• Goods have to be shipped, and sometimes even with several means of transport until reaching the buyer. Therefore, they need a proper packaging for transport protection. For storage in intermediate storage facilities as well as in the shops warehouses, the same applies.
• Packaging protects the goods from direct impact of environmental factors, such as rain, wind, temperature change, shock due to transport movements, etc.
• Hygienic reasons require in some cases that direct touching of the goods must be prevented (especially food).
• Reasons for identification are secondary, but also apply. Everything must be externally identifiable when put in the store without having to open packaging through labels or tags.

However, if you analyse a certain packaging, you might be shocked by the proportions, and the question is, if this could be averted. The analysis of an I-Pod directly shipped by courier to the destination address revealed the following surprising data:

Image by woodleywonderworks via Flickr

• Volume: The ratio between the packaging volume and the I-Pod volume was 114:1.
• Weight: The ratio between the weight of the packaging and the weight of the I-Pod was 10:1.

It has to be considered that all this packaging material also has to be manufactured. In this case, the following materials were included:

• Carton
• Paper
• Polystyrene
• PVC

Both, the manufacture of plastics as well as of paper are very energy-intensive processes. In the case of plastics, the chemical process does not only use large amounts of power in the manufacturing process, but also causes pollution by emission of carbon dioxide and other hazardous compounds. Depending on the materials used harmful fumes such as vinyl chloride vapours might affect the workers and be emitted through the exhaust fumes. On the website “Time for change” you’ll find, amongst others, that the production of 5 plastic bags alone produces 1 kg of CO2.

Image via Wikipedia

While the same in terms of power consumption applies to the paper and carton production, this type of packaging has other implications and causes more concerns about the pollution of the waters. Paper and carton manufacture uses large quantities of water and puts them back into nature at the end of the process. There are limitations and laws in force as to what and how much pollutants may be contained in the waste water from these processes, but there is still a considerable amount of diluted pulp in the water output, which puts additional stress on the environment and can harm, in the long term, primarily small aquatic forms of life and plants in the shore regions of rivers and streams.

Although responsibility for changing these effects and implementing rather green alternatives primarily has to be born by industry, the consumer also has an influence and could be more selective when buying products and should more often think about the effects of irresponsible packaging methods.    

Your carbon footprint is how many greenhouse gases you release in your daily activities. Be remembered by your good deeds, not your carbon emissions. before you start you will need to be concerns for the future and committed.

Step 1. Turn your thermostat up in the winter or down in the summer by just 2° and you’ll stop hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide being released each year as well as up to significant money. Research shows that      24°C (75°F) is the optimum temperatures for air conditioneers environmentally, cost wise and comfortwise.

Tip: close doors to rooms you aren’t using, and insulate windows and doors to save energy at home.

Step 2: Turn of and unplug your T.V, computer and other electronics when your not using them, even electronics in sleep-mode draw power.

FACT: leaving your T.V cable box on 24 hours a day uses about 65% as much as your refrigerator.

Step 3: Change your light bulbs to compact flourescent ones which use 75% less energy.

Step 4: Run Dishwasher only on full-load. This will on average reduce about 35% of water consumption and 10% electricity consumption

Step 5: Plant a tree, or one step better, become carbon neutral there are several orgaisations that will conpensate for your footprint by planting trees that will sequester (remove from atmosphere) the carbon produced by you.

Sites like:

http://www.carbonneutral.com.au/ 

http://www.terrapass.com/

they are a more effective (albeit expensive) measure, however from first hand experience the moral superioirty you gain over others is delightful. Boast to your friends that you have no impact on the earth and they will surely impress them if not fill them with envy

Think about some of the factors which cause global warming: pollution being one of the chief ones, pollution caused by our transportation and power generation.  One of the major creators of transport related pollution is the growing and transportation of foodstuffs.  At the farm level, where farm machinery chews fuel and spews pollutants, to the trucks which take the produce to warehouses, to the shipping out to supermarkets, and even to the family car transporting that food from the supermarket to the home.  

