$$$-The 5 Rs-Respect-$$$

Hiya,
Today I'm going to talk about R.E.S.P.E.CT, that spells respect. If you want to help not kill our planet then all you have to do is show a little respect to her.

Please, please, please don't throw trash out your car window. I know a few people that do this and quite frankly it pisses me off. I'm not talking about apple cores and banana peals. It is still considered littering when you throw these things out the window, but I don't care because they are bio degradable (meaning nature will take care of them). I hate going for a walk or bike ride and seeing soda cans, fast food packages, candy wrappers, and cigarette butts on the side of the road. Just keep a bag or something in your car for trash. Or just throw it on the floor on the passenger side and throw it away at a gas station, rest stop, or at home. It's not that difficult. Don't smoke
Smoking is very bad for you, the people around you, and the planet. Cigarettes have lots and lots of chemicals that get in your lungs and the atmosphere. Things like arsenic (rat poison) CO2 (greenhouse gas-general killer of living things) and a whole host of other very bad things. Plus if you don't smoke you can save all that money, and yourself from cancer. Hey, we all know we want more of the former and less of the latter.

Follow the Golden Rule
My good friend Jesus Christ once said, "Love one another as I loved you." Another take on that is "treat others the way you want to be treated." I'm sure you don't want Earth to throw crap on you. If you look at the news, it's very obvious that our planet is pretty pissed at the human species (Homo sapiens). Remember Hurricane Katrina? Man she was a bitch. Now we can blame the Bush Administration all we want for lack of response. But fact of the matter is that Katrina happened largely due to a major shift in climate changes (global warming) around the globe. It's happening because we are not showing the respect our planet deserves and she in turn is showing us the respect we're due.

Just follow the other Rs. Don't just assume everything will be fine on its own. We have to do our own part to help make our world a better place for us and the generations that will follow. Show the respect to Planet Earth that you expect from other people. And remember: TURN OUT THE LIGHTS.

$$$-The 5 Rs-#4-Renew-$$$

Howdy,
So today I'm talking about renewing. Renewing things is a bit more difficult than the other 5Rs. It's tough for one of us (average Joes and Janes) to renew things. However, it's a bit easier to use things that are renewable (i.e. wind, sun etc). But, depending on your situation such things might not be readily available. I'll do my best to give you a little understanding on renewable resources.

Oil and Coal
Are great examples of NON-renewable resources. It takes like a gagillion (there's my fake number again) years for oil and coal to be made. And there is only so much oil and coal in our planet and we are burning it up at a frighteningly fast pace. Just think of all the cars in the world, the jets, the motorcycles, tanks etc etc. We are burning oil like there's no tomorrow. Folks, there is no tomorrow for oil and coal; once we use it up, it's gone for a very very long time (forever probably).
There's more things than our cars that rely on oil, "What things?" you ask. My answer "Darn near everything." You know how when gas prices go up so does everything else? Well gas prices go up because the price of crude oil went up (and gas comes from oil in case you've been living under a rock your whole life) and everything else goes up too. This is because the manufacture of many things is depended on oil in some way, shape or form. Plastics for example, others are lipstick (yeah I know), even paraffin wax. I don't know how many of you use paraffin wax on a daily basis (my girlfriend and I already had this discussion and it was hilarious, you should have been there), but it's a by product from the processing of crude oil. We seriously need to cut back on oil consumption and start using renewable energy like wind and solar energy.

Wind Energy
Comes from these huge @$ turbines that spin in the wind. As the wind makes the turbines spin some magic things happen and there's cheap electricity. It's more complicated than that but this isn't an engineering blog. The thing about using wind is that it's very clean, we don't hurt it's feelings, and as long as there's a planet Earth there's going to be wind here. Problem though is that as of now they are pretty expensive to put up, and you need to live somewhere where there's enough wind.

Solar Energy
You know how the sun comes up every single day? Well it's been doing that for over a gagillion years and will continue to do so for another gagillion. And using the awesome power of the sun doesn't hurt it one bit. Solar energy is cool. Someday I hope I can power my home with it. Now how solar energy works is the solar panels absorb solar energy and somehow electrons get all excited and just like with wind energy cheap electricity is magically created. Solar panels are becoming increasingly simple to install and inexpensive. I've even read an article where some company is making roll on solar panels that you can just roll on the roof of your house. Now that, that's just cool.

