1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

http://www.carbonneutral.com/

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by maggieddd, Feb 4, 2007.

  1. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    2,090
    13
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    I came across this website Carbon Neutral and was interested in some of the products they sell. Anyone familiar with any of them?
     
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    18,058
    3,073
    7
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Reported to mods.
     
  3. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    2,090
    13
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Feb 4 2007, 08:58 AM) [snapback]385096[/snapback]</div>
    reported what to mods?
     
  4. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2003
    19,891
    1,191
    9
    Location:
    Nixa, MO
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Feb 4 2007, 07:58 AM) [snapback]385096[/snapback]</div>
    This isn't spam, maggie's a long time contributor.

    Maggie, perhaps being a bit more specific in your post about what interests you in this product, how it came to your attention, your own thoughts on it, etc would disuade some of the concern.
     
  5. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    2,090
    13
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Feb 4 2007, 10:00 AM) [snapback]385105[/snapback]</div>
    Hey Evan, sorry for being too short.
    I am trying to be environmentally conscious and I came across this website where they offer many different environment-friendly household products as well as all kinds of other interesting devices. For example Eco-balls, and alternative to laundry detergent. Does that seem like a good idea?
     
  6. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2005
    15,232
    1,562
    0
    Location:
    off into the sunset
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Maggie. I'm not yet familiar with this site, but I will take a look. Thanks for the link. Things have changed around here in your absence, and not for the better. It's nice to hear from you. :)
     
  7. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    2,090
    13
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Feb 4 2007, 02:04 PM) [snapback]385174[/snapback]</div>
    Hey hyo. Let me know what you think of it when you check it out. Nice to see you too :)
     
  8. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2005
    10,339
    14
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maggieddd @ Feb 4 2007, 12:40 PM) [snapback]385143[/snapback]</div>

    I've seen these spikey rubber dryer balls advertised as softening the laundry without chemicals but there's never any explanation as to how they work so I've steered clear. Whatever I use to substitute for Downy, it would have to result in no pilling. They don't say anything about pilling. If anyone has any experience with these dryer balls, please post here.

    I'll surf around the rest of the site. I'm interested in green products.

    BTW I have a Whirlpool recycling washer. That's right, it sucks the laundry water back for a second loud. It may sound awful, but I researched it before I bought it and Consumer Reports said the second load is just as clean, no negative effects. Except is saves me on water. And if the first load is the hot load the second load can be the warm load without using the water heater. Unfortunately they don't make the machine any more.

    This is the sort of thing that makes me a doubter. One whacko product will make any of the legitimate products look whacko too:

    magno-fuel
     
  9. BORNGEARHEAD

    BORNGEARHEAD New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2007
    74
    0
    0
    My wife bought those dryer balls. Before seeing that link, I didn't know that they are supposed to take place of the fabric softener. When my wife bought them she only said they were supposed to help with wrinkles, lol. I'm doing a load of laundry right now so I am going to try the dryer balls and no fabric softener. We'll see how it goes. I wonder if the laundry will come out with static cling though.
     
  10. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    2,090
    13
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BORNGEARHEAD @ Feb 4 2007, 04:48 PM) [snapback]385241[/snapback]</div>
    so how did the laundry turn out?
     
  11. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,080
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maggieddd @ Feb 4 2007, 07:00 PM) [snapback]385348[/snapback]</div>
    He'll never be asked to do the laundry again I bet. :lol:
     
  12. BORNGEARHEAD

    BORNGEARHEAD New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2007
    74
    0
    0
    :lol:


    The laundry turned out good. The clothes came out soft, wrinkle-free, and there is no static cling. Looks like I won't need to buy fabric softener anymore. B)

    I give them 2 thumbs up!
     
  13. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2005
    10,339
    14
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
  14. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    2,090
    13
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BORNGEARHEAD @ Feb 4 2007, 11:01 PM) [snapback]385376[/snapback]</div>
    How about drying time? They claim that you can reduce drying time by 25%. Is that what you found also? If you forgot to check, could you do another load of laundry and let me know? :D
     
  15. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2005
    2,090
    13
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    OK, so I have dryer balls on the list of things to get.
    I read reviews of of the Eco-balls and those don't really work.
    Anything else out there I should consider?
     
