What can we do for Green. . .

[LenexatoKCMO]

http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... 17,00.html



"A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household," said Jianguo Liu, an ecologist at Michigan State University whose analysis of the environmental impact of divorce appears in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

......Per person, divorced households spent more per person per month for electricity compared with a married household, as multiple people can be watching the same television, listening to the same radio, cooking on the same stove and or eating under the same lights.

That means some $6.9 billion in extra utility costs per year, Liu calculated, plus an added $3.6 billion for water, in addition to other costs such as land use.

I would be curious to see stats on the output of landfill material from single v. cohabitating/married folks.  Just from personal observation, it seems like once you start cohabitating, your material consumption and tendency to buy all sorts of crap in heavy packaging grows exponentially.  I would wager that the typical cohabitating couple throws out significantly more trash than two single individuals. 

[Maitre D]

My first thought was, how big are the typical housing places for single vs. marrieds?  Seems like all the suburban monsters are owned by marrieds and they take a TON of energy to heat. 

Single people live in apartments, smaller houses, etc.  I'd imagine 2 apartments on the Plaza consume far less heat in the winter than John & Jane JoCo's house does.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

I think the true issue is.....the green movement will blame ANYTHING, as contributing to global warming.

No, it's people that for instance, hate divorce or hate immigration (ie you), who want to try to use global warming to push their own agenda.

My first thought was, how big are the typical housing places for single vs. marrieds?  Seems like all the suburban monsters are owned by marrieds and they take a TON of energy to heat. 

Single people live in apartments, smaller houses, etc.  I'd imagine 2 apartments on the Plaza consume far less heat in the winter than John & Jane JoCo's house does.

That's assuming 2 divorced people would move to 2 apartments when in reality, one of them would probably keep the house and the other would move into an apartment thus using more sources.

[Maitre D]

No, it's people that for instance, hate divorce or hate immigration (ie you), who want to try to use global warming to push their own agenda.

That's assuming 2 divorced people would move to 2 apartments when in reality, one of them would probably keep the house and the other would move into an apartment thus using more sources.

What does immigration do, to the number of "sources" big fella?

[GuyInLenexa]

What does immigration do, to the number of "sources" big fella?

I find it amusing that people that wear the word "sustainability" seem to always be pro illegal immigration.

[bbqboy]

Interesting:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... FU493E.DTL
  When Ari Derfel gets a glass of water at a restaurant, the first thing he thinks about is carrying the plastic straw home.

Likewise with every tissue, cash register receipt and burrito wrapper that wafts into his life.

Derfel, a 35-year-old Berkeley catering company owner, is in the 12th month of saving all his trash.

The project started out as an experiment - to see just how much waste one person generates in a year (in Derfel's case, about 96 cubic feet). But as the months rolled by and Derfel's refuse overflowed from his kitchen pantry and into bins in the living room, the project grew from novelty into an environmental statement, a source of much discussion and debate, and a three-dimensional diary of Derfel's consumption habits (not to mention a source of many, many jokes).

Sometime soon, Derfel hopes to transfer custody of the detritus to an artist who will use it to create a piece about the way Americans deal with their castoffs.

"When we throw something away, what does 'away' mean?" said Derfel. "There's no such thing as 'away.' "

Rather, the trash bin is simply one stop in the life cycle of each item, Derfel says. Each thing we throw away has been produced somewhere, shipped to a store, entered the home, and then is sent somewhere else - using up water, oil and land.
cont.....

http://saveyourtrash.typepad.com/
     

[nota]

OK, here's a question:

What is the carbon footprint of the big ball drop celebration at Times Square?

It's really interesting that on the news this AM, they were talking about the new lights on the ball only take about the power of 10 toasters.

Admirable for sure, but what about the energy consumption of getting a million people in and out of Times Square?

What about the energy consumed for all the building lights and streetlights?

What about all the energy consumed by all those cop cars idling?

What about the trash pickup and disposal?

Or do we only care when it is convenient?

[staubio]

OK, here's a question:

What is the carbon footprint of the big ball drop celebration at Times Square?

It's really interesting that on the news this AM, they were talking about the new lights on the ball only take about the power of 10 toasters.

Admirable for sure, but what about the energy consumption of getting a million people in and out of Times Square?

What about the energy consumed for all the building lights and streetlights?

What about all the energy consumed by all those cop cars idling?

What about the trash pickup and disposal?

Or do we only care when it is convenient?

