Green4u’s Weblog

President Bush finally released the climate change report his administration was required to produce do to a court order.  Basically, the Bush administration has now admitted that global warming is an issue. While the report is 4 years late in being release, released under official court order, and at the end of his presidency it is still good it came out!

The Global Change Research Act, which was enacted in 1990, required the government to do an assessment on global warming every four years. The last one had been issued in 2000 during President Bill Clinton’s administration.

This is the offical summary of the report:

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program report “Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.3 (SAP 4.3): The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity in the United States ” integrates the Federal research efforts of 13 agencies on climate and global change.

The report has 38 authors from the universities, national laboratories, non-governmental organizations, and Federal service. SAP 4.3 has undergone expert peer review by 14 scientists through a Federal Advisory Committee formed by the USDA, and includes over 1,000 references. USDA was the lead agency for this report as part of its commitment to CCSP.

The report focuses on the next 25 to 50 years, and finds that climate change is already affecting U.S. water resources, agriculture, land resources, and biodiversity, and will continue to do so.

The offical Press Release for the report goes on to state the specific findings of the report:

Specific findings include:

• Grain and oilseed crops will mature more rapidly, but increasing temperatures will increase the risk of crop failures, particularly if precipitation decreases or becomes more variable.

• Higher temperatures will negatively affect livestock.  Warmer winters will reduce mortality but this will be more than offset by greater mortality in hotter summers.    Hotter temperatures will also result in reduced productivity of livestock and dairy animals. 
• Forests in the interior West, the Southwest, and Alaska are already being affected by climate change with increases in the size and frequency of forest fires, insect outbreaks and tree mortality. These changes are expected to continue.
• Much of the United States has experienced higher precipitation and streamflow, with decreased drought severity and duration, over the 20^th century.  The West and Southwest, however, are notable exceptions, and increased drought conditions have occurred in these regions.   
• Weeds grow more rapidly under elevated atmospheric CO₂.  Under projections reported in the assessment, weeds migrate northward and are less sensitive to herbicide applications.
• There is a trend toward reduced mountain snowpack and earlier spring snowmelt runoff in the Western United States. 
• Horticultural crops (such as tomato, onion, and fruit) are more sensitive to climate change than grains and oilseed crops.
• Young forests on fertile soils will achieve higher productivity from elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations.  Nitrogen deposition and warmer temperatures will increase productivity in other types of forests where water is available.
• Invasion by exotic grass species into arid lands will result from climate change, causing an increased fire frequency.  Rivers and riparian systems in arid lands will be negatively impacted.
• A continuation of the trend toward increased water use efficiency could help mitigate the impacts of climate change on water resources.
• The growing season has increased by 10 to 14 days over the last 19 years across the temperate latitudes.  Species’ distributions have also shifted.
• The rapid rates of warming in the Arctic observed in recent decades, and projected for at least the next century, are dramatically reducing the snow and ice covers that provide denning and foraging habitat for polar bears.

USDA agencies are responding to the risks of climate change.  For example, the Forest Service is incorporating climate change risks into National Forest Management Plans and is providing guidance to forest managers on how to respond and adapt to climate change.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Services Agency are encouraging actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration through conservation programs.  USDA’s Risk Management Agency has prepared tools to manage drought risks and is conducting an assessment of the risks of climate change on the crop insurance program. 

It is nice to see that the US government is starting to admit there is actually a problem to address. Maybe this will make the people who think this is myth believe we have a real issue to deal with.

To get more information or read the whole report go to:

http://www.usda.gov/oce/global_change/sap_2007_FinalReport.htm

Gas prices just will not stop going up. According to AAA gas prices are up nearly 21% from a year ago and 9.7% over the past month. There were several news articles this weekend about how gas prices have affected people’s everyday lives and their vacation plans. A report also came out that said that Americans drove 11 BILLION less miles in the month of March than last year!!!

This chart from http://zfacts.com/p/35.html is fascinating to see how world events have affected the price of oil (note: this chart is converted to look at all these events in history in today’s dollar)

So we see the financial impact of the cost of oil ripples across our lives, food prices have gone up, even the cost of public transportation has gone up as a result of oil prices. Even independent truckers are selling their rigs and getting different jobs so that they do not have to pay for gas because they are not able to make a profit. How can we make changes in our lives to save money…

Carpooling:

1. Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.com) now has a section for rideshares. Many of the posts are people looking for carpooling options Mon. - Fri.
2. Ridester (http://www.ridester.com) looks like a new website but it has the infrastructure to easily find the ride you are looking for.
3. Google, just search carpooling or rideshare with the region you live in and you will find a regional board of postings for carpooling. I found several in the western states and cities.

