Green Plastics by NaturTec

In one of my earlier posts, I had mentioned "Green Plastics". Till that time it truely appeared to be an oximoron to me. I did some more scavenging on this and found that there are organizations who are working on this for a while now. One such company is Nature Tec. This is an extract from their website: www.natur-tec.com.

HOW IT WORKS?

Natur-Tec® biopolymer resins are produced using NTIC’s proprietary ReX Process. In this process, biodegradable polymers, natural polymers, organic and inorganic materials are reactively blended in the presence of proprietary compatibilizers and polymer modifiers to produce biobased/biodegradable polymer resin formulations that exhibit unique and stable morphology.Natur-Tec® biopolymer resins are engineered for high performance, ease of processing, reduced cost and can easily be processedby converters using conventional manufacturing processes and equipment.Natur-Tec® biopolymer resins are available in several grades tailored for a variety of applications such as film extrusion, extrusion coating, injection molding and rigid, engineered plastics.

Earth Day: April 22

Today, April 22, is celebrated as "Earth Day". It was identified by US Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970 to drive appreciation and awareness for our environment. It is celebrated across multiple developed and developing countries.

United Nations (UN) also celebrates Earth Day, however, the date designated by them is March 20.

*Source: Wikipedia

Most Frequented Environment Spaces

While this blog is one of the places where you can get information on environment related issues, there are many more websites that promote green & clean thinking. These webpages are backed with huge audience along with lot of education and information on issues that impact our environment globally. These sites also suggest ground breaking technologies that can help us reduce the carbon footprint and work towards a greener environment.

Some of these are listed below:

http://www.treehugger.com/
http://www.worldchanging.com/
http://www.inhabitat.com/

Man-Made | Aqua Power | National Geographic Channel

Man-Made tells the extraordinary stories behind ordinary things. Go inside factories, machinery and buildings to talk to the workers, inventors and contractors about how everything gets made.

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Empire State Building Goes GREEN

The iconic Empire State Building, is set to define new standards for such structures. A new initiative has begun to retrofit the building to make it energy efficient. This initiative will cost around $20 million and cut the energy consumption by a whooping 38%. This was trigerred by former US President Bill Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
This plan will save the owners about $4.4 million just through reduction in energy consumption costs. The plan will cover the following:
1. Filling energy saving gasin the existing windows by adding a pane
2. Upgrades to building's air conditioning system
3. Automatic adjustment of tempratures by floor
4. Auto shutoff of lights in unused areas.5. Replacement of lighting with energy efficient fluroescent bulbs. These lights do no include the spire lights, which change color throughout the year.

Computers adding to Global Warming

Till now, I have written about ways to save our environment. I have laid more stress on technology enablement to reduce greenhouse effect. However, there are some facts, which are critical to support all the posts for focus on computers and IT to impact our environment. Here are some facts:

1. The huge computer & server warehouses that provide us means to read blogs such as these and surfing and emails, etc. are the very source of huge carbon emissions. These warehouses are set to overtake the emission contributions by global aviation industry by 2015. These vast collections of computers that provide internet banking, etc consume lot of energy.

2. The computer warehouses do not limit the energy consumption for power supply to these machines only. To support these computers, there is a huge requirement of supporting equippment, primarily air conditioning and power backups. On an average, for every unit of power consumed by these computers, there is an equivalent unit of power consumed by supporting infrastructure.

Build Green PC

In my earlier posts, I have discussed about contributing to greener environment through our computers by using as less energy as possible. Other than energy saving, computers can be manufactured by following processes that contribute towards greener environment.
The average age of a computer is about 3 years (Source: EPA). This means that a computer is disposed off in about 3 years on an average. Considering that Lead is a primary component of these computers, we get lot of non bio-degradable waste. This is where the energy efficient, non lead components step in to the rescue of our environment. You can use these components to reduce carbon footprints and reduce energy consumption also.

