Eco-friendly Lifestyle

Energy Crisis in UK - Solution Suggestions

2011-01-25T09:09:00.001-08:00

Here is an excellent explanation of the energy consumption and of the wider energy crisis for the UK by Cambridge University physicist Dr David Mackay.

Another story of stuff - this time elctronics

2010-11-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hello World,

after some time we would like to provide you with another story of stuff, this time information where our electronic devices end.

watch and learn,
eco friendly

clean Slovenia, dusty Europe

2010-04-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hello World,

I am thrilled to inform you all that country on sunny side of Alps was cleaned by more than 200.000 people (which is 10 % of population) all ages and structures - from politicians, media, schools, families, organizations, NGOs etc. Unfortunately the reality is that the same amount of people recycling. We can just hope this was a good practice to be shown to next generations, who obviously are becoming more aware of global pollution issues.

Speaking about global connection the erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland shows how small our planet really is - besides no air transport and 2 million people that were trapped in airports, big losses of the air companies, Iceland was stroked hard - there are floods, glacier melting and evacuation of 800 people. This issues are not being reported by the media. Meanwhile Iceland is one of the most greenest countries in the world was not able to prevent from such event and its dimensions. After Haiti earthquake erupting volcano is another Earths' reminder for searching fast and efficiant green solutions.

Sigur Ros is one representative of the Icelandic brilliance, intelligence and awareness spreading:

Everyone, there might be worse to come. Lets learn from the past and leave as green footprints as we can.
eco friendly

Clean up Slovenia

2010-04-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

Hello World,

the clean up Project in Estonia brought benefit to the World by its good practice and organization. Same sample, next country: Slovenia. Date is set, 17.4.2010, which is next weekend. So far there is 35.000 registered people which will participate, the aim of organizers is to reach 200.000 people AND collect 20.000 tons of Waste. Most of municipalities are locally supporting action, NGOs and companies, army and police, groups, scouts, citizens, farmers... All questions and answers about organization can be found in this video (in slovenian).

Did you know there will be Clean Up World project in 2012? :)

Ouuu, happy day!

One economy, one environment

2010-04-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

Very innovative and efficient approach to reduce carbon emissions, improve our attitude towards environment and each other!

What are we waiting for?
eco friendly LIFE style

The story of bottled water

2010-03-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

inspirational 2

2010-02-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

use of lighters: they are used to light up candles

sustaining,

ecofriendly

inspirational

2010-02-01T16:33:00.000-08:00

...as we start to live for the sunrise, nothing seems to be a problem anymore...

Since one year as I had been following up the global issues and its solutions in all its sadness, my lifestyle changed completely. I moved to the city where I work and where everything is possible to reach by foot. I gave up my car and gave it to my brother who recently got driving license. We live 5 people together in the flat and we are trying to sustain our lives by recycling. I started going for a walk in a park instead of driving in a car or rush in the town for shopping. We are doing big shopping once a month with a list of things we need and every few days we buy vegetables or bread. If that isn't a quality of life...

and as once my vise friend said, it is all about doing.

good night World, life is beautiful. There is knowledge, lets use it.

mojca

all eyes on global warming

2009-12-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

Hello World,

while rushing in time, we are facing some sort of growing awareness to slow down; slow down consumption, slow down waste, use of resources, heating up the planet. As it might seem within the biggest environmental event in history, which was disaster in all aspects, green representatives losing the power. The UN call to slow down global warming should give some solid ideas for solutions and agreements by the end of Copenhagen climate change conference in december 2009. Unfortunately without outcome. And this is rather disappointing. Does that means collapse of ideals?

It is time to push even stronger on our own behavior that goes along our beautiful Planet Earth not against it. Lets upgrade some of our knowledge:

and it is up to us and our behavior. And also the behavior all humanity, without exceptions.

Let's just be responsible,

eco friendly

PS. wish you all fantastic 2010!

zero waste II.

2009-11-22T09:17:00.001-08:00

hello World,

In this post you will find one of the current governmental Zero Waste project in Australia. It based on understanding of simple rule - there is no waste in Nature.

In following days (30th Nov & 1st Dec) there will be Zero Waste Summit in Sydney, Australia. The Summit will provide a timely focus on the future prospects for the waste industry in a Climate Change world, to finally close the loop on Zero Waste in Australia by developing responsible and sustainable solutions in resource recovery. In short this event will be the first of many National discussions looking at why you as an individual living on a resource limited planet should consider a Zero Waste future and why there is no alternative. The goal of Canberra is to produce no waste until 2010.

Australian government has set up National Waste Policy, where some of the issues are:
- Humanity will run out of mineable quantities of agricultural phosphate in 30 years;
- “Waste Management” must become “Nutrient Management” to sustain agriculture;
- Australia spends $4 billion per year managing 40 million tones of waste half of which is organic;
- The waste industry currently employs 14,000 – Recycling currently employs 38,600. Jobs in all communities would greatly expand with organics reuse;

The National Waste Policy wants to achieve sustainability by
(a) eliminating all solid and liquid waste;
(b) releasing zero emissions into the atmosphere;
(c) recycling or reusing finite and valuable resources;
(d) developing efficient transportation in terms of both environmental and economic costs;
(e) educating the community to the long term effects and power of their short term choices; and
(f) realistically pricing the environmental costs of production for industry.

there is no alternative, there is only eco friendly

zero waste

2009-10-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hello World,

Estonian clean-up project is really inspiring! To bring the waste issue further we would like to talk about zero waste. It is the concept of re-use of waste; concept where waste can become resource. How could that be possible, you will ask. But there already are existing communities, that produce no waste!

We recognize that nature is cyclical and has no waste. Our industrial pathways must follow this design set by nature if we are to become sustainable. Zero Waste (ZW) supports sustainability by reducing extraction from, and eliminating waste to, nature, improving economic efficiency and making more resources available to all. (Source: www.zerowaste.org)

It means, waste can be used as resource so it means it saves cost. A total recycling which is based on reduce, reuse and recycling of waste. It has environmental, economic as well as social benefits. It creates new working places. It means long life products. Public transport. It means healthy society.

Ideal or achievable goal? There are existing societies that applied zero waste principle into daily life of its citizens. In fact, 75 % of communities in New Zealand are functioning by producing no waste. There are several examples on each continent. What is more, there are also companies that have set zero waste as their goal. Among ZW supporters there is a belief that producer is responsible for the produced waste.

