Sometimes It’s Not Easy Being Green

It may be an overwhelming and disheartening experience for those who have a genuine interest in learning how to green their lifestyle when they attempt to search for clear-cut information about what exactly to do. The fact is there can be no clear-cut guide that works for everyone, because the best decisions any one person can make are as unique to them as their lifestyle, their priorities, their physical home (type of community, type of home, state and local laws and services, internal home environment), their financial situation, and resources available to them.

For example, if you have a home owners association, you may not be allowed to put solar PV panels on your roof at this time. If you live in a small condo or apartment, you may not have the space to do so. If you do not own land, you don’t have the option to grow trees in order to shade your house in the summer. If your community does not offer free recycling pick up services, and you have to drive a significant distance to drop off your recycling, then you are required to spend precious time and money (and fossil fuels from the use of your vehicle) in order to complete this simple task - and you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it. If your home was built with entirely electric power, you’d have to purchase very expensive new heating/cooling equipment and new appliances to even have the option of switching some of your power needs over to natural gas or propane. If your car or truck is a gas guzzler and last year’s gasoline price spikes made you seriously wish for a more fuel efficient vehicle, you may not have had money to run out and buy the newest “green” vehicle on the market. If you live in a rural area, there likely is NO public transportation option for you to get to work.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Not everyone can do everything they have heard about to green their lifestyle. The important thing, in my opinion, is that you do the things that make sense to you and that work for your unique situation.

In general, when considering what actions make the most sense for your life think about the basic three topics of green living – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I would add to that “Energy Efficiency”, as any changes you make to reduce your energy use and costs, will have an immediate money-saving impact for you and a significant reduction in pollution and greenhouse gases in the environment.

Many “green” choices are not new ideas. Think about simple steps you can take today. Every little step counts! Some examples to get you started:

– Stop buying “stuff” that you don’t really need, and start saving your wallet as well as cut back on the waste and pollution resulting from production of many commercial goods.

– Start shopping consignment shops and thrift stores. A savvy shopper can find some great things! It’s fun and you will be saving money as well as the environment when you don’t purchase as many new goods.

– Try to run errands in one trip instead of a dozen little trips a week.

– Buy in bulk and in concentrate as much as possible. Less packaging per product means less waste.

– Cook from scratch! Yes, just like granny used to do. You will have more control over the ingredients, avoid artificial additives, and enjoy much better tasting meals.

– Get crafty! If you can DIY it (do-it-yourself) such as refurbish an old piece of furniture, sew a fabulous dress for summer, or plant your own herb garden; then you’ve gained a pleasurable hobby (with many mental health benefits to you) as well as reduced commercial waste.

Then develop a long-term plan for some bigger changes you’d like to implement – perhaps that newer, more fuel efficient vehicle, or that solar water heater system, or getting rid of that toxic wall-to-wall carpet and installing a non-toxic, eco-friendly flooring choice, such as bamboo, cork, or recovered hard wood floors in your home.

A Newer, Greener Lighting Alternative - LED Bulbs

LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs are the newest technology in energy efficient lighting and are likely to replace CFL’s in the near future as the greenest and most economical choice for lighting. Compared to CFL bulbs, LED bulbs are significantly more energy efficient, they last up to 10 times longer, and they contain no mercury. All pluses in my book.

As LED bulbs are a newer technology, they are currently not as readily available and are more expensive to purchase than CFL bulbs. However, over time, your energy savings will be significant. Not to mention, your piece of mind regarding the benefits to the environment, including reducing the amount of toxic mercury leaks into our waterways.

You may think of LED’s as tiny, bright, harsh lights that you’ve seen used in newer flashlights and toys and such. Lately, however, there is an increasing selection of household use bulbs, compatible with your existing fixtures and lamps, that also offer choices in the color qualities of the light. For example, a “warm white” LED bulb for an accent lamp will emit a soft, flattering glow, similar to what you are used to with conventional incandescent bulbs. Other colors for household use include cool white for practical lighting and amber, which won’t attract bugs to outdoor lamps. They also come in fun colors such as red, blue, green, for more amusing uses such as party lights and mood lighting.

