Asha Anujeeva » Green

Wal-Mart to stop using plastic bags?

Anu — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:27:32 +0000

I was shopping at my local Wal-Mart and heard some of the employees talking about how pretty soon Wal-Mart will be requiring their customers to bring their own bags! I wonder how well the customers are going to be taking that! Personally, I’m glad – I have several canvas shopping tote bags that I bought a long time ago that I would like to use for my weekly groceries. Even though I bring most of my empty Wal-Mart shopping bags back to the Wal-Mart for recycling, I really would prefer to not have to deal with them. Although they DO make good little trash can liners!

I didn’t know people were eating monkeys!

Anu — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:59:39 +0000

I was reading a BBC.com website news story today about how 48% of the world’s primate species are facing extinction. The article explains that a large reason for that was the deforestation of the world; people are cutting down and/or burning the forests that the primates live in. That was depressing news. But what really surprised me was to read in the article that the extinction is being exacerbated by hunters who are hunting the primates for food! I did not realize that people considered monkeys as edible! I don’t know why, I just never really thought people would eat monkeys. That makes me especially sad, since I consider primates to be so closely related to humans that it almost seems cannibalistic to eat them!

Algae turned into fuel

Anu — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:13:02 +0000

According to an article dated May 29, 2008 in the LA Times, there is a company that is planning to use algae to start producing a crude oil that can be used to make gasoline and diesel fuel. The production of the fuel uses carbon dioxide, which would help to clean up our greenhouse gases problem. It can be refined in existing refineries and be used by the existing cars and trucks on the road. It plans to reach full commercial scale in five years. The company that is planning to do this is called Sapphire Energy.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful, getting oil from algae instead of fossil fuels!

Playtime with Tabitha

Anu — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:35:43 +0000

Yesterday I took my niece, Tabitha, to the playground at our local park. I love to have Tabitha visit, but she sometimes gets a little bit excited and has occasionally broken things in my house, so I choose to take her to the playground instead for our visits.

As I watched her play on the slide, climbing up the 10 or so stairs to slide down again some 40 or 50 times and then move on to the swings for a bit and then to the merry-go-round, I noticed that the mulch they had on the ground was made of rubber. I had never seen this before and found it very interesting and different.

After our playground romp, we went to the local ice cream shop for a sundae. She decided that she wanted a banana split instead of a sundae. She ordered a hot fudge sundae and I had my peanut butter sundae (my personal favorite). Of course, being only 7 years old, Tabitha got fudge all over her clothes and face. Her mother will have an absolute fit!!! But, that is what being a kid is all about, isn’t it? You should be able to get messy when you eat ice cream.

After Tabitha’s visit, dropped her off at her house (after a little clean up in the bathroom at the ice cream shop) and went home and did a little research. I found out that there is a company called Rubberecycle Playsafer that recycles old used tires and sells this rubber mulch for use on playgrounds and in horse arenas. It makes a softer place to land if a horse or child falls, it is good for the environment and gives a person or a horse more sure footing. I think it is a wonderful idea for recycling of tires and lasts much longer than traditional mulch.

Not Quite As Promised

Anu — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:02:03 +0000

A friend told me I could save t of money on printer ink if I bougt refilled cartridges from a store called Cartridge World. So I drove all the way across town to check out the store and heir prices.

The cost savings was supposed to be about half over the HP Brand name cartridges, but that’s not true – it’s more like 15%. But I went ahead and bought one to try it out – after all, I saved 15% and had already driving all the way over there.

Print quality was supposed to be the same as OEM, but that’s not true from what I saw when I printed out several recipes and couple of photos to mail to my mom. The recipes are just for me to have handy, so print quality was not a big deal. But the ink was noticeably lighter, especially the black type, than the other recipes I have in my binder.

But if you are pinching pennies and can’t get to a COSTCO for their refill service, which is cheaper than the Cartridge World price, it might be worth it to you to try Cartridge World. You can save a little money if you don’t mind a lower print quality, plus recycling the used cartridges is the green thing to do.

Who’s the leprechaun?

Anu — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:52:56 +0000

I went onto YouTube to try to find something related to St. Patrick’s Day and found this funny video. I’ve never heard of the RubberBandits before, but they certainly were funny on this video! Hope you enjoy this video too, and have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Dryer balls actually work

Anu — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:40:17 +0000

About three weeks ago I was reading an article about products that actually really do work the way they are supposed to, and save money and energy, which means that eventually the products end up paying for themselves. In the article the writer was writing that dryer balls do cut down on drying time and eliminate the need for fabric softener. So I felt adventurous and went ahead and bought a couple to try. I was pleasantly surprised – they really DO cut the drying time down and the clothes come out static-free and soft and fluffy! This IS a good investment! I had read that buying four to six of them cut the drying time even more, so I plan to pick up more the next time I see them in the store.

Green gift tags

Anu — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:50:39 +0000

Guest post written by Laurie Simmons

It’s that time again when I use a whole lot of my time buying and wrapping gifts for my friends and family. We’ve been living a whole lot more green this year and I’m going to keep trying to do that for the holidays. But I know that my kids aren’t going to really go for DIY gifts and my husband has asked for a few books for Christmas, so I’m going to go green in the way that I wrap gifts.

I haven’t bought any gift wrapping stuff yet this year and am going to try and use what I have and get creative and avoid buying any new stuff. I went online to try and figure out how I could use some of that stuff in a green way and when I was doing that I saw the site clearwirelessinternet4g.com and read through it. I think I’m going to sign us up for the internet provider.

I decided that one thing I could make with our stuff and use over and over again is gift tags. I mean, we’ll always need gift tags for presents to our kids from us, so I’m going to make some of those and make sure that we get a few years use out of them instead of those stickers that we normally do.

Dryer balls

Anu — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:50:05 +0000

I’ve been thinking about buying some dryer balls. I’ve heard that they eliminate the use for fabric softener, and that they reduce the drying time of a load of laundry. I was checking out the prices of them online, and found someone that sells the balls made out of wool instead of whatever those plastic-rubber things are made out of. The claim of the wool balls is that the other ones have some chemicals in them that would transfer onto the clothing that is being dried. I wonder what the truth is about that. I’ll have to do some research and figure out what I really want to buy.

Considering a Gas Log Fireplace

Anu — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:29:44 +0000

When friends talk about their fireplace at home and having a nice fire in the evening, I am so jealous of the thought of such a cozy and romantic scene. We do not have a fireplace at our house. We sometimes talk about getting a fireplace, but it seems to be very expensive. And then you have the additional expense of buying wood. Which is what I told my friend at work and she laughed at my trepidation. She told me that I could get a fireplace with ventless gas logs and not have all those worries.

I am embarrassed to admit that I know almost nothing about gas logs, but now I am intrigued. If I can buy a fireplace system that does not require a lot of brick work or stone work for a new chimney and hearth, then I might be able to have a fireplace after all!

My friend told me about R. H. Peterson Real Fyre Gas Logs and how their web site has a huge selection of different types of logs and all the information that you need to get your house ready to install one. They sell both vented and ventless gas logs, and there is a difference in which kind you can have depending upon whether your house has an existing chimney or if you are having a chimney built. I am looking forward to reading more on their site and clicking on the page with gas log FAQs for the answers to the rest of my questions.