By MCR

April 19, 2008 1:46 PM | Link to this

Greener still

I was never interested until it was discovered that the burden of activity on earth,i.e motor traffic, solar, radar, and other devices including space travel. All represent causes of global warming and there is no change in any of those modern day routines that have become common to us. Its business as usual. Not to mention off shore oil rigging. Each time we start another excavation research project there is jarring and changes in the structure of the tutonic plates beneath the earths surface. Are those companies really interested in the damage that occurs each time some engineering genius want to go tearing thru the earths crust? I wonder? As those projects become more lucrative and prices soar, oil companies increase their new search budgets hoping to land a billion dollar draw before the ocean takes the platform down. Lastly if I were a gambling man I’d bet on a start up business that uses plastic refuse. If there were a way to turn the desert into a greenhouse using plastic refuse the world hungar problem could essentually decrease the number deaths from hungar every year. Somethings are destined to change no matter what the law dictates. We are at the mercy of the elements and as you probably heard a’ready, its not nice to fool around with mother nature!

By melody

April 20, 2008 1:53 PM | Link to this

A tip from our green home to yours, make stock. Neither we nor our local friends are gardeners so composting is not practical for us. However, my husband is a fantastic cook who makes the most from the vegetable refuse. He saves everything…onion skins, tomato bits, mushrooms, carrot peelings… and freezes it with the chicken bones. When the plastic bag is full, he boils it down into wonderful, low salt, no fat stock. We use stock all the time for soups, cooking rice, poaching, sauces, etc. A very tasty way to recycle our vegetable ‘garbage’.

By Adrian Sotomayor

April 22, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this

So, I guess you too are worried about the rising cost of gas… Well you are not alone. I drive a Toyota Prius and at the current price of 3.38 per gallon (4/21/2008) is more that $30.00 per fill-up. I can’t even imagine people driving an SUV or any type of commercial vehicle. Any way, so the gas price is going up and your cash flow will no longer allow you the occasional spurge or night in town with your friends and family.

Here are my tips for saving gas, budget and pollute less.

By Adrian Sotomayor

April 22, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this

So, I guess you too are worried about the rising cost of gas… Well you are not alone. I drive a Toyota Prius and at the current price of 3.38 per gallon (4/21/2008) is more that $30.00 per fill-up. I can’t even imagine people driving an SUV or any type of commercial vehicle. Any way, so the gas price is going up and your cash flow will no longer allow you the occasional night in town with your friends and family.

Here are my tips for saving gas, budget and pollute less.

By Mike

April 22, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this

Millions of years ago, the Earth was over 200 degrees. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, Georgia was mostly covered by the Atlantic Ocean. During the last Ice Age, New York City was covered with a one-mile high glacier (the scars from which can still be seen on the granite rocks in Central Park).

Given that, can someone rationally tell me:

A) Why I need to get worked up about warming of a few fractions of a degree?

B) Why I need to be worried about ocean levels that are forecast to rise a few inches in the next hundred years.

C) Why anyone can reasonably believe that anything humans could possibly do can impact these broader, macro changes that inevitably happen on our planet as part of the natual cycle?

By Will

April 22, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this

I am a conservationist and I am all for a clean, healthy enviroment. But man-made global warming is a farce and so is Ethanol production. Folks, for the first time in this country’s history we are burning our food supply. You talk about Earth Day, what about the millions of starving people in third world countries who we cannot feed anymore becasue of Ethanol production. Our own food prices have gone up 83% in the psat year! And for the first time, were having to import wheat. You talk about Earth Day, let’s talk about how man-made global warming policies will destroy millions of lives before we change our minds.

By Just Thinking

April 22, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

Mike:

Certainly it is true that the environment has cycled over millions of years. But we have had many negative impacts on the world through miss use and abuse of natural resources. There are many pockets in our world where it is very unhealthy to live because of the polution that is emitted into the air.

To me, the verdict on global warming is still out because I have not seen the other side of the debate. But that does not mean it is ok to thow paper out the windows of a car, to polute the air we breath, or to consume more water than is readily available.

Being responsible and doing the right thing is important.

By RamblinLonghorn

April 22, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this

@Mike: A) Human civilization has developed under static conditions where the warming of a “few fractions of a degree” will cause catastrophic damage to our food supply and habitats.

B)Rising sea levels, estimated between .6 ft to 2 ft erode beaches, intensify flooding dangers of coastal areas, and most importantly, can contaminate sources of fresh water and destroy wetland ecosystems.

