Community Discussions
What have you done to reduce your carbon footprint today?
Susan Malavet Apr 22, 2013 04:11 ![]() |
Every day I try to reduce the carbon footprint of my home and how I live my life. Decided on eggs for dinner rather than drive to the store and hung my clothes up on the porch rather than turn on the dryer but best of all my new Led lighting arrived for our bedrooms. YEAH!
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Ed Pheil May 12, 2013 12:12 ![]() |
Over time:
Replaced windows with high efficiency low emmisivity windows
Sealed perimeter of new windows
Installed new south facing windows for passive solar heating
Replaced propane pool heater with more efficient electric heat pump (tried solar but was not effective at reasonable cost and available area)
Replaced low efficient single speed pool pump with higher efficiency variable flow pump with timer for pump and heater
Increased attic insulation R-value
Installed outlet and light switch foam seals on both interior and exterior walls to prevent stove piping in winter
Foam sealed around ceiling penetrating fixtures
Sealed air leakage around gas stove exit pipe
Do not use A/C in summer
Open windows at night and close in morning to retain night time cool air
Reconfigured emergency heat gas stove to burn with out side air to prevent leaking interior warm air when stove is not in use
Foam sealed around well water pipe in basement to prevent cold air in leakage
Replaced all incandescent bulbs with CFLs
Installed light/motion sensing timed off exterior lights
Installed horizontal axis ventless condensing washer dryer combo to greatly reduce energy and water usage
Installed dual flush toilets to reduce water usage
Installed programmable thermostats in every room
Replaced old garage doors with insulated, rubber sealed garage doors
Replaced ~20 mpg cars with 40-45 mpg cars
Do not fertilize lawn eliminating fertilizer production energy use and mowing
Plant evergreens up wind of house to reduce wind induced air exfiltration
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Tom Mallard May 17, 2013 01:05 ![]() |
I live in a small apt & eat organic & veggie so produce is a ton o' cash in the USA, so my latest was to put shelving and in a corner with 4ft each side to the ceiling now growing food, bought red-blue LEDs, had sunlight CFL's for art but the LEDs work better for plant growth on half the power, planters, soils & all, once I got the first planter in I've been sprouting from cut off tips of produce in water until they bulge or sprout and getting about all of it to grow!! ... leeks, carrots, onions, celery ... saves time over seed on things I get at the store.
Anyway, I leave the LEDs on 24x7 now and the plants just keep growing, like 3/8" of a leek tip sprouts, where you usually cut!! ... a celery heart fading bad had three days in the water & now in soil and all the leaves have vigor, so cool, the planters can likely do over 50% of my food with no yard.
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Veronica Olivotto May 24, 2013 11:17 ![]() |
I suppose the best thing I did to reduce my carbon emission was to move to a bike friendly city 4 years ago. I biked every day since.
If this is not very practical in your city then opt for collective modes of transport and lobby for a bike/walk friendly planning, at least at a neighborhood level
Last year I started a little spice and salad garden on my terrace. It helps localizing my eating patterns but it's a minuscule percentage of my diet :)
I am vegetarian today as I've been for 10 years. Sometimes I eat fish though. In doing so I try to make an informed choice. Fishmeal production is the most carbon intensive stage of fishfarming, hence you should go for farmed herbivorous species like tilapia, bream and carp. Wild seafood should be avoided, because of the fuel dependent fishing fleets and the practice of overfishing.
In general caring about your food carbon footprint is not easy, it requires research which often provides loads of contradictory numbers and vague rules of thumb like the fact that going veggie and organic doesn't always mean lower emissions: 'food miles' account usually less than actual production (how and where). So buying UK tomatoes if you are in the UK is no better guarantee that the ones from Spain are worse in terms of CO2.
For home energy use, well there are more or less simple things that can be done which other commentators pointed out above. Those are all good but the real deal, also in terms of energy self-sufficiency in the face of giant power failures, is decentralized energy infrastructures. We have quite some way - and incentives - to go for this to happen city wide.
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Je Mchugh Aug 9, 2013 07:09 ![]() |
Refrained from having children.
Time to refresh the discussion about population control?
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Bill Kendrick Aug 16, 2013 08:51 ![]() |
What if by applying a fine mist of liquid to a large mass heating element, you could take any liquid to temperatures above said liquid's boiling temperature? What if when you did this you were able to separate molecules in the original liquid? Would the separation of the molecules inside the liquid be a Molecular Change? I first did this to gasoline, applying a fine mist of gasoline to a heating element whose temperature was 600F. I got a white vapor with twice the power that gasoline produces. I also got a non flammable liquid, that would no longer mix with the gasoline it was created from, and I only used temperature to do this. To further prove what I say. I did this same thing to water at between 212F and 230F. I got a flammable gas from distilled water. I used distilled water because the chlorine in public water is inconsistent, and chlorine influences water's boiling temperature. See all 3 of the videos I put on You Tube. Go to Bill Kendrick's You Tube Channel. The videos are, White Gasoline Vapor is a Molecular change, First Flammable gas from Distilled water, and Flammable gas from distilled water. This Flashing Liquid Process can be done to any liquid, to produce a molecular change to any liquid. Finding the right temperature in the liquid will produce a molecular change to that liquid.
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Oliver Krautstrunk Aug 23, 2013 05:27 ![]() |
i <3 pandas
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