Going Green and Giving Up All Those Chemicals

Going Green and Giving Up All Those Chemicals

GOING GREEN and GIVING UP ALL THOSE CHEMICALS the great living site - is for natural product for the home - for the kids - for the family - for gifts .. for anything and everything in your life .. Five advantages of going Certified Organic: 1. Beneficial to the Soil - Organic systems use a modern yet scientific knowledge of ecology and soil science, while using traditional techniques of crop rotations to provide fertility, weed as well as pest control. 2. Beneficial to the Environment - Organic systems try to lessen usage of non-renewable resources. Organic production tries all the while to provide sustenance and supports the optimum handling of the environment and wildlife as a precedence. 3. Beneficial to People - Organic products have been proven to possess more vitamins, nutrients and cancer-combating antioxidants as compared to non-organic products. 4. Absence of artificial Chemicals - Organic products ban using the synthetic chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers. 5. Absence of GMOs - Certified Organic products do not GMOs (genetically modified organisms), as they are banned as per standards laid down for organic food and farming. You can buy something that claims organic or natural but if there is no certified organic label they can use genetically modified components. the great living site - is for natural product for the home - for the kids - for the family - for gifts .. for anything and everything in your life .. Five advantages of going Certified Organic: 1. Beneficial to the Soil - Organic systems use a modern yet scientific knowledge of ecology and soil science, while using traditional techniques of crop rotations to provide fertility, weed as well as pest control. 2. Beneficial to the Environment - Organic systems try to lessen usage of non-renewable resources. Organic production tries all the while to provide sustenance and supports the optimum handling of the environment and wildlife as a precedence. 3. Beneficial to People - Organic products have been proven to possess more vitamins, nutrients and cancer-combating antioxidants as compared to non-organic products. 4. Absence of artificial Chemicals - Organic products ban using the synthetic chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers. 5. Absence of GMOs - Certified Organic products do not GMOs (genetically modified organisms), as they are banned as per standards laid down for organic food and farming. You can buy something that claims organic or natural but if there is no certified organic label they can use genetically modified components.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/going-green-and-giving-up-all-those-chemicals-710558.html

About the Author:
GOING GREEN and GIVING UP ALL THOSE CHEMICALS

the great living site - is for natural product for the home - for the kids - for the family - for gifts .. for anything and everything in your life ..

Five advantages of going Certified Organic:
1. Beneficial to the Soil - Organic systems use a modern yet scientific knowledge of ecology and soil science, while using traditional techniques of crop rotations to provide fertility, weed as well as pest control.
2. Beneficial to the Environment - Organic systems try to lessen usage of non-renewable resources. Organic production tries all the while to provide sustenance and supports the optimum handling of the environment and wildlife as a precedence.

What Is Biomass Electricity And Is It Green?

