Green Tomorrow

In all of the years of scientific discovery, we have not been able to detect any other planet in the universe with our unique chemical makeup, which sustains all forms of animal and plant life. Today, we are said to be on the verge of ruining that life opportunity by our careless overproduction of one of those natural chemical substances, now called a pollutant.

Like many who read this, I had education classes in high school and college that give me the background to examine this dilemma in a simple and practical manner. In my time, scientists had identified all 92 elements within our planet. Since then, that detected number has grown to slightly over 100, using the scientific advancement of microscopic power. These elements are called atoms and have been given names and symbols. They exist all around us as unique chemicals and are sometimes naturally combined together and called molecules.

These atoms and molecules exist in three different forms within this climate bubble where we all live together. One form is a solid and can be easily seen-like dirt. Another is a fluid form that is also visible-like water. The third form is gaseous and is normally not readily visible. Some of these molecules can even change from one form to another. An example is the one that is currently causing concern. Carbon and oxygen atoms naturally exist in a molecule known as carbon dioxide that is popularly symbolized as CO2. The solid form of CO2 is called “dry ice”. Extreme changes in the temperature levels actually convert it from gas to solid, and back.

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Let’s face it. Nobody is arguing the fact that we have to do something about our contaminated tap water. For many years, we’ve relied on our local water authority to make sure that we’re getting water that is safe for use in our homes. But as more evidence continues to surface about the potential dangers of drinking, cooking, and bathing with what is delivered through our faucets, we have to wonder where the responsibility lies in providing a solution to contaminated tap water.

The main reason for the failure of municipal treatment systems is that they are based upon outdated disinfection methods - namely, chlorination. The type of contaminated tap water that we’re faced with today (over 2100 known toxins*) calls for powerful, but expensive filtration. The cheapness of chlorine remains a major factor in the decision by city officials to stick with this highly-ineffective treatment method.

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Globally we have awakened to the serious problems facing the world’s dwindling fresh water supplies. Irena Salina’s recent award winning film “Flow” addresses some eye-opening issues regarding our most precious resource. From the highly questionable quality of the water we get from our taps, to the sometimes almost unregulated content of bottled water, the film seriously challenges our predispositions toward government safety and oversight of our water supplies.

But an even more frightening truth is that the world is facing perhaps its biggest challenge to mankind in the 21st century. The tremendous amount of fresh water used for agriculture, industry, and the day-to-day lives of 6.5 billion people has created drinking water shortages in many places and the problem is getting worse everyday in more areas worldwide. Our available fresh water supplies are being polluted and contaminated at an alarming rate as mankind’s activities continue to dump chemicals, pesticides, metals, sewage, pharmaceutical drugs, and a host of other pollutants and filth into our lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans. Over eighty percent of hospital beds filled worldwide is a result of a water-borne illness, poor hygiene, or poor sanitation as a direct consequence of little or no access to safe drinking water. Climatic changes and altered global weather patterns is also playing a major role in disrupting our supply of fresh water. The predictions indicate that it will have a serious impact on vegetation, agriculture, forestry, and ecosystems worldwide causing further problems and disruptions for all mankind in the next decade. Read the Global Security Brief #3: Climate change poses a greater Security Threat Than Terrorism….. Listed at the World Watch Institute @ worldwatch dot org.

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Since the 1950s, when the solar cells were discovered people were more and more concerned about gaining industrial power and energy at cheaper rates, in the meanwhile, from an environmental point of view the use of the power of the sun is the least polluting process than any other processes.

Nowadays, modern technology and devices are able to transform the power of the Sun into life sustaining energy. It is widely known that an hour of sunshine is enough to satisfy the world’s need of energy for an entire year. Thus, several means of collecting Solar power have been developed which determined its transformation into both heat and energy sources.

Solar energy collection becomes progressively a matter of importance in the development of industrial technology. Governments, whose countries are deficient in source and energy of oil, gas or nuclear power, are inclined to invest in solar farms whose energy would be a substitute of the absent energies.

