Going Green - The Reader's Digest Version

11 simple answers to 11 common questions
At Home
Should I turn off the lights everytime I leave the room?
Let your bulb answer that. You save energy with the lights off, even for a few seconds. But flicking that switch shortens every lightbulb's life. Incandescent light-bulbs are cheap, so turn them off when you can. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) aren't cheap - about $4 each - but one will save you about $30 in electricity charges throughout its life span over an incandescent. And don't worry, turning on a light bulb doesn't burn a lot of energy. The US Department of Energy's office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy says that the amount of electricity needed to turn on a bulb equals a few seconds of its burning brightly.
Reader's Digest Version: Turn off incandescents if you're leaving the room for more than five seconds; CFLs, if you'll be gone at least 15min.

Do I really have to unplug my TV, phone chargers, CD player ... ?
Even when they're not on, electricity curses through the plugs of your electronic gadgets so that they'll jump into action more quickly. This "vampire electricity" sucks up $4 billion a year in energy for things that aren't even on. Your laptop alone, turned off but plugged into the wall, will cost you $9 a year. Mobile phone chargers that aren't connected to a phone cost 14 cents a year. With millions of chargers out there, it adds up.
Reader's Digest Version: Unplug. Even easier, plug everything into power strips with on/off switches.

Cold-water washes are greener, but will they get my clothes clean?
For a hot-water load, about 90 percent of the enery used to wash clothes goes to heat the water, not agitate your clothes. The good news is, washing your clothes in warm or even cold water will get rid of almost anything, except for the worst dirt or oily stains.
Reader's Digest Version: Switch from hot to warm water to cut energy use in half; cold, to cut it even more.

Dirty dishes: by hand or by machine?
By the time you wash a sinkload of dirty dishes by hand, you'll go through 15-19 litres of water. Modern dishwashers use as little as 7.5litres. Sure, dishwashers require electricity, but new ones use 95 percent less electricity than machines built 30 years ago, and they clean well enough that in most cases, there's no need to prerinse.
Reader's Digest Version: Stick to full loads, use the pot-scrubber option only if necessary, and hit the no heat or air-dry option.

Peanut butter jar: a simple rinse or a full-on scour before recycling?
A small amount of food won't gum up the recycling works, so don't waste a lot of water making that peanut butter jar pristine. You should do it mostly to keep pests away. And that lime in your empty beer bottle? leave it.
Reader's Digest Version: Rinse out what you can, then recycle.

Soda bottle tops: on or off before recycling?
It depends on where you live. Some places insist on no tops; others are more laid-back. Leave them off because 1) the caps are not always made from the same plastics as the container, and 2) they can jam the processing equipment.
Reader's Digest Version: Off with their heads!

Out and About
In public restrooms, paper towel or electric hand dryer?
Far less energy is needed to heat and blow air at your hands than to make paper towers and haul them around. One study found that nine trees are cut down to supply an average fast-food restaurant with paper towels over a year; the tossed towels then create 453kilograms of landfill waste.
Reader's Digest Version: If there's a choice, go for the hot air.

Paper or plastic?
A key ingredient in plastic bags is fossil fuel, and making them - from drilling and refining oil t actually manufacturing the bags - is a messy business. Turning timber into paper bags isn't exactly clean either. Paper mills contribute to acid rain, global warming, and respiratory ills. Plus, they demand loads of energy and water. Even bags made from recycled paper are six times as heavy as their plastic cousins, so t rucking them across the country means more gas consumed and more noxious fumes.
    But, you cry, paper bags decompose in landfills and plastic doesn't. Wrong, Virtually nothing decomposes in a landfill, where garbage is kept from air and water to prevent bad stuff from leaching into ground-water. And what does biodegrade can take tens, even hundreds, of years and, in the process, releases methane gas, which is link to global warming.
Reader's Digest Version: Paper and plastic are both lousy choices. Take your own reusable canvas bags.

At the Office
Should I turn off the computer when I leave for the day?
According to Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach, only 34 percent of employees power down their computers. In America, that would save $4.3billion in energy costs, and avoid 32 million tons of CO2 emmissions, annually by turning off office computers ang lights. Don't worry about wasting energy powering up your computer. The only extra juice needed is in the first two minutes, and even that's barely more than any other two minutes of use. The real problem: Repeated rebooting is a pain.
Reader's Digest Version: If you won't be using it for 20min, urn off the monitor. If it won't be needed for more than two hours, turn off the computer.