Then, of course, there’s the energy (and pollution) costs of cooking that food, decomposing the scraps, and carting those scraps to the garbage facility.  Have I touched on the energy costs of making and distributing the fertilisers and pesticides used to produce that food?  Or indeed the cost to the earth of having destroyed natural habitat to make way for those farms?  

You can see that it appears that having year-round tomatoes from your supermarket chain doesn’t seem to be all that much of a problem – until you unravel that thread all the way back.  Only then do you see the entire impact your ham cheese and tomato sandwich is having…  

And I want to stress – I don’t want you or myself to miss out on that HCT on rye, either. I do want to point out that you can make a huge difference in how you obtain it…  

So – what to do?

Put most simply, eat local.  

The tomatoes?  If they’re from a supermarket chain they probably have more frequent flyer miles than you do. Try a local farmer’s market, and better yet, try an organic food local farmer’s market. That way you know there wasn’t a load of pollution created to make fertilisers and pesticides, it was grown locally so it didn’t ride around the entire country first, and most important of all it will fresher and tastier than the supermarket tomato.

The ham and cheese? Look around, every town and city has farms, creameries, smallgoods producers, and other local food sources.  Part of the fun of eating as much local produce as possible is to find these places and check out their range of foods.  The warm fuzzy feeling of saving the planet from a kilo of pollution is a bonus…

Yes it is more expensive.  Initially.  But two things will balance that out.  One is your patronage of local food producers, because as more business comes their way, they will be able to apply economies of scale.  The other is that as global warming strikes harder and hotter, and fuel prices go up in response to emissions control legislation, supermarkets will be raising their prices to compensate.  

And there’s of course another thing that you can do to reduce your overall costs, and which is the point of this article.  Even if you only have a small apartment, you can grow some of this food yourself.  Because even growing out of season food is no longer quite the problem it was, with warmer weather being the order of the era.  I’m growing very successful crops of tomatoes in the winter, out in the open.  Milder winters is the only reason I can put this down to, and very welcome the fresh addition to my diet is, too.

As the weather warms on average, many things will change, including the season that you grow vegetables and food crops.  Large “factory farms” are run to a formula, and will not be flexible enough to take advantage of the extended growing seasons.  It’s doubtful they will even recognise that there is a change in the seasonal pattern, so this is an opportunity for smaller local producers to wrestle the market back.  You can be the producer that wrests your own shopping dollars back into your pocket, be your own ultralocal primary producer.

It won’t supply all your food needs, but slowly, imperceptibly, it will make a dent in them.  Then it’ll make a dent in the amount of fuel the supermarkets need to ship your food and your neighbor’s food and your neighborhood’s food.  Eventually, it may even save the planet, who knows?  The main thing that growing some of your own foods will do though, is that your bank balance and your health will improve.

So I’m saying to use global warming to give a twofold benefit – grow as much food as you can, yourself, and thereby reduce your food costs and increase your health benefits - and reduce greenhouse gas emission at the same time.  

I won’t attempt to give step by step instructions on how to grow yourself a garden here – there are other articles which you can find.  My hope is that you’ll read this article, and next time you have to make the choice between convenience and the right thing, you’ll choose the alternative that will ultimately benefit you the most, and plant something yummy or at least eat something local and yummy . . .

Picture Source

You can leave a kind footprint in the sand.

If you’re constantly looking for ways to choose kinder, greener choices in life your heart is definitely in the right place. Every time you opt for environmentally safe products and lifestyle decisions you’re not only making the world a better place for yourself, you’re altruistically making it better for everyone.

Your choices are infinitely important.

Keep in mind that every choice you make is truly important. Just imagine what a difference it would make if every single person on the earth changed one un-earth friendly habit one time a year. The volume of waste, the culmination of pollution, and the shift to the right direct would create a significant change. Now, taking it a step further, imagine that these same people began to make a new change every single day. The result would be a world wide, spectacular new world.

