Week 4 - "Green" dry cleaning

Planet saver:

Money saver: (about the same whether you do or don't)

Time saver: (about the same whether you do or don't)

I wear a suit to work every day, and I've noticed a chemical smell every once in a while. For example, if a little rain gets on me, I end up walking around with a cloud of chemical stink floating around me. I feel like a bio-hazard. The way I figure, that can't be good for the clothes, for me, or for the environment at large.

In the next city over, there's a dry cleaner called Your Valet that touts itself as Utah's first environmentally responsible cleaner. It uses a silicone-based solvent made by GreenEarth Cleaning that purports to be completely environmentally responsible. According to the website, the solvent essentially cleans using the "same natural sand the earth has been creating for over six billion years." I wonder if the marketing department wrote that?

In truth, I haven't been able to get to the bottom of whether it really is environmentally friendly or not. Conventional dry cleaning has real potential to be harmful - it uses perchloroethylene, which breaks down into several toxic substances in the open air and is also toxic to plants. At high levels of exposure, like what dry-cleaning workers in a poorly maintained shop could be exposed to, it poses a cancer risk. At extremely high levels, however, so does silicone-based solvent. Additionally, because GreenEarth Cleaning is a relatively new product, no one is willing to go out on a limb and confirm or refute its claims of environmental friendliness.

The EPA website won't say whether they trust it or not, but on the page about environmentally responsible dry cleaning, silicone-based solvents aren't discussed. Instead, the page says that some of the most important factors that would qualify cleaners to call themselves "green" are whether they have new machines that stop leaks and keep the chemicals contained, and whether they dispose of their waste products properly. It seems to me that there is potential for harm with GreenEarth cleaners, since if a cleaner thinks the product is safe, they would just pour the solvent down the drain when they finished. If silicone-based solvents really aren't safe, the harm done would be greater than a conventional dry cleaner who disposes of waste properly.

There is no sign in the window at dry cleaners telling you if they're environmentally responsible (and if there is you probably shouldn't trust it), but you can ask the cleaners about the processes they use. Two things the EPA recommends:

1. Ask your cleaner about her/his cleaning methods, safety and maintenance practices, and how s/he handles her/his solvent waste streams.
2. If you smell solvent when you enter a cleaning shop, you might want to consider going somewhere else as solvent odors can indicate improper processing or solvent use.

One process that seems to get positive reviews from all corners is professional wet-cleaning, which uses computerized processes to allow water-based cleaning of dry-clean-only garments. No one offers wet-cleaning around here, but you can look for wet cleaners in your area here.

Findings

I haven't noticed a chemical smell since I went to the new place, and my clothes seem pretty clean, though they didn't get out the carrot stain from my daughter's baby food, even after I pointed it out specifically. The place we had been going seemed a little run down, and I didn't really trust it. I think I'll go back to Your Valet again and see if they do a good job next time. They were comparably priced to the other cleaners.

Week 3 (& 1/2) - Unplugging

Planet saver:

Money saver:

Time saver:

Three weeks in and I'm already behind. I'm still working on my public transportation project, but in the meantime, let's talk about outlets.

I've heard over and over that unplugging your electronics when they're not in use will save something like 10% of your electricity bill. I even remember a while back seeing a TV campaign to convince you to unplug your cell phone charger when not in use. So how much does this "standby power" really cost?

Cost and energy savings

According to the Berkeley National Lab, if I leave the following running after I go to bed tonight:

• 2 cell phone chargers plugged in but not in use (.5 watts)
• 1 desktop computer and one monitor in sleep mode (21.1+1.4 watts)
• computer speakers left on (4.1 watts)
• 1 printer on (4.9 watts)
• 1 wireless router turned on (5.4 watts)
• 1 TV plugged in (3.1 watts)
• 1 DVD player plugged in (1.6 watts)
• 1 microwave plugged in (3.1 watts)
• 1 clock radio (not needed since I'm using my cell phone for an alarm clock) (2 watts)
• 2 phones (3.2 watts)
• 1 answering machine (2.3 watts)

I will be using a total of (wait for it . . .) 52.7 watts per hour, or about .42 kilowatt hours from 10 pm to 6 am. In the month of July, that would save me .42 kwH*$.105*31 days=$1.37. Not too impressive. That's $13 bucks or 230 pounds of CO2 a year (the same as I produce in my little Honda Civic in a 350-mile trip), for a year's worth of reprogramming the answering machine and punching the time back into the microwave.

