The Environment

What is this Environment Stuff all about?

Even in his youth, waste in any form was not common place and respect for the Earth was something he learned through his outdoor experiences with the family and Boy Scouts. Simple things like not dropping trash on the ground and leaving a camp site just a little better than you found it was just the way he was brought up. Today, maybe it's his many years living in Hawaii and California where "Going Green" is more prevalent than perhaps some other places, or it could be that Da Guy has just finally become a little more focused on trying to do more of the right things for our environment as he's getting older. Just as Da Guy would recommend to anyone, he's tries to do a little bit more, each and every year.

While Da Guy is far from perfect, probably has some "not so green" things in his closets, and would not consider himself an environmental fanatic or even a role model protecting our planet, the number of positive choices he tries to make appears to keep growing. The little things do add up, and it feels good when you know you've made a better decision for whatever it is PLUS supporting the environment, even sometimes when it does cost a few pennies more for the greater good. It's difficult to individually quantify the benefits, but since completing the 5-month remodeling of the interior and exterior of his San Diego home that began immediately after purchasing it in the Fall of 2007, compared to the previous owner, he's achieved:

• Nearly 60% reduction in water usage
• Approximately 30% gas and electricity utility bill reduction

That alone is something that will have compounded benefits into the future. There is always more that each of us can do or improve upon when it comes to taking care of Planet Earth. Take a look at some of the examples Da Guy tries to live up to and are in use at the real Bert's Place. You may find something you can do to help future generations as well.

Examples in Use at the Real Bert's Place

Individually it seems trivial. Together, it will make a difference.

• Appliances -- Energy Star products
  • GE Profile Refrigerator
• Automobiles
• All-electric vehicles didn't quite work out (except for golf carts!) despite those plug-in parking stalls at Costco that never seem to have a vehicle in them. Hybrids are here today but require battery replacements after some number of years -- they won't keep going no matter how well you take care of your investment. Technology keeps evolving, especially now as gas prices are soaring beyond the ridiculous and demand for greener solutions are being chosen by more and more people with their hard earned cash. In the meantime, Da Guy has a Lexus RX400h SUV that was one of the first performance hybrids in the industry.
• Cleaning
  • Environmentally friendly car cleaning products, such as Griot's Wheel Cleaner
• Seventh Generation green cleaning products
• Shaklee home cleaning products for your dishes, laundry and more that are good for you and the environment
• Disposable Cups, Plates & Utensils
  • Compostable cold cups, plates and utensils from Biodegradable Store.com when you need more than you have for your daily purposes, or breakable and weighty ceramic just won't work
  • Really strong and long lasting paper drinking straws from Aardvark. They are used at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.
• Donate usable old clothes, appliances, books and more, and help reduce what's going into our landfills
  • Goodwill Industries is one of Da Guy's favorites
• Hazardous Materials - Dispose of it properly, including
  • Batteries
  • Cell Phones
  • Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) which have trace amounts of mercury & Fluorescent Bulbs
  • Old Electronic Gadgets, Personal Computers & Printers
  • Old Paint
  • Old Pesticides and other chemicals
• Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
  • Attic Breeze -- Awesome solar powered attic and exhaust fans with a lifetime warranty. Da Guy has one in his attic and another to keep his garage more temperate throughout the year.
  • Air Conditioning -- Da Guy's York Air Conditioner is one of the most efficient available for your home today, which had a number of local utility rebates available
  • Ceiling Fans -- They sure beat running your air conditioner when it's just a bit stuffy inside, and works well moving the heat from your ceiling back down to where you are during the winter. Da Guy has them in all bedrooms, his office and family room so that thermostat can be a little lower in the winter and higher in the summer.
    • Panasonic WhisperCeiling Fans -- amazingly quiet and powerful for your bathrooms and laundry
      • Check out a nifty electronic timer by Intermatic that Da Guy uses in his master bathroom to ensure he does not forget to turn off that nearly silent ventilation fan
  • Additional GreenFiber cellulose insulation blown in over his original and inadequate 30-year old R-11 attic batting, bringing him to nearly an R-40 insulation value today. It was the smart environmental and fast financial pay-back thing to do. Check out what a R-value means here.
  • Heating -- Da Guy's York Furnace was perhaps the most efficient available on the market when he made his selection in 2007
  • Programmable Thermostat -- the only way to go. Run your furnace and air conditioning only on the days and times you really need it. Da Guy especially likes ones with a "vacation mode" to hold the temperature while he's away on trips, to then have it ready-to-live-in again upon his return, such as the Honeywell VisionPro he has at his place.
• Landscaping
  • Conserve water with Xeriscape and more drought-tolerant plants, reducing or eliminating your lawn area, and installing improved irrigation systems that target the specific areas needing water
    • Da Guy reduced his lawn area by more than 30% at the all-new Bert's Place
    • Da Guy's Irritrol Controller has separate zones to put just the needed amount of water where and when it's needed, along with a Toro Wireless Rain Sensor to prevent useless watering when it has recently rained
    • Each plant and tree has it's own emitter for precise water needs using Rain Bird Drip Irrigation components
  • Reduced use of pesticides and fertilizers are limited to those that are more environmentally friendly
  • An environmentally friendly Newton battery lawn mower resides in Da Guy's garage, if and when he does his own mowing
• Lighting -- 100% of the light bulbs at Bert's Place were replaced with more energy efficient models and dimmers to help reduce energy usage
  • Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) are the bulb of choice in the majority of fixtures both inside and outside of Bert's Place
  • If it exists, BuyLighting.com probably has the bulb you are looking for
  • Check out a nifty electronic timer by Intermatic that Da Guy uses in his master bathroom to ensure he does not forget to turn off the light and nearly silent ventilation fan after he showers
  • Motion-sensitive LED night lights that cost only pennies to run per month -- available at Lowes and Home Depot
• Paint
  • Low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint inside and out of Bert's Place from Dunn Edwards Paints
• Paper Products
  • Use washable rags whenever possible and limit paper towel usage. Paper towels and TP at Bert's Place are made from 100% recyclable materials (not from trees) with a minimum of 80% post consumer content and no chlorine bleach, such as Earth First from Royal Paper available at Costco
• Pets
  • Besides the health and public decency reasons to take care of your pet's waste, you can manage it in a biodegradable way with the product at PoopBags.com
• Recycle
  • Check with your City or County on the programs available where you are. Da Guy does his weekly recycling curbside with
    • Cardboard
    • Glass bottles & jars
    • Metal including aluminum cans
    • Paper -- all types, including magazines and the junk mail that still gets through despite his best efforts
    • Plastic bottles and the like
    • Yard Waste for composting
• Reusable Shopping Bags
  • It's amazing how much oil and downstream impact the billions of plastic shopping bags created every year have on our world. Don't accept a plastic bag for things you can just carry away with you, or when you're just going to toss it out anyway. Check out reusablebags.com. Da Guy and his family just love the ACME Bags™ - Recycled PET EarthTote™. Keep them in your vehicle for everyday use, so there is never an excuse that you forgot them at home.
• Roofing
  • Energy conscious Cedarlite concrete tile roofing with integrated attic ventilation by MoniereLifetile
• Sinks & Toilets
  • Low-flow toilets from Kohler
  • You keep your water regulators in all your faucets and shower heads for reduced flow like Da Guy does, don't you? It's not THAT bad!
• Smoking
  • Da Guy never has and never will. He always selects non-smoking areas in restaurants and hotel rooms, and avoids second-hand smoke environments whenever he can.
  • AboutMyPlanet has one point of view of how smoking impacts our environment
  • Smokefree.gov has a bunch of evidence-based info how to stop
• Windows
• Da Guy's home has double-pane energy efficient windows
• 100% of Da Guy's windows are tinted with Bekaert Panorama Window Film, further reducing heat transmission while providing all-important UV protection
• All of Da Guy's Hunter Douglas Blinds, Silhouette and Luminette window coverings provide yet a third set of heat transmission and UV reduction

