It is just my effort to type 25 truths about green published on fortune magazine dated April 12, 2010. Reading this one is going to take approximately next 45 minutes. You might find it so interesting. I would suggest you to read it directly from magazine, if you have access to fortune magazine. That will save a lot of energy. Which starts our green journey right now.
FOOD
1. Myth: BOTTLED WATER IS SAFER THAN TAP WATERReality: Tap Water is subject to stricter government standards.
Americans gulp down 28.5 gallons of bottled water per capita each year, discarding billions of plastic containers. It's convenient, sure, but is it healthier than plain old tap water? " There's no guarantee that bottled water is any safer than the water that comes out of your tap," says Wendy Gordon of the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council. The reason: Tap water is subject to stricter standards and more rigorous testing than bottled water. The EPA requires large municipalities to test water for bacteria in an independent lab a dozen times a day. The FDA mandates that water used for bottling be analyzed only once a week for bacteria. What's more, water that's packaged and sold in the same state - about 70% of the bottled water sold in the U.S.-is exempt from federal regulation because it doesn't cross state lines, leaving it with " inconsistent protection," says Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute. -Dody Tsiantar
2. Myth: BUYING LOCAL FOOD IS BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Reality: It depends on how your food was produced and delivered.
While eating food grown locally helps small farmer, it may not necessarily be the most ecologically efficient. According to a recent Oxfam International report called " Fair Miles-Recharting the Food Miles Map," a tomato trucked from Spain to Britain may be more environmentally friendly than a tomato grown in a greenhouse in a Britain because that process needs energy intense farming techniques and more fertilizer and could degrade the soil. Says the report: "Food miles are not always a good yardstick." -D.T.
3.Myth: ORGANIC GOODS ARE PRODUCED WITHOUT PESTICIDES.
Reality: Organic guidelines need to be tightened up.
The truth is, a great many pesticides are permitted in organic farming, and some of them are considered lethal to humans in very small quantities- like nicotine sulfate and lime sulfur, both of which carry a " danger" warning from the FDA but are permissible under organic-farming guidelines. - Joshua Brau
4.Myth: CARS ARE ONE OF THE BIGGEST EMITTERS OF GREENHOUSE GAS.
Reality: Yes, but those hamburgers you like to gobble down are actually much worse.
A report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization cited livestock, and especially beef, as a major source of greenhouse gas, generating more than transportation. Meat accounts for 18% of the greenhouse gas, generating more than transportation. Meat accounts for 18% of teh greenhouse gases the world produces every year, compare with 13% for vehicles. Other studies put that percentage even higher. " Beef is the biggest ecological no-no," says Anna Lappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet and a board member of the Rainforest Action Network. " Cattle require the most feed to produce a pound of meat, and as ruminants, the animals emit methane gases during digestion." -D.T.
5.Myth: IT'S OKAY TO PUT PLASTIC CONTAINERS IN MICROWAVES.
Reality: Stick to ceramic ware.
Sure, that plastic dish you slap into the microwave over and over has the triangular label on it-and that means it's safe to use, right? Not necessarily. Even though something is labeled as safe for use in the microwave, it may not be. "The claim on the boxes doesn't mean the plastic won't crack or melt or leak," says Wendy Gordon of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The danger is real: A substance used to make polycarbonate plastic-bisphenol A, more commonly known as BPA- could leach into your food and disrupt your hormonal system. Plastic container manufacturers insist their products meet government safety standards. regardless, the NRDC's Gordon recommends that you don't microwave leftovers in plastic dishes. Use a ceramic one instead. "It only takes a second more," She says. - D.T.
PRODUCTS
6. Myth: FLUORESCENT BULBS ARE BAD SINCE THEY CONTAIN MERCURY.
Reality: Yes, but not using them will pour even more mercury into our ecosystem.
Low-energy compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) contain mercury, which is why some consumers understandably haven't made the switch from incandescent ones. "But if you care about mercury-and you should," says John Rogers, an energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, " the best thing is to cut down on your electricity, and CFLs are a great way to do that." [The leading source of mercury emissions in the U.S. is coal fired power plants.] Considering that CFLs consume up to 75% less electricity than traditional light bulbs, using them decreases the mercury in the atmosphere. According to Energy Star, a 60-watt incandescent bulb adds 5.8 milligrams of mercury into the enviroment over its lifetime, vs 1.8 mgs for a comparable CFL. -Ellen Florian
7. Myth: I SHOULD WAIT FOR ALL MY INCANDESCENT BULBS TO BURN OUT BEFORE REPLACING THEM WITH LOW-ENERGY FLUORESCENTS.
Reality: You'd be wasting a lot of money and energy.
