GoingTrueGreen's Blog Postings

We Should STOP Using Plastic Sparkles

12/9/2024

Christmas, cards, enviromental friendly ink, plastic, microscopic plastic particles, going true green, going green

Cards Covered with Plastic Sparkles

We have all seen those bright sparkles on Christmas cards, at birthday parties, on any type of greeting cards, inside envelopes, and used for surprise confetti. The issue is, these sparkles are no longer different bright color paper. They are small plastic pieces and they never go away. They are getting into our water, air, soil, food, and our bodies.

We need to seriously look into stopping the use of Plastic Sparkles for the holidays, and birthdays, and any celebration. There is always another way...

MAKE YOUR OWN GREETING CARDS:
Sending cards to family and friends with a few sharing words is a positive action when done a little at a time. Start early and never try to do this alone in one or two days. Do a little every other day or so, but start on December first every year, and take as long as two weeks to get the task done. Let us be creative this year by making our own cards or send a photograph card printed with Eco-friendly ink.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
- Try to be Greener by buying cards made from Tree FREE Resources, such as hemp.
- If we are making our own cards, use recycled paper or recycled card stock. Reuse old envelopes or again make our own with Tree FREE Resources. Please try to avoid using plastic or plastic sparkles.

I am very concern about all these little pieces of plastic getting into our air and water. They never go away, just keep breaking down to smaller and smaller pieces.

- Also remember having a custom look, always gives a warm and individual feel to our Christmas greetings.
- Let's use environment friendly inks when writing out our cards, printing them, or printing photos.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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On The List

8/25/2024

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All Going True Green's followers know that I have been speaking and writing about Hydrogen Fuel Cells as the world's energy answer for decades. Well...

What we have from NASA's technology is a company in Ohio called Hyperion Motors announcing their methodology for hydrogen fuel cells that can be used at a business, home and of course, in their car. Their XP-1 Hydrogen Sports Car is schedule for limited production by the end of this year.

Due to my GoingTrueGreen blog and being able to help promote this new Hydrogen Fuel Cell sports car, I was allowed to be on the list for possible trial use, or even to purchase. Some of the data is in the videos below. Each video is from and credited to Hyperion Motors' website... Enjoy!

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Hydrogen Power, The Real Answer

6/24/2024

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At Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, on June 11, 2024, scientists successfully demonstrated a new efficient catalyst for separating Hydrogen from oxygen (Water, AKA H2O, is made up of one hydrogen and two oxygen molecules). They call the process the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

This new catalyst to conduct Water-Splitting is four times more efficient and should prove to be far less expensive. However, the chemistry to break water into hydrogen and oxygen is complex. Two separate, and simultaneous electrochemical reactions are require to be the catalysts for breaking bonds.

Hydrogen is the promising fuel for no greenhouse gases, and Free power for the world! There will be no greenhouse gases when the Hydrogen is separated from water with renewable energy, such as a few solar panels to power the system (let us call it a membrane system), and for safety we split water molecules on Demand. The Hydrogen runs the Hydrogen Fuel Cell that makes electricity. Byproduct is condensation.

Hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cells, fuel cells, going true green, Brookhaven National Lab, Hydrogen Power, Clean Energy, Solar, Oxygen, vehicle, rain, rain water, Sun, free electricity

Schematic shows how a catalyst composed of a few layers of iridium oxide (IrOx) over a support made of titanium nitride (TiN) can efficiently produce oxygen (O2), hydrogen ions (H+), and electrons (e-) from water molecules (H2O) in an acidic electrolyte.

The World's Energy Freedom answer would work with a system that collects FREE rain water (a vehicle will have a water tank) and as needed, the membrane system, will separate the hydrogen molecules from the freely collected rain water (not from natural gas or gasoline). This would be done with FREE electric power created from the Sun with a few solar panels. The hydrogen molecules from the freely collected water (H2O) will run the fuel cell that makes FREE electricity to power the house, office and our car.