I think many of us always care, but there is a political penalty for attacking tradition. One has to choose their battles.

[kard]

OK, here's a question:

What is the carbon footprint of the big ball drop celebration at Times Square?

It's really interesting that on the news this AM, they were talking about the new lights on the ball only take about the power of 10 toasters.

Admirable for sure, but what about the energy consumption of getting a million people in and out of Times Square?

What about the energy consumed for all the building lights and streetlights?

What about all the energy consumed by all those cop cars idling?

What about the trash pickup and disposal?

Or do we only care when it is convenient?

I see the irony and it's a valid point.  But there's also some bang for the buck--it's good advertising to the million or so people who hear about it.

I'd liken it to Al Gore--even though he and his however-many-thousand square foot mansion spew carbon-etc that all the Gore-haters like to point out, you have to spend some resources to educate folks.

[RiverMarketDweller]

Who is responsible for the recycle bin out front of Vivace? Today was the first time I noticed it. There are seperate holes for plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Also a place for litter.  Will more be put in downtown?
Edit: Also one at 3rd & Grand and 20th & Main.

[DaveKCMO]

larger recycling bins!

Big recycling bins a big hit, spur recycling surge

The clunky, 64-gallon bins that have been turning up on curbs in recent months may not look all that impressive.

But they are taking recycling to a new level.

About two dozen communities in the St. Louis metro area have delivered these large, plastic containers to their residents, most of them in the last year. Included were instructions to use them for "single-stream" recycling, in which all items are mingled without the need to sort by type of material: paper, plastic or metal.

The combination has sent volumes soaring.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

The combination has sent volumes soaring.

Shocking. Give people an easy way to recycle and they recycle. Weird. I just don't get how it's so hard to make bins the size of a parking space and plop them around downtown.

[Maitre D]

I find it amusing that people that wear the word "sustainability" seem to always be pro illegal immigration.

One of their many, many contradictions.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

I don't really know a good place to put this but the City Market now has 2 huge compost dumpsters for waste food. They replaced some of their regular trash dumpsters. I don't really know if they're for use by the public but I'm probably going start taking stuff down and throwing it over the wall.

[Maitre D]

I find it amusing that people that wear the word "sustainability" seem to always be pro illegal immigration.

Immigration and energy use

Your editorial, “Offshore drilling is no panacea for U.S.” (6/19, Opinion) and E. Thomas McClanahan’s column (6/22, Opinion, “Drop the barriers and explore our options”) offer some good options for dealing with our energy crisis but completely miss an obvious step to reduce short- and long-term demand for gasoline. That important step is to stabilize our U.S. population, which can largely be achieved by ending immigration.

Each year the United States admits more than 1 million legal immigrants. Several hundred thousand of these new residents promptly become motorists, increasing demand for our limited supply of motor fuels. This demand pressure assures that prices will definitely not go down and will most likely continue to rise.

Conservation is a hollow and futile gesture when misguided national policy is deliberately offsetting our individual efforts.

Let’s stabilize our population, reduce demand and move toward a more secure energy future.


Wayne Byrd

Overland Park



http://www.kansascity.com/309/story/684666.html

[DaveKCMO]

literally a drop in the bucket. why is immigration the root cause of every problem for some people?

[KCMax]

literally a drop in the bucket. why is immigration the root cause of every problem for some people?

Really! Why don't people realize that sometimes the problem is caused by gay marriage! &&&

[Maitre D]

literally a drop in the bucket. why is immigration the root cause of every problem for some people?

You miss the point entirely.  That is, why should you & I conserve if it doesn't even matter?   How many times can you turn off the lights at your home or recycle.....to offset the massive influx of consumers each year.


You probably haven't thought about that.  And that's the point.

[KCMax]

You miss the point entirely.  That is, why should you & I conserve if it doesn't even matter?   How many times can you turn off the lights at your home or recycle.....to offset the massive influx of consumers each year.

You probably haven't thought about that.  And that's the point.

Or why vote?

One person conserving alone or recycling won't make much of a difference. Even if we get everyone to conserve and recycle, it will still be a minimal impact. But, the more people conserve and recycle, the more likely they are to support and advocate environmental policies from governmental leaders. And those can make a huge difference.

[DaveKCMO]

You miss the point entirely.  That is, why should you & I conserve if it doesn't even matter?   How many times can you turn off the lights at your home or recycle.....to offset the massive influx of consumers each year.


You probably haven't thought about that.  And that's the point.

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