Green Light Reflections » Miscellaneous

Earth Hour: 8:30-9:30PM, March 28

Reflector — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:05:14 +0000

In 2007, 2.2 million homes and businesses in Sydney, Australia turned off their lights for one hour to show their commitment to planet earth. In 2008, the message grew into a global sustainability movement, and approximately 50 million people around the world turned off their lights for Earth Hour. This year, Earth hour, with the support of WWF, hopes to attract over 1 billion participants who will turn off their lights for one hour, from 8:30PM to 9:30PM local time, on Saturday, March 28, 2009. They’re treating it like a vote – switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, leaving them on is a vote for global warming – which I think is kind of lame, but it’s an awesome cause anyway, meant to bring attention to the green movement, sustainability, the importance of protecting our planet, etc. I’ll be participating, and you should too (sign up here). If this works, I bet it would be awesome to watch from space, like “the wave” at a football game except with a big band of darkness slowly making its way across the surface of the earth. Hopefully, they’ve got some kind of satellite up there videotaping it…

A New Twist on CFL Bulbs

Reflector — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:32:35 +0000

I have been and will continue to promote the Compact Flourescent Light (CFL) bulbs. It’s just one of those “why not?” products that I think any home, workspace, or whatever should implement. Now, a London-based boutique electronics company called Hulger has initiated The Pulmen Project, which is putting a whole new spin on the CFL. They don’t just view the bulbs as, simply, an environmentally friendly lighting alternative, they also view them as aesthetic, as an element of creative design that should stand out and add to a space, rather than something that should blend into it. To be honest, their products aren’t gonna fly in my house, but for those with an especially artsy, modern, or adventurous style, they’d actually be pretty cool, a conversation piece at the very least…

Subscribing to Feeds

Reflector — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:20:16 +0000

By the way, a number of people have asked me to notify them whenever I add a new post to Green Light Reflections. Since doing that for everyone might get a little impractical, I wanted to point out the fact that you can subscribe to a “feed” that will automatically notify you of new posts. It’s free and takes 30 seconds to subscribe. Just click on the link in the right sidebar that says “Subscribe Entries (RSS)” and follow the prompts. I subscribe to blogs via Google. If you have an iGoogle home page (if not, I definitely recommend creating a Google account, which is also free, also takes 30 seconds, and gives you all sorts of great perks, including the highly customizable iGoogle home page), subscribing to Green Light Reflections will create a small box on your iGoogle page that will list the three most recent posts. Click any headline and you’ll be taken directly to the post. Although I use Google, there are a number of readers and viewing options via many different programs. The choice is yours. Either way, it’s really easy and will save lots of time in the future. If anyone has any trouble, let me know.

Green, even in Death

Reflector — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:28:33 +0000

I’m resisting a “dying to be green” main header

I’ve never really considered death as something that could have a negative impact on our environment. It’s just organic matter returning to its roots, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, one of the most natural processes out there, right?

Well, for the most part, it has been, at least until the adoption of today’s modern death rituals. Now, we embalm with formaldehyde-based solution, bury concrete vaults, and use resin-treated hardwood and chipboard to make coffins. In cremations, formaldehyde, resin, and greenhouse gases are just released into the air, rather than into the ground. With every death, we’re adding a little pollution to our environment and, with almost 7 billion people on the planet, there are lots of people dying. Some stats: Annually, we bury 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete, 827,060 tons of toxic embalming fluid, and 30 million tons of hardwood from caskets. Well, when you put it that way…

For those who would be interested in leaving a more environmentally friendly legacy, there are, as I recently discovered, some options. Eternal Reefs, Inc., for one, uses a mixture of cremated remains and environmentally safe cement to create artificial reefs to memorialize the deceased and provide a home for marine life. A personalized brass plaque marks each reef, so they can be identified during underwater visits. Great Burial Reef (they win the clever name contest) is a similar company that will seal urns of cremated remains permanently within hollow, pre-placed, pre-selected, natural concrete reef units also designed to promote the growth of marine life. The units are clustered off the coast of Sarasota, Florida and, together, make up the “Great Burial Reef”. That’d be one eerie scuba excursion.

There are also options for the more terrestrial folk among us. For example, Creative Coffins makes environmentally sympathetic and certified non-toxic carton-board coffins, each made from unbleached pulp containing at least 60% recycled paper and wood pulp sourced from sustainable forests, suitable for both burials and cremations. As disturbing as it may sound, I think these guys are particularly entertaining, even funny. If you visit their website, which is definitely worth doing, you’ll see what I mean. They say it themselves: “…from the dignified and beautiful to the quirky and humorous.” I find the prospect of being sent off in a six-foot bottle of red wine (which can be viewed in the “Pastimes” category on the website – hilarious) is oddly appealing.

I don’t necessarily have an opinion regarding whether people should opt for a green burial over a traditional one, because death is a difficult and sacred thing. Our desire for a traditional departure or goodbye transcends the desire to do our green deed of the day and, I think, If there’s ever a time to let our green behavior fall by the wayside, the loss of a loved one is probably it. So, when it comes to death, I think it’s reasonable to make considerations other than the effect of coffin resin or something. But for some, maybe going out on a green note is the more dignified way to go anyway. Who knows? The choice is for the individual. Frankly, I’m not sure if I’ll go in a green way or not……but I’ll consider it…

In any case, the options are out there.