Personal Stress Relief from Economic, Environmental Issues » Going Green at Home

Green Training

Diane — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:40:30 +0000

With all the hype about “going green,” it’s difficult to really learn the facts about what will truly aid in sustaining a eco-friendly environment. Everblue Training Institute has a variety of courses to teach just that. Whether you’re looking for solar & wind training, energy auditor training, or green training courses, you can add credentials to your career by becoming an expert in these areas. At Everblue you can learn everything you need to know about sustainable green building principles and practices and gain certification or build your own knowledge.

Recycle Old Technology

Diane — Thu, 13 May 2010 19:51:49 +0000

Electronics seem to be on everyone’s mind today. Many people get so caught up in having to have the latest and greatest and newest technology. It seems that as soon as you have the latest thing on the market, they come up with something newer or an upgrade. Samsung, for instance, just came out with a new phone, the Seek, which is an inexpensive touch-tone phone for Sprint.
Sprint and Samsung have joined together making the Seek a part of a new trial recycling campaign. Customers can use the packaging from the Seek to ship back old wireless phones and all the accessories and are supplied with a postage-paid paper mailing label. The equipment and packaging materials will then be recycled by Sprint.
Think of the implications; if every time someone was to buy “the newest technology.” they recycled their old equipment, that would be an exorbitant amount of recycling.

BP’s Latest Ripoff at the Pump

Diane — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:50:17 +0000

BP’s Game
I’m not sure if BP has done this with the intention of getting customers for a few extra bucks, but it seems a bit deceptive to me.

When using your credit / debit card the progressive order at the pump used to be:
1. Swipe your credit / debit card
2. Car Wash (choose yes or no)
3. Pump Gas
4. Receipt (choose yes or no)

Now the order is:
1. Swipe your credit / debit card
2. Pump Gas
3. Car Wash (choose yes or no)
4. Receipt (choose yes or no)

Simple enough. But, for those of us who have been pumping gas at this BP station for years, the original order is almost done robotically. After pumping gas, without paying attention I pushed “yes” for a receipt. Instead, I got a car wash which was $4.

I’m wondering how many other people did that until they caught on. How many people have gone in to get a refund? How much has BP made off of unsuspecting customers that have better things to do than to once again be screwed at the pump.

Reusable vs. Plastic Bags

Diane — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:58:32 +0000

Being ambivalent is not my favorite way to be, but the latest news about using reusable bags is leaving me in a quandary. It seems as we all to strive to make efforts to “go-green” and lessen our footprint we are confronted with issues that we didn’t see coming.
The article “Reusable Bags–Recycling Infection” particularly details the dilemma we are now facing. I for one have been using and reusing my reusable bags for all of my shopping. I had not even given the slightest consideration to the fact that I have put a huge array of items in them. They come with me to Wal-Mart, Home Depot and any other place I shop. Of course, in keeping plastic down to a minimum, I put my fruits and vegetables directly in the bags. Each item I have put in those bags was touched by how many people? The last thing I actually want to know is what is festering in the bags! My first thought in reading the article was that I would just run the bags through the wash, but the line in the article stating that “organic deposits are not simple to remove,” made me wonder how effective that would be. Now I am left indecisive as to use or not use reusable bags.
As I struggle for a solution I wonder, why not let those people, that came up with a half-baked answer to our shopping bag issue, use the bacteria and yeast ridden reusable bags while we all carry our items in our arms!

Egg Cartons? Any Ideas

Diane — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:12:48 +0000

I have been saving styrofoam egg cartons for a while now. Somehow I feel that they might have some use. I have a whole stack. Sure I could put beads or hardware or office supplies in them, but I can’t help feeling that I could find a better use for them. Anyone have any ideas? I’m curious to see what everyone comes up with!

Small Price to Pay

Diane — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:03:50 +0000

The first thing I’ve done is to stop buying paper towels and napkins. They tended to be way overused, not to mention expensive. As a replacement for napkins and clean ups we use brown coffee filters made from recycled paper. They do a wonderful job on glass and appliances and giving up the softness of a napkin is a small price to pay. Economically, we save a bundle.
Toilet paper is one of the things that I haven’t been able to find a substitution for, so we buy toilet paper made from recycled paper. Again, giving up softness is a small price to pay.
We also have invested in the cloth grocery bags. They range from $.50 to $1.00. We keep them in our cars so we always have them accessible. They’re durable and hold a ton of stuff. Other than the occasional face from the cashier who has to deviate from their usual routine, these bags are the way to go.

Suggestions for Going Green at Home

Diane — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:15:36 +0000

Every time you turn around there are new ideas and different recommendations on what we can do to “go green” at home. It would be a wonderful thing if each and every one of us would do every thing we can to help “save our environment.”
It would also be wonderful if we were all able to afford solar panels and hybrid cars. You would think affordability for such a worthy cause would be a priority. Apparently not!
There are, however, things we can all do. I’ve come across such a wealth of ideas, some easy to implement, some take some work and adjustment. My feeling is that if each of us does what we can, then maybe the small changes will make a big difference. Here is one avenue to pass along viable ideas.