Going Green: What does it Really Mean?

[nhboy]

Link to original article.

"I once visited a friend in rural Pennsylvania who lived on a street with no name. She could have harbored the Unabomber if she wanted to. This place was totally off the grid. Most people who went to her home noticed the gorgeous views and the stunning wild horses that galloped by once in a while. I noticed her toilet. It was not a toilet I had ever seen before. It was as green as a toilet can get. The structure itself looked like a normal toilet. But there was no water to catch your business. Toilet paper was available, but not to be flushed. You threw it away in a discreet bamboo basket in the corner. In fact, nothing could be flushed. There were worms waiting at the bottom of the toilet to digest the waste.

That, people, is going green. Suddenly, my pride in recycling soda cans and taking reusable bags to the grocery store (most of the time) seemed pathetic.

You do not have to be so extreme as my natural and 100 percent organic friend. You can keep your modern indoor plumbing and still make a difference. Here are a few ways to make sure your home is green: "

 

[Gilligan]

So you gonna start pooping in a bucket down there in yr basement? Or already do?

 

[Vince]

So now outhouses are the in Green thing. Who'da thunk it.

 

[Baja28]

Going "green" is another sham the govt. and enviro-wacko's have forced the American people to pay for. If you saw the added cost and BS waste that goes into a new "green" building, you'd be amazed!!

 

[Vince]

Global Warming is a bunch of

 

[SoMD_Fun_Guy]

Global Warming is a bunch of

Have you noticed that it's not "Global Warming" anymore, now it's called "Climate Change".

 

[Gilligan]

On ther other hand..where its nothing but practical, its great. To wit:

When I built a home in a very remote area of western Norway, it featured the following:

Water was provided and pressurized by gravity from a catch basin located about 200' elevation farther up the side of the mountain, said basin built to capture and pool some of the water from a glacially-fed stream/waterfall that flowed reliably year round.

Fairly typical septic and drain field.

Wood construction, heavily insulated, with sod roof. 100% wood heat excepting resistive heat in floor of bathroom and laundry room.

Electricity generated from a 1940s vintage water turbine (fed from same stream as noted above) that produced sufficient power for the entire farm where I built the house (four residences total).


If I can find another suitable location that would make all that practical again..I'll build there too.

 

[libertytyranny]

Going "green" is another sham the govt. and enviro-wacko's have forced the American people to pay for. If you saw the added cost and BS waste that goes into a new "green" building, you'd be amazed!!

case and point..we just had all of the "waterless" urinals removed from all of our buildings..because the stench was so bad and a multitude of other issues with them. Paid God knows how much to put them in, and more to pull them out and replace them.


I am actually not against being greener in a lot of ways..but there are some things that just shouldn't be messed with..toilets are one of them though I don't mind the adjustable flush toilets a lot of places are putting in now that Europe has used for awhile..with a number 1 setting and a number 2 setting... that actually makes sense. reusing things, using reusable bags, working on using more sustainable-type products..these are good things..when they make sense.

 

[Baja28]

case and point..we just had all of the "waterless" urinals removed from all of our buildings..because the stench was so bad and a multitude of other issues with them. Paid God knows how much to put them in, and more to pull them out and replace them.


I am actually not against being greener in a lot of ways..but there are some things that just shouldn't be messed with..toilets are one of them though I don't mind the adjustable flush toilets a lot of places are putting in now that Europe has used for awhile..with a number 1 setting and a number 2 setting... that actually makes sense. reusing things, using reusable bags, working on using more sustainable-type products..these are good things..when they make sense.

See there is this thing called "LEED" (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). It is the green sham!

The building costs for this crap are unbelievable (as you know). Materials have to be purchased within a certain radius of the building (I think 150 miles), Lights and equipment have to have like 98% efficiency (read BIG $$), paints and other similar materials have to have special certifications.

It all adds $$ to the cost of the building to save a little energy.

 

[Gilligan]

One of my 'favorite' Green-and-Stupid stories is the LED traffic light debacle. Areas that receive a lot of sleet and snow have been hard hit with the costs of continually de-icing the traffic lights in winter months. Crews, equipment, gasoline and diesel..

Turns out the old incandescent lights generated heat..(huge DUH) the LED ones do not.

 

[DEEKAYPEE8569]

One of my 'favorite' Green-and-Stupid stories is the LED traffic light debacle. Areas that receive a lot of sleet and snow have been hard hit with the costs of continually de-icing the traffic lights in winter months. Crews, equipment, gasoline and diesel..

Turns out the old incandescent lights generated heat..(huge DUH) the LED ones do not.

Has the idea of engineering a sprayer; like the one's on a car/truck; that sprays de-icer; for the lights been presented? Or maybe a rear-window defroster-like device; again, like what is on most late model automobiles?
Neither hypothetical solution would block light passage; and would keep the lights visible.
Would it then become a cost issue to re-fit the traffic lights if one of those ideas were perfected?

 

[Gilligan]

Has the idea of engineering a sprayer; like the one's on a car/truck; that sprays de-icer; for the lights been presented? Or maybe a rear-window defroster-like device; again, like what is on most late model automobiles?
Neither hypothetical solution would block light passage; and would keep the lights visible.
Would it then become a cost issue to re-fit the traffic lights if one of those ideas were perfected?

uh..if you stop and think about it for just a second..any solution for the problem totally negates any supposed 'green' benefit from having the stupid things be lit with LEDs in the first place.