Scientists Jeff Tsao and Mike Coltrin of Sandia National Laboratories calculate that you'd save money by tossing a new 60-watt incandescent and replacing it with a fluorescent. Why? The money you'd save on your electric bill with the CFL would more than make up for the cost of both bulbs. Over the CFL's 12000-hour lifetime, you would save some $51. But waht about the energy it took to make that incandescent bulb? It amounts to less than 1% of the total. "It's so small that you don't have to worry about it," says Tsao. - E.F.
Cost per day to operate: 13-Watt CFL Bulb - 3.1 Cents, 60-Watt Incandescent bulb - 14.4 cents.
8.Myth: IT'S BETTER TO BUY AN ARTIFICIAL CHRISTMAS TREE THAN CUT DOWN AN EVERGREEN EVERY YEAR.
Reality: Get out your ax.
Sure, fake trees might be usable year after year, but the question comes down to renewable vs. nonrenewable resources. "When a tree is cut down, anohter can be grown in its place," says Steve Long of the Nature Conservancy. "And when you're done with the tree in your home, it can be turned into mulch, so the tree has a life that goes on." Some 350 million Christmas trees are now growing on U.S. farms (about 30 million are sold each year), and as they grow, they will start to store carbon. Most artificaila trees are made from nonrenewable plastics. On top of that, 92% ofthem, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, had to make the trip last year all the way from China. -E.F.
9.Myth: PAPER GROCERY BAGS ARE BETTER THAN PLASTIC ONES.
Reality: Plastics, young man, plastics.
You're standing at the checkout line, facing the guilty shopper's dilemma- paper or plastic? According to Franklin Associates, a waste-management firm, it takes four times more enrgy to produce a paper bag than a plastic one. think of all those trees being milled and processed. Plastic bags do have a downside: they don't degrade easily and can pose hazards to animals. Use a cloth tote instead, and if you insist on plastic or paper, at least reuse-or recyle- the bag. But no matter which type of bag we choose to use, we may be committing worse environmental violations just by driving to the supermarket in the first palce. According to the Sierra Club's Bob Schildgen, Americans burn 10 times more enrgy getting to the store than it takes to amke a single plastic bag. -D.T.
10. Myth: MY JEANS ARE MADE OF ORGANIC COTTON SO IT'S OKAY TO BUY AS MANY PAIRS AS I WANT.
Reality: When it comes to wasting water, organic jeans are as bad as regular ones.
Estimates vary, but it takes as much as 2,100 gallons of water to grow enough cotton-organic or otherwise-to produce just one pair of jeans, not including the water used to dye and finish the fabric. Says textile expert Gail Baugh of san Fancisco State: "In places where water is a real issue, you have to ask if growing cotton is the best use of resources." Recycled polyester may be a better bet in terms of preserving resources. Patagonia, for example, sells an R2 jacket, 40% of which is made with polyester of the hand-me-down variety. -e.f.
ENERGY
11.Myth: I'LL SAVE ENERGY IF I KEEP MY APPLIANCES TURNED OFF.
Reality: Yes, but not as much as you think.
Even if you're not using them, you DVR player, fax machine, a plugged-in but unhooked-upphone charger, and other energy vampires in the home keep sucking power. the gadgers stand ready to record a TV show or receive a document, and that takes power. It seems negligibel, but over the long haul it adds up. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 5% to 10% of residential electricity use can be attributed to standby power.
12. Myth: SOON JETS WILL RUN ON BIOFUELS, ENABLING US TO FLY GUILT-FREE.
Reality: Time to come down to earth.
It is rue that Richard Branson, president of Virgin Air, ran one of his passenger jets on an 80-20 mix of jet fuel and a special biofuel made from coconut oil and babassu nut oil. Is it a solution? Branson said he did it just to show it could be done. But don't expect the most common biofuel-corn ethanol- to be firing up 777s anytime soon. Ethanol provides roughly a third less energy per gallon than jet fuel. No problem. Just add a bigger fuel tank, right? But that adds more weight, which means you need to design a bigger, stronger plane, which in turn needs more fuel to travel the same range. this vicious cycle means that ethanol isn't practical. Airlines have been testing fuels made from jatropha and palm oils, but those fuels remain expensive and lack the hydrocarbon rings that interact with the seals in current engines, helping swell them shut- not ideal if you happen to be a passenger on the plane.
