Green Sexy

Text to help Haiti

On January 12th, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the tiny island nation of Haiti.  In this age of 24-hour news we are constantly bombarded with horrific stories of man-made tragedies, and in tragedies of this nature, we have "bad guys" to point the finger at and direct our scorn towards.  But who do we blame when our Earth, in displays of unfathomable natural power and might, remind us of our tenuous position as mere tenants of this planet?  Who do we direct our anger towards?  With tragedies such as this one, we are all victims, and we are also reminded of our shared humanity and mortality.

One amazing development that has come to light in this dark time is the fact that we all have, in our pockets, the chance to make an instantaneous difference for the people of Haiti.  Charity has caught up with this internet age and has learned to utilize people's texting obsession to help garner funds for the needy.  Charities such as the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army have offered cell phone users the chance to send a text, which will transfer a specified amount of money to help the relief efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.  American Red Cross spokeswoman Abi Weaver reported that so many Americans were texting their pledge to donate $10 from their upcoming cell phone bill that it amounted to $100,000 an hour, to the tune of $10 million total---in just 3 days!  “It has become the single largest mobile donation campaign ever,” said Hillary Clinton, who recently visited Haiti.  Jim Manis, head of the Mobile Giving Foundation, first tested out text donations after the 2004 Asian tsunami and managed to raise $150,000.  He is now heading up the current U.S. text-to-give campaign and says of this new philanthropic phenomenon: “These are emotional events and people want to reach out and help but sometimes they can’t -- they don’t have a credit card or they forget to write a check or go online to make a donation."  But cell phones, love them or hate them, are a part of our daily existence, and have now become a real tool for doing good.  Imagine that!

So, interested in making a difference via text message?  Try out these organizations:

• Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.
• Text "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5 to "Yele Haiti, a group founded by former Fugees singer Wyclef Jean, who has Haitian roots, raised more than $2 million by Friday", reports Business World Online.  The text message can be resent up to six times.
• Text "HAITI" to 20222 to donate money to the Clinton Foundation.  
• Text  "HAITI" to 85944 to donate money to the International Medical Corps.
• Text "HAITI" to 25383 to donate money to the International Rescue Committee.
• Text "HAITI" to 52000 to donate money to the Salvation Army.

For a more comprehensive list, click on the following link to see more organizations that you can also text to donate money, such as Habitat for Humanity or UNICEF, to name a few:

Mobile Giving Foundation

Pelosi Rethinks Coastal Oil Drilling: Politics As Usual

Some environmentalists may be distressed to hear that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are considering opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling.  Don't despair---it's simply a case of politics as usual.  You see, the new Democratic strategy is to counter the Republican's argument that the Democrats aren't doing enough to reduce gasoline prices and help Americans in this ailing economy.  WELL, the Democrats wouldn't dare give up any political ground in this ridiculous chess match, so now they say that potential oil exploration and drilling is on the table, but only if paired up with proposals that the Republicans have opposed, such as tapping the petroleum reserve and renewable energy initiatives. 

So, we'll have to wait and see where all this political posturing gets us---who's willing to give up more ground in this election year?  Geez, I feel like I'm commentating a sports event or something!

Funny Comics About the Price of Gasoline

China's Green Olympics

For years we've been hearing a lot about the air pollution in Chinese cities and the dangers this pollution poses to its cities' residents.  Lately the discussion of Beijing's air quality has shifted to how it will affect the Olympic athletes' performance.  Some endurance athletes have gone as far as pulling out of certain events for fear that their health and their careers will be compromised by the polluted air.

On the flip side, China has been doing all it can to try to make the 2008 Olympic Games the greenest games yet.  How are they planning on achieving this?  According to an August 5th, 2008 press release from the United Nations Environment Programme  (UNEP),  the Chinese government has taken the following environmentally-friendly measures to green up their Olympic venues:

• Solar power is being used to light lawns, courtyards and streets at several venues including the Olympic Village. The National Stadium, where events such as athletics and football will be held, is being lit by a 130 KW photovoltaic system.
• At the 400,000 square metre Olympic Village, reclaimed water from the Qinghe sewage treatment plant is being used for heating and cooling systems – around 60 per cent in electrical savings is anticipated.
• Translucent membranes in the ceilings and walls of the National Aquatics Centre or 'Water Cube' allow in natural light, and specially designed 'beam-pipes' funnel sunlight into corridors, toilets and car parks at venues including the Olympic Green.
  
