Check these jokers out: Hummerguy.net. I hesitate to link to them for fear of adding credibility, but this discussion really requires you to see what the other side looks like.
Now, you can read the article, it's fairly benign, if idiotic. Now read the comments! The comments, by the way are limited to people the site owner has specifically granted wordpress access to. There is no community discussion. And what do you get for your intentionally limited views? In regards to the article's ethanol-capable Hummer: "they should really consider putting the H2H into production, that would satisfy the Eco Maniacs."
Well, georgieboysobota, I maybe committing a well known blunder, but you're a consummate nincompoop. Why would "Eco Maniacs" be excited over a transition to a completely new fuel alternative and infrastructure to drive your ridiculously useless, oversized monstrosity? You're getting "Anti-war Maniacs" and "Eco Maniacs" mixed up. The H2H he's talking about is a hydrogen fuel-cell powered concept hummer. That's grand, but as I'll discuss in a bit, there are far simpler ways to appease Eco Maniacs than reconstructing the entire American automotive infrastructure from the ground up.
Now as interesting as alternative fuels are, "Flex Fuel", or a vehicle's capacity to use high-concentration ethanol-gas mixtures, is unbelievably off-target. Corn, a common source, is one of the most environmentally unfriendly crops that exist. It taxes soil nitrogen levels heavily, is grown with pesticides and fertilizers (which then have adventures in the rest of the watershed and eventually the ocean). Not to mention, ethanol is just a hydro-carbon, which will always product carbon dioxide when burnt. It is lower in other emissions, but the net gain is very difficult to see.
What about real alternative fuels? Say... electricity? There are two primary arguments against electric cars today. First is an infrastructural argument. Our country is set up to generate, transport, and distribute liquid fuels very efficiently and in huge quantities. This was one of the biggest problems facing companies trying to build support for hydrogen fuel cells, as well. The fact is, unlike our poor fuel cell friends, there is a massive electrical infrastructure already in place. And since electric cars don't draw much more power than some of your existing appliances, it's entirely feasible.
The second argument is that most of our electricity is generated by coal power plants. I've never really understood this one. Isn't this a problem with the infrastructure, not with the cars? First, we should be looking for any and every alternative to coal power plants. They're disgusting and embarrassing as human beings. There's no excuse for them. Second, even when powered by coal, an electric car has a vastly lower carbon footprint. You may be shocked to learn that it's not terribly efficient to carry an entire power plant around with you everywhere, when compared to having a centralized system that distributes power to devices that are only intended to be efficient users of power, not generators themselves. And finally, third, a society that uses electric vehicles can swap out any new and improved source of power as technology provides them. It might be coal today, but it could be nuclear, geothermal, solar, tidal, or magic power tomorrow.
Now, not to pick on these paint makers, but their google adsense ad is the pinnacle of what's happening to environmentally friendly language. With a surge in attention directed at something called "the green movement" by the media and blogosphere, everyone is trying to get on the bandwagon. Some of these companies are completely full of it, and "greenwash" their corporate image. Others have some legitimacy, but the diversity of these companies and organizations is beginning to blur the public's view on the very words the companies are working to be associated with.
Our fine paint manufacturers here, for example, have a primarily health-oriented spin on "green." Their paints are designed to minimize the amount of potentially hazardous fumes released in your home. It has nothing to do with climate change, litter, biodegradability, carbon footprint, or most of the things I think of when I hear "green."
Healthy things aren't necessarily "green" things. The problem here is that both types of things appeal to similar audiences. People who are concerned about what goes into their body are often the same ones who think about what they are putting into the environment. That doesn't make the two types of concerns the same! "Natural" foods aren't environmentally friendly unless they also have less of an impact on the environment. Interestingly, the food output of the crops that "natural" foods are competing with often result in a net lower carbon footprint per unit of food produced! My point is that "green" no longer just means "environmentally conscious."
