Ask Me Help Desk - Are you an eco-criminal ?

Are you an eco-criminal ?

You may be . The New Scientist describes 5 crimes most of us routinely commit.

1. Drinking coffee.

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The average cup of black filter coffee is still responsible for 125 grams of CO2 emissions.

2.Use toilet paper .If you are an average American your wipe wastes 23 toilet paper rolls each year.

3.Buy new clothes instead of dumpster diving for them.Most of us dispose of clothing before they become thread bare.

4.Washed your dirty clothes. What ? Don't you have a dirty creek and a rock to beat your clothing on ?

5.You throw away food you don't eat. I've never been accuses of leaving food on my plate so I can plead not guilty on that at least.
Five eco-crimes we commit every day - environment - 01 December 2009 - New Scientist

So who is an eco-friendly person ? One could argue that the most eco-friendly people in the United States are the homeless. This is especially true if you are residing in recycled corrigation.

And NYC is determined to keep them eco-friendly... and healthy .The hunger pangs don't matter . The transfats content do.
Metro - Hungry, sure, but food is healthier

Soon we will all be living in our own private corrigated homes ;dumpsterdiving for our clothing and standing on line for our transfat free handouts.

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Originally Posted by tomder55

1. Drinking coffee.

Nope.

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2.Use toilet paper .If you are an average American your wipe wastes 23 toilet paper rolls each year.

When I used my hands I found eating a little icky...

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3.Buy new clothes instead of dumpster diving for them.Most of us dispose of clothing before they become thread bare.

Yeah I have some shirts that have holes and I just can't get rid of them.

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4.Washed your dirty clothes. What ? Don't you have a dirty creek and a rock to beat your clothing on ?

Sometimes I go weeks without doing my laundry, and if I'm lazy I get clothes from the hamper and wear them.

:D

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5.You throw away food you don't eat. I've never been accuses of leaving food on my plate so I can plead not guilty on that at least.

Guilty. I went to a restaurant named Smitty's [the "m" should really be changed to "h"]-- the food was so gross I refused to eat it.

I'm pretty guilty of "wasting" food.

So basically I am an eco-criminal.

Am I going to change? Nah

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Originally Posted by tomder55

1. Drinking coffee.

Absolutely, we brew Starbucks, usually an Indonesian roast or blend... none of that fair trade stuff.

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2.Use toilet paper .If you are an average American your wipe wastes 23 toilet paper rolls each year.

2 ply

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3.Buy new clothes instead of dumpster diving for them.Most of us dispose of clothing before they become thread bare.

Not a huge clothing shopper but can't say the same for my wife. The homeless and otherwise needy generally get them long before they're usefulness is gone. I do however wear my Dallas Cowboys shirts until they're threadbare. Even buried my dog in one so they're both adding nutrients to the soil.

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4.Washed your dirty clothes. What ? Don't you have a dirty creek and a rock to beat your clothing on ?

I have plenty of rocks, and a Maytag.

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5.You throw away food you don't eat.

Rarely is my plate not cleaned, but the leftovers don't always get used. The dogs do get most of the leftover meat and veggies they can have added to their dinners. Of course then they go emit their own greenhouse gases.

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Soon we will all be living in our own private corrigated homes ;dumpsterdiving for our clothing and standing on line for our transfat free handouts.

Ah, Utopia...

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Of course then they go emit their own greenhouse gases.

If your dogs are the same as mine then it can be said their greenhouse gasses are toxic.

I read that article and I don't drink Coffee but are there really people who drink 6 cups of coffee everyday?? They must be bouncing off the walls.

Speech I am so mad at myself for not starting Bo Scafie I would have beat you if I did!! Congrats!

Colston had a good game last night .

I was thinking last night I want the Saints to win. But I don't want Colston or Shockey to have a good game. Shockey didn't do that great but Colston had I think 23 points.

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1. Drinking coffee.

