Will cruise control improve fuel economy?

The answer: it depends.

On level highways with light traffic, it is YES: cruise control holds a vehicle to a steadier speed than most drivers can, and that’s more efficient than continuous acceleration and deceleration. 

However, in hilly terrain, cruise control 'tramps on it' when it encounters a climb, trying to maintain a constant speed - and that consumes a lot of fuel.  So in hilly areas, a driver with a skilled foot can easily get better mileage than cruise control.  (A skilled foot means allowing the vehicle to slow down on the upgrades instead of tramping on the gas, and then using the other side of the hill to pick up speed.)  

One caveat: safety first!  Always ensure your driving style is compatible with road and traffic conditions.

Thanks to Stephanie McClellan in St. Anthony, NL for the question that led to this Green Idea!

In the news:

Coral reefs around Indonesia seem to be dying faster than ever as ocean temperatures hover at 4 degrees C above normal, say scientists.

Renewable IS doable in Ontario, says a new Pembina Institute report – pointing out that the growth of green power is exceeding expectations.

Think local food – it’s flavour, freshness and nutrition, but a whole lot more too.

October 10, 2010: a day for local actions and global solutions

If you’re yearning for solutions to climate change and environmental degradation, mark October 10 – 10/10/10 – on your calendar.

That’s the day www.350.org is organizing work parties all over the world to tackle solutions through local actions.  From solar panels to community gardens to wind turbines to bike workshops: people will be working together to share information and implement the types of solutions our planet so desperately needs.  If you’re ready to turn your good intentions into great actions, why not take part?  Your planet needs you! 

Register here to join or lead a local activity - in your community, school, workplace, faith community or home. 

Click here for great project ideas, big and small. 

And click here to see a slideshow about 10/10/10 and learn what the 350 stands for.

Help make 10/10/10 a turning point.  Think globally, act locally!

In the news:

Good news for our fossil fuel industry: let the subsidies and tax breaks continue.

Check out this 2-minute video of an aviation breakthrough: a solar powered plane flies for 26 hours!

If you think you have no addiction problems, think again...you and I are both hooked on the same thing.

Without investing a penny, most drivers can save 15% on their fuel bill – equivalent to almost two months of free driving a year.

It’s all in how you drive, and here are the two critical habits for savings:

1. accelerate gently – resist that urge to ‘tramp on it’, because that’s when your engine slurps HUGE amounts of fuel.  Then coast as much as possible, and brake gently.

2. limit your speed to 100 KMH or less.  Generally, the slower you go, the more you save.

Here’s proof these two practices work: my Toyota Echo gave me 60 miles per gallon (21 KM/litre) last week, well above the car’s official rating.  

For more great fuel-saving tips, visit http://www.ecodriver.org/pages/Fuel-EfficientDriving.php.  And take a 2-minute ride (via YouTube) with the ‘king of hypermiling’: he gets twice his vehicle’s rated fuel mileage!!

In the news:

Arg – the Harper government has (quietly) released a report showing that its programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will produce just 10% of the results forecast a mere 12 months ago.  Six Nobel laureates and a former PM join the chorus of voices urging that climate change be on the agenda of the G8 / G20 meetings.

Turn your old phone into new trees at http://plantmyphone.com/.  (Help expand the network: become a partner!)

The world is full of ‘disposable’ stuff, but is that really such a good idea??

Sharon Barfoot, the Director of the Southampton Art School, recently emailed me with a link to two websites: Bonnie deVarco's Scale Independent Thought, and Chris Jordan's photographic arts site. Some of Chris' amazing photography is from Midway, an island about 2000 miles from the nearest continent, where baby albatross are dying at a high rate from ingested garbage. The photos of the dead babies with the plastic showing from their stomachs is heart-rendering. 

Bonnie's article on Visioning Sustainability is one of the most thought-provoking and connective articles I've read, and I highly recommend it, particularly because of the discussion of Ehux phytoplankton blooms that can create an albedo effect, cooling the oceans. In the article, she mentions a number of neat initiatives around the world, and I'll mention a few here:

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge has a fully searchable database of socially-responsible initiatives, in all stages of development, in need of further funding and support, with ideas from a Barefoot College, Fundred dollar bill project, and BK Farmyards.