And what happens when a word is stretched to accommodate more and more ideas? It slowly becomes worthless. If "green" can mean environmentally responsible, healthy for humans, inefficiently manufactured, biodegradable, absorbing red and blue spectrum light, and simply not inherently disgusting, then the term begins to mean nothing at all. You might also find a great deal of academic and pseudo-academic spear rattling over what "green" means. These efforts, while they might appear to be helping, are actually completely vacuous. A word means what ever people are using it to describe. Having a forum to discuss it won't help narrow it down, it can only broaden it further, by forcing the opinions of the participants into the helpless word.
So, where does AllYourGreen fit in the green spectrum? We like organic stuff as much as the next eco-geeks, but if we don't see a direct benefit or advantage for the earth as a whole, we don't really care how tastey or comfy it is for a human. Sorry, folks, that's the way we approach it. No matter how clever your double entendre adsense ads are, you're confusing us and the subject. There were already two definitions of green in our niche already! (See here for an example of both).
Green is the color of chlorophyll, which absorbs mostly light in the red and blue regions of the visible electromagnetic spectrum. As chlorophyll is associated most strongly with plant life, the color green has an inherent tie to nature and specifically non-anthropic life. So, unless you're far more photosynthetic than I am, that means the natural environment of the Earth first, humans second. I've even seen claims that hand-made stuff is "green" just because it was hand made. Only if the hand manufacturing process involves less natural resources and produces fewer byproducts than an automated alternative! Usually, an efficient process uses fewer resources, so that always rubs me the wrong way. No matter how healthy a product might be, or how many humans they have doing easily automatable tasks, unless there's a net benefit to the environment, they should get their own adjective, and stop polluting existing ones.
Since a lack of paint vapor has nothing to do with the color green, how about "scratchy" or "obtuse"? They're just as valid arbitrary adjectives! "Go Obtuse!" must not have the same ring as the completely over-used "Go Green!" has. Where exactly is Green, anyway?
So you may have noticed fossil fuels are the way of the past. Our burning of fossil fuels is causing the planet to slowly become unlivable. Plus they're flat running out. So we cannot keep using them forever even if we pay no head to Global Warming and pollution in general.
So what do we replace fossil fuels with? Clean, safe, nuclear energy of course. Solar and Wind are great but they just are not cost effective yet. Nuclear power plants can produce a boatload of power and they are certainly better than the coal fired plants we use now. (Coal plants produce more energy in the US that any other power plant type.)
So lets talk boatloads. Nuclear power stations can put out something like a gigawatts of power. That translates roughly into 8-9 terrawatt-hours of electricity per year. If I'm sounding like Doc Brown from Back to the Future then thats the point. The average household in America uses something like one megawatt-hour so 1 nuclear power plant can power about a million homes. I don't know where jigga-watt falls on this scale but I know a million homes is a lot!
But its radioactive that's bad. Sure radioactive substances are dangerous. But if you think that coal is safe your in for a shock. A coal power station that produces the same amount of electricity as a nuclear power station, releases 100 times more radiation. OMFSM! How does that happen? you ask. Well coal contains uranium in small quantities. When we burn it, not only are we releasing horrible CO2 rich pollution, but in fact horrible radioactive CO2 rich pollution.
What about the radioactive waste how do we deal with it? Well lets see, most radioactive waste is spent fuel. Where did we get the "fuel" to begin with? Well we mined it out of the earth's crust. So why not put it back when we're done with it. Its certainly not more radioactive than when we dug it up. That would violate conservation of energy. I'm not proposing that we try to put it back exactly where we found it. I'm just saying that the current plan of bury it under some mountain isn't really that bad of an idea.
Like it or not Nuclear is a much better energy source than any fossil fuel. Its not perfect, not sustainable, but it is the direction we should be moving in. If we start switching over from coal to nuclear we will be reducing pollution while still producing the power we need. So until solar power plants start producing terrawatt-hours of electricity I say what's wrong with a little radiation. Living near a nuclear reactor is not as bad a getting an x-ray and its much better than living near a coal power plant.
We've added another manufacturer to our product offering! It's exciting to announce that AllYourGreen is introducing Hempy's brand clothing accessories! All of the products are American made, and we've been impressed with their quality.
