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A Guide to Greenhouse Gases 2

No greenhouse gas is a good greenhouse gas. But did you know that some of them aren’t even reported? We’ve been talking about all of the various greenhouse gasses, how they contribute to global warming, and how you can reduce your household activities that lead to releasing these gases into the atmosphere. Everyone knows about Carbon Dioxide (which plant life actually needs to survive). We are contributing too much of this gas to the atmosphere, upsetting the balance. But knowing about all of the greenhouse gases will help us do what we can to reduce them. Let us continue examining … Continue reading →

A Guide to Greenhouse Gases

We often hear about greenhouse gases and usually associate them with levels of Carbon Dioxide. But did you know that there are other greenhouse gases involved with global warming? Here is a quick breakdown. CFC-12 CFC-12 is Dichlorodifluoromethane, a Chlorofluorocarbon that does not occur in nature and is entirely artificially produced. The more common name of this gas is Freon (Freon 12). Used extensively in refrigerators, air conditioners and other appliances as coolant, it was banned in 1995 because of its serious harm to the ozone layer. Older appliances may still contain this gas, so it is always important to … Continue reading →

Which Cities Are Greenest?

Do you live in a green city? And, just what makes a city green? More and more cities, especially larger ones, are starting to consider their impact on the environment and are trying to make changes. The Green Guide conducted a survey in cities with populations of over 100,000 to see which ones were the greenest. They looked at each cities commitment and scored them based upon that. What type of criteria was considered? Some cities like Eugene, Oregon had a sustainable business incubator and an extensive wetlands program. But what brought Eugene in at #1 might have been the … Continue reading →

American Lung Association Releases the State of the Air Report

The American Lung Association (ALA) released its “State of the Air” report yesterday, which looks at the ozone and particle pollution levels across the U.S. for 2006, 2007 and 2008. As with most reports, there is good news and bad news. The year-round, annual particle pollution levels showed improvement. But, there are also more than 175 million Americans that are still breathing polluted air. In case you were wondering, that is about 58 percent of our total population. The ALA released a list of cities that are most polluted, based on ozone, short-term particle spikes, and long-term particle averages. Unfortunately … Continue reading →

Understanding Carbon Footprint

I recently learned about a new environmental term-—carbon footprint. Basically, it is the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions that each of us produce. I like to think of it as the footprint that we make on the environment. What kind of footprints will we leave behind for our future generation? It’s amazing to think of all the different sources in our lives and how they can affect the environment. Virtually every activity in our lives has some kind of affect on the environment. Some are more obvious like the electricity, gas and oil we use in our homes. Our mode … Continue reading →

Hackers Hope to Disclaim Global Warming

Hackers have broken into a server of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit and posted private emails and documents on the Internet in hopes of showing that scientists have exaggerated global warming concerns. The Climatic Research Unit, a leader in global climate change research, said that about 1,000 emails and 3,000 documents were posted on web sites after the hackers broke in and stole the information. It is not known as to whether all the emails and documents are authentic. As with most issues, there is a debate over whether global warming is really occurring due to man-made … Continue reading →

Saving Energy on Lighting

In my household, I am the light keeper. That is, I go around the entire house on a regular basis shutting off all of the unused lights, especially the ones my husband leaves on. I’m hoping that shutting off lights will become a habit for my family, but so far that just isn’t happening. Turning off unused lights is one way to save energy costs, of course, but there are several other strategies that you can use to reduce the carbon emissions caused by your lightening use. Here are some ideas. Ask yourself if you really need that light. In … Continue reading →

Green Magazines

Even though I write a green blog, I still like to learn new green practices as well as keep up on current green news. Of course, the Internet provides a great number of resources, but there are also green magazines. Here are a few examples: Mother Jones Mother Jones magazine is known for its investigative reporting that that includes green issues. Editor-in-chief Roger Cohn took over in 1999 and helped move the magazine towards environmental issues. Before joining Mother Jones, Cohn was executive editor at Audubon. Cohn has since left to serve as editor of YaleEnvironmental Online, but Mother Jones … Continue reading →

Keeping Things Out of the Landfill

Did you know that our landfills are filling up at an alarming rate? In fact, in the United States alone, in any given day, at least two landfills close when they become filled. This is a serious problem. Here are some easy ways to reduce the amount of things that your household contributes to the landfill. Get Used Instead of buying something that is brand new, why not explore the benefits of getting a used item? Not only will you be keeping that item out of the landfill and reducing greenhouse gases that might have been made during the manufacturing … Continue reading →