Nice FAQ on Energy Vampire Power Supplies

My first post was on how much energy I saved simply by getting rid of excess standby power supplies and shutting off electronic equipment at the power strip rather than with the remote or unit switch.

The biggest surprise to me was the power wasted by the digital cable box…  this runs between 13 and 30 watts with an average of 18 watts .  See LBNL table.

I came across a company that is really making a dent in the losses caused by inefficient power supplies.   The company is Power Integrations (POWI) and they have a nice FAQ on this subject.  This company will be on my stock watch list for future buying opportunities.   Right now its near its 52 week high.

Here is another nice post re subject.

Still 52 Million bags a day : Bag ban fails

Dear Chris:

AB 1998 Plastic Bag Ban failed passage tonight, stalling in the Senate with a 14-21 vote.  We gave this bill our all–thanks to all of you who supported our efforts.  In the end, incessant plastics industry lobbying made passage of the bill impossible.  Los Angeles County, Santa Monica, San Jose, Berkeley and many other cities and counties have announced they will soon ban plastic bags. CAW will be advocating in the coming months to enact these and other plastic bag bans at the local level.  Please email us if you can help out with this campaign.

Fortunately, four CAW-sponsored bills were sent to the Governor’s Desk and are awaiting his signature or veto:

• AB 737 (Chesbro) – Expands recycling to every apartment and commercial business in California.
• AB 2398 (Perez) – Establishes carpet extended producer responsibility.
• AB 1343 (Huffman) – Establishes paint extended producer responsibility.
• SB 1454 (DeSaulnier) – Expands scope of compostable plastic labeling restrictions.

Keeling Lecture: Climate Change and the Forests of the West

See lecture here.

Wow…great lecture on whats’ happening to our forests.  We see them dying due to longer growing seasons, more wild fires and infestation.   I learned that the Canadian forests are actually a net carbon emitter rather than a sink!!  So much for carbon credits by supporting new acreage in Canada.  The wild fires kill whatever is gained by the tree growth.

Lecture is by Dr. Steve Running, a Regents Professor in the College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. He discusses the paradox of why forests in the West are growing faster while simultaneously suffering from higher die-off rates. Running is a member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and was the lead author on a 2007 report analyzing North America’s contribution to atmospheric carbon dioxide and its impacts on the global climate.

Removing Plastic bags will hurt HilexPoly

Here is a nice article re HilexPoly.  I hope they have been doing R&D toward a new product line.  We should redirect the jobs into the new reusable bag market which will takeoff.  To be effective, the price of a paper bag should be a little more than 5c which I think is proposed.

But alas, the bag companies may prevail with the lost jobs hurting the economy argument but only for a while.

Help eliminate 52 million plastic bags a day

California is on the cusp of very important legislation to ban plastic bags in grocery stores.   I work with a group called Californians Against Waste (CAW).

A recent email spoke of the importance of doing personal lobbying of your legislators.  Here is an excerpt:

Dear Chris:

We are closer than ever to enacting legislation in California to ban single use plastic grocery bags. But the closer we get to our goal, the more the plastics industry will spend to mislead the public and decision makers. That’s why we really nead your help. If you haven’t already done so, here are a few things you can do to help combat the misinformation being disseminated by the plastics industry:

1. Fax/Email your State Senator and Urge their Support for AB 1998;
2. Sign-up to receive daily updates and action alerts on the legislation;
3. Make an online contribution today to support our campaign.

In the next four weeks the California legislature will take final votes on AB 1998 (Brownley), legislation that will promote a shift to reusable bags and prohibit grocery, liquor and convenience stores from distributing single-use plastic bags.

Think about what that means: 52 million plastic bags a day eliminated! These are bags that blow from trash cans and garbage trucks; bags that get stuck in trees and accumulate in parks, creeks and roadsides; bags that pollute our waterways and threaten wildlife; literally billions of plastic bags every year whose useful life is measured in minutes, but whose life as litter, waste and ocean pollution can last for decades or longer. (what’s at stake)

For the last 18 months, we’ve been engaged in an around-the-clock campaign to end plastic bag pollution (what we’ve been doing). We now believe we have at least 16 of the necessary 21 votes in the State Senate. But the American Chemistry Council and the plastics industry are spending thousands of dollars on lobbyists, former legislators, and media consultants in a misleading propaganda campaign to scare undecided legislators from supporting the bill (more).  With your immediate and ongoing support this month, we can counter their misleading campaign and win legislative support for AB 1998. This summer California can become the first state in the US to eliminate a major source of plastic pollution (next steps).

Please take a few minutes right now to contact your legislator in support of AB 1998, and make an online contribution to support our work.

Thank you for your support!

DIY Free Dual Flush Conversion (20 min work)

I made this video a while back.  Thought I would post it here too.  Describes how to make a simple modification to the a Standard Kohler 1.6 gal toilet to make it a dual flush.   The conversion is simply a float adjustment.  This principle can be applied to most toilets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY9PMCzzi24

If only the LA DWP would see it and recommend it to residents.  It could save millions of gallons per year.

Power savings

By simply switching off phantom loads at night and using compact flourscents I cut my daily usage down from 16 kwhs  to 6 kwhs.   About 60% savings.