Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category

It seems that every other day there is a new “Green initiative to help us ‘Save the Planet’”. We are forever being urged to join in and do what we can to help, but What can we do? Will it really make a difference?

It may surprise many of you to know that there are small changes we can make to our everyday lives, which will have a major impact on the environment. If you are really looking to help the environment, you may wish to consider the following simple ideas:

Switch Off Electrical Appliances when not in use

Switching off, rather than leaving on stand-by, such everyday appliances as your TV and Computer will save enormous amounts of energy. By saving the energy, we can all help to reduce carbon emission into the earth’s atmosphere, thereby reducing pollution and global warming.

Car Sharing

Rather than travel to work alone, why not arrange a car sharing Scheme with one or more of your friends or colleagues? To give you an example, if you drive one of the fashionable 4×4 cars, you will use more energy in a year than you would leaving your fridge door open for seven years, or your TV on for thirty two years! Imagine the savings if you car shared with 2,3 or even 4 people?

Insulation and Turing Down your Thermostat

These two energy saving ideas go hand in hand, and they will save YOU money. By turning your central heating thermostat down by one degree, this will both reduce both your household emissions, and save you £30 a year in energy costs.

If you also update your roof and wall cavity insulation, as well as eliminating annoying draughts around your doors and windows, you will retain more of the heat in your home, and again reduce emission. A win win situation, I think you will agree?

Recycling

Recycling is perhaps the easiest way to help in the fight to save the environment. You can recycle many every day materials including glass, paper, plastics, cans and much much more. Not only does recycling save on energy emissions, the recycling of paper will literally save millions of trees a year, which are the earth’s main source of absorbing some of the harmful emissions in the atmosphere. Not to mention, the chance of saving areas like the Amazon Rain Forests, which contain some of the rarest of animals, many of which are near extinction due to the actions of man.

Junk Mail

While we all complain about the increase in Junk Mail, we very rarely do anything about it and the mail continues to flow through our letter boxes, straight into the bin – with 99% not even opened.

What can you do about this? There are various websites around the world (UK residents check out http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/ for further details) where you can register to receive NO JUNK MAIL. As well as saving your time, your will also be doing a massive amount to help the environment, e.g. every person in the US receives junk mail which is equivalent to one and a half trees a year!! Throughout the US as a whole, this equates to more than 100 million trees a year.

There are many many other everyday changes which you can make to help the environment, they will cost you nothing and many will actually save you money! Why not give it a try? Turn your thermostat down by one degree and see if you notice the difference. We can all help, if we really want to.

© 2006 – J. Joyce www.theenvironmentroom.com

Author: James Joyce
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets

Picture yourself outdoors. You are camping, or working out in your garden, or simply taking a walk. You feel at one with nature…but are you harming that nature while you are at it? The chances are actually pretty good that you are harming the environment, even when your intention is to enjoy the atmosphere or to make it more beautiful.

Be more aware of what you are doing outdoors. Most people don’t even think about how much they are harming the environment when they are making their yards more pleasing to the eye. Furthermore, people rarely take the time to enjoy their lawns and gardens anymore. Today, we want to use the highest powered equipment to get the job done in the least amount of time.

Stop thinking of it as work, and start thinking of it as a way to enjoy nature – as well as a way to get a fantastic workout. Get the whole family involved, and get out there for some much needed sunshine while the ozone layer is still protecting you…just be sure to wear your sun block. Here are ten ways that you can protect the environment when you are outdoors.

1. Get rid of that old gas powered lawn mower, and the riding lawn mower. Instead, use an electric lawnmower – if you must – and if you really want to do your part, and get a great workout, use a non-electric, non-gasoline powered mower. Instead of electric or gas powered trimmers, use old fashioned hedge trimmers. Instead of electric edgers, use the manual ones. Instead of weed eaters, get down on your hands and knees and pull those weeds. It’s great exercise!

2. Do not bag the grass that has been cut! Sure, it makes your lawn look nicer, and it is easier than raking, but you aren’t doing the environment any good at all. That cut grass needs to be left alone, so that it can decompose naturally, which in turn feeds nutrients to the soil.

3. If you must water your lawn, do it once a day, and do it early in the morning. Don’t over water the lawn. Also note that it may not look that fabulous when it is under watered, but when the rains come – and they always eventually come – it will get its good healthy green color back again. Sometimes, it is best to let Mother Nature take care of nature.

