From Better World Club: Many appliances still use up energy even when switched off. For example, 25% of the electricity a television set uses is consumed when it is not even on. The only way to ensure that your appliance is not using power is to unplug it. You can also plug it into a power strip, which you can then turn off. (Obviously, power strips still consume a small amount of energy, but far less than when the appliances are plugged in directly.)

One day before the start of this year's United Nations General Assembly, world leaders had a carbon-neutral summit on climate change. It was meant to pave the way for talks in Bali, Indonesia this December, where nations will discuss post Kyoto Protocol emissions rules. The Kyoto treaty expires in 2012.
On "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", Bolivian President Evo Morales offered his insight on the conference. He said he heard a lot of talk about global warming but few political leaders actually say why it is happening or where climate change is coming from. He actually mentioned Western culture, industries, excessive consumption.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was encouraged by the results of the meeting, but the general consensus is that there is a lack of global political will to cool the planet. President Bush did not attend Monday's summit but will host separate climate talks this Thursday and Friday for 16 major polluting countries such as China and India.

from Ideal Bite: For those special occasions, send cards made from sustainable paper or even better, e-cards. Only a small percentage of the 2.65 billion cards purchased in the U.S. annually are made from recycled paper. Pop-up Mountain cards, Letterfu, Sappycards, Loop Doodlespark Notecards offer earth-friendly alternatives.

At last! The supermarket we frequently shop at released a newsletter last month and for the first time, they actually provided their e-mail address and contact numbers. Naturally, I had to e-mail them to commend them on the great job they're doing with the establishment's renovation and to inquire if they will ever consider offering reusable bags instead of plastic bags. Turns out that it's already in the works and will be launching the project soon. Hurrah!

As briefly mentioned in my previous post, I read that biodegradable items do not really break down in landfills. The landfills are packed so tightly that there is little oxygen and few microbes that are supposed to speed up the biodegradation process. The materials also may not break down because of the processing they went through. Until better and cheaper landfills that promote decomposition are available, the 3 "R's"---Reduce, Reuse and Recycle---still trump the use of so-called biodegradable products.

Should you buy and use products labeled "biodegradable"? According to About.com, there are no specific guidelines for companies to follow before they can label a product "biodegradable", and no organization overseeing the use of such claims. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) states that only products that contain materials that “break down and decompose into elements found in nature within a reasonably short amount of time when they are exposed to air, moisture and bacteria or other organisms” should be marketed as “biodegradable. The European Union defines biodegradable as material that will break down into mostly water, carbon dioxide and organic matter within six months. However, biodegradable items may not decompose if not exposed to biological agents, like when they are buried deep in a landfill. Other items may even degrade into even more dangerous by-products. Contact the manufacturer if you have questions and file a complaint with the FTC if they are unable to produce scientific evidence on their product's biodegradability. The agency has sued companies for deceptive or misleading use of the term.

Here's another one of them scary games that will make you cringe about your lifestyle: Consumer Consequences. This should be a wake-up call and should get you to start living more simply. I don't really think it's entirely appropriate for where I live, especially since few to no recycling facilities exist, households usually contain more than four people, etc. It was interesting, though, but it's not that much different from other quizzes of this sort; this one is just flashier. Have fun!

From PIRG:
Hundreds of thousands of people spoke up to stop BP's increased dumping into Lake Michigan and affirm that the Lake is our gem and source of drinking water, not a corporate dumping ground. BP pledged to avoid increasing its pollution, but the fight isn't over.
Not only does BP's discharge permit remain on the books in Indiana, but other permits allowing pollution increases are pending for polluters elsewhere in the Great Lakes region.
The Lakes face a litany of threats, from sewage overflows, and pesticide run-off to invasive species and unrestricted water withdrawals. Industrial pollution will take years to clean up.
PIRG is asking the Great Lake state Governors to prohibit, once and for all, pollution increases into their states' waterways. Help prevent future BP fiascos and restore the Great lakes by signing the petition to Governor Spitzer of New York.

Now how about that. A search engine that focuses exclusively on the greener side of the Web. Green Maven will definitely make sifting through the Web a lot easier, especially if you're only interested in environment-related websites.

Finally a website that brings the best of the Green Web together. Designed for Mavens that just can't get enough of all things Green. Use it as a research tool, or keep up to date on the latest trends in the Green Revolution.

It also posts news on the eco-front, so consider this another great new green resource.

The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation hopes that you will answer the call to recycle old cellphones and rechargeable batteries. These include Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-ion) and Small Sealed Lead* (Pb) batteries. Find a drop-off site near you.

It has been revealed a major conference on rivers and water beginning in Brisbane today will pump more than 100 tonnes of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Read more.

Yes, that's the unfortunate thing about it. Environment conferences take place all over and naturally, people will have to travel to get to them. It's the same with environmental architecture firms who need to travel across the country to meet up with clients, or organizations who need to fly across the globe to oversee work on community projects with their international partners. It's all done for a good cause, but the environmental costs are appalling.

See? Everyone's realizing just how important it is to ensure a cleaner, greener future for all. In Australia, grandparents are acknowledging that the older generation played a role in environmental degradation, but are rising up and doing their best to change things.

A recent poll by advocacy group National Seniors revealed renewable energy, water management and global warming were three of the top five vote-changing issues for the over-50s in marginal electorates across the country.

I'm glad they're taking charge and acknowledging their mistakes, but I certainly hope loads more people also step up and do their part (Calling big business and governments!).

The local power company Meralco now offers the Meralco Appliance Calculator, which will help you calculate how much electricity you use per appliance. It looks like it's more of a money-saving tool, but it sounds like it's also a good way for you to figure out how much you can cut back on your power use.

On a trip to South Dakota this past weekend, I rented a car and noticed a sign at the rental car counter advising against filling up the car with 85 octane fuel. So all weekend I wondered about this. E85, meaning 85% ethanol and 15% unleaded gasoline, is apparently becoming more common in the U.S. This is especially true in the midwest where corn is used for producing it. Ethanol has high oxygen content, burning more completely and producing less emissions. Corn converts the carbon dioxide into oxygen. So why would they advise against using it? There aren't a lot of car companies that make E85 models. Most cars are fuel injected and using the lower octane will cause "knocking" and can damage the engine over time. To find out if your car can run on ethanol or find E85 fueling stations, check out the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition website.

According to CNN, companies are now scrambling madly to develop cleaner technology, since they learned how being clean and green translates to big bucks in their pockets.

The United States, Europe and Japan are locked in a frantic race to cash in on the exploding business of saving the planet. London has become the center for the multibillion dollar market in carbon emissions, attracting investors who trade CO2 allowances. Read more.

It seems kind of disheartening that big business will only do something like this just because it means they'll be earning a lot from their efforts (kind of like, "Forget the planet--do it for the money!"), but hey, it's a great incentive, and at least they see how being green can be valuable.

While surfing the internet today, I stumbled upon this article from the MSN Stop Global Warming site.

At first, I couldn't believe and decided to read on. I suppose it's true in a way. But to call living in cities the "key to curbing climate crisis" might be stretching it a bit.

What do you think?