Yes but not the drip filter kind so eco-friendly on that one

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2.Use toilet paper

Yes, I find there are various kinds of pollution and I prefer not to have diarrhea

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3.Buy new clothes instead of dumpster diving for them.

I've been reviewing my wardrobe lately, time to consign most of it to the charity store and buy some new clothes

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4.Washed your dirty clothes.

No I just can't afford a house with a crik, but I only wash them once a week, does that qualify?

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5.You throw away food you don't eat.

Yes, I find I just can't get through that lettuce in a week and bananas ripen so quickly, can't stand a mushy banana, what else can youdo with food you don't eat?

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So who is an eco-friendly person?

I'm very friendly I plant shrubs and trees and even talk to them, I find them very friendly and more intelligent than most ecologists. I drive a four cylinder car, 2.2L of course, I think that's eco-friendly enough, all things considered, Since I only have to fill the tank once every three weeks. Even had a solar hot water system until it corroded out. I've done the weekend chopping wood thing and I have decided that denuding the woods of firewood isn't very eco-friendly and besides who wants to get rid of the ashes. I have also decided that composting unused food isn't eco-friendly and think that it belongs at the tip where they produce methane gas to generate green electricity, those flouro lights are a bit dim though and I wonder why I have keratosis

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Originally Posted by spitvenom

I read that article and I don't drink Coffee but are there really people who drink 6 cups of coffee everyday?? They must be bouncing off the walls.

Six cups barely gets my wife started.

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Speech I am so mad at myself for not starting Bo Scafie I would have beat you if I did!! Congrats!

Thanks, I got lucky my team didn't suck more, I left 100 points on the bench. I was watching the game last night with 2 Saints receivers on my team while Brees tossed TD's to every player but them. Then Colston came through :)

Yeah I saw TO sitting on your bench. I played someone in a different league last week with TO on their bench. He would have beaten me by 1 point if he started TO.

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Originally Posted by spitvenom

I was thinking last night I want the Saints to win. But I don't want Colston or Shockey to have a good game. Shockey didn't do that great but Colston had I think 23 points.

At the half they had 3 points between them, about as much as the rest of my receivers and RB's had, lol. Regardless, I enjoyed watching Hoodie get spanked. I wonder if he wears his hoodies until they're threadbare?

I think he does wear them to they are threadbare!!

Whoever came up with that list is an eco-idiot.

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Originally Posted by tomder55

You may be . The New Scientist describes 5 crimes most of us routinely commit.

1. Drinking coffee.

Absolutely, 2-3 per day.

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2.Use toilet paper .If you are an average American your wipe wastes 23 toilet paper rolls each year.

I'd rather be a criminal than gross and funky :eek:

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3.Buy new clothes instead of dumpster diving for them.Most of us dispose of clothing before they become thread bare

.

Points here, I have clothes older than my children, and I'm not above buying good second hand clothing. Unfortunantly as the years go buy my waist has not exactly stayed the same size ;)

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4.Washed your dirty clothes. What ? Don't you have a dirty creek and a rock to beat your clothing on ?

If I'm going to wear old clothes, at least they should be clean. I have one of those high efficiency front loaders - saves water and electricity.

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5.You throw away food you don't eat. I've never been accuses of leaving food on my plate so I can plead not guilty on that at least.

I only get enough that I can eat. And I'll finish what the kids don't eat and I'll reheat leftovers.

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Soon we will all be living in our own private corrigated homes ;dumpsterdiving for our clothing and standing on line for our transfat free handouts.

So if everyone is eco friendly who will fill up the dumpsters to dive in?

[ I've reduced the space here, at the request of NK, so I waste less space :p ] G&P

OK lets see.. I drive 35 miles each way to work in my Outback (about 25 mpg) and pick up a decaf on on the way (in one of those styrofoam cups ) .

I tried one of those bidet thingys and all it did was get my pants wet. Paper or sycamore leaves are the way to go.

I wear my clothes until they are thread bare or hopelessly stained. But my wife is good at giving hers away to charity.