Your Car
Let the car idle or turn it off?
As the California Energy Commission points out, "Idling gets zero miles per gallon," so why waste the fuel?
The old thinking was that starting up the car took more gas than letting it sit and run. Yeah, if you're driving something from the early 1900s, but not so with morden, fuel-injected autos, where ten seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning on the engine.
Reader's Digest Version: Idle for 30 seconds if you must. Longer than that: Turn it off.

Air conditioner or oepn window: Which costs me more petrol?
One school of thought insists that air conditioners are a drain on the battery and petrol. Another claims that open windows cause aerodynamic drag, forcing the car to gulp more fuel. Yes, while sailing along a highway, the air conditioner does steal power from the car engine, but Consumer Reports found that it amounts to only about 1.6kilometres per litre, worth it on a scorchin day. On the other hand, open windows do cause a drag on the car, making it work harder, but not by much.
Reader's Digest Version: On the highway, do what feels most comfortable. But around town, try to drive with the window down. Your hair will be a mess, but you'll save save some petrol

Word Power (Answer)

Answer to previous questions:

1. anachronism - [C] things misplaced in time. I'm pretty sure that the iPod earbuds Mona Lisa is wearing are an anachronism.

2. concurrent - [B] simultaneous. The soundings of the dinner bell and the fire alarm were concurrent in the house where we grew up.

3. temporise - [A] evade in order to delay. Asked what had happened to the plate of sugar cookies that had been on the counter, Jeremy temporised by telling his mother she looked beautiful.

4. ephemeral - [A] short-lived. The New England spring is as ephemeral as a mayfly.

5. dormancy - [C] state of inactivity. In the middle of the big sales meeting, Stanley emerged from dormancy with a loud snort.

6. incipient - [B] just beginning. Clem slathered on the herbal concoction and then examined his pate for any incipient hairs.

7. equinox - [C] when day and night are the same length. Arlene has the brownest of thumbs, but every spring equinox, she pores over all the nursery catalogues she can find.

8. pro tempore - [C] for the time being. They told me I could have the job pro tempore, until they find someone qualified.

9. juncture - [B] point in time. James realised he had come to an important juncture in his life when he lost his job and won the lottery on the same day.

10. erstwhile- [A] past. Our city's erstwhile mayor now makes his residence in the upstate penitentiary.

11. dilatory - [B] tardy. Stacy apologised for being dilatory in sending thank-you notes but was able to write one for our baby gift now that the baby is in college.

12. moratorium - [B] suspension of activity. My brother-in-law and I are observing a moratorium on political discussions.

13. perpetuate - [C] make everlasting. His self-flattery perpetuates the myth that he's actually competent.

14. horologe - [B] time piece. Obsessed with horologes, my aunt stuffs her house with sundials, hourglasses, and cuckoo clocks.

15. Olympiad - [A] four-year interval. They're a very frugal couple; they eat out once an Olympiad.

16. estivate - [C] pass the summer. I am looking forward to estivating on the seashore.

Word Power (Quiz)

The Time of our Life

There's never enough time, or words to describe it. See how long it takes you to do the quiz. For answer, see next blog.

1. anachronism
a. brief interval
b. grandfather clock
c. thing misplaced in time

2. concurrent
a. occasional
b. simultaneous
c. In the nick of time

3. temporise
a. evade in order to delay
b. get up-to-date.
c. put on a schedule

4. ephemeral
a. short-lived
b. antique
c. improving with age

5. dormancy
a. incubation
b. curfew
c. state of inactivity

6. incipient
a. cyclical
b. just beginning
c. out of sync

7. equinox
a. when day is longest
b. when day is shortest
c. when day and night are the same length

8. protempore
a. In good time
b. ahead of time
c. For the time being

9. juncture
a. mid year
b. point of time
c. gap in the geologic record

10. erstwhile
a. past
b. present
c. future

11. dilatory
a. early
b. tardy
c. occurring at ever-widening intervals

12. moratorium
a. half a century
b. suspension of activity
c. clock tower

13. perpetuate
a. happen at the wrong moment
b. speed up
c. Make everlasting

14. horologe
a. astronomical calendar
b. timepiece
c. dusk

15. Olympiad
a. four-year interval
b. international date line
c. Greek sundial

16. estivate
a. speed
b. guess the time
c. pass the summer

Time Crunch

1. Better late than never.
2. Rome wasn't build in a day
3. History repeats itself.
4. Let bygones be bygones
5. Time and tide wait for no man
6. To everything there is a season

Why are rain clouds dark?

Rain is water. Water is light in colour. Rain clouds are full of water. Therefore, rain clouds should be light. Impeccable logic, but wrong. Obviously, there are always water particles in cloud. But when the particles of water are small, they reflect light and are perceived as white. When water particles become large enough to form raindrops, however, they absorb light and appear dark to us below.