Average Joe Goes Green - Part 6 - The Dreaded Garage

OK – It’s spring cleaning time. Before I get started in my yard, I had to tackle the garage. You know, it’s that forgotten storage area where everything you don’t want in your house, but you don’t want to throw away, ends up. So where do I start?

First things first. I decided to check our air handler for our Air Conditioner unit. Not everyone has an air handler, but many homes may have hot air furnaces which like air handlers, draw in outside air and then distribute it through the house. I opened the door to the air handler and found that besides some extra floor tiles, a ladder and a baseball bat, there were about a dozen cans of paint. We all try to save the leftover paint and varnish from our projects, but that was simply not a good place for storage. Even closed, paint cans emit VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) which are then drawn into the house and combine with the air my family breathes. Not to mention, the word “volatile” being a fire hazard around any electrical unit. These had to go…place them somewhere else, or throw them away. Most waste collection companies require that old paint cans be brought to a special collection facility so as not to contaminate any landfills (yes, you actually can contaminate a landfill!).

After I removed the paint cans, I started on our closets. Being an amateur landscaper, I found that I had accumulated dozens of pesticides and fertilizers. After checking online, I was surprised to find that several of the pesticides I had purchased years ago, were now listed by the government as a “toxin” (not just to pests) and were no longer being sold. These had to go…but where? Again, you can’t just throw these in with your regular garbage. Like paint, this is considered hazardous material, so these will go to the special collection facility. The fertilizers I had were OK, but it’s preferable if you use a good time-release fertilizer, to lower the impact on underground aquifers. I’ll talk more about this when we talk about landscaping in future articles.

Car stuff. I love a clean shiny car. And I have all sorts of cleaners, polishes and waxes. Most of them are not “green”, but it’s just not economically feasible for me to simply trash them and go out and buy all new green products. Besides, disposing of all these at once adds to an already overtaxed waste stream. So I will transition towards sustainability in this area by using up what I have, and replacing them with newer green products.

Last, as I live in hurricane-prone region, I keep a generator ready to go should we lose power for an extended amount of time. The generator uses about 5-6 gallons of gasoline per day, so to be ready, we need to store at least 25 gallons. I’ve never been happy with storing gasoline, but until there is an economical clean power source (alternative generators are just starting to appear on the shelves…but not so economical), we have to deal with storing this fuel in a safe manner. This means approved containers and making sure each container has a tight seal and is far removed from any electrical source.

Well, that really wasn’t so bad! Next issue, we’ll go out and see how we can green up the yard. Until then, think Green!

Keith Winn is the COO of GreenProfit Solutions, Inc. which assists businesses in becoming environmentally responsible. You may view their website at www.greenprofitsolutions.com or e-mail Keith at kwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com .

Average Joe Goes Green - Part 5 - Our Family's Health

As you may recall, my last article focused on the health considerations of Going Green. It has become clear to me that in a totally free enterprise system, we cannot totally depend on our governments to protect us and we need to stay informed and educated. Many of you have written in asking me about the safety of specific name brand household items. Unfortunately, I cannot legally advise you on which products you should or should not buy, but I can give you some tips on what you can be looking out for when doing your shopping.

For example, there are many plastic products made from polycarbonates such as water bottles, food storage containers and children’s toys. One of the ingredients of polycarbonates is a chemical called Bisphenol A which in laboratory tests has been found to cause acute toxicity and what is known as estrogenicity as it’s effects can mirror hormones. While many government agencies worldwide such as Health Canada have deemed Bisphenol A as a “toxin” especially to infants and toddlers, and have banned this material from being used to produce baby bottles and toys, here in the U.S., our EPA has deemed the product “safe”. Fortunately, due to the media attention, several manufacturers (but not all), while not admitting there is anything unsafe about polycarbonates, are switching their products to other materials.

Another example involves the chemical Atrazine which is used as a commercial weed killer. Over 76 million pounds are applied each year in the US. Due to several independent studies showing adverse health indicators, the chemical was banned throughout the European Union several years ago. However, the product continues to be sold and used throughout the U.S. The irony is that Atrazine is manufactured and supplied by a large Swiss Agri-company.

