GoingTrueGreen's Blog Postings

How To Recycle Better

3/26/2021

Azorian, Project Azorian, Moon Landing, Apollo 11, Going True Green, Going Green, Recycle, recycling, dual system laws, environment, earth's tomorrow, recycling better, recycle numbers, litter, children's future

Easier Than... **

I have posted many Going True Green blogs about Recycling over the years. Anyone can read them by clicking the Category Link named Recycling on the right side of this page. Now recycling is a Team action and this blog post will focus on the three big players in recycling: Government, Manufacturers and each of us as Individuals. Only together we can start to recycle better.

As readers of my Recycling blog posts have deduced, the very foundation to recycling is provided by the township and other government agencies. Then we the individuals follow the established guidelines that are bad, fair or good. Thus, the majority of the failures with recycling are founded within the established guidelines dealing with the "business" of recycling.

Therefore, I believe for recycling to start going true green, the following first actions must be taken:

1.) All manufactures of recyclable containers and products, must INCREASE the size of the triangle that have the recycling number within, so this important information for the individual consumer can be found, seen and read easier!

2.) If already eliminated, bring back rinse out and sorting by the individual with tax rewards, not citations to penalize.

3.) Provide or Sell* multi-recycle bins on hand push cart with wheels. Each bin, color coded for designated item such as glass, metal, paper, cardboard, plastic.
*Selling these units can be done with a reward program. The individual can earn back the cost and "more" through tax rebates and / or credits.

4.) If already eliminated, bring back the recycling collection trucks with divided sections for the sorted recycled items. If the previous designs didn't work well, then re-design them!**
** In 1969 we were able to send humankind to the moon and in 1974 engineered lifting a submarine off the ocean floor 3 miles down! All the people from around the world, who made up those teams and called themselves Americans, did the impossible because they didn't believe the mission could not be done!

Now after the above has been done successfully, then we can visit additional actions such as implementing Dual System laws for manufactures. Only then can we say that we didn't squander our children's tomorrow here on Earth.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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What Happened In Texas?

2/18/2021

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Texas, Texas freeze, texas winter storm, Texas snow storm, Texas power failure, Texas grid, texas wind turbines, renewable energy, non-renewables, oil, coal, solar, wind, gas, greed, infrastructure, electric grid, texas electric providers, sustainability, power plants, utility companies, Texas untility

I have been asked and I have been receiving the very question structured above for today’s GoingTrueGreen blog title by many GTG members.

First, I wish to level the playing field. Unlike other electric utilities that I have worked for or visited and had first hand information about many operations, I do not have first hand knowledge of every detail that contributed to the failures in the power grid infrastructure for Texas. Therefore, I must reserve the right to correct any verbiage in this blog due to the fact that despite reading and confirming some reliable information on the subject, “Sensationalism” prevails and real “Journalism” is squelched.

So what happened with the power grid in Texas? Seems to me that a poor management decision was made due to money justification. The temperatures were dropping and the demand for electricity was spiking. Additional Megawatts were needed and a decision was made not to bring on more production from gas, oil or coal power plants. After all, perhaps an innocent assumption was made that this was Texas and the weather will be warm again in a day or two. In addition, the decision makers had to justify the cost for bringing on line additional generators.

So again we have the real problem: Assumptions and Money. This A & M is a contagious disease that crosses all spectrums of power production. End result, there wasn’t enough power to meet the demand and the grid started to shut down as designed for safety protocol. Rolling blackouts were put into action until additional generators could be brought on line. A 100% shut down was avoided, but 85% of that Grid took a hit because of humankind’s decision.

So the lost of power wasn’t an act of God, but a humankind assumption floundering in money justification and that is the problem with all energy production. Both Renewable energy and Non-Renewable energy are plagued with this A & M disease. Case and point:

Why did the power grid supply fail?
There is a rare winter storm in Texas, a state that saw no reason to spend “money” on winterizing their energy production.

Solar panels have no system to clean snow off, because those systems cost money. (Even I have a way to clean snow off my solar panels. I had to come up with some method, because my area does get snowfall every year. I have a very simple and safe way, that had a very small investment. However, I must put in the time since I could not afford an automatic system. My time makes me money as I am able to produce Kilowatts once the sun is shinning again.
BTW: I do not go up on my roof. My previous GTG blog posts on solar explain more.)