The problem is - No research money to help improve on a system NASA used on the Space Shuttles since 1981.
The problem is - Nobody can make money off of this!
The problem is - That there will be No More monthly bills.
AND
Then there will probably be no more WARS when everyone can make their own FREE energy.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Food Labels Decoded, Grass-fed Chickens & Cows

5/10/2024

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Grass-fed Chickens and Cows

Grass-Fed, Grass Fed label, going true green, Food labels decoded, grass fed beef, USDA, Eggs, Cows, Beef, Chickens, GTG Blog

Some of the Grass Fed Labels

Not much to this label, yet the "BUT" at the end of this Decoded Label makes you wonder, Why even have this label?
The USDA says that grass-fed animals, such as chickens and cows, must get the majority of their nutrients from grass throughout their life. Chickens that are grass-fed eat a more natural diet, including digesting insects. Benefits from the chickens eating a grass diet are seen in the chickens' eggs, and meat consumed by humankind.
Many similar benefits come from grass-fed cows when beef is sold.

BUT the food provided to cows and chickens could be supplemented with feed containing pesticides and animal products!

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Why Do We Tie Up Our Garbage In Plastic Bags?

3/7/2024

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Plastic, plastic bags, garbage, garbage bags, recycle, microplastic, going true green, sustainability

Beach Clean Up: Compostable Bags or Plastic?

Easy answer... To facilitate easy transportation from indoors to outdoors, and to keep garbage cans more sanitized.

Now I must ask, what was done in yesteryear? There was no such thing as a plastic bag.

In the "Old Days" garbage was tossed in a small pail with a handle, then carried outside to a large garbage can that was put out to the curb on collection days. Every now and then, those pails were washed out. However, plastic bags changed all that, so to avoid using plastic bags today, we need to look into Compostable Bags and taking some additional action.

Households were not zero waste back in yesteryear, nor is zero waste an easy task to accomplish today. First action is to reduce, recycle, and reuse. I put out one garbage can a week, while most of my neighbors with the same situation as me, put out two garbage cans twice a week. All with their garbage tied up nice and tight in a plastic bag. I am also guilty for using plastic bags, but that is mostly because the municipality and unions, do not want their collection agents picking up garbage cans filled with loose debris, and turning the cans upside down to dump out all that garbage. Spillage, when that occurs is a mess, germs can spread, and town / city employees risk back injuries. So most townships and cities want garbage to be bagged.

Nevertheless, still using plastic bags, will cause long term issues in landfills. One such issue I learned about on my first job out of college. I was working as a Specialist Level 2 environmental scientist at a newly designed garbage recycling plant. There I learned the plastic bags when burned, give off dioxins, and dioxin like compounds. That is the same stuff used in agent orange during the Vietnam war.

So another action I took was to search out Compostable Bags. There are many types available on the market today, and a lot easier to find compared to years ago. Try to buy compostable bags with plant-based content, and this will help keep plastic out of our landfills and microplastic particles out of our environment, and us!

Some compostable bags with good reviews are ProGreen, and UNNI ASTM. Both are available at Walmart.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Distilling Water

2/5/2024

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water, water distiller, water filters, drinking water, water fountains, carbon filters, distillers, water pollution, going green, going true green, GTG

Counter Top Water Distiller

I have been speaking and writing about using a Water Distiller for decades now. When compared to buying bottled water in plastic, having your own Water Distiller makes complete sense. Saving money, energy, and health are individual benefits. Helping to save our environment is a benefit for the world and our children. For details about distilling your own water and all the savings, just use the SEARCH box at the top of this page or click on WATER in the Category list on the right side of this page.

The number one concern I hear about distilling your own water is the loss of all those healthy nutrients and electrolytes in water. I have a hard time being concerned for several facts and reasons. One reason is the fact that our main supply of nutrients, electrolytes and minerals, come from fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts. The minerals in water are not sufficient to enhance our Recommended Daily Allowance, (RDA). On average, to get our RDA of calcium we would need to drink 600 glasses of water per day. To acquire our RDA of iron, that would cause us to drink 800 glasses of water a day. How about our RDA for magnesium? Only 1,800 glasses of water for that, and for our phosphorus RDA, just 160,000 glasses per day. We Do Not get our daily nutrients from drinking water.

So, over the years the best water distiller to buy has changed... No I am not writing about this because I am getting a kick-back or have stock in the company. I am just sharing information and research that I have done over all the years.

The counter top Vevor water distiller, as of today, is the best deal.

