Green Mondays

I imagine everyone has wondered like I have what you do with a small appliance or other household item that for some reason just won’t work anymore. Several years ago, my wife and I bought a grinder/mixer from India. A few years back it stopped working, … Read More

One topic that is of particular interest to me is food. I like to eat, and due to being diagnosed with very low levels of Vitamin D, it was recommended that I increase my intake of tuna (among a small selection of other foods) to alleviate … Read More

  The major categories of greenhouse gases (GHG) include the following: Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Methane (CH4) Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Flourinated Gases (FGs) The percent contribution of each type of GHG to the total amount of GHG released into the air is shown in the figure to … Read More

I am currently visiting one of the campuses of the Sisters of Mercy located in Frontenac, MO, which is a western suburb of St. Louis. During the tour of the various buildings located on the property, I found out that the newest building had been built … Read More

Though this topic was not been included in the most recent list of upcoming topics, I have been meaning to do some research on the sustainable options that are available when purchasing various types of paper tissue products, including paper towels, facial tissue, and toilet paper. … Read More

Over the life of this blog, I have focused only on issues related to sustainability. But taking care of the planet not only requires knowledge and awareness of what actions we can take, but it also requires an appreciation and awareness of the types of natural … Read More

From an environmental standpoint, there are two major attributes of paint that should be considered prior to painting the outside or inside of one’s home (or anything else for that matter). These considerations include the effect the paint will have on air quality and, in the … Read More

by Dr. Tamim Younos A carbon footprint can be defined several ways. Basically, it refers to the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions attributable to direct and/or indirect consumption of fossil-fuel (coal, petroleum and natural gas) based energy to sustain modern human activities. Levels of CO2 … Read More

One often overlooked aspect when planning the installation of a solar panel array is the inverter. I briefly mentioned in a previous article that the inverter is the device that converts the energy received from the sun through the solar panel (DC or direct current) into … Read More

I want to get back to plastic pollution this week and really want to give this issue, along with assessing and reducing our contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions, prominent positions throughout the future course of this blog as they are, in my opinion, two of … Read More

Getting back to the discussion on solar panels, I wanted to provide additional information on what to consider when not selecting a solar panel manufacturer, but an installer as well. First I want to quickly go over the main components of a very simple diagram of … Read More

Taking a break from all of the numbers presented in the last few articles with regard to emissions, I would like to take a week or more to focus on my other passion with regards to sustainability: clean water. Water represents an item that, in addition … Read More

First of all, Happy 2022! As we have all been traveling a lot over the last few months, I thought looking at the environmental impact of traveling may be appropriate for this article. In Post #70, I wrote about the amount of carbon dioxide that is … Read More

I have thought about this question a lot over the years since, I do have to admit, I have always had an artificial Christmas tree. Due to having serious asthma when I was a kid, real Christmas trees were a problem and so my family was … Read More

This week I would like to look more closely at our personal contributions to greenhouse gas emissions with regard to some of the most common single-use plastics that we use in our everyday lives. I will initially discuss the various sources of emissions in the process … Read More

I just realized that I forgot to include an event announcement that I promised to mention in the previous Green Mondays article earlier in the week. I try to only post somewhere between twice a month to once a week at the most, but this and … Read More

A week ago the Green Team for my church, in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation, conducted a native plant giveaway. We offered various types of plants that grow in shade and sun and that each have various other qualities, such as supporting large caterpillar populations, … Read More

The inspiration for some of these Green Monday posts comes from experiences I have between posts, which is is what happened for this week. A few days ago I saw a movie on Netflix titled “The Game Changers,” which follows one athlete who goes on a … Read More

Have you questioned the reason that Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22? On this day in 1970 the modern environmental movement was born. This was the first time that a voice was given to the emerging public consciousness on the state of our … Read More

I would like to devote some time to the topic of food waste during the month of April, and for this article I would like to focus on a company that is working hard to reduce food waste throughout the United States. A colleague of mine … Read More

As we continue to focus on water this month, I did find some interesting stats from the EPA with regard to how we waste and, therefore, can save water at the household level. Since I believe these are very important as stated, I am including them … Read More

Since World Water Day 2021 is on Monday, March 22, I would like to focus on water during the month of March. Besides air, water is the most precious resource that exists on this planet. It is funny (or not) that with air and water being … Read More

This is it! Our goal in February of last year when Green Mondays began was to follow weekly objectives related to reducing carbon emissions and promoting environmental sustainability for 1 year or 52 weeks. If you can remember that far back, this was about one month … Read More

As the last few weeks have been a bit snowy with similar weather persisting for at least the next week or so, I thought we should get back to a topic that is about snow and cold. A common scene before a snow or ice event … Read More

While it has been a bit cold and snowy lately, I thought this would be a good time to think about something warm and sunny: Summer. Though I enjoy the long days and warm weather associated with summer, the one thing that does cause me a … Read More

Last Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made the announcement that under the new Biden administration it would begin to regulate the concentrations of chemicals referred to as PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in drinking water. Stricter drinking water limits will likely be set for two … Read More