What can you do? Check it out: http://myzerowaste.com/
ecofriendly

Estonia Clean-up Project 2008: Wild Garbage Dumps Removed in a Day!

2009-09-17T01:31:00.001-07:00

This story is an amazing inspiration. In the small Baltic country Estonia, a group of activists decided they will do something about the wild garbage dumps which existed all around the country. Estonia has great nature reserves but people have dumped their garbage for years, and they did this exactly deep in the woods where there is less control over such kind of behaviour. This group of people came with the idea to clean up the country in just ONE DAY, which they did eventually, on 3 May 2008!! You simlpy must see this 5 min clip about the whole project - trust me, you will be amazed:

Now, a similar initiative has started in Slovenia, my home country. I have received an email just today inviting us to such an action throughout Slovenia in Spring 2010, preparations are already in place. If you are living in Slovenia, be sure to get involved. You will hear more about this project on the eco-friendly-lifestyle blog in the future.

Sustainable Organic

2009-08-03T04:41:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

Did it ever occur to you when buying organic products that it is not really sustainable to get corn, lens or any kind of seed from Canada, pate from Germany or tofu from Japan? To me it has. And I must say, that I would rather support local farmers than long transportation food chain. Concluding this thought I thought we could start making stores with products of local farmers, cut down the long transportation ways and rather organize door-to-door delivery once a week. I do understand there are things that can not be produced everywhere, but still, every new store with organic products has less local products to offer. It is rather sad.

Please, open your eyes and let me know how are things around the World.

signature, please!

2009-07-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

Hello World,

I have received this email from Avaaz:

The world has just months left to agree on a binding global climate treaty -- humanity's best shot at preventing catastrophic global warming of more than 2 degrees celsius.

This week at the Italian-hosted G8 summit, Canada, Japan, and Russia are trying to veto the 2-degree limit -- and an immediate global outcry is needed to rescue it.

Click below to sign the worldwide petition -- an Avaaz team in Italy will deliver it directly to world leaders and through spectacular stunts on Thursday, bringing global media attention to shame the climate-wreckers and press them to back down. We urgently need at least 100,000 signatures -- click to sign:

Scientists say that if global warming rises past two degrees centigrade, the world's climate systems are very likely to spin out of control -- with searing droughts, sudden floods, and rising seas that spread poverty and force hundreds of millions to relocate.

In fact, such climate effects have already begun -- but we may be able to avert the worst, if urgent UN negotiations succeed this year in reaching a binding treaty. The UN talks, culminating in Copenhagen just six months from now, could launch a historic shift towards a clean-energy, green-recovery future that leaves the climate safe for future generations. But a few nations -- now led by Canada, Russia, and Japan -- have blocked-up the climate talks, endangering the treaty and our future.

The G8 leaders -- joined by eleven other heads of government at a parallel "Major Economies" meeting next door -- represent more than 80% of climate emissions. And this is the leaders' last in-person negotiation before the make-or-break Copenhagen summit.

Thank you!

W a t e r

2009-07-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

Right now, there is festival Lent going on in Maribor, Slovenia. There are plenty things to do or see. On Friday there was guided exhibition "Poletje" (Summer) by dr. Tomaž Brejc; he was talking about works of various slovenian artists, besides, he also talked very interestingly about perceiving the current time. We have stopped at work showing videos of river, menwhile dr. Brejc was talking about that now, even the Water is not aware of its form and energy, since there are power stations using its flow; the work was also showing the dirty water slowly flowing on...

We live in time when Water is becoming just another industry, distribution industry (privatization of water resources and its distribution to our homes) and "producing" industry (energy production; filling up loads of plastic bottles), where, agin, the consumer should know what is better and choose... the only choice I want to make is to drink tab Water. Its even better than any other bottled Water. What is more, some researches had shown that plastic do not exactly work health on Water, it can also cause cancer! And, wouldn't it be the nice to drink fresh tab Water without any concerns?

Furthermore, to remind you one more time about Darfur: War for Water, Tomo Križnar is always saying that good needs to connect, because the evil already did. My interpretation would be that we need to connect, in order to make it better, to have better tomorrow, to be friends, shearing same Globe, Water, Air, to become a symphony of those values with other people, nations, animals and our environment.

cheers, with glass of Water!

Food Matters

2009-06-29T02:59:00.001-07:00

Hello World!!!

The weekend was lovely, no? I have spent it with my Turkish friends on Croatian coast. Saturday night was really clear and we were lucky finding a small, quiet and calm spot in the camp where we were just laying down and watching the stars. Ah, how great are the summer nights! It occurred to me that each of those stars is traveling on its own path, although we can not see it; just like ants, we are living in the huge civilizations here and there, but also traveling our own paths. But how do we meet? What is the energy behind? I have no idea, but I know how great it is to have such feelings with people who are more like brothers and sisters to me, with similar understanding of such traveling and I must admit I felt really lucky. Lucky to be there, lucky to be with them.

Everything was balanced, like life should be. We cleaned up all the waste we produced, even very unusual things - to see a Turkish guy picking up his cigarette from the floor? Yes. We are changing. And we want love, peace, sharing, empathy, smile, hug, laughter!

Today I am making detox in my temple of this thoughts, my body. There is a movie I saw some months ago and it really affected me in many ways. I hope you will take some time for it.

Lets start cleaning the Earth by cleaning our home of our Souls, our bodies.

Sustaining eco friendly life!

A must see!

2009-06-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

This is really something! From production to massage! A must see documentary HOME, about our Earth and the meaningful things we all share: Air, Water, Sun, Fire, Soil, Nature, Earth = Home.

On World Environment Day Home was released in 50 countries worldwide.

Enjoy it!

Crisis concept

2009-06-06T05:46:00.000-07:00

Dear humanity,

this time I will talk about crisis concept although I know you all have heard, read and felt in a way already. Last time I have told you I am visiting the "school of political literacy" lectures and this time I will be summarizing "world devision of asset as new economic principle" held by Rok Kralj (in slovenian).

Crisis we are facing today has three aspects: economical, environmental and social. I believe each of those aspects is important itself, but only facing all of them as a whole can bring eager output.

What is often heard about the crisis is that those, who will survive the crisis, will get out of it stronger - only because crisis will erase a part of competition from the market. What is also happening today is commercialization and privatization of goods and services. Are we aware what that means? Privatization of water under pretext of its distribution?! No, thank you.