Texas Wind Turbines and Gas Lines froze because they never had the money spent to winterize their operations. Oil and coal could not meet the demand because of human error in decision making. (System automatically starts to shutdown as a safety precaution when demand can’t be met.) In total, an 85% system shutdown.

If Texas had invested in winterizing all electrical generating systems, this one storm would have provided payback and possible profit. Now, this storm is costing them far more than any winterizing investment. Additionally, we need to ask the following: Did the government and electrical utilities provide helpful information on the news to inform the public of alternative ways to keep warm as well as how to drain most of the water out of their pipes? All the frozen and broken water pipes may become a legal matter now costing the utility more money, because while the storm can be labeled as an act of God, the system’s failure was due to poor decisions made by humans.

The irony is this, the two political sides blame each other and fail to see that they are both to blame, because the little that they do, is all about making money for themselves. Let it be for renewable or non-renewable energy production.

Next week, Texas’ weather will be around the sixty degree mark, while most of northern United States will have another week in and out of the twenty degree zone, but the power remains on.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Food Labels Decoded, Fertile Egg Labels

2/9/2021

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Enjoying a good healthy breakfast is always a good way to start the day. For many, Eggs are a major part of breakfast, several times a week. Yet, we are bombarded with so many different labels for eggs, that a breakfast lover has to wonder what is the complete story behind the good old egg?

At best, we have fractured information with Egg labels and perhaps that is why we have so many labels...

comfort coop, eggs, free range, fertile egg, food labels, sustainable living, sustainability, going true green, goingtruegreen, going green

I covered Cage-Free back on October 2, 2013, but now there is a fairly NEW label called Comfort Coop or Enriched Colony. I didn't cover this label, so I will now, because the information for this label doesn't add up to much.
What does this new Comfort Coop / Enriched Colony label mean?
The chickens are in larger cages and have an "opportunity" to flap wings, perch and nest, in a clean environment.

fertile eggs, eggs, free range, fertile egg, food labels, sustainable living, sustainability, going true green, goingtruegreen, going green

I had already covered Farm Fresh or Farm Raised on Jan. 13, 2014, and now we have Fertile.
This label called Fertile is for Eggs and this label also doesn't say much to help the consumer. Just another label that causes confusion in my opinion. Eggs with a Fertile label means the chickens live with roosters. This "may" mean that the chickens were Cage-Free. That is all.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to buy eggs from a small farm or someone raising chickens the old way, then do so. All the labels stamped on an egg carton will never tell the complete story. Best to see the complete situation with your own eyes when buying from a small local farm. Also if possible, see what your town codes allow. You may be able to have your own chickens and even a goat!

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Future Communications with Going True Green

1/27/2021

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YouTube, FaceTime, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, communication, sustainability, going green, effective communication, social media, conglomerate

Bye Bye

We have been studying the different ways Going True Green has been communicating over recent years and the following results are being presented in order to notify every one of the changes that we will be making over the coming weeks.

Going True Green will no longer be using several Social Media platforms, because they have not produced effective and productive communications between GTG and a Follower, Visitor, Friend, Client or GTG Lifetime Member.

In fact, we have seen that the most productive and effective communication we have with anyone, has been and still is through Electronic Mail. Yes, Email is what everyone uses to seriously communicate with us. Let the subject be on suggestions, comments, questions, specific inquires, sharing information, school projects, speaking engagements, energy audits, sustainability classes or GTG Lifetime membership.

We still have email communication with followers and members of our original websites: the LightBulbHotline and EnergyHotwire, to this day. This goes back to when in the mid 1990s we said, “We are on the Web! Visit us and here is our email address.” At that time we received several confused looks, followed by queries on how to visit our website. At the start we had everything on our website, as we still do today. Last year we closed our YouTube account after placing all our videos on our GTG Website in the GTG Lifetime Members section. Here we provide our Quick Videos and Online Classes without constant commercial interruption.

