TOP ECO SKI HILLS IN NORTH AMERICA
By Pippa Sorley
Filed Under Green Living, News & Reviews, Sustainable Style, The Big Picture | Leave a Comment
When winter finally rolls around, I’m like a kid on Christmas eve. I count down the days and wait with bated breath for the “freshies” to fall. Every snowy morning, I eagerly check the daily snow report to see where the best powder stashes might be. I admit it: I love skiing chairlift-operated ski hills. I thrive on rippin’ it down the Vails and Aspens of the world.
Nevertheless, sometimes I wonder: am I a hypocrite for supporting an industry that requires so much energy and land-use to operate? Is it possible to be an environmentalist and simultaneously a downhill ski addict?
Sure, I’ve done the back country hut trips, but nothing is quite like the high of slaloming freshly groomed “corduroy” first thing in the morning. Perhaps, it’s the security blanket that patrolled ski hills offer, or maybe it’s the fact that I’m a weekend warrior who doesn’t have time to hike 3 hours every time I want to make steep turns. But, if this makes me a hypocrite, then the least I can do is to try to be a mindful hypocrite.
So, how can I be more mindful? I can take the time to honor the majestic land and sublime beauty around me; I can take the time to give thanks to the massive swaths of trees that were cleared just so little ‘ole me – and 12 million other Colorado snow riders – can have the privilege to barrel down powdery slopes with pure ecstasy and delight. But perhaps most importantly, I can spend my dollar where it counts : by supporting ski resorts and businesses that are leading the path toward “skistainability”.
CREAM OF THE SUSTAINABLE SKI CROP:
When it comes to environmental policy, Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) blows other ski resorts out of the water. Driven by the arson episode in Vail by eco-activists, Aspen and other mindful ski businesses started to question the lack of environmental scrutiny within their $4 billion dollar industry. The “point” finally “tipped” in 1997, when ASC President & CEO Patrick O’Donnell – who previously ran Patagonia – installed its very first “Environmental Affairs” department, directed by Auden Schendler, who has spearheaded programs and initiatives that go way beyond green. In fact, his “Sustainability Report” was the first of its kind within the ski industry, and has garnered attention from consumers and competing ski resorts alike. ASC is one of the first businesses in America to be ISO-14001-certified. To me, this sounds like a type of oil change, but it represents one of the most stringent third-party certification programs that demand strict criteria for environmental responsibility.
“Climate change should drive everything we do,” says Schendler, who previously worked at the Aspen-based think tank, Rocky Mountain Institute. “We make our living off the environment. The least we can do is take care of it.” In light of this commitment, Aspen Ski Co has taken a plethora of steps to reduce their impact, and, in doing so, have managed to impress such environmental watch dogs as Natural Resources Defense Council and United States Green Building Council.
Plans are in development for a massive new base village in Snowmass – a $400 million dollar project – in which all buildings will be 30% more energy-efficient than required by code. And, ASC is one of the first ski resorts to offset 100% of its energy use with wind power. Here are some other impressive examples of how ASC is leading the way:
- Approximately 40% of facilities have been retrofitted for energy efficiency, including snowmaking guns at Snowmass, Buttermilk and Aspen Mountain.
- Established largest solar photovoltaic system in ski industry.
- 100% of snowcats use B20, a bio-diesel blend.
Aspen Ski Co. perfectly exemplifies what all other ski areas should be doing: truly walking the talk. So, how do other ski hills compare?
- Vail: in 1994, arsonists targeted Two Elks Restaurant in response to Vail’s expansion into a wetlands area now known as Blue Sky Basin. Since then, Vail, and other resorts, have learned a valuable lesson: that the environment and the integrity of ski resorts matter to their clientele. Following Aspen’s footsteps, Vail is starting to pay attention to their environment. Vail Resorts announced in August 2006 that they will offset 100% of its energy use by purchasing 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy from Boulder-based Renewable Choice Energy for its five mountain resorts (see below), specifically for its lodging properties, 125 retail locations and also its new headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado.
- Mammoth Mountain, CA sits on geothermal volcanic cauldron from which they will tap their energy use required for new development. They also run bio-diesel throughout their operation.
- Alta recently rebuilt their mid-mountain restaurant - the Waston Shelter – green with low-flush toilets, fluorescent lighting, and energy efficient windows.
- Jackson Hole, Wyoming runs two chair lifts on wind power.
- Because of their long-term sustainability plan and implementation of the Environmental Management System document in 1993, Whistler Blackcomb has won numerous awards, including the ski industry’s top prize in 2003 and 2005 for environmental excellence in ski resorts across North America. Their next goal is to reduce waste by 80% by end of 2008.
Originally written for elephant Journal by Pippa Sorley, 2007
Posted on November 18, 2008 |
Energy Tips: What to Look For When Buying Windows
By Andy Mazal
Filed Under Green Living | Leave a Comment
Seemingly, windows are simple devices designed for very simple purposes: to let light inside and to let you see outside. However, if you’ve ever purchased windows before you know that the illusion of simplicity disappears quickly once you begin to be confronted with all the choices you have to make, from the material the frame is made out of, to the “U-Factor”, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, number of panes and films, and more. Making matters more complicated is that valid advice for one region might not apply to another region due to differences in climate. For example, a window in the Rocky Mountains needs to perform a very different job to a window in a hot humid climate.
First, let’s get something straight: no matter how much you spend on a window, it is very likely to be by far the weakest link in your home’s insulated building envelope. Even the best, most expensive and highest tech window will not even come close to insulating as well as the wall surrounding it. All the same, the choices you make in selecting a window can dramatically affect the energy consumption of your home and, just as important, your comfort. Here we’ll attempt to de-mystify the window buying process a bit.
Number of panes: This refers to the number of sheets of glass that make up a window. Old windows were single-paned, with only one thin piece of glass between the interior of a building and the outside world. These windows were horribly inefficient, with their main benefit being that they kept wind out, but did little to keep heat inside (or outside). The advent of dual pane windows improved the efficiency of a window dramatically by sandwiching a layer of air (or an inert gas) between the two panes. Today there are also windows with three panes as well which are even more efficient, but are also usually much more expensive. When buying windows today you’ll almost always be dealing with dual- or triple-paned windows; the only reason you would ever buy a single pane window today would be because it is required by zoning, most commonly in historic districts where the main concern is maintaining the historic character of the area.
