My Prius is ruining me!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(harrv @ Dec 18 2006, 10:03 AM) [snapback]363825[/snapback]</div>

We think alike. One of the programs we are trying to incorporate at my college is the "Green Card" Idea we took from CSU Chico. You bring in your own drink reusable container and get a fill up of soda or whatever and you get a stamp. After your 5th stamp the next drink is free. Chico cut down on some obscene amount of paperbased cups last year. Something like 16,000. This also saved the cafeteria money because the cups usually cost more than the soda.

I tend to eat in the cafeteria alot and will do so even more frequently now that I have to commute to class so I'm going to start bringing my own plate. This will eliminate at least 3 forms of wrapper (for the vegiburger), box (for the fries), box (to hold the fries and burger), tray (to hold the food and condiments). I know most people wont do it but I have to start somewhere.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Slow & Green @ Dec 11 2006, 04:03 PM) [snapback]360554[/snapback]</div>

You can get medication for this.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Dec 15 2006, 11:24 PM) [snapback]363027[/snapback]</div>

Sometimes we forget that as great as the Prius is, it is still a "100% fossil fuel car" - ... it just happens to be more efficient than all those other cars that use gas to burn brake pads too.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Dec 15 2006, 11:24 PM) [snapback]363027[/snapback]</div>

Now you're talkin! Great vision! I want one too.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Dec 15 2006, 11:24 PM) [snapback]363027[/snapback]</div>

That is the truth. It's a start. But it has to lead to something better. What else can we do?

Check out:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-0865715718-0
http://www.pluginpartners.org/plugInHybrids/
http://pluginamerica.com/wktec.shtml

 

Plug in hybrids are only a small step beyond the Prius, in the right direction. They'll still use gas too, just not as much. Adding after market plug in isn't the answer either. Getting manufacturers to offer it either as an option or standard is the next step in the right direction. But plug in isn't the answer unless how we manufacture our electricity changes.

Hence my reference to photovoltaic on my roof. A plug-in EV won't make commercial sense until there are a lot more photovoltaics. On the roofs of private homes and "solar groves" over parking lots and in malls and widely available places to charge much like the current gas stations for those that don't have residential facilities. They'll need to be solar or we'll just trade gas for electricity created with gas, coal or nuclear power.

For my area it will be Solar. Personally, I think SDGE should be leasing every roof it can to put solar panels on. I'd sure volunteer. As is, I can't afford the up front cost of installing solar and without them buying whatever excess I produce I have no incentive to put anything up beyond my personal needs. That's stupid. I have a big roof. I should cover as much of it as I can. But since I'm paying for it I get nothing for going above and beyond. And this is a huge obstacle. Those that can afford to put solar on their roofs can also afford gas and a big gas and electric bill. Those that need to save on gas and utiltiies can't afford to install the PV panels. Tax rebates? So what? I still have to pay up front and who knows what I'll get back? It's a gamble. So, someday...yes. When I have about $25,000-$30,000 of discretionary money sitting around.

The next small step I'm taking is to install an "on demand" hot water heater when my current one goes. I wanted to do that in 1994 when this one was installed, but didn't have the money at the time and not a lot of plumbers were familiar with them. Now you can get them at Home Depot. I'll probably install a water softener at the same time to increase the life of the water heater. By the time I've got a roof covered with solar panels I'll probably have to replace the water heater. Maybe I'll switch from gas to electric at that time since I'll be producing electricity.

In the immediate now I'll be recycling a lot more. I just received the new info from the city for the blue cans. They are taking a lot more stuff. I can put pretty much any metal, plastic or paper in there now. So I'll be doing my part there too. They don't collect greenery but I've become familiar with the greenery recycling part of the landfill. I can bring my greens for free and get all of the mulch and compost I want. What a deal! This is great since I don't have the yard space to compost myself.

The dog recycles some leftovers. (Tonight he ate creamed spinach.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Slow & Green @ Dec 11 2006, 01:18 AM) [snapback]360161[/snapback]</div>

Don't worry.
You are right.
The rest is ruining the world.
Come on.
Merry Christmas

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Slow & Green @ Dec 18 2006, 04:23 PM) [snapback]363922[/snapback]</div>

I also thought "An Inconvenient Truth" was a well-done movie. It's like the best college lecture I ever attended.

Purchasing a Prius led my family and me to examine all our energy use, looking at all of our consumables (gasoline, electricty, natural gas heat, and food), and converting the energy use everything to "gallons of gasoline equivalent".

We found that gasoline purchases are just the tip of the iceberg. For us, gasoline accounted for 12 percent of our fossil fuel use.

Instead, food accounted for the largest share of fossil-fuel use (38%), among all our consumables. Food? Turns out that, for the average American diet, it takes between 7 and 10 fossil-fuel calories to deliver a single edible food calorie. If you eat 2700 calories a day (roughly the US adult average), that works out to the equivalent of 300 gallons of gasoline to manufacture your annual food intake. And, foods vary hugely in terms of the fossil fuel calories required to produce an edible calorie, with grain-fed (e.g., grocery-store) beef being close to the top of the list of fossil-fuel-intensive foods. So, of the 300 gallons of gasoline (equivalent) required, at US averages, 225 gallons is for the production of grain-fed animal products (meat and dairy).