The Bottom Line is the fact that productive and effective communication is not found with an Emoji, a Like or a Following just to see a video short or photograph. To accomplish anything we all must first Read, then Listen, then Communicate with facts, so we can implement solutions as one team.

So we say Goodbye to YouTube, FaceTime, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Our time is far better spent communicating directly with you, instead of trying to catch a fleeting attention span with an entertaining photo or video. We are here to share the complete picture, all the facts, so that we the people can make a difference. One person at a time and as a conglomerate of one team.

Please consider joining our email list if you have not already joined. We only send out one to four emails per Year. Please use our Link Here. If you sign up for our emails with MailChimp, (appears at bottom of our Homepage) they will send a reminder email once a month.

Additionally, look into being a Lifetime Member with the GTG Membership Link at the top of this page. Most of all, just visit our GoingTrueGreen Website and Blog once a month to see what is new with saving Money, Energy, Health and Earth, so to live a more sustainable life without sacrifice. - Thank you.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Old Traditions Made New

12/17/2020

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DuckDuckGo, duckduckgo, Lincoln Logs, Log cabin toys, toys, Christmas, plastic, scrooge, grinch, save earth, saving our environment, sustainable living, making a difference, save money, Christmas Past, Christmas Future, Christmas Present, GoingTrueGreen, GoingGreen, Christmas Cards, glitter, cotton, linen. porcelain dolls, recyclable, wooden toys, Amish, Amish Toys, Amish Log Cabin toys

Real Wood Amish Made Log Cabin Toy

This holiday season, we can all make a great difference for our health and our planet’s environment just by omitting plastic from our festivities, this year and forever.

“Impossible!” Is the false cry from the Scrooges and Grinches worldwide!

Sadly, when you hear this tone from those in the above categories, they are only spinning a theme in their favor and lying through the process of omission.

I hope this GTG blog will be a helpful start for many. I used the word “start” because, I too, am not plastic free for the holidays. Yet, I have taken significant actions over the last few years leading to a finish line that shows all things are possible.

First action is to remember Christmas Past:

Think of the times when children received a truck made of recyclable aluminum, tin or wood, not plastic. Even the tires were wood or rubber. Dolls were made of stuffed material, with clothes made of cotton or linen. The head was made of porcelain and the hair was real.

Christmas and greeting cards were made with just paper or even hand made. The caring words written carried the message and good wishes. There were no sparkles or glitter made of plastic sprinkled all over the card and envelope that then would fall all over the house.

Children ran into the room to find treasures under the tree. The gifts were right there to see! Already set up and unwrapped. No wrapping paper with multiple color inks or sparkles, just a ribbon tied in a bow on top of “Wow, just what I wanted!” or “Thank you, this is just what I needed.” Then hugs, kisses, and I love you, followed. We enjoyed our gift(s) and each other before getting ready to attend Church, see friends and family.

Second action is to compare our Christmas Present:

Are the hugs and kisses with “I love you” still there? Are we still going to Church to say thank you to God? Do we mail order plastic wrapped gifts and not see family or friends? Do we plow through only our wrapped gifts and not even take time to share the enjoyment of the person next to us and the gift they received? Do we indulge ourselves way too long into a cell phone screen, wide screen TV or Social Media lies about people we don’t really know? Sadly, we are all guilty.

Final action is to plan our Christmas Future:

Here is just one example (Other examples can be found in previous December GTG blogs)

I remember when I was a kid, I would visit my grandparents and their son, who was my youngest uncle. Now these memories were before I learned the truth about a Bishop named Nicholas of Myra who lived from 270 to 343AD in the country now called Turkey and how he, Saint Nicholas, was the real Santa. My Uncle Wilton was still a teenager and he would take out his Lincoln Log sets that he had received as gifts when he was young so I could play with them.

We built cabins, cowboy barns and stables with fences. I built towers and windmills. The log sets were all made of real wood, not plastic. There were no online directions - I had to problem solve myself. There were no batteries - I had to make the sounds and use cardboard for additional parts, such as the blades for the windmill.