But we can agree that the money is current system that is controlling the people - everyone and what is happening is "economical genocide". To disable it, everyone should stand for economy (gr. oikos nomos = comunity), ethics and ecology (gr. oikos logos = science about environment) in the balance of peoples needs and abilities of environment. This sounds reasonable definition, doesn't it? But are we as human mature enough for ecofriendly lifestyle?

thank you, human, for choosing ecofriendly

Global Awareness & Local Activation

2009-05-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

Today I will dare to talk about myself in order to introduce myself and hopefully gain some credibility among readers of eco friendly lifestyle blog.

My name is Mojca, 23 years old Slovenian, Balkan routed European and citizen of the Globe. To provide you more with technical data: full time student of economics - finance and banking, working since age of 19, did a bit of traveling, studying abroad in Switzerland, with general interest in sustainability, literature, music and crafts, currently writing diploma thesis entitled "A project of transformation process from integrated production to organic fruit growing based on fruit growing farm Frešer" as one of the my first community activation as well as living today - healthy, grateful and happily.

The song "Living Darfur" from previous post made me think where this global awareness starts and what should be the correct respond to it. Africa has always been a continent I felt empathy with since the inequity is so obvious: smiles are so pure, great music with rhythms that makes you swing your hips, Nature is wild and animals and man live together through sentries BUT issues like enslaving , apartheid, guns, water wars, AIDS, children army, drugs, oil wars, materials wars, selling off the land... are affecting everyone living today.

I was deeply touched by the work of Tomo Križnar at one of his evening talks with presenting his movie called "Darfur: War for Water". After the movie he explained the current situation in Darfur - meanwhile his soul was weeping, you could see it in his eyes, but he cured it with a smile, with a look that clearly announced his strength, his courage and his passion to fight for better tomorrow. A look I will never forget. So, what he actually did few days after that presentation was, that he took some of old computers that nobody wanted to use anymore and took them to Darfur, teach people how to use the media and through internet give them opportunity to spread their voice around the World; somehow to teach the worldwide public about their current situation.

Soon after that I felt the need to learn more about current situations worldwide. Unfortunately Darfur is far from being the only one. I founded out there is a "school of political literacy "organized by association for development of humanity which organizes lectures once a week in Maribor, Slovenia. One of the first lectures I have visited was "About Africa differently" by mag. Eyachew Tefera from Ethiopia. He pointed out very diverse problems concerning Africa, including the incomplete knowledge about African geography. What he also said was "help your country and by that you will help Africa". Europe is not prepared for mass invasion of African refugees that might appear here one day as well as we are not aware that might come a day when Europe will get cold and Sahara will get green again because of the global warming.

If we feel the global heart, we understand that sustainable development needs to start taking part in three pillars: social, ecological and economical. I do believe we all need to activate in local participation, in our own communities, where output can be seen and shown not only today, but also tomorrow. How? This is what I will try to discuss in my next blog entries.

To life!

ps. looking forward to your feedback

Challenge: For Energy & For Nature

2009-05-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

HELLO WORLD!!!

There is a little change happening on the eco friendly lifestyle blog. Gorazd is very busy lately; therefore I accepted the offered challenge to continue his work on my own way. By the way: have we all already been challenged when he was was saying he is sorry for his SILENCE?

However his silence might have or might not have affected us, we are all challenged today for following the IDEA of eco friendly lifestyle, don't you think?

I understood his mail in my mailbox like that and without deeper need for explanation felt the RESPONSIBILITY for my reaction on his warm and kind request: Do you have that, what it takes, to be told?

I would like to say: WE wont be able to provide you with scientific knowledge about every topic we talk about, but the aspect of a someone, living today, breathing same air, drinking same water, feeling same globe and the change, happening in our selves when we are welcoming change by saying joyful, joyful JOY! Even if one is not religious, one is often at least agnostic. It is the aspect of our hearts, mind and body, combined by soul.

We all are searching for soul food, aren't we? But where is the start of it - with soul or food? Lets say it is balance; it is the moment when you combine both of dimensions: Energy and Nature; it is the moment when you combine your underwater part of your soul with magnificent swan show lending on Earth; did you ever seen swans landing together? The FORMATION they do together as group... who leads the group and which one takes over? In case you did not have the opportunity to experience swan show I will tell you: it is the last one. But with swans no one noticed it, they all look the same. Are they lucky? From what I have seen, and sometimes I do feel like a child when looking things like that, it is the MASSAGE which I am sharing here with you:

"It is the idea, that lives not the messenger"

I am challenging you to see through the manifest I have made right now: we all share the same planet. Feel it. Go outside, observe!!!, listen, watch sunrise... FIND YOUR INNER PEACE and then come and visit us again.

Thank you,

ecofriendlylifestyle

ps: for further mind spirit we offer you to feel it:

Environmental Eco Forums on the Net

2009-02-25T03:10:00.000-08:00

One way to get to know more about eco issues is to read and converse with people on the online eco or green forums. Although not very actively, I have contributed and even more read and learned from other people on these two blogs:

http://www.energyenvironmentforum.com/

http://www.greenerpeople.com/forum/members/list/g1.html

There are undoubtedly other good forums on the net, but these two I can recommend because I know them.

Plese mind that sometimes one gets some practical, very handy tips from individuals who are in the same boat as all other nonscientists and simply want to live a more eco-friendly life given all the financial and other constraints. I found these two forums good places to find such people.

An Apology

2009-02-25T03:01:00.000-08:00

He everyone! It is now obvious that I am succeeding to contribute to this blog more sporadically and less frequently as I wanted to. I have been active for several months in the summer/autumn 2008, writing every week or every two weeks, and then, for three months nothing. I would like to apologize to those of you readers who are expecting something more constant and stable from me.

But this is simply a reality: Thinking carefully, and even reading more extensively about the environmental issues is really more of a hobby (it is not my job of course). I first need to feed my family, trying to implement those simple tips I already put on this blog. (And yes, it is a struggle many times to really stick to the simple rules!)

I do invite you to come back and check out if anything is happening. I am definitely not going to abandon this blog! The issues are of course much too pressing, too important.

Genetically Modified Organisms - Genetic Polluti

2008-11-26T00:51:00.000-08:00

I think everybody should see this video documentary. The question of Genetically modified organisms is far more serious and far-reaching as most of us realize. The genetic pollution is a reality, it is on the rise of course, it destroys many species of plants and animals, it is put to legislation and destroys the possibilities of growing food as people would choose democratically in a harmless way. And much more. Please see this clip, it could significantly change your perspective on genetic engineering, biotechnology, genetically modified organisms, world food chain, food industry, and much more.