 

Because tomorrow is World Environment Day, I thought I'd write a quick blog about a few current issues.

First of all, the Canadian government released it's Climate Change Plan for the Purposes of the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act - 2010. Check out the Climate Action News this week for more on information on this, progress with the G8/G20 meetings, and action you can take in Canada.

Also, Ontario is very unique around the world to have Conservation Authorities that are organized by watershed in order to protect lives and properties around water issues. In our area, they are in the middle of consultations over Drinking Water Source Protection, and their recent Assessment Report for my region of Ontario. Strangely enough, they have deemed the Great Lakes to have no significant threats, and so neither shipping spills, nuclear nor coal plant incidents are being addressed in the process. Comments must be made in writing by June 10 to mail@waterprotection.ca.

One last thought: Corrina and I are really excited about going down to Nashville for Al Gore's first presentation training for his solutions book "Our Choice" from June 26-8 for Climate Project presenters. We're looking forward to sharing more about it with you later.

Happy Environment Week~what actions are you taking?

 

 

 

Many appliances in our homes and workplaces use electricity even when they are turned off.  Incredibly, they were designed that way - usually for convenience.  It’s called ‘phantom power’, and dozens of items in a typical home use power 24/365.  The phantom power used in Canada is more than enough to power every home in New Brunswick.

What to do?  Here are three suggestions:

1.  Learn to recognize things that use phantom power: anything with a clock, a remote control, a charger, one of those blocky-looking plugs, or a quick-on feature (IE most televisions).

2. Get into the habit of unplugging items when they are not in use, or use a power bar: when clicked off, it eliminates phantom power.

3.  When buying, choose appliances that use little or no phantom power; look for the ENERGY STAR logo, indicating best-of-class performance.

For more info, check out this great overview of phantom power from the Office of Energy Efficiency.

In the News:

A victory for trees, the lungs of the planet: working closely with environmental groups, Canada’s major pulp and paper companies have agreed to restrict logging in an area twice the size of Germany.

It’s almost impossible not to be moved by these 39 striking images from the devastating Gulf of Mexico spill – a direct consequence of our addiction to oil.

Congratulations to the Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia: the first idle-free mall in Canada.

Summertime is the ideal time to rediscover that beautiful carbon-free form of transportation hiding in the back of your garage.

On Thursday, 255 members of the US National Academy of Sciences wrote an open letter in defence of climate research, and I think it is very important for everyone to read it. Please pass this link on so the truth about the climate crisis can rise to the top of the minds of people around the world.

The letter opens with "We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular. All citizens should understand some basic scientific facts. There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific conclusions; science never absolutely proves anything. When someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society should never take action. For a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet."

This is their list of basic conclusions that aren't arguable:

(i) The planet is warming due to increased concentrations of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere. A snowy winter in Washington does not alter this fact.

(ii) Most of the increase in the concentration of these gases over the last century is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

(iii) Natural causes always play a role in changing Earth's climate, but are now being overwhelmed by human-induced changes.

(iv) Warming the planet will cause many other climatic patterns to change at speeds unprecedented in modern times, including increasing rates of sea-level rise and alterations in the hydrologic cycle. Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide are making the oceans more acidic.

(v) The combination of these complex climate changes threatens coastal communities and cities, our food and water supplies, marine and freshwater ecosystems, forests, high mountain environments, and far more.

Although we are already late, we cannot ignore the consensus and need to start believing the real scientists and not the climate deniers with thir spin doctoring and distortions.

What’s good for the environment can be great for your wallet, and a clothesline is a perfect example.

Clothes dryers are among the biggest power hogs in your home, consuming about 4500 watts of power – equal to six microwave ovens or 350 compact fluorescent light bulbs.    If your power rate is 10 cents/KWH, a big load in the dryer adds 45 cents to your power bill.  One such load a day uses about $150 worth of power annually.

Then there are emissions.  If your power comes from coal or oil (as most of North America’s does), one big load in the dryer equals 4 kilograms of emissions.  One such load a day for a year adds over a tonne of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Clotheslines make environmental and economic sense.  Springtime is a great time to get reacquainted with yours, or to install one if you don’t have one.  Here’s a great seven minute video that explains everything about planning and installing your clothesline (except they use a rope where most clotheslines are plastic coated wire). 