For instance, in June 2008, the Portugal government launched the largest solar farm project, which consists of thousands of photovoltaic cells able to supply 45MW of electricity each year, enough to power 30.000 Portugal homes, thus reducing the dependence on oil and gas of the region in addition to substantial reduction of the yearly energy bill.

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The term recycling refers to the processing of used manufactured products in such a way that the materials are turned into new products, ready to be re-used. Most materials can be recycled, although harder substances may cost more to process, making their re-use inefficient. Paper, plastic, glass, tin, and many textiles are all relatively easy to process for recycling. Despite the similarity in purpose and process, when organic materials such as foods and plants are re-used the process is known as composting rather than recycling.

Recycling is done for a number of reasons, the most obvious of which is to reduce the amount of natural resources which are consumed for new products. It is also done to save energy, prevent water and air pollution, and to prevent the build up of garbage and the proliferation of landfills.

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If you’re one of the millions of people in the world that still comes home from the store with plastic bags full of groceries, you should reconsider your methods. Have you ever wondered about all of the waste that accumulated when all of us use 10-20 plastic bags every week? If not, here’s some food for thought…

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that US citizen generated over 250 million tons of garbage in 2006. Most of that trash was the kind of stuff you throw out every week, but it also included things like lawn clippings, old tires, and freezers. That number does not include commercial waste.

And while we recycled over 82 million tons of municipal solid waste (saving the energy equivalent of 10 billion gallons of gasoline), we still discarded 3 pounds of waste per person per day. The EPA further estimated that 55 to 65 percent of all municipal solid waste was residential waste, while 35 to 45 percent was commercial waste from schools, hospitals and businesses.

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We’ve all heard about conserving water on the evening news. Water shortages and drought conditions in several counties across the country and local municipalities invoking rate hikes and water restrictions that can affect you and your family. Whether or not you live in an affected area, there are several easy steps families can take to reduce their water consumption just in the kitchen alone.

Here are 8 easy tips to get you started.

1. Only run the dishwasher when its completely FULL. Half loads waste water and your machine runs more efficiently when fully loaded.

2. When handwashing dishes only fill the sink half full of water. You don’t need to completely fill the sink to scrub the dishes or pans. Don’t run the water as you wash the dishes. And don’t rinse the dishes until you are done. Then rinse them all at once.

3. When cooking with water ( boiling eggs, pasta, or vegetables ) don’t throw it out when you are done. Let it cool and use it to water your plants. The nutrients in the water are better for your plants and then you don’t have to use fresh water from your faucet.

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Browsing the web today I’ve found this excellent article written by BL Hill regarding recycling and reducing paper use.

After reading it I’ve seen some point in there and I thought I’d share it with you, my reader. Here it is :

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Just about everyone has heard about the benefits of recycling. It’s nearly impossible to read a magazine or newspaper, or watch TV without seeing or hearing some news about the various forms of recycling. Recycling paper was one of the first types of recycling to be introduced to the general public and is still one of the most often practiced kinds.

Continually cutting down trees to make paper is depleting the resources we have out there despite re-planting done by some companies. When too many trees are cleared away the natural habitat for animals and plants is destroyed. This can have a very negative effect on our society as a whole. In addition, the trees that are cut down can no longer remove the carbon dioxide from the air we breathe.

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Ecosystem comprises of living and non living things. The balance in the ecosystem is essential for survival of life on the earth. There are basically two types of things in the nature: Degradable and non degradable. Bio degradable goods are those, which can be recycled. Non bio degradable goods are those which cannot be recycled. Cotton and paper are degradable; whereas polythene and plastic are not bio-degradable.

When these non bio-degradable waste materials stay in the ecosystem the regular habitat of life on the earth will be disturbed. In order to ensure, safety in ecosystem we should utilize bio degradable goods. Whenever you go to market for buying goods, you should ask the market guy to issue bio degradable paper carriers. Organic cotton bags can be used for giving gifts to your relatives and your fellow employees. These bags are bio degradable and can be used by both men and women. These organic bags are cheaper when compared to other polythene bags. They have less weight and can be carried easily.