Efficient Lighting, Anyone?

What kind of lighting do you use at home?

While a lot of talking had been into LED (light emitting diode) lighting, most of us are still using fluorescent, either tube or compact type.

There are a lot of LED lights already available in the market, flashlight, garden light, emergency light, even replacement tube for fluorescent. With its long life (100,000hours), LED seems to be the next big thing in lighting.

But, till date, LED lighting is still not mature, its efficiency are still below what fluorescent can produce. While waiting for the next breakthrough, and with the large numbers of installed base of fluorescent, more focus should be enhancing the existing installation.

One straightforward, cost effective and green way is to replace the existing fluorescent to a more efficient one.

Let's talk about fluorescent tube for example. Many of us are using T8 tube now, however, some of the countries are still using T10 or even T12 tube.

Now, what exactly is the difference of these tubes?
Simple, the numbers represent the diameters of the tube, ie T10 = 10/8 inch, T8 = 8/8 inch, and T5 = 5/8 inch tube.

But, what does it means in terms of green?

For a 5000 lumens tube, T12 consumes 65W, T8 consumes 58W, while T5 consumes only 50W.
And that is why we should start to change to T5 fluorescent tube.

At the same time, with its smaller diameter, T5 uses less glass, and less mercury too.

But, there is a concern of converting from T10 or T8 to T5 as these comes in different length.
So, in the past, when converting, we will need to change the ballast and the fittings. And, it is troublesome.

But, now, with the converting kit, this is no a concern anymore.
Have a look at this:


All we need to do is to remove the original starter, and replace the existing tube with this new all in one converting kit, and we are done.

Have a Green day ahead.

Mark
Way2Green

New Eco Bag? Is It Really Eco?

Ok, I am going to talk about eco bag again, after just 2 weeks.

So, what is the point to talk about it again?

"New" eco bag.

The keypoint is "New". For most of the eco bag that is available today, it is new.
(of course, when you reuse it, its no longer new, but that's not what we meant.)

What it means is that, these eco bags are made of new fabric. While it is good to use these bags, but it could be better.

How?

By using recycled material.

Look at these eco bags.



I just got to know about this company while relaxing and watching TV.

These are the producst from a HongKong based company, called reSackel, founded by a young guy, Brian.

Brian was frustrated with how people use plastic bag in HongKong, and he formed this company to reuse the rice sacks into something useful.

I must say, good job Brian!

Good news is, Brian's products are now available in UK & US too.

Check it out at his corporate website.
http://www.resackel.com/

Have a Green day ahead.

Mark
Way2Green

The Myth Of Energy Saving - Switch Off Or Unplug?

Have you heard of this advise?

"To save your electricity bill, do not just switch off your appliances, be it be TV, Air-Conditioning Unit, DVD player etc. But instead, UNPLUG and you will see a significant drop of your electricity bill."

This advise had actually caused a bit of a discussion among the energy efficiency community all over the world, whether this could be true or not?

Well, if you are staying in the US, this could be very much true. However, if you are staying in Europe, and most parts in Asia, this may not be true anymore.

Why?

Simply, we do not share the common wiring system.

What exactly does it means?

Look at the two different switch sockets below.




In the states, almost all are using the lower type of sockets. And, in some parts of the world, people are actually using the upper type of sockets.

Now, what is the differences?

Notice the on-off button?

Yeap, that is the main differentiation factor.

In the states, when we "switch off" our TVs, and many other appliances, we are actually putting it into standby mode.

Whereas those who are using the on-off button, the term "switch off" means "UNPLUG" in the US terms.

And, the advise of unplug to save energy, do not applicable to those who use on-off button.

Now, why there is differences in power consumption when we already put the appliances into standby mode?

Well, these power consumed is called phantom load, or electricity vampire, or simply, standby power. What it does it to supply power to appliances in sleep mode. It consumes less energy, but still consumes energy.

So, find out what kind of system you are using, and make sure you "switch off" in the correct way.

Have a Green Day Ahead

Mark
Way2Green

P/S: Learn the behavior of your electrical appliances by understand how they consume energy. I recommend the use of these kind of gadgets:

Bundanoon Bans Bottled Water

This could be one of the movement that will spread all over the world, just like the "say no to plastic bag" movement.