In the News:

Nova Scotia has launched a bold plan to produce 40% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 – just a decade from now!!  Strategies include net metering and a community-based feed in tariff.

A change in thinking?  A new poll suggests 72% of Canadians would pay extra for an Earth-friendly house or condo if they could lower energy bills, reap health benefits or reduce their environmental impact.  And a new report suggests Canadian CEOs are more keen on going green than their foreign counterparts.

What’s thinner than our atmosphere but just as critical for life?

If you’re ready to look beyond light bulbs and recycling, here is the one best thing you can do to help the planet: change the way you get to work tomorrow.

Transportation accounts for 200 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually in Canada and 1.8 billion tonnes annually in the US.  Much of that is produced by cars and light trucks.  Commuting to work is probably the single biggest environmental offence each of us commits: frustrated and tooting while idling and polluting.

Here are the most eco-friendly ways to get to work, in order:

1. Walking, biking or telecommuting (working from home);

2. Any form of public transit – take the paper or your laptop, and enjoy being chauffeured; and

3. Carpooling, a great money-saving option for people living beyond the reach of public transit.

For the health of our planet (and therefore us), perhaps the whole notion of commuting solo by car needs to be reconsidered.

If you are ready to make a big commitment to a better planet, change the way you go to work tomorrow.  Call a friend, take the bus or hop on a bike.  The timing couldn’t be better: it’s Earth Day.

In the News:

With the loss of two more glaciers, Glacier National Park is now down to 25.  It probably shouldn’t surprise us but last month was the warmest March on record globally.

Postscript to the previous Green Ideas: more people choose stairs over the escalator when it’s fun, as this fun 2-minute video shows!

For Earth Day, here’s a lesson from a favourite children’s fable.

Hi GreenNexxians - this is my first post - looking forward to your comments! 

This year has been a challenging year to champion the need to take action on Climate Change.  It’s not that people don’t believe that it’s happening – Canada is currently out suntanning during our warmest, driest winter on record.  It’s that many people feel that if this is climate change – then they’re all for it. Not everyone shares our enthusiasm...  If you headed to Florida, or even Cuba this spring break, you likely saw some uncharacteristically (and unwelcome) cold weather this year.  Herein lies the challenge of climate change – it makes for very unpredictable temperatures and weather patterns – and one heck of a time vacation planning. So how do you pick a vacation destination?  If you’re green-minded, adding planet- friendly as a criterion can make this difficult job even more challenging.   So what actually constitutes an eco-friendly vacation?

• Close to home – one of the biggest impacts of a vacation can be the air travel, so consider a “staycation” instead – where you explore options that are little more local.  Everyone has a place close by that they’ve always wanted to check out and just haven’t had time – even a moderate drive is much less harmful to the planet.
• Consider a “Green Hotel” – the hotel industry has been quite slow to join the environmental movement, but through associations like http://greenhotels.com/members.php you can choose accommodations that keep the planet in mind.
• What about an Eco-Tour?  The EcoTour Directory considers an Eco-Tour to be “a trip that causes minimal impact to the environment and local people. The site is usually culturally and biologically diverse and attracts tourists who have a common interest in nature, wildlife and culture.”  But buyer beware.  Many so-called eco-tours specialize in exploiting the very resources they are intended to protect.  Do your research carefully, and get good references.
• Where to go?  Costa Rica and Belize are top of mind when considering an Eco-Vacation – but in reality, there are great options in all corners of the world.  The International EcoTourism Society has many suggestions to consider at http://www.ecotourism.org/
• Consider a “Do-Good” Vacation – these trips are part vacation part volunteer work and have either an environmental or social focus, or often both.  They offer a great chance to get involved and see the country in a way that a tourist would never be able to.  The Daily Green makes a few interesting suggestions at http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/eco-travel-volunteer-vacations-50022309

Whatever you choose to do – just a reminder to do your research.  Unfortunately, for many eco-vacations – like many other so-called eco-products, the green is really just a marketing ploy to sell more vacations without delivering truly green performance.  Don’t be greenwashed!  

As posted on www.greencricket.ca - Ask the Experts