Bio Fuel
Bio fuel is cool too. It's made from things like corn that can be grown over and over again. Lot's of gas stations are switching the E85 which gets its name because its 85% Ethanol (made mostly from corn). That's good and all but we can do better, I know we can, I've seen it with my own eyes. Try going to Google and run a search for alternative fuel; you'll find neat things. I haven't seen many gas stations with E85 pumps (I think my count is between 0-1). But word on the the street is that they are becoming more popular since more and more vehicles are able to use it these days. E85 is way cheaper (pricewise I mean) than regular gas. So I know that if you are able to use it you will so I won't even ask.

This is just a very brief discussion about renewable resources. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface. I just wanted to plant the seed of it into your brain. I'll come back to these things in more depth in the future.

The cool thing about wind and solar energy is that if you have your own windmill or solar panels you can plug them not only into your house but the main power lines as well (I think you have to in some places, I don't know, check with you local power companies and see). If you make a surplus of energy (as in more than your home needs) the extra power gets sold to the power company and you can conceivably make money from the power companies (by that I mean you will get a monthly check from them). Holy cow that's cool! Just something for you to think about. Don't forget: TURN OUT THE LIGHTS

$$$-The 5 Rs-#3-Recylce-$$$

Willkommen!
Did you know that in Germany, and other countries as well, they are only allowed to throw away a very small amount of garbage? It's true, the rest they have to recycle or reuse. This is because landfills in Europe are overflowing and they need to put limits on garbage; and quite frankly, so does the U.S.

A bit about landfills
Have you ever seen one? They're disgusting. Just look at the picture. They are huge huge piles of trash. And even though precautions are made to ensure leakage doesn't get into the ground water, nearly 10 times out of 10 some oozy, gooey, probably some disgusting green colored stuff gets into the ground contaminating our water supply. They also smell really bad. Here's a money saving tip: if you want to save on rent, find a place near a dump. The renters usually charge less because nobody wants to live there because of the awful smell (it's especially bad on hot humid days). They also tend to emit methane gas (along with green house gases) which is harmful to to anything living.

Recycling Tips
You know when you look at the bottom of glass and plastic bottles and they have the recycle symbol with a number in the middle of it? And do you know that that number means something and that some glass and plastics are supposed to be separated? Know how you don't know which kinds of plastic and glass to separate? Well, neither do I. Generally speaking, you can co-mingle glass, plastic, tin, and aluminum in one container. To make it easy for you to recycle, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Recycling plants have a process where they seperate the glass, tin etc.; and in this process they will separate out the "special" types of glass and plastic. So don't worry about which kind of glass or plastic goes where, they'll find their place.
Same goes for paper and cardboard. There are so many rules for which kind of paper and cardboard can and cannot be recycled it's ridiculous. Well darn it all! How are we supposed to keep track? Well I say as a rule of thumb, if it doesn't have a bunch of food attached to it (ie pizza boxes, paper plates, etc) recycle it. I actually try to recycle all pizza boxes no matter how much cheese or sauce is stuck to them. I figure if they can't use it they'll take care of it.

Do you know why homeless people on T.V.-the ones who are always getting in the way of Batman and the cops-are trying to cross the street with a shopping cart full of cans? It's because there's a place on the other side of the road that will pay them for the aluminum. There are tons of places that will pay you for your aluminum cans and stuff. It's not a whole lot, but you get the satisfaction of helping out the planet and saving money doing it. And if you drink alot of soda or beer (which you shouldn't, they're unhealthy) then it could add up.

Electronics
Please don't throw away your old electronic equipment; especially batteries. Take your old phones, computers, stereos, etc. to Best Buy or Office Max. They'll recycle that stuff for you. They also take the batteries from phones as well. There are lots of places that will take your old electronics. Just ask around; somebody will take them, maybe even buy them.
Throwing away used batteries is a big no no. Batteries have battery acid which isn't good for the planet or anything living. As noted above, Best Buy and other electronics outlets will take your phone batteries. Places like Auto Zone and other car parts stores will take your old car, truck, or van batteries.

I read somewhere that it takes ten times more energy to produce a soda can from scratch than to make one from recycled material (I think it was on the side of a Pepsi can). That's pounds and pounds of CO2 being kept from going into the atmosphere choking our planet. Almost everything can be recycled and it saves the planet; so you might as well do it. If you don't do anything else, please just recycle as much as possible. It's the easiest thing to do and be able to say you're living a green lifestyle. Don't forget, TURN OUT THE LIGHTS.

$$$-The 5 Rs-#2-Reuse-$$$

Hey there everybody,
It's been a while, but I assure you I'm still around. Today's topic is one that is often easily overlooked by many. Reusing things is as easy as using them the first time except you don't have to go and buy it...again.