Better Features:
Lighter Copper outside
Two switches on and off
Double line marker inside locating maximum water fill
Electric cords have extra length
Stainless steel nozzle to hold carbon filter
Stainless steel shield over steam intake hole inside top section to prevent particulates from drafting up into cooling coil
Easy lift handle for the top section
Extra high drip guard for the 1 gallon glass jug
Stainless steel, not plastic top cover for the glass jug
Silicone padded wrap to protect the bottom of the glass jug
A citric concentrate to clean the distiller - Done by putting 4 teaspoons in hot water that is filled up above the dirt line in the distiller. Then plug-in without the top section cover, and bring to a boil. After 15 minutes shut off with OFF button and wash out.
The grip handle for the glass jug, better design
Vent spacing in top section is larger, so easier to clean any dust or lint buildup
Cooling fan blades are made of aluminum, not plastic, so there is far less dirt build up on blades
Faster and quieter: Far less noise, One hour faster in making the gallon of water!
Best price is around $111.00
Electrical operating cost to make one gallon is around 42 cents for the highest electrical rates in the United States. The Vevor unit costs about 9 cents more than other models that use around 70 watts less, but are on 1 hour longer to make a gallon of water. Either way, compared to buying bottled water - no contest. You get a gallon of purified water for 42 cents compared to one 16 ounce plastic bottle of water that will range from $1.50 to $3.75 depending on your buying location.

Drawbacks:
I am very disappointed that this is made in China, thus shipping halfway around the world wipes out some of the environmental savings we obtain.

The charcoal filters are very dense and after a dozen rinses they still leached a heavy black charcoal film. I suggest the carbon filters from Nutriteam. You can buy 12 packs for a good price at Nutriteam.com. They are slightly smaller in size and fit better in the Drip Nozzle. Bottom line, you can rinse them in a bowl of distilled water about three times to get out the excess carbon.

General Rules:
In regard to changing the carbon filter and cleaning out the inside of the distiller, my rule has been determined from distilling water for over 35 years. I clean out the distiller with organic white vinegar by pouring in one gallon and letting the vinegar sit overnight. The citric concentrate, Vevor provides with their distillers, does work better when following their directions. How often I change and clean is based on this rule: Every 100 gallons made or three months, whichever comes first.

As for the dust build up in the vent spacing on the top section and the cooling coil, I use Q-Tips to clean out the dust and lint at least once a year.

THE SOLUTION IS NOT BOTTLED WATER… THE SOLUTION IS US AND THE KNOWLEDGE WE SHARE!
CONSIDER TAKING GTG's WATER WORKSHOP, IF NOT FOR OURSELF OR THE WORLD,
AT LEAST FOR OUR GREAT GRAND KIDS.

Visit our Lifetime GTG Membership program for details, online class about water is available to all members.
Please use the GTG Membership Link above. Thank you.

You will not be tested by me, but life may test our grandchildren.
Can you teach them what they need to know?

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Treat! But There Is A Trick!

10/31/2023

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Way back on May 12, 1989 I received a Report Card from the Power Company and I posted information that would be useful to others who wish to save Money, Energy and our Earth. The title is: Energy Savings At A Jedi Level.
(Link to visit this old blog)

I also wrote with an update on that blog: "My long term goal was to have no electric bill or energy bills at all. (No electric bill was accomplished in 2014 and still waiting in 2019 for an affordable NASA Fuel Cell that sent Americans to the moon several times and back to eliminate my natural gas consumption)"

Well, the wait may come to an end soon, but there is a trick involved...

Many companies have been working on Hydrogen Fuel Cells, but the various fluidity of production methods and logistics are very costly. Nevertheless, there have been breakthroughs, yet none remove our servitude to monthly bills. All the companies really don't want us making our own Hydrogen fuel, on site, and on demand, for cost savings and safety. These companies want to sell us the Hydrogen fuel, one way or another.

The World's Energy Freedom, as I have been writing about for decades, will only come when greed steps aside so we can have hydrogen fuel cells in our homes, cars, and business. The World's Energy Freedom answer would work with a system that collects FREE rain water (a vehicle will have a water tank) and as needed, the membrane component, will separate the hydrogen molecules from the freely collected rain water (not from natural gas or gasoline). This would be done with FREE electric power created from the Sun with a few solar panels. The hydrogen molecules from the freely collected water (H2O) will run the fuel cell that makes FREE electricity to power the house, office and our car. The byproduct is water. A small battery backup will suffice in place of the solar panels on cloudy days and nighttime in order to operate the membrane component that separates the two hydrogen molecules from the one oxygen molecule in water. The electricity made by the fuel cell will always be recharging the battery.

