Author: The GU team

Someone mentioned to me today that studies say that producing ethanol or biodiesel uses up six times more fossil fuel energy units to produce one, thus defeating the purpose. I looked it up and found this article about a 2005 Cornell University and University of California Berkeley study that concluded the same thing. Critics say…

Did you know that if we recycled even a tenth of our papers, we’d save about 25 million trees per year? Here’s where your local library comes in. Libraries don’t loan books and periodicals only. Lots of them lend out videos and dvds, even console games. Save yourself some money. Stop building up your own…

I came across this blog post from The Green Guide. It references these two articles from the New York Times and Time Out New York. Very interesting reads. The TONY article humorously assesses Manhattanites’ ecological impact and assigns shades of lifestyle greenness from not green at all to puke green. The other article presents criticism…

Turn off the tap while lathering up in the shower, shaving,washing your hands and face. Use faucet aerators to maintain steady water pressure. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. Use a glass of water to rinse your mouth. Rinse your dishes in a plugged sink rather than under running water. Thaw frozen foods…

Just checked out the tips at the sidebar right now and the one about mercury in CFLs grabbed my attention. The Green Guide answered a query expressing concern about the mercury content of CFLs and this is what they had to say: The amount of mercury in CFLs is relatively small, approximately 5 milligrams (mg),…

Yesterday, my mother and I decided to take a look at the nearest SM Hypermarket, where I finally saw the reusable bags they offer. It would have been nice to get one, except it would seem that they require customers to first purchase PhP500 worth of Unilever products before being able to avail of one…

I read that McDonald’s is planning to make biodiesel from their own waste cooking oil and use it for its delivery trucks in the United Kingdom. The oil will be collected from approximately 900 of its 1200 UK restaurants. Its fleet of 155 vehicles should be converted to biodiesel in about a year. Hopefully the…

They’ve already been accepting old cellphones, chargers, PDAs, pagers and digital cameras for recycling, apart from rechargeable batteries. Then they came up with collecting inkjet and laser cartridges for recycling. Guess what Staples came up with now? Staples is helping all of us get rid of our old computer equipment like monitors, desktops and laptops…

I confess, I went to this year’s Macy’s 4th of July fireworks display, because well,they’re pretty. Before this year, I never even gave a thought to how environmentally safe fireworks are. Not very, as the metals and chemicals in the fireworks contaminate the water supply, not to mention the litter on the ground. There are…

Being a non-cook, I seldom have to wash a lot of dishes or pots and pans. According to this article, dishwashers are more environmentally-friendly as long as you only wash a full load and do not pre-rinse the dishes. Buy energy-efficient dishwashers, open the door after washing to dry the dishes and avoid heat-dry, rinse-hold…