Commuting Options

Well, after three and a half weeks of not driving to work by myself, I've come to a few conclusions. Driving is definitely the fastest option by far. Biking is probably my favorite, because I can exercise and commute at the same time. Public transportation is my least favorite. It takes longer than biking from my house to work, and it takes 3 to 4 times as long as driving. I am stuck with their time-tables, so I usually end up getting places 20 minutes early to avoid being late. And the fare actually costs me about three times as much as the gas it takes to drive there. If I worked downtown, it may be a different story, but I don't.

The only thing I haven't really tried, yet, is carpooling. I'll need to work on that one.

Jason

First week of commuting down!

This one hasn't been too bad so far, but I was lucky that the 100 degree week hit in July and not August! Here's a quick rundown.

• Monday - I rode my bike both to and from work. It took about 35-40 minutes from my door to my desk and vice versa.
• Tuesday - I rode my bike to work, and Janell picked me up on the way to the Hillsboro Farmers Market after work.
• Wednesday - I rode my bike to work, and then I unexpectedly caught a ride home with Trent after work.
• Thursday - I took the bus to work. It took about 45 minutes, and I had to leave home at 6:30 (and arrive at 7:15) to avoid an extra 20 minutes of waiting time for the one that gets me there closer to 8:00. I took the bus home and stopped for a chiropractor appointment on the way. It took about 45 minutes to get to the chiropractor's office. Afterwards, I waited about 15 minutes for the next bus and took a 5 minute ride home.
• Friday - I rode my bike both directions.

So far I've learned that my options to get to work are a 15 minute drive costing about $1 in gas each way, a 35 minute bike ride for free, or a 45-65 minute bus ride costing $2 each way where I can't control the time. Public transportation from my house to my work is a hard sell. There are a few other options I'll explore.

Jason

August Challenge - Don't ride to work in a car by yourself

Before we get to the August challenge, I have a few notes on the July challenge. First, I had the opportunity to watch television yesterday! It sucked. I surfed channels for about 20 minutes and realized that I wasn't having any fun and I wasn't enjoying myself, so I turned it off. Second, about halfway into the challenge, Janell caught me watching YouTube videos of old baseball players. Does that count as watching TV?

Now for August. This month's challenge is to not ride in a car by yourself to work. There are several options available.

1. Ride your bike. If you live within 10 miles of work, this is actually a pretty good option. I live 8 miles from work, and it takes me 35 minutes to ride there. Considering that my drive home is 25 minutes due to traffic, this is a pretty nice way to get my exercise (see the February challenge) and my commute in at the same time. It also helps that there is a gym with showers at my workplace. One thing I've learned from doing this in the past is that it helps to leave clean clothes and shower supplies at work so you don't have to carry them all on your bike or on your back.
2. Walk. This isn't an option for most people, but if it is take advantage of it!
3. Carpool. This is a very underutilized option. The two biggest gates for carpooling are not being willing to compromise with somebody else on a schedule and not being able to find somebody to carpool with. As for the schedule, all it takes is a bit of communication and a bit of effort. As for finding somebody, try carpool postings. There are plenty of them out there.
4. Public transportation. We are quite lucky to have a good public transportation system in Portland. Although I know that it will take me quite a bit longer to ride public transportation than to drive, or even to ride my bike for that matter, I'll give it a try this month and report my results.

As always, this will be easy for some, challenging for others, and impossible for a few. For those of you who don't work (retirees and stay-at-home parents) and those of you who simply can't carpool (real estate agents), I suggest you revisit one of the previous months you'd like to improve upon or pick something of your own!

January - Drink enough water

February - Exercise!

March - No Soda

April - No more than one alcoholic beverage a day

May - Floss every day

June - Minimize your impact (there is a lot of information in various posts)

July - No television

Good luck!

Jason

No TV...

Not having the TV on is much more difficult when you're staying at somebody else's house for a week. I may need to extend this challenge into August a little bit.

Jason

Recycling

We're back to the June Challenge for a bit. I haven't discussed recycling, yet, so let's get going on that. First, let's focus on how recycling programs work and what to do with questionable materials. Thanks to Taco for providing the information!

