Go Green

By John Sutter

I’ve heard officials in Oklahoma say that some of our air quality woes are due to pollution that floats north from Texas. Some of the highest smog readings in Oklahoma, for instance, come in right along the Red River, on the Texas border.

The Wichita Eagle put that situation in better context with this story.

The paper talks about air quality as an interstate problem that will require cooperation between cities and states. From their perspective, it is Oklahoma’s pollution that is floating north and causing some of the trouble with unheathy air.

… pollution moves up from larger cities to the south such as Oklahoma City and Dallas. Besides reducing its own ozone, Wichita will have to work regionally with other cities to reduce air pollution, which doesn’t recognize borders.

This all comes against the backdrop of regulation changes. The EPA recently tightened its smog rule, which now has more cities and even rural areas worried about air quality. (my story and podcast on that change; also check out our air quality site.)

What would the world look like if everyone lived like me?  

This is the question that American Public Media is asking visitors to its sustainability page at publicradio.org.

And what a question it is!

If you follow the link above, you’ll find an interactive game called Consumer Consequences, which illustrates the impact of our lifestyles on the Earth. The game asks a series of questions about your lifestyle, including how many miles you drive per month, how much food you eat and how often you buy new items of clothing or shoes (yikes!).With every question you answer, the game provides information and tips on how you can improve your score. You can even create your own character to play the game, and your own neighborhood to play it in.

The impact of your lifestyle is then calculated in terms of how many Earths it would take if everyone lived as you do. You can compare your lifestyle with others and modify your answers to reduce your impact.

In an effort to encourage you to play the game, I will share my results: 

My character sported a top hat, a furrowed brow, a wedding dress and a very long handlebar moustache. I played in the downtown-looking neighborhood.

There are 4 people living in my household (OK, my parent’s household. I did just graduate from college, remember!). It is a single-family home that is 2000 to 2500 square feet. We live in Oklahoma, and I figured our gas and electricity costs are above the state average. We do turn off the lights in my house (my Dad makes me walk back up the stairs and turn out every light in my room if I forget) and close the doors, so I guess we try to conserve energy as often as possible. We probably throw out 2-3 garbage bags per week, and we recycle everything.  I drive (by myself) to work every day, but I do have a hybrid (if that counts for anything!). I don’t ever take the bus, train or fly anywhere. My car gets 60 miles per gallon (woot!) and I probably drive about 1000 miles per month. I don’t eat as much as the average person, but I do eat out a lot. I will admit, I have yet to get into the groove of buying locally grown and organic products. After this game, I definitely will be making a trip to the Farmer’s Market! The shopping habits are really what gets me in trouble. I can’t help it! I love to shop! 

Calculation: It would take almost 5 Earths to sustain my lifestyle if everyone lived like me! Yikes! This game is a huge wake-up call. My shopping and my eating habits were the worst on my list.

So there. I shared my embarrassing score. Now it’s your turn! 

I challenge everyone to play this game and share their Earth count here on the Go Green blog page. Leave me a comment and let me know what your results were and how you plan to change your lifestyle!

-Lisa 

The other day, I was driving (in a 1997 Honda Accord) west on I-40, headed for a friend’s wedding reception near El Reno. That’s a considerable distance from Oklahoma City, so I was already thinking about gas prices and such when I found myself surrounded by a tractor-trailer and about four huge trucks, each easily twice as tall as me on the road.

It got me thinking: will a situation like this soon be a thing of the past? Will such scenes become faded Americana? I’d assume that if these high fuel prices aren’t temporary, and most people say they aren’t, then vehicles will soon start shrinking. But will the SUV — the Ford F-250 that costs $100,000 over five years — be conspiculously absent from Oklahoma roads anytime soon?

According to an article in The Guardian, not just yet.

Here’s an excerpt:

Some argue that if you can afford a $60,000 (£30,000) Hummer, you can afford to fill it up, even if it does only 10 miles to the gallon. But awareness of the oil crisis and green issues means driving one is fast becoming a social outrage.

More than a million Americans a year still buy big, cheaper SUVs with similarly poor fuel economy. But in the same way, their sales are going through the floor, while fuel-efficient cars are gradually gaining business.

But the SUV’s future isn’t entirely bleak. Sure, most people just drive them to the shops, but a sizeable American hardcore do haul boats and drive on unmade tracks. Many will carry on buying them, but demand smaller ones with more fuel-efficient engines.

John

The summer heat is here, and that means it’s also smog season.

For the first time this year,  according to the state Department of Environmental Quality, smog season includes all of Oklahoma — rural corners and all, not just OKC and Tulsa. (Read a story about that here.) The government will be issuing ozone (or smog) warnings all over the state this summer.

You may want to sign up for e-mail alerts from DEQ … they’ll tell you when the air outside is unhealthy so you can consider changing your activities accordingly. For instance, if smog levels are high, it’s not the best idea to go out for a run or an intense bike ride, because the pollution will stick deep in your lungs. If you’re an asthmatic, you may want just to stay inside and wait for the smog to pass.

The reason smog has become a statewide issue is that the EPA recently changed its rule for what it considers to be an unhealthy level of the pollutant. The agency found that smog is unsafe at lower levels that previously thought. Environmental and public health groups sued the federal agency to make a new ruling, and wanted the standard to be made even more strict.

Learn about curbing your smog emissions on our Clean Air site.

