Going Green in 2012
12 Green Days of Christmas
12 Tips to Have a Green Christmas
On the twelfth day of Christmas: Get that closet ready! Almost 100,000 tons of old clothes will be thrown away this Christmas, so if you know you are getting a new wardrobe, be sure to get your closet ready by donating your old clothes to a local charity instead of tossing them in the trash.
On the eleventh day of Christmas: Avoid buying gifts that require batteries! New gifts at Christmas often mean that households go through a lot of batteries. But remember, batteries contain toxic chemicals, are not biodegradable and are difficult to recycle. If you do need batteries, One Stop Green recommends using rechargeable batteries or better yet, try buying new USB rechargeable batteries! By opening the batteries cap and plugging it into a USB connector, you can recharge them pretty much anywhere and save them from being thrown into a landfill!
On the tenth day of Christmas: Buy in bulk! Instead of purchasing cans of soda and individual small bags of chips, go ahead and stock up on bulk goods you know you’ll end up using to reduce packaging waste and saving fuel by making less trips to the grocery store.
On the ninth day of Christmas: Getting a new cell phone or electronic product for Christmas? Be sure to dispose of that old phone or electronic through an e-recycling program. Each year, approximately 130 million cell phones are thrown out that weigh over 65,000 tons. Recycle your old phone or electronic responsibly to prevent hazardous elements like mercury, cadmium and lead from leaking into our landfills.
On the eighth day of Christmas: Buy a Real Christmas Tree and be sure to Recycle it! Ninety-eight percent of Christmas trees were grown on farms, not in forests, so it’s not as if you’re cutting down an entire forest every Christmas. Each year, 10 million Christmas trees end up in the landfills and while your tree won’t fit in the recycling bin, you can recycle it through various other methods, either through your city brush collection or by mulching the Christmas tree to use on your garden!
On the seventh day of Christmas: Add Organic and Local Foods to Your Holiday Feast! Support local farms that grow sustainable meat and produce. Not only does it taste better, but its more humane towards animals and you’ll be doing your part for the planet too. Speaking of buying local foods…
On the sixth day of Christmas: Buy Local Gifts! The impact of transportation contributes significantly to greenhouse emissions and global warming so this Christmas, buy locally made and manufactured gifts from places such as fairs and artisan shops that reduce the added costs of transportation and fuel.
On the fifth day of Christmas: Christmas is expensive and that means lots of bills! This Christmas, be sure to sign up for paper free billing and pay all your bills online. Not only will this help you cut down on the amount of junk mail you receive but you’ll save some trees as well!
On the fourth day of Christmas: Not all gifts have to be store-bought. Give more while spending less by making personal and unique gifts from scratch. Need some ideas? Check out how to make your own Green Terrarium! fwd4.me/0he8
On the third day of Christmas: Use LED Christmas lights to decorate your home! Save money, use less energy, and invest in long term LED energy saving Christmas lights that will give you all the festive cheer without the holiday electricity bill. If LED is out of the budget, investing in quality Christmas lights that have parallel instead of series circuits will help pinpoint the bad light bulb and save an entire string of lights from ending up in the trash!
On the second day of Christmas: Re-use gift bags! Save your gift bag or wrapping paper and re-use them for other gifts to use less paper. Try also using the comic section of your daily newspaper to wrap gifts – it’s free, saves money, and helps the environment!
And on the first day of Christmas: Buy Green! This Christmas, consider giving the gift of green and give recycled and up-cycled gifts and ornaments! For more eco-friendly gift ideas and tips, visit OneStopGreen.com – your destination for green living!
Repair vs. Replace: Repair to Extend the Life of your Appliance & Save the Environment
By Adria Saracino
Did you know that the U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country despite only having about 5% of the world’s population? Surprisingly, appliances are a huge part of that waste. In 2009, there were 3.8 million tons of major appliances thrown away.
Some of this waste may be unnecessary. When an appliance breaks, many homeowners spend a lot of money either replacing the whole unit or hiring a repair man to diagnose the problem. While these professionals can offer valuable insight, oftentimes the most common appliance problems can be easily fixed by homeowners.
