BattleshipTexas
1,000+ Posts
bighornfan32
100+ Posts
Longhorn Al
500+ Posts
LonghornLawyer
500+ Posts
Okay--then **** it. I guess I just won't be an environmentalist, then. Happy?
I think "going green" is much like losing weight--you need to change your entire mindset. I was talking to a fellow Metropublican the other day, and he came to the revelation that he now views not recycling much the same as he views littering.
I think that's a good analogy and a good way to think about it. You wouldn't toss a McDonald's wrapper out your car window, so why would you toss a ton of air pollution out of it? You wouldn't just drop a beer bottle into the street, so why drop it into a landfill?
I think "going green" is much like losing weight--you need to change your entire mindset. I was talking to a fellow Metropublican the other day, and he came to the revelation that he now views not recycling much the same as he views littering.
I think that's a good analogy and a good way to think about it. You wouldn't toss a McDonald's wrapper out your car window, so why would you toss a ton of air pollution out of it? You wouldn't just drop a beer bottle into the street, so why drop it into a landfill?
Longhorn Al
500+ Posts
I've actually seen more little "gas-saving" ****** imports dumping clouds of smoke into the air than normal pickups and SUVs. Some of those little things burn oil bad.
I love seeing a hippy in their eco-friendly car as white smoke billows out of the exhaust pipe.
I love seeing a hippy in their eco-friendly car as white smoke billows out of the exhaust pipe.
William Cannon
250+ Posts
Eastwood22
250+ Posts
accuratehorn
10,000+ Posts
"What is the charge/fee for curbside recycling?"
City of Austin picks up the recyling once a week, and there is no extra fee for this service. You can get a free bin at fire stations.
The City will soon (not sure when) change the system, I heard. There will be an additional trash can for recyclables, and you won't have to sort the items like you do now. This will be easier and more convenient, and more people will be likely to recycle. The goal is for zero trash taken to landfills, or as close to it as possible-an ambitious goal.
Nobody wants a landfill near them, and space for them is getting more and more expensive-so that is one reason to go in this direction.
Compost piles are good for disposing of table scraps (no meat), and the TCEQ has an office, I think it is Office of Pollution Prevention and Recyling, that has composting manuals for free, and they give demonstrations at certain events. Makes great flowerbed dirt and keeps your earthworms happy, as well.
City of Austin picks up the recyling once a week, and there is no extra fee for this service. You can get a free bin at fire stations.
The City will soon (not sure when) change the system, I heard. There will be an additional trash can for recyclables, and you won't have to sort the items like you do now. This will be easier and more convenient, and more people will be likely to recycle. The goal is for zero trash taken to landfills, or as close to it as possible-an ambitious goal.
Nobody wants a landfill near them, and space for them is getting more and more expensive-so that is one reason to go in this direction.
Compost piles are good for disposing of table scraps (no meat), and the TCEQ has an office, I think it is Office of Pollution Prevention and Recyling, that has composting manuals for free, and they give demonstrations at certain events. Makes great flowerbed dirt and keeps your earthworms happy, as well.
