Saving Energy - Saving the Environment

This post is in response to David’s comments on my (Cari) decision to stop using dryer sheets. I too love the way dryer sheets form a static free force field around my clothes.  And the heavenly smell that answers the age old question, “Are these underwear clean?” Here’s where it gets interesting. I have apparently been using Arm & Hammer dryer sheets from the Essentials product line. These sheets use plant-based oils, biodegradable softening agents and the box is 100% recycled and 30% post consumer waste. Its one downfall is that the sheet itself is not biodegradable. Here’s what most other dryer sheets contain:

• Benzyl acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer.
• Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant.
• Ethanol: On the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders.
• Limonene: Suspected Gastrointestinal or Liver Toxicant, Immunotoxicant, Kidney Toxicant, Neurotoxicant, Respiratory Toxicant, and Skin or Sense Organ Toxicant.
• A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage.
• Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list.
• Camphor: Causes central nervous system disorders.
• Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic.
• Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders.
• Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled.

My new goal is to use the rest of the dryer sheets in the box, while looking to procure a vile of essential oil. Essential oil is a concentrated aroma compound derived from plants. A dab of the oil can be placed on a small cloth and tossed into the dryer with your cloths. If softness is an issue, add 1/2 cup or so of white vinegar to the wash. If, for some reason, these alternative techniques do not work for me, I will have to look for non-toxic dryer sheets that biodegrade (they do exist). In a pinch I would be willing to use the Arm & Hammer Essentials dryer sheets without feeling too guilty. 

BilJax would like to know how you spent your Earth Day! Even if you weren’t out saving whales and baby seals, did you commit yourself to living a little greener? If so, how? We would also love to read any tips you might have on how to make every day Earth Day.

The first Earth Day was started 39 years ago by Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson as a way to celebrate the place we all call home-the Earth.

Check out these suggestions for 100 ways to go green at 100waystogogreen.blogspot.com.  A list of 100 things to change about your life may initially seem daunting.  Unknowingly many of us already live some aspects of our lives green. You can check those actions off the list right away. Some items just cannot be applied to your life, but some are so easy it would be silly not to try.

Not only is junk mail annoying, its contents can contain information about ourselves that can leave us vulnerable to identity theft.  If that wasn’t bad enough JUNK MAIL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR APPROXIMATELY 100 MILLION TREE DEATHS EVERY YEAR.  According to Forest Ethics, a group dedicated to education on the environmental effects of junk mail and establishing a Do Not Mail Registry, studies show that 44% of all junk mail goes straight to the landfills unopened.  Nobody wants this stuff, so put the kibosh on junk mail today!  Go to donotmail.org, where The Forest Ethics people have a website set up so you can get the facts and petition for the registry.  Below is a list of other ways to “opt-out” of a life filled with junk mail.

Contact Opt-Out Prescreen online or at 1-888-567-8688 (888-5-OPT-OUT) from your home telephone

Get off Val-Pak’s list by filling out the form at http://www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm

Do this the next time you get your Val-Pak coupon pack, as the required information needs to be entered exactly as it appears on the mailing label.

To remove yourself from Acxiom’s list, you must request a mail-in opt-out form by calling 1-877-774-2094

Email your removal request to Publishers Clearinghouse at privacychoices@pchmail.com

Remove your name from ADVO Inc. by calling 1-888-241-6760 or completing the form at www.advo.com/consumersupport.html

Email your removal request to Abacus Direct at optout@abacus-us.com

Sign up at 41pounds.org.  For $41 they will do all the leg work and make all of the necessary connections to stop your junk mailings, even if you move.  The service covers everyone in your household for 5 years.

Eco-cycle covers these and a few more bases on their website: http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm

If you find that you are no longer receiving a catalog or some other mailing that you cannot live without, contact the company and let them know you want to be on their mailing list.

Recycling report #3 concludes our 2008 recycling efforts and allows us to usher in 2009 with renewed enthusiasm and zeal.  Here are the results of that report.

Aluminum cans   0.050 tons

Aerosol cans      0.023 tons

Plastic                 0.931 tons

Glass                   1.175 tons

Office Paper        1.696 tons

Cardboard           3.095 tons

Scrap wood         0.150 tons

Total: 7.12 tons of recycled material

The energy and resources saved by recycling the above items is equivalent to over 15,300 Kilowatt hours, 39 barrels of oil, 74 cubic feet of landfill space, or 128 lovely trees.

The Recycling Reports account for all the materials we loaded onto the Werlor recycling trailer we started using in June.  *Prior to that time, Bil-Jax recycled cardboard and paper only.  Over the entire year of 2008, Bil-Jax employees were able to keep just over 70 tons of material out of the landfill. 

*Bil-Jax does recycle all of its scrap metal.  Those numbers are not part of this report.

Michael Wachtmann, the Information Systems Manager here at Bil-Jax has created a pretty impressive backup system for our servers to help protect our data in the event of a power failure.  He showed me around the server room and explained a little about what’s going on in there.  Basically, there are Uninterrupted Power Source (UPS) boxes which provide battery backup to the system in the event of a power outage, as well as help to regulate power fluctuations.  Even with this system in place, if the power goes out, the IT personnel only has about 20 minutes to get everything shut down properly so no important data is lost.  To further protect the system and allow IT more time to follow proper system shutdown protocol, he engineered his own battery backup system.  He took scrap steel racks and laid down scrap plywood for shelves.  He found a stash of batteries that were no longer being used, tested them for life, and placed the good ones on the shelves.  Mike did have to purchase a few of the connector cables, but the rest was all reused material he found within the walls of Bil-Jax.  Mike Watchman’s ingenuity is evidence of the capabilities of its employees, as well as our commitment to increased sustainability.  Well Done!