Under Investigation

Here are a few of things Da Guy has on his investigation list for future use

• Disposable wine glasses
  • If you're having a party, you can get environmental friendly disposable plates, cups and utensils, but as of today, you can't get a wine glass because the stems are not strong enough with these materials. Oh my! What a challenge for those of us like Da Guy that have a thing about the grape and want to share with others!
• Disposable trash bags
  • Early generation versions exist for both the kitchen (13 gal) and yard (33 gal) imported from Scandinavia, but in his own testing, Da Guy just does not find they are strong enough or able to deal with limited liquids well enough before trash pick up day. He's still lookin' for a solution!

When the Old One Wears Out

• A new Energy Star dishwasher

References

References for products that Da Guy uses in his everyday life are contained on the In Practice Today Tab. Here are some other places to help you along your journey to reduce our environmental impact.

• BeWaterWise -- it's for Southern California residents, but the tips are useful to anyone
• Ed Begley Jr. -- You've seen his show Living with Ed, haven't you?
  • Begley's Best cleaning products
• -- one of Da Guy's favorite charitable organizations that does a fabulous job educating the public and school children each and every day
• Disney's Environmentality -- it's more than a corporate policy, it's in action throughout the company and their theme parks
• Earth 911 -- a super site on everything about the environment, recycling, and more
• -- find out all about it
• US Environment Protection Agency (EPA)
• FixingthePlanet.com -- tips on the little things we can each do to make a difference
• Al Gore and his environmental movement

• The Green Channel (GRN) -- on your cable television channel
• -- calculate your carbon footprint and offset it's impact