Does itr count that my employer's laundry service cleans most of my clothing ? Probably not .I bet the industrial cleaning process isn't very eco-friendly.

When it comes to food I call myself eco-friendly . My plate is clean... we make leftovers last and any veggie based waste goes into our back yard composter . Why should I deny the black bear his share ? When he's foraging through my composter it saves us the effort of turning it.
I run the dishwasher which I believe is more eco-friendly than using gallons of water and a bottle of biodegradable dish soap.

I pride myself in having 3 recycle bins of papers plastics etc a week and only a single can of refuse picked up.(empty beer and wine bottles take up much more space than wet trash. )

Hello tom:

I am NOT a crook! I don't commit ANY of those crimes. I do, however, produce about a pound and a half of methane daily.

excon

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Originally Posted by tomder55

So who is an eco-friendly person ? One could argue that the most eco-friendly people in the United States are the homeless. This is especially true if you are residing in recycled corrigation.

And NYC is determined to keep them eco-friendly.....and healthy .The hunger pangs don't matter . The transfats content do.
Metro - Hungry, sure, but food is healthier

Soon we will all be living in our own private corrigated homes ;dumpsterdiving for our clothing and standing on line for our transfat free handouts.

yes, I am more eco-friendly than you guys. Finally a good point to being homeless.

someone should tell the government that fat is a GOOD thing when you're homeless. The extra padding helps keep you warm in cold weather, and you can live off the reserves if you have to go a ways between meals.

I have eaten more junk food since I became homeless than I did in the 2-3 years prior. Every free meal comes with a donut, or cake, or pudding, and there's usually some for you to take with you.

while I did not dumpster-dive for my clothing, it is all pre-owned (except the socks and underwear). Clothes closets and thrift stores are an amazing thing. Although, in an effort to be more eco-friendly I probably SHOULD consider going through trash in an effort to find that shirt I need to go with that skirt ^_^

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Originally Posted by tomder55

1. Drinking coffee.

At least 6 cups during my 7th night shift in a row.

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Originally Posted by tomder55

2.Use toilet paper .If you are an average American your wipe wastes 23 toilet paper rolls each year.

If only I had a buhday.

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Originally Posted by tomder55

3.Buy new clothes instead of dumpster diving for them.Most of us dispose of clothing before they become thread bare.

I don't dumpster dive, but I don't buy clothes until I absolutely need them. Heck I still have a pair of jeans from the early 90s I wear.

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Originally Posted by tomder55

4.Washed your dirty clothes. What ? Don't you have a dirty creek and a rock to beat your clothing on ?

Who want's a stinky nurse? There's already enough funk going on in the labor and delivery rooms, I don't need to add to it.

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Originally Posted by tomder55

5.You throw away food you don't eat.

I save that for my ailing dog so that she can have some of the best last meals she has ever had before she meets the alpha dog in the sky.

1. Drinking coffee.

I drink the entire pot. But I only use one measuring spoon per pot (8 cups water). A can of coffee lasts me forever. So it's dishwater. Who cares?

2.Use toilet paper .If you are an average American your wipe wastes 23 toilet paper rolls each year.

23 rolls a year? Just who are they talking about? Men? Men I can see, but a woman? Ha! Not in this lifetime. More like 10 rolls a month minimum for a woman.

3.Buy new clothes instead of dumpster diving for them.Most of us dispose of clothing before they become thread bare.

I buy my clothes at thrift stores if I can. Have a collection of sweaters that I change out every 2 years or so giving the worn ones back to the thrift store. I seldom buy any clothes new from a department store as prices are too high.

4.Washed your dirty clothes. What ? Don't you have a dirty creek and a rock to beat your clothing on ?

I do wash in cold water only and if weather permits hang out to dry outside.

5.You throw away food you don't eat.

Any old, moldy or outdated food goes directly to my raccoons or possums that visit my back porch. They make short work of any kind of food I have. Haven't thrown out anything other than banana peels. They make short work of all of the food in their bowls.

