Celebrate Earth Day

[HankB]

Well, tomorrow, April 22, is Earth day (also Lenin's Birthday!) which is traditionally the day that a bunch of environuts converge on the National Mall in Washington, trash it, and leave tons of filth and litter for someone else to clean up.

Our local paper's website has a survey asking what people are doing to celebrate Earth Day . . . my contributions are:

* Use only about 1/20 the energy for my house as noted environmentalist Al Gore uses for his.
* Have only 1 house, rather than the 4 Al Gore has. (that we know about!)
* Don't drive around in a caravan of SUVs like Al Gore, as one is quite enough.
* Fly commercial, rather than private or charter jet the way Al Gore does.
* Avoid use of CFL bulbs, as they contain harmful mercury.
* Drive an old car that I've ripped the emission controls off of, improving fuel economy and reducing the use of fossil fuels.
* Use restored old toilets in my house so ONE flush does it.
* Clothe myself and my family in renewables like leather and real fur, rather than support the petrochemical industry by wearing synthetics and fake fur.

So I'm doing my part - how about YOU?

 

[MechAg94]

I'll just relax after celebrating San Jacinto Day and Muster on April 21st thus creating less CO2 emissions.

I'll avoid eating beans. 

[JonnyB]

Perhaps I'll turn down the thermostat on my 93% efficient LPG furnace and stoke up the wood-burning fireplace!

I have some brush piles ready to burn. Maybe I'll get that burning permit today and light 'em up.

I had planned to drive the motorcycle tomorrow. Should I take the truck to work, instead? 15 mpg vs. 45?

jb

[El Tejon]

I idle my SUV in the office parking lot every April 22d.

[crt360]

Sounds like a good excuse to put off mowing for another day or two.

[Gewehr98]

I put a pair of those large LED floodlight bulbs in the front entryway fixtures.

They draw 6.5 watts each, as I'm trying to get my monthly electric bill down towards $100/month. 

[LadySmith]

In the midst of a heat wave out here so I'm going to crank the A/C 24/7 and sleep with the fridge open.

[Balog]

Build a ceremonial altar out of floppies and use it to give a burnt offering of old CFC laden aerosol products.

[seeker_two]

I'm having spotted owl and baby seal for lunch.... 

[taurusowner]

I will do nothing different whatsoever.

[HankB]

I'm having spotted owl and baby seal for lunch.... 

Yum . . . they taste a lot like whooping crane and young Sumatran rhino respectively. 

[erictank]

Well, tomorrow, April 22, is Earth day (also Lenin's Birthday!) which is traditionally the day that a bunch of environuts converge on the National Mall in Washington, trash it, and leave tons of filth and litter for someone else to clean up.

Our local paper's website has a survey asking what people are doing to celebrate Earth Day . . . my contributions are:

* Use only about 1/20 the energy for my house as noted environmentalist Al Gore uses for his.
* Have only 1 house, rather than the 4 Al Gore has. (that we know about!)
* Don't drive around in a caravan of SUVs like Al Gore, as one is quite enough.
* Fly commercial, rather than private or charter jet the way Al Gore does.
* Avoid use of CFL bulbs, as they contain harmful mercury.
* Drive an old car that I've ripped the emission controls off of, improving fuel economy and reducing the use of fossil fuels.
* Use restored old toilets in my house so ONE flush does it.
* Clothe myself and my family in renewables like leather and real fur, rather than support the petrochemical industry by wearing synthetics and fake fur.

So I'm doing my part - how about YOU?

 

Classic, Hank.

Let's see, for Earth Day, I'll be... sleeping during the day and working all night.  So all the lights will be on here at the plant.  Don't think I'll leave my car idling overnight, though.  That might just be gratuitous.

Oh, we're having someone out to fix the A/C unit at home tomorrow, come to think of it.  Seems the installer was a real bonehead, and instead of the 3/8" refrigerant line between the inside and outside units, he put in about a 1/4" one (and that's OUTER-diameter on the latter - if it's supposed to be a 3/8" INNER-diameter, the current line is *WAY* too small!), so the A/C runs near-constantly when the temp gets above about 65F outside and we have the lights and TV on inside, and can't really keep up when it gets hot - the line freezes up.  We've lived with it for far too long as it is, but we're getting ready to sell our townhouse, so it HAD to get fixed.  So, I guess from that perspective, I *AM* reducing energy usage/improving efficiency.  Yay me! 

[Physics]

I will be working in the lab.  However, maybe I can go see the ESR guys and see if they have something going that I can volunteer at.  I am a pretty low carbon footprint guy, myself, at home.  The lab has a lot of power going into it though, I'd hate to pay that electric bill.

Just because Al Gore is an idiot does not mean that taking care of the earth is an ignoble cause.  It just means that Al Gore is a *expletive deleted*che-bag politician that happened to pioneer a good cause.  Did he deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?  Not even close.  Although he did educate many people about an issue, he also gave people an excuse to pollute, because the pioneer of the green revolution (or whatever you'd like to call it), is a polluter himself, and a big one at that. 

Whether you are a subscriber to human influence on global climate or not, earth day is still important.  Who enjoys breathing smog?  Sustainability should always be a goal that we strive for, because anything else is short sighted and selfish.

[digitalandanalog]

Whether you are a subscriber to human influence on global climate or not, earth day is still important.  Who enjoys breathing smog?  Sustainability should always be a goal that we strive for, because anything else is short sighted and selfish.

DING DING DING

We have a winner.

I am not "pro Earth/pro humanity". I am anti-pollution. The animals didn't ask for our crap and we shouldn't force them to deal with it...and no, I do not support the EPA or whatever type of person who says our bullets cant be made from lead because it hurts the ecology. Lead is found in nature...we all have some in us. How are a few bullets gonna matter?

