SBA Green Team Tip of the Week (1/20/09)

From the Can Manufacturers Institute

(courtesy of the PSU Sustainability website)

Recycling aluminum can saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore. Energy savings in 1993 alone were enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years.

Since the early 1970's, Americans have earned $6.4 billion from their recycling of aluminum cans.

Did you know?:

• Making cans from recycled aluminum cuts related air pollution (for example, sulfur dioxides, which create acid rain) by 95%.
• Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet.
• Every day Americans use steel and tin cans equivalent to make a steel pipe running from Los Angeles to New York and back.
• The average American throws out about 61 lbs. of tin cans every month.
• Enough energy is saved by recycling one aluminum can to run a TV set for three hours or to light one 100 watt bulb for 20 hours.
• Throwing away an aluminum beverage container wastes as much energy as pouring out a soda can half-filled with gasoline.

Questions? Want to join the SBA Green Team? Email: greenteam@sba.pdx.edu for more information.

SBA Green Team Tip of the Week (1/12/09)

Go Green on Coffee – Good for the environment, good for you!

It’s easy to brew and drink “green” coffee. Start by selecting your favorite Fair Trade brand. If you have a paper filter style coffee maker use unbleached filters since they can go directly into your compost bin with the used coffee grounds. Once your coffee has finished brewing, pour it into a thermal serving container to keep it fresh and hot for hours. Unplug the coffee maker after your coffee is brewed. Even when it’s off it still draws electricity.

If you are buying coffee at one of the many coffee shops around campus, take along your own thermal mug. It will stay hot longer and keep unnecessary paper cups out of the land fill. If your not using your own cup. Try looking for cups, napkins, stirrers, and lids that have been made out of recycled materials. This will allow each cup that is used to have less of an impact than it would as a new product.

Questions? Want to join the SBA Green Team? Email: greenteam@sba.pdx.edu for more information.

SBA Green Team Tip of the Week (1/5/09)

Common Computer Myths
(Courtesy of Ohio University, Facilities Department)

Myth: It is bad to turn off the computer.
Truth: Computers are now designed to handle 40,000 on/off cycles. This is considerably more cycles than the average user will initiate in the computer’s 5-7 year life span. Turning your computer off helps reduce heat stress and wear on the system.

Myth: Turning your computer off uses more energy than leaving it on.
Truth: The surge of power used by a CPU to boot up is far less than the energy used by the unit when left on for over 3 minutes.

Myth: Screen savers save energy.
Truth: Screen savers were originally designed to help protect the lifespan of monochrome monitors which are now technologically obsolete. Most screen savers do not save energy unless they actually turn off the screen or, in the case of laptops, turn off the back light.

Myth: Network connections are lost when a PC goes into low-power/sleep mode.
Truth: Newer computers are designed to sleep on networks to prevent loss of data or connection. CPU’s with Wake on LAN (WOL) technology built-in to network cards can be left in sleep mode overnight to wake-up and receive data packets sent to the unit.