Why Should People Recycle Paper?

26/02/2010

Thankfully, paper is not a difficult material to recycle, and there are excellent benefits for the environment when the procedure is completed. Once it has been collected (by either your local authority or a recycling company acting on their behalf), it is taken to a paper mill, who take care of the rest of the recycling process.

Once at the mill, the scrap paper is added to water and then turned into pulp. The recycled paper is then screened, cleaned and de-inked through a number of processes until it is found suitable for papermaking. The final stage of the paper recycling process is for the pulp to be turned back into rolls of paper, which can then be used for newspapers, toilet rolls, etc.

So, now that you know how simple the recycling process for paper is, lets look at benefits that it brings…

Saves Trees – The less brand new (referred to as ‘virgin’) paper that is needed, the less trees have to be cut down. Vast areas have already been ruined as a direct of deforesting for paper, and this needs to stop as by doing so we are unbalancing eco-systems and the atmosphere.

Wildlife Preservation – More often than not, the wildlife that lives in the trees that are cut down to make ‘new’ paper, die quickly because they cannot adapt to living anywhere else. Recycling paper means that they can die natural deaths instead of forced ones.

Saves Space – Recycling paper reduces space in landfills. 1 ton of recycled paper made from scraps can save 3 cubic yards.

Less Pollution – Burning paper in waste incinerators pumps masses of pollution into the air. That means that we are unnecessarily causing the air that we all breathe to be of a lower quality.

Creates Jobs – Think about all the people who work within the paper recycling industry. Collectors, sorters and machine operators being just a few of them. The more that we recycle, the more of these jobs there will be created.

Paper Logs – Many people are now turning to paper logs as a supplementary fuel source. Consisting of tightly compressed briquettes of paper, these logs can be thrown on a fire or used in a wood burner to provide heat for free.

Cheaper Paper – Recycled paper is often cheap to purchase. Buying cheaper, recycled goods encourages more recycled goods to be manufactured, sustaining the recycling industry.

http://www.paperlogmaker.org.uk is a website dedicated to the recycling of paper. At their site you can find out what a paper log maker is and how it can help you recycle paper.

By Mark Walters | Posted in environmental | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

An Introduction To Wind Power

20/12/2009

Since the importance of protecting our environment is now well known, a lot of people are interested in using alternative sources of energy, especially wind power. What a lot of us don’t know is how wind power works. Wind power works very simply; the movement of the wind is used to turn the rotors of wind turbines and this kinetic energy is then turned into electricity.

Right now, it is sad to say but only 1.5% of the world’s electricity use comes from wind power but luckily that percentage is increasing with each passing year.

The more people become aware of the benefits of wind power and the dangers of not finding a better source then what they are currently using, the more wind power is being used. Some countries are doing far better with their usage of wind power. In Denmark, about nineteen percent of their electricity production is from wind power.

Portugal and Spain have able eleven percent wind power usage. And it is seven percent in the Republic of Ireland and Germany. Even though it would seem like a natural transition being wind power has historically been used for pumping water, grinding grain and propelling sailing ships, it has only been until the recent years that it was being used for the production of energy that can be used as electricity.

Even though a lot of people would complain about the look of the wind farms, calling them unsightly, there are many benefits that should be considered before passing up the idea simply because the wind farms do not look pretty. Wind power is renewable, plentiful, clean, widely distributed, and it does not produce as much greenhouse gas emissions then the other routes that are taken to produce electricity.

But does wind power really stop with producing electricity for our homes, businesses, and schools? The answer is no and that is because there is a chance that someday, our cars could actually run with the help of wind power. There was a super car designed in California that can drive at speeds of up to 155 miles per hour without using the typical fuel that we are all used to.

The car uses a battery (which is solar powered) to start, but once started it can run on the energy generated by the circulation of air through the car. It seems that wind power has even more uses than anyone thought. With the potential to power not only our homes but also our cars, it seems that there are no good arguments to be made against the use of wind power.

Of course, some who live near a wind farm do have some complaints about the noise, but other neighbors of wind farms shrug it off, saying that these wind power plants produce less noise than a herd of sheep or cows would.

It is all in the eyes, or ears, of the beholder apparently. But in the end, decisions will be made based on what is best for the environment of the planet, not what the local residents want to have views of.

Looking to learn how to build a wind generator? It is very easy to do it and you’ll be able to build a strong generator that doesn’t cost very much money. Learning how to build a home wind turbine can really reduce your power bill and help stop pollution, too.

By Arnold Thompson | Posted in environmental | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Sustainable Water Crisis

02/12/2009

The definition of Sustainability is the ability to management of resources. The Green meaning of green is comparatively about health issues within any facility. Even though these environmental issues are closely related, they are obviously distinct segments of the environmental problem. When the public thinks of sustainable issues, they usually think of oil, gas, coal, or other commodities. There is growing concerns that water (drinkable water) will become the next world crisis issue. Even the present mania about climate change could be overlooked by a more devastating and practical problem such as the supply of water which is now becoming a scarce resource. Researchers say that there is 1.1 billion people in the world that don’t have access to clean water. Something that a lot of us take for granted.

