Apps to Save Our Planet

by Sustainable Nikos on June 21, 2011 · 0 comments

in Miscellaneous Schmidt

Hi guys,

Today I sidetracked from my normal garbage duties and did some research to help make saving the environment a little more convenient… For Android and Apple users, that is. I searched through various websites, the Android App Market, and the App Store to find “green” applications for phones with the Android or Apple operating system. The point of this research was to inform you all about the various apps that can help one save the environment, as well as to learn more about the app market, with the hope of releasing an SRELP app. Here are my findings:

The vast majority of applications can be divided into 3 categories: 1) Apps that provide simple daily tips for one to help make one’s life more green; 2) Locator apps, or apps which help one locate environmentally friendly businesses; and 3) Calculator apps, which help one calculate ___ (water, carbon, power, etc.) usage– and in so doing, inform one as to the ways he or she may be using resources excessively. The vast majority of these applications focused upon carbon footprints, food sustainability, and phone energy optimization. As you may have guessed, there are many applications that provide the same exact services– services which, more often than not, are pretty useless. The lack of ingenuity in this fascinating field seems almost pathetic.

Despite the multitude of similar applications, a few stood out for providing more useful and unique information.

3rd Whale’s application Findgreen is a Locator app that helps the user find various green businesses in their area, provides an address, and notes whether the user can walk or ride a bike to get to said business. This application is available for Android and iPhone for $1.99.

Locavore is an application that lists what produce is in season, updating this list on a weekly basis, as well as telling you which businesses provide locally grown produce. This application is FREE for Android and iPhone.

Android provides an application called the Compost Calculator, an application which calculates the Carbon:Nitrogen ratio and moisture percentage in the user’s compost bin– helping the user create a compost mix that is most healthy and fertile for soil. This app costs $1.99.

The Goodguide available for both the Android and Apple operating systems, lists sustainable food and health products and includes the ability to take a picture of an item’s bar code and search the item’s sustainability or lack thereof. This application is FREE.

Smartmeter, which is available for the iPhone, is an app that allows one to search one’s energy usage, as well as the energy bill breakdown. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smartmeter/id332471201?mt=8

Granted, these applications are only as useful as the user, use– not simple ownership– of these apps, is really what helps one save the environment.

Enjoy your first day of summer!

Malachi

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Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything

by Sustainable Nikos on June 21, 2011 · 0 comments

in Miscellaneous Schmidt

15.44. Percent, that is. The ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything (pertaining to garbage) is 15.44%.

As promised, I have finished my task of toiling through the records to find the rate of change for garbage prices at SRELP’s buildings! I have written these values into a handy xcel spreadsheet, and can now look through to find the rate at which our waste management prices have increased! The big number is: 15.44%. After sifting through old and rusty SRELP profit and loss ledgers, I have found the necessary data to find the percent change over the course of SRELP’s existence. I cataloged the data with columns ordered by location and rows ordered by year– and then took the percent change for each location, and logged it at the bottom of each column. I then averaged these percentages to come to the final percent change of 15.44%. The price of garbage management for SRELP has increased 15.44% since 2000. This number may not seem extremely large, but in reality, a 15.44% increase on many thousands of dollars is actually quite sizable. Hopefully, by the end of summer, I will be able to set up the garbage system at SRELP so that the 11 year increase will be tempered over the next 11 years.

Enough math jargon, lets get to some exciting news. First of all, it’s friday! Enjoy your weekend, turn off your energy sucking light bulbs and soak up the sun. Secondly, you no longer have to read my ramblings about accounting! And last but not least, I have called Golden Gate Disposal and Recycling Company, and set up a delivery date for a compost bin at our Bush street building! I will be meeting Steven from the Department of the Environment, and going to our building to distribute apartment-sized compost pails to the tenants, and to raise awareness about composting.