So who would you believe? When it comes to my family, I choose to err on the side of safety. As long as there are proven safe and green alternatives to products we normally use, even if they may be slightly more expensive, that’s the road we are going to take.

Next issue: the dreaded garage. We all hate the thought of cleaning our garage, but it’s time for Spring Cleaning. I’ll let you know what I find in ours.

Keith Winn is the COO of GreenProfit Solutions, Inc. which assists businesses in becoming environmentally responsible. You may view their website at www.greenprofitsolutions.com or e-mail Keith at kwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com .

Average Joe Goes Green - Part 4 - Your Family's Health

I have read through perhaps hundreds of websites since our family started on our Going Green project. What started out as a simple idea to save energy and recycle, has now grown into an all-encompassing mission to not only save the planet, but also to protect the health of my family. How can Going Green be healthier than not Going Green? That would have been my question only a few months back, before I knew what I know now. That’s where our Going Green project started getting more complicated and serious…the information I uncovered revealed not only was the health of the planet at risk, including its many resources, but also my family’s health.

As consumers, my wife and I have always assumed that as long as a product was available on the shelf at our local supermarkets, building supply or department stores, or any retail store, they were completely, 100% safe. However, once we began reading the labels on these products, especially focusing on the “active ingredient”, we found that many contained pollutants and toxins and some even had carcinogenic qualities! I found the following from an article at Clean Link:

Most people have no idea about the active ingredient. “It’s irresponsible for us not to know. We’re not all chemists, but we better be that way fast,” states Lea Buburuz, corporation cleaning consultant for the British Columbia Buildings Corporation (BCBC) in Victoria, which provides real estate services to the provincial government and the public. Buburuz oversees cleaning operations, including chemical decisions, for more than 2,000 properties. Before allowing a new chemical into her inventory, Buburuz requests a full-disclosure Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) from the supplier. She maintains a list of banned substances, both by chemical and by brand name, and if any of the ingredients in the chemical are on the list, she won’t purchase it.

I looked up her sample excluded list on the website, and recognized several common active ingredients that I have seen listed on some of the products in my home. That’s when I decided to start a complete, whole house inventory.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is the name given to a syndrome now suspected of affecting millions of people. The following is an excerpt from Albert F. Robbins, D.O., MSPH, FAAEM, Board Certified: Preventive Medicine,Occupational/Environmental Medicine:

"I have updated my viewpoint on MCS because it is has become a serious but poorly recognized silent epidemic. Both the Yale Occupational Medicine Clinic in New Haven,Connecticut and the Mount Sinai Occupational Medicine Clinic in New York City increasingly diagnose and recognize this serious environmental illness. Over 20 states have proclamations signed by their Governors making May,2007 MCS Awareness Month throughout the U.S.A."

We also began to consider Indoor Air Quality. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): "In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities.” In coming issues, I will share with you what we found by looking through the products in our garage, kitchen, bathrooms, closets and pantry and provide you with resources with which you can perform your own green audit and protect the health of your family.

In the meantime, if you have not already done so, you can start your Going Green process by making sure you recycle and changing out those spent incandescent bulbs with CFLs or better yet, LED’s. While you are at it, don’t forget to save paper by requesting e-statements from your bank or credit union.

Keith Winn is the COO of GreenProfit Solutions, Inc. which assists businesses in becoming environmentally responsible. You may view their website at www.greenprofitsolutions.com or e-mail Keith at kwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com .

Average Joe Goes Green - Part 3 - Goodbye Junk Mail

In my last article, I wrote about my family’s experience into Going Green and specifically, how we started to reduce our electrical usage by transitioning to CFL bulbs; reduced our water usage, and cut down on our paper usage. Almost immediately after publishing, we received inquiries on how to reduce junk mail, so I decided to dedicate this article to that subject.