The world has a renewable but limited supply of water. The latent problem is that world population is still growing to new and alarming rates. As the chart herein shows that global water demand will grow 40 percent from the present 4.5 billion m3 to 6,900 billion m3 by 2030. Since the world population is expected to quickly exceed 7 billion people and then reach 9 billion people by 2025, some areas will exceed water supply by 50%.

This is a worldwide urgent problem that has impact on many areas of world market. Such as India, China, South Africa and Brazil which account for about 40 percent of the world’s population. The global water problem includes competition for scarce water from multiple uses within a river basin, urbanization, sustainable growth in arid and semi-arid regions, and the relationship between water and energy. This is a world problem that will certainly impact the majority of countries in the world. Those countries also represent 30 percent of the global GDP as well as 43 percent of projected water demand in 2030. Water supply also directly affects agricultural concerns for feed, food, fiber and bio-energy as a key demand driver for water

The solutions for meeting this anticipated water solution are speculated to cost $40 to $60 billion in spending to close the gap on this pending issue. Once again, we see the impact of environmental problems have financial impact on already trouble economies. The financial impact will not be pure localized. World crisis issues will put a premium on commodities that we all use. Note how cheap oil was years ago, and how supply and demand drives up the cost of commodities for everyone.

The strain on natural resources brings us to the issue of sustainability. The present application of sustainable practices is most often shallow and weak. Mainly because businesses and people in general don’t know where to start when it comes to a sustainable program. We have seen it many times before when a business decides to “Going Green” or applying sustainable practices, the full application of a sustainability plan is too often trivial and weak. Greenwashing is a common practice for almost every business since there is no way to accurately measure environmentally credible sustainable progress.

There is a program that stands out from all other Green programs, which offers a standard of performance that is comprehensive and nationally recognized authority. The Green Business league differs from all the Green certification imposter websites offering a Green certification for a fee and a simple self-assessing application. The Green Business League makes it a requirement for all businesses to attain a 100 point system that credits points for a wide variety of Green Practices. To validate these Green Practices on a regular basis the Green Business League does an annual audit of a Certified Green Consultant.

Water management is part of a proper Sustainability plan that can be designed by a trained Sustainability Officer or a Certified Green Consultant. President Obama recently signed Executive Order-514 that requires a Sustainability officer for every government agency who is required to prepare a comprehensive sustainability plan. It is important that self-proclaimed Green businesses step up to the commitment of the hour and train a Certified Sustainability Officer or hire a Certified Green Consultant. These professionals are able to prepare a sustainability plan that will also allow the company to achieve a Green Business Certification that can be respected by the public and contribute the real problems of our lifetime.

To have Green Business there must be a proven, trust worthy, and valid certification. There is large number of companies that are doing greenwashing, green hype, and green lies programs, but Green businesses must be avoid. Green businesses can do this by being varified through Green Business League, which is a nationally renowned authority. Remember, Green businesses are earned not buy.

categories: Green,Business,Company,Environmental,Eco-Friendly,Green Business,Green Company,Water Conservation,Water Efficiency,Sustainability,Water Crisis,Green Certification,Green Certified,Green Business League

By R. Michael Richmond | Posted in environmental | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Leading Reasons Why You Must Buy Natural Cotton Clothing

08/11/2009

If you wish to take away harmful goods from your life, you should consider making the change to wearing just organic cotton baby clothes. Cotton is famous for its ability to wrinkle if you do so much as look at it wrong. Cotton that does this has not been treated with a chemical called Formaldehyde. Formaldehyde bonds with the normal compounds of cotton, which prevents it from wrinkling. Most cottons are now treated with this chemical in order to lower the quantity of work it takes to own cotton clothing.

In addition to Formaldehyde, as if wearing a cancer-causing agent was not bad enough, the process that non organic cotton goes through does a figure on the nature. Non organic cotton is grown-up with a long file of fertilizers and pesticides used to protect and encourage growth of the plants. Though, these fertilizers and pesticides wash out of the fields and directly into the ecosystems. From the local ecosystems, these compounds go straight into the rivers, which then flow into the oceans. The effect is the expansion of dead zones, such as the one located in the Gulf of Mexico. By refusing to get anything but organic cotton clothing, you forward a memo to the bank accounts of producers of non organic cottons.

The difficulty with natural cotton clothing is that not enough persons have demanded it. While the movement is picking up, just when people demand high quality, organic cotton clothes, will the mass producers of chemically improved clothing lower. Only when these non organic producers modify their methods of growing and treating cotton, will the impact of the damage caused to the natural environment be narrowed.