Frame Materials: The material that the frame of a window is made of can have dramatic effects on performance and price. At the low-end, but very common, is vinyl. This is a great “bang for your buck” material as it’s cheap, easy to work with and does not transmit heat very well (which is good). However, it has a few disadvantages as well. First, you’re very limited in color: white or almond, in most cases. Secondly, vinyl is somewhat unstable and has a tendency to warp a little over time when exposed to extremes of heat and cold, which results in the window leaking air around the cracks more over time as well. All the same, millions and millions of vinyl-framed windows are installed every year, and they can be a great choice as a replacement window when replacing old, leaky inefficient windows. Even the cheapest off-the-shelf vinyl window will be far more efficient than a leaky 1960s or 1970s-era aluminum frame window, and especially an even older a single-pane window. Other materials run the gamut from wood to fiberglass to composite materials. All work well, and often the decision will be made based on cost and maintenance issues. For example, wood-framed windows look great and are quite efficient, but often cost more and require more maintenance — they have to be painted every few years. Another option we’re starting to see more and more of is “clad” windows which are sort of a hybrid: wood on the inside and clad with some other material such as aluminum or fiberglass on the outside. These exterior materials are often pre-finished from the factory and might never have to be painted at all.
However, even after you’ve decided on style, manufacturer and material, your job is not done yet. When you look at a new window you’ll see a large label with lots of strange numbers and statistics printed on it. At the least, you’ll see two Energy Performance Ratings: U-Factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC). You might also see numbers for Visible Transmittance (VT) and Air Leakage (AL). Here’s what all that means:
U-Factor: The U-Factor is a measure of a window’s resistance to heat flow expressed as a number between 0 and 1. The lower the number, the more effective it is at resisting heat flow, and thus, the better it insulates. In almost all cases you want to get that U-Factor down as low as you can, because in either hot or cold climates you want the window to insulate as well as it can to either keep heat outside or to keep heat inside. An extremely efficient window will have a U-Factor of around 0.15 but even if you aim for a U-Factor of 0.40 or 0.35, you’ll be doing well.
Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC): This is a measure of how much solar radiation (i.e., heat) a window allows to pass through it. It is also expressed as a number between 0 and 1, with 0 being no solar heat is transmitted through the window and 1 being 100% of solar heat transmitted through it, although in most cases it will vary between 0.2 and 0.8. In this case, whether you want a lot or a little solar heat transmitted through the window will depend very much on where you live and what direction the window faces. In the cooler northern climates you will generally want your south-facing windows to have a higher SHGC (above 0.7) so you can take advantage of the passive heating effects of the sun during the cold winter months. In the warm southern latitudes you’ll want to choose windows with a much lower SHGC (below 0.4) since your biggest concern is usually keeping cool during the hot summer months. In fact, SHGC is even more important than U-Factor in hot southern climates, so if you live in a hot climate and have to choose based on cost, opt for a lower SHGC at the expense of a higher U-Factor if you must.
Visible Transmittance (VT): VT is the measure of the amount of visible light transmitted through the window. This number will vary between 0 (no light transmitted at all) to 1 (100% of light is transmitted) but because the VT rating includes the frame of the window, which obviously transmits no light through it, the number will generally be between 0.3 and 0.8. In most cases you want this number to be as high as it can be, since much of the point of having windows in the first place is to let in light, however there are certainly situations where you’d want to have less light transmitted, such as when glare is an issue.
Air Leakage (AL): This is a measure of the amount of air passing through the cracks in the window assembly, expressed as a cubic feet of air passing through a square foot of window. Although all windows that open will have some air leakage, it should be pretty obvious that this is a measure you’ll want to keep down as much as possible. Aim for 0.3 or less.
Low-E: This stands for “Low-Emittance Coating,” and is a microscopically thin and virtually invisible coating of metallic layers deposited on the glass of a window or skylight. The purpose of a Low-E coating is to reduce the U-Factor of the window (and thus make it more resistant to heat flow) by reflecting long-wave infrared radiation, otherwise known as “heat.” Most windows today have some sort of Low-E coating on them as a way to push that U-Factor down.
Hopefully this has helped to shed some light on what you should be looking for when buying windows, whether replacing old ones or when building a new house. In almost all cases you’ll have a professional installer involved during the ordering and installation process, but now that you’re an informed window consumer you can double-check to make sure that this person is recommending an appropriate product. Ask them to explain why they are recommending what they are recommending and not just ordering the “default” because it’s easier. The characteristics of the windows you end up with can make a very large difference in your energy consumption and comfort, so make sure you’re getting the correct product for your climate and for the orientation of each window you’re installing. At the very least, ask your window professional “Why is this window here and why is that window there?” — and make sure they have a good answer!
Andy Mazal
Inhabit - Green Building Consulting
andy@inhabitconsulting.com
www.inhabitconsulting.com
Posted on November 11, 2008 |
Peak Oil - It Is The Economy
By Anita M. Burke
Filed Under News & Reviews, The Big Picture | Leave a Comment
Rex Weyler, co-founder of Greenpeace, author, activist, thought leader, and friend, recently posted a thorough article on Peak Oil. In light of the recent financial crisis, it seems important to remind eCoTimes readers about some of his important insights.
As a veteran in the sustainability industry, I have been asked by scores of people recently, “Wow - you were talking about this three years ago… at the time I really thought you were crazy; and now look it’s happening! WHAT CAN I DO?”
Rex Wyler does a fantastic job of summarizing the best course of action. The recent $700 Billion bailout “solution” is no solution. It’s a simple quick fix that only feeds the addiction. It may temporarily stop the shakes, sweats and shudders that accompany detoxification, but, what are we going to do when the last hit of credit wears off?
Rex Wyler nails it… grab a cup o’ fair trade coffee and take a look…
PEAK OIL - IT IS THE ECONOMY
by Rex Wyler
As the era of cheap liquid fuels draws to an end, everything about modern consumer society will change. Likewise, developing societies pursuing the benefits of globalization will struggle to grow economies in an era of scarce liquid fuels. The most localized, self-reliant communities will experience the least disruption.
