Squeaky Clean Coal

I haven’t written in a while, not that anyone is reading this to notice… I guess that doesn’t matter. Starting this blog and thinking about it makes me think a little more about my actions and stick to my promise to myself to make more eco-friendly choices when I can.

This Christmas I think I made some decent choices for gifts, only a few cheap plastics, the cheap shower liner for my brother who just moved out and the golf ball monogrammer for my dad. I also wrapped them in the grocery flyers I’ve been saving.This new year, I have decided to seriously work on reducing my waste, though I don’t think that I will be able to come close to zero waste, considering my fiance’s love of computer gadgets and video games. More on this as the year goes on.

What I really wanted to write about, is just a little problem I’m having with the We Campaign. I plan on e-mailing them as well. My problem might be that I don’t have a degree in, well, anything, but definitely not in engineering. I am not generally a math or science person. But they keep mentioning this elusive “clean coal” first stating that it has yet to be developed and there is no such thing. Then they go on as if it could be developed. This makes me wonder, this seems to be a load of greenwash. Instead of burning less (or even zero) coal, I suppose it might be possible to catch the CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere, but here, things get tricky. You come across the same problem as with nuclear power waste: where do you store it? I have read that the plan is to store it underground. Well, that will keep it out of the atmosphere, I suppose, but what if it escapes and can it affect our groundwater supply, or field fertility? Obviously we know that it is not good to have too much CO2 in the air above us, but do we know what effects it will have in the ground below us in greater levels?

As much as the We Campaign talks about lobbyists in the government making deals for less regulation, I’m not sure who’s side they are on in this one. On one hand the coal industry’s claims of clean coal need to be revealed in truth as not really being anything. On the other hand, I don’t see that clean coal would be a very good option at all even if it was developed, at least not in comparison to wind, water and geo-thermal power. But where would that leave the coal industry? I say good riddance, but some wealthy CEOs might not feel that way…

Phase I is (somewhat) complete

I’m feeling a bit rebellious this week, so I finally made cleaner at work, out of vinegar (which was strangely in the staff room..) and water to clean the bathrooms.

I’ve been wanting to do that for a while since the cleaner we have smells so strongly, it almost makes you gag. Now I need to put some up at the registers, so the pregnant ones don’t have any excuse not to clean anymore.

Okay, so I know that’s totally like, so what? but that, my friends, was just Phase I of my plan. If I can get everyone, meaning the managers mostly, into the greener cheaper cleaners, then I can work on implementing recycling, which would make me über happy, since I can only guess that the paper thrown away in the store is somewhere close to a hundred pounds a week. * figures are only guesstimates and should not be taken as accurate fact.

I’m still young and against “the man” and I’m not too fond of corporations, even as I get my paycheck from them. As long as I have to submit to their stupid rules, regulations and “sell more” mantras, I at least want to make some good, if small, changes.

And so it begins,

Halloween has past and though signs of this have been present well before then, it has now gathered too much power to be ignored: mass-marketing Christmas season.

Christmas music is beginning to blare out of the store and mall speakers. Holiday decorations are on sale, now! Despite the economy, I have seen an increase in shoppers and money spent at my retail job, and while out shopping.

But what about Thanksgiving, it’s not even happened yet? you ask. Don’t stress, there’s still plenty of decorative leaves and turkey candle holders, too.

Its probably time to start thinking of ways to “green-up” these holidays in the house, without spending too much, but while making sure its all “holly-jolly.”

I am so glad that I will be on woods-hugged farm way in the countryside for Black Friday. For those of you so lucky to be drawn into the shopping festivals: good luck. Stores only carry a handful of the best deals (e.g. $300 laptops, or wiis for any price), and no matter how early you get in line, there will be at least 20 people in front of you. I advise wearing protective gear, and maybe some mace, to tackle the crowd. Its dangerous times people!

More Exciting Than the Grammy’s

Well, I am sure everyone’s heard by now the results of the most historical day of our lives. The winner is… OBAMA!!

My friends and I were myspacing last night, nervously awaiting the announcement. (We’re all pretty liberal).

This is really exciting, a good change for America. Myself, I’m fairly moderate, and I think that after so much right-wing control, a little left-wingedness will keep the balance.

Do It!

I have to tell everyone about Campaign Earth! It is a website about going green, with the usual, common-sense tips, but unique. Unique, because it challenges you to make one step towards going green every month. By this I don’t mean that they say “I challenge you to make …,” no, they give you a challenge every month. I signed up in October. My challenge was to lessen my junk mail, by contacting DMA Mail Preference Service.
This month, it is just as simple: Change your two most used light bulbs to CFLs. I encourage everyone to sign up for the challenge. It consists of small, simple changes each month, to help the planet. This is especially good for those who want to help, but don’t know where to start, like looking at your room after your mother told you to clean it when you were younger. There’s just so much to do, and you’d dearly like to go play instead… But one step at a time, it can be done without taking too much of your time or money.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!

That was totally lame, I admit, but I couldn’t think of a better title. So, this isn’t really about achieving anything quite yet, but more about what I want to achieve. I have finally done somethings that I kept meaning to do in October, like get trying to clean with hydrogen peroxide and buying vinegar. I also switched to Seventh Generation recycled toilet paper and paper towels. But October is over, its now November and I have some new goals to layout here. I figure posting them on the internet will hold me more accountable. We’ll see, but here they are:

1) Start a herb garden, so I can finally grow my own mint tea!