PartSelect Appliances created this interactive infographic highlighting some of the most common appliance problems in our homes. It shows each common issue and the parts required to correct the problem. It also compares the average cost of replacing the appliance to the cost of the parts required to fix the problem, with a scale showing the difficulty of the repair.

So before you spend a lot of money on a new appliance or handyman services, determine if you can easily fix the problem yourself. Repairing vs. replacing is an environmentally-friendly way to extend the life of your appliance!
About the Author:Adria Saracino is the Head of Outreach at Distilled.net. When she’s not talking to interesting people on the web, you can find her writing about Seattle style on her personal fashion blog, The Emerald Closet.
Keystone XL Pipeline – Why it Matters
Keystone XL Pipeline – Why it Matters
By Sohail Hassan
When the Numbers just don’t add up…
The two main arguments for proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline, a 1,700-mile stretch of pipe and pumps that would link a gargantuan oil patch in Alberta to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast is that it will create jobs, thus improving the economy, and that it will secure America’s future energy resources. Both arguments are refuted in the second of two articles by Tom Zeller at the Huffington Post about the controversy surrounding the development of the oil pipeline. The first installment can be found here, but in summary, the number of jobs and the amount of money the XL pipeline is expected to generate has been greatly over exaggerated. Furthermore, the risks entailed to the environment with a pipeline of this sort far outweigh the proposed benefits that TransCanada, the company behind the project claims. This resistance has in many ways taken on a symbolic tone, putting supporters of clean energy against those who are not and may just be one of the most important decisions the Obama administration makes in its first term.
How does the XL Oil Pipeline effect the environment?
While the estimates on how bad this pipeline will actually be for the environment vary, what we do know is that it will undoubtedly have a negative impact on it. Estimates of the increase in carbon footprint have ranged anywhere from 5 to more than 30 percent depending on who you are asking and the potential for disaster that is a result of a spill or crack in the pipeline makes risks to the environment that much more substantial.
All About Jobs
Perhaps the biggest argument for proponents of the pipeline is that it will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and invest billions into the American economy. These figures, claimed by TransCanada, which sometimes cites “numerous studies” as its source, have been highly refuted causing TransCanada to adjust their original claims. In the end, the pipeline will undeniably create jobs, just how many and where is the question. Independent studies claim that the impact on the U.S. economy would be at the most 2.3 billion, a far cry from the 7 billion that TransCanada originally declared. A sizable percentage of materials for the pipeline would be obtained from foreign markets, while the direct construction and manufacturing jobs would be only be temporary, with pipeline builders being imported to camps along the planned route. If the jobs argument is not there, is this pipeline really worth risking the preservation of our environment?
But what about Energy Security?
Finally, changing up how America imports its oil is unlikely to provide much security. Oil is a global commodity and thus responds to complex and often unpredictable global events. Last year, an analysis commissioned by the Department of Energy noted that securing America’s energy would have little to do with the Keystone XL. The global nature of the oil market makes it difficult to answer even the most simplest of questions in what will the Keystone XL do for me in terms of reduced gas prices? Perhaps most surprisingly, analyst have suggested that Keystone XL would actually drive up gas prices by 10 or 20 cents a gallon in the Midwest, where tar sands crude is currently bottlenecked. Not only are we failing to secure our country’s energy future but we are also further burdening our economy by asking driver’s to pay for it at the pump.
What do we do now?
It’s time for us as a country to think about long-term solutions to our energy crisis and the Keystone XL Pipeline is simply not it. If it weren’t for the controversy that has erupted since the announcement of the proposed pipeline in the forms of mass demonstrations and protests, this pipeline would have already been approved and we would have set our country upon yet another doomed path. We need to learn from our past mistakes and quit thinking in terms of how to satisfy our next quick fix and instead, concentrate more on sustainable solutions taking into consideration the long-term impact it will have on our country.
