Save Our Beautiful Earth - Techie Talk

Techie Talk and Creative Composting

Did you know that a laptop consumes five times less than a desktop computer? Also, check if your computer supports the more advanced Speedstep (TM) power management. Switching off a computer extends its lifetime, contrary to some misconceptions. Leaving a computer running the whole year will cost you more than 1,000 kWh/y, or almost as much as the total electricity consumption of a high-efficiency household. Use one large power strip for your computer, broadband modem, scanner, printer, monitor, and speakers. Switch it off when equipment is not in use. This is a practical way to cut 200 kWh/y or more of standby losses.

Minimise printing. Pay attention to when your index finger is hovering over the print button. Ask yourself - is it REALLY necessary? If so, do it in draft and on recycled paper - back to back. All this makes it a slightly more tedious process but might just discourage you or the kids from doing it in the first place!

Black: The new Green A computer monitor uses 74 watts to display a white background, whereas a screen with a black background uses 59 watts. According to further calculations a black Google homepage would save 8.3 Megawatt-hours (Mwh) a day, on a global scale.

Enter Blackle, a site which is, essentially just a black version of Google. The site is powered by Google, and looks just like the site, but is black. Relative to other energy saving initiatives, it has been suggested that the energy savings of Blackle is small, but so is changing one light-bulb (oops, I wasnt going to say that word, sorry) Lots of small changes add up. It can be viewed at Blackle.com and set as home page through options on your computer.

Creative Composting

Have you seriously considered a compost toilet?

That is.. one that doesnt use water to take the waste somewhere else. It also allows natural processes to produce useful compost, after a resting period depending on the type of toilet.

There are usually two chambers, one in use and one resting. A typical toilet would use one chamber for a year, then change to the second chamber and allow the first to decompose for a year before emptying.

They dont smell, as long as there is a vent pipe, and a drain to take away excess liquid. A handful of soak (straw or sawdust etc.) is dropped into the toilet after each use. This is because bacteria like to eat a balanced diet of carbon and nitrogen. Without a soak, the pile will decompose anaerobically and produce methane, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide... smelly.

Human pathogens dont like conditions outside the human body, so almost all will be dead after a few hours. Only one type of roundworm egg can survive a year-long decomposition period, but even though it is a tiny risk, it is recommended using the compost on fruit trees and bushes, not the vegetable garden.

Compost a friend!

Our pesky bodies continue producing CO2 beyond the grave. They are 80% carbon, producing around 215kg of CO2 when cremated.

Its even worse to have a traditional burial. Coffins are made from chipboard or tropical hardwood, decomposing slowly alongside a methane-producing corpse as it rots.

A more climate-friendly way to go is to opt for an eco style pod made from toughened recycled paper and be buried in a woodland or wilderness, with a planted commemorative tree.

Go on, put it in your will.

Article Source: http://environment.freearticledirectories.com

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