Okay, it is summer and it’s HOT!  So lots of people turn to pools to cool down.  So we thought we’d touch on a few things you can do to be eco-conscious and water-wise while filling up the pool to beat the heat.  One HUGE fact to consider about why we should all be eco-conscious when it comes to our pools: In 1950, Americans owned only 2,500 private residential swimming pools; by 1970 they owned 713,000. There are more than 7 million private swimming pools in America today.   That’s a lot of water, chemicals, and electricity getting used up.  So here are some tips for running your pool this (and every) summer.

Definitely get a pool cover and, with the flip of a switch, the tarp type material automatically glides over the top of your water.   This expense up front will save lots of dollars down the line as it saves your water from evaporating.  This can also save the life of a child.

Energy consumption can be cut down with more efficient pumps and heaters. Typical pumps run at about 50 to 60% efficiency.  Exotic Pools offer pumps that are 90 to 92% efficient and uses about the same energy as your hairdryer.  Typical pumps run about 8 to 10 hours in the summer with energy efficient ones running for half of that.

Salt is another way to be eco-friendly cutting down on chlorine. The salt produces chlorine (or sodium chloride) outside of the water but pumps the salt water into the pool. You won’t have the itchy eyes, dryness of the skin, or green hair.  T he salt is barely noticeable and you can get a cartridge filter.  Typical filters require that you backwash to clean it which means you're backwashing that salt water into the environment.  This wastes more than 100 gallons of water!

Here are a few more additional tips that you can research further to make your pool cost you less money and be environmentally sound:

• Reduce your pool’s water temperature and the amount of months you heat the pool. Reduces energy, carbon footprint, and bills.
• Switch your pool filter and sweeper operations to off-peak hours. When it’s hot outside, air conditioners suck a lot of power out of the grid. During these peak times, many electric companies have to run dirty backup generators and they also charge higher prices.
• Keep your pool’s cleaning and heating equipment well maintained. This means more efficiency and will last longer before it needs to be replaced.
• Install a new water-saving pool filter.  Just one backflushing with a traditional filter can waste up to 250 gallons of water.
• Shorten the operating time for your swimming pool filter and use the automatic cleaning sweep. In the winter, two hours a day of filtering could cut your filter’s energy use by 40 percent to 50 percent, without any noticeable difference in clarity or sanitation.
• Create a windbreak around your pool with native plants and shrubs. This can prevent breezes from reaching your pool and keep hot, dry air from sucking away moisture.
• Use a “green” pool cleaning service. The traditional way to clean a pool is to drain all the water, acid wash the lining, and then refill the pool with thousands of gallons of additional water.

Now go swimming and feel better that your pool is being used and cared for in an environmentally sound fashion.
 

It’s inevitable that you’ll need to clean up around the house on an almost weekly basis.  And  ecosumo has some strong recommendations about what products can keep your place clean, your family safe, and the planet healthy all at the same time.  Not a bad trio, is it?

And we have the perfect trio of products to complement that.  Our All Purpose Kits are making it easier than ever to get the right eco-conscious products to do the job with.  Today we’re writing to let you know about our 3 pack of Better Life, what-EVER, Clary Sage all purpose cleaner, Twist European Sponge Cloth, and Better Life I CAN SEE CLEARLY WOW glass cleaner.  All of it combined in a package deal for only 15 smackers – a killer price.

The All Purpose Cleaner is 32 ounces of cleaning power that kicks the stain out of any spill in the house. From crayoned doors and spilled-on floors to stuck-on funk and nasty gunk, Better Life what-EVER! takes the work out of housework.  You’ll have no residue and no rinsing with a gluten free cleaning product that is not tested on animals, 100% plant derived, and made without parabens, ethoxylates, SLS, or SLES.  Not too shabby as you spray it where your family will be eating.  The All-Purpose Cleaner is safe on all washable and non-porous surfaces including - Countertops, Appliances, Sinks, Toilets, Baseboards, Walls, Floors, Tables, Chairs, Showers and Tubs.

And the Twist European Sponge Cloth is a miracle wipe-up product that can outlast 17 rolls of paper towels.  Paper towels have a lifespan of approximately one use and then all you’ve got is more trash to contribute to the landfills.  Instead, check out this wonder of wiping that is also biodegradable.   This wonder sponge is 100% Biodegradable and you will get hundreds of uses out of it.