Log cabin sets made of real wood are still made today! They are made by hand, no power tools, and they are made by some Amish businesses. All made here in the United States of hardwood and only a non-toxic, water based stain is used. Recommended for 3 years old and up. Parts come in burlap bags with pull string. Wow ingenious! Third party partners help to make these toys available via the web. Try doing a search on DuckDuckGo, a better search engine, to find a wide variety of Amish made toys.

We all need to start evaluating the complete picture for our holidays, so we can take some action that once again, allows us to find treasures under the tree.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Furniture Made By Hand Power

11/28/2020

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Eco-Friendly, Eco-Friendly alternative, Thanksgiving, dinning rooms, dinning room table, tables, furniture, Amish, Peaceful Valley furniture, handmade furniture, reclaimed wood, furniture from reclaimed wood, Amish craftsmanship, first thanksgiving, sustainability, saving energy, saving money, buying furniture, buying a dinning room set, oak wood furniture, oak, saving earth, going green, going true green, custom made furniture

Just as long as families and friends can get together to celebrate the real meaning behind that first Thanksgiving event and give thanks to God, the where doesn't matter, nor does the table or the ground you share the meal.

I have sat at many types of tables for Thanksgiving. With my grandparents when young, the table was from the early 1930s and not really a table. Built to be placed against a wall with various decor in a hallway, this skinny table opened up to 8 feet long and 2.5 feet wide. The image shows the actual table we used and since there was no dining room in our Brooklyn apartment, the table was opened in the parlor room. AKA, sitting room or living room.

I myself did not have a dining room or any dining room furniture until just recently. My apartments didn't have that option. Nevertheless, I was very grateful for the opportunity to add a room onto my 1942 house about ten years after moving into the house. Then I was faced with managing the large expense that would come with buying dining room furniture. So for several more years I used saw-horses to hold up three quarter inch thick plywood for a table. I was able to add extra wood and saw-horses when needed, because the room was able to comfortably fit a larger version.

When I earned the ability to buy furniture, I immediately went to an Amish business to find hand made furniture at a very reasonable price. The furniture is not only handmade, the work is done without the use of any electricity. This was the Eco-Friendly alternative that I was seeking. The quality surpasses all machine made furniture selling for double the price and that didn't include delivery.

My Amish made table is 6 feet long and 4 feet wide! Along the wall is the custom made chest, that I designed and drew up on graph paper as a guide. Communicating any adjustments took time, since the Amish community do not use phones of any type. However, with the assistance of an employee at the Peaceful Valley furniture store, we were able to accomplish my custom designed chest. The chest is 8 feet long and 18 inches deep, leaving room for people to walk by even when others are sitting at the table. Like the table, the chest is made of solid oak wood, even the backs, sides, and bottoms of the drawers are made of solid oak wood.

The amazing part of my custom designed Amish made dinning room table are the 8, one foot wide extension boards. Adding each one of these boards to the table, opens this work of fine craftsmanship to 14 feet long! Fitting 18 people very comfortably.

Four of the extension boards fit under the table and the remaining 4 extension boards are stored in my designed pull down front center door. If you examine the photo, above right, you shall see the boards behind the glasses in their supporting slots. (All images will show a larger view when clicked upon) Below is the table opened to the maximum length of 14 feet.

Another additional note for more Eco-Friendly alternatives, the Amish craftspeople can use reclaimed wood from old barns when feasible. Just another action we can all consider when in need of furniture. Hoping everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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HomeMade Hat Rack From Left Overs

11/18/2020

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Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, going green, living sustainable, sustainable living, homemade, hat racks, left overs, building from scratch, save money, save energy, going true green, sustainability

I came across a need to hang my bicycle helmet and my Indiana Jones hat by the back door. So instead of thinking where can I buy a new hat rack, I searched out my various "odds and ends" that I kept over the years, because I felt they would come in handy one day.

Reduce, Reuse, recycle

First, I pulled out some old closet door knobs and an Oak Wood Saddle that I never used for the transition between a wooden floor and a rug covered floor.

I then sanded down the two ends to the saddle and rounded the edges. Next I stained the wood after drilling holes for the mounting anchor bolts and the extra long threaded bolts that fit the closet door knobs.

I had black decor covers to hide the heads of the mounting anchor bolts as you can see on the left side of this second image.