One Stop Green is looking towards a ‘greener’ future, sharing the latest and greatest ideas in green living and green technology with you through our staff written blogs. Going ‘green’ is no longer a choice, it’s our responsibility, that’s why it’s so important to try and do the small things that can help change the outlook of the planet – and this is essentially the purpose of One Stop Green. We believe even the little things like recycling or using less water helps the environment out in a big way, and that’s why our various solutions seek to nurture and edify your home or business in an eco-friendly manner.
Visit our website at www.onestopgreen.com or download the mobile app at http://fwd4.me/01gP
Cooking Green! And We Don’t Mean Green Meat
The Two Flush System – A Secret in Water Conservation
Week of June 26th
The Two Flush System – What is it and how does it work?
My first encounter with a two flush system was on my first visit to Israel in 2007. Quite honestly, I had no idea why the toilet had 2 buttons, or 2 levers, depending on the setup. It took some experimentation to figure out the difference, but basically different amounts of water were released depending on which was pressed.
Less water is needed to flush urination because the liquid mixes and flows with the flushed water. So the smaller button or lever is pressed and the toilet does the rest using a reduced water flow. For bigger loads, the big button or lever is used so the extra water keeps your bowl looking nice.
Two flush systems are rarely seen in the United States, or at least in Texas. However, historically water has not been as hard to come by in the United States, than in Israel, where a large portion of the country is desert. Israel’s commitment to water conservation is quite strong with much of the water going toward irrigation and turning parts of the Negev Desert into an agricultural region. For Israel, conservation is especially important in their dry season, roughly through the summer and autumn months.
While big “Green” news items usually relate to finding renewable energy, saving water is just as important. Water on the Earth is a set resource and only about 2% is fresh water in lakes, rivers, ice, and the atmosphere. Overuse and pollution makes even less of what little water is available fit for consumption.
Currently in the United States, a large portion of the states bordering Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico are experiencing drought conditions. In Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, all divisions are experiencing drought, and all but one in New Mexico is experiencing a drought. In San Antonio, where I am from, Stage 2 water restrictions are in effect based on the level of water in the Edwards Aquifer at one particular well. In the drier summer months, this has become a surprisingly regular occurrence as the rain the rest of the year is not enough to slake the city’s thirst during the summer. During these restrictions, the city sets regulations as to when water can be used for what; this includes restricting days and times lawns can be watered and whether car washes are legal.
Two Flush System retrofits are available for just about any toilet. The retrofits are a simple and inexpensive way to reduce how much water you can use per flush. Most are simple enough to install as a do-it-yourself project in an hour or less. They fit nearly all standard household toilets and even accommodate the low-flow 1.6 gallon toilets that are all but standard in new construction. Retrofit kits can get pricey, but there are inexpensive options under $100.
While water conservation is relatively untouched by the media and politicians, it is an important part of Going Green and using resources wisely. Two Flush Systems have been proven in other places and could be an integral part of cutting down water use domestically.
One Stop Green is looking towards a ‘greener’ future, sharing the latest and greatest ideas in green living and green technology with you through our staff written blogs. Going ‘green’ is no longer a choice, it’s our responsibility, that’s why it’s so important to try and do the small things that can help change the outlook of the planet – and this is essentially the purpose of One Stop Green. We believe even the little things like recycling or using less water helps the environment out in a big way, and that’s why our various solutions seek to nurture and edify your home or business in an eco-friendly manner.
Visit our website at www.onestopgreen.com or download the mobile app at http://fwd4.me/01gP
One Stop Green Tip of the Day: Eat organic!
Frozen food uses 10x more energy to produce and has less nutrition than fresh food, since they are usually loaded with preservatives. Choose organic and always eat fresh fruits and veggies!