I want to go back to something I briefly touched on in Week 39 when discussing safe and sustainable laundry detergent. I had mentioned using the website of the Environmental Working Group (https://www.ewg.org) as a valuable resource to find which detergents are the most sustainable in … Read More

I would now like to focus on a different environmental issue that you may want to take into account when purchasing clothing: plastic pollution. First of all, you may wonder what clothing has to do with plastics. In the past we have focused on obvious issues … Read More

Going back to carbon emissions, there is one other industry I would like to discuss that is a dominant contributor in this area: clothing and footwear. According to an article that was published in Business Insider, current global trends in the clothing industry are drastically going … Read More

Since we have been focusing on carbon emissions for the last several weeks, I thought I would take break and return to plastics. A friend of mine sent me an article last week that made me realize that I have neglected to discuss one basic aspect … Read More

I thought with Christmas approaching and the fact that smartphones and other electronic devices are common gifts, this week would be a good time to take a more detailed look at what goes into powering such devices: lithium-ion-based batteries. Specific devices that use these batteries include: … Read More

As most if not all of you know, Pfizer just received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA and CDC to begin distribution of their vaccine, while Moderna is likely to follow up with its own EUA later this week. The main issue regarding these vaccines … Read More

We are going to move away from the Internet to another major contributor of carbon emissions: Food. The choices we make in terms of the food we eat include both when we eat away from home at restaurants and when we purchase groceries to make the … Read More

As almost all of us have been stuck inside more than we would like due to COVID, one activity that has become even more popular than it already was is streaming movies, videos, and other online content. I have to admit that we watch a lot … Read More

As I write these Green Monday posts, it has crossed my mind that in order to write them, I am contributing to carbon emissions through the use of the Internet, and as anyone who reads them reads them, they are also contributing to carbon emissions through … Read More

It was mentioned in a previous Green Mondays post that one simple household solution to reducing your contribution to carbon emissions is to wash your clothes in cold water. I would like to go into this in a bit more detail and also discuss how the … Read More

Back in Week 5 of Green Mondays, which coincided with the beginning of the shutdown due to COVID-19, I focused on helping neighbors who are most vulnerable to catching the virus and to the economic impacts of a shutdown; this includes those who are homebound, low-income, … Read More

As we learned two weeks ago, activities related to housing represent the highest sources of carbon emissions both domestically (33.6%) and overseas (34.7%). Specifically within housing, emissions are predominately due to the two most common sources of energy used: electricity created from the burning of coal … Read More

Last week I focused on the overall picture of how we all contribute to greenhouse gas emissions in terms of five different categories: housing, transportation, food, services, and clothing. I was going to go into the housing category today in a bit more detail, but was … Read More

Last week we (including myself) learned how fossil fuels are created and about the three major types. This is nice, but how do we fit into the overall picture of how much carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels? … Read More

When writing about reducing our carbon footprint several months ago, I did not fully realize the importance of starting from the beginning with regard to fossil fuels. What are fossil fuels, how did they form, why are they considered non-renewable, and how do they contribute to … Read More

Leaf blowers have become more popular and affordable over the last few decades. Many of us have memories of spending an afternoon raking leaves, and hopefully many of us are still creating those memories. The issue for many though is that raking leaves can be a … Read More

One common item that we do not put much thought into and that can contribute toward serious environmental and health impacts is the receipt. In a report provided by Green America, it was estimated that the production of receipts in the United States alone has the … Read More

We often hear about how we need to cut our carbon emissions due to the warming effects that greenhouse gases (e.g. carbon dioxide and methane) have on our atmosphere and planet. In addition to reducing the sources of these emissions, we can also take actions that … Read More

Even though the ultimate goal with regard to plastic pollution and waste is to reduce your overall consumption and reuse and recycle as much as possible, there is still going to be some garbage (hopefully a smaller amount than on Week 1) of which you need … Read More

At my wife’s request, this week’s Green Monday is about disposing of or reusing used cooking oil. Pouring used cooking oil down the sink drain can have several potentially harmful environmental effects. It can damage your home’s pipes once it solidifies and clog public pipes and … Read More

By now most of us are well aware of how important it is to choose native plants over other non-native plants when deciding which plants to include in your gardens and yards. This is especially important if you want to support a lively butterfly population since … Read More

Many of the past Green Mondays posts on plastic pollution have concerned limiting our use of plastics, which in effect helps to increase our sensitivity to this very serious and growing issue as we make choices that are a part of our daily lives. The potential … Read More

As promised last week, the topic for this week’s discussion specifically relates to the batteries used in hybrid electric compared to conventional vehicles. One of the initial concerns when the Toyota Prius came out in the early 2000’s was the potential negative environmental impact of battery … Read More

This week I would like to spark a discussion on hybrid electric vehicles (hybrids). The reason this comes to mind is because my wife and I finally decided to replace our older and very gas inefficient Ford Five Hundred. We have been trying to decide between … Read More

This week I am moving away from solar to focus on another plastic product almost all human beings use and for which there are more sustainable alternatives: the toothbrush.  One disturbing fact that I was recently reminded of is that every plastic toothbrush that has been … Read More