WaterMill, The Machine Which Produces Water from Air!

2008-11-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

Sounds a bit wacky, but is actually not far-fetched at all. The new machine called WaterMill produces a drinkable clean water our of the water which is in the air. The fact is that in the atmosphere there is eight times more water than in all the oceans and rivers combined! And another fact is that in most parts of the world people have higher humidity in the air around them that they need.

The machine is energetically very efficient and the will make it to the markets in USA, UK, Italy, Australia and Japan in the spring 2009. The producers (Canadian company Element Four) believe that this product will make it to the households and will become the most succesful houshold product after the microwave.

You can read more about the WaterMill in the Guardian article on the topic.

Ironing - Saving Energy with (or without) Ironing

2008-09-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

Ironing consumes considerable ammount of energy and time. A normal iron uses at least 10-times as much energy as 10 100-watt lightbulbs together. Some estimate this to be much more (it depends on the model).

Me and my wife mostly do not iron our clothes at all and if this is possible in your case (it depends on the lifestyle, job which you have etc.), I really recomend abandonment of ironing. You won't miss it at all (after a while anyway)! In any case, it makes sense to cut down on ironing or do it in an efficient way.

Some people on the internet forums have put together useful tips on how to save money and energy and time adn become greener with your ironing. I have shortened such lists of tips into even shorter one:

- iron only the clothes you really need to iron. Underware, handkerchiefs, and several other things do not need ironing at all.

- buy clothes from "iron-free" or "wrinkle-free" materials. There are loads of clothes which are available "wrinkle-free" and it removes your need to iron.

- don't let your clothes sit in the dryer. Hang them properly quickly after washing and most of the times there will be no need to iron them.

- ORGANIZE your ironing. Do all of your ironing in one session, do the low temperature ironing first, and then the higher temperature, do not plan to do the ironing when you know you will be distracted in the middle of the job.

- if you do need to go somewhere or are distracted by something important, even for two minutes, switch off the iron.

- buy better model irons. They are usually more efficient and will last you longer.

These six easy tips can save you energy and make you more eco friendly at the same time.

If you have enough money and you really need to iron your clothes regularily for your business meetings or similar, there is an interesting new option out there: New washing-ironing-drying machine! It is very efficient, it uses steam to iron your clothes, and it does it in one session all together with washing and drying. And it seems it really works well, even with longsleeved shirts. It has been on the market for some time already, so if anybody has one of these at home, I would appreciate if you share your experience.

Some have expressed the opinion that manual ironing will be a matter of the past some day soon and we will refer to the time we used to iron that way as the "modern iron age". Well, we know some people on the planet still live in a proper stone age today. I have no big faith that manual ironing will become a relic any time soon.

China No.1 in Pollution AND No.1 in Environmentally Friendly Energy?

2008-09-07T01:32:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, the report came out saying that China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest polluter. It is producing the most CO2, the main greenhouse gas and this is probably bound to increase. On the other hand, China could soon become first in using the renewable energy! How is that possible?

China mostly relies on coal for its energy: 75% of it. With the fastly growing economy and the need for coal becoming greater and greater, China's production of CO2 is bound to rise even in the future. Compared to USA which last year produced 5800m tonnes of CO2, China produced 6,200m tonnes. This was not expected to happen so soon.

These new figures only include CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning and cement production, but not the sources of other greenhouse gases (for ex. methane from agriculture and nitrous oxide from industrial processes). They also exclude other sources of CO2 - aviation, shipping industries, etc. But the data approximation is sure enough, the scientists from Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency say.

But on the other hand, Chinese government is really doing much to pollute less. Actually, it is trying to make China a world leading nation in using a renewable energy.

They are closing old and environmentally harmful coal-fired power plants and replacing them with new and more efficient coal generators. While China can not escape relying on coal to fuel its rapid economic growth, the government seems to understand that they need to invest in clean energy.

If it will go as planned, China will reduce the amount of energy used to produce a unit of economic output by 20% over two years. The government has also told the 1,000 largest energy-consuming companies to cut their power consumption even more than that, according to a recent report. In 2006, approx. 16 % of China's electricity aready came from renewable sources. The goal is to increase the proportion of renewable electricity to 23 % by 2020.

The estimates show that, while China invested over $12 billion in renewable energy in 2007, (second only to Germany), it needs to invest $398 billion all together to reach its 2020 renewable energy goals, which means $33 billion a year on average.

Wow! It seems that China can not avoid the No. 1 place in the World, be it for good or for ill, in many things. It is simply huge. Olympics are over, but the race to become the most Eco friendly Country doesn't have just moral motivations. The economic growth of the future will be tightly connected with renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Neil Young and His Electric Car

2008-08-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

Actually, it is a 1959 Linc-Volt converted to electric. It is great to see Neil Young being involved in such a project with a whole heart. Like several celebs - although Young is far from being a typical celebrity - he is experimenting with the electric car as well. But the difference is that he is actually involved in the very project of conversion of the car in a most intimate way.

Please check these two videos. Neil Young discussing his electric car Linc-Volt 1959 project with David Latterman's late show:

And again Neil, this time discussing the project more broadly while driving the car before the project started:

Electric Cars! Now or never!

2008-08-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, they are definitely coming! Actually, electric cars have already been around for a while, but for various reasons (some of these reasons are worthy of a great conspiracy theory!), they did not make it to the market or to the roads in big numbers. Well, yet. The oil crises and the environmental crisis stimulate a revitalization of electric cars technology as I write this.

I am far from expert on cars. So, instead of trying to sound smart and knowledgeable, I decided to share with you few some - carefully selected! - youtube videos about electric cars which I think are very informative.

Ross Cunniff's Porche Volt 914 converted to Electric car. With a very good explanation and demostration.

See also His Blog about this car. There you can read that, converting energy efficiency scale to MPG (Miles Per Gallon - US Gallon to be sure), he makes the equivalent of impressive 108 MPG! That is over 130 Miles per Imperial Gallon, which is below 3 litres per 100 km! And this is not the most efficient electric car out there.

On the other hand, the electric sports car (using a bit more energy per 100 km) can easily compete with the best Ferrari or Porsche sports cars. A youtube video which was seen well over 1.26o.ooo times demonstrates that no petrol run sports car can compare with the accelerations of this electric car.

