Hanna's Green Travel Tip and a Giveaway!

Sawasdee and Greetings from Bangkok, Thailand!

My work calls for a lot of travel. I rack up a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions brought about by air travel. Since I can't really prevent air travel, I have to compensate for it by trying to live a sustainable lifestyle. I enjoy thinking of ways on how I can travel "green" by tweaking my practices and making personal choices that reduce my personal contribution to waste and environmental degradation.

Do you shop when you travel? I do. I end up with several plastic and paper bags, which I hardly also pack and bring home with me.

Green Tip #1 - Bring a lightweight shopping bag when you travel

By practicing this green tip, you could reduce waste, you could have an easier time carrying one bag (than several small ones), and you also have an opportunity to be stylish by using the shopping bag of your choice!

Now before I turn in a full blown article , I would also like to know what YOU think! I challenge you to share your own Reuse+Ability for GREEN TRAVEL ! And WIN THIS:


Live Simply reusable shopping bag and journal (recycled paper!) + surprise prize !

 

3 WAYS TO JOIN!

1) Log-in with your Facebook or Twitter Account on http://reuseability.com/ and share your travel tip on our commitment wall ("What's your ReuseAbility idea?")  OR contribute an article with the hashtag #GreenTravelTip

2) Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/reuseability and post a photo and a description of your green travel tip with the hashtag  #GreenTravelTip

3) Tweet @reuseability a photo describing your #GreenTravelTip (don't forget the hashtag!)

Winners will be notified by FB Message or Twitter. Prize will be delivered for free to any Philippine location.

GET THOSE TRAVEL TIPS COMING! Challenge ends 11:59 PM (GMT+8) Saturday, September 21!

Edu-Trip - Nuvali's Greenstallations

I’ve been seeing a billboard along SLEX about a Green and Sustainable Exhibit at Nuvali. As a sustainability fan (and also a frustrated Nuvali homeowner… I'd live to live there) , I made arrangements for the family to go.

The exhibit is located at EvoLiving, Nuvali’s sales building. I was a bit puzzled at this because the location is far from the Solenad area, where foot traffic was better. Upon seeing the exhibit, I saw that it was more of an info-installation / marketing exhibit of the sustainability features of the Nuvali community. It was interesting nonetheless. If you are not really a green/ sustainability aficionado – though I think everyone should be – it might not be worth the trip. The exhibit runs up to Sept 1, 2013. We didn't catch any of the Green activities , those might be interesting too.

The exhibit (I assumed curated by the Ayala Museum, since their logo is included in the poster) featured outdoor artwork, some recycled art, and interactive exhibits that teaches about greener lifestyles and community engagement. We were not able to check out the outdoor sculptures because of (1) the rain, (2) they’re a bit spread out and you wouldn’t know where to go.I saw a blog with more photos, though!Check it out at http://www.kumagcow.com/2013/08/nuvalis-greenstallations.html.

The interactive exhibits inside were really nicely done, and one can see the time and effort put into it. It highlighted the importance of recycling, waste segregation, energy / water / resource conservation. It’s a good introduction towards green living. 

Starting him young. My son Tonyo learns how it's good to be green :)

-- this is not a paid ad --

Sustainable Saturdays - Buying a Ref that saves Money and Energy

Every Saturday, I will share with you practical tips on living a sustainable life or current trends and issues on sustainable development. These are information I mostly come across at work.

Let's start with something simple this Saturday :-) how about some tips on buying a new refrigerator? Buying more efficient appliances at home not only saves on household electricity bills (read: more money to spend on family weekends) , it is also friendlier to the environment because it uses less power, thus less fuel.

The refrigerator is one of the largest energy users in the household. The ref can account for as much as 15 - 20% of your home's total energy use. If your ref is more than 15 years old, you'll save on your electric bills if you replace it with a more efficient unit. although expensive to buy, it will be better for you in the long run.

- When buying a new ref, consider a unit that suits your needs and with a higher Energy Efficiency Factor (EEF) . These are indicated by the small yellow labels they put on new refs for sale. Check out this guide on how to read it:

Don't overcrowd!

- Don't leave the refrigerator door open longer than necessary

- Defrost your refrigerator regularly. Frost acts as an insulating blanket, which causes the motor to work overtime, resulting in increased power consumption.

- Cool food to room temp before storing in the ref. Placing warm food in the ref increases the temperature inside.

- Cover liquids and wrap food you are storing, otherwise, moisture released inside the ref will cause the motor to work harder than normal. The moisture is the source of frost

- Place the ref far enough from the cooking stove or gas range so that it will not be affected by the heat when cooking. Install it where air can circulate freely around it

- Don't overcrowd the refrigerator. This interferes with air circulation and overworks the compressor.

- Check the ref if it is not losing its cool because of a leaky gasket. Test the gasket by closing the door on a peso bill. If the bill slips out when you pool, either the gasket needs replacement or the door needs adjusting





Practice these tips and save on energy costs :-)


Tips and information in this article are from the Department of Energy's Bright Now campaign. Learn more about the campaign and the government's energy programs from  www.doe.gov.ph.