• In the Olympic Media Village, at least 3,000 cubic metres of rainwater can be captured using water permeable bricks, pipes and wells installed on roofs, roads and green areas.
• The organizers have set a target of achieving a 50 per cent recycling of waste including paper, metals and plastics at venues. A test run, carried out during the 11th World Softball Championships held last year, achieved a nearly 90 per cent recycling.

In addition, the Chinese government has been cleaning up waterways, moving factories from city centers (or even closing some altogether), planting trees to reduce desertification, and moving towards greener energy, like wind power. 

How much of this change is just window-dressing and how much of is a lasting commitment of the Chinese government to its people and its land?  Only time will tell; but at least the Olympics have given China the impetus to change for the greener!

Exxon Must Be A Bakery 'Cause It's Making Lots of Dough!

It's thrilling to watch an athlete beat his or her personal best---not so exciting to watch Exxon beat its previous quarterly earnings by earning $11.68 billion, up from $11.66 billion at the end of 2007.  Yippee.  Despite these staggering figures, investors were "disappointed".   How can one be disappointed with record figures such as this?  Well, it turns out that there was a "10 percent drop in oil production and a 3 percent decline in natural gas production from the second quarter of 2007."  You see, when oil was only $20 a barrel, oil producing countries such as Russia, Venezuela, Iran and Nigeria signed agreements to let oil companies come in and work their oil fields, but now that the price of oil has skyrocketed, these same countries are in the position to demand more of the profits.  Heck, some countries are telling American and British oil companies to get out!  This, in addition to the rising cost of simply doing business---especially with demands on the marketplace from countries like China and India----makes the future for oil companies look much bleaker than the present picture.

In response to the inevitability of the oil industry's fall from grace, many oil companies are allocating large portions of their profits towards renewable and alternative energy sources.  BP, for instance, is making a big push into solar and wind power to help offset the difficulties of being a mega-oil corporation.  Exxon, however, has expressed little to no interest in going down the green brick road.  As revealed in Sierra Club's Exxpose Exxon campaign: "Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson dismisses renewable energy as 'uneconomic.' In a 2006 speech on Capitol Hill, Mr. Tillerson argued that developers of energy alternatives should be left alone to compete with the oil and gas industry. Without reference to the billions of dollars handed out to the oil and gas industry, he deplored renewable energy incentive programs. 'Interventions only distort the market,' he said." 

If the executives at Exxon don't change their tunes in the near future, they'll find themselves in a very dark oily pit of their own making. For my part, I'm going to do what I can to avoid Exxon Mobil from now on.  Let's see how much of a dent I can put in that $11+ billion figure...not much, eh?  Join me then, and bring your friends.   

George Bush Did Not Leave His Heart In San Francisco

Brian McConnell and a group of friends thought it would be a fitting tribute to name a San Francisco area sewage treatment plant after outgoing President George W. Bush.  Thus, the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco was formed, and 10, 000 signatures later, the measure to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant has qualified for the November ballot.  Proponents of the measure cite President Bush's blunders, from the Iraq war to his handling of the economy, and the fact that we'll all be left to "clean up the mess".  Thus, the sewage plant renaming seems like a fitting move to many.

On one hand, passing this measure would really be a blow to President Bush's legacy and would be a tangible demonstration of the disgust of many an American over President Bush's ineptitude. 

On the other hand, this would just confirm a lot of people's opinions of San Franciscans as a bunch of wackie hippy liberals who do more "fighting of the man" than they do actually doing something of true worth.  Also, there are defenders of the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant who say that it, as an entity "is anything but a symbol of inadequacy", and that "Without it, raw sewage and storm water would flow into the bay and the oceans and the streets. That's not our understanding of what the authors of this initiative believe the current president has delivered."