What Is Biomass Electricity And Is It Green?
Author: Jamie Green
In the race to find a sustainable source of alternative energy, many heads are turning towards biomass electricity. There are many questions being asked, from exactly how the electricity is made and what it is to whether it is truly a green alternative. While far fewer consumers know about biomass and the potential held within that would be preferred, the word seems to be spreading quickly, adding to the hope that there will be a more significant demand for this unique method of energy production. Biomass is living and recently dead biological matter, and can include yard clippings, tree branches, and wood chips. Biomass is typically obtained from harvesting and processing agricultural and forestry crops. In a process called cogeneration, the biomass is burned, creating steam that turns turbines in order to create electricity. The steam is then used for secondary processes, from factory use to things such as drying out vegetables, making the entire process remarkably energy efficient. The United States currently utilizes biomass for approximately 0.5 percent of its electricity generation. This small percentage of biomass use saves approximately eleven million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year compared to fossil fuel combustion. Converting biomass to energy also changes methane or CH4 to carbon dioxide or CO2. Because methane emissions are far more harmful to the greenhouse gases surrounding the atmosphere, this process is considered a highly valuable tool in the fight against global warming. Biomass electricity production reduces greenhouse gases at least five times more effectively than other methods of producing electricity, both renewable and nuclear. One fact that surprises many consumers is that biomass was once the primary source of heat across the globe. When thinking of what comprises biomass, many people do not realize that firewood is considered a source. When considering the amount of homes that still implement fireplaces and the cost effectiveness and efficiency that comes with these heat sources, the need for a source of biomass power on a larger scale becomes more obvious. One place some cities are finally beginning to see as an excellent source of biomass is municipal waste areas. As landfills are exceeding their capacity, we are left with lots of trash and nowhere to store it. A great percentage of our waste is able to be used to produce energy, and many cities are starting to see that converting this waste to energy has multiple benefits in that it creates renewable and environmentally friendly energy while also reducing landfill bound waste. While most sources of energy must start at the top before they will be usable to consumers, there are a variety of options for using biomass to power your home. New homes can be built to burn wood or other biomass to produce energy. Homes are still connected to a city grid in case there is a need for more power, and when excess power is created it produces a credit as the electric meter runs backwards. As the cost of energy rises significantly, more and more homeowners are implementing such systems in their homes, with the global hope that businesses and industries will soon be forced to follow suit.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/what-is-biomass-electricity-and-is-it-green-804973.html
About the Author:Renewable Energy Today is devoted to providing individuals with up-to-date information and resources on renewable energy and sustainability. Through articles, videos and other content, you can learn how to implement renewable energy in your home as well as what the government is doing to help the environment.

Going Green Is Not Just For Big Business-You Can Grow Profits, Too!

Going Green Is Not Just For Big Business-You Can Grow Profits, Too!
Author: Tushar Mathur - Go Green
The world of big business is making daily headlines by "going green" after discovering that what’s good for the planet is also proving good for business. IBM recently announced "Project Big Green," a $1 billion initiative to reduce energy consumption by offering new lines of energy-efficient IT products. Wal-Mart is adding solar power to more than 20 stores. PepsiCo is buying renewable energy certificates to offset its carbon footprint. Even major banks and energy firms are being asked by shareholders to prove that they, too, are going green. It’s not just the biggest businesses that are attracting new customers and shareholders and reaping huge profits by "going green." Small businesses also are growing eco-profits by embracing surprisingly inexpensive strategies to add value to their products, services and brand. Consider these innovative examples: - Bob Smith of Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake, California, has attracted positive publicity (and new customers) by promoting his efforts to reduce his small firm’s waste output and take other environmentally conscious steps. In turn, he has received welcome positive publicity from the press. "What PR budget? That is our PR budget," he told the Albuquerque Tribune about "going green" to market his business. - In Florida, Natalie Kelly formed Home Therapy Cleaning Services, which uses only nontoxic, all-natural cleaning products for her home cleaning business. She used to sell aromatherapy candles from her home, she told the St. Petersburg Times, but today uses an aromatherapy baking soda blend to freshen carpets. Here’s what you can do: - Two inexpensive ways any small business or solo entrepreneur can go green are to change light bulbs to energy-efficient bulbs and use biodegradable cleaning products. - With that done, tell your customers and the media about these simple ways to go green. You will have just earned instant credibility as a green business, and also as a media resource for simple, effective ways to "go green." - Many communities online and offline are forming networks to exchange energy-saving ideas for home and business. Form your own energy network, enlisting neighborhood businesses that will welcome another opportunity to show they’re going green, too. The plus for you is that you will have just positioned yourself and your business as a community environmental leader. - Copy what the New York Times called "Phase 2" of the corporate response to global warming. Partner with an environmental group. Travelocity invites customers to donate an extra $10 to $40, which goes to the Conservation Fund to plant trees to offset the carbon used by a client to take a trip. Whole Foods invites customers to buy a $5 "wind power card" that goes to Renewable Choice Energy to build wind farms. What local environmental group can you partner with to promote on your Web site (and vice versa), to set aside a day that a percentage of profits will go to that organization or to make their fliers available at your business? - Make use of readily available, free information to hand out with your business literature or to make available in your office. For example, create a one-page flier on your letterhead inviting clients to calculate their own carbon footprint by visiting http://multimedia.wri.org/safeclimate_calculator.cfm. - Go deeper green! Attend a "green" conference in your community or region, and promote your attendance. (Go to Google.com and type in "green" and "conference" and your area to find out when and where they are scheduled.) Write a "green" article on simple ways you are going green and submit it to one of the dozens of "green" Web sites and blogs that invite reader contributions. It’s a great way to market your smart ideas and your business!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/going-green-is-not-just-for-big-businessyou-can-grow-profits-too-824586.html
About the Author:Tushar Mathur We are all About Green at : Talking About Green and selling green products at : Buy Green

