Less Laziness = More Sustainable

Again its been a bit, Midterms keeping everyone busy. Mid-crits kept us up late and tests kept us studying instead of sleeping. Our goal from the start has been to lessen the footprint we make on the environment. What I have been doing to lessen recycling is to reuse plastic bottles and fill them with water and add gatorade mix instead of buying more gatorade bottles. Today we cleaned the room up a little as a little mid-semester cleaning. The great thing about that was that most of what we thought was "trash" was really just paper, cardboard, chipboard, and rigid blue insulation (styrofoam). All of which can be recycled. So what in years past were just thrown away out of laziness was now all recycled.

Sustainable from the start ... no end in sight for our townhouse.

I thank Jon and Zach for taking issue with the recycling/trash weigh-ins. I think this would be a good time to find our center on this and all other issues about the EcoChallenge by defining Sustainability as it relates to our efforts during this EcoChallenge. I have written a sort of mission statement below. Please feel free to read, edit or respond to the following statement:

"The residents of Townhouse D are committed to a Sustainable lifestyle. It is a systemic concept that has us consider the relationships between the social, institutional and environmental aspects of our existence. We constantly assess the way we live against one litmus test. We expect our basic human needs to be met while preserving the local ecocsystem, in order to maintain the same quality of life for future residents."

If you want to learn more about Living Green I have attached an article that I found really interesting. It gives statistics of what cities and countries are the pathfinders of this renewed commitment to sustainability.

PLEASE NOTE: The United States doesn't rank in the Top 5 of any survey!

A Function of Consumption

Thanks to a healthy rain about a week ago, our rain water bucket still has plenty of water in it to wash out our recycling without using water from the tap. We have been significantly reducing the volume of trash our townhome creates. The weight of our trash is now more a function of the material, and is not an accurate reflection of the amount of things we throw away.

Before this week we weren't as concerned with conserving. One of the things that has been talked about extensively in our townhouse is the ways we can begin to consume less. By doing this, not only has our trash weighed less but, reduced in volume overall. In the greater sense, our footprint has become smaller. To be using and collecting recyclables to offset the trash to recycling ratio would be losing sight of the goal of this competition, which is to begin to reduce our overall impact on the environment. We have been using a PUR Water filter pitcher more than we had before the competition in an effort to reduce our dependence on bottled water and bottled drinks. We have also taken to reusing our trash and recyclables as furniture or assigning them a respective function such as turning some cardboard boxes into trash and recycling bins. In this way our townhouse has begun to capture the essence of sustainability much more concretely than I thought we would have two weeks ago.

Community Building through TV

Well guys this weekend was a tough one.  With midterms and mid-crits coming up tons of work needed to get done.  We were pretty much in our room all weekend working.  I utilized the library as much as possible to less the amount of electricity I was using, but this does not always work, due to the hours of operation and my work schedule.  Also the A&D center I have been using a lot more as well to complete work but models are easier to build in my room where there is more space to work and spread out.  Using the A&D center more cuts down on electricity wasted in our room, especially since they are open almost 24/7 (except for weekends of course).  It also allows me to interact with other students and really further my designs.  I can bounce ideas off of them and get good feedback about my work.  But a big thing this weekend was all the amazing sporting events on the television.  I have lived in IP for the three previous years to this one, and the way IP is set up it is much more household community oriented.  Living in the townhouses, everyone is in their own room doing their own thing, watching their own tv and so on.  The sense of household community is lost.  Well we got that back this weekend and every since this started.  When we have a television on it is the one in the living room only.  This weekend we bonded around this television watching many amazing sporting events.  This got us, as a townhouse community, closer together.  We watched television and did homework sitting down there together.  So even though we used up more electricity then we maybe would have liked, it definitely was not wasted.  It actually had a stronger power then just lighting up a screen, it brought 5 individuals together as one community in our townhouse.

So its been a few days since I have been on.....things haven't really changed much. We finally have some clear trash bags for our recycling.  We have been really good with the energy usage.  I am proud of everyone including myself on how well we have become aware of these issues.  It is really funny that I now see myself walking past other townhouses and saying how much everyone is wasting electricity with all the lights on and no one in their rooms.  Also we caught a full container of rain water in the back of our house a few days ago when it rained.  That is great cause we have a few bottles we need to rinse out before putting them in the recycle.  Also the use of new lights we purchased are great energy savers especially for using the bathroom at night

This light provides way more then enough light so that you can see where you are walking and see the toilet clearly while doing your business.  This investment of around 12$ for two of these allows us to use this battery powered light that last around 15,000 hours, instead of wasting electricity when turning on the light/fan combination every time you walk into the bathroom.  Its been a success so far.

