Don't Stand By Me

What ever you call it--Standby Power, Vampire Draw, Phantom Energy or the Perpetual Suck, today's electronics, even when off, waste energy. Whether it's the little red light on the TV, the cell phone charger plugged in after the phone is charged, the blinking clock on the DVD, or the dishwasher light telling you the load is done, the appliances and electronics that lighten the workload and bring us lots of entertainment are wasting energy.

So what do I do about it and what are the choices that suit your lifestyle. OK, first, what I do. I turn off power strips--my T.V. monitor, computer etc, are all on one the power strip that is very accessible, same with the my cell phone charger and other mobile devices like IPODs. The dishwasher, that's easy, I open the door and close it again, and the light goes off until I'm ready to unload the dishes (I like to save that part for my husband). You might be thinking is it worth it, well depending on how many gadgets and appliances you have, you can save about $60/year. That pays for couple of movies a year. But more importantly, it makes me feel good to know that I can control this recurrent current, and add it to the list of other ways that I reduce my energy use.

Despite the promise of  renewable energy, no energy is cleaner than a negawatt, that is watt never produced, as Amory Lovins would likely say (since he coined the term). More importantly, my little action combined with yours and others will make a big difference. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, typical standby power accounts for 5-10% of total residential electricity use in most developed countries. In commercial buildings, it's smaller, but still significant. Regarding greenhouse gas emissions, standby power is roughly responsible for 1% of global carbon emissions. That's incentive enough for me to take action.

What are the other things we can do to stop standby power waste? Here are some options:
1. Unplug your electronics until you want to use them, doable with electronics, but not as easy with most appliances;
2. Plug all electronics into a power strip that is accessible and has an on/off switch. Turn it off when you are not using that electronic or multiple ones plugged into the same strip;
3. Buy a smart power strip, there are several different kinds. Some work with a master plug that you plug the primary electronic into, like the computer, and when that gadget is off, all ancillary equipment like printers are also off. Some detect motion, if there is no motion in front of the device for a certain amount of time, then the other electronics plugged into the strip turn off. Both kinds usually have plugs on the strip for those devices you might want on all the time, like a digital video recorder (DVR). Others, like the Belkin Conserve Surge, have a desktop timer button that lets you power up electronics at the start of the work day and starts an 11-hour timer. At the end of the day, power is automatically turned off. That might be a good signal that it's time to stop working and go outside to enjoy fresh air and sunlight. Or, the Belkin Conserve Switch, this kind is similar to the one with the master plug, except it has a remote control switch that can be manually controlled to turn off the master electronic. This option is nice when the power strips are hidden from view. I am going to try that one. By the way, I am not endorsing any particular brand, especially when I have not used any of them, just providing some quick options. I would love to hear from you about other brands that you have used and if you like them. While we are the subject, if you have other ways to stop standby power, please let me know by adding a comment to this post. 

Let's all take action to stop the Recurrent Current! (not sure, but I may have coined that term)

Stop whaling for World Oceans Day! | Greenpeace International

Stop whaling for World Oceans Day! | Greenpeace International

Save the Whales

Here's an environmental issue I didn't think I would need to blog about--Saving the Whales. Yes, I know they are not fully protected and they still very much need to be rescued. Thank goodness for Greenpeace and Paul Watson and the Sea Shepard, aka Whale Wars (my eight year old nephew is a huge fan). However, I did not think that I would need to send out an alert to you, dear friends, to tell you that the United States delegation to the  International Whaling Commission, and more specifically, President Obama, is backtracking and may support commercial whaling! That's right, the U.S. is pathetically considering to grant commercial quotas to Japan, Iceland and Norway. 

These countries still kill whales for purposes under the guise of "scientific" research. This research is unwarranted and should be completely banned. Changing the status to commercial whaling would be an avalanche backslide and utterly send the wrong message, and allow more whales to be slaughtered. 

Rubbing salt into the wounds of these poor whales, President Obama has reneged on his strong statement made during his campaign, "As president, I will ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling. Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable." 

Okay, in case you hadn't noticed, President Obama, you are not campaigning in Kansas anymore and you are the PRESIDENT! You now have the power, yes, power to vote for a complete whaling ban. 

What will Malia and Sasha say to their friends, My daddy had the power to stop people from killing whales, but instead he let them kill more. C'mon Mr. President, this is an easy issue, this is not a blue issue, this is not a red (except for whale blood) issue, this is a no brainer, do the right thing, be a world hero, take a strong Teddy Roosevelt stand to protect nature issue. The vast majority of people in the world, and more so, the American people love, adore, even idolize whales. They know of the whales deep intelligence and that they are all threatened species. How many nature shows do you need to see before you know that it is just plain and simply wrong to continue to kill whales, and dolphins and porpoises? Mr. President, Rahm, David, Michelle, Joe, Jill, Hillary, Bill and Al, somebody wake up, come to your senses-- SAVE THE WHALES!

