Ceramic or paper or polystyrene?

UPDATE:  Through Neighbors for Neighbors, a group in Boston organized local coffee shops to support a bring-your-own-mug concept.  It's called The Mug Project and I think it's wonderful.  Thanks for the tip, Em!

Consuming less seems to be one of the primary mantras of the "green" movement. "Reduce, reuse, recycle." So, when it comes to your morning beverage of choice (be it coffee, tea, hot cocoa), surely a ceramic mug is more environmentally friendly than a paper or polystyrene (read: 'styrofoam') cup. Not necessarily, claims the Institute for Lifecycle Environmental Assessment. Way back in 1994, this study suggested that ceramic mugs must be used numerous times before the environmental impact equals that of a similar number of paper or foam cups. Large amounts of energy are required to manufacture and clean a reusable mug, thus it must be used many times to spread out that impact over a large number of uses. According to their findings, a ceramic mug must be used 40 times to equal paper, and hundreds of times to equal foam. So, does this mean that foam-cup-wielding lunatics are greener than thou?

Don't fret. Think: "reduce." Surely, if you are a ceramic mug hoarder and go through them like water, you're relatively wasteful. But, if you're like me and hold onto a select few mugs for years and use them repeatedly, things might not be so bad after all. If you can't stomach the idea of pressing your lips to the same mug year after year, at least put your unwanted mugs back into the ebb and flow of the universe. Donate them to a second-hand store. At some point, your orphaned mugs will be considered vintage and be worth a lot of money, to someone else.

And, in the spirit of not being able to determine anything with certainty, consider the hidden features of polystyrene.

• “Acute exposure to styrene in humans results in respiratory effects, such as mucous membrane irritation, eye irritation, and gastrointestinal effects” -Environmental Protection Agency

• Styrofoam is “possibly carcinogenic to humans” -World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer

• Styrofoam cup takes 500 years to decompose. -University of Washington

• “In the categories of energy consumption, greenhouse gas effect, and total environmental effect, [expanded polystyrene's] environmental impacts were second highest, behind aluminum” -California Integrated Waste Management Board

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Coffeee_img451.jpg

Paper has two sides

Upon inspecting a piece of paper recently, I wondered how did they get it so impossibly thin?  I'm talking about your standard office paper: 8.5" by 11", 20 pound, bright white.  Very flat.  Sharp edges.  Smooth surface.  Careful investigation revealed something that is often overlooked:  paper has two sides, and you can use them both!

But seriously, it can be tough to find a double-sided printer, so you'll often end up with page after page of single-sidedness.  Though I'm a big fan of doing things electronically, there are times with printing is necessary.  In those cases, and in the cases when it's not possible to print on both sides, instead of throwing away (or recycling) the paper once you're done reading it, save it for scrap paper.  I've been doing this for about 10 years now.  In fact, in my stock pile of half-used paper, I have some documents from many years ago.  Whenever I need to do some quick scratching, I pull out one of these babies and use the unloved side.  Once the paper is completely filled, I toss it in the bin for recycling.

Another thought here is to force your printer to double-side.  Well, maybe force isn't the right word.  How about trick?  This takes some experimenting.  It works by printing all of the odd (or even) pages.  This can be found in the printer settings.  Once printed, put the pages back in the paper tray.  You got to figure out the correct orientation.  Then print all of the even pages (or odd if you did even first).  And viola!  Double-sided.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Lightmatter_paperwork.jpg

Rethinking sustainable design

People have often criticized me (rather, attacked me) in regards to sustainability and free enterprise. Take, for example, oil. If we all stopped driving and embraced solar energy and foot-power, what would happen to the employees of oil companies? They'd be out of jobs and a major pillar of our economy would collapse. Valid point. One rebuttal is the idea of adaption. Companies that have proven to be successful are able to adapt the changing times. They are willing to embrace new concepts and implement them.