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What we have so far from NASA's technology is a company in Ohio called Hyperion announcing their methodology for hydrogen fuel cells that can be used at a business, home and of course, in their car. I am not going to critique the company, I will leave that to each one of my readers to do themselves.

The photo from Hyperion, shows their fuel cell in the upper right hand corner and Hyperion's sports car on the left. One of the Links to their website is as follows: Hyperion

Below is an image of their refueling station... And that is the monthly expense trick. The hydrogen is compressed, cooled, and stored within, so we can buy from them.

No making our own hydrogen on demand, in which case there will be no need to compress, cool or store. I am afraid that technology will only come about when we all realize that: To Lead, One Must Serve.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Uneducated Elitist Set To Harm Environment; part two

8/27/2023

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Sadly the governments screaming the loudest to help our environment are currently the ones doing the most harm to our planet. In the United States, the current leaders are looking to create more laws to help save the planet from CO2 emissions. The most recent thought process is about ordering ceiling fan manufacturers to produce more energy efficient motors. This possible action being considered proves that they have no knowledge about how ceiling fans save energy.

So the infamous minds of many politicians across our nation continue to do more harm than good to our environment. Multiple moves toward destroying our environment are being set up by our uneducated elitist leaders. Let us just look at a more complete evaluation of ceiling fans... This is Part Two of a Two Part Series (part one)

Making Current Ceiling Fans illegal

Facts Being Omitted:

Current leadership has no idea how Electric ceiling fans save energy.
Ceiling fans, or any fan, uses far less electricity than an air conditioning (AC) unit.
Most times when a ceiling fan is in use, that means AC units are not, thus saving much more energy.
For every hour a ceiling fan offsets the use of an AC unit, that is a greater benefit than a more efficient motor.
More efficient motors will cause costs to rise and less people will buy.
More people need to be encouraged to use ceiling fans more often to delay or offset the use of AC units.
Steps should be taken to make ceiling fans more readily available with installation.
Savings on the electric bill with ceiling fans offsetting initial use of AC units should be taught to the public.

Questions:

Why doesn't the government offer tax credits for everyone who installs a ceiling fan?
Would not smaller manufacturers go out of business with a mandate for more efficient motors with a few years time?
Wouldn't the savings from a more efficient ceiling fan motor only be a few dollars per year at best, but a couple hundred dollars more to buy?
Shouldn't the government's task be to encourage more people to buy more ceiling fans, not to discouraged them with having to buy new more expensive models?
How can anyone justify the cost to buy when the savings do not even offer a payback on the extra cost?
Is the payback in helping the environment? - Answer: NO, because more help is from offsetting AC use with more ceiling fans, not more expensive motors.
Where is American ingenuity with the REAL SOLUTION - Hydrogen Fuel Cells running off of water to make clean energy on demand, such as the Fuel Cells used on our Space Shuttles since 1981?
Therefore, every home would make their own electricity from rain water, with our own fuel cell and have no monthly bills, no pollution... but the problem with a government program like that, means no monthly utility bills and no positional power, right?

A MUST READ: Process Of Energy Progression

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Ancient Roman Concrete Can Help Our Environment!

5/24/2023

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Bill Lauto, Going True Green, Roman cement, cement, clasts, lime clasts, self-healing cement, sustainability, Rome, Roma, volcanic ash, calcium carbonate, MIT, Archeological Museum of Priverno in Italy.

Ancient Roman Concrete 2K Years Old

Roman concrete, aka concrete made 2,000 years ago by the ancient Romans has lasted amazingly well compared to modern concrete. Some data states that today's concrete starts to breakdown within 50 years. Actually, I have seen concrete for sidewalks start to flake off surface layers within 5 years. Yet, Rome’s famed Pantheon, which has the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome dedicated in 128 AD is still intact. In the photograph on the left, I am standing next to concrete steps and the columns of a Roman Temple, now a Catholic Church in Assisi Italy. This structure was made over 2,000 years ago.