Did you know that some people indiscriminately print their emails merely out of habit?  No, really.  It’s true!  By adding a message to your email signature you can help others be mindful of how many times a day they hit that print button.  Here are a few examples I have received on incoming emails:  “Save Trees. Print only when necessary”, “Consider the planet before printing this email”, and “Please consider your environmental responsibility.  Before printing this email, ask yourself whether you really need a hard copy”.  The one I use comes from the Green Print website at printgreener.com and says, “By not printing this email you’ve helped save paper, ink, and millions of trees”.  The message is accompanied by some cute little trees.  From the Green Print homepage go to “Fun Stuff” and then click Signatures.  They will take you through the rest with easy instructions on how to add the message to your own email signature.  If you are feeling really spunky, you can create your own.  Bil-Jax higherups are encouraging employees to add this message to emails as a way to make people think before they print.

Here is the data for our second recycling report…..

Aluminum Cans        0.054 tons         

Plastic                       0.988 tons

Cardboard                 6.430 tons

Office Paper              1.168 tons

Scrap Wood               1.068 tons

For a total of 9.708 tons of recycled material.

The energy and resources saved by recycling the above items is equivalent to over 13,700 Kilowatt hours, 35 barrels of oil, 76 cubic feet of landfill space, or 129 glorious trees.

Aah…The ever dependable New Year’s resolutions-always made, occasionally executed and usually ending in a crash and burn scenario. Here are a few ideas for this years resolutions, except, 2009 could be the year you get it right. 2008 was a big year for “Going Green”. We have assembled some resources that may help you decide for yourself what all the hoopla is about. Do it because it saves money.  Do it because it’s the right thing to do, or both.

You, the consumer, are already catching on and at record speed. For example, the 2008 Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard Report states that from 2000 to 2007 bottled water sales grew by 86%, but only increased by 6.1% in 2007. That is said to be the smallest increase since 1990. This could be because of initiatives designed to get people to drink water from their tap, such as the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign. I know it sounds strange, but consider this:  it’s nearly free when compared to the price of bottled water. Additionally, municipal water sources are subject to much more stringent regulation than are bottled water companies. Here are some reasons not to drink bottled water.

1) Once Again……Tap Water is nearly FREE

A cost comparison between tap, filtered, and bottled water shows tap at $0.0015/gallon, filtered at $0.13/gallon, while bottled is a pricey $1.27/ gallon.

2) Bottled is NOT Safer Than Tap

The EPA regulates municipal water sources, but does not regulate bottled water companies. The FDA regulates bottled water that is transported across state lines, which equals about 30%. That means 70% of the bottled water purchased by consumers in this country is unregulated by anyone outside of the bottled water industry. The Sierra Club’s website reports, “In California, an independent lab tested for hundreds of different chemicals in 38 brands of California bottled water. Two samples had arsenic contamination, six had chemical byproducts of chlorination, and six had measurable levels of the toxic chemical toluene. Mmmmm….sounds tasty. Furthermore, studies by the FDA show bottled water does not contain optimal levels of fluoride and even some home filtration systems have an unfavorable effect on fluoride levels.

“Companies that market bottled water as being safer than tap water are defrauding the American public.” U.S. FDA

3) Bottled Water is BAD for the Environment

More than 20 billion water bottles are landfilled, littered, or incinerated. Not only that, but these abandoned bottles do not biodegrade, but photodegrade. The sun breaks the plastic down into smaller and smaller pieces that end up in our oceans and in the guts of animals. There is an enormous mat of plastic debris floating in the Pacific right now. It is estimated to be the size of Texas! Unfortunately plastic water bottles are only a fraction of that mess.

PET bottles are produced from crude oil. 1.5 million barrels of oil are required to keep up with U.S. demands. Then the water must be transported, sometimes thousands of miles, adding even more unnecessary demands on natural resources.

4) Bottled Water is BAD for your Community

The idea behind this statement is that when a person consumes bottled water only, they become removed from the plights of the municipal water utility. This means that when levies or other referendums come up that would give money to the utility, they won’t pass because you don’t drink that water anyway and, therefore, don’t really care.

None of this is in effort to take down the bottled water industry. Bottled water does have its place at times. There are events where attendees are not allowed to bring in their own beverages and water is a healthier alternative to sugary beverages (also in plastic bottles) that may be purchased instead. And, there are places in the world, and even in this country, where the water is not safe to drink. My tap water is safe to drink, and I refuse to pay 1,000 to 4,000 times the price of that perfectly good water to drink out of a plastic bottle that may have negative effects on my health and certainly has negative effects on the planet. That is why I pledge not to purchase any bottled water in 2009. Auld Lang Syne.

Resources: Read more about tap vs bottled water and make your own pledge at thinkoutsidethebottle.org

National Resources Defense Counsel

http://www.nrdc.org/

Bottled Water Blues

http://www.bottledwaterblues.com/

E/The Environmental Magazine. December 9, 2003.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/water121003.cfm

Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottled_water

Think Outside the Bottle Campaign
http://www.thinkoutsidethebottle.org

American Water Works Association

http://www.awwa.org/

Bil-Jax’s Green Team hosted its Sloppy Joe Lunch on Monday December 15th.  The team was able to raise $257 dollars that was used to purchase gifts for donation to Christmas for Kids.  In addition to the money raised, the toy donation box was completely full of toys that will undoubtedly be enjoyed by many kids this holiday season.  With the current financial climate, everyone is feeling the pinch.  Therefore, it is important to recognize the hard work and sacrifice that the Green Team and their coworkers put forth to make this a successful event.  Thank you to all who contributed.