We Green Westport

GreenTips from Union of Concerned Scientists

Most people shopping for a high-definition television (HDTV) consider screen size, resolution, and auxiliary connections—but what about energy use? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the more than 275 million TVs in this country consume over 50 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. That’s equivalent to the output of more than 10 coal-fired power plants, according to researchers at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

While display technology has become more efficient over the years—liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology uses less energy per square inch than older cathode-ray tube (CRT) technology—energy use increases with screen size regardless of the technology. Some of today’s HDTVs, as a matter of fact, can consume more electricity in a year than a refrigerator.

Energy consumption varies widely between HDTVs, even between models of similar size. There are ways to ensure your new TV is as efficient as possible:

* Choose the most efficient technology. There are three HDTV technologies on the market today: plasma, LCD, and rear-projection microdisplay (commonly known as DLP, or digital light processing). A study by technology reviewer CNET found that, on average, plasma TVs are the least efficient, consuming 0.33 watt of electricity per square inch of screen, while LCD TVs are slightly better at 0.28 watt per inch. Your best choice to save energy is DLP, which consumes only 0.13 watt per inch.

* Choose Energy Star-rated models. On November 1, 2008, the EPA released new Energy Star specifications that now set maximum energy consumption limits for TVs in both standby and active modes (previous specifications applied only to standby mode). TVs that meet these new requirements (see the Related Resources) will be up to 30 percent more efficient than non-qualified models.

Even if you’re not in the market for a new TV, there are ways to reduce the energy being consumed by your current TV:

* Unplug the TV when it is not in use. TVs that have a standby mode continue to draw power even when turned “off.”

* Turn off the “quick start” option (if applicable). Just by waiting a few more seconds for the TV to warm up, you can significantly reduce standby power consumption.

* Turn down the brightness settings. Many LCD TVs also have a backlight setting that is often set in stores to be brighter than necessary for most home environments.

* Buy an Energy Star-rated digital-to-analog (DTA) converter box if you own an analog TV and do not plan to upgrade to digital by February 2009. According to the EPA, if all analog TV owners used Energy Star converter boxes, global warming pollution would be lowered by an amount equivalent to taking a million cars off the road.

Plastic Bags in NYC Will Carry a Fee

In its struggle to make New York more green, the Bloomberg administration has tried discouraging people from using plastic bags. It has taken out ads beseeching residents to use cloth bags and set up recycling bins for plastic bags at supermarkets.

But now the carrots have been put away, and the stick is out: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has called for charging shoppers 6 cents for every plastic bag needed at the register.

If the proposal passes, New York City would follow the lead of many European countries and become one of the first places in the United States to assess a so-called plastic bag tax

Not without critics though…

Another concern is whether the tax would hurt poor residents, as well as small businesses, disproportionately — a concern mentioned by council members, environmentalists and manufacturers alike.

Recently announced, Connecticut has a new solar lease program for qualifying residents.  One of the eligible installation firms is CSolar who passed along this release:

“Connecticut Leads the Way with the Nation’s First Rate Pay Supported Residential Leasing Program for Solar Energy”

The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) and CT Solar Leasing, LLC have combined the power of CCEF’s innovative Solar Rebate program and the financial power of leasing to create an unbeatable way for qualifying homeowner customers of CL&P and UI to add solar energy to their homes for the lowest possible cost.

About the Program:

• $0 Down Payment!
• Low fixed monthly payments – less than $120 per month for the typical system!
• Interest rate is 5.5% fixed.
• Leasing is for 15 years and at the end of your CT Solar Lease™ you have the option to buy the system at its current value, extend your lease for another 5 years at a reduced rate, or have the system removed.

Who is eligible?
The CT Solar Lease Program is for Connecticut homeowner customers of CL&P and UI who are:
Installing qualifying Solar PV systems:
• In their 1 to 4 family owner-occupied homes
• Whose household income is 200% or less of their area’s median income
• Who meet the credit qualifications of the program
Homeowners earning over the minimum income are still eligible for CCEF’s Solar Rebate Program.
ACT NOW! To find out more specific information on how solar can help save you money on your increasing electric bills, call your local C Solar LLC representative for a free site evaluation today at (203) 504-2250.

To find out more information about the CT Solar Lease program and determine your eligibility visit their website at http://www.ctsolarlease.com.

All eligible solar installers are pre-approved by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and CT Solar Leasing. This is an excellent opportunity for solar panel installation on your home with no down payment and a fixed monthly rate. Reduce your electricity bills with the power of the sun.

Six Products, Six Carbon Footprints

A new concept is entering the consumer lexicon: the carbon footprint.

First came organic. Then came fair trade. Now makers of everything from milk to jackets to cars are starting to tally up the carbon footprints of their products. That’s the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that get coughed into the air when the goods are made, shipped and stored, and then used by consumers.
So far, these efforts raise as many questions as they answer. Different companies are counting their products’ carbon footprints differently, making it all but impossible for shoppers to compare goods. And even if consumers come to understand the numbers, they might not like what they find out.

For instance, many products’ global-warming impact depends less on how they’re made than on how they’re used. That means the easiest way to cut carbon emissions may be to buy less of a product or use it in a way that’s less convenient.

So, what are the carbon footprints of some of the common products we use? How are they calculated? And what surprises do they hold? What follows is a look at six everyday items — cars, shoes, laundry detergent, clothing, milk and beer — and the numbers that go with them.

Pint-Size Eco-Police, Making Parents Proud and Sometimes Crazy

Sometimes, Jennifer Ross feels she cannot make a move at home without inviting the scorn of her daughters, 10-year-old Grace and 7-year-old Eliza. The Acura MDX she drives? A flagrant polluter. The bath at night to help her relax? A wasteful indulgence. The reusable shopping bags she forgot, again? Tsk, tsk.

