Are Wood Stoves Good for the Environment?
That depends on the stove you have in your mind’s eye. The old-fashioned, pot-belly stoves that appear in most Western movies didn’t do the atmosphere any favors. But today’s wood burning stoves, engineered with fuel economy in mind, are a different story.
Back in the days of cowboys and general stores, wood stoves could have been mistaken for indoor smokestacks–and that wouldn’t have been too far from the truth. But modern stoves are actually one of the "greenest" sources of radiant heat available to home owners today. Here are some of the big reasons why.
Let’s start with a little history. In the early 20th century, even the most efficient wood burning stoves left a lot to be desired and it wasn’t hard to tell. The smoky haze these stoves produced was a telltale sign that an unknowing home owner was literally giving the torch to his heating budget. Fortunately, there has been a revolution in stove design since those days.
Around 1990, there was a growing interest in alternative heating sources, caused by the rising awareness of the impact of fossil fuels (oil, coal) on the environment. In addition, the goal of energy self-sufficiency caused home owners to reevaluate wood stoves as a heating method. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) got involved, instituting demanding emissions standards to make sure that new stoves would be kind to the environment.
As new stoves were produced, engineers incorporated the EPA standards, and the "modern" wood stove came into being. Since 1990, every new wood stove is approved by the EPA, and produces a mere trickle of smoke (2-5 grams per hour) and very little ash. This amounts to a 33 percent increase in fuel efficiency over the old potbelly stoves, and a 90 percent decrease in emissions. In plain English, this means that advanced wood burning stoves burn a lot less wood and are simultaneously kinder to the planet.
At this point, a natural question would be, "Don’t wood stoves put pollutants into the atmosphere just like other heating sources–gas, oil, or coal?" The answer is nuanced. When fossil fuels are extracted from the earth and consumed, they release carbon dioxide into the environment at unhealthy levels. And after the monumental costs of extracting and producing these fuels, once they’re burned, they’re gone for good.
As a fuel source, wood is different on several counts.
Trees, like all other green plants, take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and convert it to fiber in order to grow. When trees die, and wood decomposes, this CO2 is released back into the air. But in this case, it is a natural cycle, since all trees eventually die. The same thing is true when wood is burned. Making the wood-burning cycle sustainable is the fact that wood is a renewable source of fuel.
We started this article asking the question, "Are wood stoves good for the environment?" The answer, when you compare stoves to other heating methods, is yes. Today’s stoves are fuel efficient: they produce more heat with less wood, keeping emissions to a minimum by meeting strict EPA standards. Best of all, perhaps, they don’t deprive the earth of non-renewable fossil fuels.
So, call to mind that rusty, black iron stove you saw in a Western movie, a vacation lodge, or at your grandparents. Then prepare yourself for an updated picture as you explore the world of modern wood stoves. Environmentally speaking, today’s stoves are very green.
AJ Vanderhorst writes about efficient wood stoves for today’s home owners. A world of warm aesthetics and hot, clean, fuel economy awaits your discovery. Explore modern wood burning stoves at Wood Stoves.
Article Source: ArticleSpan
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
Global warming will eventually unleash a new Dark Age – Owen Sound Sun Times
During the Dark Ages, a period in European history after the fall of the Roman Empire that saw civilization take many steps backward and ignorance reign, one of the worst threats people faced came from the sea. A common prayer of the time saw people …
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Advantages Of Freelancers In The Modern Business Environment
Freelancers have become a large component of the modern developed economy, providing often high quality skills to businesses as and when they need them. This flexible approach to work is what makes them so popular, where an employer does not wish to employ someone for a long period of time, sourcing a freelancer can be the ideal way to buy in expertise.
Freelancers obviously serve many, many industries and specialised areas of business. From photography to JavaScript coders, and from graphic designers to games developers, there’s always someone to fit the bill. In answer to the issue of freelancers constantly on the look out for the next job, they are usually paid significantly more than a full time employee might. This makes up for any ‘downtime’ for the freelancer.