I also keep my home at 60 degrees in the winter time regardless of how cold it is outside. I just pile on more sweaters and wear a hat inside. I'm toasty warm. I don't keep my home cooled off in the summer either with the a/c. I keep it at 78 in the summer. I wear shorts and sleeveless shirts.

I also don't use my stovetop or oven any more. I use plug in appliances that heat up my food quite nicely. Last month my electric bill was the lowest it's been in years since I stopped using the stovetop and stove to cook food. Should have done that years ago. No, I do not own a microwave either.

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello tom:

I am NOT a crook! I don't commit ANY of those crimes. I do, however, produce about a pound and a half of methane daily.

So you ARE ruining the planet. :D

[QUOTE=tomder55;2111511]OK lets see.. I drive 35 miles each way to work in my Outback (about 25 mpg) and pick up a decaf on on the way (in one of those styrofoam cups ) .

Do great minds think alike or what?

I love my Impreza. Wish I could afford a Legacy turbo!!

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

23 rolls a year? Just who are they talking about? Men? Men I can see, but a woman? Ha!! Not in this lifetime. More like 10 rolls a month minimum for a woman.

I was thinking the same thing twinkie. My wife goes through TP like nothing. When I lived alone I hardly ever needed to buy TP my wife moved in and I thought my bathroom became and extra storage center for Scott TP!!

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Originally Posted by spitvenom

I was thinking the same thing twinkie. My wife goes through TP like nothing. When I lived alone I hardly ever needed to buy TP my wife moved in and I thought my bathroom became and extra storage center for Scott TP!!!

I hear you, Spit. Women are ruining the planet.

Now you can leave this world with a clean conscience...

Finally: eco-friendly bio-cremations

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WORRIED you haven't been green enough in life? Don't let death come in the way of a more eco-friendly you.

From coffins made of recycled cardboard to saying no to embalming chemicals that seep into the soil, people are increasingly searching for ways to make their final resting place a more environmentally-friendly one.

Now cremation, the choice today of a third of Americans and more than half of Canadians, is getting a green makeover.

A standard cremation spews into the air about 400kg of carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming - along with other pollutants like dioxins and mercury vapor if the deceased had silver tooth fillings.

On top of that each cremation guzzles as much energy, in the form of natural gas and electricity, as an 800km car trip.

Enter alkaline hydrolysis, a chemical body-disposal process its proponents call "bio-cremation" and say uses one-tenth the natural gas of fire-based cremation and one-third the electricity.

C02 emissions are cut by almost 90 per cent and no mercury escapes as fillings and other metal objects, such as hip or knee replacements, can be recovered intact and recycled.

"The target audience are those people who buy organic salmon rather than farmed salmon," Paul Rahill, president of the cremation division of Matthews International Corp, said.

"Those that buy a hybrid rather than a regular car."

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company that makes caskets and other funeral products is planning the world's first commercial launch of human alkaline hydrolysis in January at a funeral home in St Petersburg, Florida.

The technique is not new but has only been used to dispose of laboratory animals and medical research cadavers at a few institutions.

Its commercial use has been held up partly because of its cost - the equipment is four times as expensive as that of traditional cremation - and because state and provincial legislation may need to be changed, especially laws governing what can be disposed of in the water system.

Overcoming peoples' squeamishness when they hear the process described, what Mr Rahill calls the 'ick' factor, is also an obstacle.

The Catholic Church in parts of the United States has objected, saying the practice "is not a respectful way to dispose of human remains".

In alkaline hydrolysis the body is submerged in water in a stainless steel chamber.

Heat, pressure and potassium hydroxide, chemicals used to make soap and bleach, are added to dissolve the tissue.

Two hours later all that's left is some bone residue and a syrupy brown liquid that is flushed down the drain.

The bones can be crushed and returned to the family as with cremation.

Flush your loved one away, ain't that special?

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I thought my bathroom became and extra storage center for Scott TP!!

Got to tell her to stop using it for origami projects.

I here Sheryl Crowe has an instructional video out about how to accomplish the wipe with a single sheet.