Recycle your Computer

The environmental cost of computing products is often ignored, but it’s time to wake up to the dangers of e-waste.

When new software or a new PC model hits the market, the urge to upgrade is palpable. Estimates suggest that most PC owners upgrade to a new computer within three to four years, hardly considering the fact that the old PC has as much computing power as before, and is far away from its end of life.

Estimates also show that manufacturing one PC requires about 240 kg fossil fuels, 1.8 tonnes of materials, 22 kg chemicals and about 1,500 liters of water. That’s one of the most environmental-resource-intensive production processes.

What’s more, disposing of a computer, without causing harm to the environment or to those involved in the disposal process, is a very expensive job. A computer is made of several precious metals and chemicals. Many of its components contain toxic substances and carcinogens, such as cadmium, lead, chromium, flame-retardants and mercury. Unsafe methods of disposing of computer components include landfills, burning to extract metals such as copper from printed circuit boards, or breaking and throwing components such as CRT monitors. In all these methods, toxins are released into the air, soil, and groundwater.

Considering the cost to the environment of both producing and disposing of computers, it makes complete sense to use each computer to its optimum, and to think of destroying it only when it is really useless.

A great way to do this is to encourage reuse and to put in place recycling processes for safe and effective disposal of e-waste. In parallel, production processes need to be redesigned to reduce environmental costs.

Several Western countries export their e-waste to countries in Asia, because the labor and cost of recycling is lower. Though this is a profitable activity and there are several licensed companies that recycle computers and their components; there are also many other companies who are not authorized, and which subject their workers to very hazardous environments while recycling computer parts.

Many leading computer-manufacturing firms accept all parts of PCs for recycling at a much lower cost. Countries like China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan have taken the responsibility to recover and recycle e-waste. India, however, lags far behind in this area.

To reduce the environmental cost of computers, they should be recycled only when there is no further use for them. Computers that are displaced due to upgrades often have more than enough computing power and can be used for several years. Such PCs can be donated to government-aided schools or institutions, to help impart computer skills and IT literacy to students, who wouldn’t be able to learn it otherwise. Such initiatives require the support of people and corporates, without which the problem of e-waste cannot be solved

Source: http://computing.in.msn.com/tech/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1552716

Computer Hardware – Turn to the Greener Side

Author: pvyas

Many people know how to use a computer but only few are aware of the great need for disposing off the used parts of a computer, in a safe manner. Many IT organisations have failed to assume sufficient responsibility for the ultimate end of used PC. The first step to be taken towards greening the computer hardware should be initiated by the manufacturers and retailers end. Manufacturing and selling companies should take a closer look at the policy of the IT organisation, towards the PC and computer hardware take back, before even buying. They should also keep account of the Electronic Take back Coalition, and maintain a list of recyclers that have pledged to adhere to certain corporate responsibility standards, including incinerate e-waste.

