Mr Sustainable

Mr Sustainable, Dante DiPirro, will be speaking on rebuilding sustainably after Superstorm Sandy.  Since we have to rebuild anyway as a result of the catastrophe, we have an opportunity to do it right!  The event will be held on Monday, May 13, 2013 at 7PM at the Monmouth County Library – headquarters, 125 Symmes Drive, Manalapan, NJ.  The event is open to the public.

When you take a trip, whether on business or for pleasure, a few simple choices will enable you to travel “green.”

Pick a hotel that is constructed of energy efficient materials and promotes conservation (conserves electricity and water, has a recycling program, etc.). Pick activities that are respectful of wildlife and natural ecosystems.  Select modes of transportation that are easy on energy use.  Many establishments and tourism companies compete for your business by providing earth and health-conscious services.  You can reward them by patronizing their businesses.  You can also do something good in the process!

I am pleased today to feature an article on this topic by Sam Marquit, an independent green contractor:

Effective Eco-Businesses

It is no surprise that as a commercial contractor, who has also worked as an independent contractor, I have had a number of opportunities to personally see the practice of the green initiative. That is, the tangible use of components used to become LEED certified. At this point in time, as I do work on certain work sites, those who are being known for their use of green materials and the implementation of it fascinate me. From my perspective, there is much to be acknowledged than just being LEED certified.

The truth of this is that it is acknowledged in Asia! The Wild Asia Responsible Tourism Awards has recognized communities for being involved in building process as well as growth. In addition to this, focus is put on the culture and character of the community that is being protected. Furthermore, areas that have wildlife and other natural ecosystems are being efficient with known reserves.The result of this can include serving traditional food and having plumbing that features valves that automatically shut off.

The city of Las Vegas, which is a popular tourist destination, has rightly put a strong emphasis in making sure buildings have materials that meet the standards of being LEED certified. In addition to this, the Las Vegas Palazzo Resort was recently recognized as the “Most Eco-Friendly Hotel in America.” Among the reasons why it received the award was that it has an efficient waste recycling program and a number of products that are autonomous. Others seem to be taking notice as current and new green hotels in Las Vegas are trying to achieve sustainability.

However, Las Vegas is not the only city that seeks to be eco-friendly. A number of New York City hotels have sought to become efficient in waste recycling, having products that are autonomous and that seek to diminish the size of carbon footprints. In fact, the Ink48 Hotel has an agenda that enables individuals to share in having the right emphasis in the world called Earthcare.

At the same time, there are many individuals and companies who are taking responsibility in making buildings of various sizes become sustainable. For me, it is a privilege to join in this type of endeavor. Las Vegas has 124,000 rooms in which to stay with about forty million visitors and guests that visit over the course of a year. With this type of factual information, it should be in the thoughts of every worker in the city.

So you want to reduce the amount of electricity you’re using with your household appliances… how to do you do it?

First, take stock of the appliances you have.  If you have an older refrigerator or freezer, it’s quite likely that you’re using much more electricity than you have to.  Improvements in technology have made today’s refrigerators and freezers orders of magnitude more efficient.  For example, you can now purchase a refrigerator that is up to 4 times more efficient than a traditional one.  This will save you money too: according to energystar.gov replacing your refrigerator with an energy star certified one can save you up to $1,100 on energy costs over its lifetime.  Also, if you have a secondary refrigerator or freezer in your basement, ask yourself if you truly need it – it’s typically the oldest and least efficient unit in the house and phasing it out may result in a noticeable reduction in your monthly electric bill.

Second, avoid phantom loads.  A phantom load is electricity that an appliance uses even when it is switched off.  For example, a TV or stereo with a sensor that allows you to turn it on with a remote control continues to operate, and continues to consume electricity, even when it’s off.  Your microwave, food processor, toaster or other countertop appliance may all have clocks or other functions that stay on 24/7 – to power these functions, you are using electricity. I tested a compact stereo recently in the off position and discovered that the device – because of clock and flashing message functions – used almost as much energy (2/3) of the total amount it used when it was on!  That’s a lot of phantom load.  And with all the modern devices in our homes today, and with all of the phantom loads built in to them at the factory, the electric usage and electric bills can really add up. Image how phantom loads continue to use electricity while you’re asleep!  You can eliminate phantom loads by putting your appliance on a power strip that has an on-off button.  Just flip the power strip switch to the off position and all appliances connected will not be able to draw power when they are off. When you want use the device, just flick on the button on the power strip first.

Third, use an appliance energy tester to determine exactly how much energy a particular device uses.  For example, I bought a Kill-A-Watt meter for about twenty dollars.  You just plug it into a wall socket then plug the household device into the front of the meter.  Power flows from the outlet through the meter and into the electric device, allowing the meter to display aspects of the power.  Pushing one of the buttons on the front of the meter allows you to see the volts, amps, watts and watt/hours associated with the device.  I used my kill-a-watt meter at an electronics store to test a fancy new LED flat screen TV I wanted to buy, and when I determined that the TV used less than 60 watts (equivalent to a single traditional light bulb)– fantastic! So I bought it! 

 By using these simple techniques, you an easily reduce your household appliance consumption of energy, and thereby save money, and get the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done something good for health, the environment and the planet.