Simple Tips For A Greener Life

Live Green Simply

Published Date: March 1, 2009

Whether you have concluded yourself, whether a friend or family member has badgered you, or you have finally been guilt-tripped by the constant streams of information, it would seem likely that you have decided that greener living is a necessity for a better future, and you are not alone. As we live in a world of finite resources, the fact is that we are all going to have to make some changes, some of which may take more effort than others. If you can get ahead of the curve and make some of these changes now, so much the better, because the older a habit gets the harder it is to kick it.

Some simple tips on living a greener life can make a big difference to how energy- and resource-efficient you are – and they can start with the ridiculously simple ones. For example, re-using things that can still be useful. Have you seen a landfill recently? Not only do they take up a lot of space, but half the things that are there may well have still had some use left in them. Now, no-one is saying you need to hang out old tea bags to give them a second use, or that hygiene products can be used longer than the convention suggests, but other things can make a difference.

Just for example, re-using the bags you get at the supermarket or the shops is something that many people are doing. You can take it further, though. Think of the amount of old receptacles that you throw out. Putting them to another use – old jars to keep loose change in, old margarine tubs for leftover food – can not only save you money, but can make a difference ecologically. Recycling is not all about leaving stuff out for the garbage men, after all.

Another simple household tip is one that you can follow while cooking. Chances are that your hob features four rings of differing sizes. Are you using the correct sized pan on the correct ring? It may sound like a stupid question, but so many people put a tiny pan – for heating milk, say – on a larger ring, with the upshot being that as well as heating the pan, the ring is heating a bunch of air around it, to no good effect. Match pans to rings, and save energy.

Staying in the kitchen, you have the refrigerator. Are you making it do too much work? Yes, its job is to keep things cold, but that job is harder if the refrigerator is constantly lying open, or is being opened and closed with great regularity. If you are going to need a bunch of stuff from there over a period of time, get it all out before you start whatever you are doing. Keeping the temperature constant wastes a lot less energy.

Additionally, instead of putting warm food into the refrigerator, leave it to cool first. This is a good idea for two reasons – firstly, a sharp drop in temperature can cause bacteria to thrive in the food and secondly, the warmer the item going in there, the harder the appliance has to work to get it to the correct temperature. Wasting energy happens so easily, but these are just a few ways you can reduce your burden.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on March 1, 2009

Global Warming Worse Then First Thought

Green House Gas Emissions Rapidly Increased

First Published Date: Feb 16, 2009.

In a revelation that will come as a surprise to Northern Ireland’s minister for the environment Sammy Wilson, it has been suggested that rather than having little effect, the curse of global warming is set to turn out worse than scientists had first said. Leading climatologist Chris Field says that over the coming century, the severity of the crisis is only going to get worse, and that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has actually underestimated the rate at which the climate is set to change.

Professor Field made his remarks while speaking to an American Science conference in Chicago. In his speech he revealed that recently revealed data shows that greenhouse gas emissions in the eight-year period from 2000 to 2007 actually increased a good deal more rapidly than had been expected. The result of this is that the climate will change far more severely over the course of this century than anyone had previously forecast. The associated dangers to the global environment are set to be much more dire than anything that has previously been seriously mooted.

The IPCC report of 2007 forecast that climate change would see a rise in temperatures between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees Celsius, but according to Prof Field this seriously underestimates just how bad things will get. The higher level of emissions, says the Professor, is largely down to the increase in use of coal for electric power in the emerging superpowers, India and China. Without immediate, effective action we could be in for a very troublesome future. Field added that while the overall impact on temperatures is as yet impossible to forecast accurately, the change is likely to accelerate much faster than predicted.

As a result of the change in temperatures, forests in tropical areas will dry out and become more prone to wildfires, and the world’s permafrost is also likely to melt at a higher speed – resulting in a huge increase to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. The knock-on effects of this mean that the problem, far from having been overstated, is likely to snowball in a way that no-one has foreseen.

This latest release on the extent of the problem comes in the aftermath of a controversy in Northern Ireland, where the Minister for the Environment recently blocked the transmissions of advertisements from the environmental campaign Act on CO2, saying that they were “unwelcome”.

Wilson’s previous public pronouncements on the issue have marked him out as a Climate Change skeptic, amounting to suggestions that the problem was natural rather than man made, and in his latest controversial statements he has referred to global warming as a “hysterical pseudo-religion.” The latest controversy has seen Wilson subject to a vote of no confidence from within the Northern Ireland Executive, with a view on climate change that differs from most people’s. As we write, Wilson holds on to his position, but it seems that his credibility as Environment Minister must have suffered wounds that, if not lethal, will prove deeply detrimental to his ability to discharge his future duties.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Feb 16, 2009.

Alexandria Day Trip – Part 7 | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 1 (Part 12)

Qaitbay Citadel | The Fort Qaitbay Castle

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

The Citadel of Qaitbay in Alexandria sits on the northern tip of Pharos Island on the Mediterranean Sea coast and was built in 1477 AD by Sultan Qaitbay. The purpose of this fort was to defend Alexandria from the Ottoman Empire, but it didn’t work out when the Ottomans took over Egypt in 1512.