Other modes of transportation:

1. Walk to you local stores, library, park, pharmacy..etc. The exercise will do you good too.
2. Bike to all the same places listed above. You can probably ride your bike alot faster than you can walk so the distance you can go to get what you need greatly increases.
3. Bus, train, subway…etc. There are far more bus routes than you think. I live in a suburban area but I can get to the closest big mall by taking a bus. It may not be the most convenient thing but it is possible for me to do.

While this is all easier said than done if you can figure out a way to not drive your car one day of the week every week it will be like not driving for almost two months a year… you would save alot of money.

Get a Sigg water bottle or other aluminium water bottle and fill it with tap water. I recently purchased a Sigg water bottle to carry water for my walk to and from the train everyday (it is getting warmer now so I get pretty thirsty). These water-bottles are generally more expensive than a plastic water bottle but for your health you should not drink out a plastic water bottle.

Sigg (http://www.mysigg.com/) is the new hip water bottle and the prices range from $15 to $30. They are currently hard to find I tried to get one for my husband (who liked mine) and they were sold out everywhere I went! On their website they discuss that they are working to keep up with the unplanned demand… Julia Roberts apparently said “you have to get a Sigg water bottle” on Oprah… need I say more!

Make sure you fill it will tap water. If you are worried about what is in your tap water you can get it tested. You can get the Silverlake Research’s Watersafe All-in-One Kit  at watersafetestkits.com. It measures levels of bacteria, chlorine, lead, nitrates, and pesticides (all calibrated to EPA standards). The home test kit starts at $19.95 but you could go all out and mail them a water sample for $149.95. To be honest you probably spend more on bottled water in a year anyway so if you really are worried it is worth it.

If you do not want to test you water but you are concerned about it you could get a Brita water filter to further ‘clean’ your water. Remember Dasani and Aquafina are only filtered tap water from the bottling plant! 

So grab a water bottle, fill it up with tap water… save the environment and your wallet!

In my previous post about the worse trail marker ever alot of people posted or emailed me “why is Styrofoam bad?” I think I personally took for granted that everyone knew about the ill’s of Styrofoam so I thought I would dedicate a post to telling you it’s hazards.

Styrofoam which was created by Dow Chemicals in the 1970’s as a insulation device. Hamburgers, coffee cups, even house hold construction products were made out of Styrofoam. The production of Styrofoam products used CFC’s. The use of CFC’s was banned in 1989 so many companies stopped using products made with Styrofoam including McDonald’s (voluntarily). Production methods changed so there was no longer CFC pollution in production but many of it’s ill effects remained.

Styrofoam does not breakdown easily and it releases chemicals when it gets wet that contaminates water that touches it thus contaminating the water supply. The following fact I already knew but I had to find it online to get that actual particulars (you will be shocked, I think about it everytime I get food in a Styrofoam container):

By 1986, styrene was found in 100 percent of all samples of human fat tissue taken as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Human Tissue Survey. Researchers found that Styrofoam cups lose weight when in use, meaning that styrene is oozing into the foods and drinks we consume. It then ends up stored in our fatty tissue, where it can build up to levels that can cause fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, blood abnormalities, and even carcinogenic effects.

(source: http://www.greenhome.com/info/news/41.shtml)

There is also the question as to whether Styrofoam can be recycled. It can be but alot of recycling plants do not accept it because of the cost involved. Here are some other facts about Styrofoam recycling:

• Polystyrene recycling is not “closed loop” - collected polystyrene cups are not remanufactured into cups, but into other products, such as packing filler and cafeteria trays. This means that more resources will have to be used, and more pollution created, to produce more polystyrene cups.
  -”Plastics Industry Grasps for Straws,” Everyone’s Backyard, January/February 1990, Citizen’s Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, p. 6.

What are the real health effects of eating and drinking food from Styrofoam containers:

World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene is also suspected of causing:

– low platelet counts or hemoglobin values;
– chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities;
– neurotoxic effects due to accumulation of styrene in the tissues of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, resulting in fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, and other acute or chronic health problems associated with the nervous system.

Because many of these effects can be more pronounced on developing bodies, extra caution is advisable for women who are pregnant (or considering becoming so) and for prepubescent children.