13.Myth: WE CAN MEET OUR ENERGY NEEDS AND GLOBAL WARMING TARGETS WITH WIND AND SOLAR POWER
Reality: Perhaps, but not for a very long time.
While the solar and wind industries have been growing rapidly over the past decade, those two sources of power together account for less than 2% of all the electricity Americans use. Why the lag? solar typically is still two to three times more expensive than coal, and while win din many places can compete with fossil fues, it isn't a dependable source of power-when the wind stops blowing, the lectricity disappears. Battery-storae technology may someday alleviate the problem, but even then it will take decades for alternatives to replace the massive capacity of today's $7 trillion worldwide energy market. -B.D.
14. Myth: IT DOESN'T PAY TO TURN DOWN YOUR THERMOSTAT WHEN YOU'RE NOT HOME.
Reality: Why pay to keep empty space warm?
Most people think it's not worth it to cool the house when it's empty because the furnace is going to have to work extra hard to get the house feeling cozy again. But the energy needed to reheat a home is pretty much equal to the energy saved when it cools down. The time when your empty house is cooler can save any where from 5% to 15% on your heating bill if you dial the temperature back 10 to 15 degrees for eight hours a day, according the Department of Energy.-E.F.
15. Myth: FOR YOUR HOME TO BE GREEN, YOU NEED A HIGH-EFFICIENCY FURNACE, NOT TO MENTION HIGH-EFFICIENCY APPLIANCES AND WINDOWS.
Reality: It doesn't matter how efficient your furnace is if it's heating the outside of your house.
Sure, new equipment will save energy, says Lane Burt, a building-energy expert with the Natural Resources Defense council, but it's better to first go low tech. Hire a professional to find all the leaks in your home and plug them up. that can be done in most homes for anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars- less than most new heating systems. "It completely changes the way the home operates," says Burt. " Your old furnace will actually work better". Not only that, but when it comes time to buy a new one, you may find that a smaller [and therefore less expensive] furnace will do.
CLIMATE
16.Myth: PLANT MORE TREES IN THE CITY BECAUSE THEY ABSORB CARBON.
Reality: The maintenance of urban trees makes it unlikely they are net storers of carbon.
New york City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is planting a million trees. that offers lots of benefits. But urban trees often require pruning by chainsaw wielding utility worker in trucks to clear buildings and other obstacles. "Fossil-fuel emissions from servicing add up," says Jeff Fiedler with the Nature conservancy, meaning that over time tree care is likely to offset the gains in CO2 stored. Don't despair. It turns out that trees can boost energy savings. For instance, shading an air conditioner can boost its efficiency by as much as 10%, according to the Energy Department.
17.Myth: CLIMATE-CHANGE CRITICS LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT THE WEATHER HAS GOTTEN COOLER OVER THE PAST DECADE, SO HOW CAN THERE BE GLOBAL WARMING?
Reality: According to a new study by NASA, the past decade was the warmest on record since the 1880s.
18.Myth: OFFSETS ARE THE ANSWER TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
Reality: There's no such thing as a free lunch.
Well-intentioned companies sometimes buy carbon offsets to compensate for all the CO2 they generate when their employees travel. The money goes to say, farmers who plant trees that such up enough carbon to offset all that jet and car exhaust. But how climate-friendly is this tradeoff? How can you be sure the carbon is actually reduced? Was that tree ever planted? If it was, will it still exist five years from now? Some think offsets are a cop-out. "Companies want to emit what they want to emit. That's why they like this system," says Margaret Swink, communications manager of the Rainforest Action Network. "Carbon offsets make about as much sense as thinking that you can eat a double cheeseburger every day and pay somebody in Ethiopia to eat less for you."
The trick is to beef up the monitoring of offsets. Nonprofit conservation International and its partners use satellite imagery to track deforestation, and employ inspectors on the ground. Argues Michael totten, CI's chief adviser on climate and energy: "It's win-win, if it's done right."
19.Myth: SNOWY WINTERS EQUAL NO GLOBAL WARMING.