We're starting with a selection of belts, bifold and trifold wallets (with optional chain), and small purses. If you love them as much as we do, then we'll expand the product selection from there. The great thing about supply and demand is that we can let you decide what should be on the site. Our other hemp products have been a hit, and we think that Hempy's is going to be a fantastic brand to add to the collection.
Here are some examples of what the new products look like! Check them out in our Hemp Products category for more information, and to see the rest of them.
Thats right, we've got Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps back in stock! We love their organic castile liquid soaps. I have a bottle in the shower and another in the kitchen. Its great for doing dishes too. In fact there's not much it cannot do. I've even used it for doing laundry when I'm out of detergent. You have to be careful if you try it for laundry a little goes a long way, and you certainly don't need a full cup. Just a couple of squirts does the trick for me.
I'm not only excited about getting such a versatile product back on the site because its a great product. I'm also excited because the team at Dr. Bronner's is as crazy as we are. If you want to see what I'm talking about check out this video:
Both AllYourGreen sites' universities make TheDailyGreen.com's list!
Author: Roy, CEO
Just a quick plug for the home team. TheDailyGreen.com's new list of "10 of the Greenest Colleges in America" includes our hometown of Chico! California State University Chico has been on an environmental and sustainability kick since we were students there. Their Provost even retired to a full time sustainability director position of some sort in the past few years. They're very excited about green building practices and preserving natural wilderness areas. They're a fantastic cultural influence on the area when it comes to environmental perspective.
Also in the list is the University of California, Merced. While I've read Merced is in the top ten most polluted cities, the brand-spankin-new UC there sounds like it could help lead that city in a new, greener direction. Some of our customer service is based out of Merced, so we're proud to see both of these campuses on the list!
So, Dan is really our in-house cyclist. He doesn't participate in races or anything, but he is by far the most dedicated bicycle commuter of the three of us. I telecommute when I can, and Dieter, well... he's got that Segway. But as it turns out, cycling to work is even easier than I thought!
And I don't mean it in a sort of "it's so easy, anyone can do it!" way. That's silly, it's riding a bike; there are plenty of cliches already. No, I mean the physical act of riding it requires less effort than I previously believed. And why was I under this misconception? I, like many of you, rode my trusty old mountain bike everywhere.
While great on trails, mountain bikes tend to be heavier, and have larger, softer tires. All that translates into you putting more work into getting it to move when you're on flat pavement trying to get to work. That's bad news if it's a hot summer, and you prefer avoiding being dubbed "Sweat Monster" at work or some such.
There are two fantastic ways to simplify things. First, make sure your tires are fully inflated, and have your bicycle professionally serviced. They're not as complicated as cars, but bike shops have all the best tools and stuff to do the job, and it's usually dirt cheap. If your tires were low, and your chain was getting sticky, this could make a huge difference in your commute.
The other thing you can do is upgrade to a commuter bike. They come in a variety of sizes and styles, of course, and which one you pick is going to be a matter of preference. You can easily spend $650 on one if you're not careful. The one in the picture here is my new beauty, which set me back only $350. That's a full $100 less than the other bike shop was trying to get from me, so shop around.
$350 sound like a lot? Well, you haven't ridden it. It's amazing! The harder, narrower tires (than my mountain bike) give it a smooth coast. It's much lighter, has new bearings, new chain, etc., so it takes so very little work to get going. I find myself going pretty fast, just because I can. If I were to slow down a hair, I wouldn't even break a sweat on it. Also, on the price issue, at about $60 per tank, the car starts sound a lot more expensive, really, really quick. If your environmental motivations aren't as strong as your financial motivations, bicycle commuting is still the best way to go.
Clippy-thingies for clippin' stuff. We've got 'em!
Author: Roy, CEO
You know those little aluminum mini-carabiners on some products? We have them on ChicoBags and our 20 oz. Enviro Products bottles. They're really handy, but they're not the toughest things in the world. They're aluminum, and are generally manufactured separately from the main product; an afterthought almost.