Oil is a fixed asset of the planet, representing stored sunlight accumulated over a billion years as early marine algae, and other marine organisms (not dinosaurs) captured solar energy, formed carbon bonds, gathered nutrients, died, sank to the ocean floors, and lay buried under eons of sediment. Like any fixed non-renewable resource, oil is limited, and its consumption will rise, peak, and decline.
World oil production increased for 150 years until the spring of 2005, when world crude oil production reached about 74.3 million barrels per day (mb/d), and total liquid fuels, including tar sands, liquefied gas, and biofuels reached about 85 mb/d. In spite of the efforts since, and tales of “trillions of barrels” of oil in undiscovered fields, liquid fuel production has remained at about 85.5 mb/d for three years, the longest sustained plateau in modern petroleum history. Discoveries of new fields peaked 40 years ago
Meanwhile economies everywhere want to grow, so demand for oil soars worldwide. The gap between this surging demand and flat or declining production will drive price increases and shortages. That’s peak oil.
Peak experience
Peak oil is not a theory, but rather a simple observation of a common natural occurrence. Peak oil is only one symptom of an exponentially growing population, with exponentially growing demands, reaching worldwide limits of all resources.
“Peak oil has long been a reality for the oil industry,” says Anita M Burke, former Shell International senior advisor on Climate Change and Sustainability. “To believe anything else belies the facts of science.” In 2007, Dr James Schlesinger, former US Defense and Energy Secretary stated flatly, “if you talk to industry leaders, they concede … we are facing a decline in liquid fuels. The battle is over. The peakists have won.”
Global warming, caused primarily by forest destruction and the burning of fossil fuels, now aggravates natural limits and the human turmoil that these limits provoke. One might think that peak oil will solve global warming because less oil means less carbon emissions. Sadly, this is not so because humanity took the best, cheapest, and easiest oil first, leaving dirty, acidic, expensive oil in marginal reserves that require vast amounts of energy to recover. In the 1930s, 100 barrels of oil cost about 1 barrel in equivalent energy to extract. That ratio is now about 20:1 and sinking fast. The Canadian tar sands produce barely 1:1 net energy. By the time someone burns tar sands oil in his or her vehicle, the industry has burned nearly an equal amount retrieving it.
When we account for the net energy left after production, and population growth, we discover that the world peak for net-oil per-capita occurred three decades ago, in 1979. Many oil suppliers – Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and others – recognizing the limits of the resource, are now keeping more of their oil for domestic use, and saving it for future growth. Regardless of energy alternatives – ethanol, nuclear, solar, wind, tidal – humanity will never again enjoy the current consumption rates of cheap, convenient fuels. This fact changes everything.
We witness the impact in the increasing scarcity and cost of food and other critical resources that rely on oil. Most trucking firms now add a fuel surcharge to hedge against fuel price increases. As fuel prices soar, airlines cancel flights or simply close down. In many cities, police add a gas charge to traffic tickets because police departments have already spent their annual fuel budget on high-priced gasoline.
The post-peak oil era will require new human development patterns and strategies that cope with limits to growth. Humanity has no new continents to exploit or planets to occupy. Frantic industrial nations may drill in the Arctic and dig into dirty tar sands, but none of this will increase or even match the past abundance of cheap liquid fuel that we have already squandered. Nevertheless, the actual moment that world oil production peaks is less relevant than our preparation for the impact.
Relocalization
Well-financed voices promoting global industrialization claim our economies can grow “forever,” or “for the foreseeable future,” but these voices cry out against the evidence before our eyes. Our massive growth economies were built with cheap oil. Poorly planned development left behind disappearing forests, toxic lakes, soil erosion, species loss, foul air, dead rivers, drying aquifers, and creeping deserts.
The dream of a globalized world marketplace linked by airplanes and trucks will not endure. Monolithic superstores that rely on liquid fuels to ship cheap goods around the world will become the relics of the cheap oil era. These massive chain stores also undermine the local enterprise that communities will need to survive.
“The current solutions being bantered about are inadequate to the conditions we are faced with,” says Anita Burke, after decades inside the oil industry. “We must embrace adaptation strategies that immediately create whole new ways of being in relationship to each other and the planet. Buy local, get off of hydrocarbons in every aspect of your life, gather in community, and espouse only love - your grandchildren’s lives depend on it.”
Communities addicted to cheap oil, especially suburban environments without public transport, will become untenable. Regions that still build highways for cars are simply designing their own demise. Smart communities will design light, convenient public transport to run efficiently on the most locally available energy source.
The post-peak oil era will require that we re-establish local manufacturing and food production, and refurbish economies that have been gutted by globalization. Smart urban designers are now planning for the end of cheap energy, global warming, and the human migration that these changes will set in motion. Smart neighbourhood and regional planners are preparing communities for the inevitable transition from escalating consumption to conserver societies, built on a human scale and linked to social services and the natural cycles that sustain them.
Building communities in nature
I recently walked through an abandoned industrial section of Vancouver, where I live. The empty, poorly designed, decaying buildings seemed depressing, but I noticed how much actual green space flourished with wild plants. Squatters with gardening skills, I kept thinking, could make a life for themselves here.
Human society can change. Witness the historic changes to establish democracies, end slavery, secure civil and women’s rights, or eradicate polio and AIDS. Humanity can harness its resources to change destructive habits and improve living conditions. The crisis of peak oil provides an opportunity strengthen the two pillars that nourish real quality of life: local community and wild nature.
Relocalize: The end of cheap oil means less products arriving from around the world and less jobs making junk to sell elsewhere. Globalization is literally running out of gas. As fuel prices soar, communities will have to supply more food, water, and vital resources locally. If you are thinking of earning a degree in international finance, it might be smart to take some permaculture courses as well.
Preserve Farmland: Wise communities will preserve agricultural land, support farmers, provide local food for local consumption, compost all organic waste including sewage, build soils, apply efficient water use, move toward vegetable diets, and restore and replenish water resources. Rather than building suburbs and highways on farmland, smart communities will design small residential neighbourhoods on the least-arable land, integrated with the life-giving farmland and natural bounty that supports a healthy society.
Change the pattern of community: The entire distribution of public activity, public space, and housing must adapt to less fuel and resource consumption. Past planning in the cheap-oil era created public dysfunction, decaying city cores, foul air, and squandered energy. We do not have generations to correct these mistakes – the time we have to act is now best measured in months, not decades. We now face the choice of responding gracefully and wisely or reacting later in chaos.
