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| The Greening of the American Office
Friday, April 29 @ 13:58:55 EDT
by Mark |
 Environmental Responsibility Doesn’t Stop at Home
(ARA) – April 22nd marks the 35th anniversary of Earth Day -- and the good news is that more and more Americans are thinking of creative ways to recycle, reuse and be more environmentally conscious. But once you leave the confinements of “home sweet home,” what can you do from 9 to 5 to continue your “green” way of life?
Just like your house, most offices consume water, energy, paper and other products -- the result of which produces a deluge of waste. But the office furniture industry is a prime example of a market segment that is quietly, but effectively, converting its product designs and manufacturing technologies to have a more positive environmental impact -- partially in response to government programs, but also because consumers are demanding products that are gentler on the environment. The industry, in fact, is responding to the green phenomena in some amazing, highly creative ways.
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| California Tripping - Air You Go
Friday, September 17 @ 12:49:21 EDT
by webmaster |
As a Michigan native, Southern California has always seemed far removed from me. The only time I think about it is when a Michigan football team travels to
Pasadena and generally get their behinds kicked in the Rose Bowl, or when I see wildfire stories on the news. Having
its very own 'Govenator' is pretty good for public awareness too.
I visited California for the first time in early September with my wife. Time to meet the
in-laws. My first impression while approaching Ontario Airport in Southern Cal was that the little mountains seemed to be surrounded by what appeared to be sand or dried kitty litter. The only green thing I could see was the gentleman seated two rows in front of me (he didn't enjoy flying). We landed, collected our baggage and exited the airport but I didn't see the mountains. On closer inspection, they were there in the distance but very faint and ghostly looking. That was my first run in with smog. The temperature was around 102 degrees but the humidity was only around 10%. I handled the heat better than my wife's rubber-soled roman sandals. She thought she'd stepped on gum but it was just melting footwear. (Note to self: Don't go barefoot.) I'd always heard about the warm weather in Southern Cal but I didn't realize that it's pretty close to desert conditions.
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| Wind Power at Altamont - Beak Efficiency
Friday, September 17 @ 12:37:32 EDT
by webmaster |
 Traveling from Stockton to San Francisco introduced me to the windmill farm at Altamont Pass. There looked to be hundreds (the actual figure is around 6500) of turbines. It was lightly to moderately breezy but what I saw had me scratching my head. I counted only a handful of the turbines turning. With civilization encroaching from both the San Francisco and Stockton directions, I wondered why the turbines were idle. Why build so many towers if you aren't going to generate electricity with them?
A bit of research showed me that there are varied reasons but most have to do with legal issues.
The issue that came up the most was bird deaths. I was quoted between a hundred and millions of birds killed when actually speaking to people. The descriptor changed, usually in conjunction with the number - "100 birds splatted", "1000 birds slaughtered", "10,000 birds massacred", etc. Figuring that I was receiving emotional responses, I looked up "altamont bird deaths" online. Again, the numbers varied widely but 1100 bird deaths per year seemed to be a figure that was repeated often.
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| Blackout and Blue Skies - What the Haze is Going On?
Monday, August 23 @ 10:36:06 EDT
by webmaster |
 In a recent study by researchers at the University of Maryland ("The 2003 North American Electrical Blackout: An Accidental Experiment in Atmospheric Chemistry") a surprising outcome of the blackout was that skies were dramatically bluer and the air was much healthier on the east coast than scientific models had expected.
Atmospheric measurements taken by the scientists some 24 hours after many power plants had essentially shut down found a 90 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide, a gas that leads to haze and acid rain, and a 50 percent reduction in smog, or ground-level ozone. The Maryland scientists also found that the amount of light scattering particles in the air dropped by 70 percent and visibility increased by some 20 miles.
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| Global Warming Awareness Rally
Monday, July 12 @ 17:33:26 EDT
by webmaster |
 Business, science, religious, political, television and personal entities combined on the lawn of the Michigan State Capitol Building on June 15th, 2004 to voice their ideas and concerns about global warming. After a short parade, presentations were delivered pertaining to our stewardship of resources on the earth. Some speakers were quite emotionally strident while others calmly listed factual data on the condition of Michigan's environment/human relationship.
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