Public transportation is a necessity for creating sustainable communities–a good public transportation system means fewer cars on the road and fewer toxins in our air. I think transportation issues in Southeastern Massachusetts are often left out of environmentalist discussions, likely because public transportation in this area is used out of necessity, not choice.  Bus riders in Southeastern MA are, more often than not, low income minorities, immigrants, students, seniors, disabled members of the community and the working poor. The public transportation system in Southeastern Mass  is also horribly underfunded and lacks extended service into the evening and on Sundays. However, this might also be a result of the public transit system being under-utilized.  So, if you can choose to ride the bus, why wouldn’t you?

Here are some reasons to switch to using public transportation:

SAVING ENERGY! Want to decrease our dependency on foreign oil? If just 10% of Americans switched to using public transportation the U.S. reliance on foreign oil would decrease 40%.

IT’S SAFER! Riding a bus is about 80x safer than riding in a car, and riding a train or subway is even safer.

IT’S BETTER FOR YOUR HEALTH! Studies show that people who switch to using public transportation regularly tend to be healthier than people who don’t, because of the exercise they get walking to and from bus stops, subway stations and their homes and offices.

USING  PUBLIC TRANSIT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY!  According to an APTA study, families that use public transportation can reduce their household expenses by over $6,000 annually, more than the average U.S. household spends on food every year.

For more about this check out:

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/reasons-public-transportation-environment.htm

For more on the local bus system check out: www.srtabus.com

I posted this to a personal blog last week, but I feel that this is a great place to share!

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Today I took about an hour to read the chapter of the book Eaarth (that’s right, with two a’s).  The author, Bill McKibben, claims the earth we live on is no longer what it used to be; it’s a different place, therefore it should have a new name. Clever.

Anyhow, this book delves into how we have waited much to long to put a halt to global warming, and explains what is going on today (terrible things!!!), due to the heating of our planet.  The first chapter is really scary, packed full of statistics that I wish were not true and could be brushed off without worrying too much.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  I think this a great book for anyone who doesn’t understand or see that climate change is occurring.  It really lays it all out for you.

I just wanted to share some of the statistics that I thought people would find interesting.

-The average temperature, having raised a bit over 1.5 degrees F, has triggered a 45% increase in thunderheads (giant clouds five miles up filled with tons of rain and hail) above the ocean.

-Increase in storms = increase in lightning. In one day in June 2008, there were 1,700 different fires across the state of California. Also, lightning strikes in the Arctic have increased twenty-fold, igniting tundra fires (which have never previously been observed).

-The Arctic ice cap is now 1.1 million square miles smaller it had once been.

-The West Antarctic is losing ice 75% faster than last decade.

-Tropical climate has expanded 8.5 million miles…expansion of the tropics push dry subtropics ahead of them, causing rain to be dumped over the ocean, rather than land.

-Australia now experiences an arid climate, the “new normal.” It is no longer considered a drought because the inflows of the past will not return.

-There is a 50% chance that Lake Mead (which sits on Colorado River behind the Hoover Dam) will run dry by 2021!

-One hundred eleven hurricanes formed in the tropical Atlantic between 1995-2008, a 75% increase over the previous 13 years.  These hurricanes are stronger and also last longer, so their destruction often hits more places.

-Oceans’ acidity has increased 30% due to our emissions

-80% oyster larvae death rate due to the high acid content in the sea (2009).

-Coral reefs, colonies of living organisms, will cease to exist by 2100, or even as early as 2050.

-Some species are even shrinking in size as an adaptation to the heat change.

This only covers the first ten pages.  The rest of the chapter dives into the carbon parts per million in the air, and the uncertainty of what is too much.  We are also brought up to speed about our reliance on oil, coal and even finances.  The book cites the fact that all of our recessions happened when oil prices increased… Interesting.

Although we are moving towards trying (at least a little bit) to fix the problem we’ve created, as other countries begin to adapt a more Western lifestyle (China, for example), we will be faced with the problem of even more pollution and emissions. And, gee, how could we ever convince so many people that the new lifestyle they’re chasing isn’t really all that good?

I will admit, the first chapter in this book is scary and intimidating, but we can not hide from these truths any longer. This chapter really focused on the negative, and I’m quite curious if there is any hope found further in the book.  So far, though, it has been an interesting read.  I recommend anyone that lives on Earth should read it. Prices start at $0.01 (used) on Amazon. Check it out.

One man in China created a bike that provides him with clean air to breathe while cycling.  He calls it the Breathing Bike.  It is powered by his own muscle (an environmentally-friendly form of energy), and uses a wind generator which is turned by the wheel of the bike.  Interesting idea!  Would you ride a bike like this?