To refresh our memories from my last article, most of us are aware that by reducing our paper use, we can also dramatically reduce greenhouse gases. For those of us who still do not understand the correlation between paper and climate change, here are a few facts:

It takes trees to make paper…lots of them. Trees are the planet’s “filters”. A tree takes in carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas which is the major factor in global warming) and produces live-giving oxygen. According to Conservatree, just 1 carton (10 reams) of 100% virgin copier paper uses .6 trees, and 1 tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets. Now, let’s factor in pulp processing. Besides the tremendous energy usage to operate these paper mills (that’s more greenhouse gases), the converting of pulp to paper takes a tremendous amount of water which also has to be reprocessed and re-filtered…again, more energy and greenhouse gases. And last, the inks. Most printing is still performed with petroleum and solvent based inks. Not only does that keep our country dependent on oil, but these inks contain toxins which can eventually end up leeching into public water supplies through old landfills.

So, let’s get back to how we can rid ourselves of the most common annoyance and help the cause: junk mail. Nobody wants it, we did not ask for it, yet it continues to show up in our mailboxes, day after day. In fact, the organization 41pounds.org estimates that weight to be the amount of junk mail every American receives in just one year. I even tried to sort through the junk mail for those mail pieces and catalogs that can be recycled, but this is time consuming, and I realized, most people simply will toss these items. Most junk mail gets thrown out with the trash, and ends up in landfills. Here is just some of the impact:
• More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail. 42% of timber harvested nationwide becomes pulpwood for paper.
• The world’s temperate forests absorb 2 billion tons of carbon annually. Creating and shipping junk mail produces more greenhouse gas emissions than 9 million cars.
• About 28 billion gallons of water are wasted to produce and recycle junk mail each year.
There is an easy solution: www.catalogchoice.org offers a free service wherein you can use their website to unsubscribe from various mailings. As mentioned earlier, www.41pounds.org , also offers, for a nominal fee, a comprehensive unsubscription program to help you in stopping that annoying flow of unwanted catalogs, coupons, credit card offers, and just about anything else you do not wish to see in your mailbox.

You can do yourself a favor and help your community and planet in the process. Now, can someone tell me how I can stop that endless flow of junk e-mail? I will be looking for that answer! In the meantime, watch for my next article as it is not only about Going Green, but also includes little known health facts about many of the products we buy.

Keith Winn is the COO of GreenProfit Solutions, Inc. which assists businesses in becoming environmentally responsible. You may view their website at www.greenprofitsolutions.com or e-mail Keith at kwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com .

Average Joe Goes Green - Part 2 - The Easy Stuff

We started with the easy stuff we all read about: changing over from incandescent bulbs to compact florescent (CFL), and making sure we recycle our glass, plastic and paper. Oh, by the way, although CFL bulbs can last from 6-20 times longer than incandescent bulbs, they still do need to be properly recycled when they finally do burn out as they contain trace amounts of mercury. At this time, most curbside recycling companies do not accept these for recycling, so you will need to bring these to stores such as Ikea, Home Depot, Ace Hardware and other major retailers.

The wife and kids were real into our Going Green project, and our electric bill showed a slight reduction after transitioning to the CFL’s, so I started looking further. There were many simple things we found we could do, and techniques to reduce our paper, water and energy consumption. Reducing energy usage is a no-brainer, as that can help save us money in the long run. But I had to question what was the urgency in reducing paper and water? Doesn’t everyone use paper? Why is that an issue? And what about water? That just falls from the sky, and it’s quite inexpensive. Why should we be concerned about conserving our water?

Here is what I found out about paper. As most of us know, paper is made from trees. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with oxygen. Carbon dioxide is a major component of greenhouse gases which is said to be the major cause of global warming. Besides losing the important filtering of our air, the processes to turn trees into paper is extremely energy intensive (which generally burns fuel to generate electricity which produces massive amounts of greenhouse gases) and uses trillions of gallons of water. Then, although some paper is recycled, much of it, especially paper colored with inks like in magazines and catalogs, ends up in landfills. There, the inks, much of them petroleum and solvent based, can eventually leach into our water supply. And what about water? Unless you own a pristine spring, the water you use in your homes must go through many complex filtering and cleaning processes before it is deemed safe. Again, these processes consume a large amount of energy: energy which creates more greenhouse gases.