Productive urban green spaces: Cities face huge challenges and require green space, not only for play and peace of mind, but for food. Suburbs and urban neighbourhoods must be redesigned to transform lawns and streets into productive green zones linked by public transport. Planting trees anywhere reduces global warming. Cities such as Bogotá, Columbia, and San Luis Obispo, California have shown that degraded cities can revitalize community and economic life with programs that increase green space.
Public transport: Basing development and land-use patterns on the private automobile may be the worst design decision in human history. The automobile is responsible for resource depletion, global warming, degraded farmland, alienated neighbourhoods, aesthetic eyesores, time wasted in traffic, and an epidemic of transport death and injury. Light rail public transport is clean, energy efficient, safe, community-building, and allows travelers to be productive rather than stressed. Smart cities will implement public transit, encourage bicycle use, and create neighbourhoods that encourage walking for most services and family needs.
100% recycling: Nature recycles everything. There is no “away” in nature where garbage and waste is thrown. Human communities must mimic the 100% recycling of nature, eliminate designed obsolescence, and turn garbage landfills into recycling centres. Sewage is natural compost that can be converted to productive soil, as demonstrated in Sweden, India, and Mongolia.
Preserve wilderness: Smart ecological planning not only nurtures people but also preserves wilderness habitat for species diversity. In regions where indigenous people still live on the land, wilderness also preserves cultural diversity and knowledge of local food, medicines and resources.
Modern consumer cities – made possible by the age of cheap fuels, designed for cash profits, or not designed at all – alienated people from each other and from their organic roots. When we gaze upon degraded cement landscapes and the lost souls of inner city children taking refuge in gangs and drugs, we see the cost of broken communities. The end of cheap fuels may help us reclaim an authentic quality of life, not purchased with more stuff but with relationship: our affiliation with each other and with nature.
Rex Weyler is author, journalist, ecologist and long-time Greenpeace trouble-maker
Rex Weyler, www.rexweyler.com
original at “Deep Green” blog, Greenpeace International,
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/deep-green/deep-green-july-2008
Posted on November 6, 2008 |
Top 5 Winter Home Energy Savings Measures
By Andy Mazal
Filed Under Green Living | 1 Comment
Solar panels, carbon credits, wind turbines or remodeling the place you live are some of the most common things we are served up when asked what we can do to begin the process of being more environmentally responsible in our day-to-day living. These options are great if you can afford a $10,000 solar installation or $15,000 for new windows, let alone a $100,000 home renovation, but for most people who really do want to make changes in how they are living, these are simply not realistic options. Yet the fact is that most of us live in structures that were not designed to function in synergy with their environment: they are oriented in the wrong direction, have poor insulation, improperly placed windows, leaks in the duct work, inefficient appliances and generally work against us despite our desire to shift into the green.
Great news: You’ve still got options. There are very viable, relatively inexpensive and simple changes you can make to your home or apartment to increase its energy efficiency and save yourself real money on your energy bills (and help to save the planet, while you’re at it). Because winter is quickly approaching we’ll concentrate on things you can do now to reduce your energy bills during the coming winter. Energy usage in winter is dominated in most parts of North America by heating, we’ll focus on those things you can do to keep that expensive heat inside and keep the cold outside, where it belongs.
Here are five things that you can get started on today to prepare your house for the winter heating season:
1. Get a Home Energy Audit - Before you set out to fix a problem, you first have to identify what that problem is. That’s where an energy audit comes in. An energy audit is performed by a trained and licensed technician using specialized equipment to discover where your house (or apartment, condo, whatever) is wasting energy. The auditor will check your insulation and duct work (if you have ducts) and will scan the various “penetrations” in your house to see where you might be leaking energy. “Penetrations” are such things as your windows and doors, outlets, switches, attic hatches, etc. — basically anywhere that there is a hole in your wall. He or she will look for air leaks that can let heat out (and cold in) so you can take corrective action to plug these leaks. The auditor will also inspect most of the other sources of energy usage in your house such as furnaces and boilers, lighting, appliances, etc. You will be provided with a customized report detailing the auditor’s findings, which usually also includes advice about what you should do to improve your house’s efficiency. Energy audits aren’t that expensive — a few hundred dollars at most — and they yield a treasure trove of good information you can use to fix your house’s energy problems. It’s quite possible that you’ll recover the cost of your audit with the energy you save in the first year.
The US Department of Energy has a decent web site with advice on where to find an energy auditor and what to ask them. Also, be sure to check with your local municipalities to see if they have a subsidized energy audit program; if they do, it could cut the cost of your energy audit in half.
2. Check your attic insulation - If you live in a house or townhouse that is more than a few years old then it’s likely that you could benefit from additional insulation in the attic. Almost all houses built before the 1990s have inadequate insulation, as are many houses from the 1990s and 2000s - even if your attic insulation meets current building codes! That’s because building codes in most of the country are simply inadequate when it comes to insulation. The US Department of Energy recommends that attics in most of the country be insulated to R-49, which is equivalent to about 14-16 inches of blown cellulose insulation or fiberglass batt insulation. So if you have less than that in your attic, have some more insulation added. Of course, insulation in walls is also very important, but adding insulation to walls is generally a much more complicated operation, since your walls are sealed from all sides (i.e., you have to somehow get inside the wall to add insulation). In contrast, most attics are accessible so it’s usually a relatively simple task to beef up attic insulation. So, concentrate on the “low hanging fruit” of your attic first, and we’ll focus on what to do about your walls in a later post.
3. Repair leaks in duct work - Ducts are notorious wasters of energy. It’s not unusual to have half or more of the air flowing through your ducts escape before it gets to its destination because of leaky duct work. Sealing your duct work, therefore, targets a major energy waster by ensuring that your expensive heated (or cooled) air gets to where you want it to go, rather than being leaked into your attic or inside your walls. However, sealing your ducts can be very easy or very difficult, depending on the configuration of your home and where your ducts are located. If you have a one-story house with a unfinished basement and the duct work running along the basement ceiling, it’s easy. If your house is two or more stories with duct work running through the walls, it’s obviously much more complicated. But, you can usually access some of your duct work, particularly near the furnace, and even if you seal just the little bit you can reach you’ll have a positive impact. How do you seal your ducts? NOT with duct tape! There is a saying in the industry that you can use duct tape for just about anything EXCEPT on ducts. Instead, you’ll use duct mastic, a thick, sticky, gooey substance that you brush on the joints of your ducts, where it hardens and completely seals the ducts. It flows into the cracks of the joints and forms a tight, permanent seal. You can find mastic at many hardware or home improvement stores and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) supply stores.
