nicdarling

I just realized that, in the flurry of activity last week, I never gave you anything to look at. Irresponsible and rude of me, I know. So, in abbreviated form, I will give you exciting green links from both last week and this one. Look at all this . . .

Episode 18

• Lot’s of information about dirt, where its going and how we can get it to stay put.
• Apparently in the distant past, before the Internet, people sent something called “letters”, they sometimes forgot the name of an obscure movie forever and they looked up businesses in an overweight tome known as The Yellow Pages. Unfortunately, despite the fact that their use for anything other than a doorstop or a booster seat has been long since eliminated, these Yellow Pages continue to be produced and delivered, wasting trees, fuel and cupboard space. Now you can help stop this irrational printing of business information and ads. Sign up to have your home and/or office removed from the unsolicited delivery of phone books.
• Solar panels without the huge upfront investment? Leave it to the Nutmeg State.
• I don’t believe a disagreement with liars to be a political statement, so I feel alright about using this apolitical blog space to ask why the hell there doesn’t seem to be an appropriate and effective response to the falsehoods repeated endlessly in the conservative media? Look at some of these oil related yarns that are being spun right now. Unfortunately, with 63% of Americans supporting off-shore drilling, it appears that merely repeating a lie often enough can make it true. Let’s try it . . . I have washboard abs, I have washboard abs, I have washboard abs . . . damn.

Episode 19

• What are some things we could make with 6 million dead carp? The 6 Million Carp Man . . . Carp Mahal . . . 6 million “Dead Carp Behind Your Fridge” practical jokes . . . Wall-to-wall Carp-et for a good section of Brooklyn . . . Sorry, those were bad, but the opportunity does make one think.
• We care about the earth, but does that mean we also have to care about bats? If so, we might want to see what we can do about our alternative energy solutions causing bats’ lungs to explode.
• Speaking of wind energy, the issue, as one would expect, gets more complicated as we start making more of it.
• We think energy is costing us a lot out of pocket, but that doesn’t even account for the cost of subsidizing the poor struggling energy companies.

Promise 7: I pledge to invest in the best possible building envelope through insulation and high-performance windows.

For the vast majority of us this isn’t really an option unless we want to start some sort of letter writing campaign to the owner of the building where we lease space or begin breaking window in hopes of getting them replaced. Construction decisions are rarely in the hands of lessees and probably with good reason. If you don’t own the building it is easy to imagine that something like replacing all the stairs with slides and fireman poles is a good idea (I already have some preliminary drawings).

There are, of course, some exceptions. Those of you who own the building in which you work or those who have some say in fitting out a new space can influence these choices. Even those of us who rent might be able to put in our two cents during a renovation if we have been good tenants up to that point. In these cases it is important to realize that improving the envelope of the building is the most effective “greening” you can do.

Insulation, windows and the materials used in the exterior of your office (or any other structure) far outweigh nearly any other green element you might use. Your fancy solar panels and geo-thermal system are all for naught without the proper envelope. Even if you don’t have control over you office environment this is important to remember for your home and any other structure you might build. I know my 100k birdhouse would be far less impressive if I hadn’t paid the proper attention to its insulation and windows.

Chad’s Green Tips

Chad is on vacation and after WordPress erased this post once, I have lost some of the will to research this topic myself. So, until Chad brings his green geekiness back from California, you will have to settle for a couple of useful links.

First check out this 100k house post on insulation from January of this year. I know that in internet terms that makes it 85 years old, but there is some good stuff in there.

If that doesn’t quite do it for you, I’ll take the lazy man’s way out and refer you to this Wikipedia article on r-values. After working your way through that beast you should be fed up enough to forget that I didn’t give you any window related information.

Don’t worry, we’ll make Chad update this when he gets back or maybe someone will give us some tips in the comments . . . anyone?

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.

Those of you who actually managed to make it all the way through our recent video on lightbulbs probably noticed our tongue-in-cheek irresponsibility in reference to disposing of CFLs. This was done partly for the meager humor we found in it and partly because we hadn’t really had the chance to research the issue before filming. So, the question is . . . how should we properly dispose of our spent CFLs?

I found one article already that seemed helpful, but I figured I would ask all the smart readers who inexplicably read this blog to chime in. Drop some wisdom in the comments.

Videos are just rolling out of the Postgreen office lately and while our quality hasn’t improved noticeably yet, we have some stuff in the works that will impress (if you are easily impressed). That said, blog posts have not exactly been coming at the same pace. Hopefully we can pull ourselves away from Final Cut long enough to remedy that. Until then, look at this . . .