Galveston ;Getting stuck in snow is not an option for me . That is why I opted for the all-wheel drive Outback. It gives me that feature without having to drive an SUV.

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someone should tell the government that fat is a GOOD thing when you're homeless. The extra padding helps keep you warm in cold weather, and you can live off the reserves if you have to go a ways between meals.

Some religions ban pork.Others ban trans-fats.

Speech here is what I am going to do when I die.

Eternal Reefs, A Cremation Memorial Option

So you want to become cement mix ? There are good fellas in Jersey who could arrange that.

Oh I know Tom that is why my mom never let me stay with my cousin's in Jersey during the summer. I want to be cremated anyway and I love the ocean so hey why not make me a home for fish. Plus it also makes a few annoying days for my family members who hate boats and the ocean.

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Originally Posted by spitvenom

Speech here is what I am going to do when I die

Hello spit:

That is very cool. I'm going to be cremated, and my kids are going to snort my ashes. That's pretty ecco friendly, no?

excon

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I love the ocean so hey why not make me a home for fish.

Me too except I told my family to just make me fish food . I guess the enviro-wackos won't let that happen anymore.

Becoming cement mix is different, annoying family after you're gone is classic.

As for me I really don't care what you do with me when I go, prop me up for a weekend at Bernie's experience if you want. I just hope it's not any time soon.

No they won't I looked into it already. But in San Fran they have these Great White shark tours where you can get in a cage and watch the sharks in the water. I told my wife if I come down with some terminal disease get me on that boat drug me up then throw me in. This way when some asked how I died everyone could say I was eaten by great whites. Now that I type this I guess the drugs wouldn't be good for the sharks. Damn

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Originally Posted by spitvenom

Now that I type this I guess the drugs wouldn't be good for the sharks. damn

But it might help them not notice that bad taste in their mouth :D

Hey! ;)

I'm very pro-environment and animal rights, but I hate extremists. They give all environmentalists a bad name. I drink instant coffee, so I'm not sure if that counts for number 1. Using toilet paper is pretty much necessary. I don't buy new clothes unless I have to but I have to wash them after a reasonable amount of time. I often throw food that has gone bad into my gardens or in the woods so it can break down naturally or get eaten by bugs and animals instead of clogging up a landfill. I'm not giving up my sauerkraut or omelettes with fried onions and mushrooms so I guess I emit more greenhouse gasses than the average person.

I'm guilty of all of those sins and I intend to continue my life stye. What idiot drew up that list and left out the important things

1. You burn wood in an inhouse fire place;particulate emissions as well as CO2

2. you burn rubbish or leaves; particulate, poison and CO2 emissions

3. you travel in V8 autos, SUV and other large vehicles

4. you use ethenol which has been produced from corn

I'll think of some more later

The article is either gone or subscription-only, can you post the whole thing tom?

I'll try ,but this was originally posted in 2009 .

Part 1

Five eco-crimes we commit every day by Dave. S. Reay

1/12/2009 New Scientist Magazine issue 2736.
WHEN the UN Climate Change Conference opens in Copenhagen next month, all eyes will be on the delegates' efforts to broker a deal that will prevent catastrophic global warming. Yet amid all the talk of caps, targets and trading, it is easy to forget who is ultimately responsible for the mess we find ourselves in. I have long argued that climate change begins at home. Each of us in the developed world has played our part in creating this problem and, while there is no doubt that coordinated global action is needed to tackle it, we can each be part of the solution.

So, ask yourself this: how green am I really? You might think you are doing your bit for the environment, but even if you shun bottled water, buy local produce and reuse your plastic bags, chances are that you have some habits that are far more environmentally damaging than you realise. What's more, if everyone else is doing these things too, their detrimental effects really add up.

1 Coffee
Take coffee. Its vendors are in the vanguard of those promoting more “sustainable” products, with organic and fair trade options now widely available. Starbucks even boasts a programme it calls Shared PlanetTM programme – the irony of that trademark appears to be lost on them – which has the declared aim of minimising the company's environmental impact and increasing involvement with local communities.