Armed with this knowledge, we began to take action. We started by electing e-statements from our financial institutions; e-billing from our regular suppliers; started reducing our junk mail (it is estimated the average American receives 42 lbs of junk mail every year); changed our shower and faucets to low-flow nozzles; used a simple milk container “device” to reduce the amount of water consumption for our toilets; and went back to using a broom to clean our walkways. We actually reduced our water usage by over 20%, and saved a few bucks in the process.

We are on the road to greenness! Our family is having fun, and I see that we could also potentially use Going Green to help the family budget. In future articles, I will continue to detail our family’s experience with Going Green in the hopes of helping everyone enjoy a healthier and greener today and tomorrow.

Keith Winn is the COO of GreenProfit Solutions, Inc. which assists businesses in becoming environmentally responsible. You may view their website at www.greenprofitsolutions.com or e-mail Keith at kwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com .

Average Joe Goes Green - Part 1 - Getting Started

I am just your average Joe. Working, and raising a family. I guess I’m your typical American: making mortgage payments on my home and loan payments on our two cars. I have read the news about global climate change and even saw Al Gore’s movie: An Inconvenient Truth. People can argue about the exact cause, but it’s pretty obvious to me that someone has to do something to reverse what is happening. In addition, with the ups and downs of energy and fuel prices, and hearing talk about “alternative” and “clean” energy, I started looking into what I could do to save money, help out the environment, and create an example for my family. I decided to Go Green.

Enlisting the help of my family, we decided to see what our impact is on the environment. This is known as a Carbon Footprint. According to the Wikipedia, a carbon footprint is a measure of human activity on the environment in terms of greenhouse gases produced, in units of pounds of carbon dioxide. Just about everything we do, from washing our clothes to driving a car to lighting an office building, increases our impact or carbon footprint. The carbon each of us generates adds to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which adds to the planet’s heating. The major environmental goal in Going Green is to become as close to carbon neutral as possible. Using today’s technologies, we found a tool online called a Carbon Calculator. By taking a few minutes to complete the information on the major categories of Vehicles (cars), Electricity, Travel and Natural Gas, we had our estimate of our family’s impact, which was a surprising 20.91 tons of carbon produced annually. These figures do not even consider the indirect effects of our plastic, paper, water consumption, nor emissions from other fuel burning devices such as lawn equipment, motorcycles, RV’s and boats. Wow…it’s no wonder we have such an enormous environmental problem but we decided, we were going to do our part.

The company which sponsored the Carbon Calculator we used offered Carbon Offset certificates for sale as a method to offset our family’s impact. There are dozens of energy companies offering these certificates. When you purchase Carbon Offsets, your purchase is used to offset your household's emissions using the following methods: 1) Buying renewable energy credits (RECs) from solar, wind and biomass facilities around the country 2) Funding reforestation projects through the carbon offset company’s partnerships with organizations; 3) Supporting other project-based carbon offset technologies - for example, new projects to increase energy efficiency. This method has become quite popular, especially for companies who are also concerned about their carbon footprint. These certificates even make innovative gifts for friends and family. However, we decided that there were many things, we as a family could do to reduce our carbon footprint, save energy, save money and help our environment. The purchase of carbon offset certificates would be something we might consider down the road, after we had exhausted all of the carbon reducing methods available to us. But we might consider buying them as gifts, in the hopes of encouraging those close to us to also Go Green.

In future articles, I will detail the steps our family is taking and provide ideas and recommendations you might use with your family. I invite you to follow us and join us on our family’s journey towards a greener and healthier lifestyle.

Keith Winn is the COO of GreenProfit Solutions, Inc. which assists businesses in becoming environmentally responsible. You may view their website at www.greenprofitsolutions.com or e-mail Keith at kwinn@greenprofitsolutions.com .