You stand on it, live in it, work in it, play on it, anchor things with it, and drive on it. It's concrete and it's ubiquitous and unavoidable. Its production also puts out more carbon dioxide (CO2) than the whole of the aviation industry. Ouch. That hurts even more than stubbing your toe on a block of it...
Why is it so gassy? Well, it's made from clay and limestone, both of which are usually strip mined. So you have emissions from heavy mining equipment, plus the abysmal destruction associated with strip and open pit mining, then transport to the concrete production facility. There, these materials are heated up to hellacious temperatures, producing even more CO2 during combustion.
Each ton of concrete CAUSES EMISSIONS OF 1.4 tons of CO2
That's not an equation we should accept. But getting rid of concrete...well, not such a realistic goal at the moment. Or any time in the foreseeable future.
Happily, some engineers in London jumped on the problem and came up with a new way to make concrete using some non-carbon-based materials. Not only that, but these can be processed much cooler and so require less energy to become the concrete itself.
New equation:
One ton of concrete SOAKS UP 1.1 tons of CO2
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.................that is my sigh of contentment -- are we producing this stuff worldwide yet?? Hurry up already!
Check it out at
the creators' website.
We need to talk about oil. Because there are two MASSIVE untruths about oil floating around out there that I hear almost on a daily basis. Each time, one of my eyes twitches and I think a blood vessel bursts in my head somewhere. That muffled gulping sound heard every time ones of these statements is made is my stifled scream of agony.
UNTRUTH ONE:The Middle East controls our oil supply.
FACT:Very little of our oil comes from the Middle East. Our supply can be broken down as following (illustrated on chart as well) --
Domestically produced (i.e. drilled in the US of A): 41%
Our lovely northern neighbours (Canada): 9%
Saudi Arabia: 8%
Venezula: 8%
Mexico: 7%
Nigeria: 5%
Iraq: a whopping 4%
The rest of it comes from Norway, Angola, Columbia, and other nations (all less than 2%).
So. Iraq and Saudi Arabia combined contribute only 12% of our oil supply. Hell, even CANADA beats out the Saudis. Apparently we should be invading ourselves if we really want to control supplies. Although that doesn't make nearly as exciting a target for demonization than a completely different culture.
UNTRUTH TWO:If we would only do more domestic drilling, we would have more oil available and gas prices would go down.
FACT:There is no promise anywhere that oil drilled in the US STAYS in the US. The US is actually the largest producer of oil in the world, even today (not surprisingly, we are also the largest consumer -- does that make us oil cannibals??). We do export a lot of oil as well, and many new oil drilling projects include plans to SELL that oil, most often to China and other growing Asian markets. So sorry, no oil for you, no matter how loud you chant "Drill, baby, drill." The chant more appropriately should would be "Suck out our natural resources for cut rates and then sell them abroad for personal profit, oil companies!"
Also, oil supply in the US right now is at the highest level it's been for decades in terms of what we have on hand, in barrels, ready to refine into fuels or plastics. There are literally tankers full of oil sitting around off the coast just waiting to be used. Yet gas prices rise -- NOT because supply here is low, but because prices and the amount of gas coming out of refineries is controlled by the refining companies, by speculators and by OPEC. Guess what: global economics is NOT as simple as the "supply and demand" principle that you learned in 5th grade.
So PLEASE, before folks make inflammatory statements, or whine about how the Middle East has all this power over us or, I don't know, invade countries, GET YOUR DAMN FACTS STRAIGHT! Otherwise, I have no respect for your arguments. Please let the agony stop.
And sorry, this is not a Friday Fun Fact, but it's been gnawing at me and I have to get it out...
Sounds impossible, eh? You know how it goes -- your cell phone dies mid-sentence, the camera conks right as you take that once-in-a-lifetime shot or your mp3 player quits in the middle of your favourite song (DAMMIT!!). Next step, plug it in, sucking power from the ever-present grid, which costs you money and burns up resources. Right?