Phils game about to start.....I'll be back later.

One Week Down

After one week of the EcoChallenge not only am I beginning to learn simple ways to conserve electricity and water it has become quite clear how easy it is to be wasteful of these things. How am I being wasteful? Prior to this I have been one to take long showers, pushing 10 to 15 minutes, but really the goal is to get clean, and that can easily been done in about 5 minutes. Those gallons of water that aren't being used will really add up over a month, and just think of the total if and when I make this a regular practice. A second little change that will sum to quite a bit of savings is simply turning of f my computer when I am not using it and ensuring the lights are off when I am out of the house. I have also found myself spending more time in the library when I need to get some work done, the lights are already on and I have computer access. The other thing we have a focus on in this challenge is trash and recycling, and there is really no excuse not to recycle recyclables. The container for most recyclables is right next to the dumpster, its simply a matter of putting it in a different container. Also as my roommates have posted earlier, things not recycled here on campus can be recycled close by. It will pay off in the long run to take those few extra minutes to find a location to recycle if it ensures we will have a clean environment for the next generations to grow up in.
You've probably heard all these suggestions before, but if your like me you may not have considered them all that seriously. In a day like this however where its becoming more essential to live sustainably all it takes is a little effort to become more conscious of your habits, and make little changes. I have certainly not changed my lifestyle drastically, and already I know I am conserving a lot of water and electricity in my day to day routine.
Stay tuned for more ideas on how we can convert the campus community together to a more sustainable one from my roommates and myself.

One of the projects that I have come up with for our townhouse is our own home grown power plant. A simple project that I've always been fascinated by is the creation of electricity. By simply turning a magnet inside of a coil of copper, an electric charge is created and can be then stored for later use. I have used some of the challenge money to purchase some ceramic magnets as well as some copper, the rest of the materials such as a wood frame and handle will be reused scrap from the wood shop in Weber Hall and the copper is going to come from an old extension cord that was thrown away and retrieved. After I have constructed the generator, a capacitor will have to be purchased as well as a small voltage transformer so that the energy stored in the capacitor won't fry my phone or other small appliance. Hopefully, this experiment will be something that can shave off a little portion of our energy consumption. Every little bit counts!

Behavioral Changes

Here are some suggestions for how to have a more profitable lifestyle.

Conserve more water. Take shorter showers each day, do not let the water run when brushing teeth, fix any leaking or dripping faucets, and only run dishwasher and washer when there is a full load in. (Bongiorno, 2008) By doing these simple ideas we can save a lot of money on the water bill!

Food. When buying food products buy in bulk so less packing material. Start a compost pile for all food waste, this will reduce trash. Try to eat less meat and try to eat locally grown foods. (Eat Green, 2008)

In an average American home, appliances account for about 20% of energy bills. To reduce the amount of energy used, unplug any unused appliances and electronics (EERE, 2008). Typically, a PC uses about 250 watts, even though you may not use it 24/7, leaving it plugged in can add up to $212 per year to your bill (Hunt, 2008). So unplug the coffee maker, toaster, microwave, etc. when they are not being used.

Turn off the lights when you aren’t using a particular room. About 10% - 15% of electricity consumed in regular light bulbs results in light – the rest is heat. By turning off unused lights, you will keep the room cooler and they will last longer (EERE, 2008)

In the winter remove window air conditioners since they will let in more cold air causing you to have to use more energy to heat your home.

You should try to use the microwave as often as possible, and always unplug after use. Use glass dishes when cooking/baking because they can be cooked at lower temperatures. Do not preheat if you do not need to. A lot of times, you do not need to preheat. When using the stove, do not use over sized pans and use a cover for the pan, so it traps the heat and uses less energy (Ways to Conserve Energy, 2008).

If you do not want to shut down your laptop, at least put the computer to sleep. Computer monitors actually take up more energy than the actual hard drive. For macs, if you enter into “System Preferences” and then enter “Energy Saver.” you can set the time you would like to put your computer to sleep. For other computers, you can right-click and chose “Properties.” Then enter “Screen Saver” and you can change the sleep mode under “Power" (Ways to Conserve at Penn State, 2008).

Now that winter is almost here wear more layers instead of turning the thermostat up.The DOE calculates that your energy bill will go up three percent for each degree you raise the thermostat (Green Living, 2005). Also remember that tight knit clothing is warmer then loose and wool is warmer than cotton.