4. Use a rake. Avoid using blowers and such. These only stir up dust, and they aren’t very good for the environment. Raking is fine, and its great exercise. If you don’t want to do it, hire a neighborhood kid to do it for you.

5. Create a compost pile or bin. This compost makes great, natural fertilizer, and it enables you to recycle your waste, as long as the waste was ‘natural’ to begin with. Compost piles are very easy to create. The environment will thank you – and so will your gardens later on.

Author: Marc Fields
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing

Different business sectors have their own impact on the environment. The ways of working in business also have its effect on global warming. Power consumption is the biggest factor that affects the environment. The second biggest factor is the computer waste generated by different businesses. There are some easy to follow guidelines that can be adopted by businesses to save the environment and decrease carbon emissions.

1) Switch off the equipment when not is use. This can reduce the energy consumption by 25 percent and switching off PCs and all electrical equipment while leaving the office can save an additional 50 percent.

2) Avoid printing emails: Read emails online and avoid unnecessary email printing to save paper and reduce printing costs.

3) Decrease fax related paper waste: Use a fax modem as it allows faxes to be sent directly from computer to machine, thus eliminating the need for printed hard copy.

4) Use both sides of paper: Print on both sides of paper wherever possible.

5) Save water: Close taps properly after use and avoid the waste of water. Install water saving devices wherever possible.

6) Use paper with maximum recycled content.

7) Use bio-degradable, environment friendly and recyclable material for packaging.

Replace general office equipment with high energy efficient equipment. For example, use flat panel displays as an alternative to CRTs. CRTs consume more energy in comparison to flat panel displays. Replace normal bulbs with energy efficient lights.

9) Supply different bins for collecting different waste such as paper, plastic and metal and send the waste to the nearest recycling center.

Following these guidelines can help save the environment with your business in Ireland. It will not only help cut carbon emission, but also lower the carbon imprint of Ireland on global environment.

Author: John Paul McGeown
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Times

You can use the word environment when talking about your own individual living space as well as for the planet as a whole. The latter, the natural environment, is a subject of concern to more and more people. The reason for this is that we have not been concerned enough for a long time.

There is a phrase that is often quoted about visiting spaces in nature. It goes that we should take only photographs and leave only our footprints. But this is not the way we have treated our planet for some time. Though the Native Americans once acted in a way that considered the effect for seven generations, this has not been the case with cultures for many many years.

We put things into the environment on a daily basis that affects it, some for good and some not. All products used become part of the environment in one way or another. For instance, anything that comes in a spray becomes part of our air. And you may have noticed that asthma and a variety of respiratory ills are on the rise.

Every cleaning product or other chemicals that we use end up in both the water and the ground. And what ends up in the ground and in the water ends up in our food and in us. It is a cycle that has been repeating itself in our recent history and may well play a large part in the increased health problems such as cancers that are cropping up.

Although there has been a lot of controversy over the subject of global warming, scientists who believed in it have not relented. Finally, it is being largely accepted as a real phenomenon and one that rightly should cause concern.

Individuals are also gaining greater awareness of environmental issues. Part of this is a concern for what can be done by each of us to keep those issues from worsening.

One thing we can all do is to stop using chemicals and purchase products that are natural instead. Fewer poisons in our homes will make us healthier. It will also result in fewer toxins entering the environment which will help the planet and everything on it.

Reduction in the use of fossil fuels can help to reduce pollution as well. One way to do this is to switch to solar power which is not just environmentally smart. After the initial investment, solar power will also help save money.

Producing less waste will also help the environment greatly as well as generate money savings. One example is the investment in a home water filtration system. You can then refill your own bottles rather than producing a lot of plastic waste products.

It will not be easy to stop being such a consumption based society. And it certainly will not happen overnight. But starting to make that switch will help our bank accounts as well as the health of us and the planet.

Author: Matthew Richard Kerridge
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Humorous photo captions

The world is plagued with various sorts and types of pollution. The most rampant ones are air and water pollution. Air pollution makes it very hard for people to breathe clean fresh air. It is brought about the huge industrialization projects in most countries. Large factories produce some that make the air not suitable for breathing. Also, the smoke emitted by cars, trucks, and other vehicles increase the magnitude of this problem. People only share one source of air, and this source is slowly getting dirtier and dirtier by the second. Water pollution is another serious threat to everyone’s health. Naturally potable water is very hard to find these days. Numerous oil spills in oceans contribute to the destruction of our water sources. In addition, fishes are killed by these water pollutants. When fish are killed, we lose food. When we lose food, we lose energy, and our health is at peril.