Since I had all the hardware, this was an easy project to save Money, Energy, and Earth, by Reducing my "wants" to create my own product that met my "need" while Reusing and Recycling.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Still Harvesting God's Bounty

10/28/2020

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harvest, farming, eggplant, tomatoes, growing food, organic food, sustainable living, backyard bounty, going green, going true green, carrots, blueberry jam, canning for the winter, growing food, saving money, energy and earth

Eggplant and Tomatoes

Carrots

As we approach the end of October, I am also approaching the end of my small garden's bounty of food. Despite a few cold nights last week, my garden has endured. Tomatoes abound and I still have eggplant growing. I did just pick the last of my carrots, but I am very happy with my organic harvest.

As I have said before in previous Going True Green blog posts, the actions I have taken with having a food garden are the same actions we can all do, obviously to various degrees based on what you have available. A yard, terrace, or window shelf, all suffice to those various degrees. So please consider growing some food for yourself, family, friends, and strangers next year.

Additionally, for the coming winter months, I have canned Grape jam and Blueberry jam; froze blueberries and homemade tomato sauces and dried various herbs.

The end product is an individual action that allows you and others to live a more sustainable life that saves, money, energy, health and earth.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Summer 2020, Soylent Green 2022

9/30/2020

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soylent green, Charlton Heston, taylor young, Edward G. Robinson,

Scene from 1973 Soylent Green movie

Summers come and go, but this summer felt like the summertime enjoyment never arrived. Times are difficult, I know first hand how much with the loss of friends and family. We held on and pushed forward. These efforts also included continuing actions for living a more sustainable life.

Food supplies became an issue for many more people this year, especially for those of us who were sick in bed. Now while food is a major environmental issue, we the people must change the tide of reductionist. Our food supply is not an automatic conveyor belt to our dinning table. However, despite our ecological surroundings being resilient, we all still need to review our own efforts for obtaining food.

We cannot wait around for "technology" to solve all of our needs for food. There was a movie made about this very topic back in 1973. The title: Soylent Green and the story takes place in the year 2022!

The plot was straight forward... Overcrowding, pollution, and resource depletion reduced society's leaders to providing an artificial nourishment to the teeming masses. Actual ingredients are not made known and soy is not an ingredient. A homicide detective stumbles onto the secret that is so unbelievable, no one would believe him.

Nevertheless, if you have a yard, terrace, or window shelf, please consider growing some food for yourself, family, friends, and strangers. This year, even now at the end of September, I still have watermelon and eggplant growing.

watermelon, going green, going true green, garden, growing food, planting food, composting, eggplant, sustainable living, sustainability, food issues, food shortages, ecological, food depletion, growing crops

This year in my small garden I grew:

Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Grapes - Bluebell Grapes for jam
Grapes - Red Grapes for eating
Red Peppers
String Beans
Tomatoes - Cherry/Plum/Beefsteak
Zucchini

BlueBell Grapes

In my clay or cedar wood pots I grew:

Basil
Garlic
Mint
Onions
Oregano
Parsley
Shallots
Snow Peas
Thyme

In the long run, we all can grow some food, we can all make the difference, we are the solutions.

Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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Revisiting Two Old Articles

8/17/2020

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3.5 inch Floppy

I went through some of my old files this month, not some file drawers, but files on 3.5 floppy discs and CDs. I had to clean off and plug in my old computer that was in the attic to visit yesteryear. What caught my attention were two old articles that I had on my first Lightbulb Hotline website pages in the 1990s and then I posted them on my second website (EnergyHotwire) for 4th of July, 2003 and 2004.

I have now posted them on GoingTrueGreen.com for your viewing today. The data is powerful, but deals with compact fluorescent bulbs, so LEDs will be the way to go today with an even more powerful result. Especially when using today's much higher kilowatt rates.

Visiting the past always helps to make a better future. Feel free to use the Category Links on the right, namely the ones called Memories and Yesteryear Articles and Blogs. To go directly to these two newly reposted articles, use the Archives section on the right ( you may need to scroll down some) and click on the dates: July 2003 and 2004.

Enjoy the "Look Back" - Thank you.

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