Energy investments

These are all ways to invest your money to save it in the long run. Each idea will conserve water or energy, and consequently give you a reduced bill at the end of the month.

1. Energy: Buy compact fluorescent bulbs. They last between eight and twelve times longer than the traditional light bulb. One light bulb can conserve about two hundred and sixty pounds of CO2 per year. Though they are a little bit more expensive than normal light bulbs, in the long run, they last much much longer. They can last as long as ten years.

2. Energy: Weathering Doorways- Add Weather Stripping around doors and windows. The use of door thresholds, window caulking, and plastic window film could save up to
20% with an investment of as little as $25 (WNC Green Building Council,2006).

3. Water: Buy low flow shower heads because they reduce three hundred pounds of CO2 emissions per year for electrically heated water and eighty pounds of CO2 emissions for gas-heated water. They only cost between ten and fifteen dollars.

4. Water: Fix leaking faucets if a leak drops one drop of water every second you can waste up to 165 gallons of water per month.

Let's support our faculty advisor

I hope our townhouse can show solidarity in our support by attending the lecture by our Rob Fleming, EcoChallenge faculty advisor, next Tuesday afternoon. He was one of the key planners of the EcoChallenge. I think you will also find him quite interesting because he is an acredited, very accomplished architect and can speak very intelligently about the applications and implications of the adoption of sustainability as doctrine.

We are the examples for our student community, so please come to this seminar and invite friends to join you.

See you there.

Trying a new method

Tonight one of my roommates informed me of his new approach to showering and how he felt that he was able to reduce his water use considerably. Tyler told me that if I could turn the water on to get wet, then subsequently turn the water on and off as needed to rinse off the soap I could minimize the amount of water consumed during my shower time. Even though I already only take 4-5 min showers, this method seems to allow me more time to really scrub and ensure I'm thoroughly washing rather than rushing through my showers to save a few gallons and maybe not washing as thoroughly as I could be. Tonight was the test for me and I'm definitely going to keep working with this method until I can get into a routine that works best for me.

UPS STORE..... Here we come

Well guys today was a huge day. Lots of class so i wasn't around all day. But when i got back I did a little research made many phone calls and I found it....The UPS Store recycles styrofoam. I called and they also recycle blue insulation rigid foam. As design students we face using many different materials for site and building models. Our townhouse is full of design students and we make a mess with many different materials. We spend many hours developing these models. I was using this foam for a site model and The UPS store recycles it. Its in Chestnut Hill in the Market Square Shopping Center on Crittenden St. between Mermaid Lane and Willow Grove, the address is:

The UPS Store # 4744

7715 Crittenden St.

Philadelphia, PA 19118-4421

PHONE: 215-242-2800

The gentleman was extremely nice and informative. A great Idea would be to set some sort of styrofoam collection bin outside the A&D center and we can throw all of our styrofoam collected in there and maybe once or twice a month, physical plant can drive it do this location in chestnut hill. That would be a great way to get the entire school involved because I do we use a lot of styrofoam as design students.

This is a note from Anne Bauer that was sent earlier this week. But I wanted to throw it on the blog so that everyone can easily refer to this very important information.

Here is her paraphrased message in 4, easy to remember points:

1. Plastics that are labeled with a 1 and 2 are recyclable. The beverage containers are the majority of what constitutes the 1 and 2 plastic in the waste stream from our campus but any waste we can divert to the recycling stream is encouraged!

2. Lids should be off.

3. Metal lids should be off. They can only join the recycling stream if they are separated and clean.

4. Any container with food on/in is considered contaminated (e.g. pizza boxes) and cannot be recycled. But if the container is clean, it can be recycled.

*If you are curious about what materials go into this numbered breakdown, refer to this list

First Week Experience

My first week as an Eco challenge participant has made me much more aware of my daily living habits. Because of this challenge, I have been more keenly monitoring even the most mundane of activities , and it soon came to my attention that I was very wasteful. Although keeping my appliances such as lamp desks, phone chargers and fans plugged into the wall seems harmless enough, it is an entirely unnecessary practice and I can easily prevent this and in the process save energy. Using lights and water sparingly is also something that is very easy to do, it just takes a little bit of discipline to be aware of how much you are actually using. Prior to this challenge, I usually took fairly brief showers, lasting only 3-5 minutes, and during this time I always kept the shower continuously running. Although I don't know the exact number of gallons this would amount to, I do know that I could get just as clean with about the equivalent to 30 or 40 seconds (maybe less) of the water running. I've already started this practice, which involves a brief outlet of water in the beginning, and then a brief outlet of water to rinse off all the soap at the end, and that is really all that I need to get clean. I definitely think that I would be pleasantly surprised to find out how much water I was saving over the course of several months or a year.

