Author: Catherine Harvey
Title: Ink Cartridges Contribute To Saving The Planet

Article: Ink cartridges have practically revolutionised printing techniques in the last 20 years. From the days of fiddling about swapping messy ink soaked ribbons and wearing more of the product than you would ever use, to what we have now. The little plastic box that pops out when empty andarticlein, all fully filled and ready to go makes office life so much simpler.

Ink has come a long way from the days of quill and squid ink. Now containing chemicals and additives, the days of smeared and faded documents are long gone.

However, with the discovery of global warming, every aspect of life and business has come under scrutiny and it is now the moral thing to do, to ensure the products you use are environmentally friendly.

This is where the advent of soy ink, or vinegar ink, comes in. This is an alternative to petroleum based inks and aids the recycling of printed material as well as plastics. The cultivation of soy beans uses very little energy in comparison to standard inks. Although not 100% bio-degradable, soy ink is much more environmentally friendly, which is essential given where so much of it ends up.

Paper and plastic have been the biggest contributors to recycling since the government has been campaigning to encourage us all this way. Plastic recycling is quite an expensive process. Due to this fact, much of the recyclable plastics are shipped from the US and UK to Asian countries, such as China and Vietnam, where the cheap labour and lax environmental laws keep the cost down.

Surely, this is counter-productive. What we save for the environment here, pollutes it elsewhere – we are only one planet after all. Of the 90 million kilograms of waste plastic collected from the UK, three quarters of this was shipped to China for recycling.

This plastic then has to go through a procedure to remove contaminants before it can be recycled. This process can take up to two litres of water per 500 grams of re-cycled materials, therefore plants cannot be built in areas where water is limited.

Contaminants from recycled plastic, such as inks, are washed into the local waterways causing pollution thus making the whole process pointless.

However, use natural ingredients to make ink, such as soy ink and you have a much more environmentally friendly product. Techniques are being developed in the Western world to develop a recycling process that will eliminate the need for so much water and is hoped will be cost effective enough to stop the need for exporting our rubbish.

The good news is that soy ink is now being used in 95% of daily papers in the US. A quarter of commercial printers in the United States now use soy ink. The only application this ink is not suitable for is the biro.

So now you know, when choosing your ink cartridge make the environmentally sound choice. Use soy based ink products and do your bit for the planet. Environmental expert Catherine Harvey looks at the environmentally friendly ink cartridge to reduce pollution. To find out more please visit http://www.inksave.co.uk/

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Author: Tim Evans
Title: How To Repair Damaged Stucco

Article: Stucco is a very durable finish which is commonly used on exterior walls. Stucco is normally made from sand, cement and lime and is applied while the mixture is still wet. While stucco is very resilient it can still be damaged. In this article we will look at how to repair stucco when an accident occurs.

This repair method is best for a damaged area that is less than two square feet. If the repair is much larger than that then the stucco should be removed completely to the surface of the wall and built back in layers for best results.

The most difficult part of repairing stucco is achieving a perfect match to the existing stucco. Stucco comes in numerous different finishes and textures, so the best way to match it to your existing stucco is to try several different finishes until you get the best possible match.

In order to complete this project you will need a few tools and some materials. The tools that you will need are a trowel, a putty knife, a utility knife, a wire brush and a small whisk broom. The materials that you will are paint, premixed stucco, a metal primer and a bonding adhesive.

To start, remove all loose stucco using a wire brush. Use a utility knife to under cut the surrounding stucco so that the new patch will fit securely. Using the wire brush, clean away any rust and loose stucco that may have came loose when you under cut the stucco. Make certain that the area is clean before proceeding to the next step.

In the next step you will need to apply a bonding adhesive to the broken edges of the stucco which will ensure the bond between the old stucco and the fresh patch which you will be putting in. If you do not wish to use a bonding adhesive, you can wet the damaged area thoroughly and make sure it remains damp for at least twelve hours prior to applying a fresh patch in order to prevent the moisture from being drawn out too soon from the patch.

Next, apply a generous amount of stucco using your trowel or if the damaged area is very small you can use your putty knife. You will want to overfill the hole just a bit. Feather the edges of the new patch until it blends in well with the surrounding stucco.

Using your whisk broom or trowel you will now want to attempt to match the fresh patch to copy the existing texture. While it is oftentimes difficult to achieve a perfect match, you will need to just continue to try and match the patch until you have found the best possible finish.