Also check out a podcast featuring Linds and me … and a truck driver who has trouble breathing when ozone levels are high.

Here’s more info from DEQ.

John

According to this article from CNN, LA is no longer the dirtiest, sootiest city in America.

The American Lung Association named Pittsburgh, PA, as the No. 1 sootiest city. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the city has spent years trying to avoid the reputation of being the “Smoky City”:

“According to the association’s annual national report card on air pollution that’s being released today, the five-county Pittsburgh metropolitan area has the worst 24-hour soot levels and the second-worst annual soot level, behind Los Angeles.”

Some believe that it isn’t necessarily that Pittsburgh’s air has decreased in quality, but that Los Angeles’ air has improved - good news for them, bad news for Pittsburgh.

Oklahoma, according to the report, received varying grades from A to F for air quality. Tulsa and Oklahoma counties both received an F grade. Strangely, Cleveland County received an A grade - despite being right by Oklahoma County. I’m not sure how to explain that disparity.

Take a look at The State of the Air report and see what you think.

- Linds

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are changing the way people look at light. They use 2/3rds less energy than regular light bulbs, last 10 times longer and produce 70% less heat. But, as always, there’s a catch.

[Left: Figures from January 2007.]

CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury, which helps the bulbs to be more efficient than standard incandescent bulbs. Mercury is a neurotoxin which is especially dangerous for fetuses and children. While no mercury is released while the bulb is in tact or being used, the disposal or breakage of such a bulb poses a potential health hazard.

400 million of these bulbs are used each year. That means 400 million are thrown away when they burn out. That small amount of mercury in each bulb adds up when that many are being broken in garbage cans and landfills.

When disposing of CFLs, don’t put them in your trash.

Instead, take the bulbs to a hazardous waste facility. The Oklahoma City facility is located at SW 15^th and Portland and is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The center is free to Oklahoma City residents, but you will need your City water bill as proof of residence. Residents of The Village, Yukon, Tinker Air Force Base, Shawnee and Edmond can recycle their waste at the facility, but will be charged for the service through their municipality.

If a CFL bulb breaks in your home, follow these EPA guidelines to clean it up:

Before Clean-up: Vent the Room

1. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.

2. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

1. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.

2. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.

3. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.

4. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:

1. Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such

as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.

2. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments

and powder.

3. If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.

4. Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

Disposal of Clean-up Materials

1. Immediately place all cleanup materials outside the building in a trash container or outdoor protected area for the next normal trash.

2. Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.

3. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken lamps be taken to a local recycling center.

Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Vent the Room During and After Vacuuming

1. For at least the next few times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.

2. Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

By all means, don’t stop using CFLs because of the mercury. The bulbs are perfectly safe to use in your home. Just be sure you dispose of them properly. Either take them to the hazardous waste facility. If you must throw them in the trash, seal the bulb in two plastic bags before throwing them in the garbage.

- Lisa

The Environmental Protection Agency lowered its ozone emission standards only marginally Wednesday, effectively ignoring its own scientific advisers who recommended more stringent standards.

Even with the less restrictive standards, Oklahoma, Tulsa and seven other state counties will be out of compliance.

The new standard for the amount of ozone, commonly known as smog, allowed in the air was established at .075 parts per million, down from the current .084 parts per million standard. EPA’s science advisers had unanimously recommended a standard between .060 and .070 parts per million.

“People don’t like to be mandated. That’s where the public feels impeded upon,” said Jerry Church, spokesman for the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. “On the flip side of that, I hope people will understand that air quality is a very important issue. And hopefully we can look at our daily habits and how we live our life. Perhaps buy a more fuel-efficient car. Everyone has a say in this.”

- an excerpt from a story by Devona Walker, The Oklahoman. Read the full story here.

As the owner of a hybrid car (and a nice cloud of smug), I am always happy to talk up the benefits of such vehicles:

- I can drive back and forth from Oklahoma City to Norman (where I go to school-Boomer Sooner!) without having to fill up every day.
- My car is much, much quieter (good for sneaky getaways).
- It’s fun to watch the meter go from blue to green on my dashboard and see the gas gauge rise while I’m driving.

So while gas prices continue to rise and all my non-hybrid driving friends do nothing but complain, why don’t we get proactive about it and do something!

That something can include switching from gas-guzzling SUVs to more fuel-efficient vehicles like hybrids and compressed natural gas vehicles. CNG car drivers are followed around by an even larger cloud of smug for several reasons:

- The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has rated CNG cars “the most environmentally friendly ‘green’ car. I will admit, I’m jealous.
- Unlike gasoline, natural gas is clean, abundant, and relatively cheap. Less than $2 cheap.
- 40 miles per gallon. Need I say more?

So instead of whining all the time about how expensive gas is becoming, get a hybrid, a CNG car or just get your lazy rear end up off the couch and walk to the store!

- Lisa

There’s an excellent online magazine about environmental issues I highly urge you to check out: http://www.emagazine.com/

Here’s a particularly interesting read: Green U

And to give a local angle on that, check out this article from the Hub (OU’s Web site for the student paper, The Oklahoma Daily) about how OU’s transit services went green.

Have you seen any evidence of colleges going green in Oklahoma? Have you seen any evidence that they’re not environmentally conscious?

- Linds

European Union ministers are backing proposals to cut Carbon Dioxide levels by 20 percent by 2020, but Poland isn’t thrilled about the idea.

Read all about it here.

- Linds