A few weeks back, intermittent commenter, Robin, posted some touchy-feely ways to help prevent global warming. I ridiculed some of them. I decided they deserved a more lengthy post. Here they are with some comments by me.
1. Minimize drafts in your home, reducing energy costs.
Gee. Didn't we do that back in the 70's during the Jimmah Carter cardigan era? Ya mean there are still houses that we haven't done that to yet?
2. Reduce wasted electricity.
Let's start at the mansions of Pope Albert I of the Church of AGW. His mansion in Nashville uses 12 to 20 times the electricity of the average family. Lead by example your Assholiness.
3. Use more efficient light bulbs.
The gummint is gonna make us all do that soon when they outlaw incandescent bulbs. Unfortunately, CFLs, altho' they last longer (which is the reason I buy them) contain mercury and you're supposed to follow special disposal procedures. Fuck it! I threw the one I broke in the trash.
4. Turn down your water heater.
GFY! If I want a hot shower, I'll keep it at 140. I am gonna go tankless in the future.
5. Use your car less in favor of a bicyle or mass transit.
I'm a cripple and cannot ride a bike. Plus mass transit doesn't go where I want to go and not all mass transit is crip enabled.
6.Eat fresh, local foods
GFY! This is the 21st Century. We can get year round fresh food at the super market. That's one of the benefits of the modern age.
7. Use passive solar power in building homes in sunny areas.
Works in less than half the country.
8. Cut down on your personal spending.
GFY! I worked hard to become a SRF©. I want to enjoy my declining years. Anyway, JHE sez we need to spend money to get the economy going again. But, he'll take care of that personal spending with cap and trade which will send our energy bills skyrocketing.
9. Drive an energy-efficient car
GFY! I'll drive what I want to drive.
10. make sure that tires are properly inflated
JHE told us all to do that. I'm surprised he hasn't had the gummint issue all of us tire guages.
11. Also, don’t use hot water if you don’t need to, like when doing laundry
Common sense. Ya mean there are people who don't do this?
12.try air-drying your clothes instead of using a dryer
This is the 21st Century. Using a dryer is a time saver and time is important especially if both parents work. Do you know what my HOA would say if I hung laundry out to dry? Geez! I just got a "courtesy reminder" that the ground cover in my beds was not up to snuff. They'd really freak if I started hanging laundry out to dry.
13.Run the dishwasher and clothes washer only when you have a full load, and if available, use the energy-saving setting.
Ya mean there are people who don't do this?
14.Take care with your appliances. Unplug them when you don’t use them
GMAFB! I'm supposed to unplug my oven, my microwave, my washer/dryer, my dishwasher, etc.? What planet do these people live on?
15.Buy recycled products
Recycle this!
16.Also try donating or selling instead of throwing away… craigslist.com is a great way to do that!
So's the Salvation Army or Goodwill.
17. try buying products with less packaging!
I'm sorry but when I buy sumpin' the packaging is the last thing I look for. I look for quality and price.
18. Ceiling fans are a pretty harmless way to cool down a room without using an air conditioner.
I like comfort. I use both.
19.Plant trees! you can strategize where you place them so they can shade your home. Deciduous trees lose their leaves in the winter so sun can warm your home as well.
Actually a good idea. One of the few in this stupid list.
20.Install blinds in your windows and keep windows and doors shut during the day to keep it cooler.
Ya mean there are people who don't do this?
21. Buy organic
One of the dumbest ideas on this list. Organic is a poor use of land and as such costs more to produce and more to buy, thus violating suggestion number 8. It uses more energy to produce than regular food. But "buy organic sounds good like "save the whales".
22.Carry a tote bag.
I've got sumpin' you can tote right here!
23.Use a reusable water bottle.
Better yet, drink tap water.
24.Start a compost in your backyard
What about the people who don't grow things? BTW, I do have a compost heap since I grow veggies in the summer. Picked my first tomato yesterday.
25.Consider a laptop...they take much less energy than a desktop
There are some things laptops cannot do. That's why there are desktops.
26.Consider cloth diapers.
Consider the energy, water, and detergent required to wash and dry them
27.Car pool to work...everyone ends up saving.
Many people do not work set hours or a regular schedule. When I worked for IBM, I didn't.
29.Shop Locally. Find farmers' markets and other sources of sustainable grown food near you
Isn't this the same as number 6?
30.Clean with vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda. Many cleaning products have harmful chemicals in them. Use natural products.
I've got some natural products right here! In many cases natural products do not clean as well. That's why we use products with "harmful chemicals".
31. Clean or replace your filters monthly.
Duh! Common sense.
32.Decrease your air travel.
GFY! If I want to fly somewhere, I'll fly somewhere. Would you rather I drove and used more gasoline? And speaking of decreasing air travel, at least I fly in a crowded bus in the sky and not on a private jet like all the liberals who tell me to reduce my air travel.
33.Use a low-flow showerhead, which will lessen the hot water used but not drop your water pressure in the shower.
Low flow means less water flowing so how will that not drop the water pressure?
34.Cut down on your garbage—buy fewer packaged materials
GFY! I'll buy what I want.