Even the people who own computers at home should be not reckless regarding the disposition of their used computer hardware. They too should be conscious about utilizing waste in the right manner. The initial step is not to throw away any used or outdated computer hardware in the dumpster. Instead recycle it. Be it your hard drive, monitor, keyboard, mouse, or printer, one can dispose it by recycling it in the right manner. Today, there are many recycling centres like City of Lubbock Solid Waste Department in Texas. Here they inspect all the disposed parts of a computer to check whether any hardware is working or not. Special care is taken to assure hard drives are completely erased prior to refurbishing activities. They have their own group of engineers who refurbish these computer particles and offers them to the state agencies counties, cities or school districts at no charge.

Some other ways to make your computer hardware green are discussed below -

• Green Search – Instead of using the Google search engine, use Blackle.com. This is an eco friendly site that works on black resolution, thus saving less energy that is consumed by the white resolution. Further there is option for switching to black wallpapers and screen savers that consume lesser power than white or colored backgrounds.






• Use LCD Screen – Replacing your CRT monitors with LCD screen will help you save up to 70% of electricity and the lifespan of the LCD is also twice more than the CRT.






• Optimise Your PC's Power Setting With iYogi Toolbar – One can optimize energy consumption of a PC by switching it to the power saving mode. For this one can take the help of Yogi Green PC tool bar that can be installed on all Windows-based systems.






• Switch to Vista Green – Power consumption in Windows Vista is less than in Windows XP. Switching off to that mode will help one saving a lot of energy.






• Last but not the least, always remember to shut down the monitor when not in use. Always remember to unplug all the input as well as storage devices to save power.

Its time for everyone to realize the environment hampering that are caused by throwing the e particles into waste bins. The impact of that negligence on the environment worldwide can be huge. It is estimated that around 1.8 billion pounds of PCs are retired worldwide each year, but only about half —865 million pounds—are processed by recyclers, as per the report issued International Data Corp. Although some of the remaining 900 million pounds of computer hardware is rebuilt or reused, much of it is just plain discarded into landfills or incinerated. Incorporate the above few points, the next time you are thinking of discarding these unused or old parts of your computer.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/hardware-articles/computer-hardware-turn-to-the-greener-side-676637.html

About the Author:

I am a product analyst for b2b industry. My core profile is to understand industry, develop information architecture and plan the product. Developed many B2b verticals. My core interest is research and analyse industry trends, latest updates in market, industry product information. Based on my experience i have studied harwdare product industry and my interest is to share that information and develop network for harwdare industry so that business manufaturers, suppliers, traders can benefit from this resource.

Philips’ Master LED bulb

Philips’ Master LED bulb

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Go Green: New Delhi Goes Green with CNG

The capital city of India, New Delhi, was one of the 10 most polluted cities of the world in 1998. The city sprung into action after the Supreme Court orders to the government to shape up the environmental state of the city. Since then, New Delhi has made tremendous improvement in its state of affairs with respect to pollution.

The city won the prestigious award of "Clean Cities international partner of the year" award from the US Department of energy. Compared to 1997, the carbon monoxide levels have dropped by 32 percent and sulphur dioxide by 39 percent.

New Delhi has set examples for other global cities to follow suit. Its entire public transport fleet now runs on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Of the 80000 public transport vehicles, 9000 are public buses. All commercial vehicles over 15 years are banned from plying on city roads.

This is a great initiative and even individual customers are going for CNG aftermarket fittment in their gasoline engine vehicles to save cost and contribute towards the environment.

Source:ExpressIndia.com

Green Plastic

These two words sounded like oxymoron to me till a few days back. However, with technology, these are possible and sustainable source of convenient living while retaining our Green environment.
Green Plastic is biodegradable and made from renewable resources. Latest technology in this field can also make their production lot more environment friendly compared to current plastic production. These plastics like others are made of polymers, difference however is the kind of polymers used to product such plastic. All these polymers do not have standard renewability index. Since they vary on degree of renewability, there are degrees of green in green plastics.

GREEN Computer Laboratory

While everyone today is focusing on contributing to Green environment, a few are ahead of time and invested time, efforts and money towards supporting this global cause.
I recently stumbled upon a computer laboratory site in Philippines. They have created a solar powered computer laboratory which acts as a computer lab for school children in day time and revenue earning place after school hours. In my honest opinion it is a great idea and a true reflection of the fact that these initiatives cannot be left on governments to follow. Each one of us has to stand up and start contributing to a Greener environment for us and next generations.

