Sierra Club
November 10, 2014
Most of us are repeat offenders when it comes to excessive toilet flushing. In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency reports that Americans use more water each day by flushing the toilet than any other activity, even showering!
Even if you are a responsible flusher, each flush is inherently wasteful. In drought-plagued California, approximately 203 million gallons of drinking water (yes,
...
Sierra Club
November 10, 2014
Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. When I still lived in Berlin, my favourite November 9th activity was to go to the bridge where the Wall was first breached in 1989 - the Boesebruecke. I’d sit on the cold damp concrete of the bridge, pop the cork on a mini-bottle sekt (similar to champagne) and just wonder what it was like to be there that night.
In recent years, I have become
...
Sierra Club
October 29, 2014
Hey Mr. Green,
My 10-year-old electric water heater uses about 5,000 kilowatt-hours a year. Should I wait until it dies or replace it now? If the latter, what's the most energy-efficient water heater on the market?
—Randi, in Putnam Valley, New York
Holy starry dynamo of night! Your water heater alone uses almost twice as much electricity as my entire house. At New York's average residential rate
...
Sierra Club
October 7, 2014
Hey Mr. Green,
It seems hypocritical for the Sierra Club to voice concern about the environment while promoting air travel to distant destinations. How bad is plane travel? Would traveling by blimp help? Is it ethical?
--Robert in Rochester, New York
Commercial flights make up 9 percent of U.S. transportation-based fuel consumption. But given air travel's effects on the upper atmosphere, its
...