2) Get rid of all the effing junk in our apartment. Possibly by shoving it all into the roommate’s room, it’s messy enough that he won’t notice.

3) Create less trash. This will be a hard one.

$) Stop trying to capitalize numbers. And, although not so much about green living, but to get to the effing gym. The wedding’s only 8 months away!

Hydrogen, Vodka and the Bus

So much to think about today. I finally conquered my fear of the bus here in King County today! I mean, I usually just didn’t go anywhere that wasn’t within walking distance, because I’m afraid to drive with so much traffic, but today I went to Redmond! And I didn’t get lost!
I am now back home, laying in bed trying to get over the head cold I’ve contracted. I have to admit, I am taking DayQuil, probably not so green with all the chemicals or whatever, but it works. Even a cold is helping me on my mission, though. I found, when I went to buy the DayQuil, organic coughdrops!!! So you’re probably saying, “yeah, yeah, what else is new?” But I didn’t know they existed. Or that they were made in America. Or that tasted great and worked! If you didn’t know either, they are called Organix, and they cost about twice as much as the store-brand conventional drops, but they were worth it. I mean, regular cough drops just taste like… I want to say terpentine but I’ve never tasted it. And I didn’t add more unnatural chemicals to my body.

So whenever I get sick though, I clean the bathroom and take a long, hot shower. I know, long hot showers are definitely not eco-friendly. But the steam helps clear your sinuses, and feels good. But back to cleaning the bathroom. I looked up some better ways to do so, and I found on Broomhuggers, a list of homemade, non-toxic cleaners. Since hydrogen peroxide was what I had on hand, I mixed it with a lot of water and used it to clean my john. They list it as a disinfectant, to be used with vinegar as well. I didn’t have vinegar, but the hydrogen peroxide mix seemed to do a fine job on its own, at least whitening (my bathroom is creepily all white).

During my surfing today, I learned of another, common household cleaner: vodka. Yes, vodka. Included in the Top 10 Weird Uses for Vodka, is using it to kill the mold in your shower, and to shine chrome, glass and porcelain. It also is supposed to cure poison ivy. I have yet to try vodka on our shower, but it could use some mold/ mildew control, along with some new caulking altogether.

That blue bin…

Has anyone else had this happen? I keep going to put something in our recycling bin, to see used paper towels, plastic cupcake wrappers etc…! *rawr* My roommate, I am sure, has set out to destroy as much as the planet as possible!!! I know I should be glad that at least he is recycling. His response when I asked him not to throw trash in the recycle before was something like “but its paper so its recyclable.”

While I appreciate his gesture, this is driving me crazy. I have read, quite a few times, the list of what is and is not recyclable in our town. Greasy, wet, nasty paper towels are trash. Unused paper towels are okay, but why wouldn’t you use it? Clear plastic is also trash and that includes hostess wrappers and cake domes. The list also states that if too many unrecyclable items are in the recycle bin, the whole bin is considered tainted and thrown out.

Just think, all that scrubbing out of jars and bottles, just to have them thrown in the trash anyway, where the damn paper towel should’ve been in the first place.

With all this in mind, I encourage everyone to look up exactly what is and is not recyclable in their neighborhood, as it can differ though generally all types of glass, aluminum and newspaper are accepted.

At the starting line.

The first sentence is always the hardest to write. It’s supposed to grab your audience’s attention, and make them excited to read your writing! Like omg! I can never think of just one sentence to introduce a topic and generate enthusiasm all at once. I’ve heard the key is to start slightly off topic, as I have here, because I am actually going to write about going green. Did it work?
This is actually my first blog and at the moment I feel a bit like a nerdy virgin about to lose his virginity, at least how tv portrays it. I’m just going to clumsily make my way from here.
I want to echo the words of politicians in saying that I am just like every other American. I am not a politician, however, and I realize that would be mostly a lie. We’re all different, unique, “special in our own way” if you will. We have however, common experiences, beliefs, needs, goals, and most importantly a common Earth. And this Earth has been loved, just like that teddy bear that’s missing an eye. We need to take better care of it if we are going to continue to live on it.
Most people who know me would say that I’ve always been a bit of a hippie. And it’s funny ’cause it’s true. I’ve also tried to fit in with the mainstream and go along with massive consumerism, but it’s just too overwhelming for me. I don’t know why or when exactly I got this idea in my head to do something about the environmental crisis instead of just caring about it, but I recently acquired much more time in my day due to the economical crisis. I started looking up how to go green, how to do…whatever it is I’m supposed to do about this all. At first all I found were generic lists of use CFL lightbulbs, turn the heat off when you’re not home, blah, blah, etc., etc.
I thought there just weren’t any good resources out there, until I started looking for resources for this blog, when I found… a plethora! So, while this isn’t going to be the first on the topic, at least I’ll have some idea of what I’m writing about.
These are my adventures on my journey to save the planet. I will dodge obstacles, fight battles against the unseen, and even myself. I’m just like Frodo! Probably even just as short.
Tune in next time for… The blue basket of reincarnation! (cue suspenseful music)