But there is a great combination of these two qualities as well: A British-US combined production. Lotus Tesla Roadster Electric car - sexy as well as groovy, they say. This is the BBC World coverage about this car:

You can find of course all kinds of other stuff related to electric cars on Youtube. For example, videos on how Lithium Polymer Batteries for Electric Cars are made, a 245 Miles per Gallon Electric car, or an excellent documentary, "Who Killed Electric cars? Part 1". The other parts you can easily find on the "Related Videos" section on Youtube, at the right lower corner of the page. I will comment on this documentary in the following days on this blog.

Well, look, enjoy, and think about it. It might very well have something to do with your transportation in the future after all.

Eco-friendly Christian Conversion

2008-08-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

It was interesting to read the story and views of Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth, a former emergency room doctor who's Christian experience serves as his motivation for caring for the planet. I recomend browsing his website. If you are a Christian, you might find his way of thinking inspiring (connections he makes are great, responsible and non-fanatical). If you are not, you may find it just interesting.

Serve God Save the Planet Website.

Looking for Eco-Friendly Lifestyle Workshops

2008-08-13T04:17:00.000-07:00

When confronted with challenges how to change your lifestyle in order to live more eco-friendly, it is often difficult to know which decisions to make. Not because there is any lack of information (there are loads!), but because it is difficult to know which things are more important and which less, for me right now. How much effort to put into trying to use alternative means of transport, and how much into careful recycling and replacing plastic bags with the "organic" ones, for example? (It sounds simplistic, but you get the point) It does not help to say that every aspect is important, because to many people who think about starting a more eco-friendly lifestyle, all new imperatives of green living are just overwhelming! It is impossible to listen to all the advice at the same time, and of course majority claim that his or her environmental issue is the most important.

Therefore, strategies are needed, how and where to start with small changes, a real pedagogical guidence is needed as to what steps could be taken, and of course, we need to be taught a different way of life when greater changes are proposed to us or even demanded of us. Changing the lifestyle is not an easy matter, usually we are unable to do any greater changes if not being very determined to practice the new routines and starting all over again when we fail.

Therefore, I really want to see more workshops, real training classes, courses, tutorials etc. on how to live an eco-friendly life. Here in Cambridge, besides the excellent University and secondary education, there are many different afternoon classes for grown up people available in lots of places like schools, societies and governmental institutions. You can learn Polish, Mandarine, Urdu, gardening, writing poetry; there are classes like "Colours, Style and Make Up", "Egyptian Belly Dancing ", "Ceramics " and "Wine Appreciation advanced", but I have not yet seen a real course or a serious workshop called "Eco friendly Life-Style" or "How to Live Greener?" or something similar. Perhaps I just didn't see it. Or perhaps, this has not been put into practice yet (To be fair, I have seem that primary and I am sure also secondary schools have elements in the curricula dedicated to the topic, which is of course great).

Coal-Fired Power Station and Environmental Problem

2008-08-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

The latest environmental debate over coal (to be exact: it's about "a new generation of coal-fired power stations") demonstrates the baffling complexity of eco-friendly decision-making.

Most environmentalists are against the usage of coal for energy. Coal-fire produces great ammounts of geenhouse gases, and it is not a renewable source of energy. Therefore, they strongly oppose investing into coal-fired power stations, they want to close them down. Seems reasonable.

But things are not that simple. First, there are parts of the world which rely rather heavily on coal for their power production and where coal-fired power stations are extremely important source of energy and increasingly so.

UK energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, says that "...world demand for coal is projected to rise by 70% by 2030, an average annual rate of 2.2%, and the bulk of the rise will come from India and China." This is indeed worrying. Wicks concludes that the only solution for the west (he has first Britain, and then Europe in mind) is to develop a technology of "carbon capture and storage" (CCS), by which it is hoped 90% of greenhouse gases from coal-fired powerstations will be cut.

He puts it this way: ""But the real gain here, the real challenge - and if we do not meet the challenge, all is lost on global warming, the stakes are that high - is to bring on clean coal technology and carbon capture and storage."

He criticises environmentalists for being unrealistic. Giving up on coal now and closing down coal-fired power stations in Britain and Europe seems useless - it is completely idealistic to think that China and India will simply follow when these countries are so dependant on coal. Actually, if Wicks is right, it is counter productive: only Europe is in position to develop the CCS technology which could make coal usage drastically cleaner. If we leave this, the ecological disaster is sure on its way.

So, who is right? Enviromnentalists, who demand radical action and abandonment of coal usage? Or the energy minister? The decisions how to tackle this issue are not simple and energy minister's arguments strike me as more balanced in this issue, and actually eco-friendly in the long run as well. Please comment, especially if you disagree - I want to hear arguments for the contrary.

Ross Lovegrove: Organic Essentialism

2008-08-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Ross Lovegrove is a very successful designer. Being known for his work on sony walkman in former times, today he is one of the leading industrial designers, especially interested in "organic" and eco friendly transformation of culture through design. His ideas are surely novel and inspiring, but I rather invite You to browse his work through the following links and think about it yourself.

His official website doesn't show or tell you that much, but the its very basicality is fun in itself.

He has received many prestigious awards, among others, by CNN. See more about him on his CNN Biography website.

To see some discussion of his best known ideas today (some - like his eco-trees in Vienna - are already put to practice), also some critical remarks, see the pages on "Lovegrove solar trees" and "Lovegrove's car on a stick".

And lastly, see his 20 minute lecture where he explains his philosophy and approach to what he does.

What do you think of his ideas? It is a joy to watch them and ponder the possibilities, but I agree with some of the criticisms, especially on his "car on the stick" project. It is much too impersonal. Our western individualistic culture is, I believe, quite irreversible in many respects, benefits and joys of "having it your own way" are too great to sacrifice them for this otherwise neat and sci-fi-coming-to-reality idea. An element of control when driving a car, and personalizing it, is too important, the project can not succeed as it is presented now.

Paul Watson: Terrorist or Eco-Saint?

2008-04-21T01:15:00.000-07:00

In the recent controversies over seal hunting another issue emerged. Eco-conservation and nature-loving motivations sometimes make people use violence to defend nature. Violence as a chosen method of protest, not as a result of occasional outburst of emotions.