Right?
Well, my dear wanderers, we are FREE AT LAST! Ok, at least in those particular situations. We now have charger options whose power source is free!! and impact-less (aside from production of the actual unit of course).
Want really cheap and basic? Go for hand-produced crank power for your cellphone with the
Sidewinder.
Want a little (or a lot!) more power and control? Go for a portable
solar powered charger.
And my personal favourite, use your booty-shakin' powers to fire up your electronics with the
Dance Charge. Brings a whole new meaning to the "electric slide." Yes, do try to control your hilarity at my sheer pun brilliance...
We hear a million times in a million places to "just do X to live greener!" But we can't afford to, don't have time to, don't have the know-how to do ALL those things and how on earth do we figure out which ones have a meaningful impact and which ones are window dressing???
Well, here are five suggestions, some even free, that WILL make a real difference and are completely doable for just about any homeowner.
(1) Stop "vampire" appliances! Any device with a "ready" light, standby mode (i.e. clocks on microwaves and radios), or screensavers, are sucking up power 24/7. This can account for up to 25% of your power bill!!! You can either pull the plug, or you can get a "smart" power strip that will shut things off for you when not in use (
more here).
(2) Have an older toilet? These greedy buggers can suck down up to seven gallons with one flush. Now I am not a fan of new super low-flow toilets (some things you just NEED water to get rid of!!!) but more than two gallons is excessive -- just fill a two-liter bottle with water, put it in your toilet tank and you'll cut water use by 1/2 gallon with every flush.
(3) Programmable thermostats -- buy one and use one if you can! A nice one might set you back about $20 and can save you hundreds of dollars a year. By reducing energy demand when you are sleeping or not at home, you also pocket plenty of extra cash.
(4) Showerheads -- go low-flow. This doesn't have to mean low pressure, new models do a great job of using air to still give you a lovely water pressure during your bathing.
(5) Reuse greywater. Greywater is just any water that has already been used once -- most sink water can easily be reused, primarily for flushing toilets.
SinkPositive is a great product I've just discovered if you are looking to replace a sink in your bathroom. Drain water goes straight into your toilet tank and is reused for flushing -- no one needs drinking quality water in their toilet, what a waste!! Another (easier and cheaper, but slightly illegal according to most building codes so keep it to yourself) way to do this is simply replumb your sink drain with a flexible pipe that connects to your toilet tank. Very easy to do if the two are located close to each other.
There's lots of "low-hanging fruit" out there, wanderers, so get creative with ways to reuse resources and know that it doesn't have to cost you a bunch of money -- just adjusting an old habit or two and often even saving you money, which is something we all need these days!
Compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs): great for saving energy and last much longer than conventional lightbulbs. By all means, buy them and use them in the place of the old incandescent bulbs. They even have great natural light now, no more harsh florescent glare.
But.
All CFLs contain mercury, which we all know is bad to release into the environment. It is toxic to humans and animals -- put in landfills, it leaches through the soil into groundwater and you drink it. Once it's in the water, it is also bioavailable to fish and, through the food web, is integrated into their tissues, so when you eat them, you get an extra dose of "quicksilver." Mmmm-mmmm, mercury! Well, crap, you say, what the heck am I supposed to do with the stupid things if they burn out or break then?!
Green Guardian is a great start for any questions on how to dispose of pretty much anything you can think of -- for CFLs, just click on "florescent bulbs" in the dropdown list. Your county will also have an answer for you.
And just in case you're feeling particularly lazy (hey, I don't like working too hard either, you never know when it might kill you!), I've got some ready options for you right here!
(1) Home Depot has a nationwide CFL recycling program, just drop 'em off
(2) Check your local Ace Hardware, availability may vary.
(3) My favourite because you don't even have to leave home: Waste Management's
LampTracker program -- they send you cartons, you pack up your bulbs and just mail them back. Think of it as Netflix for CFL's!
