May
20

The Home Office Goes Green

If you’re concerned about the environment, there are a lot of reasons to think about working from home.  If you already have a home office, you may be familiar with some of them.  But read on anyway to find out how working from home can make your lifestyle even greener.

Right from the start, working from home helps you save on fuel costs, and benefits the environment.  If you commute 60 miles roundtrip every day, for 48 weeks out of the year, you drive over 14,000 miles.  So by using your home office, you are significantly reducing the carbon dioxide that your vehicle contributes to air pollution.  And even if your car gets 30 miles per gallon, at the cost of $4 per gallon, you will personally be saving at least $1,800 per year in fuel costs.

You can also make green choices when you purchase office supplies.  Some of the easiest green supplies to purchase are recycled ink cartridges, recycled paper and energy efficient light bulbs.  Recycled ink cartridges for your printer are also usually less expensive than the brand name versions.

If you’re concerned about your printer’s warranty and you want to stick with the brand name, you can still recycle the empty cartridges.  Watch for the ink cartridge recycling bins at your local office supply store.  In some communities, there are even ink cartridge recycling bins in the pet stores.  So keep your eye out for the retailers who are trying to do their part to be eco-friendly, and let them help you recycle.

Recycled paper is sometimes a little more expensive than the regular version.  So if you’re on a budget, recycle your paper in other ways.  Instead of tossing all used paper out, start a pile for paper that has been used only on one side.  Keep it in a location that makes it handy to use for scratch paper.  Then when you really are ready to throw paper out, be sure to toss it into the recycling bin instead of the regular trash.

Using energy efficient light bulbs in your

The Home Office Goes Green

May
20

Environmental Bathroom Research

For most of us our bathrooms are our sanctuaries. You can close the door on the noise and demands of your day-to-day life, fill the bath, light a few candles and suddenly you are in a serene world of your own. But just how relaxing would that long hot bath be if you knew that the bubbles around you contained a detergent so strong that it is used to degrease engines? And while you brush your teeth, consider that the toothpaste in your mouth may contain artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and aluminum again!

In fact, almost every bodycare product in your bathroom probably contains a long list of chemicals – many of which could be toxic to you and the environment. Add to this the amount of plastic packaging that comes out of your bathroom in the form of toothpaste tubes, toothbrush packs, shampoo bottles, pots of body lotion and so on, the water wasted and the power used to heat your bath and shower water, and the environmental impact of your bathroom becomes very clear. Your days of stress-free bathing may be over unless you start making some green bathroom choices.

Decor

Avoid using conventional paints for bathrooms, as these are likely to contain fungicides and other chemicals that can offgas into the room. They are often also impermeable and therefore likely to trap moisture, potentially causing damp. Instead, go for water-based microporous paint that will let your walls breathe, dispersing moisture and aiding drying. Or another wall choice is wood paneling. It can help regulate the bathroom climate if it is treated with a porous finish such as beeswax.

For floors, the choice is similar to that for kitchens since moisture levels and heat are the main factors in both rooms. Natural linoleum, cork and terracotta tiles are the most suitable floor coverings in the bathroom.

The bathroom suite

As with every other part of your house, try to avoid plastic when it comes to choosing a bath, basin or toilet. Alternatives include porcelain or enamel bathroom suites, which both hold the heat of the bath water better than plastic or fibreglass. Choose the

Environmental Bathroom Research

May
17

Why Do Leaves Alter Coloring In Fall?

The Hudson River, as viewed from Black Creek Preserve in New York’s Hudson Valley. (Photo: Dan Shapley)

It’s
one of those questions — like why is the sky blue? — that can stump a parent
on an otherwise enjoyable fall walk. So let’s answer the question.

Most
simply, to survive the winter, deciduous trees need to store nutrients in their
roots, which means they must absorb the nutrients in their leaves. Changes in
color are triggered as the trees absorb essential nutrients.

How leaves change colors

Throughout the warm sunny months, trees are lush and green because they’re
working hard. Tree leaves are green because of the abundance of the pigment
chlorophyll, which is essential to converting sunlight, water, and carbon
dioxide into energy-rich sugars.

Yellow colors that were always present in leaves become
unmasked as the chlorophyll is broken down and absorbed. Called carotenoids,
these are the yellow pigments that give trees like birch, beech, and tulip their
bright fall colors.

Red and orange colors, like those that characterize the
famous red maples of New England, are made by different pigments, called
anthocyanins. Unlike the ever-present yellows that simply become unmasked when
chlorophyll recedes, red pigments are actually created as a tree is going
dormant to protect leaves from the sun and give leaves extra time to unload nutrients, acccording to Bill Hoch, an assistant professor at Montana University’s College of Agriculture.

As
summer wanes, changes in tree leaves are triggered by the cooler temperatures,
changes in rainfall and weather, and most of all, the shortening of daylight
hours.

While
leaves will always change color as the amount of sunlight wanes, several
weather conditions can affect how brilliant they become.

According
to the U.S. Forest Service: A succession of warm, sunny days and
cool, crisp but not freezing nights seems to bring about the most spectacular
color displays. The amount of moisture in the soil also affects autumn colors.
Like the weather, soil moisture varies greatly from year to year. The countless
combinations of these two highly variable factors assure that no two autumns
can be exactly alike.

(Photo: Sherry Ziolkowski)

Leaf colors in Fall 2010

This
year, for instance, much of the eastern U.S. has experienced near-record high
temperatures and

Why Do Leaves Alter Coloring In Fall?

May
17

Home Is Where The Start Is Usually – NCAA.com

CBC.ca Home is where the start is NCAA.com Knew it from the moment he arrived on campus as the 12th head coach in the history of the school's men's hockey program. Why else would he have spent time designing jewelry? “I've had a design on the ring planned since I got here,” Sandelin said after … Schmidt's OT goal gives Minnesota Duluth hockey titleLos Angeles Times Minnesota Duluth topples Michigan in overtime, captures national hockey titleAHN | All Headline News Bulldogs' long wait is over: UMD men win college hockey titleDuluth News Tribune Fox News -Boston Herald -The Seattle Times all 434 news articles »

Home Is Where The Start Is Usually – NCAA.com

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