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 Video,
Articles, and Daily News are all added frequently to
taosplaza.com.
These are drawn from several key
sources
plus other
sources & contributors. All Video and Articles first appear in
the 'Top Stories' section, then to the 'Leading Stories' section, and
then to the 'More
News' section. Following that each video or article can best be found
within Categories. So If you're not interested in Global or US news at
the time
but want to see info on Solar Power or Earthships or the Environment,
or look at a comedy video, just scroll down to the
Category with what you're looking for. With the new taosplaza.com you
can find interesting video, articles, and news in many ways. Other very
good ways to find pieces posted on taosplaza.com are to use the
'Archive' or 'Search features. Wherever you are on Planet Earth,
taosplaza.com is about 'turning you on'
to ideas and information that will give you some perspective in these
interesting times. Watch it unfold before your eyes.
J.
R. Ransom,
Publisher, October, 2008
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Contributed by J. R. Ransom
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 Green Living
You've been meaning to do it - start a compost pile, buy recycled
paper, start a car-pool club to go to the office, but you've never
quite done it. Well, there's no better time than the present to begin
turning your environmental ideals into environmental action.
Here are
some ideas to help get you started. Even small changes will help the
battle to preserve our planet!
Carbon Footprint: How Big is
Yours?
Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on
the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced,
measured in units of carbon dioxide.
A few quick ways to reduce your personal carbon foorprint: employ
eco-friendly methods of travel, eat environmentally friendly diets
(vegetables and fruit are better than meat), minimize use of plastic
products and save electricity and water as much as you can |
More eco-friendly ideas:
Go for rainwater
harvesting: This simple measure will not only save on your
water bills, but will help the eco-system by recharging ground water
and preventing soil erosion.
Green kitchen:
Use organic and locally produced foods. They don't use harmful
fertilisers and burn less fuel to reach you.
Be thrifty with paper:
Don't print out each memo or email you receive.
Read and delete the ones you don't need to save and electronically file
others you might refer to later. And don't forget to shut down the
computer when you're not using it.
Drip Irrigation:
Great systems are available in the market which water
plants according to their particular need. Needless to say, they save
water and the eco system, too.
Use ecopaints:
They should not
contain any solvents or chemicals. Though a bit costly, they are good
for the earth - and your health.
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Guess How Long
Products Take to Biodegrade?
Banana Peel - 3-4 weeks
Paper Bag - 1 month
Cotton Bag - 5
months
Woolen Socks - 1
years
Leather Sgoes 40-50
years
Tin Can - 100 years
Plastic Bag - 1
million years
Styrofoam Cup -
Eternity |
Use certified wood for
woodwork: You can buy green wood. What's that? It's a
system where a tree is planted for every tree which has been felled for
furniture. At least you'll compensate in the long run.
Save water on laundry:
Front-loading washing machines use as much as 40% less water than
top-loading ones.
Switch to CFL bulbs:
Change the bulbs in your house to compact fluorescents. Each compact
fluorescent bulb will keep half a ton of carbon dioxide out the air
over its lifetime. More
about CFL Bulbs.
Recycling
More than just
saving bottles, cans and newspapers. Most of the materials
that go into making what we use - from petrol to paperbacks - are made
of non-renewable resources that are being rapidly depleted. At today's
rates of consumption, world copper reserves will be depleted in less
than 100 years. The world's forests are falling quickly under loggers'
saws.
Recycling saves resources, decreases use of toxic chemicals, cuts
energy use and helps curb global warming. Make an effort to do it.
Reduce
The Best thing that we can do for the planet is to use less of it. At
the heart of the environmental crisis is our consumer society. Here are
a few questions you can ask before you buy: Do I, or the
person I am buying this for, really need this? Is there another product
that would do the same thing but more sustainably? Will it last a
long time?
Reuse
Regrettably, because we live in a 'disposable society', we buy a new
'improved' item even if the one we have can be repaired. When we buy,
we should buy items that re durable, and we should maintain them and
have them repaired when necessary. If we do this, many things can not
only last a lifetime, but can be passes on from generation to
generation.
Recycle
Rather than throwing an item out when neither you nor anyone else can
make use of it, have it recycled. And while recycling is not perfect -
it requires energy and the process of changing something into something
else often produces by-products - it is better than throwing them in
the garbage or having them incinerated. |
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