How will San Franciscan voters respond to this measure?  No one knows, but from now on whenever I flush a toilet, I will be reminded of President Bush.  I guess it gives another meaning to the term "W." C.

Despite Global Warming, A Glacier Is GROWING?

In a USA Today article, Lonnie Thompson, a glacier expert at Ohio State University said that "Climate change is causing roughly 90% of the world's mountain glaciers to shrink."  Thanks to global warming, glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains, the ice fields of Patagonia in Argentina and Chile, and ice masses elsewhere in the world are shrinking at an alarming rate.  In fact, "Warmer temperatures have cut the number of glaciers at Montana's Glacier National Park from 150 to 26 since 1850, and some scientists project there will be none left within 25 to 30 years."  Guess they'll have to rename that park, eh?   According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Earth's frozen ground in the Northern Hemisphere has decreased by about 7% since 1900.  For those who like to poo-poo all the talk about global warming as...poo poo, well, they fail to consider that the more ice that melts, the more the sea levels will rise, which will have detrimental effects on coastlines and waterways worldwide (ie.- Waterworld with Kevin Costner).

So, what's this about a glacier that is growing despite the rise in global temperatures?  Mount Shasta, a peak 14,000 feet above sea level that is 270 miles north of San Francisco, has seven glaciers that "are the only historical glaciers in the continental U.S. known to be growing."  How can this be?  It seems that these glaciers are actually benefiting from global warming in that it now receives more moisture from a warming Pacific Ocean, which falls in the form of snow, thus adding to the size of the glaciers.  In fact, Mount Shasta's glaciers have been growing since the early 20th Century.  This is not an isolated phenomenon.  According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, glaciers in southern Norway and Sweden, the New Zealand Alps and northern Pakistan have also (until recently) benefited from this change in global temperatures.  Unfortunately, Mount Shasta's glaciers' growth won't forever be able to stay ahead of the rising temperatures.  It is estimated that all of Mount Shasta's glaciers will be gone by 2100 because its current rate of snowfall can't keep up with the estimated 11.2% increase in global temperatures by the end of the century.

It is sad to think that one day all of the beautiful glaciers we enjoy today will be gone, and even more sad to think that that day is not far off.  Naturalist John Muir once said of Mount Shasta: "When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since."   

How to Save on Gas---The New National Obsession.

What I will present here will be part hearsay, part speculation, part fact, and some possible hootinanny.   
It seems that everyone has heard of some sensible and some wacky ways to squeeze more mileage out of each gallon of gas they pour into their cars.  Well, here's some of the things I've heard of:

Hypermiling is changing one's behavior behind the wheel to increase gas mileage.  National Public Radio's Morning Edition interviewed some ardent hypermilers to gain some perspective into their approach to saving gas. One gentleman drives with his shoes off (me too!) because he can feel the pressure of the gas pedal better.  His other techniques are to "Slow down, ease up on the accelerator, coast in neutral down hills."  Thanks to this report, my wife and I are both coasting in neutral down hills whenever possible.  I'm sure the gas savings are negligible when doing this, but at least the engine's not sucking up gas during these coasting sessions. 

Anyway, another hypermiler suggested parking in a spot that allows you to pull straight out instead of a spot that you'll have to back out of before driving on your way.  His rationale is that you'll waste precious fuel backing out slowly.  Now, I can see the logic in that, but that does sound a bit anal, doesn't it?

Yet another "technique" employed by dedicated hypermilers is to "coast" at 7 miles per hour through a stop sign---making sure to look both ways, of course.  Now, I've received a ticket in the past for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign, so I don't think I'll be trying this one anytime soon.  Anyway, last time I checked, stop signs aren't optional and people get creamed all the time at intersections, so do not attempt this foolish move (the quarter penny you'll save with this move isn't worth having semi-truck tires across your chest).

