What can we do for Green. . .

Come here to talk about topics that are not related to development, or even Kansas City.
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FangKC
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

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FangKC
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

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Who is the biggest environmentalist?

http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/ ... 2F19521927
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by DaveKCMO »

FangKC wrote: Who is the biggest environmentalist?

http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/ ... 2F19521927
um, no. they still have a loooooong way to go to earn that label. they don't do anything green that doesn't help their bottom line. thankfully, they'll set a good precedent for companies who aren't at all concerned about the environment to lessen their impact -- if only to save money.
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by KCKev »

When Gas was almost $5.00 a gallon the green tide was rolling. I had great hopes for the human race.

But now, with affordable gas prices, green thinking is gone. It's back to consume,consume,consume.

Going green is about as possible as K.C. getting Light Rail. :(
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

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mudjack
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by mudjack »

I really want to use rechargeable batteries in my digital camera, but the amperage of the ones I have is slightly lower than the amperage of "regular" batteries and this seems to make a difference in performance.

Anyone have any suggestions for batteries which will work well?
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by KCMax »

Johnson County will try to set an electronics recycling world record
The event, which is open to the public, will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the Sunset Drive Office Building parking lot at 11811 S. Sunset Drive, Olathe.

For information, call the Johnson County Environmental Department at 913-715-6900.
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

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keep our imprisoned citizens busy!
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by LenexatoKCMO »

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/19/21 ... shape.html

Has JCCC hired Kay Barnes as a consultant?  :D
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by KCMax »

Newsweek: Why We're So Clueless About Being Green
Scientists led by Shahzeen Attari  of the Earth Institute at Columbia University surveyed 505 Americans (recruited through Craigslist), asking them to name the best ways to conserve energy. The most common answers had to do with curtailing use (by turning off lights or driving less, for instance) rather than improving efficiency (installing more efficient lightbulbs and appliances, say). But it is energy efficiency that offers the only possibility for dialing back our voracious consumption of energy and the fossil fuels that generate it. The reason is basic psychology: we are just not going to become a nation of pedestrians, let alone do without all our electronic toys. The only hope is therefore to continue satisfying those materialistic needs but with less electricity and gasoline. Yet as Attari and her colleagues report in a study in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,  only 12 percent of participants mentioned efficiency improvements as ?the most effective way? to conserve energy, while 55 percent mentioned curtailing use. Specifically: 20 percent said turn off lights, but only 3.6 percent said use more efficient bulbs; 15 percent said drive less or use public transit, but only 3 percent said use a more efficient car. No wonder Americans are so resistant to taking personal steps to mitigate climate change: they think it means doing without....

The real problem, Attari told me, is that when people pick the easy things, the low-hanging fruit, they figure they've done their bit for the environment and then don't take steps that could actually make a difference.
Aren't these two thoughts contradictory? Asking people to only to improve efficiency, rather than curtailing use IS low-hanging fruit. What would makes more of a difference - driving a Prius or NOT DRIVING AT ALL?
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by mudjack »

I think the author is skeptical about people actually curtailing their use of energy, etc.
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by IraGlacialis »

KCMax wrote:Aren't these two thoughts contradictory? Asking people to only to improve efficiency, rather than curtailing use IS low-hanging fruit. What would makes more of a difference - driving a Prius or NOT DRIVING AT ALL?
Improving efficiency is a sweeter pill to swallow than just full-on curtailing use.

Practical-wise, getting solar panels, efficient appliances, and efficient modes of transportation while growing your own food is good for the pocketbook and self-reliance in the long term.

The thing is, due to the rapid rise of affluence that is occurring in China and India, industrial nation inhabitants simply biking/walking to work and buying organic does jack-**** in the long run environment-wise for the globe; regionally is another matter and is still quite relevant.
To counter that growth, Americans and other Westerners will have to either cut back their consumption to the bare essentials, something that will not resonate in a positive manner (no matter what country you come from) if you are already prosperous, or governments will have to step up their game in developing clean, efficient, and renewable sources of energy (this is to be done in conjunction with the populace living in a more efficient manner). Suffice to say, the later is a whole lot more appealing yet requires more effort.
What's more is that those at the industrial stage have a practical obligation to assist developing nations on their rise up; that means providing technology for clean energy, efficient infrastructure (transport, water, waste, and power), food production, and medicine.

Here's a good presentation on the subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdGpIc7fZYg&fmt=18
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by Highlander »

KCMax wrote: Newsweek: Why We're So Clueless About Being Green

Aren't these two thoughts contradictory? Asking people to only to improve efficiency, rather than curtailing use IS low-hanging fruit. What would makes more of a difference - driving a Prius or NOT DRIVING AT ALL?
Drive a Prius if you wish.  Not driving is practically impossible everywhere in the US outside of a couple of select metro areas.
Last edited by Highlander on Thu Aug 19, 2010 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by DaveKCMO »

Highlander wrote:Drive a Prius if you wish.  Not driving is practically impossible everywhere in the US outside of a couple of select metro areas.
socially unattractive, not impossible.
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by mudjack »

I lived for a few years in KC without a car. It's really not that bad once you get used to it. If we ever build a great transit system, I would consider going carless again.
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

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But where at in KC?  Access to public transit always?
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

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DaveKCMO wrote: socially unattractive, not impossible.
Well, it's not impossible but it's impractical.  I'm not in love with a car dependent society but because we have a car dependent society, it makes living without a car very impractical and doing with cars in this society would change most lives considerably for the worse.  And if you think it through, it would change your life too.  If we were to abandon cars en masse, the nice affordable condos in KC and other non-eastern cities would become unaffordable pretty quickly and many of those who are most interested in living car free lives would have to move outboard and become more dependent on cars.  It's just not feasible with the exceptionally poor public transportation available to us and the density of our cities.  Those mega shortcomings do not add up to a practical lifestyle. 
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by Highlander »

mudjack wrote: I lived for a few years in KC without a car. It's really not that bad once you get used to it. If we ever build a great transit system, I would consider going carless again.
So is there a mrs Mudjack and little rugrat Mudjacks?  I think that is where the difficulty starts to come in. 
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Re: What can we do for Green. . .

Post by KCMax »

Its also better to say, give up the car on certain trips that you can walk/bike, carpool, plan your errands more efficiently, or telecommute than to simply drive a more energy efficient car. Driving less does more for the environment than driving a more efficient car. That was my only point. Not that everyone should go without a car. Just that if people really need to make a difference they need to ask themselves whether the energy they are using is even necessary, rather than simply asking them to make their energy use more efficient.
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