Recycling Overview:
Just because a material is “recyclable” does not mean that it is appropriate for curbside collection. Some considerations to determine what material is eligible for curbside pickup include:

• The material must have a stable market so that it can remain on the “ok” list indefinitely. Think of how confusing it would be if you got a flier from your waste collector every month telling you things that have been added to and removed from your list of accepted materials.
• The hauling and sorting machinery necessary to collect and separate the material from other materials must be available in the area. Otherwise “recyclable” materials will get comingled and contaminate each other.
• The material requires simple instructions for the public. The more confusing and difficult the recycling program, the less likely people are to use it and the more likely they are to do the wrong thing and cause contamination.
• “Contamination” can refer to food-soiled recyclables, but it can also refer to materials separated into the wrong place – such as plastic mixed in with your paper. This not only results in the loss of that material, but it may actually contaminate the other materials too, thus sending recyclable materials to the landfills.
• Different types of recycling programs include full source separation systems (keeping each material in its own separate bin) and comingled systems (where various different materials can be combined for collection). Full source separation is always best to minimize contamination, but is more difficult to administer and more difficult for casual recyclers to adhere to. Comingled systems result in slightly increased contamination rates, but due to their simplicity the participation rates are much higher.
• The typical comingled system sends mixed recyclables to a Material Recovery Facility, where a combination of mechanical and manual processes are used to separate everything into individual material streams. The first step for incoming material is to move along a fast conveyor belt past several hand-sorting stations, which usually serves to pull out as much trash as possible. Another area along the conveyor serves to separate out large corrugated cardboard pieces while allowing remaining material to fall through for further sorting. Some metal is sorted out using magnets while the non-magnetic metal is sorted by hand. Plastics and boxboard are also sorted by hand, leaving the remaining material which consists of paper (newspaper, office paper, etc.). Because the paper is the last material in the line it often contains the highest level of contamination, since it will contain any items that did not get sorted out properly earlier in the line - this is called a negatively sorted material. Positively sorted materials, such as the metal and plastic, have fewer contaminants because they are specifically pulled off the line (i.e. positively identified).
• Remember that recycling does not end in your curbside bin or at the recycling centers, but when you purchase goods that are made with recycled materials.

Factoids & frequently asked questions (as with any recycling information, especially for the folks outside of the Portland area, it’s always best to call your waste hauler to verify information since policies & practices differ greatly from area to area):

What should I do with plastic bags?

• Plastic bags cannot go into your curbside recycling bins because they jam the machinery at recycling facilities and cause safety risks for workers.
• Take clean, dry plastic bags to a grocery store collection point (ask if you have questions about which different types of bags they accept). Better yet, try reusable bags when you shop to avoid the plastic bags altogether.

Why does glass typically need to be kept separate in our curbside recycling programs?

• In markets where machinery is used to sort your comingled recyclables, glass can easily break which can hurt workers and damage the machinery. Keeping glass separate minimizes this safety risk.
• Always contact your waste hauler if you have questions about how materials must be separated prior to collection.
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a light bulb for four hours.
  Sending 10,000 tons of waste to the landfill supports six jobs, while recycling the same amount supports 36 jobs.
• Just by recycling, Portland residents and businesses save enough energy to power half the homes in Portland for an entire year.
• The Portland metro region recycles about $80 Million worth materials per year.

Where can I recycle light bulbs?

• CFL & fluorescent bulbs should be taken to your local hazardous materials depot due to the mercury they contain.
• Standard bulbs can be disposed of in the normal trash, or put onto craigslist for artists.

What can I do with metal spray cans?

• As long as they are empty, you can recycle these curbside after removing the lids.

Can I put lids and bottle caps in the curbside recycling bin?

• Plastic lids are flat and thus often get missed in the sorting process, which means they end up with the paper and can contaminate that recycling stream. Even if the lids are made of recyclable plastic, they should be recycled through an independent recycler who accepts them outside of your curbside program.
• Metal lids of jars, beer bottles, etc. are recyclable even with the rubber or plastic seal. To help the sorting process, put these smaller metal items into a metal can and crimp the lip of the can over to prevent the smaller items from falling out.

Do I need to remove staples, plastic envelope windows, spiral binders and sticky notes from my paper prior to recycling?

• No, these can all be removed during the paper recycling process.

Can I recycle shredded paper in my curbside bin?

• Call your hauler to be certain but usually YES. Also, you can avoid a mess by putting it in a paper bag and folding or stapling the top.
• Keep in mind that paper fibers can survive roughly 7 cycles through the recycling stream, since the fibers get smaller and smaller each time through the process.

Can I recycle delivery pizza boxes?

• Usually not, due to food contamination. Grease can attract vermin in the recycling centers and can contaminate other paper supplies that it contacts making them unusable. If the boxes are very clean (no grease), then they can be recycled.

Can I recycle frozen food boxes?

• No. These boxes have “wet strength” in order to protect the product within even in the freezer environment. This wet strength is achieved by weaving plastic in with the paper fibers, which cannot be separated out in the recycling process. Since plastic contaminates paper recycling, these frozen food boxes are unfortunately not recyclable.

What about milk cartons?

• Yes. Even though they hold liquid, these containers (called aseptic containers) typically get their moisture resistance from wax instead of plastic.

Can I recycle motor oil bottles? They have the little number on them.