Findings

If anything, it does seem worth powering down the computer completely, like with a power strip. That's where the lion's share of the electricity is going, and it takes hardly any time. If I forget to turn off one 60-watt light one night, that's burning more energy than all my electronics put together. If the computer doesn't go into sleep mode, though, that will cost something like 74 watts/hour. Oh yeah, and uplugging the cell phone chargers doesn't seem like a campaign worth fighting.

Week 2 - Riding public transportation to the airport

Planet saver:

Money saver:

Time saver:

I'm working on a more comprehensive look at public transportation, but in the meantime, here's a quick look at our trip to the airport this last week. We spent a week visiting Michelle's parents in Georgia and decided to get to the Salt Lake airport via the commuter train and bus. This was more a cost-saving measure than an environment-saving one (economy parking would have cost about $50 for the week), but in the process, we did cut down on carbon emissions.

Energy savings

According to Google Maps, the airport is 37.4 miles from our house, so round trip is 74.8 miles. The family car is averaging about 21 mpg these days, so that would be 3.6 gallons of gasoline. We used about a quart of gas getting to the train station and back, so the total gasoline savings was 3.35 gallons. According to the EPA's website, the average amount of CO2 emitted per gallon of unleaded gasoline is 19.4 pounds. (This figure could probably bear further scrutiny in a later post.) So we emitted about 65 fewer pounds of CO2 than we would have had we driven to the airport.

According to this site, household electricity costs about 1.5 pounds of carbon per kilowatt-hour, so by way of comparison, 65 pounds is about the same as the emissions produced to power my air conditioner for 11 hours or if I left every light in my house on for 24 hours. (More later on emissions from my electric company.) In an average month, we use something like 55 gallons of gas, so taking the train instead of driving cut down on monthly gas by 6%.

Cost savings

At $2.71 a gallon, the trip would have cost $9.75, plus $49 for economy parking. We spent 65 cents on gas, plus $8 on the train (I have a student pass), so we saved 58.75-8.65=$50.10.

Findings

I don't think it was worth the extra time and hassle, though my 2-year-old was in heaven riding a train, bus, and airplane all on the same day. Because we were riding in the middle of the day, both the train and the bus were mostly empty, so there was plenty of room for our luggage. But on the way home (after being up since 2:30 am with aforementioned 2-year-old) we had to wait 25 minutes for the bus, then another 20 minutes for the train. All told, we tacked on an hour and a half each direction to our trip. And getting one large suitcase, three backpacks, a stroller, a car seat, and two kids on the bus was a bit hair-raising too. Next time to save on money, I think we'll ask my brother to drive us to the airport. I think I'll wait for the light rail to the airport before attempting to ride public transportation to the airport again.

Like I said, next week I'll look more closely at public transportation. In this post I assumed that since the train was running whether I was on it or not, our riding it added no carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Next week I look at whether the train is an efficient means of transportation or not.

Week 1 - Clothesline

Planet saver:

Money saver:

Time saver:

I realize everybody took down their clotheslines and bought dryers about 300 years ago, but we did a little math and determined that not paying to dry your clothes is cheaper than paying to dry your clothes, and that solar-dried clothes were better for the environment than electric-dried ones. So, first the cost breakdown and some basic instructions, then the energy and money savings and finally some preliminary findings.

Cost

2 8-foot, 4x4 wooden posts (I bought treated wood) $18

2 8-foot, 2x4 wooden posts $8

2 bags of cement mix $5

2 1/4-inch nails $1

clothesline (I bought plastic) $4

eyelet screws $3

Total: $39

How to make a clothesline

1. Find a good sunlit location for the clothesline. A north-to-south clotheline will get more sun. Stay away from fences, trees, and other places where birds hang out.

2. Cut one 2x4 in half and nail to the 4x4 posts to form the crossbars, about 6 inches from the top.

3. Cut the other 2x4 into four 2-foot sections, with 45-degree angle cuts to form supports for the crossbars. Nail these to the post and crossbar as shown.

4. Dig a two-foot deep hole for each post. Mix your cement, place your posts and level them, and fill in with cement. Leave a little space at the top to fill in with dirt if you don’t want the concrete exposed.