These are truly very important issues the world must face and look solutions for, but another kind of pollution – one that is often disregarded and whose effects are underestimated. We are talking about noise pollution. What is noise pollution? How do people contribute to it, and more importantly, how can this problem be solved?

Noise pollution is simply undesirable and displeasing sounds that threat to disturb and upset humans and animals alike. One of the most common instances of noise pollution is transportation. Just think how the noise of the horns of cars along the highway irritates humans. The noise of trucks, cars, and other motor vehicles stresses humans in all sorts of ways, threatening to unbalance their lives. These are not the only sources of noise pollution. The noise of airplanes, huge boats, and even the noise from people’s music are also instances of the pollution. Car and home alarms are also great examples of this type of pollution. As long as something produces noise to the point that it bothers people or animals, it can be considered a source of noise pollution.

Noise pollution has serious effects on people’s health. It specifically harms a person’s hearing, since the loss of hearing is most probable among people who are constantly exposed to this type of pollution. In addition, a person’s cardiovascular health is also placed in peril. A person who is consistently exposed to noise pollutants for an extended amount of time – from about four to eight hours straight – increase that person’s blood pressure by as much as ten mmHg. People who are most affected by this experience its complications, which ultimately lead to coronary heart disease.

The first and most effective way to solve this problem is to eliminate the source of the pollution. Lower down the volumes of your mp3 players and radios. Remove those increasingly loud car and home alarms and replace them with ones whose sounds are not that irritating. For sources that we cannot just take away, noise barriers provide the best solution.

Noise pollution is as damaging as water and air pollution. Destroy it as early as possible, before it destroys you.

Author: Barry Lycka
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Credit card currency-exchange fees

The environment is not as it used to be like back in the day… Nowadays with millions of cars on the road. It plays a small part in polluting our air. Some people say that car pollutants is a big part of the degrading environment we have today. So what can be done? If the very car you drive is hurting the planet and years later the environment will be so bad that our great grand kids will live in glass dome cities to protect themselves from acid rain, and the UV rays will melt all the ice caps on the planet.

What if hydrogen generators can play a huge part in cleaning the air and helping the environment and ozone repair itself by our cars having less unburned fuel escaping out of our exhaust system and going into the air and all we need to do is get educated on how hydrogen can have a roll in being a fuel additive to help us breathe better and save the environment.

We can say… “The car of the future will no longer need fossil fuel”… But what about tomorrow? We still have millions of gas combustion engines running everyday… Since the 1930’s. Plus all the car and truck makers in the world are still making gas/diesel combustion engines. Its not going to stop anytime soon. It would be very wise to work with what we got now and today’s technology of efficient running vehicles with HHO systems will be a blue print for the future cars and trucks to more likely run on just hydrogen alone.

Fossil fuel will run out. A natural resource like this cannot last forever, it will have its end. Just look at our consumption of fuel each year… Its in the billions of gallons, and that’s just one year ! Once its burned up its not recyclable.

For all the vehicles that’s out on the road today all of the (Diesel and Gasoline) fuel combustion engines, still have a large amount of unburned fuel leaving the exhaust system and going into the air, Hydrocarbon (gasoline) fuels are extremely dangerous to us humans and the atmosphere.

When a vehicle has a HHO system installed in their vehicle the hydrogen generator will give the engine a fuel additive that will help burn a great more of the unburned fuel particles and add a bit more horse power to your engine. Then when it leaves the exhaust system the hydrocarbon (gasoline) particles is far less than before giving you an efficient running vehicle with vastly reduced emissions and giving the environment time to restore itself.

Here is a benefit for using HHO on your vehicle, it will help in cleaning the carbon in your engine and help your engine run more efficiently and as it gets cleaner the engine should run smoother and have a small increase in horsepower. And last but not least, it will help your car on miles per gallon. Your mpg will rise adding more miles to your tank of gas. I bought myself an eBook about Hydrogen generators on what it does how it works and how to build one for yourself.

Author: Arnold Magno
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Excise Tax

These days, the world is currently facing a great economic challenge. For that reason, many people are finding ways to save money. Saving energy is one of the best things that you can do to save money. Moreover, solar power can greatly help you save energy thus reducing your household’s expenses on energy bills. You can greatly save energy if you make use of home solar power system. If you make great use of it, you can even be energy independent and not subscribe from power companies. 