The folks at cleanmpg.com examine various hypermiling techniques, critiquing each for its practicallity.  First of all, use "easy starts"---that is, don't gun it when the light turns green---you'll get there, Mario Andretti.  And while you're at it, drive the speed limit...um, yeah.  Well, at least try to drive close to the speed limit.  Ron Cogan, publisher of Green Car Journal says that "The higher the speed above 60 (mph), the more fuel you're losing". 

Another thing hypermilers have taken to is to fill up the tires "to the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall, not as recommended on door stickers or in the vehicle's manual. Higher tire pressure can lower rolling resistance."  At least that's the rationale.  I can attest, however, that over-inflating one's tires past the recommended pressure will make it very difficult to effectively brake in slick conditions (ie- two separate rear-enders committed by me---one in the rain and one in the snow).

Combining trips/errands is a practical thing to do, since that means you'll most likely spend less hours on the road than if you ran each individual errand on its own day.  It's also advisable to park your car in an area where your various trips are all within walking distance.  You see, cars burn more gas when they're warming up, so reduce the amount of starts, save more gas.

How about "drafting" a truck in front of you to cut down on wind resistance?  You will get some benefit from this, but make sure to practice safe following distance--- "safety experts recommend a minimum margin at 55 mph of four seconds (about 323 feet)". 

Oh, the list goes on and on.  Just the other day a coworker told me to pump the gas slower because when you squeeze the trigger full throttle you get more gas fumes, thus less gas.  So, a few days ago I took over 5 minutes to slowly pump a half tank of gas.  I'll let you know if this actually nets me more gas or if this is just a bunch of hooey!

Got any gas-saving tips?  Well, lay 'em on me and I'll try them out!

 

School's Out---Recycling's In!!!

Teachers look forward to the last day of classes just as much (if not more) as the kids do!  Shortly after the euphoria of freedom begins to subside, one begins to notice hallways littered with all kinds of debris and garbage bins overflowing with papers and other school materials.

It seems that at the end of the school year teachers and students create an obscene amount of waste---that is, handouts, unopened packets of looseleaf paper,  textbooks and workbooks, unused writing and coloring utensils, fabric book covers, plastic locker shelves, still-usable notebooks and binders, etc.---all carelessly discarded into garbage bins. 

For many years, it was the efforts of a handful of individuals who helped to reduce a fraction of the waste in our school by collecting still usable school supplies from the kids or by rescuing such items from the garbage.  However, there has been a sea-change this year.  It all started halfway through the year when the elementary school principal achieved what me and a few other teachers were unable to accomplish for many years---procuring a contract with an independent paper recycling company!  Abitibi Paper Retriever has provided our district with two recycling "bins" the size of regular garbage dumpsters. This has been a great comfort to many environmentally-conscious teachers and I have taken quite a few mega-trips to the dumpster with a handcart full of paper from various teachers' rooms.

Another positive development is the fact that teachers in my building are beginning to provide students with the opportunity to donate still-usable school supplies and to recycle paper!   All it takes are some boxes and a few signs---not too hard, is it? 

So, after years of frustration, things are beginning to look up for our formerly wasteful school (though there is still much room for improvement)!  What's on the horizon?  Increasing the environmental consciousness of the teachers and the student body via an environmental club that I am hoping to present to the school board next year!  After all, it is our job as educators to teach our children about the things that really matter in life!

Curb Your Car!

The Town of Brighton, NY and their environmental initiative Color Brighton Green is sponsoring Rochester, NY's "Curb Your Car Week", which is to run from May 18th -May 24th.  During this week motorists are encouraged to reduce or cease their driving for this period of time, or to consider biking to work, taking the bus or carpooling.  There are other initiatives across the nation to reduce peoples' car usage, which may already be occuring these days because of increasingly high gas prices.  Some cities like Ann Arbor, Michigan are extending the "Curb Your Car" challenge for the entire month of May. 

May is also National Bike Month, and May 16th is National Bike to Work Day, so there's no better time to take to two wheels this month!  League of American Bicyclists has a pdf of 50 Ways to Celebrate Bike Month---check it out!