“I have very, very environmentally conscious children — more so than me, I’m embarrassed to say,” said Ms. Ross, a social worker in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. “They’re on my case about getting a hybrid car. They want me to replace all the light bulbs in the house with energy-saving bulbs.”

Ms. Ross’s children are part of what experts say is a growing army of “eco-kids” — steeped in environmentalism at school, in houses of worship, through scouting and even via popular culture — who try to hold their parents accountable at home. Amid their pride in their children’s zeal for all things green, the grown-ups sometimes end up feeling like scofflaws under the watchful eye of the pint-size eco-police, whose demands grow ever greater, and more expensive.

But these young citizens of the world are not always welcomed.

And even parents who are impressed by their children’s commitment to remake the world can also sometimes feel, well, badgered. Paul Wyckoff, a writer in Hunterdon County, N.J., said his 15-year-old son, Will, yells at him for “leaving the car idling for a few seconds in the driveway.” He has even taken to turning off nightlights to save energy.

“My philosophy is get the big stuff,” Mr. Wyckoff said. “I think he takes it too far. But I’m proud of him. I think he’ll moderate with age.”

Let us hope they never moderate with age in their zeal for a cleaner, greener world.

No More Plastic Bags

Westport, Conn., this month became the latest of a handful of communities to ban some plastic bags. The bags, which have only a brief, useful life, can survive forever in landfills and are of enormous concern to not only environmentalists but local officials who are running out of places to put their trash.
Westport’s ordinance will take effect in six months and applies to bags dispensed at checkout counters. Others, like dry cleaning bags, will be exempted. The aim is to reduce litter and encourage customers to tote their groceries in reusable cloth bags.
The town’s stand is laudable but will have only a limited effect on what is, after all, a statewide problem. The Connecticut Legislature rebuffed a proposed statewide ban last year. Massachusetts and Maine considered similar bans and also backed down.

What is your opinion? What is the value of taking a stand? Can our actions motivate others…educate others?

Think Globally, Power Up Locally

The “locavore” movement is big, especially in California. With the bounty of food found locally in the Bay Area, living off the land - and sea - is not only possible, but also a delicious exercise. But there’s another, less obvious, revolution brewing here in the Bay Area: the “locavolt” movement.

In response to high gasoline and natural gas prices, global warming and an increasingly unstable, scary world, residents more than ever are looking to generate power right in their own homes and neighborhoods with free energy from nature.

Within the next year or so, the Bay Area may bolster its locavolt credentials with a California program that allows local governments to choose power supplies for their constituents. San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Marin County are all investigating a plan that would allow them to stay with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for billing, distribution and repair service, but allow local elected officials to choose more locally produced green power. In Marin County, for example, the long-term goal is 100 percent renewable energy.

Is there a future for this movement in other areas of the nation? Let’s hope so…

If truth be known, the technology is now available to secure up to 40 percent of our electricity from local, distributed renewable energy sources like wind and sun, if we stay connected and get creative with storage from batteries, cars and maybe fuel cells. Something tells me the locavolts are on to something big.

From The New York Times:

YOU know your shoe size. But you probably don’t know your carbon footprint, particularly the footprint of your home.

“The term ‘carbon footprint’ is used to describe the amount of greenhouse gases that are emitted into the atmosphere each year by a person, household, building, organization or company,” said Cathy Milbourn, a spokeswoman for the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

One of the main sources of greenhouse gases is the home. “For individuals, about 40 percent of our carbon emissions come from our homes,” said Eric Carlson, the executive director of Carbonfund.org, an environmental group in Silver Spring, Md.

Activities outside the home, like driving or flying, are part of the problem, too. But what happens in the kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom and yard is important, from heating to cooking to using products whose manufacture produces emissions that can be harmful.

According to the E.P.A., the average carbon footprint for a two-person household in the United States is 41,500 pounds a year. That’s far from the ideal: Mr. Carlson said he hopes that all households, no matter the number of people living there, reduce their levels by as much as 50 to 80 percent in the next 40 years.

How to reduce? We have many ideas posted on our Pledge Card and in this blog. There are also so many other sites that list ways to reduce your footprint. It all comes down to doing something a little different. Breaking old habits and instituting some “green” habits.

Breaking old habits is not easy, but experts say the rewards are worth it, not only for the environment but also for the pocketbook. Those who reduce their carbon footprint by decreasing their energy use, they say, usually reduce their energy costs as well.

An Energy Diet for Power-Hungry Household PCs

From the New York Times:

For more than a decade, the federal Energy Star program has developed voluntary power-management standards for PCs, and suppliers like Intel and Microsoft have steadily improved the energy efficiency of their chips and software. But Mr. Fanara estimated that less than half of PCs met those standards, in part because more energy-efficient hardware adds slightly to production costs.

“There are large potential savings beyond what Energy Star can do,” he said.

The free software, called Edison, is a consumer version of the PC energy-saving software sold to corporate customers by Verdiem, which is financed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a leading venture capital firm and an aggressive investor in green technologies, and other venture investors.

From Yahoo News:

The Edison software doesn’t completely shut a computer off but rather moves it to a “suspend” state, which uses less energy. Users can also schedule to shut down the screen and hard drive before going into suspend mode.

The tool lets users have work and home settings. It has a read-out of how much electricity you are saving, also translated into reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and dollar savings.

Estimates will vary widely, depending on electricity rates and type of computer, but Verdiem says the average savings is 410 kilowatt hours a year, or $36.50.

The catch?

The sign-up process promotes Verdiem’s power management software for businesses, called Surveyor, which the company says can pay for itself within a few years.

The license for Edison is for one person. It runs on Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Worth a look and try.