The fortress was heavily bombarded and damaged by the British fleet in 1882 and later reconstructed in the early 19th century by Muhammad Ali Pasha – the father and founder of modern Egypt.

The Citadel of Qaitbay was erected on the exact location of the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Citadel was built with stone salvaged from the lighthouse.

The Citadel has three floors. There is a huge mosque on the first floor. The second floor has an octagonal corridor and halls, and the third floor was where the king used to sit.

I found that the 2nd floor looked like a maze with lots of cubbyhole-like mini tunnels for the guards to watch the sea outside for approaching enemy ships. It’s easy to get lost looking for exits, but my guide was there to maneuver us through the castle. 

At present, the Citadel is a popular tourist spot and also has a small naval museum. I noticed lots of couples also enjoying the solitude by the Mediterranean Sea, away from the city’s hustle and bustle.

Another thing I noticed was that young Egyptians like to take pictures with tourists, especially if you are a girl with blond hair and blue eyes. One of my blond tour mates has been getting stopped for pictures every minute. Eventually, she just couldn’t keep up and had to refuse to strike a pose.

Our next stop will be Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Alexandria Library.

Welcome To The Green Living Blog

Let The Green Journey Begin

First Published Date: October 19, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

I believe it was Kermit the Frog who first said, “It’s Not Easy Being Green”. And he had a point, too, because it seems like hardly a day goes by without new information coming to light about something that we had previously considered to be perfectly acceptable, rendering that thing now completely beyond the pale. Trying to do our best by the planet is a tough job, but it’s also worthwhile. Fighting the good fight and keeping our planet in some sort of condition that we will be happy to hand over to our grand kids, though far from easy (we hear you, Kermit!), is something that, with a bit of forethought, can be done very efficiently, and can even be a lot of fun.

We will look to bring to light different ways of keeping yourself environmentally sound. Knowing how to harness things that are already freely available and use them in a different way can make you more environmentally friendly. There is also a certain amount of myth busting to be done – where people pay lip service to green issues and swear that they are environmentally aware, they should be made to put their money where their mouth is.

“Green Energy” is a big buzz phrase right now. With car companies looking to plant their flags on green territory by developing hybrid vehicles, and some going as far as to develop fully electric cars, it is dawning on everybody that we are living in changed times, and that the change is not over yet. What are the most environmentally friendly companies? Who are the most environmentally friendly governments? How can we ensure that we are doing everything possible to make the future environmentally sound? These are all things that we will hope to illuminate for you.

As well as all of this, we plan to provide a bit of a different slant on the Green world. How to eat Green, drink Green, travel Green – sure, we will have all of this, but there will also be tips on how to bring a green tinge to every other part of your life while not hurting your pocket and not having any less fun. Green issues may not have caught everybody’s imagination just yet, but as people come to realize that a Green life is compatible with the way they want to live their life, things will come naturally.

So welcome, and let us know what your views are on these issues and any others that play a part in the environmental debate. We want to know what you think, and what you want to see and read here. Do you find it easy being green, or do you find that it’s too hard to live a green life in a world that has gone so far down another path? We do not claim to have all of the answers, and if you have any that we do not, then we’re always happy to hear from you.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Feb 6, 2009.

3 Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Free Microsoft Office Alternatives You Can Use Right Now

First Published Date: October 19, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

While Microsoft Office is considered the industry standard, especially if you work in an office environment or a writer or an editor, it does not mean everyone must use only Microsoft Office. And these days, there are more reasons for most of us not to use Microsoft than ever before, as Microsoft limits installing software only on one computer per product key. For example, I have three computers at home and I change my computers frequently. So there is no way I would keep buying Microsoft Office let’s say 1 to 2 times every year, year after year. This is where these free alternatives come handy and they do not fall short of Microsoft Office in terms of functionality. Better yet, some of these actually work better and offer more features than Microsoft Office for free.

OpenOffice.Org – This is the most famous Microsoft Office alternative that comes with its own word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and much more. It can open any other office package including Microsoft Office, it can open PDF files, and it’s even able to save as Microsoft Office files such Word, Excel, etc. OpenOffice offers lots of features that are not even available in Microsoft Office. This is my first pick as Microsoft Office replacement.

Kingsoft Office – If you are looking for an almost identical user interface or lookalike alternative like Microsoft Office, look no further than Kingsoft. Kingsoft is packed with features and customization options that will make spending money to buy Microsoft laughable. Some unique features make Kingsoft stands out better than other office suites, such as a PDF converter, multiple tabbed features, adding watermarks, and so on. Kingsoft also offers a mobile office suite for Android or IOS as well.

FreeOffice – Another free office suite by German company SoftMaker. It offers cleans interface and lots of features, yet it’s a light version of SoftMaker’s paid-version commercial office suite.

What I noticed was that the same program may not offer the best for everything. For example, for word processing I liked Kingsoft, but for presentation I liked OpenOffice better. There are many other alternatives available for free. Try a few of them to pick the one that best meets your needs. Because there is so much software with a wide array of features available these days for free, the days are over for most of us to pay for office suite software.