C)Because we can and already have. We have the power to destroy this planet with nuclear weapons. CFC’s ate away at the antarctic ozone layer until we got them under control. We’ve destroyed species is a single generation. The Maori radically altered New Zealand in 100 years, and they had only dogs and stone weapons.

By Just Thinking

April 22, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this

Not that I agree with Mike’s position, but an asteroid completely altered the whole earth in moments not 100 years.

We certainly have made our impact and should do better at improving the quality of our environment. But global warming is going to continue regardless of our actions until the next castostrophic event.

By MrLiberty

April 22, 2008 1:33 PM | Link to this

Eating less meat should be #1, not #7. The UN group that looked at this issue said that becomming a vegetarian was the best thing you could possibly do to help out the environment. Air pollution, water pollution, drinking water pollution, pesticide runoff, cancer, food poisoning…do you really need more reasons. In my past 20 years of vegetarianism I have done more for the planet than my carpooling in a car that gets 35 mpg, growing my own vegetables, planting fruit trees, planing regular trees, buying biodegradable/vegetable based cleaning products, and all the other positive steps I have taken. You could make that same impact too.

As for tap water - buy a reverse osmosis filtration system for your house that is a zero-waste system. Tap water is full of toxic waste and there is no reason for you to drink it. There is no reason for you to endanger your family’s health just because the county cannot do a good job cleaning the water.

And if there is one critically important thing to work for, its the relegalization of HEMP. Cotton production uses 90% of all pesticides used in this country. It is not a durable fabric, it is water hungry, is not economical to harvest, and is heavily subsidized.

HEMP on the other hand is the most durable natural fabric there is. It was used for the paper the drafts of the Declaration of Independance were written on, for sails from thousands of years BC, does not require pesticides, is one of the fastest growing plants on earth, reseeds itself, blocks out weeks, can grow in almost any soil, is easily harvested. Its seeds are super high in Omega -3 fatty acids, are a great source of protein, and are essential to the good health of song birds. But HEMP scares the infants who pretend to be our parents instead of our elected public servants. Work for legalized HEMP. Rep. Ron Paul has already introduced legislation. Every other country on earth benefits from its growth except us.

By dry cleaning alternative?

April 22, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this

Can anyone recommend a professional clothes cleaner that uses less-toxic, environmentally sensitive methods, including “wet cleaning” or CO2 cleaning?

By Voice of Reason

April 25, 2008 2:39 PM | Link to this

I do beleive there is a detrimental effect on our planet (from all the techno and other things we do); and I should change some ways, but I’m not changing a thing. I do recycle papers most weeks; but leave my light bulbs, plastic bags, etc. alone. I’m tired of seeing “green” this and “green” that. The evolution of life; we just roll with it. There’s too much other stuff going on right now; I can’t worry about 50 years from now, when the earth will be three degrees warmer.

By Voice of Reason

April 25, 2008 2:42 PM | Link to this

Oops. Meant to type…Believe.

By Voice of Reason

April 25, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this

Oops. Meant to type…Believe.

By Dawn

April 29, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do with 3-ring binders? Since they are part plastic/part metal, I’m not sure how or where to recycle them, and we end up with a LOT of them piling up at my office. Also, does anyone know of any non-profits or other charitable groups that could make use of them? “Reuse” would be even better than “recycle”

By Glamour And Company

May 13, 2008 9:07 PM | Link to this

Changing from the regular old light bulbs to the twisted type saves electric. Re-Insulating your home can save big bucks as well.

By Maria

June 23, 2008 10:08 PM | Link to this

Get the Be Well Atlanta Card! With this card you will receive health and wellness discounts all over the city.

You will be connected with”the greener life” www.bewellatl.com

By Maria

June 23, 2008 10:08 PM | Link to this

Get the Be Well Atlanta Card! With this card you will receive health and wellness discounts all over the city.

You will be connected with”the greener life” www.bewellatl.com

By Maria

June 23, 2008 10:09 PM | Link to this

Get the Be Well Atlanta Card! With this card you will receive health and wellness discounts all over the city.

You will be connected with”the greener life”

By Christy

July 3, 2008 10:14 PM | Link to this

I discovered reusable water bottles this past week from a friend at www.reduceeveryday.com. Instead of buying plastic bottles and throwing them away, you can refill these over and over again. It’s a simple thing to do and it can save you a few hundred bucks per year.

By Tavaris

August 21, 2008 7:04 AM | Link to this

Save money on your water heater. If you can’t afford a tankless system, turn down the temperature on your existing system to what is comfortable to you in the shower. This will save water and energy.