Now since some calculations say that manufacturing concrete today contributes 8% of carbon emissions world wide and our modern concrete can crumble within decades, especially when exposed to eroding environmental conditions, longer lasting concrete will help our environment by lowering carbon emissions.

So why does Roman concrete last thousands of years? The answer came this year in a 2023 study that used reverse engineering on samples of concrete made by the ancient Romans. A team of investigators from MIT and laboratories in Italy and Switzerland, discovered ancient concrete-manufacturing strategies that incorporated several key self-healing functionalities. One of several papers was published in the journal Science Advances.

First, everything previously assumed about ancient Roman concrete is wrong:

The one magic ingredient was pozzolanic material such as volcanic ash
The various small particles in the concrete was due to poor mixing practices or just being sloppy
The slaking process using water and lime to form a highly reactive paste material made the difference

Under high-resolution with multi-scale imaging and chemical mapping techniques, researchers gained new insights into the potential functionality of "Lime Clasts" and the slaking process was not a contributing factor. Studying samples of ancient concrete, the small white particles were forms of calcium carbonate. Under spectroscopic examination it was determined they had been formed at extreme temperatures. This was the key to the super-durable nature of Roman concrete and the hot mixing produced compounds that would not otherwise form. Additionally, this increased temperature significantly reduces curing, setting and construction times.

Trevi Fountain, Going True Green, Roman cement, cement, clasts, lime clasts, self-healing cement, sustainability, Rome, Roma, volcanic ash, calcium carbonate, MIT, Archeological Museum of Priverno in Italy.

Rome's Trevi Fountain With Water via 2K Year Old Aqueduct

Studies conducted show that the hot mixing process has the lime clasts develop brittle nanoparticulate architecture, thus creating the ability for self healing. If a crack started in the concrete, a reaction would start with water and create a calcium-saturated solution that would recrystallize as calcium carbonate filling the crack. This adds further strength to the concrete and heals cracks before they can spread. Recent examination of ancient Roman concrete samples exhibited calcite-filled cracks.

To test this mechanism, which was responsible for the durability of the Roman concrete, samples of hot-mixed concrete were made and then deliberately cracked. Water was sent through the cracks and within two weeks the cracks had completely healed. As a result of these successful tests, work is being done to commercialize this modified concrete material.

If commercializing is successful, this "old made anew" concrete material will help improve the durability of the 3D Printing of concrete homes for the poor, (see previous GTG blog post of this topic) save money in production and time, less concrete manufacturing due to this concrete having a longer lifespan, and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Research was done by Janille Maragh at MIT, Paolo Sabatini at DMAT in Italy, Michel Di Tommaso at the Instituto Meccanica dei Materiali in Switzerland, and James Weaver at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. The work was carried out with the assistance of the Archeological Museum of Priverno in Italy.

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GTG Influencer: UPDATE

2/11/2023

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Product Reviews

Different companies inquired last year about possible GTG reviews on products they made. All the products had some claim to being Eco-Friendly and wanted a Going True Green blog post to contribute a review as a social media influencer.

Since I did the GTG blog review on a new underclothing product dated February 22, 2022, other companies who requested a GTG blog post on products with the same caveat, withdrew their request. This occurred after seeing what I stated about products, Eco-friendly or not, that were made in China and shipped from China. The main reason was that no matter how Eco-friendly their product was, shipping from China wiped away any benefits. They all had the same issue with their products in need of shipping half way around the world. Additionally, the sale prices were not any less expensive compared to a more local manufacturing set up. The difference comes down to the profit margin demanded.

Close Up

At this time I also wish to provide an update on
the underclothing blog done last February. Unfortunately, a hole developed in the same location on both of the men's underwear I received for review and testing. This occurred immediately after we posted our blog.

The time of use for both pairs, is based upon wearing each pair once a week for a day. After 5 months, the same defective hole appeared one week apart on both pairs. The holes were in the same exact location on both pairs, thus indicating a possible defect in manufacturing. I trust that the company has reviewed this issue and I hope they are successful in correcting the cause. I also wish them the best in changing manufacturing to be here in the U.S. because I do appreciate their products being made of hemp. I state this because this material along with organic cotton is a plus, especially to keep microscopic plastic fibers out of our wash water!

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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