Together, we truly can make a difference.

So here’s something that can help get you started or continue the momentum of your green friendly habits flowing: As most people know, many companies test their products on animals or use earth unfriendly products. If you’d like to purchase something for yourself or a loved one, please check out the list below for cruelty-free cosmetic and personal care products you can use to take one more step toward a greener world.

The Compassionate Consumer
P.O. Box 27
Jericho, NY 11753
(718) 445-4134
Their products consist of skin care, hair care, perfumes and cosmetics all cruelty-free.

Earthen Joys
1412 11th Street
Astoria, OR 97103
(503) 325-0426
You can find skin care cleansers and bath products through this company.

Natural World Inc.
Glenbrook Industrial Part
652 Glenbrook Rd
Stamford, CT 06906
(203) 356-000
This company offers a special product created for different skin types. Rest assured that their products are completely free of animal testing.

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Dreams of the Heart – volume I by Joie Schmidt is available:

  * Volume I: Amazon Kindle, Adobe Reader, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iPad and iBooks

Dreams of the Heart – volume II is available:

  * Volume II: Amazon Kindle, Adobe Reader

———> Stay tuned . . . vol. II will soon be available on iTunes, iPod, iPhone, iPad and iBooks!

(*In memoriam of the tragedy in Japan all proceeds from – volume I – sales will go to the relief efforts until 3/11/12)

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For more socially conscious reading:

• Green for Life!
• For the Altruistic Heart
• Eco Friendly Clothing
• Do Something Positive
• Love is Worth the Risk
• The Truth About Love
• Need a Taxi? Hail an Eco Cab!
• One Click: We Can Save the World
• Heal the Bay: Volunteering to Save Southern California’s Coastal Waters
• One Incredibly Amazing Website: Give 1.7K to the Charity of Your Choice for Free

Do you have a story, poem, artwork or photography you’d like to share and earn residual income? Please check out this site to earn limitless income for life: Triond

1. Turn it off

Turn off lights, televisions, videos, stereos and computers when not in use – they can use 10 to 40% of the power when on standby. Also, unplug chargers as soon as they have finished charging.

2. Be exact

Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need.

3. Close it

Don’t leave fridge doors open for longer than necessary.

4. Check your tires

Properly inflated tires can improve your car’s fuel efficiency.

5. Use no plastic

Use cloth bags when going shopping and avoid buying products which use too much plastic.

6. Fan up

Instead of using air conditioners in the summer, wear cool clothes, and use a fan.

7. Drive less

Do your weekly errands in a single trip or pay your bills online. Walk, bike, ride the bus or carpool.

8. Optimize your speed

You will consume up to 25% less fuel if you drive no more than 90 km/hr.

9. Drive hybrid

A hybrid or other fuel-efficient car emits less carbon dioxide.

10. Replace them

Replace your incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). CFLs cost 3 to 5 times as much but use less than a third of the power. Also, replace old fridge and other appliances with energy-efficient ones.

11. Watch what you eat

Choose food produced close to your home.

12. Recycle

Consume less, and re-use old products.

The 12 things suggested above can be done with ease only if the thought of carbon footprint of yours pinches you, to remind you each time you leave light on or a fridge door open. High time something has to be done. Let’s start with the simplest things to get a move and the big change is sure to follow. Remember it’s not only us, humans, which are the living things on this blessed planet. The world is a small place when it is teamed together, of the many uses of the World Wide Web, Let’s use it productively to get this global. Spread it to as many friends as you can. Whenever you tell them to switch to CFL’s make sure you are serious and make sure they know that you’re serious because you care for the planet.

All living beings have equal right on this planet the only difference is that we are more Vocal and have more curves in our cranium than the others around.

Before we are divided by continents, countries and castes, we must remind ourselves we are earthlings first and then anything else.

So save MOTHER EARTH!

Join the revolution!

GOD BLESS YOU !