• Off-shore drilling is the gas crisis penicillin according to some and the harbinger of the apocolypse according to others, but what is the real, unspun deal? I’m not sure if this post on drilling answers that question, but it is definitely part of the conversation.
• It’s a little late for this years crop of concentious college-bounds, but those looking into schools whose green fervor matches their own now have an excellent resource. Pick up a copy of Princeton Review’s list and see if your future alma mater cares about anything other that corporate gifts and winning football teams.
• A cool house with a cool name, but the Alley House is not for those of us scraping change out of the couch for our next dozen organic eggs. Unlike most things in alleys (trash cans, rats, Hobo Steve) this is one of those beautiful things to look at, admire, steal ideas from and, at all costs, avoid touching (I can hear my mother now . . . “no touching. That stuff’s expensive.”). Wow, alleys in Seattle are way nicer than the ones we have in Philly.
• You know how single malt scotches come from a single batch, no blending, no mixing (mmmm . . . scotch)? Well, this is the furniture equivalent and I want one . . . no rocks, just a splash of water.
• More on the whole drilling question, but this one is funny and depressing.

I actually have more links but I don’t want to overwhelm you. I’ll just stockpile them for next time . . . as if my links were oil and I wanted to make a higher profit by creating artificial scarcity . . . but that would be crazy . . . you’d never buy it . . . you’d revolt . . . wouldn’t you?

Well, it is finally here, the first video entry in the Green Office Pledge Breakdown. It is riddled with inaccuracies, chock-full of foolishness, poorly framed and horrifyingly lit, but that didn’t seem to offend anyone when we released our first video press release, so what the hell.

Some notes to read before watching:

1. We failed to address daylight/occupancy sensors. Basically, we left them out because this thing is too long as it is, and Chad had mentioned them in another post.
2. I inexplicably add the word “building” to the Green Office Pledge. This was noticed but we were too busy to fix it. Sorry.
3. The lighting is awful, but so is the cinematography, editing and graphic work. Imagine if the lighting was great. It would stick out like a sore thumb.
4. We breezed over the CFL mercury thing. We know this is an issue, but currently feel the power-savings justify CFLs. We will happily hear complaints, advice and alternatives in the comments, but be nice . . . we’re sensitive.

Alright, enough prologue. Here’s GOPB Part 6.

The video can also be found here for those of you who prefer watching on YouTube or in case this doesn’t appear in the RSS.

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.

Wow, It has been a terrible week for Postgreen blogging. We are ashamed of our performance but promise something really exciting in the next 24 hours to make up for it. Well, “really exciting” might be a bit of a stretch, but we will definitely be giving you something different. So, keep an eye out for that, but first, look at this . . .

• Everyone is talking about it, and I haven’t had the chance to be the first one to tell anyone. I’ve been “scooped” left and right. So, if one of you could pretend not to have heard about MIT’s new solar news, I would appreciate it.
• This device may make you look a little more ridiculous but with cycling outfits being what they are, what difference is a tiny addtional absurdity going to make. Besides, if you are an olympian, this could be the only thing between you and the toxic soup China refers to as “air”.
• Bears, conspiritors in the great climate change cover-up, seek to deter scientists from studying the effects of climate change. Some speculate that these bears are on the oil companies’ payroll but that claim remains heavily disputed. And, who wants to argue with an angry, self-righteous bear?
• As you have probably predicted, the US government has once again decided to ignore science, popular opinion, sensory evidence and basic rational thought in exchange for bribes from lobbyists. It seems that the EPA is due for a name change to something that more accuratley reflects their policies. I’m not sure who or what they are currently protecting, but I rather doubt the environment has anything to do with it.
• Whoa. Um . . . this takes tree-hugging to a whole new level. Keep the volume down if you’re watching at work, or turn it up and freak people out when they bust you watching suggestive tree shots from Green Peace.

In addition to my normal internet surfing I have been doing some video work this week for our 100k House project. I have nothing to show for this yet as most of my time was spent relearning Final Cut, but I do have a favor to ask. If any of you are musicians and would like a little free publicity, we would love to feature your music in our video productions. We will tell everyone who you are and where to find you both in the video and on our blogs. In exchange, you won’t ask us for money (that green stuff I’ve heard so much about) for using your sounds.

Alright, now we can get on to the important stuff. Look at this . . .