So far in this experiment, I feel that I have greatly improved my energy conserving habits (although I still have a ways to go) and I believe that these habits will gradually replace my wasteful ones.

One of the cool things that we have been using to help us reduce our water consumption was collecting runoff from our roof. During the first night of the competition, it rained a significant amount and we felt this resource would be a great one to tap into. In the photo, you can see that our recycling bucket turned grey water collection device is about half full. We have been using this water to wash out our recyclables so that we aren't tapping into our faucets. Hopefully we can get some more rain so we can continue to utilize the grey water.

So its been close to a week.  Too long since I last posted.  Little update: homecoming this weekend so plenty of things to do.  Spending homecoming with the school community was a great way to save on electricity.  By spending the entire day with the community our townhouse did not waste electricity.  Going to the library and completing work also is a great way to save on electricity.  The University offers many ways for us to take advantage of  energy saving techniques, we just have to open our eyes to find them.  By going to ted's and watching television there you become more apart of the community, while also eating food and you can even charge your phone or computer there as you get work done.  So you are now killing three birds with one stone.  My goal of this challenge is for me not to change who I am and what I do but to gain the ability to be even more aware of what is going on around me, and have the ability to be aware of ways to easily fix issues that will not interfere with my current lifestyle.  Double checking lights are off and items are unplugged is not a hassle, being able to kill three birds with one stone is not a hassle, so becoming more eco-friendly is definitely not a hassle.

Vampire Energy is a real money sucker!

This is a video that I found particularly informative and relevant to this challenge. I know that each of our townouse residents has a power strip that connects all of their major appliances and electronics to an outlet in their rooms. I know that I kill the master switch on my power strip every time I leave my townhouse. Keeping up this habit may very well make all the difference.

This video from GOOD Magazine, illustrates just how much can be saved (in dollars and carbon emissions).

Labeling before recycling ...

We have recently labeled four of our bins into 3 categories: glass, aluminum and plastic to help us separate and understand what we are recycling. We are using this system to minimize waste and keep contaminated waste out. We use the fifth bin to collect "grey water". The water we save in this bucket we use for washing out our recyclables. conserving water useage in this way, I estimate that we have saved 1 shower's worth of water from needlessly going down the drain this week!

Please see this video to see how effective the recycling of grey water can be.

I hope the townhomes that replaces ours have the BRAC system installed!

Other little efforts/changes we have made include: Y/B rule on the toilet and the we expect we will be using our new LED keychain flashlights to light our way through the dark stairwell and to the bathroom.

Photos to follow soon ...

Thanks for the good work guys! 3 weeks to go!

The first week of Eco Challenge 2008 was a great success. My number one goal in participating in this event was to become more aware of my impact on the environment and make adjustments in some of the areas where I consume or use too much. I already take 4-5 min showers and because I have a meal plan for 2 meals a day, I try and eat in so that I'm not throwing out major amounts of paper plates, plastic covers and plastic forks. So far, the biggest challenge has been remembering to turn off lights and appliances that I'm not using at the moment. In the past, I used to leave my computer on indefinitely because I was to lazy to wait the 2min that it takes to boot up. As of last week I made a conscious effort to keep it off when I wasn't using it, and the extra 2min really wasn't unmanageable. Instead of being impatient with it, I would turn it on and do something else in the meantime so that I wasn't wasting time, just using it more efficiently. Another thing that I was already doing was my vacuuming habits. The vacuum that I brought to townhouse D is a rechargeable battery vacuum that flicks the dirt into the compartment with 4 rotating brushes. The photo is of the vacuum, and its a great thing to have because its a space saver and an energy saver. It was great to see that I was already making a difference and didn't even know it, but now I'm starting to become more aware of the little things that are making a big impact.

So its been one full day of the EcoChallenge and things are going well.  I can see myself already more aware of what is going on around me.  I am more aware of lights on and televisions left on.  I find myself double checking to make sure all things are turned off before I leave.  I don't feel this is changing my lifestyle, just improving it.  I watched the phillies game yesterday and they won.  HUGE WIN for them.  I was interested in the other games but not as much as the phillies, so instead of watching them on tv in our townhouse, I went to Kanbar to check out the scores as I got a late night snack.  I feel that by doing this it saves electricity but I also improve the idea of school community and social skills.  I am now bonding with people I might not have known and now making new connections.