woodmagman

Green is not hype from money hungry oil companies or fanatical tree huggers. Green is the mentality to produce or construct something thats well leave our homes and communities better or at least not worse then when we started. The world going to hell in a hand basket belief is not what Green is. Green is giving a little thought about the final out come of installing a product, and the results that product brings to future generations. The imagination of construction marketers and contractors will ultimately define "GREEN" Let us hope it comes out better then, "We have an erergy crisis and we will now build smaller cars". That was a good example of bad marketing.

Milhaus

Well put...with the biggest emphasis on changing habits in regards to reduction. I need to learn it myself....

woodmagman

If you keep telling yourself you want to do the right thing, it eventually falls in place.

Milhaus

Yeah-my biodiesel work truck is coming....mental obsessions have physical manifestations.

woodmagman

I think in relation to vehicles, hybrid gas-electric are more in line with what is truly green. The desiel is still burning rather then conserving. The burning of carbon based products is the least effecient use of a resource. A good chemical engineer can make clothing that can be worn for years then recyled into carpest for another few years then into another product and so on. To burn it you can not recover anything other then carbon. But I do love those trucks..........
Buiding green can be a new ball of wax, It is looking at construction and its impact on long term. Sometimes it is the littlest thing we do that has the largest impact.

Milhaus

With hybrids, or any electric vehicle...I get stuck on what happens to the batteries when you are through with them. Put them in the ground? And the electricity still needs to come from somewhere. Sure...more efficient, but unless your running it on wind or solar, your burning carbon to produce the electricity to run the car too.

A bit off track, but that's how I see building houses too. Why are putting products into houses that cannot go right back into the Earth in the event of a tornado, flood, fire? My dam ideals again...

woodmagman

I think you will find that there is more electricity produced by hydro then any other.
Reclye brother, putting it in the ground defeats the concept. The battery case is likley plastic, ghe guts are reuseable metals. I am not sure what the newer long lasting batteries are made from, but I bet there is something in them that has value.
It is the responsibilty of local munipalities to make recyling profitable not complicated.
Renovations produce waste. Finding a use for the waste is a buisness waiting to show profit.

paintr56

Most the articles I have read on hybrid cars are not flattering unless you run them on a test tracks under ideal cirrcumstances. In the real world they have a lot of problems and the milage is closer to 40 mpg. This can be achieved in cars the size of a hybrid with a gas engine.

It is not up to municipalities to make recycle profitable. That will be private enterprise when it can be done. At this point recycle is about feeling good that you are trying. I have allways tried to recycle because I am too cheap to throw out something I might find a use for. In my area electricity comes from coal.

Jim Bunton

woodmagman

My tools are mostly all battery operated, ten years ago 9 volt was normal today I can break my wrist on a 18 volts of the same size and weight.

As a tax payer, I beleive that the people we vote in office should have the publics interest at heart. Meaning looking into the future, land fill is a public problem.

The renovation industry is contributing to this. Our civic leaders can take this on and make a difference. It may be deligated to the private sector, but the polictial one needs to suggest solutions.

paintr56

Woodmagman I hope you don't feel I am attacking you. You seem to be passionate about the green movement and I do think the concept of it is good. I just think a lot of the ideas are wrong. Say the word and I will quit responding to your posts.

The place I mostly seperate from the green movement is I think for it to work it has to make economic sense. I do think it could make economic sense at some time. There is a lot of talk of shortages. Oil is the big one people talk about, but the simple truth is oil is still abundant enough at this time that it is the cheapest major source of energy we have for cars. When oil gets to the point that it costs too much a different type of vehicle will replace it. There is a lot of research going on to find a replacement. Every posibility has its own problems but the thing they all have in common with the possible exception of electric is they will cost more to operate.

Same with the land fill problem. When it gets too costly to keep filling land fills they will be treated like mines. Companies could easily set up conveyers that the trash is dumped on to from the trucks then sorted and a small fraction would end up as landfill. The money is not there at this time to make this work it is cheaper to just dump it. I remember when I was a kid the land fill was a source for "good" items that could be repaired a put back in to service the public was allowed to go in to land fills and pick. Why is this no longer allowed? I could see people going in and picking out recyclable materials to sell. The land fills could even have a station set up to weigh and buy right on site they would need no labor for this to work just a little more insurance.

Jim Bunton

P.S. don't get me started on Al Gore.

woodmagman

Jim…can not agree with you more, that is why I believe local municipality need to address this. The only profit in contaminated soil and air is seen in the medical profession. If we build products using criterion of what a green product should be, land fill is not needed and contamination is not a concern.
Green is a thought provoking concept…………..
Al got gored by whom….