Until next time,

Malachi

(AKA Nikos)

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Toxins, out of my kitchen!

by Sustainable Kyle on June 16, 2011 · 2 comments

in Miscellaneous Schmidt,Sustainable Building Materials

Hello! My name is Kyle Graycar.  I just finished my first year at UCLA, and am just finishing up my first day with Sustainable Schmidt.  I have gotten used to “coach” Schmidt these past four or so years from high school cross-country, and am still adjusting to addressing Helmut on a first name basis.  Before I get in to the logistics of what I have been tasked to for the summer, I’d like to wish John, the boss’s second in command, a very happy birthday.

Generally speaking, I have been tasked to compile information on the various components of a sustainable apartment kitchen.  This template should contain  comprehensive lists of different kinds of “green” products for the kitchen.  It will be exciting work, especially when you consider the how essential the kitchen is to home life.  This central hub, where meals are conducted and created, serves as the nexus for interactions at the home – it’s really an obvious decision to make this place devoid of environmental hazards and deteriorative products.  The challenge here lies in finding the middle ground or compromise between environmental-friendliness and cost.

Today I’ve been trying to find a general way to focus my research.  I came across an interesting page on the EPA website that gives a nice, general definition of what Green Building is.  The EPA calls Green Building “the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction.”  I too hope to find the best products for my compilation that take all these different aspects of its life-cycle into consideration.

Well, looking ahead, I’m excited to be here this summer.  I’m especially excited to see the tangible outcome of my work: Helmut hopes to apply my research into the remodel of a kitchen in a unit on one of his properties.  More posts to come!

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I’m back online

by Sustainable G on June 15, 2011 · 1 comment

in Miscellaneous Schmidt

I have been dormant for the past several weeks and I apologize greatly.  Between school, teachers, projects, tests, essays, standardized testing, sleep, finals, friends, family, and non-existent girlfriends, I have been quite busy and have not had the opportunity to sit down and write one of my grand pieces.  Those of you who actually read this may now rest assured because with the dawn of summer comes much free time in which I will have to dedicate myself to informing you, the beloved reader, about what is happening in the world of green.  Now let us begin.

In a recent survey 34% of consumers believe that their houses could be more environmentally friendly.

How does one make their home more environmentally friendly?  I believe it is my job to answer this question (I think, not quite sure) but lucky enough for me (and for you) the New York Times has a list of their favorite eco-friendly laundry products.

Furthermore, for all those who think that green is your passion and you want to find work in the area, the San Francisco Chronicle recently released an article stating that are over 10,000 green jobs out there.

The World Cup in Qatar is still eleven years away ; however, Qatar promises that their stadiums will be eco-friendly.

Now, the beginning of summer (I’m really excited, can’t you tell?) brings with it warm weather (if you’re not stuck in San Francisco) and that usually means lots of cold refreshments being served, like Pepsi.  Speaking of Pepsi, they have recently announced that their Frito-Lay factory in Russia has received LEED certification.  So if you want to kick back and relax this summer while still being environmentally friendly, put down the Coke and find yourself some Pepsi.

And to wrap this week up I bring you another ugly or not ugly.

Click here for more information of this house.

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Damnit Jim, I’m an intern not an accountant!

by Sustainable Nikos on June 15, 2011 · 0 comments

in Miscellaneous Schmidt

Hello all,

This week I continue my task of waste management, though through an entirely different light– your friendly neighborhood garbage inspector now moonlights as an accountant. For this week, Helmut has given me the task of searching through the past 11 years of P&L files and creating a spreadsheet to detail the cost of garbage for each building, each month, for the past 11 years. Unfortunately for yours truly, not only are the files woefully lacking in info, they can be pretty disorganized. However, I shall not be deterred by this (as Helmut informs me) temporary roadblock, but will finish the spreadsheet before the week is out.

In other news, I have finally reached someone at the San Francisco Department of the Environment, and will be able to implement a compost bin at our building on Bush Street!! I will be in touch with our contact there and will keep you– our faithful readers– updated on my progress.

Until next time,

Malach

AKA Nikos

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