Allow the fresh patch to fully dry, which is usually two to three days. After the patch is dry you will need to apply a coat of primer to the repaired area. A latex primer should be fine to use in this instance. After the primer has fully dried you can now touch up the repaired area using your wall paint.

Trying to achieve the perfect match when repairing stucco requires some patience so just keep at it until you get that desired finish. The author is the owner of Hoover Painting in Hoover, Alabama and has over twenty five years experience as a professional painting contractor. For more information visit Hoover Painting

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Author: Jack Deal
Title: Caribbean Ecocide or Where Did the Cancun and Playa Del Carmen Beaches Go?

Article: Looking out across the dark Caribbean night from Punta Allen one sees three equally sized glowing areas on the distant horizon to the north. The furthest out is Cancun, the next Playa del Carmen and the last Tulum.

Cancun has a bit less than a million people; Playa has 300,000 and Tulum now over 30,000. Playa Del Carmen is the fastest growing municipality in Mexico.

But from Punta Allen each lighted area appears to be the same size since Cancun is farther away than Playa and Playa is farther away than Tulum. The three groups of lights are a reminder of the environmental impact of civilization, including light pollution.

In the next 20 years these three lights will merge.

Biologists report the coral reefs are dead out from Cancun, dying off the coast of Playa Del Carmen and starting to die off Tulum. Progress, people and pollution are taking their toll.

If the reefs die, scuba diving will go soon thereafter and that is a major source of tourist dollars. Scuba diving, unlike snorkeling, is not cheap.

The turtles are also moving south. Cancun has too much activity so the turtles are moving down the Riviera Maya coast and eventually will all move into the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve.

The turtles are of course protected and the cute critters even have a radical environmental group just to make sure they stay around.

But many other creatures, like the pink conch and the jaguar, are slowly dying off as well. Such is progress.

The beaches too are dying.

Hurricane Wilma devastated the beaches on the Cancun strip and the replaced sand was not white and had broken shells in it and was not pleasing to the tourists.

Playacar Resort in Playa del Carmen is now being overtaken by water as the beach has totally washed away. Que pasa?

Hurricanes and storms seasonally move through the coast causing widespread damage and beach erosion. At our favorite beach south of Akumal we could see a good 15 meters of beach erosion had occurred not far from Oscar and Lalo’s.

Speaking of Oscar and Lalo’s they are no longer at the beach after Hurricane Dean of August 2008. They are on the highway now. Somehow the ambience is not the same.

And in case you were wondering, it’s all taken now. The beaches from Cancun to Tulum are resorted out. There are no free beaches left. That’s it. That’s why in the not too distant future the lights from Cancun, Playa and Tulum will merge.

Ah Cancun. Time to go sunbathe on the rocks.

Below Tulum the Sian Ka’an reserve is nature’s last stand and it is getting hit as well. Entering the national park one is surprised at the number of luxury weekend homes with private access.

And big fences. Some like Yvette Mimeux’ Casa Palancar, have guards and barbed wire fences. Some national park.

The Hotel Strip in Cancun is not the only place where beach access is limited…despite Mexican federal law.

The technicality is that one is allowed on the beach but access to the beach is considered trespassing and access denied. Unless Yvette gives you the password.

If you don’t believe it, go out to the Cancun hotel strip and see how far you have to drive to find a public access beach. Go out on the strip and see how far you have to drive to find a place to park.

The big political concern is that the degraded beaches and environment in general will scare away the tourists. Duh. At some point, it certainly will have an impact.

Less than 20 years ago one could snorkel off the beach in Playa del Carmen and see coral and fish. No more. Now that same beach is a boat launch.

It’s true the snow birds will still come to the Riviera Maya because it’s just too cold back in Chicago in the winter. And the Germans will come to sunburn their posteriors.

But wise up developers. At some point even the insane Germans will begin to look at other, less spoiled areas. Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua would love the business.

And they still have beaches. Jack Deal is the owner of a jungle ranch outside Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Mexico. Related articlesmay be found at http://www.jddeal.com/blog and related photos at http://www.freeandinquiringmind.typepad.com

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Author: Kristi Ambrose
Title: Save Money And Energy With Green Lighting Elements

Article: Many people have been converting to a more green lifestyle recently by implementing green lighting fixtures and/or LED bulbs to achieve energy savings. Others still wonder exactly what the difference is because the technology is fairly new. Incandescent bulbs rely on filaments that break so easily.