And now I will take it a step further… Dunkin Donuts!! They are probably the single biggest food producer that creates Styrofoam waste! 3 billion Styrofoam cups are purchased and disposed of each year in the US from customers of Dunkin Donuts!! If after reading all of this you want to tell Dunkin Donuts to change their cups here is the website to tell them:

https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/contact/Feedback.aspx?type=5

if you want to send them an old fashion letter or call them:

Dunkin’ Donuts Consumer Care
130 Royall Street
Canton, MA 02021
Tel: 800-859-5339

Local municipalities can be at the front line sof helping us change our habits. Since the city or town you live in provides you with alot of the services that you need they are the first group that should be able to step in and help.

Towns can create an environmental council made of people who live in the town. They can work with the town officals to create new programs that will make it easier for their residents to live a more environmentally responsible lifestyle. People who live in the town know what the people need and what they are capable of.

Some of the things that the town environmental council can do is:

• light bulb trade in
• publicize hazardous waste drop offs
• compost bins sold at discounted prices (I recently purchases a compost bin at a reduced price from exactly the kind of group I am describing in a town)
• recycling bins in public places
• giving out recycling bins to ensure compliance with town ordinances

The town could create a local commuter shuttle within the town. Shuttles from a residential area to the business district would increase local sales to the local merchants and keep more people off the roads (this could also help the elderly get around without having to drive). Towns can even take this a step further an coordinate with neighboring towns to have a more reaching effect.

Tax credits for decreased energy or water consumption. Even just a little financial savings can motivate people to conserve.

Community gardens could be set up in green spaces so that people can learn how to garden or for those in urban areas grow vegetables that they otherwise would have had to buy. Community gardens also improve the look of the area which increases property value so there are plenty of other benefits.

As people in the town get to know each other from alot of these activities they will be more environmentally concious and who knows maybe people will realize they have a neighbor that works near them and they can car pool to work together!!!

We all need exercise but there are cheaper and more environmentally friendly ways to exercise than the gym. If you quit the gym you will not only save money from the membership but also from the gas you burn driving to and from the gym.

If you normally run or walk on the treadmill or elliptical machine at the gym 1-2 miles a day take your car for a drive one mile from your house and see what stores you pass. You can walk to all those store to get what you need without having to go to the gym or burn the gas to run your errands. It will not take you anymore time (and it could be arguably less time) to walk and run errands than it is to go to the gym. You can also take your kids or dog on a long walk more regularly because you do not have to compete with the gym schedule to get everything done.

If you lift weights you can do yard work (if you have one) or you can walk home from the grocery store carrying your bags. If you really feel that weights are important you can still get weights for your house less than a few months of membership at the gym and you have it forever.

If you ride the bike… buy a real bike and you can go even farther than walking to run your errands. Get a good backpack and you can ride around town and get your errands done. Your bike riding workout will likely be even better on a real road with actual hills.

If you stretch or do yoga you can still do that at home with a video or even the Wii Fit.

Another way to stay healthy is to play sports with your kids at the local park. You can get a softball game together pretty quickly with a few kids. You can play catch, kick the soccer ball around or even play tennis or racket ball against a brick wall (I used to practice tennis as a kid at the school down the street hitting the balls off the wall of the school).

Time are tough economically and this a great way to save money, stay healthy, and help the environment.

My husband wrote this post today… he was mountain biking yesterday and saw the worst trail marker ever and has posted his “rant” on two mountain biking forums. Here are his thoughts:

While riding one of my favorite trails in the great state of New Jersey yesterday, I noticed that one of my regular trails had been given some new Trailmarkers.

The Markers were plates stapled to trees. As I got closer to one of them I noticed that not only were they plates - but they were styrofoam plates.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I took one down off the tree and placed it in my pack. I really hope that the person/people responsible for putting these up go back and take down every single one of them.

Remember Earth Day - it was less than a month ago and some people have already forgotten about it. I’m far from a vegetarian earth loving hippy, but come on - use a little common sense and don’t use styrofoam plates in the middle of a State Park..

This is a cross post from NJ Forum - Where I am stil waiting for someone to take responsibility.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=414086

Thanks for letting me rant..

Today is National Bike to Work Day! Do you know anyone riding their bike to work today? I don’t and not just because it is raining out either!

People have very long commutes these days that take them on the highway. There is no job I have ever had that I could ride my bike to with maybe the exception of an after school job in high school. Because Americans commute so long I am not sure that it could ever work.

Some interesting facts about bike riding:

According to the National Sporting Goods Association, the number of Americans who bike “frequently” — 110 days a year or more — fell almost 10 percent in 2007 to 3.7 million people.

Similarly, the number of people who ride bikes at least six times a year fell to 35.6 million in 2006, the lowest since the survey began in 1984, from 56.3 million in 1995.