5. Install the eyelet screws and run the line between them.

Energy savings

Our dryer runs at 5400 watts, so if each load is 45 minutes, that’s 5400/1000*.75=4.05 kilowatt hours per load. In a normal summer month, we use about 800 kwH (according to my power bill), so if we hang dry 30 loads of laundry during the summer months (about 8 per week), that will cut our electricity consumption by 15 percent. If we use the clothesline 6 months out of the year, that’s cutting our annual electricity usage by 7.5 percent. Not a bad start.

Cost savings

Rocky Mountain Power charges me about 10.5 cents per kwH (at the higher rate tier), so 4.05 kwH, each load of laundry costs about 43 cents. If we hang-dry 8 loads a week instead of using the dryer, that’s saving $3.44 a week. Optimistically, let’s say we use the clothesline 26 weeks out of the year. That’s saving $89.44 the first year. And it pays for itself after 90 loads.

Findings

Michelle says that the first week, she’s actually really enjoying being outside, letting the kids run around, and “playing ‘Little House on the Prairie.’” I think that will wear off, but there will still be satisfaction in knowing we’re saving money and using less electricity.

Turns out, however, that there’s a reason everyone switched to dryers a few years back: they’re more convenient and reliable, and they leave clothes wrinkle-free and soft. After the first line-drying, the towels were a bit crunchy, but using them once took care of that. We’re going to keep using the dryer for underwear and my work shirts, but we don’t have any complaints at this point—although it was such a wet spring, I feel like I live in Seattle, not Utah.

What this blog is for

I consider myself something like an environmentalist, but not a very good one. I’ve never marched on Washington or chained myself to a tree. I’m not very eloquent or convincing in arguments about environmental policy and its relation to economics or individual rights. What I have done is tried to do right by the environment—I ride public transportation, plant a garden, and avoid stepping of cryptobionic soil in national parks. Not exactly universe-altering, revolution-inspiring kind of stuff.

But to be honest, I think that’s where the real change is going to come—in the accumulation of small changes on a large scale.

My version of environmental responsibility echoes Adlai Stevenson’s definition of patriotism: he said what we need is “not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” I’m not naive enough to believe that if everyone starts using fluorescent light bulbs and flushing only for number two then we’re going to undo the global environmental chaos we’ve caused. But I’m also not naive enough to believe that some scientific advancement like electric cars or bioagriculture or nuclear fission or fusion alone is going to solve our problems. I have no doubt scientific miracles are coming that will help reverse the destructive trajectory we’re on. But that’s not going to be enough—we’re going to have to change the way we live. I can’t do much to advance solar-cell technology, but I can learn how to use less, and use more wisely, and share what I learn.

And maybe it’ll start catching on. In my neighborhood, people are crazy about Ragnar, a grueling 24-hour relay where teams of 12 people run legs of 3 to 10 miles each. I submit that this is slightly crazy - much more than living an environmentally just life is crazy. It’s difficult and time consuming and inconvenient, and there’s nobody at the finish line with a big wad of cash. But one or two people start, and they find it meaningful and fulfilling. So they talk it up to their friends and pretty soon there's a grassroots movement that eventually leads dozens of people from the neighborhood to push themselves to the limit so they can feel a sense of contribution and camaraderie. I think living a sustainable life can bring the same rewards.

I want to take the next year poking into the way my family lives and see where we can make meaningful (and sane) changes. So each week I’ll take on a project and report on whether it really makes a difference, compared with how much money and time it costs. Sometimes it will be hands-on, like building a clothesline, and sometimes it will be more like a research project, such as figuring out if it really makes a difference to ride the commuter train instead of driving to work. Each post will include the following rating system, on a scale of one to five:

= How much of an environmental difference does this make? And of course it’s all relative. My family is not going to save as much water in a year as a small farm uses in one day, nor are we ever going to save any more than a hundred-thousandth of the energy consumed just by our hometown. But this rating will be on a scale of how much good our personal consumptive choices could do.

= How much does it cost/save? Red means money lost, green means money saved.

= What’s the time investment? Again, red means time lost, green means time saved.

In all this, my wife is good enough to come along for the ride. And as you’ll see from the next post, she’s going to be shouldering a lot of the impact of these projects. Thanks for being adventurous with me, Mich.