Some say that the growth in the use of freelancers in the global economy is indicative of the fact that there are no longer any jobs for life. But others see the work practice as a way to gain a huge amount of experience with different companies and organisations, providing the chance to network with many more people than would otherwise be possible in a 20 year job scenario. It also inevitably leads to freelancers gaining even more skills to add to their canon.
There is also the added bonus of the excitement generated by meeting new people and working in different environments. Further to this, freelancers can build up a formidable list of references and additions to their work history, so that getting more freelance work or even a full time job in the future is far more likely.
Student freelancers also offer a new source of talent to companies of various kinds. They might be described as future talent available right now – and although they may not have the experience of some professionals, they could well be more affordable.
The list of areas that are served by freelancers is endless, and may include many creative industries as well as more academic areas such as translation. Businesses and individuals who would have normally thought such high quality services cost prohibitive, can find that hiring a student freelancer makes having top quality photography, music, web design and countless other services – entirely possible.
There are a number of jobs for freelancers that cannot always be sought through some kinds of agencies. These might include medical or dental personnel, or perhaps any profession that requires a certificate or license. These kind of freelance jobs are usually provided by very specialist agencies – or indeed are usually roles filled on a full time basis, utilising the normal employment laws.
As well as finding freelancers on normal Google search, where many of them will have their own websites, there are a number of other ways to seek out the talent a business or individual requires. These methods include specialised high street based agencies or freelancer focused online directories or portals. Some of these may be free, such as Gumtree, or some may cost in order to find an ideal candidate. An agency has the advantage of being able to verify a freelancers credentials before getting in contact with a potential employer. A free website makes verification difficult.
However a freelancer is chosen, they are undeniably a superb temporary addition to any business.
Anna Stenning is an expert on freelancers with many years of experience in advising companies on freelance employment.
Article Source: ArticleSpan
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World News Headlines – Town Hall
Traumatized U.N. staff in Afghanistan were under orders to stay home Thursday, one day after Taliban militants stormed a guest house in the capital and killed eight people in a brazen attack that is forcing the world… IAEA team back from Iran …
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Global warming on grill tonight
Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 10:21 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 10:21 a.m. To The Editor: There are two sides to every story including David Weintraub’s latest column.
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Road Sweeping And Cleaning Your Environment
Sanitation and waste management has become a very important aspect of good governance especially since health has become a very important issue in the last few years. Local governments understand that they need to protect the people from harmful elements as much as possible and sometimes protect them from their own mistakes and lack of discipline. A lot of people complain about waste management when in fact they are the ones who need to be complained about. The environment gets harmed, damaged and polluted not only on its own but it much more because of the people who live in the environment. It is for this very reason that some measures must be taken in order to clean and sanitize the environment and the place the people live in so that it would continue to be habitable by future generations.
Road sweeping is one of those steps to make sure that waste is managed properly and that the city is well taken care of. The Greater Toronto Area is a highly populous area in Ontario and there are many ways of damaging the environment because of the amount of people in it. When the streets are crowded, one can be sure that there will be a lot of pieces of litter and garbage around and someone has to clean it up.
Road sweeping is thus essential in keeping the streets clean and accessible to the people. The Greater Toronto Area can have a lot of problems when rainy season comes if there is no sweeping done prior to the arrival of heavy downpour. The sewage system can easily get clogged by all the garbage and the dust and soil can add up to the clogging problem as well. Road sweeping is therefore very important since the environment can be protected by the regular practice of road sweeping. One of the main concerns in the Greater Toronto Area has always been the amount of dust in the air. An environment such as this can be very hazardous to the people in the community as a lot of lung problems can be associated with the amount of dust particles in the air.