Adaption and evolution of companies is the central idea in the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. William McDonough and Michael Braungart suggest that we can maintain our current lifestyle with no ill consequences, given a little ingenuity. The book revolves around encouraging companies to consider the entire life of a product, from conception to consumer use to disposal to rebirth. They provide many tangible examples of companies that have embraced sustainable techniques, helped improve the environment, and saved money. One example is the waste water of a textile company. Initially, they were heavily polluting the surrounding environment with toxic chemicals from their dying process. After some careful thought and upgrades, their waste water is now as clean as or cleaner than the water that flows into the plant.

I found the book to be particularly refreshing. McDonough and Braungart reject the idea of choosing the least harmful alternative, rather they seek to find truly good solutions. They insist that recycling as we know it now is actually a bad thing. Even the "paper" of which the book is printed is unique. I urge you to read it to find out what I'm talking about. And don't forgot some of my favorite ways to get books!

Image: http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm

What would we do without the Post-it®?

Ubiquitous and convenient are just two adjectives that describe 3M's Post-it®. No office is complete without a stack of yellow (or blue or teal or pink or...) self-sticking note pads. From June 2006 to May 2007, 3M raked in $106 million from these tiny pads. Though paper requires vast amounts of trees to be cut, energy to be consumed, 3M is fairly dedicated to environmental responsibility, according to their FAQ page. It's even possible to buy new Post-it® notes made from recycled paper. But this leaves me feeling uneasy.

In an effort to reduce my paper consumption, I've started to keep many notes on my computer and cell phone. Apple's Mac OSX comes standards with a program called Stickies, which emulates the paper version. I find it's easier to alter text on the electronic version. A poll shows that nearly 45% of users utilizes this program. Windows might have something similar.

But what about portability? Post-it® notes notes are great because you can take them with you. Most people also take a cell phone with them. This is the current solution to my grocery list. In my case, I sync my phone with my computer my list is transfered to my cell phone. If you're less tech-savy, poke around in your cell phone and you'll most-likely find a note program.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Post-It.jpg

Computers do more than just compute

eWaste is a mounting problem. Never heard of it? eWaste is defined as discarded electronic products. We make about 20-25 million tonnes of it every year which not only creates landfills, it leaches dangerous chemicals (such as mercury) into to water supplies. While ewaste can be recycled, I suggest reducing ewaste by reducing consumption.

Today's computers can do a lot more than you can imagine. Using my laptop (Apple PowerBook), I can do the following things:

• Listen to music, free internet radio, and pod casts
  
• Watch DVDs and [legally] downloaded movies
• Organize my information (calendar and contacts)
• Create photo albums

And when I sync my cell phone (Sony Ericsson w810i), I can do the following mobily:

• View my contacts and calendar
• Read electronic books
• Send notes and reminders to myself
• Listen to CDs, MP3s and FM radio
  

Using a little imagination, you can understand how much money and resources I'm saving by utilizing these devices to their fullest. A TV/DVD player can cost $500 or more. Paper-based calendars are bulky and wasteful. A boombox costs hundreds of dollars.

In the spirit of offering suggestions, use Google to see what your devices can do. Use your imagination first. Think about what you want your device to do (e.g. read books on your cell phone). Search for this and your specific device. Assuredly, someone out there has done what you want to do and has posted how-to information.

Image: http://www.greenpeace.org/

Telephone books are *so* last century

For anyone with an internet connection or phone, there is no reason to use a telephone book. These books quickly become out-dated, are limited in geographical region, and don't make it easy to find what you need. According to the City of Modesto, recycling 500 phone books can save:

• 7,000 gallons of water;
• 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space;
• 17 to 31 trees; and
  
• 4,100 kilowatts of electricity, enough power to serve an average home for 6 months!

There are plenty of internet-based, paper-free sources to quickly and easily find up-to-date contact information for people and businesses. Some even include reviews, maps, directions and links to websites. It's even possible to download applications for your cell phone to find this same information. And don't forget about directory assistance.

1. Yellowpages.com
2. Whitepages.com
3. Anywho.com
4. And many more!

I love these websites since they make it effortless to find vasts amounts of information quickly. Sick of getting a new phone book every 6 months? Call the phone book distributer to stop delivery. Since I live in a shared building, I can't do this. But for those of you who directly receive phone books, try it out and let me know how it works.

Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:1896_telephone.jpg