Hint: Wear rubber gloves and old grungy clothes when you’re using this stuff, as it will, for sure, get on you. Also, buy a few of those cheap disposable brushes called “chip brushes” to apply it with because whatever brush you use to apply it will get destroyed. Better to destroy an 89 cent chip brush than a $15 paint brush.
4. Check the weather stripping on your doors and windows - Despite that this is perennially one of the most common pieces of energy saving advice, and one of the easiest to undertake, it’s surprising how many poorly sealed doors and windows still exist out in the wild. For doors, a very simple way to check if you need new or better weather stripping is to stand outside at night and close the door while someone inside shines a lamp or flashlight around the edges of the door. If you can see light leaking around the edge of the door, you have a leak where warm air can escape and cold air can get in. Windows need weather stripping also, though the correct type of product depends on the window type and material - ask your local hardware store for advice. There are literally dozens of weather stripping products you can use to seal the door, from very inexpensive foam rubber tape that might cost you $3.50 to vinyl gaskets to felt strips to copper flashing. Some products are better than others, but suffice it to say that anything is better than nothing. Again, the US Department of Energy has a good web site with advice on weather stripping.
5. Replace or clean the air filters in your furnace - If you don’t have forced air heat or cooling you can ignore this one, but if you do, then do yourself a big favor and either clean or replace your filter often. A clogged furnace filter causes the fan in the furnace to run harder and longer, wasting energy in the process. Most filters are the type you simply change out and throw away, but some are reusable after you clean them (while we’d normally tend towards anything re-usable rather than something disposable, unfortunately the re-usable filters are often not as effective as the disposable ones). In either case, ensuring you have a clean filter can cut $10, $20 or even more from of your energy bills each month, depending on the size of your system. You might be tempted to just yank out the filter altogether, figuring that you can’t have a clogged filter if there’s no filter there to clog. But avoid that temptation! If you do, all that dust will just end up in the delicate mechanisms inside your furnace, which will eventually cause it to wear out and fail. Obviously it’s much cheaper to replace a $5 filter than a $4,000 furnace. Also, note that ASHRAE (The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers) recommends a filter with a Minimum Efficiency Rating Value (MERV rating) of at least 6. As higher MERV rating means that a filter will filter out smaller and smaller particles.
While some of these suggestions might not apply to your situation (i.e., you don’t need to replace the air filter in your furnace if you live in a house with radiator heat) there is probably something in this list that can benefit you this winter. No matter what, you should get an energy audit — that’s your first step, the step that will highlight where you need to focus. From there, it’s as simple as TAKING ACTION on what the audit brings up. If you can’t do what is suggested in the audit yourself, call in a qualified contractor or consultant to do it for you. The savings you realize from improving your home’s energy efficiency will quickly offset any costs you incur by taking these measures, and remember that energy improvements to your home will keep paying you back year after year.
Andy Mazal
Inhabit - Green Building Consulting
www.inhabitconsulting.com
Posted on October 26, 2008 |
Make It Green This Halloween
By Pippa Sorley
Filed Under Arts & Culture, Green Living | Leave a Comment
According to the National Retail Federation, annual Halloween spending has surpassed $5 billion in the United States. With the average person spending the most money on costumes, followed by candy and then decorations, it’s a holiday enjoyed by adults, kids and even pets across the country. Halloween is second only to Christmas in the decorations market. Unity Marketing found that consumption in this area has grown with people’s fascination with ghosts, the supernatural and sci-fi, often prompted by popular cable television shows. However with billions of dollars being spent on a single holiday, what is very real is the environmental impact of our often disposable festive wares.
During tight economic times, imagine the impact upon our wallets if at first we chose to buy less and then brought back our creativity and tradition with homemade alternatives to what is mass-produced for the holiday. Curbing consumption has an additional environmental impact if we make different choices in determining what we do purchase for the holiday. From vintage to responsibly produced goods, there are many choices available to the conscious consumer.
Candy is a good place to start in making more mindful decisions. As many Halloween treats are chocolates, look for products that are certified Fair Trade. Why? According to certification organization TransFair, “Fair Trade certification ensures that cocoa farmers receive a fair price for their harvest, creates direct trade links between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers, and provides access to affordable credit. On Fair Trade farms, slave labor is strictly prohibited and farms are inspected to ensure that Fair Trade standards are being met.” In the spirit of October being Fair Trade month, let’s continue to educate our friends and neighbors! Co-op America has great resources to help spread the word on this issue. You can also order a “Fair Trade Trick or Treat Action Kit” through Global Exchange. Good choices for individually-wrapped Fair Trade chocolates for Halloween include: Sweet Earth Chocolates (skulls) and Divine Chocolate (eyeballs).
What about other goodies? Clif Bar Kids has an organic bar made with whole oats in a ‘smores flavor, complete with spooky packaging. YummyEarth Organic Fruit lollipops are sweetened with cane juice, not corn syrup. National Geographic’s The Green Guide also has an extensive list of healthier and eco-friendly treats. There’s also the idea of passing out non-edibles, like Smencils pencils made from 100% recycled newspapers. For collecting treats, go retro in using your pillowcase or reusable grocery bags also work. Chico bags can hold up to 20 pounds! Halloween is also the perfect time to add items in good condition but no longer needed by your household to your porch offerings. Why not offer quality goods to someone who may need it with all of those extra visitors to your porch on Halloween night (and save the addition to the landfill)?
When choosing costumes avoid the cheaply-made and once-worn costumes that we’re used to seeing with some creativity. Check out your local thrift store or eBay for clothing pieces that can be re-imagined or have a costume swap with friends whose children are different ages, re-using get-ups from previous years. If you’re the crafty sort, Sprig.com just ran a great article of ten homemade costumes with photos and instructions. And if you are short on time, try Sarah’s Silks, costumes made with renewable sources in monitored factories. To complete your child’s costume (or your own!) stay away from traditional makeup kits sold in specialty stores for the holiday, as they may contain hormone-disrupting paraben preservatives and phthalates. Instead, play around with adult’s cosmetics from natural products stores, or even kitchen staples like ketchup.