The End of Incandescents – How to Keep the Lights On
Blog Week of June 5th The end of the Incandescent bulb is just the Beginning of the Future… The end of the incandescent bulb as we know it is near thanks to a law signed by former President George W. Bush in 2007. While not banning the bulbs outright, the law requires incandescent bulbs to be 25% more efficient and dictates a phase-out of inefficient bulbs beginning in January 2012. The 100-watt incandescent bulbs will be some of the first to go and as rolling deadlines between 2012 and 2014 come and go, more of their incandescent brethren will join them. While the law doesn’t require the use of compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, it will however slowly phase it out, giving compact fluorescents (CFL’s) and Light Emitting Diodes (LED’s) a leg-up in the marketplace. Now, to clarify, this new law by no means outlaws incandescent bulbs outright. It does however, mandate more efficient incandescent bulbs, which essentially means a phase-out of current models. In fact, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, a trade group representing light bulb manufacturers, has cited a new 72-watt replacement for traditional 100-watt bulbs. Unfortunately, this has not curbed hoarding of current bulbs. In a New York Times article, anyone from home decorators to restaurateurs to everyday citizens said they would buy their favorite bulbs in bulk from wherever they could be found. At the lighting industry trade show, Lightfair, Philips unveiled a $40-50 LED bulb with a 25,000 hour lifespan and conservative personalities like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh jumped on the fact that our government was banning current incandescent bulbs for $50 replacements (The Associated Press reported a $50 price tag and Fox News picked up their story spinning it as “As Government Bans Regular Light Bulbs, LED Replacements Will Cost $50 Each”). On the upside for LED lighting, the future is only getting brighter. While CFLs are considered the main alternative to incandescent lighting, they do have some negatives. The biggest issue is that CFL bulbs contain mercury, making cleaning up a broken one a potentially dangerous proposition. Some CFL’s also require a “warm up” period like the large halogen lights at your favorite sports stadium. CFL’s are also more expensive than incandescent bulbs, however the energy savings make up for that after about 6 months. And while CFLs last longer than incandescent bulbs, sometimes they don’t live up to their advertised expectations – so be sure to buy from a manufacturer who offers a limited warranty. So why LED lighting? The biggest plus is that their color better emulates incandescent bulbs and they outlast even CFL bulbs (by nearly ten times). The technology behind LED lighting is the same semiconductors that are used in cell phones and computers, so as they improve, so does LED lighting. LED’s are also gaining the backing of name-brand manufacturers, like Philips and Sylvania, and retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s are now making them available in their stores. For now, the advantages of LED lighting don’t counter the up front cost, so CFL bulbs are the better recommendation. However, as technology improves and costs fall, LED lights are soon to become what the CFL became to the incandescent bulb – a game changer. In another decade or even less, CFLs could be phased out due to mercury issues leaving LED lights as our primary option. If you are looking to go green and get rid of your incandescent lighting, One Stop Green carries both CFL and LED lighting options for nearly any application. One Stop Green recently partnered with Earthmate Lighting to carry some of the smallest and greenest (down to the packaging) CFLs on the market. One Stop Green’s LED lighting is made for residential and commercial applications as well and while more expensive that CFLs, LED lighting is even more energy efficient and emulates the incandescent lighting many people miss. One Stop Green is looking towards a ‘greener’ future, sharing the latest and greatest ideas in green living and green technology with you through our staff written blogs. Going ‘green’ is no longer a choice, it’s our responsibility, that’s why it’s so important to try and do the small things that can help change the outlook of the planet – and this is essentially the purpose of One Stop Green. We believe even the little things like recycling or using less water helps the environment out in a big way, and that’s why our various solutions seek to nurture and edify your home or business in an eco-friendly manner. Visit our website at www.onestopgreen.com or download the mobile app at http://fwd4.me/01gP
One Stop Green Tip of the Day: Switch to cold water!
Almost 90% of the energy used to wash clothes is for heating the water. Save money and energy, wash your clothes in warm or cold water, instead of hot, using a detergent formulated for cold-water use. Turning the dial from hot to warm will cut your energy use by 50% per load, and save you up to $63 a year!
One Stop Green Tip of the Day: Buy Green Energy!
Many utility companies offer energy that is produced by renewable resources, which can be purchased as a percent of total energy used or in blocks of kilowatts. Buying green energy supports the development and use of renewable resources while helping reduce global warming!