First things first, bottled water.
Almost everybody these days drinks bottled water, whether it's Aquafina, Dasani, Ice Mountain, or whatever; including me. But we all have this sneaking suspicion that all we're paying for is the plastic. Mostly this is true. Most of the cost comes from the bottles but since they have to process the water (ie distill, and use reverse osmosis) we pay for that too. So why not reuse the bottles? Ok so you don't want to use your tap water right? "Why would I buy bottled water if I trusted my tap water?" you say. I say, "Get a water filter." They are generally pretty inexpensive these days and they will definetly save you in the long run. You can get water filters pretty much at any store including Walmart, Kmart, Pick n Save, Target almost anywhere. Speaking of those stores Walmart and Pick n Save I know for sure have these neat little water stations where you can get gallon jugs or 5 gallon jugs (or you can use your own). It's about 67 cents for a gallon but if you reuse the gallon jug they reward you and it only costs about 36 cents depending on where you are of course.
Now I know there's an issue with reusing certain kinds of plastics (that's for a later discussion), but reusing them a few times won't kill you.

Next up is bags
Since I used to work there I know Pick n Save gives you a 5 cent discount for each reused paper bag. So if you brought it 5 of your own bags they will take off 25 cents from your total order. When I worked there some people would bring in like 10 bags (that's 50 cents) and only needed like two but they got the whole 50 cent discount. You can also buy a reusable bag that you can use over and over. Over time it will pay for itself and thensome. This is true for all Roundy's owned stores and I'm sure for some others too; ask around and see.
You can also reuse your paper bags for your paper recycling. I know where I live we have to put our paper recyclables in a brown paper bag and they do take grocery bags.

Paper
Before you recycle your paper, see if you can reuse it. I for one cannot remember anything hardly ever so I write everything down. When I do right little notes I usually use the back of some old school assignment or the edge of a newspaper or something. Try to keep some scrap paper around for things like grocery lists, to-dos, reminders, etc.

This is just a small small list of some of the things you can reuse. Just about anything can be reused for something. Old clothes for example can be used as rags for washing around the house or dishes. Dig for your creative side and try to reuse as much as possible.
and remember TURN OUT THE LIGHTS

$$$-The 5 Rs-#1 Reduce-$$$

Hey guys and gals,
Although the 5Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renew and Respect) are generally incorporated into my discussions I figured they each deserve their own posts. If you haven't guessed already today's "R" is Reduce:

Reduce everything! I'm talking energy consumption, time driving, cleaning supplies, general "stuff", even your subscriptions to magazines and newspapers.

Energy consumption has been covered before and will probably be covered again; but just as a reminder, turn out the lights and turn down the heat (or A/C if you live in a warmer region: By the way my post about saving on your heating bill can also be applied to cooling costs). You can also replace your lights with high efficiency ones (they generally last longer and use less power).

If you're like me then you don't have a car :( but if you do use it less. Try to plan your shopping trips so you can pick up all you need in one swift spree. Carpool with friends and family and coworkers. Here's my favorite: ride a bike. Riding bike is very fun and saves you loads on gas. If biking isn't an option then walk. I know of too many people that drive somewhere when they could just walk. Walking is fun and it relieves stress quite a bit; go for a walk with your significant other rather than a drive (it's more romantic because then you get to hold hands). Just try to drive less is all I'm trying to say it helps the environment and your savings account.

Use as little cleaning things as possible. If at all possible clean with green cleaners that you can get at Walmart, Target, Kmart, and any other store. And also try to get multipurpose/surface cleaners rather than one for glass, one for wood, plastic, etc etc.

Reduce your stuff but don't throw it away use one of the other Rs. Most people in the US have way to "stuff" or as I like to call it: crap. Half the crap we have we don't need or even want we just get it to have it. I won't lie I have lots of stuff I don't need, or want anymore. Before you go shopping make a list of the things you need and stick to it. Other than the other Rs (ie recycle, renew, reuse) you can sell your crap on ebay or to some other sucker at work or school. Somebody always wants something.

Pretty much all the information you could want in the universe is on the internet. Since you're reading this I'm going to go ahead and say I know you have the internet. Use the internet to get your stocks, weather, sports, and celebrity news it's all here and free. So instead of paying for your magazine and newspaper subscriptions just go online.

Just make a list of all the stuff you have and use and try to figure out which stuff you could go without or with less of. And remember TURN OUT THE LIGHTS