Decorations are a fun way to make your home an eco-friendly spot for hosting friends or passing out candy. Choose organic pumpkins and buy fewer. We tend to forget that they are a food source in addition to a decoration and that many are simply thrown out at the end of the season. Toast the pumpkin seeds from jack-o-lanterns and use others for eventual cooking and then, compost what’s left over. Squashes also make beautiful decorations until it’s time to cook them. If you’re into the traditional ghosts and ghouls, look for ways to craft spooky décor from recycled goods and things already in the house. Beautiful and kitschy vintage Halloween decorations can also be found online. Set the mood with soy or beeswax candles, or try energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs in Halloween colors.
Let your consideration of your Halloween eco-footprint also promote general mindfulness that includes safety. Environmentally-friendly reflective tape can be found online, and used on bikes, skateboards, even brooms! When your family is kept safe it is also a good reminder of our planet’s interconnectedness. Consider helping your kids to support children in other parts of the world while they are at their trick-or-treating best through a program like UNICEF’s “Make Halloween Count” youth action program.
As your excitement for Halloween grows, take one more step to share an excellent site for environmental news by sending a friend one of Grist.org’s Halloween e-cards. You can also delight in the fact that you’re saving paper and supporting a nonprofit organization.
By Lindsey Wolf, adapted from elephantjournal.com. Elephant Journal is an online resource for stories on sustainability, active citizenship, conscious consumerism and non new-agey spirituality.
Posted on October 20, 2008 |
Is Fair Trade Really Fair?
By Anne O'Loughlin
Filed Under News & Reviews, The Big Picture | 1 Comment
With the beginning of October comes the official kick off to Fair Trade Month, a month-long celebration and promotion of Fair Trade certified products. Indeed, the Fair Trade movement has a lot to celebrate this year. According to the Fair Trade Labelling Organization International (FLO), consumers around the world spent more than $3 billion on Fair Trade certified items in 2007, a whopping increase of 47% from the previous year! An increasing amount of diverse products are also entering the Fair Trade market, thus expanding consumers’ options from the traditionally known Fair Trade items such as crafts, coffee, and chocolate to include fruits, wine, flowers and even soccer balls and shoes. This means, that now over 1.5 million producers and workers in approximately 58 developing countries can benefit from increased business due to Fair Trade sales.
It’s been commonly understood that Fair Trade is a preferable, more moral way of conducting business than the conventional ‘top down’ approach of major, multi-national corporations in which sweatshops tend to thrive and the workers on the lowest levels are squeezed. The underlying principles of Fair Trade are to deliver more than just a financial package to the workers, in order to not only guarantee that they are paid a fair rate/wage but also to create a system in which a long-term, sustainable relationship is developed between the buyer and third world producers that will ultimately empower these workers and their community to thrive and succeed in the global marketplace.
In recent months, however, some organizations have doubted the true benefit of Fair Trade and have started to question the validity and impact of the movement. On February 25, Britain’s economic think tank The Adam Smith Institute, a self-proclaimed leading innovator of free-market economic and social policies, published a report by Marc Sidwell entitled “Unfair Trade”. Mr. Sidwell argues that Fair Trade is actually anything but fair and while Fair Trade and its supporters may have positive intentions, it actually does more harm than good.
Sidwell writes that Fair Trade distorts local markets by fixing a high price of goods for only a small percentage of producers (thus hurting the majority of the other farmers producing the same goods at lower costs who are allegedly excluded from Fair Trade business practices). He also argues that Fair Trade is “irrelevant” to large scale poverty relief and does not aid economic development properly, rather it prevents the poor from gaining the proper tools to successfully improve their financial outlook. He goes on to claim that Fair Trade actually prevents farmers from advancing their technologies and efficiencies and the opportunity for diversification, and are thus actually stuck in an unsustainable practice.
Sidwell furthermore asserts that Fair Trade is merely a marketing scheme that rewards inefficient farmers who produce poor quality goods, thus also being unfair to the consumer who allegedly has a wealth of ethical purchasing options available to them without even knowing it due to the overwhelming monopoly of Fair Trade certified goods.
As would be expected, the release of this report caused a backlash of responses from the Fair Trade community and ethical bloggers alike, including a lengthy, evidence-driven press release from The Fairtrade Foundation attempting to discredit Sidwell’s arguments. They angrily write, “Two billion people work extremely hard to earn a living but still earn less than $2 per day and the FAIRTRADE Mark enables consumers to choose products that help address this injustice. As no-one is forced to join a fair trade producer organisation, or to buy Fairtrade products, you would think that free market economists like the Adam Smith Institute would be pleased at the way the public has taken our voluntary label to its heart…”
So how is Fair Trade really affecting the workers of the world and is its global impact truly innovative and revolutionary, or merely smoke and mirrors as Mr. Sidwell points out?
After spending 17 solid pages tearing the Fair Trade mission into pieces, Sidwell’s only suggestion for a viable alternative is to follow the global path of Free Trade. He uses China and India as two examples of how Free Trade has lifted traditionally poverty-stricken countries into more solid financial positions where they very recently have been successfully lobbying for global economic leadership positions. While Sidwell’s examples may offer some element of truth, it certainly does not account for the long list of human rights abuses and exploits both countries have added to their economic repertoires.
With a debate like this, we have to stop and ask ourselves…is the explosive growth of China and India truly having a proper ‘trickle down’ effect? That is, are the workers of the world, the people at the lowest level, the people that bear the grunt of globalization on their backs really feeling any kind of financial relief or reward from the macro economic improvements of their nations? And what about the workers living in countries that are not advantageously growing with globalization, such as Peru, Argentina, Ethiopia, Haiti…the list goes on? Do they have no opportunity for growth…or can the Fair Trade market act as an outlet for these workers to exit the fringes and become active players in the global marketplace? Perhaps what the world needs is a harmonious balance between Free and Fair Trade in which poor nations on a macro level and lower class workers on a micro level can all flourish together. After all, with a happy, healthy workforce comes increased loyalty, ownership and productivity which ultimately trickles up to the overall economic growth of the nation as a whole.