I love Girl Scouts!  Not only do I love the organization and what they are doing for girls, but I also love their cookies.  After all, who doesn’t love Girl Scout cookies?  However, I now have a new reason to love Girl Scout Cookies.  For those of you who have already purchased them this year, you may have noticed new packaging:

In the past Girl Scout Cookies were purchased by the box, but this year they are being sold as packages.  For most varieties of cookies, the only difference you will notice is the package in place of a box.  However for two varieties of Girl Scout Cookies, Thanks-A-Lot and Lemonades, you will notice that the cookies come in actual recyclable film, which is similar to the film cookies are normally bagged in, inside the paperboard boxes.  ABC Bakers, which is one of two licensed bakers of Girl Scout Cookies, started the new packaging in 2010 with only the Thanks-A-Lot Girl Scout Cookie.  They estimate that this change saved 150 tons of paperboard from the trash!  It also allowed them to ship more cookie packages per truck saving approximately 2,600 gallons of diesel a year!  However don’t worry too much about the paperboard packaging, as it is recyclable as well.

Turning to the side of the cookie package, you will notice a GreenPalm Sustainability logo.  This means that both ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers are official members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which is committed to producing sustainable, environmentally and socially responsible palm oil.  This means that all of the palm oil used in Girl Scout Cookies is sourced from RSPO.

In addition to sustainable packaging and palm oil, some varieties of Girl Scout Cookies made by ABC Bakers are also vegan.  Vegan food is more environmentally-friendly because it doesn’t have the large carbon-footprint made by animals.  Our vegan cookie-lovers will be please to know that they can enjoy the Thin Mint, Thank-A-Lot, Lemonades, and Peanut Butter Patties Girl Scout Cookies.

And there is one more environmentally-friendly reason to love Girl Scout Cookies: when a Girl Scout Troop in the Eastern Mass Council (which is most of the SouthCoast Energy Challenge area) sells at least 24 packages of cookies, Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass (GSEM) will symbolically adopt a dolphin from the National Wildlife Federation!  Now what did you say your favorite Girl Scout Cookie was?  Mine is Carmel DeLites!

http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/

http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/earth-friendly-practices

http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/out-of-the-box

http://www.girlscoutcookies.org

http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_cookies/pdf/2012_new_cookie_box.pdf

http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_cookies/faq.asp

http://www.girlscoutseasternmass.org/cookies/Cookie-Book.pdf

Did you know:

“Becoming vegetarian is one of the most important and effective actions you can take to ease the strain on our Earth’s limited resources, protect the planet from pollution, prevent global warming, and save countless species from extinction”?

Breading animals for food consumes huge amounts of water, grain petroleum, pesticides and drugs.

The meat industry is a major cause of fresh water depletion. According to Ed Ayres, of the World Watch Institute, “Around the world, as more water is diverted to raising pigs and chickens instead of producing crops for direct consumption, millions of wells are going dry. India, China, North Africa and the U.S. are all running freshwater deficits, pumping more from their aquifers than rain can replenish.” [1]

According to Ayres, “Pass up one hamburger, and you’ll save as much water as you save by taking 40 showers with a low-flow nozzle.”

In addition, the rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate in order to make room for cattle ranching.

“It is estimated that for each hamburger made from rainforest beef, members of life forms from approximately 20 to 30 different plant species, 100 different insect species, and dozens of bird, mammals, and reptile species are destroyed.”

Click here for more info on how vegetarian diets help the planet:  http://www.chooseveg.com/environment.asp

Check out this video about eco-transportation programs in Paris, France!  They have a bicycle-sharing program, that has a mix of public and private funding, along with an all electric car-sharing program.  How long until this is available in the states?

http://www.upworthy.com/see-the-car-thats-twice-as-green-as-your-prius

If you read any of my posts, read this one. It also happens to be my shortest because this interactive map is worth more than a thousand words.

When you click on the link go to “POWER PLANTS” and select the type of Power plants on the left side.

So enough talking, go ahead click this link.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=110997398

Environmentalism: as mainstream as beauty pageants!

It used to be that tree huggers, hippies, vegetarians, environmentalists, and naturalists were all lumped into one group. Jim Carey portrays the old stigma perfectly–lanky, flamboyantly indignant, often unshaven. Lucky for me, times, styles, and even stigmas change. The environmentally conscious now carry a new face. If you conduct yourself in a green manner you are now considered up to date, educated, aware, and intelligent. The eco-image is new, sleek, and yes, sexy.

The reason I titled this blog ‘Switch of the Stigmas’ is because now you are looked negatively upon if you aren’t environmentally conscious. The viewpoint has reversed. Oil companies, gas stations, energy companies, litterbugs, and energy wasters are now frowned upon. Now don’t get me wrong–I am not a fan of any stereo typing or prejudice generally speaking,  but I have to say it does feel good not being the group under the microscope. It feels good to have people who care about making the world a better place not looked upon as Jim Carey here.

So, for all those tree huggers in hiding, don’t be afraid to show your true colors. Be public with your green habits– recycling, walking to work, and conserving energy. People will tend to respond more positively than in the past. To me this clearly demonstrates that our world is ready for change and the green way is the new way.

I was cruising through the internet, deep in my daily surf for cool new things, when I came across an interesting list. The list was cool ways that bio-mimicry has been applied in science and modern technologies. Bio-mimicry (try saying it five times fast) is imitating life or, essentially, copying designs from nature. I have taken the ones that apply to energy and posted them below. Read through them they are pretty cool. If you want to see more cool designs that are copied from nature go to the site, check out the rest of the list here!

Passive Cooling-The Eastgate Centre building was designed to mimic the way that tower-building termites in Africa construct their mounds to maintain a constant temperature. The insects do this by constantly opening and closing vents throughout the mound to manage convection currents of air (cooler air is drawn in from open lower sections while hot air escapes through chimneys). The building uses similar design and air circulation while consuming less than 10% of the energy used in similar sized buildings.

Whalepower Wind Turbine- Inspired by the flippers humpback whales use to enable their surprising agility in the water, WhalePower has developed turbine blades with bumps called tubercles that promise greater efficiency. Compared to smooth surface fins, the bumpy humpback ones have 32% less drag and an 8% increased lift in their movement through air or water. Using such blades to catch the wind as communities and nations switch to renewable sources could provide a 20% increase in efficiency.

Self-Healing Plastics- Consider the body’s power to heal itself of scrapes and cuts. New composite materials being developed are called self-healing plastics. They are made from hollow fibers filled with epoxy resin that is released if the fibers suffer serious stresses and cracks. This creates a ‘scab’ nearly as strong as the original material. Such self-healing materials could be used to make planes, cars and even spacecraft that will be lighter, more fuel efficient, and safer.

The Golden Streamlining Principle- PAX Scientific has been developing air and fluid movement technologies based on recurring natural designs (Fibonacci sequence, logarithmic spirals, the Golden Ratio). These shapes align with the observation that the path of least resistance isn’t a straight line. Put all this together and you get the “Streamlining Principle,” being applied to fans on motors, compressors and pumps of all sizes and in all applications. This could save at least 15% of all the electricity consumed in the US.

Bionic Car- Daimler-Chrysler has developed a new concept car from Mercedes-Benz based on the shape of an odd tropical fish – the Bionic Car. Using the shape of the tropical boxfish, designers achieved an aerodynamic ideal that boasts 20% less fuel consumption and as much as an 80% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions. The diesel-powered compact will get about 70 miles per gallon, and can run just fine on biodiesel fuel.

So, what did I learn? The earth is no stranger to efficiency! Evolution has honed creatures and environments, down to the tiniest structures and patterns, to use energy practically and efficiently…and scientists and engineers have finally noticed! Hooray! Plus, I wouldn’t mind having a bionic car!

Why do people love showers so much? Well, they’re cleansing, they’re warm and comforting, relaxing and energizing, and just generally awesome, all at the same time. It’s no wonder that people occasionally  overuse the privilege!

While doing some research for the Energy Challenge, I was looking into barriers that keep people from taking various energy saving actions. One really excellent action to take is installing a low flow shower head–an action made easy by home energy assessments, where you can get just such a shower head installed, at no cost! During my research, I discovered a startling fact: Seinfeld is actually one of the largest barriers to switching to the low flow!

I am here to clear up a widespread misconception, and hopefully eliminate that particular barrier. There is a general feeling out there that “low flow”  mean weak, drippy, unsatisfying showers. That is INCORRECT!! Even bottom of the line modern, low flow  shower heads DO NOT reduce water pressure! Many of the new ones actually have increased water pressure. The design reduces the volume of water per second, but maintains good, strong pressure, by forcing water through smaller holes, often surpassing pressure levels of traditional shower heads.

That particular Seinfeld episode is actually one of my all-time favorites, but let it be known that it is also WRONG! Is it still hilarious? Yes, obviously. The hair “don’ts” crack me up. But is it accurate? No!!

Don’t take my word for it! Register NOW for your no cost, Mass Save home energy assessment, and get your own efficient shower head today! You will save a lot of energy, a ton of water, and a tidy bit of money on your utility bills! You can register for a no cost assessment right here. I assure you, you won’t regret it.