For those of you you feel the need to pollute because "you can"...I take great offense that you would be so willing to poison me and mine. What can I do to ruin your health today?

[MicroBalrog]

The problem, in my opinion, is not the notion of 'let's not crap where we eat'. That's a solid notion.

But the problem is that this notion got hijacked by a very bizarre leftist cult which basically preaches that consumption is bad. 32-inch TV's are bad. Big cars and eating lots of stuff is sinful. If you're consuming you're killing Planet Earth. Mother Gaia is suffering.

Now, I am not saying you believe in this. But the cause IS getting discredited by the leftists who have taken it for their own.

[LadySmith]

For those of you you feel the need to pollute because "you can"...I take great offense that you would be so willing to poison me and mine.

I doubt if anyone here feels the need to pollute.
Consider those comments as a tongue-in-cheek manner of flipping the bird to those who want to own the environment, not protect it.

I'd bet most folk here have been considerate in their treatment of the environment long before anyone picked a day for it.

No one here is going to go dump a bunch of toxic waste in the local waterway or burn down a rain forest any time soon.

You may want to keep an eye on those guys who want to eat endangered species, though. 

What can I do to ruin your health today?

I'll take a bacon cheeseburger and a large order of fries, please. 

[El Tejon]

doubt if anyone here feels the need to pollute.

No, I do.  Pollution is white people doing and making stuff.  I have stuff to do.

Let those who whine about me doing stuff sit in filth without heat or clothing or food.

What can I do to ruin your health today?

Raise my taxes?  No, wait, that's being covered.

[Declaration Day]

I'll be running a bunch of 8mpg trucks, huge mowers, and filthy two-cycle trimmers / blowers today!

[makattak]

DING DING DING

We have a winner.

I am not "pro Earth/pro humanity". I am anti-pollution. The animals didn't ask for our crap and we shouldn't force them to deal with it...and no, I do not support the EPA or whatever type of person who says our bullets cant be made from lead because it hurts the ecology. Lead is found in nature...we all have some in us. How are a few bullets gonna matter?

For those of you you feel the need to pollute because "you can"...I take great offense that you would be so willing to poison me and mine. What can I do to ruin your health today?

I am the least likely person to pollute.

I pick up other people's litter, in fact, because such things really annoy me. (Boy Scouts taught me well).

However, I'll be flipping on as many lights, running the dishwasher, running the washing machine, turning on all my computers, baking, and whatever else I can because this socialist "earth day" crap is NOT about being good stewards of the earth.

It's about worshipping it. As such, I reject the leftist pandering.

[BryanP]

Most "eco friendly" stuff can be chalked up to improvements in efficiency.  That's not a left or right thing.

Double pane windows vs. single pane.  Programmable thermostats.  Cutting power to "vampire appliances" when they're not in use.  I take the bus to work because it means I don't have to deal with the stress of rush hour traffic.  Instead I can read my book.

I draw the line at the low flow showerhead.  For I sayeth unto you that it is an abomination in my sight.

[HankB]

Consider those comments as a tongue-in-cheek manner of flipping the bird to those who want to own the environment, not protect it. . . . No one here is going to go dump a bunch of toxic waste in the local waterway or burn down a rain forest any time soon.

Bullseye!

Nobody thinks that dumping PCB oil down a well - and contaminating the water table - is a good thing. Likewise, spewing vaporized chemical waste and heavy metal particulates into the air is uncool . . . as is dumping radioactive waste into a handy lake, and any of a number of other polluting activities.

But the "everything man does is bad, and we need to STOP IT ANY COST!!" crowd has gone totally off their rockers.

Emission controls on cars have cut pollution by 95%, at a cost of probably a couple of thousand dollars per car . . . how much more will it cost to address the last 5%? Some would say " . . . it doesn't matter . . . "

Well, guess what - it DOES matter!

CO2 is a natural by-product of respiration . . . and some want to control/cap/tax it, on the flimsiest of reasons; the potential cost is astronomical . . . and the "benefit" is imaginary. But if you dare to question it, you're demonized.

And so on and so on . . .

People get tired of this cr@p, and - figuratively, if not literally - do indeed "flip the bird" to the environuts.

[roo_ster]

I put a pair of those large LED floodlight bulbs in the front entryway fixtures.

They draw 6.5 watts each, as I'm trying to get my monthly electric bill down towards $100/month. 

How much do they cost?  What sort of output?

I would like to install a bunch of lighting around the house without replacing the 1959-era 60 amp breaker box.  It will not look kindly on an extra dozen 500W floods.

* Use restored old toilets in my house so ONE flush does it.

They can have my 3.5gal flush toilet when they pry it from my cold, dead, backside.

A buddy bought a Mexican toilet with a restrictive pipe that only allows a 1.6gal flush.  He sawed through that puppy and then mounted it way up high, like the old-school toilet tanks, with a pipe going to the stool.  He built a linen cabinet around the tank.  I think it outputs ~2.5gal and with the extra height, it flushes pretty well.

[Scout26]

No one here is going to go dump a bunch of toxic waste in the local waterway or burn down a rain forest any time soon.

[kicks rock]  Well, there goes my plans for Earth Day......
 


I'll actually be flying on a big ol' jet airliner to Vegas today.....

[charby]

I'm shooting lead bullets tonight at the weekly steel match. :)

Probably eat red meat afterwards.

[BryanP]

I'm shooting lead bullets tonight at the weekly steel match. :)

No no no.  You're sequestering toxic metals.   

Probably eat red meat afterwards.

*gasp*