Berries, bananas, melons and mangoes make great smoothies in the fruit is about to go off.

2.     2. Fruit kebabs are a great treat for kids – fresh or barbecued.

3.     3. Too many apples – make an apple sauce or apple butter.

4.     4. Most fruit can be made into a fruit crumble. Assemble and bake it or prepare it, freeze it prior to baking.

Breads and Grains

1.              Make croutons for Caesar Salad from left over bread. Store in air tight container.

2.              Bread crumbs are best made with stale bread.

3.              Keep broken past in a container and add to a rice and vegetable bake.

4.              Left over rice can be added to oatmeal for breakfast.

5.              If the kids don’t like to the crusts on their sandwiches, save the crusts and turn into bread crumbs.

Meats

1.     Don’t throw out chicken, beef, lamb or pork bones. Boil them and make stock which can be frozen.

Dairy

1.     1. Lots of little bits of cheese and me added into a macaroni and cheese dish.

2.     2. If eggs have been kept a while, freeze them by beating the eggs and pour into an ice cream tray.

3.     3. Too much milk and unable to drink it – freeze it.

Herbs

1.     1. Chop herbs and place in an ice cube tray with a little water. To be used in cooking, not to be used in a salad.

2.     2. Herbs can be frozen. Some will turn black, however the flavour is the same.

3.     3. Make pesto with left over basil.

4.     4.  Dry herbs by hanging them by their stems in a cool dry location. When dry, remove from stems and store in airtight containers.

Don’t Waste Anything

1.              Left over coffee in the pot? Freeze it in ice cube trays. Cubes can be used for iced coffee or to cool down too-hot coffee. You can do the same with leftover tea.

2.              Left over wine? Use it to de-glaze pans to add flavour to whatever you are cooking.

3.              Left over stock or broth can be placed in ice cube trays and frozen.

4.              Left over tomato paste can be placed in ice cube trays and frozen.

5.              With a little bit of honey in the bottom of the jar add a squeeze of lemon juice and swish it around. Lemon juice will loosen the honey and it will make a great cup of tea.

Not only will these tips help reduce you food waste, there is a big saving in food bills.

Extracts from Planet Green

DID YOU KNOW: Coal Plants Do $62 Billion of Damage a Year to the US Environment

Coal Plants Do $62 Billion of Damage a Year to the US Environment

DID YOU KNOW: Reduce Pizza Box Waste

Australians eat 190,000,000 takeaway pizzas each year, producing a lot of cardboard boxes, headed for the bin. If scraps of cheese and pastry remain in the boxes, don’t throw the box, put it in a compost bin or use it as a cover for a worm farm. Worms will eat and scraps and the box!

Christine Watson

Follow Clear the Air

Next Page »