Paul Watson, an eco-activist (for some, eco-fanatic) from US uses violence and organized attempts to disable or even sink whaler and sealer ships to save the seals and the whales. Interesting debate emerged:

Is Paul Watson a Terrorist or an Eco-Saint?

Paradox: Watson Keeps Seal Hunt Alive with His Protests

Greener China

2008-04-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

China is in the spotlight these days. For balance, I include here some good news coming from China concerning the country's confrontation with the climate change. It is good to see that some good changes and progress is actually going on in the country that is the largest producer of plastic bags in the world (yes, it is not US this time).

Please read this article: Confronting Climate Change the Chinese Way!

We Campaign - Initiative On Global Warming

2008-04-01T00:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

There is an interesting new initiative with the website called We campaign, based in the US. Please read the following invitation and check out the website, it is a beauty itself.

From the organizers:

Yesterday we unveiled the We campaign, which will ultimately be the largest mobilization campaign ever on global warming. Please be sure to check out our new website (http://wecansolveit.org), and great video clip:

http://www.wecansolveit.org/anthem

You can also watch Al Gore talk about the campaign in this clip from the CBS show 60 Minutes: http://www.wecansolveit.org/cbs

The Washington Post ran a great article talking about the campaign's launch. Here is an excerpt:

"In an effort to broaden the campaign's appeal, the alliance has already forged working partnerships with groups including the Girl Scouts and the United Steelworkers of America. One of its early ads will feature the unlikely alliance of clergymen Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton sitting on a couch on Virginia Beach, talking about their commitment to address climate change."

You can read the entire article and forward it to a friend here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/30/AR2008033001880.html

Please ask your friends to join our effort by clicking here: http://wecansolveit.org/page/invite/thankyousignup

Plastic Waste in The Pacific Ocean

2008-03-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

It sounds like the worst nightmare. Except that it is true. There are huge areas of plastic garbage floating in the Pacific. The reports are pretty astounding: Some estimate that there are two plastic "continents" out there, together the size of two North Americas! Others are less pessimistic and claim it is somewhat smaller. Please read the following estimate from The Independent : "The Worlds Rubbish Dump - The Pacific Plastic Garbage Tip" (the picture here included is from the same magazine).

I definately decided to reuse the bags when doing shopping, or use my backpack. And not to buy much plastic toys for my son, if at all. But it is depressing. How and when on earth are we going to deal with this problem, given that the daily waste of plastic is still on the rise? I read somewhere that China is the biggest producer of plastic bags (and several other plastic products). Sounds like one more thing to protest about before the Olympics in Beijing. We do have enough work at home though (and here I mean the whole EU, not just Britain or Slovenia).

Typically, the problem lies in the fact that plastic rubbish gets to the remote ocean and we do not see it on front of our doors. In the case of the global warming many of us at least remotely feel the temperature change or will feel it soon anyway. But with the plastic dump far out there in the middle of nowhere... What is not seen des not exist.

Desert Solar Energy Use!

2008-02-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

Today, at St Edmund's College at University of Cambridge, Dr Gerry Wolff had a lecture on a very interesting topic: "Clean Power from Deserts."

What was it about? Read the description:

"Every year, each square kilometre of hot desert receives solar energy equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of oil. Multiplying by the area of deserts worldwide, this is several hundred times the entire current energy consumption of the world. It is possible to tap in to this cornucopia with the simple, proven technology of concentrating solar power (CSP): using mirrors to concentrate sunlight to create heat and then using the heat to raise steam to drive turbines and generators in the conventional way. Using CSP, less than 1% of the world's deserts could generate as much electricity as the world is currently using. It is feasible and economic to transmit solar electricity for 3000 km or more using highly-efficient 'HVDC'

transmission lines. It has been calculated that 90% of the world's population lives within 2700 km of a hot desert."

What a splendid idea!

IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Its Critics

2008-02-02T02:55:00.000-08:00

Although I find it always desirable to hear two or more opinions on a matter, It is very strange to read or hear the global warming skeptics preach their doubt. Of course some estimations can be inaccurate or exaggerated in some cases, but to doubt the whole phenomenon is a willful ignorance for some other motives than search for truth.

Some skeptics would be quick to imply that what the doubt is about is actually a causal connection between human activity and global warming. Although this sounds like a less irrational type of skepticism, it is still extremely problematic for many reasons. As is widely known, the findings of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming state that probability that changes in the climate system are a result of man made increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) concentrations is "very likely larger than 90%". It is to this claim the eco-skeptics object, many of them claiming this probability is less than 50%.

Now, of course governments and scientists can be wrong. But even without going into the scientific details of the debate, which convince a vast majority of experts in the world that the influence of human element in global warming is beyond reasonable doubt, let me state some reasons for trusting the IPCC from three "lay" perspectives.

First is a very strong degree of agreement. The report was revised line-by-line, scrutinized by 600 authors, 620 expert reviewers and 113 governments and their teams. Studied by the finest minds in the world, it was approved by hundreds of countries, irrespective of their political ideology, cultural norms or economic development. The report is a definitive review of all the available evidence. So, the scope of the consensus is in this case a good argument by itself.

Second: many governments act against their immediate interest when accepting this report and what is implied by it. It is a difficult task to change the policies and systems of functioning of society, on which many economies are based. Despite that, governments and their hired experts can not but accept the report of IPCC and the duties it implies.

Third: Even if the report would be wrong on any point, it still makes enormous sense to actually go for the changes in lifestyle and economies in order to lessen enormous human CO2 impact. Even if the threat would not be so immediate as it is (many think it is even too late to do something about the global warming at all), the supposed changes of lifestyle are nothing but good in the long term anyway.

So, why such a zeal for skepticism? In the next post let me state why I think the eco-skepticism is so appealing.

Christianity and Environment - The British Approach

2008-01-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

Recently I wrote an article on the topic from this title on http://searchwarp.com. Most readers there are from US so I have addressed the issue in a way that a typical American Christian reader might understand: I posed a question about compatibility of Christianity and Eco-Friendly attitude as a problem and tried to show the solutions.

Here I want to present a video from Times Online where British Christian environmentalist have their say. They are convinced, as I am too, that Christianity and Environmentalism are not a peculiar but most natural combination.

Check it out: Christianity and Environment

Recycling and Eco-Friendly Living at University of Cambridge, UK

2008-01-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

Here is some interesting and encouraging info on recycling and environmental concerns at the University of Cambridge. Cambridge City Council together with the Colleges and University organizes recycling very well and informs the poeple of "town and those of gown" on eco-related issues quite effectively. The following links are from Cambridge City Council Website. Students as well are quite active.

