IAASP: Information & Articles About Saving our Planet

The world is slowly realizing that we need to go green, but going totally green is going to be a long uphill battle. There are still people who think that if they don’t litter, that’s all they need to do to prevent pollution. Or they buy a car that meets EPA’s emission standards, and live in a city that has relatively clean air they think that’s all they need to do. Nothing is further from the truth. Pollution affects everyone, and there are things we should all be doing to help clean up the environment and prevent pollution.

Just How Many Kinds of Pollution are there?

There are many forms of pollution and many like light pollution and noise pollution are new ideas to many people, but there are the basic sources of pollution that everyone can help change. Here are a few examples.

Litter

Litter is found everywhere; on the side of the road, in vacant lots, and in our waterways. Many people are of the mentality of “oh, it’s only one cigarette butt, or one can of soda or one hamburger wrapper”, but when thousands of people throw out only one thing, the litter mounts up. All that litter is causing toxins to be emitted into our air, in our groundwater and into our soil

Water Pollution

When many people think of serious water pollution, they think of large oil spills such as the Valdez oil spill in Alaska many years ago. Few realize that our everyday actions are contributing to water pollution. Poorly maintained septic tanks, improperly applied lawn fertilizers, and home cleaning products are also major contributors to water pollution.

Air Pollution

Everyone on this planet makes some contribution to the problem of air pollution. Completely eliminating air pollution will be impossible because everything we do releases some sort of chemical. Many of the major manufacturers have cleaned up their act and are getting better at monitoring the amount of pollutants they emit. Car manufacturers have made great strides in the development of emission systems, but the sheer volume of cars on the road adds is a significant amount of pollution into the air.

Light Pollution – With the addition of so many new homes, strip malls and buildings, the problem of light pollution is, excuse the pun, coming to light. Who would have ever thought that pollution comes in the form of light? Research shows that extended exposure to light causes a breakdown of melatonin in the body and the energy it takes to produce that light wastes precious energy.

Is the Picture Hopeless?

One may begin to think that we have done so much damage that there is no way we can fix the problem. Well, we all created this problem and it’s time we banded together to be a part of the solution. A few ways we can do this are:

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Reduce the amount of waste your household makes by buying smartly. Reuse items purchased for one reason into something else. Recycle all the plastic, glass, paper, and other items that you use, instead of throwing them away.

• Caustic Chemicals – Look in your cabinets and see the plethora of everyday chemicals and find environmentally friendly alternatives. More and more products are showing up on grocers’ shelves that are environmentally friendly.

• Hoof It – Reduce the amount of miles you use your car. This will not only cut down on emissions, it will save you a lot of money. It also has the advantage of giving you more exercise if you walk or bike to places you would have normally driven the car.

Pollution has been around since the days of the caveman. It is no longer someone else’s problem, it is a problem for all of us, and we all need to take responsibility towards its control. Are you planning to be part of the problem or part of the solution?

Green Hotels: The main aim towards the establishment of green hotel is to provide their guests a natural and pure environment to dwell and at the same time pacifying the ill-effects of pollution and harmful gases on earth. Green hotels address to all the needs of their guests and yet act as an environmentally responsible sector of the society. Moreover, they practice so many positive activities so as to conserve the energy and environment and use the waste product by recycling them. Hence, unlike other different sectors, green hotels promote a pollution free world instead of adding something more to the current pollution stage.

Significance of Green Hotels:

The establishment of green hotels has given birth to a better and enhanced idea of energy conservation, environmentally responsible acts and re-use of non-renewable resources. After they have come up with different innovative ideas of environment and energy conservation, people are becoming more aware as to how they can save renewable and non-renewable resources in their daily lives. On top of that we can’t afford to forget its advantageous role against global warming and in pacifying the greenhouse effect.

How do green hotels benefit Man and the environment?

Green hotels not only benefit the visitors by providing them a pure and natural place filled with peace and tranquility but also benefit the environment by the conservation of both conventional and non-conventional resources. Following are some ways as to how it benefits both the aspects:-

• Green hotels are found to be cost –effective for the visitors.


• Guests appreciate the idea of conserving the environment.


• All the needs of guests are being addressed; on top of which they get a pure environment to breathe and enjoy the natural beauty.
• Planting an organic garden to supply fresh produce to their guests.

As far as environmentally responsible act is concerned, following are some ways adopted by the green hotels:-

• Planting those plants which consume less water.
• Installation of sink aerators and low-flow showerheads to save water energy.
• Using compact fluorescent lights and timers or sensors in them for less frequently used areas
• Using compost bin for leftover food or simply give it to a local nonprofit organization.
• Buying guest amenities and food in bulk.

The above mentioned points are only a few instances of the environmentally responsible practices adopted by the green hotels however there are more such activities they perform. Thus, Green hotels acts as a bridge between man and the environment by inspiring all of us to act more responsibly towards the environment.

For more information visit: www.EcoGreenHotel.com

EcoGreenHotel.com was launched early in 2008 and is planning for considerable growth in 2009. The planned growth will be with vendor partners
that target the hospitality industry, sustainable hotel partners and a consulting arm that will be working with both new and existing properties.

EcoGreenHotel will provide ‘Green’ Consulting Services to include:

• Audit of hotel building design and operations
• Provide a recommendations report on building and operations
• Lay groundwork for an environmental management system
• Educate and train management for new environmental direction
• Conduct on-site environmental workshops for all levels of staff
• Develop a customized environmental policy and purchasing plan
• Assist with certification processing, including LEEDTM

With plenty of information on green products and services, industry ‘green’ news, basic environmental overview and tools like checklists, green project ideas, book lists and resourceful links for a more sustainable hotel, EcogreenHotel.com is a marketplace.