I will keep this short for today since we are having a webinar later in the day on solar energy.  I hope that you plan to attend since it should be very informative and enlightening.  As I mentioned earlier, speakers will include Thomas Deyo from Montgomery … Read More

Since we are on the topic of solar, there was an issue that recently came up here in Montgomery County, Maryland, concerning using rural lands to provide community solar. The State of Virginia also is also developing the largest solar farm east of the Rockies; it … Read More

I would like to move back to the topic of energy conservation since we have not yet discussed one of the most important ways to reduce electricity demand from the grid: solar energy. The installation and use of solar panels can seem like an overwhelming idea … Read More

I hope you all had a great 4th.  I decided this week to take a break from the green activities and send something that hopefully will make you laugh, which we are all in need of at the moment due to the current situation with covid … Read More

During the last two weeks we have discussed how to select a compost bin and the ingredients that go into a compost pile (i.e. greens and browns).  Now all you need to do is select a location for your bin and dump the ingredients inside, and then … Read More

The second step when beginning a compost pile is to gather the actual materials that will be used to create the pile within your compost bin.  The general rule is that 4 components are needed to make a basic compost pile:  greens, browns, water, and air.  … Read More

An important topic related to waste reduction is composting.  Composting is something I have been wanting to do for a while now but just felt it was complicated to begin and never took the time to do the research required.  So for the next few weeks … Read More

For Week 17 I wanted to focus more on current events.  As there have been a myriad of peaceful protests taking place during the last few weeks and due to the likelihood that there will be more throughout the next several weeks as well, I thought … Read More

While we are on the subject of plastic, we cannot forget the plastic straw.  Here is one take on this issue: As part of the answer to the President’s comments, plastic straws are more of a concern because not only are they smaller than most other single-use … Read More

Late last week I realized that we were almost out of printer paper at my house and so I looked into how to purchase the most environmentally-friendly paper.  There are 3 environmental questions that I could think of when deciding which brand to purchase: 1.  Is the … Read More

I hope everyone was able to enjoy or is on their way to enjoying milk out of a glass bottle; I think the higher quality taste and the positive impact on the environment make the extra investment worthwhile. I would like to continue looking at alternatives to using plastic … Read More

After spending a few weeks thinking about what goes into the life cycle of plastic products, particularly single-use plastics, I hope that you have become more sensitized to the importance of stopping this life cycle at the beginning, which for most would be when we are purchasing … Read More

Two weeks ago I had requested that everyone watch The Story of Plastic, but you could only access it through the Discovery Channel or DiscoveryGo. A virtual screening that is free of charge has now been set up by DoTheMostGood in partnership with One Montgomery Green, … Read More

The first step in reducing our consumption of single-use plastics is eliminating the need for the plastic bottle. One of the most common reasons we consume plastic bottles is to increase our consumption of “healthy” and “clean” water. Then when we are finished we can just … Read More

Last week we took a look at new innovations that are being developed or that have been discovered in terms of breaking down plastic byproducts in the hope that we will eventually be able to reduce plastic pollution throughout the globe.  But as one member of … Read More

Happy Easter Monday!  This week we are going to take a break from implementing activities that help to reduce our carbon footprints and take a look at the current increase use of single-use plastics and innovations that are being developed to reduce plastic pollution.  Increased plastic … Read More

This week we will again focus on reducing our carbon footprint by implementing actions that are included within the Home Energy section of the EPA’a Carbon Footprint Calculator (www3.epa.gov).  The specific action we will address is related to washing clothes.  According to the Calculator, I will … Read More

As you may remember, the objective for Week 4 was to computer your carbon footprint using the EPA Carbon Footprint Calculator.  One feature of the calculator is that it allows you to see the effects of various actions you can perform to reduce emissions, both in terms … Read More

While all of us are adjusting to life in the fight against COVID-19, hopefully you have noticed that spring is arriving and new flowers are starting to bloom and new leaves are budding. Yes, we are indeed making my our way through Lent and Easter and … Read More

Due to the unprecedented events going on with regard to the COVID-19 outbreak, I would like to take a one-week break from our energy conservation agenda in support of caring for those who are the most vulnerable in our communities, especially those who are elderly and/or … Read More

The objectives for the last few weeks have been about attempting to assess and reduce your home’s energy needs.  Prior to implementing any other energy saving strategies, I would like us all to take a step back and assess our overall carbon footprints based on home energy … Read More

I hope everyone was able to schedule a free home energy check-up last week.  This week we are going to continue on the energy side of things with another fairly simple task that does not require much of your time.  As many of you may know, … Read More

Since last week’s objective of getting a Home Energy Assessment scheduled is such an important step in becoming more energy efficient, I would like to devote a second week to this task in case many of you did not have a chance to make the call … Read More

Today represents our first “Green Monday,” and I have selected a task that takes little effort on our part while potentially making a big difference.  And the best part of all is that unlike many other “green” tips, this one is free.   As part of their … Read More