by Benjamin Jones on June 30, 2009
In the U.S. recycling varies by county and state. Everyone has a different procedure, different municipalities accept different types of recyclables, and overall it is one big, confusing mess.
However, in Japan the whole country follows one system: recycle everything you can or pay the price. No one questions the sense behind it, and as far as I can tell, everyone does it.
So how does it work? There are four basic influences at work:
Trash: In Japan, you don’t just throw out trash, you pay to have it taken away. Compared to most pay to throw trash plans in the U.S., you pay a lot. A dollar or so for a small bag. However, recycling is free, so why wouldn’t you do it?
Home recycling: To avoid throwing out trash, home recycling set-ups are often quite elaborate. Where I am living right now we have 4 bins and a pile for paper recycling. The bins are as follows: small plastic bottles, large plastic bottles, aluminum, and trash. Glass can also be recycled separately as well as other metals, but those aren’t as common.
Point of sale disposal: When you buy a tea or some other drink from a machine you don’t have an option to throw it in the trash, there is only recycling. At convenience stores, you have 5 or 6 different bins, with only one set aside for burnable trash. If you can’t burn it, it can be recycled, and will be.
Product packaging: Products are designed for recycling (or burning) carefully. They have to follow certain rules and regulations to make sure that they products can be disposed of easily and efficiently. For the plastic labels on soda bottles that cannot be recycled, they easily tear off to be thrown in the trash. Other products come with instructions on how to dispose of them effectively.
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by Benjamin Jones on June 26, 2009
Two years ago when I lived in Japan for a brief period I wondered why plastic bags were so common. Recycling was in full swing and houses were adorned with solar water and photovoltaics.
So what was with all the plastic bags? Bags for the smallest purchases to the biggest. No one brought their own and no one seemed to question it. While bags are generally used sparingly and come in a variety of sizes to best fit whatever you are putting in them, two years later, the Japanese are still using tons of plastic bags.
I tried to think about why this was. Even America, which comes late to the party for just about everything green, is beginning to ban plastic bags and encourage consumers to quit using them. However, in Japan, when I go to the bread store I still get one plastic bag filled with other bags individually containing my purchases.
In the U.S. we are told our bags go to landfills where they will exist for hundreds of years, poisoning the ground and preventing other things from decomposing naturally. The Japanese plastic bag has a slightly different fate.
From the time it hits the trash and is carted off it does not go to a landfill, it goes to an incinerator where it is burnt up into nothingness, as if it never existed. So, despite Japan’s love affair with the plastic bag, you don’t see them tumbling around in the streets, caught in trees, or clogging up landfills.
by Benjamin Jones on June 8, 2009
For the last three weeks I have been hunkered down in Western Japan in a city called Kumamoto. It gets hot down here. Really really hot, some days, and it is still the spring.
However, the air conditioning has never been turned on. Why? The home was designed before air conditioning existed to keep people cool without it.
Here are a few of the more obvious ways in which this works:
- The low roof and lack of attic space does not accumulate rising heat,
- The roof overhang extends several feet beyond the exterior walls, giving lots of shade,
- Bamboo bundles are cheap, easily purchased, and can be propped up to keep the sun off of the house,
- The exterior walls completely open to airflow when you slide open the doors. Much better than a few windows for natural airflow,
- Tatami floors always seem to feel cool.
Unlike most home in the U.S. these days, which are designed to seal up air-tight and keep everything out, the Japanese home is open and breezy. It probably doesn’t do a very good job with the air conditioning on, but it it isn’t even on then that doesn’t seem to matter as much.
by Tim Fulton on May 26, 2009
Today we are going to look at Vizio’s offering in high efficiency green TVs, the Veco320L. The Veco320L boasts a 15% improvement over version 3.0 Energy Star specifications. That sounds pretty impressive, but is that where the greenness ends? Lets take a look.
Features & Specifications
The Veco320L is a fairly full featured TV that will likely satisfy all but the most hardcore TV enthusiasts. It has 32″ of viewable area, and supports 720p and 1080i formats, and supports resolutions up to 1366×768. Of course it has all the inputs that come on flat panel TVs today. The rest of the usual specifications can be found on Vizio’s Veco320L webpage.
The coloring of the TV is somewhat unusual. I guess Vizio felt the need to make this TV stand out and made the unit almost entirely white. Personally, I like the look of it, its very clean looking.