• No, you can't recycle any plastic that has had hazardous materials in them, including motor oil, pesticides, etc. Assume that any recycled plastic will end up as a food conatainer.

What can I do with materials that I believe should be recyclable, but that are not accepted in my curbside collection program?

• For Portland area residents, you can contact the Metro recycling information hotline by website (www.metro-region.org/recycling) or phone (503-234-3000). They can assist you with questions regarding curbside recyclables as well as which local business accept non-curbside materials such as Styrofoam, plastic lids, take-out food clamshells, etc. In fact, they can also answer questions on composting, natural gardening, general garbage disposal, and hazardous waste. They are an invaluable resource!
• For non-Portland residents, try contacting your waste hauler to see what other businesses in the area might accept these items, or contact your local government to see if there are any other resources in your area.

Thanks!

Jason

July Challenge - No Television

As with all challenges so far, this one drew a mix of "No problem, I don't do that anyway." to "There's no way I can live without it!" Well, based on my experiences of the last six months, you can live without it! Especially TV. In July. Basketball is over. Football hasn't started, yet. Baseball doesn't get interesting until September. All the network shows are in reruns. You can get news and weather from the internet. If you're watching TV in July, it's likely because you're bored.

Take this month to enjoy the summer and rediscover the outdoors. Go on a bike ride. Take the kids to the park. Take a mini trip for the weekend. Tend your garden. Play cards or a board game. Learn to play the guitar. Practice your guitar if you already know how to play. Read a book. Better, yet. Write a book. Pick up a new hobby. Go to happy hour. Join a softball team. Call your mother. Live life!

Jason

Energy Usage

One thing we all can do is reduce the amount of energy we use around our house on a daily basis. This basically means curbing electricity and natural gas usage. Here are some helpful tips. I quoted all the usage facts from the Portland Metro website, and there are quite a few I didn't include, so check it out if you would like to see more.

Appliance Usage - See previous blog for money saving details

• Home appliances are the world’s fastest-growing energy consumers after automobiles, accounting for 30 percent of industrial countries’ electricity consumption and 12 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions. –Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2004 Special Focus: The Consumer Society, January 2004,I SBN: 0-393-32539-3
• About 80 percent of the energy used by a clothes washer is used to heat water. –Rocky Mountain Institute, Home Energy Brief #5 Water Heating,” 2004
  http://www.rmi.org/images/other/Energy/E04-15_HEB5WaterHeat.pdf

- With modern detergents, using cold water to wash your clothes should meet your needs most of the time. Not only will it keep your hot water heater from running as often, it will also keep your clothes from fading.

- Consider using a drying rack or even a clothes line, dryers consume high amounts of energy. It also helps your clothes last longer. I started putting all my shirts on hangers to dry about 10 years ago, not to save energy, but to save the shirts. And I inadvertently saved energy in the process!

- Use a toaster oven or microwave to cook or heat up smaller portions rather than using a conventional oven.

Light Bulbs

• The incandescent light bulb is so inefficient that about 90 percent of the energy it consumes is given off as heat, while only 10 percent is converted to light. –U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, “Energy Information Administration, 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey,” 2001
• An incandescent light bulb costs 75 cents or less at the store, but it will typically cost six to 10 times that for electricity over its relatively short (750-hour) life. –Rocky Mountain Institute, 2002
  www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid352.ph
• The average American household has 2.5 incandescent light bulbs on for 4 or more hours each day. If every household replaced those bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, the nation would save nearly 32 billion kilowatt hours every year, or about 35 percent of all electricity used for lighting homes. –U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, “Residential Energy Consumption Survey,” 1993

- Consider using CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs), the payback is considerable over the life of the bulb. This one does come with a catch, though! Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs do contain mercury. This is a hazardous material and should be treated as such, so you shouldn't just throw them in the trash when they burn out. In Portland, you can take them to hazardous waste collection events or permanent Metro stations. See this website for details. If you live elsewhere, check with your local authorities on how to properly dispose of them. Also, be aware of proper clean up if one should break. Here are the cleanup instructions from the EPA if you do break one. The procedure is quite extensive.

- LED bulbs are also new options, but to date pretty expensive.

Heating and Cooling

- It doesn't matter how efficient your furnace is if your ducts are leaking. It's a good idea to have a professional come make sure everything is sealed up.

- Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer.

- Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed.

- Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes.

- Bleed trapped air from hot-water radiators once or twice a season; if in doubt about how to perform this task, call a professional.

- Place heat-resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators.

- Turn off kitchen, bath, and other exhaust fans within 20 minutes after you are done cooking or bathing; when replacing exhaust fans, consider installing high-efficiency, low-noise models.

- During the heating season, keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow the sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.

- During the cooling season, keep the window coverings closed during the day to prevent solar gain.

There are also lots of other great energy saving tips on this website.

Jason