Below are several links. I was surprised to see how well this is organized here and how many things are happening.

www.cambridge.gov.uk/recyclingcentres - find your nearest recycling centre in the city using this interactive Google map on the Council’s website.
www.cambridge.gov.uk/public/sustainablecity/pdfs/A-ZRecycling.pdf - this recycling A-Z lists how to recycle specific items in and around Cambridge.
www.green.cusu.ac.uk - Cambridge University Students Union green campaigns – here you can find out who the Green Officer for your college is and how to contact them.
www.srcf.ucam.org/pap - Cambridge People and Planet – student environmental campaigns.
www.janegoodall.org.uk/~cam - Cambridge Roots and Shoots Society – a
platform for student environment projects.

Eco Friendly Lifestyle in Diapers?

2008-01-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot said and written about the probable harm or danger of disposable diapers such as Pampers or Huggies for health and the environment. They contain super-absorbent gelling materials (or AGM) and these are being linked to childhood asthma and a decrease in sperm production among boys. Environmental cost of the mass production and waste of disposable diapers is also great. Even the so called "Eco Friendly disposable diapers" are no better, if we are to trust people in the the Tumble Tots organization. Even the comparative environmental value of the ordinary diapers from cloth and their usage are disputable, some say (see the paragraphs below).

The basic facts are quite amazing: An average baby goes through 5,000 diapers in its life. Around 95 % of these are disposable. In US, the diapers "made up 3.4 million tons of waste, or 2.1 percent of U.S. garbage, in landfills in 1998". I do not know the figures of today but I suspect they are higher, not lower.

"Diapers in landfills in underdeveloped countries are especially problematic because they often aren't properly disposed, and excrement leaks into the local water supply." (Source: "The Poop on Eco-Friendly Diapers")

Procter and Gamble's motivated spokespersons of course claim that energy and water used for growing cotton, making, distributing and washing the cloth diapers can compare with the similar burden for the environment which the disposable ones produce. Of course, the promoters of cloth diapers and many other green organizations disagree, but estimating these two burdens through a whole life-cycle analysis is next to impossible. Many untested assumptions and unmeasurable circumstances are involved, whoever is trying to make such an estimation.

If you know any accurate or reliable results or measurements in this category, please inform me and other readers of this blog in the comments to this post.

2008-01-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

A very happy and intelligently-eco-friendly 2008 to all of You my friends, readers or just random visitors!

Plane Emissions and Pollution

2007-12-29T02:14:00.000-08:00

For the last two weeks I have been studying about plane pollution. There is in fact very little good material on this matter on the net. In the near future I will post more on the topic. According to my estimation this is THE hottest topic in terms of human activity contributing to global warming. In general of course, it may be that constructive research in alternatives way of energy is much more important than debating the problems, but among the problems themselves, plane pollution is probably the greatest and rising.

For now, here are two interesting links.

First there is BBC news (from Nov 2007) and BBC discussion (from 2000) on the topic, which is not very informative. The news just tells us about basic dilemmas EU is facing in this matter and the discussion shows what people's thoughts were on the issue 7 years back (it would be interesting to see same people's opinions today).

Very interesting and informative website is "Choose climate" Plane pollution web site.

The author is an environmental scientist, Dr Ben Matthews, who really is knowledgeable about plane pollution and has himself actually made a decision not to fly (he has traveled all around the world and continents in last years but has not been flying from 1993!). Check his website for the best info-resource on the matter on the net.

I intend to post more on the topic soon...

Christmas Decorating - a Comparative Remark

2007-12-25T05:04:00.000-08:00

Brits decorate their houses much more modestly than Slovenians, or Austrians or Croatians for that matter. Not only the houses, also the city centers of some cities here are modestly but neatly decorated, not excessively like in my home country.

I must admit I like British custom better. Not only is it frequently done with more taste (after my taste at least) but it all consumes much less electricity of course. I wonder if British reluctance to decorate more is grounded on ecological thinking?

Carbon footprint online calculators

2007-12-21T03:46:00.000-08:00

I have tried two of them, the EarthLab and the Google.co.uk one (Check out the direct link on their calculator in one of google's link windows on this blog under the title "Environment & CO2").

Both of them are of course simplified to the maximum. My results are very green indeed - they left me in disbelief (quite literally I am afraid). Google's one shows my footprint is 1,91 tons of CO2 per year, Earthlab tells me I emit 1,95 tons. My unscientific estimation is that one has to count on at least 0,5t + or - variation possibility if not more because the info you put in is so scarce and vague.

Yet, it is some estimation and an interesting online click-toy. In this way it serves as something of a reminder for many. They do not help me in this way though and even put me in danger to compare myself with "those other big CO2 sinners" out there whom you can find on the google.co.uk map. Anyway, I am quite aware that living on a student-budget and riding a bike around Cambridge these days makes me a low CO2 footprint "hero" if I want it or not! :)

(Did you know that Cambridge is the most "bicycling city" in the UK? More about that in one of the next posts)

Plane pollution survey comment

2007-12-19T15:17:00.000-08:00

Interesting: In these two days the survey is on, out of 13 people who have responded not one has yet answered "yes". None of us has yet taken any action to use alternative ways of transport instead of flying and only two of us are considering this possibility.

This observation is not to condemn at all. I am pointing it out because it tells me something.

It tells me that this blog, "Eco-friendly way of life - The Ordinary Person's Guide to Eco-Friendly Living" makes sense. Many of us struggle how to incorporate our environmental ethical concerns with other interests, obligations and concerns we have in life.

The decision to cut down flying for environmentalist reasons really is one of the most hard ones because for some of us the cost is really high (because of the distances between places where we have social connections, jobs or studies). So further thinking, research and weighing the possibilities of action is in order. You will hear more on this sub-topic on this blog for sure.

AEROPLANE POLLUTION

2007-12-18T10:45:00.000-08:00

This is a tough one. Aviation is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas. To cite Dr Keith Tovey who is the energy science director at the University of East Anglia's carbon reduction project:

"If you fly to Sydney, Australia, a plane will emit 5.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per passenger, which is as much as an average household will emit all year."

Can you imagine?! Other comparison says that one flight to Florida from UK causes the same amount of CO2 as one average active car in UK in a whole year.