Today, a small town of 2500 people voted and decided to ban bottled water. All local business will stop selling bottled water and visitors are encourage to stop drinking from it.

I must salute all these people for taking such a bold step.

Most importantly, they are doing it right! It is a community decision, and for others, they provide an alternative solution, ie selling reusable plastic bottle, and allow people to refill it at designated location.

That leaves everybody an option, and guide people to support the decision.







Just have a look at the thrown away bottles that piled up at landfill below.



These plastic bottles will one day take over our living space if we do not stop consuming them.

Do your part today.

Have a green day ahead.

Mark
Way2Green

What Stops You From Living Green? Skill or Will?

A lot of people already knows why we should be living green, and how much damages it can cause if we don't act today.

We all know that because of our needs of electricity, power plant burn coals and other fossil fuel to generate the electricity, and that results in leaving higher carbon footprint.

We all know that our gas powered vehicles are emitting green house gases to the environment, and that contribute to the climate change we see nowadays.

We all know that chemical based cleaners will harm our water system.

We all know this............ and that........

But yet, a lot of these people are still not taking action to live green.

Why?

Is it a skill or will problem?

We all have enough reasons to set our will right, but a lot of us stopped, or hesitate when we looked into the difficulty, the obstacle, the changes that we will need to face.

Skill, or resources is probably the main reason for a lot of us to start to take action.

"But, are there a lot of these skills and resources available?"

Yes, there are, and plenty of them. And, for that reason, we decided to set up this blog to share with you for all these information.

Don't believe in us? check this out.



http://www.ecocoffins.com/

Some people had even created something green for the dead.

Don't you think there are plenty for us who are still alive?

Have a green day ahead.

Mark
Way2Green

Cloth Bag for Green?

When was the last time you get yourself a "Green" cloth bag?

Just because everyone is shouting "NO TO PLASTIC BAG", suddenly, cloth bag become the next "Green" thing.




Nowadays, walk to your nearby market, shopping centers, even fast food chain, everyone is giving away cloth bag.

The intention is good, just as cloth bag is mostly reusable, biodegradable, handy (and sometime sexy?), and it cut downs the use of plastic bag.

But, let's see when it is being mis-used...

You go to a fast food chain, and because you want to do your part, you get a cloth bag.

Next, you go to a department store, and guess what? you got another cloth bag. And, this time, they even gives you some points to redeem a gift when you accumulate enough usages of the cloth bag.

The next day, you go to a boutique, and you get another cloth bag......

And, all of these cloth bags, comes with their own "brand".....

We all ended up, collecting cloth bag....

And, the next week, when you go to the department store, with the cloth bag you keep in your car (branded: fast food chain), the cashier tells you:

"Sorry Sir/Madam, we can't credit you with your green points.... you cloth bag is not ours..."

This is what happened when cloth bag is being mis-used... as a tool to create loyalty, a tool of promotion, and not as it green purposes..... to cut down the use of plastic bags....

It is difficult to change how business are working, but, you and me can make a difference, please don't bother that much about the "green points", it is really the "Say NO to plastic bags" that matters.

Have a green day ahead

Mark
Way2Green

Green Building Forum 09

Just came back from Green Building Forum 09 today, had never expected such a huge turnout from the local guys.

Of all the speakers, I was particularly impressed by the presentation by Dr. Wong & Tony Chan.

Dr. Wong had presented his research about vertical greenery, a technique that uses plants to cool down the building, and most interesting part is that, these plants not only grows horizontally, (ie roof garden), but also grows vertically!

Tony presented about sustainable town planning, looking at a much bigger picture. With all the case studies presented, I think most of the audience got an eye opener.



One tips given at the forum for homeowners:

Insulate your roof! Because more than 50% of heat comes in from roof. With good insulation, we can all cut down the use of air-conditioning during summer.

Have a Green day ahead.

Mark
Way2Green.com

P.S: Take part in your local community for this kind of forum, you will learn a lot, and you can share it with your friends, together we make a difference.