With the Better Life Glass Cleaner you can breathe easy because the product contains no scents to perfume up your cleaning area.  I Can See Clearly, WOW! glass cleaner is solvent free (no ammonia, alcohol, or ethers) and pH neutral, so it’s safe to use on acrylic and tinted/treated windows and glass.  We packaged this with the Twist because for best results you’re going to get streak free windows and a lesser environmental impact with a microfiber cloth.  This works great on glass tables, glass tile, and makes for quick cleanups and a streak-free shine.   The eco-kind ingredients include purified water, coconut surfactant, vegetable-based surfactant, and preservative <.08%.

Don’t clean with harsh chemicals that don’t care for your family’s health and the environment.  Check out Ecosumo’s other packages and cleaning products at our site.

We didn’t want it to be possible, but we figured it is true.  Ecosumo is reading in multiple sources (McClatchy, Treehugger, NYTimes, Washington Post) that British Petroleum will still be making money off of the natural disaster they caused in the Gulf of Mexico.  As they clean up the oil spill, BP and our government are keeping a tight lip about how BP can make somewhere around 80 million during the next two month and the Federal government is looking at about 20 million.  Check out the McClatchy article for details, but the essentials are the current containment process for the oil spill will salvage a lot of the oil spewing from the ocean floor.  This could turn into around 1.5 million dollars a day for BP.

After they salvage the oil it gets picked up by drill ships that act as floating refineries.  The Federal government enters the picture because taxpayers like you and me own that site.  The Fed is thinking it will receive a much more modest payout of 330K on a daily basis, adding up to 19 million over 2 months.  Royalties from BP to the Fed could add up to another 14 million.

Certainly, we like seeing taxpayers get some money back on the largest environmental disaster ever, but should BP be getting paid?  We like that their shareholders get some – we’re all for the commercial market functioning – but what about the penalties for the megaolithic company?  

Treehugger had a good point: “…it does raise questions about the company's preferred containment methods, and whether it has placed a priority on potentially less-effective methods for the sake of being able to profit off the salvaged oil. This seems to me to be a distinct possibility: Remember they tried two "top hats" to contain -- and siphon -- and lowering a giant tube to collect a portion of the oil before they attempted a 'top kill' to blast the well closed. Until further investigation, this remains but a possibility, though I think one that warrants closer scrutiny.”

It’s a good point.  And we’d like you to weigh in if you have any thoughts on if BP used shoddy methods to stem the spill in order to salvage oil for sales purposes.  Write to us here at the blog and let us know your thoughts.  We’ll keep publishing about the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill as time goes on to keep you informed of the environmental and economic effects of this disaster.
 

It's time we sounded off on the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill that has been polluting the Gulf of Mexico.  This environmental disaster is so huge and saddening and enraging and so many other things that we've been really trying to get our heads around it before writing about it.  But the truth is we'll never have our heads around it - the facts are distorted but the plain truth is undeniable: the Gulf of Mexico,

We've been wanting to start a series about the entire auto-manufacturing industry and its relationship to the health of the planet, and now we've finally foud a jumping off point - the parntership of Tesla Motors, Inc. with Toyota Motor Corp to generate the technology to build electric cars.  The investment include a $50 million dollar price tag from the hurting Toyota Corp, still reeling from their PR disaster of allowing unsafe cars to be on the road.

So far, a lot of the hub-bub has been about the business side of things, which is exciting in its own rights - jobs created, industry starting up in a serious way, manufacturing - but we're of course excited about the green potentials.  Toyota's commitment to "sustainable mobility" is being touted by the likes of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who helped incentive the union by creating tax breaks for the two companies.

The electric car is not a pipe dream and has been around for a while, with Tesla being a major player in providing them.  However, the expense has always created a serious barrier to entrance.

We're going to talk a bit about what "electric car" actually means and, over time, we're going to dig into aspects of the vehicles.  Electric cars are commonly powered by on-board battery packs, and sometimes are referred to as battery electric vehicles (BEVs).  One misconception is that electric cars are not fast and do not accelerate well, which is false - electric cars give good acceleration and have acceptable top speeds.   There is conversation about electric cars having poorer energy capacity batteries when compared to the way that the burning of fossil fuels energize your car.  Because of this, the electric car is discussed as having relatively poor range between charges, and recharging can take significant lengths of time.   But that's about long journeys - for everyday use,  electric cars are very practical forms of transportation and can be inexpensively recharged overnight by just plugging them in at home.