Regardless of anyone’s argument, I can tell you that after personally experiencing close contact with real people in the developing world, doing business under Fair Trade principles is a rewarding and effective method of trade. It provides wonderful opportunity to meet, get to know, and partner directly with the people that are actually making our products. I see firsthand how our business effects and improves their lives, the lives of their families and their community. And I hear the passion, excitement and pride in their voices when they receive a new order. Maybe I missed something…but to us, this is what Fair Trade is all about.
Posted on October 12, 2008 |
Simple Nature: The Art of Andy Goldsworthy
By Melissa Vest
Filed Under Arts & Culture | 3 Comments
In a world that is ever buzzing, growing, moving, and consuming there is an underlying push toward the opposite. There lies in each of us a need for stillness, contemplation, and closeness to nature. We look for ways to balance our needs. Even within the environmental movement, we are continuously striving to balance our desires for more. We’re always looking for ways to make our day-to-day lives simpler. And in turn, we ask ourselves what can do to save this precious planet? We recycle; we buy LED light bulbs, we shop consciously, and we tote around our PVC-free yoga mats. However, the question remains: are we really connecting with the earth on a deeper level while on our quest to save it?
Sometimes art can help us tap into our universal connection to nature. The work of U.K. based environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy does just that. His work is an exquisite reminder of why we buy organic clothing, why we take five-minute showers, why we use scratchy toilet paper, and why we continue to strive to do more. Through his unique medium of environmental art, Goldsworthy succeeds in transporting us to the core of nature’s beauty and strength.
Goldsworthy creates a myriad of environmental art projects, some built indoors and others built outdoors. Indoors, his artwork can look as if they were laid there by a swift wind, and outdoors they represent human interpretations of nature itself. In any setting, they are a single moment’s perfection. They seem to be suspended in time, and are left to simply wash away, crumble, ruin, or break down from the elements. Like in nature, his installations are created to age and weather, and to only last for short amounts of time. According to Goldsworthy, “My sculpture can last for days or a few seconds — what is important to me is the experience of making. I leave most of my work outside and often return to watch it decay.”
Each piece is created using as many natural tools as possible. For example, when Goldsworthy strings together long chains of leaves, he uses his own spit. He also uses thorns to string together wonderfully fascinating layers of branches. The use of natural materials lends itself to simplicity, and ultimately a human perspective of nature at its finest. Goldsworthy sees each element of his art as part of nature itself, “My art is an attempt to reach beyond the surface appearance. I want to see growth in wood, time in stone, nature in a city…”
Goldsworthy’s work is mostly documented through photography, which preserves it in a single instance. His use of natural materials ranges from ice and snow to leaves, twigs, clay, and rocks. Some are completed through the use of volunteers, and others are an individual creation. From twigs seemingly “growing” out of the water, to bright circular mandalas made of orange and yellow leaves, each work is unique.
Sometimes on this journey towards sustainability we need a reminder of why we sink our hearts into such a cause. Each work by Goldsworthy gives us a pause, an opportunity to silently meditate. Everyone will see something different, but if you look close enough and long enough you just might not need that yoga mat after all.
Enjoy more about Goldsworthy’s Work:
- Watch a clip of the artist’s movie: Rivers and Tides.
- Purchase Enclosure, a book by Goldsworthy.
- Explore Artisan Cam featuring interactive media, video, and more.
Posted on October 6, 2008 |
Wake Up! The True Grind On Fair Trade Coffee
By Jillian Polaski
Filed Under The Big Picture | 9 Comments
With 54% of America drinking coffee on a daily basis and 25% being “occasional” coffee drinkers, we can safely say that approximately 80% of the population is very familiar with sipping a cup of joe. Second only to oil, coffee is the most traded commodity in the world, with the United States alone consuming one-fifth of total global production.
Yet, as demand for this roasted bean rises, value is sharply declining. In August 2001, the price of coffee fell below fifty cents per pound, although the prices in coffee houses and grocery stores remained constant. This means a sponging of excess profits by all parts of the coffee industry except the farmers in poverty-stricken countries such as Ethiopia that grow some of the most high-quality beans in the world. This is not an unusual story in the coffee industry.
Before opening The Cup espresso cafe in Boulder, Colorado, owners Chris and Wendy Ball began doing research on the different varieties of coffee and were appalled to uncover the conditions that many farmers are forced to work under. In defiance, they decided to sell only Fair Trade certified organic coffee. “We wanted to make sure that the business we chose to do was not being done on the backs of slave labor,” says Chris. The walls of their funky and modern cafe, rather than being lined with salable art, are lined with pictures of coffee farmers and their families engaging all stages of bean production. “Putting faces to these people is super important,” Chris says.
Due to coffee being an internationally traded commodity, its price is dictated by many of the same market factors involved in the sale and production of oil. The people who farm the coffee have no access to the markets and this leads to huge price instability. When a farmer begins planting their crops, prices might be, for example, $3.00 a pound, but by harvest time it could have dropped to $1.00. Of that price, the farmer generally does not see enough to meet their costs of production, much less to feed a family. Part of the problem is the roller-coaster of supply and demand. Coffee is a delicate crop that can be destroyed at any stage of the process, from planting and harvesting to roasting and brewing. It is prey to natural disasters (common in most tropical growing climates) and a hurricane or tsunami can easily wipe out an entire annual crop. When this happens, the price of coffee soars, farmers see an opportunity and begin planting coffee, which leads to an over supply when all the plants recover, and the price plummets even further.
In addition to the stress of widely fluctuating market prices, coffee farmers also have to worry about Coyotes. No furry animal, these money-hungry middlemen pass through and demand that farmers sell their harvests to them at a set, sub-standard price. Because farms are generally far removed from their marketplaces and the farmers usually have an immediate need for money to buy food and pay their expenses, they are left with no choice but to sell. “It’s a brutal system that stacks itself against the people at the very bottom,” Chris explains.
Fair Trade policy (created by Transfair USA and monitored by the Fair Trade Labeling Organization and third-party organization FLO-CERT) attempts to alleviate many of these problems by establishing a set price per pound for coffee. This allows market fluctuations over the course of the harvest to be smoothed out by guaranteeing farmers a living wage. Fair Trade farmers are currently paid $1.26 per pound of coffee. If, however, the market price goes higher than that, the farmer is paid the market price plus five cents, or eleven cents if the coffee is organically grown.