Cabilo Island website can provide the details that you may want to see for this project.

Let's all vow towards a greener environment.

Disk Idle Detection

To help achieve maximum system energy efficiency, the Windows power manager cooperates with various software drivers to automatically power down devices when they are not in use. This mechanism called "device idle detection"- allows devices to change their power state automatically based on system environment, power policy, and current device usage.
Although any device can participate in device idle detection, several devices are more tightly integrated with the Windows power manager to help ensure maximum system power savings. The hard disk drive device in a desktop or mobile PC is one device that is tightly integrated with the Windows power manager. On online Microsoft Support fundamentals are given how Device idle detection for hard disk devices involves changing the state of the rotational media within the disk device.
Powering down the rotational media in a hard disk drive is called a "spin-down," and powering up the rotational media in a hard disk drive is called a "spin-up." Disk idle detection is key in achieving maximum mobile PC battery life because the difference in power consumption between the spin-up and spin-down states can be up to 500 milliwatt (mW) on mobile PC form-factor disk devices. The difference in power consumption between the spin-up and spin-down states is larger on full-size desktop PC form-factor hard disk devices.
The Windows power manager uses disk activity, power policy, and system power source (AC/DC) to determine when to spin down and when to spin up the disk device. Microsoft help or windows help contents explain how Power policy configures the time interval between the last disk access and spin-down of the device, as well as any amount of disk activity that should be ignored to be more aggressive in entering the spin-down state.
In addition to power policy, Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 and later Windows operating systems include diagnostic events that allow the system administrator to observe the mechanics of disk idle detection and ensure correct operation. These diagnostic events are displayed and logged by the Power Test utility, which supports various Windows power management test scenarios.
In online Microsoft help that System manufacturers have to configure the disk idle detection policies for maximum power savings or performance accordingly. Also in windows help Support Center or on Microsoft help websites we can see how Power Test utility can be used to validate correct operation of disk idle detection in their pre-installation images.
Disk idle detection is a cooperative arrangement between the Windows power manager and the disk software driver stack. This arrangement helps enable rich configuration of disk idle detection policies and helps achieve maximum mobile PC battery life. The configuration parameters for disk idle detection are stored as discrete power policy values, which change based on system power source (AC or battery power) and the user’s selection of power plan.
OEMs and system integrators can customize the disk idle detection policies to favor power savings or performance. In Windows Help and Support Center and in Microsoft help Center it is explained that how Disk idle detection policies are configured by using the PowerCfg utility and operation of disk idle detection can be observed by using the Power Test utility.

What is Green Computing?

Technology has covered every aspect of our lives. While we are trying to focus on our environment, it will be unfair and unintelligent of us to exclude the device that touches our lives so closely and can contribute to a Greener environment: The Personal Computer.

There are 2 focus areas of computers with respect to envirnment friendliness.:
1. Power Consumption
2. Post disposal utility

There are multiple tools and internet efforts towards educating users about importance of reducing power consumption of computers and contributing towards a greener environment. There are multiple steps that an average computer user can take to save electricity, electricity bills and do thier efforts to make our surroundings greaner. One should use sleep and hibernate modes available through Microsoft Windows operating systems to utilize energy optimally. There are various utilities like ecobutton™, which can help us save energy at the flick of a button. There are other software utilities which can provide help. Edison from Verdiem is a free utility for home users to save energy and evaluate how much they have saved. It also has built in settings to adjust the savings depending on usage.

Another aspect of Green PC is with the recycleability of computers. These computers are refurbished machines, repackaged for use. These are currently meant for low income group individuals. This is another great way of saving our environment. This become more critical as technology enhances and products are outdated very fast. Such recyclability assists in supporting our Green Environment cause.