The electric car has the potential of significantly reducing city pollution by having zero tail pipe emissions.  The greenhouse gas emissions that are created or save will depend on how the electricity is going to be generated.  We've read that an estimated 30% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would be experienced in the U.S based upon the way the energy mixes. Given the current energy mixes in other countries, it has been predicted that such emissions would decrease by 40% in the UK[9], 19% in China[10], and as little as 1% in Germany.  There is also a concern about the increased battery production and how that will affect the environment and what will be done for disposals or refreshing.

There is a lot of conversation that has already occured and will continue regarding many aspects of electrical car production - manufacturing, emissions, infrastructure, cost, distribution - and we will be keeping up on those topics over time. 

The first car to roll of the production line will be Tesla's Model S electric sedan which costs around $57,400. While Tesla will still be late to the game when compared to the LEAF or the Volt, this amps up the company's reputation ten-fold. For a recent study just named Toyota as one of the top three companies consumers would buy an EV from.

It's always the time of year for cleaning up the house - it just never ends.  And you want to do it with products that won't harm the kids, yourself, the animals, and the planet that you all live upon. 

Luckily, ecosumo has some of the best prices on top-shelf cleaning products that are eco-conscious and hard working on all sorts of spills, stains, and messes.  We carry Mrs. Meyers and Seventh Generation, as well as others - this post will highlight those two.

Hey All, it's ecosumo, back with another in our series about global warming.  This series is an attempt to shed light on the topic of global warming to reveal facts and expose myths.  Today we're starting in on the topic of climate change, specifically as related to the planet's atmosphere.

Beginning around the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1700's, our human manufacturing, distribution, and work behaviors have added to the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. By burning fossil fuels and biomass  - organic, living matter like vegetation - we have also contributed the emission of aerosols  that absorb and emit heat, and reflect light.

Research is showing that the addition of greenhouse gases and aerosols has changed the composition of the planet's atmosphere. These changes are said to be influencing temperature, precipitation, storms and sea level - you can read more detailed information in this Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from 2007. We must state though that these features of the climate also change naturally and so determining what fraction of climate changes are due to natural variability versus human contributions makes the issue not so black-and-white.

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are reported to have raised from 280 parts per million in pre-industrial revolution times to over 382 ppm post-industrial revolution.  That's a significant marker with most research pointing to humans as the contributors.  Add to that that methane in the atmosphere is higher than it has been in over 650,000 years with a 148% increase from pre-industrial times.  Yet, researchers do report a decrease in methane over the last few decades (check out this Wikipedia article to learn more about the methane part of the equation.)  As well, Nitrous Oxide has increased in our atmosphere 18% since the industrial revolution - whereas before that the amount of N20 was relatively steady for nearly 12,000 years.  Add to this aerosols, hydroflourocarbons, chloroflourocarbons, and the multiple other emissions we create from industrial waste and you begin to see the scope creep of the issue into regions where understanding just what is the problem can present researchers with challenges.

The last part of this review of global warming is radiative forcing which is a measurement in solar radiation entering the atmosphere and the earth's radiation going out.  Essentially, land use changes (deforestation and such), greenhouse gases and aeroslos affect the balance of radiation that gets trapped and warms up the planet.  The Annual Greenhouse Gas Index shows that radiative forcing from greenhouse gases has increased nearly 22% from 1990 to 2006.  Much of this increase (63%) is due to the contribution of C02 into the atmosphere - this contribution points to humans being that no other animal or plant on the planet has significantly increased their C02 contributions.

Check in often as we'll be expanding this section of the global warming review to include temperature changes, precipitation and storm changes, sea level changes, and ocean acidification.

You can do you part to reduce global warming by using environmentally friendly products and by reducing waste from the products you do use.  Check out all of our cleaners, kitchenware, reusable water bottles, reusable shopping bags, clothing, and more at ecosumo.com.

Peace...ecosumo

*Thanks to Shropshire for the image.