One of the pieces of evidence which suggests the existence of a Bigfoot is the analysis of the human gait versus others including a being that does not walk like an ape or early man. We have a gait where our foot turns slightly outward when we walk. The being in question walked with his toes turned inward. Then there was an analysis of how the toes leave a different sort of impression in sand opposed to what this other creature could have done; we have a larger distinctive big toe compared to the peas in a pod type of toes produced at certain sites.

A human impression will show a distinctive greater impression since we get a trust from the inside of the foot along a margin with the big toe. This is not so with the impressions found for another creature whose large toe did not demonstrate this thrust. All this has been evidenced from casts done of footprints from around the globe and there is even sufficient variation of the questionable footprints to warrant a consideration of some other kind of being. That other being still remains a mystery.

The Website, Carbon Footprint, defines a Carbon Footprint as “a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.”

Living green is a phrase that either resonates with or completely irritates citizens in the United States. For me, this way of life was introduced long before anyone had coined the phrase, discovered global warming, or even really talked much about conservation. Of course, at 50, I’m pretty old!

I remember my mother reusing foil-taking it off of a pan that had been in the oven, wiping off the foil, folding it and stashing it away for another use. She is a pretty amazing person in many other ways, but I think living within one’s means, conserving what resources we have, and generally trying to make the world a better place are the most important lessons my mother taught me. Going green is about all these practices and more.

Composting and growing your own vegetables. For many years my husband maintained a vegetable garden in our back yard. We composted all non-protein food waste for use as fertilizer in the garden. We grew many of our own vegetables and ate what we grew all summer and into the fall and cut out meat almost completely. Families could even share in the work of maintaining a garden. Two or more neighbors could select one of their yards, and then plant, water, harvest, cook or can the produce.

Cut down on fuel usage and pollution. Our not purchasing so much food at the grocery store meant we didn’t contribute to the shipping costs, gasoline used and air pollution caused by trucking food to local stores. We also were needed to make fewer trips to the store. Making a simple change like reducing trips to the grocery store or the mall can have a huge impact on global warming.

Reuse and recycle. I still rinse out and reuse plastic zip-lock bags (as long as not uncooked meat or poultry was stored in them). We’re switching all the light bulbs in our house to the new compact fluorescent bulbs. Our locality offers free pickup of recyclable products, so we recycle everything possible. My husband cashes in aluminum cans and we also use mulch that is available free at the local landfill made from recycled wood products. Reusing and recycling can dramatically minimize your carbon footprint.

Adjust the thermostat. We have installed ceiling fans in many of our rooms. We keep our thermostat set higher in the summer time and use the fans to circulate the cool air more efficiently. We use a wood-stove insert to heat most of our home during the colder months, with the ceiling fans set to winter setting the heat is dispersed efficiently throughout the house. Using less electricity saves us money, but also allows us to counteract our carbon footprint.

There are many additional small and larger ways individuals and families can live greener lives. If every individual and every family did their share by going green as much as possible, our environment would be in much better shape. These suggestions are meant to be the beginning of what will hopefully become a habit of working to reduce your carbon footprint. Be creative and mindful as you and your family explore even more ways to go green.

Globalization has brought nations to accept the fact that they are responsible for the effects of industrialization on the planet even though there were international conferences on the topic before the concept of a global village was ever announced. But I question whether a larger union of nations has made responsibilities like polluting the earth more evident. Where there is more industrialization there should then be an effective measure of controlling environmental change that will reduce the quality of how we live. The Kyoto accord was set up especially for the more developed nations so that they would reduce greenhouse emissions. Having a globalized society does not mean that we are reducing our damaging effects on the world around us, like reducing the supply of fresh water for future generations. Unfortunately it is still a lofty goal for many of our nations especially those who are in an expansion phase or who have not yet understood that nation building causes a larger ecological footprint. This footprint is not easily erased by reinventing political systems so that there are immediate governmental controls and then a overlapping global control in the form of world agencies. It is my suspicion that those agencies are not truly independent as they should be if they are to override local politics
and not be manipulated by local governments.