G
gardere_owns_OU
Guest
Praise of Folly
100+ Posts
William Cannon
250+ Posts
With regards to household stuff, this is my contribution:
- replaced my highest used bulbs with CFs
- put insullation pads behind light switches and outlets (huge difference in heating this year)
- re-caulked windows
- replaced weather stripping in doors that needed it
- added weather stripping in windows that needed it
- buy from the bulk section when possible
- clean using vinager and orange oil solution (only use commercial cleaners on the tub)
- buy mostly organic foods
- use cloth napkins
- use cloth diapers at home
- reuse paper bags when possible and use 1 canvas bag
- use junk mail for scrap paper (e.g. grocery lists, etc)
- old/torn clothes that are going to get tossed are recycled into rags (some reusable and some disposable)
- recycle everything the city takes
- dispose of toxic material INCLUDING BATTERIES at the haz mat drop-off
- avoid buying small qtys, avoid buying bottled water
- dress for the temperature in order to keep the heat and AC off as much as possible
- turn off AC/heat when leaving the house
- close blinds and curtains during the summer as much as possible (especially when leaving the house)
- use cealing fans
- Compost (4'x4'x4' pile)
- reduced the size of lawn by planting more gardens using native plants
- add compost to the lawn (lawn requires less water)
- Use only organic 8-2-4 ferts
- built a patio cover in the back to block the morning sun since my back door faces east (was built for enjoyment as well)
- replaced my highest used bulbs with CFs
- put insullation pads behind light switches and outlets (huge difference in heating this year)
- re-caulked windows
- replaced weather stripping in doors that needed it
- added weather stripping in windows that needed it
- buy from the bulk section when possible
- clean using vinager and orange oil solution (only use commercial cleaners on the tub)
- buy mostly organic foods
- use cloth napkins
- use cloth diapers at home
- reuse paper bags when possible and use 1 canvas bag
- use junk mail for scrap paper (e.g. grocery lists, etc)
- old/torn clothes that are going to get tossed are recycled into rags (some reusable and some disposable)
- recycle everything the city takes
- dispose of toxic material INCLUDING BATTERIES at the haz mat drop-off
- avoid buying small qtys, avoid buying bottled water
- dress for the temperature in order to keep the heat and AC off as much as possible
- turn off AC/heat when leaving the house
- close blinds and curtains during the summer as much as possible (especially when leaving the house)
- use cealing fans
- Compost (4'x4'x4' pile)
- reduced the size of lawn by planting more gardens using native plants
- add compost to the lawn (lawn requires less water)
- Use only organic 8-2-4 ferts
- built a patio cover in the back to block the morning sun since my back door faces east (was built for enjoyment as well)
William Cannon
250+ Posts
chillywillywall
100+ Posts
William Cannon
250+ Posts
....dont cows contribute to global warming? i help the earth by eating meat.
Um, no you don't. But it's interesting to see the stories we tell ourselves to justify our actions.
FromThe Link
Americans eat about the same amount of meat as we have for some time, about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. At about 5 percent of the world’s population, we “process” (that is, grow and kill) nearly 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world’s total.
Growing meat (it’s hard to use the word “raising” when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it’s a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.
To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.
Um, no you don't. But it's interesting to see the stories we tell ourselves to justify our actions.
FromThe Link
Americans eat about the same amount of meat as we have for some time, about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. At about 5 percent of the world’s population, we “process” (that is, grow and kill) nearly 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world’s total.
Growing meat (it’s hard to use the word “raising” when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it’s a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.
To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.
Eastwood22
250+ Posts
Who here wants some steak now?
Support your beef industry, boys and girls. Please keep helping my family put me through college
Support your beef industry, boys and girls. Please keep helping my family put me through college
"The harsh reality is that raising animals for food is steadily polluting and depleting our land, water, and air. In the U.S., 20 times as much energy is required to produce a calorie of animal flesh as the amount needed to produce a calorie of vegetable food. We wastefully cycle 70 percent of all we grow, such as soy, corn, wheat, and other grains, through animals, rather than eating these foods directly. Likewise, more than half of all the water used in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food, which is why meat-eaters require at least 14 times as much water for their diets as do vegetarians. Also, the intensive production of animals for meat requires about 25 times as much land as the production of the same amount of food from vegetable sources.
And that’s not all. It’s not just inefficient to eat animals. The 9 billion land animals that we raise for food in the U.S. excrete 130 times as much waste as the entire human population of the United States—130 times! And there are no waste treatment systems for animals. That stuff is swimming with bacteria, hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides. Quite simply, it’s toxic waste, and it is the number one source of water pollution in the U.S."
And that’s not all. It’s not just inefficient to eat animals. The 9 billion land animals that we raise for food in the U.S. excrete 130 times as much waste as the entire human population of the United States—130 times! And there are no waste treatment systems for animals. That stuff is swimming with bacteria, hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides. Quite simply, it’s toxic waste, and it is the number one source of water pollution in the U.S."
Tyler Durden
500+ Posts
I'm down this with doing things to help the environment but I will never stop eating meat.
GOO--I was skeptical when the missus switched to those green $.99 HEB bags, but now I prefer them. They hold more, they're stronger, and when you want to loop six bags over your forearms, they're a lot more comfortable than the plastic bags. We got a couple of the big canvas-looking bags for frozen and over-sized items. We usually get a cart-full of groceries every time. The only pain in the *** is remembering to take the bags with you each time. We started getting into the habit of just putting them back into her car as soon as we emptied them.
RockyBalboa
500+ Posts
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