In addition, Fair Trade policy guarantees free financing to farmers so that they won’t feel pressure to sell their crops at a low price because of momentary hardships. Technical assistance is also provided so time can be taken to improve the quality of their beans and therefore garner the higher prices per pound that specialty coffee sells for. Finally, it gives farmers access to international markets and allows them to participate in international debate. “It gives the people a voice and allows them to have some power over their own lives,” Chris says.
Fair Trade coffee is not, however, without its problems, and one of the main issues it currently faces is green-washing. Big corporations have figured out that Fair Trade coffee sells, and consumers are more than willing to shell out more money in support of the humane treatment of farmers. Many coffee houses in the EU and North America advertise that they carry Fair Trade coffee, but only sell it in whole bean packages on the shelves; they don’t brew it. Or, worse, companies will pay the Fair Trade price for a pound of coffee, but won’t adhere to the other policies of Fair Trade, yet still label that coffee as fairly traded.
“Corruption is one of the largest scapegoats that people say they use as a reason not to buy Fair Trade coffee,” Chris explains. “I acknowledge that there are some problems with it but my answer is, at least it is trying. You can’t wait for the silver bullet to start shooting at the problems that are out there. You have to use the tools that you have available to you right now to make a difference.”
It is a chain of responsibility- from the certified organizations to ensure all companies that use their labels are meeting strict regulations to the consumer remaining informed about these issues. Corruption is a problem that consumers have to pay an increasing amount of attention to. The best thing to do is to ask the right questions at a local coffee retailer. If a coffee shop has organic, Fair Trade certified coffee on their shelves but they aren’t brewing it, ask them to. If it is labeled as “fairly traded” but does not have a certification- it is probably not an accurate representation of what goes on behind closed-doors. For Fair Trade to succeed, it means a holistic integration of economic, social and environmental responsibility on everyone’s part.
- Get informed on the current state of fair trade policy by un-biased organizations such as Oxfam
- Search for retailers near you that are dedicated to supporting the fair trade movement by only serving certified coffee
The terms “shade-grown” and “organic” seek to further enhance the social and environmental quality of coffee growing environments. Organic production has it’s own certification that places harsh limitations on chemical pesticide and fertilizer use. If coffee is “shade-grown” it means that farmers are able to grow other crops (like bananas) amongst their coffee plants, therefore providing them with additional income.
Posted on September 29, 2008 |
Google Earth Gone Green
By Jenna Kirkman
Filed Under Green Living, The Big Picture | 1 Comment
Google Earth lets you zoom through three-dimensional Appalachian mountains, map out your dream vacation in Tahiti, or “fly” to a high-resolution satellite image of your very own home. The newest version comes equipped with close-up street views, 3D buildings, and stargazing abilities, but it is more than just fun and games – Google Earth is becoming one of the most important eco-tools of our time.
Already, Google Earth 4.3 comes with a Global Awareness feature that calls attention to eco-attractions like Fair Trade Certified Farms, Greenpeace Climate Control Areas, and Unicef Water and Sanitation Projects. Other businesses have been teaming up with Google Earth to provide add-on downloads in Keyhole Markup Language (KML) format in order to showcase international issues.
Basically, these KMLs enhance your view and global knowledge by painting a layer of interactive data and information over the Google Earth globe. Popular add-ons include: Disappearing Forests, Green Buildings, and EDGE Endangered Mammals. The Climate Change in Our World application, created by Google and Met Office Hadley Centre, not only shows current temperature stats, but also projects possible warming trends from now until November 2099.
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has joined Google to create two add-ons that help American businesses, communities, and the general public track the main source of environmental evil – pollution.
In the first add-on, the EPA pinpoints locations from the United States Emissions File, which divides pollution into seven major point-source sectors; Cement Facilities, Chemical Manufacturing, Electric Generating Units (EGU), Natural Gas Pipelines, Oil and Gas Production, Petroleum Refineries, and Pulp and Paper Industries.
On the map, sectors are color-coded and can be clicked to reveal the company’s name, location, and a summary graphing total emissions from six common pollutants; carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide. Pretty cool.
Even cooler, though, is the EPA’s second add-on, Air Now, which shows you the current Air Quality Index (AQI) for certain areas of the United States, updated every hour, and forecasts 
tomorrow’s AQI, too. An area’s AQI predicts how the air quality will affect your health, and is based on a color-coded scale from 0 – 500, with 0 (green) being completely safe, and 500 (red) the most hazardous.
The UK Air Quality Archive has a similar Air Pollution add-on, and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has produced a similar emissions application that maps pollution in Canada and Mexico in addition to the US, but a worldwide air pollution and emissions add-on is yet to be found.
Still, Google Earth’s revolutionary display of global data and statistics, and its ability to connect cultures in a creative new way, has made details about air pollution and emissions easily accessible and of interest to everyone.
Individuals who are searching for a vacation destination or a new home will steer clear of heavy pollution. As a result, new real estate and tourist attractions will be built in lower-risk areas. Businesses will move or implement new branches within less polluted communities, which will motivate these regions to sustain their green reputation. And most importantly, these trends will help inspire communities and businesses in heavily polluted areas to lower emissions and clean up their act.
Want to check out Google Earth for yourself?
- Read over the User Guide, and download the free version of Google Earth.
- Browse Google Earth 4.3’s already awesome features located in the bottom left navigation window, or search for downloadable KMLs that spark your interest.
- Visit Google Earth Outreach to find businesses, non-profits, and individuals who want to share a global message, or to seek help in creating your own KML.
Posted on September 26, 2008 |
Humbled By The Wisdom In Nature
By Erin Gallagher
Filed Under eCo TV | Leave a Comment
Janine Benyus teaches us about the science of biomimicry by explaining that learning about the natural world is one thing, but learning from the natural world is where we need to get to. It’s about cultivating respect for our fellow inhabitants of this planet because “the answers to the questions we have are all around us, we just need to “change the lenses with which we choose to see the world”.
This video is an enrichment to our “Top 5 Green Technology Breakthroughs” article. Enjoy!
Posted on September 24, 2008 |