That's no bad thing, as far as it goes: fair trade can help to stop the exploitation of farmers, and buying organic may ensure more sustainable production techniques. But the average cup of black filter coffee is still responsible for 125 grams of CO2 emissions. Of this, two-thirds comes from production and most of the rest from brewing.

Opting for the more prosaic joys of instant coffee reduces that figure to around 80 grams. Yet that still means a six-a-day caffeine habit clocks up more than 175 kilograms of CO2 each year. That's the equivalent of a flight across Europe – from London to Rome, say. Add milk, and the methane belched by dairy cows means you increase your coffee's climate-changing emissions by more than a third.

175 kilograms The annual CO2 emission of a six-a-day coffee habit. Equivalent to a single flight between London and Rome
It doesn't end there, though. The environmental group WWF has calculated that it takes 200 litres of water to produce the coffee, milk, sugar and cup for just one regular takeout latte. So if everyone ditched their pre-work coffee fix that would do wonders for the planet.

2 Toilet paper
Then there's toilet paper. Like coffee companies, loo paper manufacturers have long provided options for environmentally conscious consumers. Top of the list is 100 per cent recycled paper, which avoids much of the energy use and emissions associated with harvesting and processing new wood. Every kilogram of recycled tissue saves some 30 litres of water and between 3 and 4 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Since 1 kilowatt-hour of grid electricity is responsible for around 500 grams of CO2, that means a saving of 1.5 to 2 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of tissue.

Recycled toilet tissue is most widely used in Europe and Latin America, but even there it still only accounts for 1 in 5 rolls. In the US it remains very much a niche product. The average American gets through 23 toilet rolls each year, adding up to more than 7 billion rolls for the country in total. Of these, just 1 in 50 are from 100 per cent recycled fibres. As Greenpeace pointed out earlier this year, this not only wastes energy and water, it also puts additional logging pressure on old-growth forest in North America, forests which play a vital role in supporting native biodiversity.

The reason toilet roll made from new wood is preferred is quite simple: its long fibres produce the softest and fluffiest paper. Every time paper is recycled, the fibres become shorter, making for an increasingly rough bathroom experience. Recycled paper can't compete on softness so some use of new wood by the toilet paper industry may be inevitable. Sourcing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approved toilet tissue will help to ensure that any new wood fibres that are added to the mix have come from sustainable forestry projects that protect, rather than threaten, old-growth forest ecosystems.

3 Fast fashion
Next on my list of everyday decadence is fast fashion. In 1990, global textile production stood at 40 million tonnes. By 2005 that figure had risen to around 60 million tonnes. This surge in manufacture and consumption has been helped by fast-moving fashion trends and sweatshop price tags. As a result, much of the clothing we buy ends up being discarded long before it has worn out. In the UK, where the average item is worn for less than a third of its useful lifespan, more than a million tonnes of clothing are thrown away each year. The bulk of it ends up buried like woolly lasagne sheets in landfill sites or being used as multicoloured incinerator fodder.

Even the global economic crisis appears to have had little impact on our love affair with fast fashion; UK clothing sales this summer were up 11 per cent on the same time last year. If we can't entirely kick the habit, we can at least dispose of the evidence in a greener way.

At present, in the UK and US, only around a quarter of unwanted textiles are reused or recycled. Recycled textiles have many uses, from mattress fillings and upholstery to bags and shoes, but the truly green alternative is reuse. The energy required to collect, process and sell a reused item of clothing is only 2 per cent of the energy required to manufacture a new garment. Every kilogram of virgin cotton preserved by reusing second-hand clothing saves 65 kilowatt-hours of energy, equivalent to about 32.5 kilograms of CO2. For polyester, the savings rise to 90 kilowatt-hours per kilogram.

The clothing and textile sector in the UK alone is responsible for more than 3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. Switching to second-hand alternatives could therefore yield some big energy savings and cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.