The challenge is a very serious one for most of us, for various reasons. With aviation business in the rise and more people flying than ever before - predominantly because of the low-fare airlines like Ryanair - interest in air travel is big and rising. Today's way of life for many people involves air travel across the continents and the globe. I am not talking about vacation alone, but also about business, family, educational and other reasons.

For example, I live and study in Cambrige UK, but my true home, my friends and parents and some important activities revolve around Maribor, Slovenia. I live between these two worlds and it is not only me that decides. I can not travel with my 1 year old from Slovenia to England with a train or bus at this stage, and of course becuase of low fares (which are indeed getting really low!) of the air tickects other ways of transport are considerably more expensive. Not to mention the time.

So the stakes are high in this matter, and not only for me and my familly. Friends of the Earth organisation is pushing a high tax on air travel. The passengers and the firms alike would have to pay much more. It is interesting to see what people think about this on "plane pollution on BBC talk". Also, in the States there are initiatives and petitions that seek curbs on plane emissions.

Please click your answer on the survey on the right side of this blog (if it is still on - it will be replaced on 1.1.2008 with another one). Till now no one of the ten people who answered the question has actually took action not to fly because of this considerations. Including me, that is.

Cars running on water + less gas!

2007-12-17T03:21:00.001-08:00

Athough it sounds like a scam, it actually seems to be a reality. Did you know that you can use water, special technology + considerably less gas to drive more eco-friendly? And, very importantly: you save money.

Such ideas didn't sound convincing few years ago, and there are also several pretty far-fetched suggestions on the net too (Like driving your car on pure water only!). I have searched the web a bit (you can find many sites on the topic on google). The mechanism suggested on the site linked here is quite transparent and actually explained how it works. It is obvious many people are already using it in their cars and that the owner is a very successful seller of his car conversion.

Please, check out the link (Klick: Water and Gas technology in cars), and be sure to read it through and watch the videos. Then comment. If you are an expert in the field of car technology (I am not exactly an expert) you are especially welcome to share your thoughts on this one.

The Blackle

2007-12-16T23:56:00.001-08:00

Did you know about the blackle? It is the google with black background. It is claimed that it's more environment-friendly because it uses less power (which is needed for white-light monitor background compared to black background). If millions of computer users would choose Blackle instead of Google, a major cutting down on emissions would occur.

At least, so the story goes. Yet, there is a dispute about how much blackle is actually saving compared to google. More evidence of blackle's supposed advantage are yet to be seen, some say. Check the above "dispute" blog link for some more info.

But of course, check it out first hand: BLACKLE!

Do you use Blackle? Share your thoughts on it.

Eco-friendly business thinking

2007-12-16T22:28:00.000-08:00

Ecological awareness is increasingly present even in economical thinking of many leaders of companies. Although the label "green" or "eco-friendly" is of course used also just as a marketing strategy, the products that use alternative sources of energy, eco-friendly engines, or simply pollute much less or none at all, are increasingly being recognized as great business potential as well.

As more people are organizing their lives in more eco-friendly ways, more and more companies are exploring creative ideas how to be ecologically ahead of other competitive companies. That means that improving your lifestyle, using more and more eco-friendly ways of and products, actually creates more of such ideas and products on the markets, which is great for the planet.

Some creative, even daring ideas, in which you can be included by buying their eco-friendly products, if you want, can be found here and here. This blog is not simply an advertising blog, but I (and I hope others) will check different products and economical ideas that are around and discuss them here.

The basics

2007-12-16T21:58:00.000-08:00

I am starting this blog with very simple things and more or less common knowledge about saving the planet. The topics and discussions will become more complex and in depth with time as I (and other people through comments and suggestions to me) will consider more "on the edge" issues and creative new ways how to contribute to saving the planet.

To begin with, let's just very quickly review the basic things you can do immediately to start saving the planet. These are repeatedly mentioned in several presentations, Al Gore's Inconvenient truth movie, and elsewhere. In fact, they seem to be repeated so often in the web that one can easily loose sight of their importance. These are, to repeat myself, the simple basics.

1.) Lower your house temperature if you can. By lowering it for 1 degree C you can decrease emissions of hundreds of Kg per year.

2.) Do not switch lights on without a good cause. Use saving light bulbs instead of ordinary ones. Hundreds of kilos of CO2 spared!

3.) Ironing, boilers etc. use much more power than light bulbs. You want to be really careful not to have these switched on unnecessarily! Hundreds or even thousands of kg CO2 emissions per year can be spared considering this.

4.) Make a habit to regularly sort the waste. Recycle everything you can. Especially the plastic and tins!

5.) When buying a fridge buy one with A+ sign. You will again save hundreds of Kg emissions per year.

6.) When buying a car, buy one with lower emission and fuel consumption. You will save much money and the planet. 15000 km you send up to 4 tons less CO2 into the air!

7.) Drive rather 90 km/hour than 120 km /hour. You lower emissions of CO2 by 20%!

8.) If it is possible, travel by bike, by foot, with public transport or drive together with friends if you have the same or similar destinations.

9.) Plant a tree or more of them. One tree "sucks" a ton of CO2 in its lifetime into itself.

10.) Spread a message to others in a friendly and attractive way.

These are not necessarily the most essential simple steps, but to me they seem to be quite a good set to focus on at first.

One "psychological advice" is here in order. Do not be too hard on yourself if you see you are not doing these things which you know are right to do diligently enough. Rather make it step by step, but make a sure progress in these habits. And discuss it with others.

INCREASE ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS

2007-12-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

Global warming phenomenon has left increasing numbers of us worrying about the planet. Instead of just despairing you might be asking yourself, what can I do to save the planet, to conserve our fragile environment?

Many people are well on their way of changing their habbits to become more eco-frienldy. I am not an activist environmentalist or a professional whose job it is to study global warming or effects or causes thereof. It is not even my hobby or passion to be an "evironmentalist evangelist". Like a big majority, I have other occupation(s) and interest priorities, I consider myself to be an ordinary lay-person in that respect, hence the expression in the subtitle of this blog - "ORDINARY PERSON'S GUIDE" to the eco-friendly lifestyle.

There are many ways though how you and I can contribute to environment conservation. Become a part of the "saving armies" of the planet by considering messages, ideas, changes of lifestyle and habits described and linked on this blog. I have searched the web to find those really interesting and easy to use ideas how to save the planet. Check them out and get involved in your own way.

I assume You want to be ahead of time. Be a saver, not a destroyer!