When you have baby organic cotton clothing, you will want to be sure that you are just using ecological cleaning goods with your cotton clothing. Cotton will bond with several substances and hold residue in the fiber of the threads. When you use ecological cleaning products, you will know that you won’t be wearing any additional chemicals. The standard persona consumes a big deal of non biological chemicals day by day, so removing exposure to these chemicals as often as you can is crucial for preventing cancer and maintaining the natural world.

Wearing organic cotton baby clothes is just the beginning. From your outfit, you can adjust to eating organic foods and using natural cleaning products in efforts of living a green lifestyle.

Consider, eating organic foods does not give any additional health benefits from eating other vegetables. You merely lower the amount of trace chemicals introduced into your system as well as prevent excess chemicals from being dumped into the natural environment.

Where to find organic cotton clothing and all about baby organic cotton clothing.

By James Scholaris | Posted in environmental | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Using The Sun’s Energy In A Stirling New Way

11/10/2009
by Michael Edwards

When doing the research for a article on new green products, I was unaware of many of the different ways to convert the energy of the sun into electrical power. I have written about solar cell or photovoltaic cell systems, so let’s look at another type of solar energy system.

The Stirling engine goes back to the early 1800’s, when steam was the order of the day. Steam was used to power factories, trains, and many types of work that required lots of horsepower. However, with steam came the danger of a boiler blowing up when something went wrong. Robert Stirling saw a different approach. His invention still used fire to heat the hot chamber but instead of steam, he used the heat to move pistons.

The Stirling engine has many different designs, some more efficient than others. Some designs use the two cylinder Alpha design, some the Beta single cylinder design and some the Gamma design (a variation of the beta for use in multiple cylinder applications). The beta Sterling design has a single chamber with two pistons and uses a highly efficient regenerator gas as the thermal conductor.

To operate the Stirling engine only an external heat source is required, which could be anything from solar heat to the heat produced by decaying plants. In one model, the heat from a human hand powers a small version of the Stirling engine!

The basic operation of this thermal engine is really quite simple. The engine has two chambers, one hot and one cold. When an external heat source is applied the hot air expands moving a piston and flows to the cold chamber. A flywheel is attached to maintain movement.

The reason the Stirling engine works so well for a solar application is that heat from the sun can easily be concentrated to heat the hot chamber. A parabolic mirror much like that seen with the roof mounted satellite dishes is used to gather and focus the sunlight. With the sunlight focused onto the hot chamber of the engine, the temperature raises and the engine starts running. Connect the output shaft to a generator, and electricity is the product.

The engine and support equipment is contained in a package small enough to be suspended from the end of a metal arm, much like the design of satellite TV systems but on a much larger scale. Some systems are producing 25K watts of power and have been installed and operational for a couple of years.

I will compare the different solar technologies in a later article. For now, I need to lay a foundational understanding of each of the green products used to produce power so a comparison can be made.

Michael

About the Author:
Michael’s concern for our carbon footprints can be found at Green Products Online
By Michael Edwards | Posted in environmental | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Wind and Solar Power Energy Solutions

10/10/2009
by Mike Sullivan

Power and fuel costs are just starting to skyrocket, and they are only going to get higher as the shortage of oil gets worse and demand goes up. Conserving energy is our next priority as a nation, but we can also go one step further to ensure that we never face an energy crisis again – start to create our own renewable energy. Solar power and wind power at home is becoming a common thing and it is becoming very cheap, especially if you create your own solar and wind power generators.

These solutions can help you combat power outages, reduce your electricity bills, and also help the environment.

Wind power solutions work best when the following conditions are met:

- You have a house or farmhouse spread over a big area. Typically, wind power solutions are employed in areas that spread over an acre.

- The average wind speed in your area is around 11 miles per hour. If you stay in a place that has little wind flow, your system will not work. Consult an expert before installing the wind power solution at home.

- Your house needs a lot of uninterrupted power supply. Combating those power outages is easy with the pollution-free wind power systems. You need no longer worry about a break in your work because of a power uncertainty.

A wind power turbine generally consists of a tower, a body with motor, and blades that spin in the wind. The height of the tower depends on the height of surrounding objects and on the distance from them. If you are in a low-wind area you may need a larger tower, and a shorter one if you live in a high wind area.

The motor inside your wind turbine will convert the spinning energy of the blades to electrical current. This electricity can be used to power electrical devices in your home, even if there is a blackout. If you choose to remain connected to your electrical company, they will pay you for electricity that you generate and don’t use.

About the Author:
Go take a look at this nice guide all aboutmake windmill power at these websites. Learn to start saving money on your electric bill by making your own electricity! See more about create power windmills at our website.
By Mike Sullivan | Posted in environmental | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)