EcoGreen Hotel follows various green hotel practices.

The top ten are listed below:

1. Buying recycled-content products for the office, construction and remodeling projects
2. Installing energy efficient lighting fixtures, fluorescent bulbs, HVAC and other electrical equipment
3. Institute a linen reuse program in guest rooms
4. Starting a recycling program for trash from guest rooms, the kitchen and business office.
5. Hiring energy expert to conduct an audit of hotel
6. Evaluating cleaners, sanitizers, paints, pesticides and other products used
7. Monitoring, record and post rates of energy and water use. Watch for changes that may indicate repair or equipment change
8. Providing incentives to encourage staff participation in efforts to “green” the establishment
9. Installing water conserving showerheads, faucets and toilets in guest rooms
10. Donating leftover food, amenities and other extras to local shelters or other recipients.

EcoGreen is a valuable resource for hoteliers. EcoGreenhotel.com helps hotels to address environmental issues in a better way and implements environment friendly initiatives.

For more information on EcoGreenHotel or available consulting services, please visit http://www.ecogreenhotel.com

Are you looking for ways to save energy and live your life greener? You can cook your food by the light of the sun. What could be more back-to-the-earth and off-the-grid than that? Solar ovens are available commercially, and can be quite expensive. If you are into green living you don’t need me to tell you all the un-green things about stoves and ovens, gas and electric alike. But you may need me to offer you an alternative. So here it is – the simple homemade solar oven that you can make for under 10 dollars.

Your list of materials:

2 cardboard boxes of two different sizes (more on this in a sec)

4 flat pieces of cardboard (2′-3′ square or rectangular)

scrap cardboard

1 small, 18″ wide roll of aluminum foil

1 piece double-strength glass (more on this in a sec too)

white paper glue

black pan

Now, about those boxes – one of them should be able to fit inside the other one with 2 to 3 inches of space all around. And about that glass – it should be half-an-inch longer and half-an-inch wider than your smaller cardboard box.

A solar oven is made up of two parts: the oven itself and a solar collector.

To make the oven:

Paint the inside of your smaller box black.

Cut up your cardboard scrap into pieces and line the bottom of the larger box with a layer of scrap thick enough so that when you place the smaller box inside the larger one, the smaller one’s lip rests about one inch below the larger one’s lip.

Once you’ve got your scrap layer sized right, take that smaller box out for a second so you can fold in the larger boxes flaps. Then place the smaller box inside. Cut up however much more scrap you need to stuff in around the sides of the smaller box so that you’ve got it wedged in there good.

The glass should make a nice seal when placed on top of the oven, with enough of a lip that your finger can hook under it to raise and lower the glass as needed.

To make the solar collector:

Take the 4 flat pieces of cardboard (don’t use double-strength) and cut them out in the shape of an anvil (like the kind the Road Runner drops on Wile E. Coyote’s head all the time). Glue these to the upper, outer rim of your solar oven so that the pieces join together in an overturned lampshade sort of shape. (To do this, glue the shorter of the two parallel sides of each flap to the upper, outer rim of the larger cardboard box. Then glue the angled edges to one another.)

Glue aluminum foil to the upward facing sides of these 4 flaps.

And you’re done!

To use the oven, simply place the food you want cooked inside it and sit the unit out under the sun until sufficiently cooked. Then eat and enjoy your – gas and electricity free!

Boxsmart goes green while providing top-notch service

Providing the option to recycle boxes and get paid is an innovative idea that has made our company well-known around the globe. Not only do we want our customers to make money; we want our eco-system to benefit in the process.

What Boxsmart can do for you

We offer our customers a chance to avoid the high cost of brand-new custom boxes. We want you to use the most cost-effective way to ship, while still keeping your product in top-notch shape. Our boxes are sold at huge discounts and not only do you save money, you are saving trees. By using Boxsmart for your box needs, you will be helping the environment. If you recycle one ton of corrugated boxes, you will be saving 17 trees from having to be cut down and in turn used for pulp thus cutting pollution by 95%. It does not stop there; you will also be saving 3 cubic yards of landfill space, not to mention 7,000 gallons of water.

We know that it can be bit demanding to recycle, this is why we offer you the chance to use discount recycled boxes, which appear to be new. This gives you the benefit of donating to our environment without all the work. We are a company that prides itself on sorting and processing by hand and inspecting each box for any problems. We stack, palletize, count and tag all of our orders with customer information including quantity, size and order number. We have millions of boxes in over one-hundred sizes and offer shipping within 24 hours of purchase.

Buying and Selling

Sellers will be able to increase their revenue by more than 50 to 100% in comparison to other recycling businesses. Boxsmart’s reclaimed boxes will be used at least one more time, providing further security for our environment. There will be no additional equipment charge, which can be quite expensive. We can help you scrap corrugated boxes more efficiently. We understand the dangers of bailing and compacting which is why our customers don’t have to worry about this step; it will be eliminated from the selling process. Boxsmart’s makes the process of buying and selling recycled boxes easy and convenient.

If you are buying our boxes, we offer a multitude of sizes and shapes, such as Gaylords, which carry a whopping 500 – 2,500 pounds. Again, if you are buying boxes, you will be contributing positively to the environment and we will ship your order within 24 hours of it being placed. Our huge stock of boxes is available for immediate shipping. Buyers will now save 25 to 75% just from purchasing from Boxsmart.

Boxsmart is here for all of your box shipping needs. If you have any questions before placing your order, please call our friendly customer service staff and they will be happy to assist you with any recommendations regarding shape and size. Remember, not only are you saving money, you are saving our trees.