• Despite my desire to believe everything comic books tell me, it turns out that extreme radiation doesn’t create super powers. So, no more uranium (will that word finally earn us some government attention?) under my pillow at night. Fortunately, it turns out that radiation can help create a new type of mushroom which would be great if they weren’t so inaccessible and incredibly poisonous.
• The questions have been asked before and they have been answered before, but for some reason I like the way this post responds to a few typical green inquiries.
• While I normally write about beer, I figured my beautiful lady friend would appreciate a little space devoted to affordale organic wine.
• It appears that we have increased the birds yearly commute. Birds think we’re jerks.
• I am basically linking to this because the word “sucks” is in the title of the post. It has been a difficult day and the word sums up a lot.

Promise 5 - I pledge to adjust the settings on my computer so that it automatically goes into standby mode when it is inactive for 30 minutes.

The standby setting on your computer is a beautiful thing. It automatically shifts the machine into a low power mode whenever you leave it alone long enough. In a way it reminds me of Chad. If he receives no outside interaction for a given period of time, he will eventually take a nap.

While this is obviously a great power-saving tool, I have also found it serves a second purpose. I have a tendency to “zone out” while working. My mind finds some strange path away from the present task and follows it until interrupted by some external stimulus. The monitor of my computer flicking off seems just the right sort of signal to bring me around. Mid-daydream the screen goes dark, and I am instantly back where I belong.

So, while the pledge suggests a thirty minute setting on your computer, I think those of you with a tendency to “space” might want to consider something a bit shorter. It will save energy and your workday. I am so prone to mental shutdown that I have programed my computer sleep alarm to 5 minutes. Chances are if I’m not responsive for 5 minutes, I’m not going to be without some intervention.

Chad’s Green Office Tips

I don’t have much to add to the computer settings as it is pretty straight forward, but I do have one other tip that goes hand in hand with this topic. While we are reducing the power our PC’s are using at work, why not take care of other peripherals at your desk that are also sucking power while you are away from your desk. Most modern electronics will use standby or vampire power even when not in use while they are plugged in and sitting in standby mode.

There are fancier options out there but I really like this simple, $30 7 Outlet Smart Strip Surge Protector that will automatically help you reduce your vampire energy usage while away from the office. All you do is plug in you PC to the blue “control” outlet and the strip will sense when your PC is on or off. When it’s off it will also cut the power automatically to the other devices that are plugged into the strip such as your monitor and cell phone charger. There are also two red outlets in the strip that will remain on no matter what for your clock or anything else you don’t want to cycle on and off every night.

Also, check out the PowerSave software by Faronics which claims to save over $25 per year on every computer in your office by analyzing usage patterns and optimizing each computers power management actions.

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.

It has been an exciting week at Postgreen with meetings at city hall, new projects beginning, imminent land settlement and new electronic toys. We have a bunch of exciting stuff in the works so be sure to stay tuned. While you wait for us to amaze youwith our next wave of happenings look at this cool stuff I found on the internets . . .

• I know that everyone already knows about it, but as an avid walker I was pretty excited about reading this bit of news on Google’s walking directions. Check out my walk to work . . .

• As I have mentioned before, I usually avoid politics in this blog, but speaking about our current president seems to have left the realm of politics and entered the surreal. For example, note the comment he made at the recent G8 conference.
• It turns out that the individual smells that make up “new car smell” might not be particularly good for you. I now regret asking my fiancee to splash on the scent before every date. I just love a woman that smells like bromine, chlorine and heavy metals.
• Amazon is selling garbage, but it is pretty garbage.
• I want prescient ants to exist as much as the next person, but one wonders if a certain Turkish gentleman simply needs to get out more.

Want to see more about what Nic is doing on a day-to-day basis? Follow him on Twitter. You can follow Chad as well. What a social media saavy team we are.

I pledge to turn off my lights whenever I leave my office for extended periods (15 minutes or longer) and ask my employees to do the same.

This one doesn’t seem to need much in the way of exposition. I mean, generally it is common sense, right? I know as a kid this was a constantly repeated mantra. “When you leave a room,” my parents would say, “turn off the light.” There was nothing green about this. It was simply economics and basic logic. After all, my mother was probably right when she said that my stuffed monkey wasn’t scared of the dark.

Chad’s Green Office Tips

Turning off the lights is pretty straight forward. There are advancements in this pledge that include occupancy sensors on lights. Most of them basically have a sensor near the door that senses when you enter the room and when you leave. If you forget to turn off the light when leaving, it will automatically do so for you after a set period of time. This may be worth looking into during your green office renovations.

I’ll add one more tip to this post to go along with the lights. Ceiling fans and all types of fans for that matter should be turned off when leaving a room for a prolonged period of time as they only serve a cooling function when they are blowing directly on people in the room.

This post is part of our ongoing, 30 part series breaking down the Green Office Pledge. Sign up for the pledge and be sure to check out the rest of the series for more tips and anectdotes.