Into the future, we’re going to start highlighting people who live eco-conscious lives and are inspirational to many to do the same.  Our intention is not just to highlight these people, but to encourage you the reader and ecosumo patron to send us recommendations of people in your community who do the same – and then we’ll publish on the blog about this person, should they so wish to be highlighted publicly.  So, whether it’s your neighbor who grows their own garden, a friend who uses solar power on their house, a local who is doing something to bring roof-top greenery to the downtown district to beautify the space or address global warming concerns – we want you to tell us about it. 

Our first highlight is tri-athlete Chris Lieto who is the number 2 tri-athlete in the world and the fastest on the bike.  He has started the site thegreenathlete.com  where you can find lots of tips on how to live a greener life.  From promoting the use of reusable bags, to bike riding, to buying local, organic foods, Chris is doing his best to encourage us all to not only live healthier, but to heal the planet as well.  He also brings in feeds from other sites like Grist.org, CNet Green Tech and The Daily Green – and we appreciate him sharing the love with other green minded folk.  Ultimately, the purpose of the site is defined as “…to be a meetinghouse for like-minded athletes and a forum for exchanging ideas.” 

You can also check Chris out at his own site called chrislieto.com.   One of the most admirable things we know of that Chris has done was to have a program where he encouraged his followers to bike to work or wherever else they would drive and then either text, Facebook, or twitter their miles so as to encourage others to get healthier and live greener.

Ecosumo applauds Chris’ efforts and we would like to encourage you to check out his sites and support his cause…because, if you’re reading this blog, you definitely have the same purpose.  And don’t forget, please send us suggestions of people you admire in your neck of the woods who are doing what they can to spread the word about eco-conscious living.  We want to highlight lots of people and you are the ones who can help us do that.
 

We didn't want to let the whole day get by us without shouting out HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE!  

We hope your riding your bikes, using reusable water bottles, filling up reusable shopping bags, using bamboo products, wearing eco-conscious clothing, supporting your local farmers, and tons of other eco-friendly things that are a gift to Nature on this special day (and doing it the entire rest of the years is also what we're all about.)

Thanks to the city of Sacramento for this awesome image.

We've been talking about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for a while now on our blog.  Well, guess what - turns out there is an unfortunate sister to the Pacific Patch floating in the Atlantic. 

Recently reports are showing up in major news forums about this "chunky soup" of plastic debris that is described as "hard to spot from the surface and spun together by a vortex of currents."  Essentially, this is the same epidemic that is plaguing the once (pre-industrial age) pristine oceans of our world.  This new garbage patch has been verified, researched, and documented over the last two years by by two groups of scientists who trawled the sea between scenic Bermuda and Portugal's mid-Atlantic Azores islands. 

It is reported that much of the plastic is almost invisible to, but ALL of it is harmful to marine life and you know what that means...food chain, people.  Fish either eat or die directly from this plastic poison.  Then we eat the fish...you can put the rest together.  And don't forget about all the marine life that just suffers from our trash being in their home. 

The research was executed by two different groups (and our hats are off to both of them.)  Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen, of Santa Monica, California, were one group that sailed across the Atlantic for their research project. They plan similar studies in the South Atlantic in November and the South Pacific  next spring. 

They presented their research in February at the 2010 Oceans Sciences Meeting in Portland, Oregon.

On the voyage from Bermuda to the Azores, they crossed the Sargasso Sea, an area bounded by ocean currents including the Gulf Stream. They took samples every 100 miles (160 kilometers) with one interruption caused by a major storm. Each time they pulled up the trawl, it was full of plastic.

A second study was conducted by undergraduates with the Woods Hole, Massachusetts-based Sea Education Association.  This group of students collected more than 6,000 samples on trips between Canada and the Caribbean over two decades. The lead investigator, Kara Lavendar Law, said they found the highest concentrations of plastics between 22 and 38 degrees north latitude, an offshore patch equivalent to the area between roughly Cuba and Washington, D.C

Remember, think about what you're buying - is it wasteful packaging?  You don't have to buy it - you can get reusable water bottles and reusable shopping bags for cheap and not just for yourselves, but as simple gifts for family and friends. 

*A lot of the information in this article was fueled by reading we did across a bunch of different resources.  We hyperlinked to longer articles at certain parts in order to give credit where credit is due.  We suggest if you want to read more in-depth, you just Google search for Great Atlantic Garbage Patch.