This is why road sweeping is essential in the GTA. People understand that road sweeping can be very helpful in controlling the amount of dust in the air. They understand that sweeping can help prevent some lung issues that people might have and a little discomfort when the procedure is being done is well worth it. Environmentally speaking, road sweeping is a much better process than flushing. This is because the dust is picked up by the sweepers and does not get flushed down the sewer system that could lead to the contamination of the bodies of water in the area. Floods are a reality in the Greater Toronto Area. There are times when there are severe thunderstorms and the downpour is very heavy. The natural environment of the Greater Toronto Area is that there are lakes and rivers near it or in it and the rise of water in these bodies of water can create a big disaster especially if the streets have not been taken care of roperly.
Nir Dotan is a writer and promoter of road sweeping and road sweeping
Article Source: ArticleSpan
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Become a veggie to save planet
ONE OF the world’s leading voices on climate change has sensationally urged people to become vegetarian to help beat global warming.
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Poll: US belief in global warming is cooling – The Guardian
Associated Press Writer= WASHINGTON (AP) ? Americans seem to be cooling toward global warming. Just 57 percent think there is solid evidence the world is getting warmer, down 20 points in just three years, a new poll says. And the share of …
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The Positive Impact Of Parking Lot Flushing On The Environment
Keeping parking lots clean is not just important for the image of a company or a building. There are other reasons why parking lots should be kept clean. One of the reasons that companies should do regular parking lot flushing and sweeping is so that the sediments, dusts and debris left on the parking lot will not be washed into the storm drains with the possibility of clogging them up or worse reaching surface water and natural bodies of water.
Emissions from factories, debris, dried leaves, and oil– there are just so many things that could get the roads and parking lots dirty. Dusts and small dirt often look harmless but what most people are not aware of is that dusts the size of ten microns or smaller can still carry toxic elements. These dusts could get blown into the air and cause issues for people suffering from respiratory ailments or worse, the dirt can be washed into the storm drains and cause pollution in the storm water. This may not seem alarming but all water flows to natural bodies of water. So the water in the storm drains will eventually reach surface water.
Businesses in the Greater Toronto Area are aware of the importance of keeping parking lots clean through parking lot flushing and sweeping/vacuuming. There are many companies that do road sweeping as well as parking lot flushing in the Greater Toronto Area. Another factor that makes this service important in GTA is that it snows in this area. Debris and other dirt can get trapped in the snow and released during the spring snowmelt. This is a very important time to get the roads and the parking lots cleaned. Companies that do road flushing also offer other services such as snow plowing which are very valuable in Ontario and the other places in the Greater Toronto Area. Other services that these companies offer include: construction cleanup, spring cleanup, highway cleanup and cleanup of new sites.
Companies and building management often take responsibility for cleaning the parking lots by hiring companies that do parking lot flushing. Parking lot flushing requires special equipments/machines that use pressure to flush the dirt on the pavement to remove even the smallest dirt. A vacuum sweeper is then used to suck the dirt that’s been flushed off the parking lot pavement. The parking lot flushing company will then dispose of the debris, dirt, and dust properly. Commercial companies that offer these services usually operate 24/7.
Aside from preventing the pollutants from reaching bodies of water, parking lot flushing prevents dusts and small particulates from getting blown by the air. There are studies in the Greater Toronto Area and in other places that an efficient and regular street sweeping, road flushing and parking lot flushing program results in better air quality. There are so many air pollutants in urban cities and these dirt and pollutants can settle on the roads and on the parking lots. A regular cleaning program that flushes the roads and the parking lots result in cleaner air. This is why parking lot owners and managers should hire a company that will do parking lot flushing regularly. It may seem like an unnecessary expense but it really has its benefits as discussed above.
Nir Dotan Nir Dotan is a writer and promoter of parking lot flushing and parking lot flushing
Article Source: ArticleSpan
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog
Sustainable Living: Global warming could delay ice age
In 1970 I was working on my oceanography degree at the University of Washington.
Nancy – GotSmog.com – The Pollution-Reducing Blog