Suggestions for LED bulb use:

Outdoor Accent Lighting: Look for solar-powered LED lights. (No cost energy!) These come in all kinds of decorative forms and uses, such as walkway lighting, hanging lanterns and paper lanterns, table top accent lamps, and rope and string lights. These can readily be found at very reasonable prices both online and in home and garden stores.

Closets and Cabinet Lighting: Small, inexpensive LED lights can be found for use in closets and under cabinet lighting, where frequent brief lighting is needed, and frequent on/off switches will happen. There are battery powered as well as hard wired options for these as well.

Accent Lighting: Lamps placed in areas that can easily be struck and broken by accident, especially if you have pets or children, are a good place to start replacing your CFL’s with LED’s in order to reduce your risk of mercury exposure from CFL‘s. Keep your CFL’s in the ceiling mounted light fixtures, canister and track lighting for now, if the expense of replacing all of these is too prohibitive.

Party Lighting: As LED technology is still a novelty, many just-for-fun LED lighting options are out there. Check party and wedding décor stores. Fun choices I’ve found include tea lights, votives, fiber optic centerpieces, fiber optic framed art, glowing ice cubes and glowing glassware. More and more innovative, fun uses of LED’s seem to appear every day!

The Problems with CFL Bulbs

CFL bulbs contain small amounts of mercury which is a highly toxic heavy metal. Exposure to mercury at certain levels, for certain periods of time, can result in neurological damage with severe, even deadly consequences. While manufacturers and the EPA claim that if a single CFL bulb breaks, the amount of mercury released is not likely to result in a dangerous exposure level, doesn’t it make you a bit nervous?

Have you ever asked yourself what happens to all the mercury when the bulbs are thrown away? Of course, on the packaging of these bulbs you will find information for proper disposal of them and proper clean up if a bulb breaks in your home. Generally, clean up is a careful, tedious process, and disposal requires you to take the bulb, in the proper packaging, in the trunk of your car or truck bed, to your local residential hazardous waste recycling facility. If you get it there, the mercury is dealt with and recycled, and does not end up in the waste stream to contaminate the environment and our water supply. However, what about the people (what do you suppose the percentage is?) who don’t know enough or care enough about mercury levels in the environment, who may be inclined to throw these bulbs in the regular trash? If the regular trash goes to a landfill, the mercury will then seep into the soil and ground water and eventually out to our rivers, lakes, and oceans, contaminating not only the water supply, but also the vegetation and seafood we consume. If the regular trash is incinerated the mercury evaporates into the air, and we breathe it in. If the mercury levels in the air are high enough for long enough, this will result in a dangerous exposure level to all in the area. Also, airborne mercury will eventually deposit into soil and water.

There are other problems with CFL bulbs. They are sensitive to frequent on/off usage. Their lifespan is shortened when turned on and off frequently, as in for spot lighting uses in closets or under cabinets. Many people who are “going green” or at least looking to save some green on their energy bills, like to use timers and dimmers with their lighting, to save even more energy. The problem is, not all CFL’s are compatible with these devices. Special CFL bulbs must be purchased for use with many timers and dimmers.

Reduce The Risk:

1. Start replacing CFL bulbs with LED bulbs in your accent lamps that can easily be hit and broken, especially if you have children or pets. Or, go back to conventional incandescent bulbs for these. Keep the CFL bulb use to ceiling mounted light fixtures, that cannot easily be broken during normal daily activity.

2. Find out where your local residential hazardous waste recycling facility is and keep this information handy. You are responsible for getting this toxic waste to the right facility.

3. Read the directions on the package on how to properly clean up a breakage. Post this information someplace where you can quickly find it BEFORE you experience a CFL bulb break.