November 17th, 2008
I just discovered that our copy machine works as a scanner too. Below is a video demonstration that shows how the copier at my school can scan documents and send them as emails.
Read on…
October 15th, 2008
In a recent episode of Stuff Happens, a new show on Planet Green, host Bill Nye explained how simply reducing the margins on the documents that we print can decrease the amount of paper we use by five percent.
If everyone in the U.S. shrunk their margins from ½ to ¼ inch we would save six million trees. This would prevent ½ million tons of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere. That’s like taking 133,000 cars off road. (Check out the project these kids did; they got similar numbers.)
But it’s not just about trees; paper isn’t cheap. Many schools are looking for ways to cut costs. Here is a five percent savings that can be done with just a few clicks.
Read on…
April 23rd, 2008
Today’s Green Fact: The average employee prints 6 wasted pages per day, that’s 1,410 wasted pages per year! [learn more]
I think a lot of that wasted paper comes from people printing pages off the Internet.
Below is a quick video with some page saving tips when printing with Internet Explorer.
April 22nd, 2008
Here’s a green fact: a 26 Watt compact florescent light (CFL) is as bright as a 100 Watt incandescent bulb and only uses a quarter of the energy. To top that off—the CFL can last 7-10 years longer.
That’s money in the bank. Why wouldn’t you buy the CFL?
Some people are concerned about the mercury in florescent bulbs. It’s a legitimate concern; mercury is a toxin. However, the mercury is manageable. If you break a CFL, get out of house and let it air out for fifteen minutes. When the bulbs burn out, they need to be recycled—don’t throw them in the trash.
The folks at LighterFootsteps.com share five ways to recycle a CFL. They suggest Earth911.org as a place to lookup recycling centers in your area. However, I found more success by calling my county’s local waste and recycling center.
Finally, in case you need a celebrity endorsement to change your bulbs, here’s an interview with Bill Nye that Brian Bartel and I did for the National Science Teachers Association. (He talks about CFLs 16 minutes and 10 seconds into the show.)
April 21st, 2008
Last month PC Magazine had a Green Issue that featured all things green in the technology world. So in the spirit of Earth Day this website is going green for the week.
To start things off I’d like to point you to PC Magazine’s Green Coverage. Here you will learn about:
Kudos to PC Magazine for its Green Coverage. They’ve put together some great resources that I think are perfect for consumers and work well in the classroom too.
For example, I put their 48 green facts into a slideshow for students to watch as they shuffle into class on Earth Day. Below is the slideshow or you can download the PowerPoint version to use in your own class.
Happy Earth Day!
April 18th, 2008
With Earth Day just around the corner, several television stations are serving up informative and conservation-friendly programs. Unfortunately, next week is also Turnoff TV Week. (I’ve ranted about this before; I’m not a fan of the cause.)
It appears that the folks at the TV-Turnoff Network have broadened their focus since last year. They’re now calling themselves the Center for Screen-Time Awareness (CSTA). This seems like a step in the right direction but did they have to run Turnoff TV Week at the same time as Earth Day? I suppose that turning off the TV will save energy but you might miss some great learning opportunities too.
So, in the spirit of “screen-time awareness” I like to suggest TV Guide’s website as a way to start “taking control of the electronic media.” TV Guide’s website has an excellent TV Listings page that allows you to customize the view and show only the channels that you want to watch with your children.
Find an Earth Day program that is just right for you. Perhaps PBS or The Science Channel might be a good place to start.
Between fatherhood and teaching science, Dale Basler is an independent consultant, podcaster and web page designer who specializes in work for institutions and organizations in education.