I think the fact that Americans cannot ride their bikes to work shows the need for better public transportation nationwide. Urban planners, state and local officials and businesses need to sit down and figure out how they can provide better options to their workers to get to work. Telecommuting can help in some ways but there are still alot of jobs that require us to actually go to the office, store…etc. We need to think of a better way to get us there so we can reduce emissions and save ourselves some money!

I had the opportunity to test drive a Smart Car (made by Mercedes-Benz) over the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it ran and how comfortable it was. I test drove the Smart ForTwo, which has retail price of $11,000 to $16,500. Currently, in my area there is a 1 year wait for a car and in order to get on the list you need to put a $99 deposit down for the car.

All cars come with automatic and a push button standard (I do not know how to drive a stick so I cannot elaborate on how this is different than other cars other than there was no clutch or pedal on the floor). If you drive the car in standard you get better gas mileage.

This is a gas fueled car that is legal to drive on the highway and to my surprise can go as fast as 90 MPH!! When looking at its size you wonder what it can do on the highway.

Once I got into the car I was surprised to see how big the passenger space was. You feel like you are sitting pretty high in the car and there is a huge sunroof so you feel like you have alot of space. The controls on the car felt like they were in the right place and it was easy to see out of. As I started driving the car it had a good start as you step on the gas, my biggest complaint is when you get to about 15 mph you hesitate as you switch gears and you feel this much more than you would in another car. Overall, the car drove well and handled well.

The cargo space was also larger than I thought it would be, although not cavernous. You could easily fit several full grocery bags in the back. There is also a ton leg room space so if you are traveling alone in the car and you bought more than could fit in the back you could easily fit it in the front. I think the obvious caveat is that I would not recommend this car to make a big trip to Ikea or Home Depot for large items.

The car comes in a limited amount of colors white, grey, black, orange (they say red, I am not so sure though), yellow and blue. They also have a convertible version. There are million features you can add on to the car to like heated seats, 5 cd changer, mp3 plug in jack, bike or ski racks, safety plus package (emergency equipment), and lots of others.

So here is what you have been waiting for it is a gas car so what is its mileage… 33 city 40 highway. It has an 8.7 gallon tank so if gas is $4.00 a gallon it would cost $34.80 to fill up and drive anywhere from 287.1 - 348 miles.

Features:

• 4 Start Crash test rating
• Tight turning radius of 28.71 ft.
• Electronic Stability Program
• Anti-lock Brakes
• passive safety systems
• Full-size 2 stage front airbag, head and thorax side airbags, belt tensioners and belt force limiters (the steering column can also retract away when necessary)
• Hill Start assist (which will be helpful in a car this size)

Who is this car perfect for:The commuter (train or public transportation) who needs a ride to the station, someone who works close to home, a second car, or any single person or couple who just needs a car on occasion.

Cons of this car: It is still a completely gas run car so it does not help you get rid of your dependence on oil or gas. Cars are going to have to have equally competitive gas mileage soon anyway.

Environmental Info:Production of these cars takes place in ’smartville’ where they use a process of painting the cars that uses 40% less energy than conventional painting methods and solvent emissions are low because they use water based lacquers. Their industrial waste water and sewage is purified which reduces waster water contamination to what a population of 50 people would produce rather than a population of 3,000. Some of the components of the car are also made with 100% recycled plastic. They even went so far as designing the car to be recyclable when you are done with it!!! Talk about innovation!!

For more information go to: http://www.smartusa.com

In my dreams I would be able to control my energy consumption by knowing how much energy I am using at any given time. You could easily tell your kids or your husband “we need to use less electricity this week because we have gone over our budgeted limit.” From a financial and an environmental perspective it would be great to have this kind of information at hand. Arguably you can say you do if you know how to read your meter in your house and know how much the cost of the energy is and the cost of delivery? To complicated to be useful right now if you ask me. It would be great if there was just a monitor in my house that could tell me everything I need to know.

If I take my dream a step further (hit the snooze button) and I would be able to program my house, to do all the energy efficent things I need it to do. Basically, a device that will think green for me. Well there is a company that is doing that. Here is an article I came across today that details the dream plan I had:

Xcel Energy, the leading provider of wind energy in the United States has just announcedthat it plans on building the US’s first fully integrated Smart Grid in Boulder, Colorado. The idea behind a smart grid is to integrate high-speed communication technologies with the electric grid, allowing for real-time, two-way communication between the utility, the consumer, and throughout the distribution grid.