Reality: Weather is not the same thing as climate, even though Donald Trump thinks it is.
The Donald ribbed Al Gore to give back his Nobel Prize, citing the East coast's record snowfalls. But climate scientists argue that bigger snowfalls are consistent with climate change because warmer temperatures mean more moisture evaporating into the atmosphere and therefore more rain and snow. "What these people are saying is, 'The thing that's happening to me right now is the only thing that's happening to me right now is the only thing that's happening'," says Jonathan Koomey, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Global patterns experts argue, show an unmistakable rise in temperature. Indeed, from a global point of view, this January was the fourth-warmest ever recorded. -D.T. and J.B.
20. Myth: YOU NEED TO WARM UP YOUR CAR BEFORE DRIVING IT.
Reality: Idling the car for a few minutes in winter just wastes gasoline.
"In the past, when cars had carburetors, engines used thick oil that required warming up," says Mike Harrison, Ford's V-8 engine programs manager. Today's thinner oils allow engines to be driven away sooner, making idling unnecessary. His rule: If you're operating your car above 0 deg F, you can drive away within 10 seconds (he advises 30 seconds for temperatures below zero).
Experts also say you'll save gas by turning off your engine if you're going to idle for more than 30 seconds-some studies suggest even less time. According to an EDF report published last year, unnecessary idling will waster between $44 and $392 on fuel annually (range depends on fuel prices, idling habits, and vehicle type). But won't shutting the car on and off wear down the starter and battery? Two extra restarts each day will average about $10 a year in repairs. " If your engine is operating fewer hours, there's less wear on the most expensive parts," says Jeff Bartlett, an auto editor with Consumer reports. -E.F.
WHEELS
21. Myth: I'D NEVER BUY AN ELECTRIC CAR BECAUSE I'D RUN OUT OF POWER AND BE STRANDED.
Reality: Don't be so paranoid.
It would be true, of course, if you decided on a whim to drive from Cincinnati to sea world, but Chrysler found that 80% of American drivers travel 40 miles or less each day. In Europe the distance is even lower.
22.Myth: ELECTRIC CARS RATED TO GO 100 MILES WILL MAKE IT THAT FAR.
Reality: It depends where you're driving and when.
Well, you can believe the range an electric-car maker promises if you avoid hills and drive in moderate climes. Generally, electric-car batteries are rated when the car is being driven in temperature of around 70 deg and of flat terrain. If, however, you're climbing Aspen's mountains in the winter, your mileage could be reduced by as much as 40%.
23.Myth: CAR AIR CONDITIONING WASTES ENERGY.
Reality: Don't sweat it.
Want to save gas and stay cool in the summer? Shut off the AC and roll down the windows. Right? That may save energy in city traffic. According to Consumer Reports, running the AC will decrease performance by two to four miles per gallon. But what effect will air resistance have at highway speeds? Consumer Reports tested a Toyota Camry at 65 mph and found that AC use burned only slightly more energy than with windows open. Its advice: "Do what makes you comfortable." -E.F.
24.Myth: HYBRIDS ARE MUCH BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT THAN REGULAR CARS
Reality: Not all hybrids are created equal.
Some hybrids are big fuel saver, but Don Anair, a vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, rules out cars like the Lexus LS 600h L, which he classifies as a "muscle hybrid." It has a combined fuel economy rating of 21 mpg, just 17% above the conventional LS 460 L luxury sedan. Says a Lexus spokesman: "You can call it a muscle hybrid, but combined 21 mpg for a full-size car that has a performance close to a V-12 is pretty spectacular." By contrast, a true hybrid like the Toyota Prius gets 79% better fuel economy than the Matrix, the closest conventional match.
25.Myth: DRIVING FEWER MILES IS GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
Reality: The shortest distance between two points is not always the greenest.
UPS uses a sophisticated mapping-software system that directs its drivers not to make left turns unless absolutely necessary. The trucks actually drive a bit farther each day than if they took those left turns, but spend less time idling wastefully and burning fuel while waiting to turn. -B.D.
-My next few blogs goes with recognizing some few startup companies and few old companies who are really green buffs and how they are utilizing their expertise and brilliance to save this planet and trying to restore all the smiles they had and also giving opportunity to the future generations to generate those smiles.
-Meanwhile your comments are highly appreciated