  16. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    18,058
    3,073
    7
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Feb 4 2007, 10:00 AM) [snapback]385105[/snapback]</div>
    Sorry, my mistake. :rolleyes: The subject line was so spam-like I didn't click the link. It's like those emails you get: "Check this out and destroy your computer!" Yea, I gotta click that.

    I should have looked at the number of posts.

    Tom
     
  17. chogan

    chogan New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2006
    590
    0
    0
    Location:
    Vienna, VA
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maggieddd @ Feb 4 2007, 07:48 AM) [snapback]385090[/snapback]</div>
    This is not on-topic for the laundry discussion, but relates to an earlier thread regarding Terrapass. The main business that carbonneutral is in is selling carbon offsets -- that is, they will fund projects to reduce carbon emissions, and if you pay for that, you have offset your own carbon emissions.

    The interesting difference here is that these folks, as far as I can tell, specifically avoid doing what Terrapass does, that is, which is to buy renewable energy certificates (or "green tags") and call that their carbon avoidance, based on the tons of carbon stated on the green tags.

    Instead, they actually avoid what I believe to be the European version of green tags (renewable obligcation certificates or ROCs), and instead appear to favor direct investment in projects.

    So, where I believe that Terrapass' claim to have offset your carbon emissions is false, there is some possibility that this firm actually does offset your carbon emissions.

    Separately in that Terrapass thread, the issue of planting forests to offset carbon came up. These folks do that, but they at least admit that a weakness of the approach is that the carbon is sequestered only as long as the forest stands.

    Anyway, in terms of their main mission -- offsetting carbon -- it looks like these folks actually do that, while a payment to Terrapass is, in my opinion, best characterized as a small charitable contribution toward clean energy, not as a quantifiable reduction in carbon emissions.

    BUT, totally on-topic for laundry, we bought a spin dryer, and so far it works as advertised. Apparently these are common in Europe (one appears in a Monty Python episode), but rare in the US. A spin dryer is basically a centrifuge for your laundry. A typical load of clothes in our household yields about 3 quarts of water, when run through the spin dryer -- from the laundry that was already spun in the washing machine. After you spin the laundry, you put it in the regular dryer, and the spin-dryer indeed cuts drying time significantly. The vendor says the spin dryer cuts drying time in half, and that seems about right. There are also supposedly health benefits for those with skin sensitive to soaps as otherwise that 3 quarts of soapy water would have been dried onto the fabric. Obviously, it uses less energy to hang the laundry, but if you can't, a spin dryer appears to save significant energy based on reduced drying time.
     
  18. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2005
    4,717
    79
    0
    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    How big are these spin dryers? I'll have to look into it. We probably don't have room for such a thing right now in our wee hut, but we're gonna be moving sometime in the next year and I'll keep an eye towards having room for one of these things.

    Also, from what I've heard mature forests are carbon neutral. Of course any new forests that are planted would be carbon negative for quite a while.
     
  19. chogan

    chogan New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2006
    590
    0
    0
    Location:
    Vienna, VA
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Feb 6 2007, 11:56 AM) [snapback]386091[/snapback]</div>
    The one we got is about the size of a kitchen trash can -- call it a cylinder 16" diameter and 3' tall. A full load from the clothes washer has to be split into three to be run through the spin dryer. I get the feeling this this is the pony model, and that the typical european model is bigger. But it works for us. It only takes a minute or so of spinning to get the water out, but it can make a racket when it runs out-of-balance. We've only had it a few months so I can't vouch for durability. It was $150 with shipping from laundry-alternative.com, which was the only place I could find selling them in the US.
    http://www.laundry-alternative.com/spin-dryer.htm
    I figure roughly a 3 year payback period.

    You are right on the forests -- only a growing forest absorbs carbon. The figures I saw were 90 years for southern pine forest -- after that they are carbon-neutral as long as they continue to stand.
     
  20. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2005
    4,717
    79
    0
    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    That's cool, chogan. Do you know what it draws while in operation? (multiply volts with amps to get watts)