The installation of the solar power system at home is a simple process. It can even be done in just a few days. Once you finish installing the system, you will be sure that your home will save more energy and money. Every monthly bill that you receive at your doorstep will surely be much cheaper than it was before. 

Using solar power system does not only save your money, it can also help save the environment. By using solar power, you are reducing the use of fuels that can produce vast amounts of carbon dioxide, which is very harmful for the environment. Moreover, when you make use of solar power system, you are making other people aware of the things it can do for the global warming. Solar power systems are widely available in the market and you can easily avail one so that you can start saving energy. 

In addition, fuels are non-renewable, which means that it will not last for future generations to come. The natural fuel source of our planet may even be depleted in a few decades. This also means that the prices of the fuel will be much higher that before. This means that you will need to pay a much expensive bill but use the same amount of energy that you consume every day. For that reason, you should start making use of solar power system. You will surely see the difference and the amount that you can save.

Moreover, the solar power system is friendly to the environment. Because the source of the energy that it generates is the sun, you are sure that it does not create anything that can bring harm to the environment. In addition, it does not produce carbon dioxide like the fuel. 

Overall, if you want to save money and help the environment at the same time, you can make use of the solar power system. It is easy and simple to install. Moreover, you will surely notice the amount of energy and money that you can save. You only have to remember to inform your energy provider if you are going to make use of solar power system.

Author: Darren T Chow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable pressure cooker

If the truth is told, the reason why you must do your part to save the environment is because for every one person who is doing their part, there are probably about twenty other people who are not going to do their part. What this means is that the earth is not going to last very much longer.

You may think that this is not your problem…and in reality, it is not. The chances are good that if you are reading this now, you are old enough to be dead before the earth is completely destroyed. But are your children that old? What about your children’s children, or their children, your great grandchildren? Will the earth still be inhabitable when they are adults? Will they even see adulthood? So, even though you are not working toward saving the environment for yourself, you at least owe future generations, your descendants, the opportunity to live in an environmentally sound world, don’t you?

If you cannot do it for them, then you must think of yourself. Today, there are more cases of cancer than ever before in the history of the world, despite medical advances. Most causes of cancer can be traced back to something in the environment, asbestos, cigarette smoke, pesticides, refineries, and other toxins, even electricity clusters.

So, if you cannot think of future generations, and you cannot think of the current population as a whole, a whole group of people who are all, essentially, in the same boat, at least think of your own health. The small changes, hat you make will not only have a huge impact on mankind and the earth, but they will also serve to enable you to live a healthier, longer life.

If you cannot think of your health, think about the foods that you enjoy. All food, essentially, starts with soil or grass, water, and sunshine. If the environment continues to decline, you better believe that the food sources are going to dry up, or at the very least become unsafe.

Finally, if you just cannot see any good reason why you should conserve energy and save the environment, look towards your pocket book. That’s right. By conserving energy and helping to save the environment, you will actually be saving yourself loads of money over the years.

No matter what reason you find to save the environment – whether it is noble and self sacrificing, or totally selfish and self-serving, just understand that you must do your part to save the environment…the chances are good that few other people are going to do this for you.

Author: Marc Fields
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Smart cooker

With the advent of depriving natural resources and increasing waste, we all need to pitch in to help save the environment. Everyday more and more trash is thrown out instead of being recycled. We need to do our part to save, not trash the environment. Time is a big factor and we need to move forward with reusing and recycling to reduce our impact on the environment.

There are tons of ways to save our natural resources. They are all fairly easy to do, but it is the little things that can have the greatest impact. Rather than purchasing single items, why not buy in bulk form any supermarket or warehouse? You will save money off the cost of your items and will be helping manufacturers use less packaging materials. You will save money and reduce your impact on the environment. Another easy habit to break is turning off the water while brushing your teeth. Leaving the water on is wasteful and aids in depleting our natural water sources. Turning off the water will save thousands of gallons of fresh water annually. Shortening your showers will also save thousands of gallons of clean, drinkable water a year.