They left out using a low flow toilet. Y'all know about those. They're the ones that require multiple flushes and get stopped up more often.
As you can see, most of this list is a bunch of liberal pap. Some of it is common sense but most is, as I said at the start, touchy-feely feel good crap!
Save the Planet!
33.Use a low-flow showerhead, which will lessen the hot water used but not drop your water pressure in the shower.
Low flow means less water flowing so how will that not drop the water pressure?
I fell for this one about a year ago, and I still don't have pressure & volume back to optimum; something about that regulator between input/output having to be adjusted as well. You'd be amazed at the number of so-called experts that think pressure (voltage) and volume (current) are two different words meaning the same thing.
Has the new tire pressure czar been appointed yet?
Posted by: BTITH on June 24, 2009 03:56 PMthe way I look at this whole thing is as such:
1. I like value (the intersection of cost and quality)
2. I don't like to waste and see conserving where possible as a virtue
3. I have a life to lead and won't alter my schedule or habits much if does not accomodate #1 and or #2.
Not only do I use CFL but I LED. This is the future. LED burns even cooler and longer then CFL, does not have the mercury issue, and takes even less power. Problem is they provide virtually no ambient light or "glow". Currently they reside exclusively in my front porch and flash lights.
forget the low flow shower head. I use craigslist. I advertise something as "free" and it is gone from the driveway in no time. This is esp good for moving boxes, light fixtures, window coverings (imho).
a lot of the rest of these things save me money so I do them anyway.
Posted by: patrick on June 24, 2009 03:58 PMDan - We call those "experts" liberals or Dimocrats.
Posted by: Denny on June 24, 2009 04:06 PMeverytime im freezin my pattootie off, I learn all I need to know about ''global warming'' lol
support israel!
Posted by: firehand on June 24, 2009 04:37 PM
The compost heap is a really good place to to stick your local environmentalist nag.
Posted by: Rurik on June 24, 2009 05:45 PMSave the planet......it's the only one with BEER!
Posted by: Darrell on June 24, 2009 05:45 PMDo your research on the tankless water heaters carefully. I hear they suck.
Posted by: Thomas M. on June 24, 2009 06:23 PMLast time I checked, I was still a Fucking American. That means I'll use as much of something as I damn well please as long as I pay for it and it's legal. My forefathers didn't fight to the death for me to have to "suffer" and live in squalor to help some lazy ass foreigner in another country not have the ocean rise and wash his shack away. Fuck all you greenies and the ships you rode in on. I laugh out loud at my clients who feed their dog "organic" foods and make it a point to go over the ingredients with them one by one just to show that the terms organic, all natural, preserative free, free range...etc. etc. etc. are all just ways of separating fools from their money. Funny movie, Baby Mama, Amy Proehl tells what's her face that imitates Palin so well, "....organic foods, oh yeah, that's food for rich people that hate themselves." How true. By the way greenies, go eat some of the house plant known as Dumbcane (diphenbachia) since it's organic. BTW, it has ethylene glycol (aka antifreeze) in it and will kill you and your pets as quick as you eat it. But it's organic by God.
Denny....
Poor Robin, thought he had converted you & was sitting in front of his computer screen waving a banner.....then not only did you deflate his environmental sensibility , so did DanS.
Incidently , a friend of mine installed a tankless water heater in his campm & it works just great. Vitually instant hot water & no bulky tank to take up space & drain everytime you leave.
Posted by: Dudley1 on June 24, 2009 08:11 PMSpeaking of conserving energy... I haven't bought my ticket for Camp Blownstar yet. You want company for the ride to Texas? I can get a ticket to Atlanta as easily as I can get one to Austin or San Antonio, and I've got plenty of vacation time saved up.
Posted by: Omnibus Driver on June 24, 2009 08:19 PMLeslie - You can ride out with me, but I'm not going straight back to Atlanta afterwards. I'm planning on seeing a friend in Jeff City and then spending a few days in St. Louis to see friends and family.
Posted by: Denny on June 24, 2009 09:19 PMI HATE those gol-durn light bulbs. One of my oddball hobbies is listening, or trying to, distant AM radio stations, as well as shortwave. If you have one anywhere close to the radio you're trying to use, all you hear is static. And the more sensitive the radio, the more those friggin' bulbs screw it up...Grrrrrr...Just another reason for me to DESPISE these buttinsky environmentalist wackos...-Unca Sandy
Posted by: Sandy G. on June 24, 2009 09:37 PMOrganic farming is bullshit. The only way that this planet manages to feed 6 billion people (most of whom spend their lives making hippy beads on a dollar a day for liberals to flaunt) is through intensive farming, strong pesticide use (so that the chance of crop failure is minimised - otherwise people starve), and modern technologies such as hydroponics. If the libs can find a way to cull most of the world's population and don't mind eating most foods only half the year then maybe we could go back to organic farming.
Then we could ditch the tractors and go back to horse drawn plows. And with it the twelve hour days of manual labour and early death from worn out bodies.
All these sentimentalists would get a good wake up call if they realised just how easy their modern life is because of all the conveniences the despise.
Breeze - If you haven't read The Last Centurion by John Ringo you should. He talks about the bullshit that is organic farming.