Well, Dan (our head programmer, who writes under the nom de plume of Radfarererrerrer) devised his own solution. He stopped by our locally owned hardware store, and bought a #3-size S-biner, and clipped that bad boy on there instead. It was brilliant! It's easier to use, way tougher, and less prone to malfunction.
Being particularly bright folks around here, a mere few months later, it dawned on us... HEY, we could offer these things to our customers! We figured you probably had a similar success rate with the stock mini-carabiners as we did, so there was an opportunity to help. As it turns out, they make some pretty big ones too, and now we can clip everything from our ChicoBags on belt-loops, to 40 oz. Klean Kanteens to our backpacks. They're one of those things that you start using and think "wow... why didn't I think of this sooner."
We eventually did think of it, though, and here we have them. Getting ChicoBags? The smallest size comes in 2-packs. Handy, no? In the picture, for comparison, you have the ChicoBag and Enviro Products stock mini-carabiners in the upper left. Then you have the ascending sizes of the #1, #2, #3, and #5 S-biners. You can find them all in the Awesome category (till our in-progress top-secret redesign is done, but shhhh).
A shout out to those with harder, more important jobs than I have.
Author: Roy, CEO
We're very lucky to live where we do. We don't have the risk of natural disasters that are present in a lot of places. We don't have hurricanes like those in the south east. We don't have severe cold like those in the north east. We don't have the earthquake danger of those to our south west. It doesn't snow, but we can drive to where it does if we want. It gets pretty hot, but there are plenty of trees and creeks. In general, I really love living where I do.
In fact, until now, northern California seemed immune to the worries of the world. There was a fire every now and then, but nothing like southern California's crazy community and home-destroying fires.
This year, we had a very wet spring. This gave all the local vegetation cause for excitement. It grew fast and thick. The state was greener than normal by a significant margin. Not to soapbox, but it's consistent with the earlier springs predicted by many climate change models. Then, all of a sudden, it got hot and dry. All the over-grown plant life dried out and became a serious fire risk. And then... we had a rash of lightning storms with very little rain. Fire took off, and went nuts.
There's been a thick layer of smoke around the region for weeks now. It can't be very good for the atmosphere, but the danger of the fire tends to suppress our normally acute eco-senses, and we just hope not too many people's houses are lost. Although Chico, where AllYourGreen is based, hasn't been in direct danger, many surrounding communities have been. There have been evacuations and parades of fire trucks from distant lands coming to help fight the fires. The thin layer of ash that was on my car this morning reminded me that I have it pretty easy. I get up, work maybe 10 hours or so, and usually have a day off per week. It's not that bad when you're working on your own company, so it's actually a pretty relaxed schedule. Right now, there are hundreds and hundreds of firefighters working much longer days, and a lot more of them.
So this is a thank you to them. You brave men and women have much harder, and more important jobs than I do. Cheers to you, and here's hoping you get to take a vacation soon. Thanks for working so hard to protect people's homes and lives. You rock.
And now, to demonstrate how close to home the issue is...
Check out all the satellite images of the fires at NASA's Earth Observatory. It's an amazing resource, and is where I got this image.
If you know a firefighter, shake their hand for me.
Our favorite products emerge from the obscurity of manufacturer backorder
Author: Roy, CEO
After a long six week wait, we've finally received our latest restocking of stainless steel Klean Kanteens. We don't yet have everything back in stock with them, but we have received one hundred of several of our most popular non-leaching stainless steel water bottles. Hopefully this means next time you visit, you'll find what you were looking for!
Klean Kanteen is trying to catch up with the nation-wide demand they've splashed into, and projects very long waits on new wholesale orders, so AllYourGreen.com is doing our best to plan ahead. We want to be the one place you can count on for quality eco-friendly gear, and we don't like backordering. We want to have what you want, when you want it. If you order something, we want to ship it to you the next day. It's just how we do business. With all this new inventory, we can better meet the needs of our customers.
As we continue to expand our product selection, enjoy the current surge in availability in everyone's favorite... Klean Kanteens!