They conventionally only transform around ten percent of their consumed energy into light and the other 90% turns into heat that is released from the bulb. This is why after you leave a light on, the bulb is very hot and also explains why the process began to engineer bulbs that stay cooler and are more energy efficient.

Perhaps you already own CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) light bulbs and use them daily in your home or office at your desk. Many companies already utilize CFL lighting in their ceilings and fixtures. However, they still don’t create the savings that are generated from LED lighting.

Eventually LED lighting will replace all other forms of bulbs and lighting that there is because they use the smallest amount of energy possible to produce more light. In fact, you surely already things that are lit by LED, such as your cell phone or as indicator lights on common electronic devices.

Most of the LED lamps that I recently ran into have the bulbs built into them, so they force you to buy the entire unit. Why do that when you already have purchased lamps that you love and can get the bulbs separately? But if you need lamps, try your best to find ones that are Eco-friendly too. There are recycled materials used such as glass, metal or plastic.

Natural materials such as felt, wood or cloth are popular as well. If you’re a savvy shopper, surely you are interested in comparisons that calculate the cost-effectiveness of a typical LED (or light-emitting diode) bulb. Currently, there are some direct replacement bulbs available that can be used in place of a normal 60 watt version.

These last for approximately 30,000 hours and only use 7.5 watts of energy. Incandescent bulbs last anywhere from 750 to 1,000 hours and use between 60 to 100 watts. CFLs use about 13 watts and last 6,000 to 15,000 hours. What’s even better for the earth is that LEDs aren’t hazardous to dispose like CFLs are. These are specifically great for recessed lights and lamps that are used for direct light.

And these bulbs produce almost no heat at all, which is great safety, especially if you have little ones! LED lights immediately illuminate whereas CFL bulbs have to “warm up.” CFLs also contain small levels of mercury in them that can contaminate land fills and ground water. Why not find out how you can get your own LED lights now? This Author is a huge fan of ecopolis

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Author: Kristi Ambrose
Title: Solar Energy As An Alternative Energy Source

Article: Nearly 17 years ago the cost to produce solar generated energy per watt per hour was around $15, but nowadays this cost has decreased sufficiently and costs somewhere around $4.00 per watt hour! Obviously solar power works wonders for not only your wallet but for the environment as well and is an incredible alternative as a form of producing energy which gives off zero emissions into the atmosphere!

(Air pollution is the human presentation of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause damage or irritation to mankind or other existing organisms, or damages the natural environs, into the atmosphere. Air pollution causes deaths and respiratory diseases. Air pollution is often identified with superior inactive origins, but the biggest source of emissions is automotive sources. Gases such as carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, have recently gained recognition as pollutants by climate scientists, while they also recognize that carbon dioxide is essential for plant life through photosynthesis.)

Solar accumulation cells are slowly becoming a standard and practical technique for placing upon the rooftops of people’s homes, and they can also be used as a system to use for heating one’s home, creating hot water, or producing electricity. In the case of using the photovoltaic cells for hot water propagation, the system works by having the water encased in the cells, where it is heated and then sent through your pipes. Photovoltaic cells are becoming better at collecting sufficient radiation from the sun even on cloudy days.

One company in particular has actually developed solar collection arrays for the home that work well on days when the sun isn’t very visible by way of technologically advanced systems that actually “stores” the sun on days when it’s really sunny. This is incredible! There is another major system available to consumers called ” The PV System”. This system connects to the nearest power grid; whenever there is a surplus of solar energy being collected at a particular home, it is transferred to the power grid for dispersed utilization and as a way of lowering the grid’s dependence on the hydroelectrically-driven electrical energy production. Being linked to the PV System can keep your prices down as equated to full-fledged solar energy, while at once reducing down the pollution and taking pressure off the power grid system. Some places are designing centralized solar accumulation arrays for small townships or suburban communities.

Places such as Germany, the United States and Switzerland have started providing government subsidiaries or by giving tax breaks to people who agree to use solar power for generating their AC/heat or electricity! As technology progresses and a bigger storage of solar collection materials are made acquirable, more and more individualized investors will see the economic value of investing in this “green” technology and further its implementation a lot more! This author is a HUGE fan of Build your own wind generator


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