Monthly Archives: October 2014

Light a New Fire; be innovative

    Innovation, that’s the key; think out of the box can as Amory Lovins calls it start a new fire. We need a completely new system for a new tomorrow, or an innovative tomorrow.  It’s about coming up with new designs, or finding new more sustainable ways to use what we have.  Even doing something as simple as changing the material something is made out of can be effective.  We need to reinvent what we have.

Before seeing what Lovins had to say I probably would have said all of this change would cost too much for this to be a real option, but after I heard what Lovins had to say I came to realize that not only is it better cost wise, at least in the long run, but it is also a much more effective and sustainable option.

The most innovative options arising today are those of renewable energy, Not “fires” used in the past like fossil fuels, but new “fires”, those with an endless supply of energy. The concept of 24\7 was unfamiliar to me; it was not something I thought about. Apparently wind solar power is considered unreliable and coal and nuclear power are considered reliable, but as Lovins said this is a misconception.  What I’m trying to get across is that all these miss conceptions are stopping us from going forward and being innovative, being stuck in out old ways, not lighting new fires.

I see a future where we aren’t paying anything different than what we’re paying now; a world functioning only on renewable energy,  but this is only going to happen when we come to the point where nonrenewable energy has completely un out because we are the type of people who only respond to issues we are living through an can see right in front of us.

 NewFires

 

Printing

This week the ink in my printer finished, and I haven’t had time to go buy new ink, so I’ve been printing everything I’m required to print for all my classes at the University Center, and I noticed that I’ve been there too many times this week, and definitely much more than necessary.

I probably haven’t been printing more than I usually do, but the only difference is that I’ve had to go to the University Center each time I’ve had to print a paper. Printing at home is so effortless, so you could print papers almost everyday, and not even realize the amount of paper that you’ve printing, but when you actually have to get up and walk too another building you realize the amount of paper you’re printing.

Not having ink was a good think and a bad thing, obviously a bad thing because getting up is just a hassle, and a good thing because I realized that I print papers way more than necessary, and will try and limit my printing as much as possible.

Filthy Streets Solutions

People take action when things get extreme, so a filthy city may need to get to a point where there is an extreme amount of filth, even to the point of disease, until finally deciding to do something about it.

When I walk around the streets of NYC I can’t help but notice the extremely horrible smell of trash. Trying to solve this problem in the way Amory Lovins would my solution to this problem would be building underground system where trash can be kept, this way we can avoid having streets filled with trash, and can also avoid having such bad smells on the streets. This way this system has multiple benefits.

Restaurants and companies that keep the streets clear of their waste and food should be rewarded.

Think of new ways to design transportation were so many fumes wont be relaeased into the air.

Plastic Bags

Organizing one of our kitchen closets the other day I could not help but notice the amount of plastic bags that had gathered there over the weeks. I actually felt quiet disappointed in myself staring at that pile of plastic bags.  I try to keep track of the amount of plastic bags I am leaving the store with, but it all ends up adding up without me even realizing it.

It’s not like I don’t end up using the bags. I do! I use the bags as trash bags! Still, even though I am using the bags the amount I’m using, as trash bags are far less than the amount I’m getting from stores.  Above that, even the bags I end up using as trash bags eventually go to waist when I throw my trash away.

I want to try and buy one of those reusable bags you find at almost any supermarket. Even though it’s a hassle to always have one around. It will  stop my pile of bags from doubling, or even tripling!

 

Energy Loss

Air conditions and refrigerators are both devices meant to cool, but unfortunately in order to turn warm air into cool air, heat energy is inevitably lost in the process.  My solution to this would make these machines more costly, and might not really be a solution, but it’s all I could think of because there is no way to avoid losing energy. If the heat energy being released went through another cycle of cooling more heat energy would still be lost, but at least the amount of energy being lost would be less.  Yes’ it will take a lot of energy, but wouldn’t less heat energy be wasted? The amount of heat energy being lost at the start isn’t a lot, so the amount of energy needed to cool, wouldn’t really be a lot.

Paper Napkins

Every day of the week, right before I go to my morning classes, I make a cheese sandwich. I’m too lazy to use a plate and end up having to wash it afterward, so I usually use a paper napkin. Strangely, as out of it as I am every morning I really started to think about all those tissues going to waste because of my laziness.

Not only am I throwing away paper towels for no reason, but I’m not even recycling them. I know which recycling bin my paper napkins belong in. Do they belong with papers? I usually through my paper napkins in the waste bins because I don’t really see how they can be recycled after use.

Recently, I learnt that paper towels could be recycled as compost to enrich soil. I’m going to try and not use paper napkins as much =, but when I do, I’ll remember the correct way to recycle them.

Paper Towels Going to Waste

Back home I wasn’t required to wash the dishes as often as I do living in the dorms. Any kitchenware that I use needs to be immediately dried after the dishes are washed. The only problem with that is that there is no place for me to lay my dishes out to dry in my small dorm space. I end up having to use paper towels every time I wash a dish.

The amount of paper towels we use per day to dry our dishes is not helping me become a more eco-friendly person.  Before you tell me that I can become more eco-friendly by simply using a towel I would like to say that I’m possibly slightly OCD and I think its one of the most unhygienic things to do in a dorm. I had a white towel, which is currently brown. So a towel isn’t an option either.

The only solution I can think of is having more space for me to leave my things to dry on. I hope that whoever is planning on designing a kitchen space or any dorm in general remember to make space for people to lay out their dishes on.