In today’s technology driven, mobile world people are looking for multipurpose battery chargers that can charge more than one device. Every day we charge our MP3 players, cell phones, digital cameras, camcorders, two-way radios, PDA, GPS, and much more using batteries. It can become a hassle dragging around tons of chargers for every electronic device you own. Accessory Genie has a mini charger that you can use to charge camera batteries or plug in the USB cord and charge cell phones and other electronic devices that run through a USB port. You will save space and energy using a dual purpose charger for your electronic devices.

A big environmental problem is batteries and the waste they leave behind after each use. As more and more batteries are purchased and thrown away we begin to realize that we have a problem on our hands. Batteries contain chemicals unsafe and difficult to recycle. Even store-initiated battery take back programs admit that most of the batteries are ultimately thrown out in the trash. There are few battery recycling facilities in the United States and they cannot handle all the batteries given to them. Resources and funding has been low in this field. It is a smart and environmentally friendly decision to buy rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries may cost a few extra dollars but over time you are saving money because you do not need to buy new batteries every time the battery dies. You simply place the batteries in a charger and wait a couple of hours generally, but could be less depending on the charger you have. See a detailed explanation of the various rechargeable batteries and chargers.

We all need to go green by using rechargeable AA and AAA batteries. These batteries can be charged thousands of times. Imagine one battery replacing a thousand batteries for a few dollars more. The savings are outrageous. You will save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on battery purchases, while keeping the environment a cleaner place. The only waste from rechargeable batteries is the energy used to recharge the batteries. There is a solution for that now, solar batteries and solar battery chargers.

Solar chargers do not use energy, but rather produce energy. These are still in their infancy stages of production. Solar battery chargers are new and in the development phases. Some have been put on the market, but none have been perfected yet. In the future it will be wise to switch to rechargeable batteries that run off a solar charger. SOLIO is a good source for quality solar battery chargers. This is the optimal method to reduce waste, save the environment, and save money in our wallets. It’s a win-win situation that needs to be marketed more to the masses.

We all have to be aware of our surroundings and make sure we are doing our part to make this a cleaner world for us and our children. If we continue on the route we are headed, it will not look good in the future. We need to start making drastic changes as soon as possible. Hopefully this will help make you aware of alternative ways to save our planet. We can all do it one step at a time.

Author: Brandon M. Leibowitz
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

How can technology help improve the environment? Are we promoting a more singular existence, where individualism is the force that is driving us along? We are now living in a world that is in an accelerated mode of change and innovation. Is this rate of change detrimental to our existence? Think about this for a moment. On the one hand we have improvements in all areas of our lives some are greater than others. On the other hand we are looking at the effects of the harmful destruction of our planet earth.

The first computers started to emerge around the 1940’s, now we have computer processors in a lot of the electronic equipment we use every day. We even have computers that can fit in your hand that have more power than the first computers.The first Television and television transmission appeared in 1925 and now we are watching gigantic flat screens, some as big as buildings and others screens as small as wrist watches. In the past 80 years the medical field has also grown in leaps and bounds in the areas of IVF, genetic research, cloning, stem cell research, along with the progress in the prevention, cure and management of various diseases. Other fields such as astronomy, environmental science, weapons/warfare and engineering have also had their fair share of extraordinary development achievements.

Looking at the issues of Global warming and human environment interaction we are currently facing within our natural environment. Should we really be in a race to ruin the land where we live? We cannot keep up with the current technology, just look at all the equipment you have taken to the recycle tip in just the last 12-24 months. Consider how many Televisions, Videos, DVD players, Computers, Laptops, Hi-fi’s and Home entertainment systems you have changed or bought recently, the list is endless. When an improvement is made to a product it can sometimes make the original product obsolete. Satellite Navigation equipment a new and easily available product for everyone. Even if you only use it once a year it is believed to be a must have product. Mobile phones is another product every man and his dog has one these days. How often do you change your mobile phone for the latest model? Can you ever imagine being without a mobile phone? How did we ever cope without them? The raw materials used to make a phone cannot be recycled easily. 

I believe as we get to understand one part(s) of our lives we seem to lose sight of others parts that are equally as important. What can be done to slow down the rate of change or how do we as a nation become more aware of the effects of the rate of change has on our environment.

If we could not have a new television or other new product until the old one had been recycled properly we would help the environment tremendously. Today if we implemented this many products or versions of products would be missed because of the speed at which technology changes. Like the latest flat screen with super clear picture quality. It seem that every other week we get the next new and improved product. Just look at washing power or washing up liquid advertisements.

Author: Noel Hines
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets