10 Ways to Green Your Home

1. One Bright Idea

If you're going to do just one thing for the planet, make it the switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Although they cost several times more upfront than regular incandescent light bulbs, they also last about 10 times longer, which means that for every CFL you screw in, you'll be saving eight incandescent light bulbs from landfill purgatory. Plus, you'll save some serious cash in the long run. Because CFLs use 75 percent less energy, swapping one incandescent bulb for a CFL reduces carbon dioxide by 500 pounds a year; replacing 17 has the equivalent effect of taking one car off the road for a year. Just remember to recycle spent bulbs responsibly - CFLs contain trace amounts of mercury, which although isn't enough to be hazardous to you, could pose a problem in landfills when mercury from multiple bulbs leaches into the ground.

2. Seeing Stars

The average home can pump out twice as much greenhouse-gas emissions as the average car. Purchasing energy-saving Energy Star-rated appliances, electronics, and lighting can help mitigate that, while slashing a third of your electric bill. (A power guzzler is nobody's friend.) Improving the energy efficiency of your home could even earn you tax credits from Uncle Sam.

3. Paper Nor Plastic

Eschew plastic bags by bringing your own reusable canvas totes the next time you're at the supermarket or store. Because petroleum-based plastic isn't biodegradable, it's certain to outlive you-by about a millennium or so. Each year, thousands of marine animals, including the endangered leatherback turtle, choke to death on plastic trash they mistake for snackable morsels. Our unholy love for plastic disposables has also bred a swirling vortex of plastic trash the size of Texas in the North Pacific Ocean-not surprising when you consider that Americans run through about 100 billion plastic bags annually, using up an estimated 12 million barrels of oil.

4. No Soliciting

Deforestation is responsible for 25 percent of all carbon emissions released into the atmosphere, through the burning and cutting of 34 million acres of trees annually. Save some virgin and old-growth forests by opting out of paper catalogs and browsing online, instead. Why did you think Al Gore invented the Internet? Shed those extra 41 pounds of junk mail the average American packs on each year by removing yourself from direct-mail mailing lists; if you need a tad more help, companies such as GreenDimes and 41pounds.org have got your back.

5. Get Better Mileage

Who knew cauliflower were such globe-trotters? Or that jet-setting tomatoes racked up frequent-flier miles? But it's true: North American produce typically travels a minimum of 1,500 miles. Grapes can clock 2,143 miles cruising from vineyards in Napa Valley to supermarket aisles in Chicago, gobbling up barrels of crude oil and spewing pollutants and greenhouse-gas emissions in their wake. By buying your produce locally, whether it's through the farmers' market or a community-assisted agriculture program, you can reduce your "food miles," otherwise known as the distance your food has to travel to get from the farm to your plate. Now that's fresh.

6. The 3 Rs

Start rolling those Rs: Reduce, reuse, and recycle-and in that order. Let's face it, we're mired deep in ecological debt because we're consuming more resources than nature can replenish. By gorging on more than our fair share of the world's resources, we're also diverting essentials such as food, clothing, and water from communities in greater need. So let's recap: It's better to reduce your personal consumption than it is to reuse something, and it's less environmentally taxing to reuse a product than to have it recycled. Separating recyclables from your regular trash, which barely takes any effort, is a no-brainer, of course; recycling aluminum, for instance, takes as little as 5 percent of the energy we'd need to manufacture virgin aluminum.

7. Get Off the Grid

Opt for clean, renewable energy if it's offered in your area. Low-impact sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric power reduce our dependence on coal-burning power plants, a major source of greenhouse-gas emissions. And because harnessing the power of renewable "fuels" such as sun and wind are free, your electric bill is likely to scale down because of the reduced price of wholesale electricity.

8. Slay Energy Vampires

You may not know it, but households across the globe are infested with vampires. Energy vampires, that is. Cleverly disguised as innocuous household appliances (psst, your television is one of them), their nasty pointed teeth plunge deep into your wall socket, draining power all hours of the day and night, even after you've switched them off. (Americans pay $1 billion a year to power our televisions and VCRs while they're turned off.) Other sleeper agents of the electric undead that consume 1,000 kilowatt hours a year per household, while in standby mode: your toaster, coffeemaker, hair dryer, PC, printer, cable box, and cell phone charger. You don't have to live in a constant state of fear, however, forever checking behind your back for that one appliance you forgot to pull the plug of. Just plug adjacent equipment into power strips with surge protectors, and before you crawl under the safety of your covers-or head out to work-simply flip the switch.

9. Go Au Naturale

Our chemical arsenal may be able to exterminate creepy crawlies and polish our countertops, but they're slowly killing us, too. The man-made chemicals we favor are like the obnoxious houseguest who overstays his welcome-an average of 200 industrial compounds, pollutants and other chemicals, for instance, were recently discovered in the umbilical-cord blood of newborns. (These included seven dangerous pesticides, some of which were banned in the U.S. more than 30 years ago.) We're serving our kids potent chemical cocktails even before they're born-not quite the head start they may have been hoping to get. Pesticides have also been implicated in Parkinson's disease, infertility, brain damage, and cancer. So ditch the poisons and choose natural, non-toxic, and equally effective methods of cleaning and corralling pests. You probably already have what you need in your kitchen to get started. Chowing down on organically grown food will cut out pesticides from your diet, as well.

10. Build it Green

Trees, in a word, rock. They absorb heat-trapping carbon dioxide, hold soil together to prevent landslides, and provide a rich habitat for diverse plants and animals. Choose furniture made from eco-friendly sources such as sustainably managed forests, bamboo, and reclaimed wood. Buying vintage wherever possible, rather than adding something new into the waste stream, is always in style. Also, look for furniture that is durable and likely long-lived-you'll save money on replacements in the future and prevent more wasted materials from winding up in the landfill. And, if for some reason, that dresser or dining table no longer suits your needs, something in fine shape will always have takers via Craig's List, eBay, or Freecycle.

www.livescience.com

Toxic Acid Blamed in Deaths of Seabirds

An algae bloom in Southern California coastal waters has produced record levels of a toxic acid, scientists reported Wednesday. The chemical has been blamed in the deaths of numerous marine mammals and seabirds in recent months.
Measurements from four coastal stations last month found the highest domoic acid concentrations at 27 micrograms per liter, said David Caron of the University of Southern California.
"I have never seen these kind of numbers before," Caron said.
Last year, the highest levels stood at 12 micrograms per liter.
Recent measurements taken this month found the toxin levels had substantially declined, suggesting the seasonal algae bloom may have peaked, Caron said.
Domoic acid is a naturally occurring chemical produced by microscopic algae. Birds and sea mammals ingest the acid by eating fish and shellfish that consume the algae. People who eat fish and shellfish tainted with the acid can experience nausea, seizures and even death.
Last month, state health officials warned consumers against eating certain locally harvested shellfish and seafood that may be tainted with domoic acid.
Environmentalists have been concerned by the number and variety of sea lions, dolphins and birds that have washed ashore between Santa Barbara and San Diego. Some believe the dead and sick animals have been exposed to domoic acid poisoning.
NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency that oversees ocean fishing, has deemed the recent deaths of common dolphins and whales in California an "unusual mortality event." This would allow the agency to pour resources into determining what was causing the die-off.
Although the investigation is ongoing, domoic acid is the prime suspect, said Joe Cordaro, a federal wildlife biologist.
Cordaro cautioned that it's too soon to gauge the severity of this season's algae bloom on mammals and birds. The bloom typically starts in the spring and lasts for three months through early summer.
"At this point, we don't know if it's worse than the 2002-2003 event," Cordaro said.
A domoic outbreak in 2002 and 2003 sickened or killed more than a thousand sea lions and 50 dolphins.

Source: Associated Press

Air Pollution

Flyash

With the boom in population and industrial growth, the need for power has increased manifold. Nearly 73% of India’s total installed power generation capacity is thermal, of which 90% is coal-based generation, with diesel, wind, gas, and steam making up the rest. Thermal power generation through coal combustion produces minute particles of ash that causes serious environmental problems.
Commonly known as fly ash, these ash particles consist of silica, alumina, oxides of iron, calcium, and magnesium and toxic heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cobalt, and copper.
The 80-odd utility thermal power stations in India use bituminous coal and produce large quantities of fly ash. According to one estimate, up to 150 million tonnes of fly ash will be produced in India in the year 2000, primarily by thermal power plants and, to a lesser extent, by cement and steel plants and railways. This poses problems in the form of land use, health hazards, and environmental dangers. Both in disposal and in utilization utmost care has to be taken to safeguard the interest of human life, wild life, and such other considerations.
The prevalent practice is to dump fly ash on wastelands, and this has lain to waste thousands of hectares all over the country. To prevent the fly ash from getting airborne, the dumping sites have to be constantly kept wet by sprinkling water over the area. The coal industry in USA spends millions of dollars on lining fly ash dumping grounds. But in India, these sites are not lined and it leads to seepage, contaminating groundwater and soil. It lowers soil fertility and contaminates surface and ground water as it can leach into the subsoil. When fly ash gets into the natural draining system, it results in siltation and clogs the system. It also reduces the pH balance and portability of water. Fly ash interferes with the process of photosynthesis of aquatic plants and thus disturbs the food chain. Besides, fly ash corrodes exposed metallic structures in its vicinity.
In Delhi, the problem of fly ash is particularly severe as three power stations are located here. Being very minute, fly ash tends to remain airborne for a very long period leading to serious health problems as the airborne ash can enter the body. It causes irritation to eyes, skin, and nose, throat, and respiratory tract. Repeated inhalation of fly ash dust containing crystalline silica can cause bronchitis and lung cancer.
Tackling the problem of fly ash
Fly ash management has taken considerable strides over the past few years. Researches have been attempting to convert this waste into wealth by exploring viable avenues for fly ash management. Fly ash is oxide-rich and can be used as the raw material for different industries.
Today, fly ash bricks can be used as a building material. The American Embassy in India has used fly ash bricks in some of its recent construction. Use of fly ash as a part replacement of cement in mortar and concrete has started with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi taking the lead. Use of fly ash in the construction of roads and embankments has been successfully demonstrated in the country and it is gaining acceptance. The NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) is setting up two fly ash brick manufacturing plants at Badarpur and Dadri near Delhi.
At TERI, researchers have proven that fly ash dumps can be reclaimed by suitable addition of organic matter and symbiotic fungi, making it commercially viable for activities like floriculture and silviculture. TERI researchers have successfully reclaimed a part of an ash pond at the Badarpur Thermal Power Station by introducing a mycorrhizal fungi-based organic bio-fertilizer. As the fungus germinates, it sustains on the partner plant and quickly spreads to the roots and beyond. It improves the plant's water and nutrient uptake, helps in the development of roots and soil-binding, stores carbohydrates and oils for use when needed, protects the plants from soil-borne diseases, and detoxifies contaminated soils. This helps in keeping both air and water pollution under control. It also helps revive wastelands and saves millions of litres of precious water from going down the fly ash slurries. Marigold, tuberose, gladiolus, carnation, sunflower, poplar, sheesham, and eucalyptus now grow at the demonstration site of the power station.
Use of fly ash in agricultural applications has been well demonstrated and has been accepted by a large number of farmers.
The National Capital Power Station of the NTPC has come up with an innovative technology for commercial utilization of this by-product. Known as the dry ash technology, it is considered environment-friendly. Under the dry ash technology, the fly ash is collected in huge mounds with a filter bed provided at the bottom of the mound. Grass is planted on the slopes of the fly ash mounds and polymer layering is also done to prevent the ash from being blown by the wind. Fly ash treated by this method develops certain physical properties that make it more suitable for commercial purposes.