Here's a good introduction: http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/beef.html

I guess you can figure out what's coming next. In the grand scheme of things, you might save as much fossil fuel by changing what you eat as you did by changing what you drive. After looking over the data, we bought a side of grass-fed beef (325 lbs) from a local farmer, to displace what would otherwise have been purchases of grain-fed beef from the grocery store. By all accounts, grass-fed beef appears far less fossil-fuel intensive, and is a far more healthful product than grain-fed beef. This required no lifestyle change on our part, cost us essentially nothing, and saved the equivalent of about 180 gallons of gasoline by avoiding the fossil-fuel-intensive grain-fed meat sold at the grocery store. Seems like a real winner. Until such time as we decided to become vegetarians, this is how we're going to purchase our animal-based protein.

 

a personal mug at work is my way of making a statement. we have a pretty relaxed dress code especially on weekends but shirts with slogans or logos are expressly forbidden...(well, ok. i admit, nearly everyone wore Seattle Seahawk stuff last year during the playoffs. dont think anyone could have stopped that) but coffee cup slogans, nearly anything goes (as long as it has appropriate language)

i also ended my habit of buying a case of bottled water every other week. now its a case every few months. i have started using a water filtration system and refilling bottles. i am using the water bottles with the squirt type cap or the "sports bottle" types to help keep the bottle cleaner longer. and because of my move to an apartment building that is to put it bluntly. a pain to access (security stuff) i now take a few boxes to the store to load groceries in. they are much easier to handle than plastic bags especially when i have to open two locked doors. the doors cannot be opened with one hand so must put down what i,m carrying (there is a table at all the entrances except one so it aint too bad) and bags tend to lose their loads.

with our sticky fingered tendencies, ridiculous packaging is hard to avoid, but i try to consider the most recycle-able packing as well. i use a shredder to mulch all my paper. i save it and use it for packing material for x-mas presents, etc.

i know its not much... but makes me feel better. i am not a saint in the energy department, so i need these things to counteract my guilt

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chogan @ Dec 11 2006, 01:45 PM) [snapback]360594[/snapback]</div>

There is the Toyota Hybrid Highlander which seats 7.



Wildkow

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Dec 19 2006, 11:48 AM) [snapback]364175[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, I have heard bottled water described as one of the great environmental disasters of the 20th century. Not sure whether I believe that, but it does seem largely unnecessary.

The numbers here, for the UK, look like small potatoes to me:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0629-01.htm


This site shows it costs 1.3 megajoules of additional energy per 600 ml of bottled water, relative to tap water.
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/students/activit...e_activity4.asp

This one says the 26 billion US annual water bottles used 1.5 million bbl of oil.
http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/bottled_water1.html

If I put those together, and did the calculation right, it looks like the annual energy cost (bottles plus shipping), for a quart a day of bottled water, amount to the energy in about 6.5 gallons of gasoline. Compared to getting the water out of the tap. Not a disaster, but certainly a notable savings to go without bottled water.





By my calculation, that means that a year's worth of bottled water, at a pint a day, spends excess energy equivalent to 3 gallons of gasoline.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Delta Flyer @ Dec 14 2006, 06:51 AM) [snapback]362118[/snapback]</div>

Or. . . even worst no Remote Control! :angry:



Wildkow

 

Scott, check with your power companies and see what they have to offer in the way of solar. I know here in Norcal some companies offer a lease program where they come in and install the panels on your roof for free and maintain them for 20yrs for free. You buy your power from them at a .01 or .02/kwh rate less than standard power and at the end of 20yrs they belong to you. There may be more to it but CSU Chico just did this for their gym and they are very happy about it.


DaveinOlyWa, be careful about refilling plastic bottles. I believe last i read was that they leach chemicals into your water after a time. Especially the Nalgeen bottles. I'm not 100% certain but it wouldn't hurt to check it out. I htink some places are replacing their plastic bottles for the metal "KleenKan" type bottles.

Here is a sample article http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/nalgene.cfm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(F8L @ Dec 19 2006, 09:32 AM) [snapback]364194[/snapback]</div>

Gotta be careful of the backwash also, unless you throughly wash it every couple of times with hot water and soap, rinsing does not hack it. It will develope bacteria after awhile.

Wildkow

 

I was thinking that the discussion of reusing plastic bottles has brought us far afield, but that isn't so. The decision to drive a more environmentally responsible car has set many of us on the path of making practical and beneficial changes in our lifestyles. The Prius isn't ruining us, but perhaps it is radicalizing us!

Regarding plastic bottles, our family drinks a lot of water when we're out and about, and I usually take along a few bottles of cold water in a cooler. I have found that the thin narrow-necked bottles are not good for refilling. They don't hold up to multiple uses and are difficult to clean. Instead, we use the thicker plastic bottles that once contained yogurt drinks or juice. The mouths are wide enough that they can be sanitized in the dishwasher. The juice bottles are #1 plastic and the yogurt drink bottles are #2.




<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Dec 19 2006, 09:45 PM) [snapback]364404[/snapback]</div>

 

i actually use bottles from Trader Joe's and they have sports bottle lids so minimal lip contact is made. as far as leeching goes, im sure the FDA would love to hear about that issue.

we also have an artesian well in downtown Oly that runs 24-7 and that is where most of my water comes from. i also had Britta and what not, (not very impressed with Britta so only use it as a last resort) it is clean all natural water supply if there ever was one. it is free to the public and more than once, i've hit it at a bad time when several other people were filling their jugs.