Posted by: Denny on June 24, 2009 10:12 PMOther things to think about if you are going tankless....
1. Figure out how much pressure you want in gallons per minute (GPM). The higher the GPM the higher the cost.
2. Figure out the input temp. That will tell you how much of a temp rise you need to get the water hot.
3. If you are going to use electric power vs NG, make sure your fuse box is large enough to carry the load.
Which is to say tankless systems can have problems if not engineeed correctly.
You might consider this. If you have an oversize tank you will just be reheating water you don't use. Consider downsizing and going to a split system, the smallest possible on the one used the least.
Posted by: Poker Player on June 24, 2009 10:14 PMPoker player - From what I hear, electric is a non-starter.
Posted by: Denny on June 24, 2009 10:18 PMalong the lines of the organic foods, i ran across this vegan poster today.
"Keep being awesome!"
Posted by: Pip on June 24, 2009 11:27 PMTankless water heaters need a minimum flow before they detect a demand for hot water, and kick in. If the flow is too low, they'll turn off, or won't turn on. It's probably a race between the low flow shower head and the tankless water heater.
Posted by: KarlU on June 25, 2009 12:12 AMWe don't need no stinking advice. Most capitalists simply look for the most economical solution and use it. That tends to be the most eco-friendly, but if not, we have a first amendment that gives the eco-nuts the right to prostheletize their asses off, and we are at liberty to follow their advice if we think it makes sense. It all goes to hell when the eco-nuts try to use the force of government to jam their agenda down my throat.
Posted by: KarlU on June 25, 2009 12:15 AMA low flow shower head is designed to spray harder with less water. They actually work fairly well. I've used them. My dad installed them in his house, not for environmental reasons, or even to save water (he's on a well), but because the septic tank drain field is getting old, and if he has it replaced, the new environmental standards will make a new one cost him more than his house is worth, which is quite a lot.
A regular shower head with a flow restrictor is garbage.
Posted by: KarlU on June 25, 2009 12:21 AMI agree 100% with you, Ray. Every time I hear some clown say "but it's natural and organic," I counter with "So is hemlock, arsenic, and belladona. Moron."
On the subject of veggies, I started a square foot garden this year and right now I'm up to my armpits in yellow squash. The tomatoes are huge but no big fruit yet (I'm in Virginia, Denny, so you have kind of a head start), and I'm planting the white pumpkin seeds this weekend.
Elizabeth
Imperial Keeper
Denny, I love your website and agree with you 97.67% of the time, but I call bullshit on your calling organic farming bullshit.
"Organic" farming was what kept the earth's population alive all throughout history. "Modern," i.e., "chemical" farming only came about after World War II. I choose to NOT want to eat food that was grown in a toxic mess of carcinogenic chemicals. Organic farming methods not only could easily feed the entire world, but if everyone went back to farming that way it would sure cut down on the rate of cancer in the population from folks being exposed to various chemical pesticides, herbicides, etc.
I'm sure even you, Denny, would admit that US military vets were harmed by exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Agent Orange was a typical herbicide, btw.
chicopanther
Posted by: chicopanther on June 25, 2009 09:19 AMGlobal warming BS.
Denny, you're repeating yourself.
Posted by: thatjerryguy on June 25, 2009 09:36 AMchicopanther - Didn't we have this discussion before? Go get a copy of The Last Centurion and read the discussion of organic farming. The yield is 1/4 the per acre yield of modern farming methods. As such, it uses more energy to produce, thus adding to the fictional AGW. If you want to spend more for organic foods to make you feel better, knock yourself out. There's a reason that we produce moor food than Africa.
Posted by: Denny on June 25, 2009 12:39 PM"if everyone went back to farming that way it would sure cut down on the rate of cancer in the population from folks being exposed to various chemical pesticides, herbicides, etc."
I call BULLSHIT and want to see the scientific evidence that proves this "quackery". On the flip side, I can prove that longevity had increased to such an extent as to have almost doubled the expected life expectancy from a couple hundred years ago. Much of this has been brought about because we recognized how important good nutrition was, and of course, high tech medical care. Also, the cancer rates have gone down since WWII, not up.
Posted by: Ray on June 25, 2009 04:20 PMMy work is on a green kick, and they tell us to vacation closer to home, take the train to your destination and if you have to fly, buy carbon offset credits. BULL-PLOP! I save my vacation time so I can go somewhere special that I cannot see on a short weekend trip. No way am I going to take a 10 hour train ride when I can be there in an hour and a half on a plane. And I do not feel guilty about traveling via airplane to buy carbon credits. They also tried telling us that we should eat meat less because it will save some of the grain that we send to foreign countries as aid. So am I supposed to eat the grain that we would be sending them? I am sooooo confused!
Posted by: evan on June 25, 2009 05:26 PMThe planting trees is a good deal. I am starting a pecan orchard and thinking of getting in on the carbon offset scam. If people will pay me to plant a pecan tree, I will name it after them and send them a carbon offset certificate.
BTW, I do not believe in organic farming. If I catch something chewing on my nuts, I am going to shoot it, stick it, or spray it!
Posted by: PB on June 25, 2009 06:20 PM