In Vizio’s earth mindedness they also packaged the TV in recycled material and printed their manual on recycled material with soy based ink. This is a nice touch that a lot of manufacturers tend to overlook.
Power Consumption
This is the bread and butter of the Veco320L. This TV boasts a 15% reduction in power consumption over version 3.0 Energy Star specifications. They also claim that this is a 44% power savings versus a traditional 32″ LCD TV. Their website claims a power consumption of 84W. However, when I monitored the TV during my usage, it was very rare if the power usage exceeded 65W, and it usually hovered closer to 60W.
Of course that isn’t the whole piece of the pie. Many TVs use a fair amount of power while turned off these days. In this respect, the Veco320L continues to impress. According to the kill a watt, the TV uses 0W while turned off. I’m sure there must be some draw, but its not much at all.
Environmental Impact
For this info, I had to contact Vizio directly. They said that the bezel is made of recyclable ABS plastic. The packaging contents are recycleable as well. They also said that the TV is RoHS compliant. This means that it is free of: lead, mercury (except trace amount on the CFL), cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE). So, the TV is safe to be recycled. This is a definite plus.
Final Thoughts
Through the days of using the TV, my wife and I have both grown quite fond of it, her especially. Our other TV is a Panasonic 27″ CRT. The high definition and digital channels (just over the air, no cable or satelite) are a vast improvement over the normal TV. The fact that it was designed to be environmentally friendly means a lot to us. I love that it is both bigger, crisper, and uses less power than our old TV makes it all the more attractive. Speaking of attractive, I like the white bezel and the layout of the TV. It just looks clean. Combine all that with a pretty good price, and you have yourself quite a decent package that is attractive not only to green buyers, but all buyers.
by Benjamin Jones on April 19, 2009
There is nothing like the roar of a gas mower on a Saturday morning to remind you that you’re living in an American suburb. But these days, those same mowers have come under fire for the comparatively high emissions they produce. Unlike most automobiles, they tend to be 2-stroke engines with little to no emissions equipment and are often well out of tune.
So, if you’ve been thinking about ditching that old gas-burner, here are 10 reasons to get an electric mower for this season:
10 Reasons Electric Mowers are King
- Less pollution: Believe or not, even the dirtiest of the coal-fired power plants spew less emissions than the average 2-stroke engine. With an electric mower there’s no more oil-burning smoke or the knowledge that your mower is one of the biggest polluters around.
- No more trips to the gas station: With an electric mower you don’t have to drive to the gas station with that little red container in your trunk anymore, nor do you have to check you mower to make sure you’re not running out of fuel (and then possibly run out of fuel).
- Electric mowers are quieter: With my electric mower I never feel like I’m choosing between uncomfortable ear plugs or hearing damage. Not only is it better for your hearing, but you’ll annoy the neighbors just that much less.
- Electric mowers are lighter: Electric motors can generate the same amount of power with a lot less mass. That means that your electric mower will be a lot easier to push around than a comparably powerful gasoline mower.
- Efficiency: Electric motors are more efficient. That means even though your electric mower is using a different source of energy, it’s also using less energy overall. Any way you slice it, that’s a good thing.
- Mowing with electricity is cheaper: Electricity is cheaper than gas for the energy you get out of it. Also, you need less electricity to get the job done. This results in a net savings for you. Sure, it may not be that much, but over the life of a mower it adds up.
- Electric mowers last longer: Less moving parts and less explosions mean that electric mowers have less problems and last longer. Since you’ll be buying new mowers less frequently, this will help save money and resources.
- Electric mowers require less maintenance: Similar to the above point, because there’s less to break on your electric motor you’ll find yourself doing much less maintenance. Sure, you’ll have to sharpen the blades the same amount, but there will be no more spark plug or air filter changes with an electric mower. Plus, your carb won’t get stuck and make the mower throttle uncontrollably (which happened to me in the past).
- No more pull starts: Don’t you just hate yanking that cord until the mower starts? Especially after it’s been awhile and it’s giving you trouble.
- Bragging rights: Sometimes it’s nice to be the first on the block with a shiny, new toy. Especially with all the talking points that come with electric mowers (see above).
So, if you’ve ever been frustrated with your gas mower or it’s just reached the end of it’s life, consider replacing it with an electric mower. They’re not prohibitively expensive, and you will find the savings add up.