People, take a stand now, tell Obama to ban commercial whaling and not to support commercial whaling, sign the Greenpeace petition.  Thank you, your pal, Pamela Whalener

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day! Let's celebrate our great Earth. We should celebrate the moon as well. The Earth just wouldn't be the same without the moon. No high and low tides, no wonderful full moon nights, no lunar eclipses, no waxing and waning. We could have a Moon Day, that might be fun. Lots of people would dress up as werewolves or Luna goddesses. But celebrating the two together makes more sense because of their inextricable unity. And, isn't Earth Day all about how all things are so very connected and the moon just doesn't get enough attention unless someone is landing on it. 

The other thing about Earth Day are the endless tips on how to be "green", and that echoing phrase, that everyday should be Earth Day. Rather than go against the tide today, I am going to jump into the fray and provide some ways to live a little lighter on this incredible, glorious Earth. Here is one that I would only have known from being a mom. If you are like me, a lot of what comes out of your mouth is "Please do this and please don't do that" and yes, I know you don't always say please, and it inevitably starts to morph into "how many times have I told you to_____"  (an unfortunate side effect of parenthood). One of my fill in the blanks is "turn off the lights" (my work is in energy efficiency, more on that in another post).  To reduce the number times that nagging remark is uttered, I installed light motion detectors; no, not the clapper, but very sensitive controls that turn on as soon as you enter a room and then turn off after 5 minutes or so. I use them in the bathroom and in the boys' rooms. You might be thinking that you don't want to the midst of a concentrated effort and have the lights go off. Not a problem, there are manual switches on most controls so you can keep them on for as long as you need. I'm happy to say that this device truly helps both my peace of mind and saves energy. We don't use them in many other rooms because the motion controls don't work with compact fluorescent light bulbs (the energy saving bulbs) or with dimmable bulbs, I wish they did. I like having a light turn on when I enter the room and then not having to remember to turn it off.

Speaking of Earth Day, today's the first day of Cash for Appliances,  you can turn in your old clothes washer, dishwasher, etc and get a rebate from the Feds (your stimulus dollars at work) and combine it with one from your energy utility. These rebates won't last long, it a similar program as Cash for Clunkers. If you have an old energy guzzling appliance, buy one that uses less energy and water (there is a list of appliances that qualify for the rebate). For other energy saving tips try Flex Your Power.    I'm not done, this could have be a very long article given my many years as an environmentalist, but I will keep it short. Another way to make Earth Day everyday, if you're a parent or pack a lunch for work, try practicing the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle in packing lunch. Here's an article that I wrote on how to make a "no waste lunch".

One last thing, the best place for information on how to help your kid's school be a healthy, safe and ecologically sound place for your children is the Green School Initiative, started and run by my dear friend Deborah Moore, a guru in this area. Deborah has done amazing things at her daughter's school and also provides the essential resources for you how you can easily do it too. Have a Happy Earth Day... Earoon Day, Morth Day, EarthMoon Day! 

This is my first post and it's my birthday (not quite ready to insert the number but it's divisible by 5, as many of you know). So what is Wanna Be Blogger about? Is it a blog about wanna bes, like wanting to be something that one isn't, or just wanting to be a blogger. If I had to choose, it would be the latter. I want to be a blogger, but don't get me wrong. I wanna be a lot of things and will always wanna be something. Not exactly in wanna be Tina Turner or Beyoncé, although that would be great if you know what I mean, or my all time wanna be-- a tall, beautiful, black woman (that's from growing up in Detroit) background singer in a R&B, rock & roll or jazz band. I'll wait for another life time for that one. I had a dream about being Mick Jagger; Mick was going to switch lives with me! And, I want to be rich, but only a truly happy, enlightened and healthy rich person (money can't buy everything). Of course, I want to be a better person, but still trying to figure out what that means.

If you ask my husband, Eugene, who, by the way, will be an occasional guest blogger--he's got a lot of rants he wants to air-- far and wide, just wait for the one on AT&T, he'll say I'm a "wanna be" nice person. I gave that one a lot of thought, and you know what, damn it, I am nice, at least, nice enough. But more to the point, I have a fascination with blogs or at least the idea of it, which is interesting because I just recently started reading a few. Why do so many people think that they have something worthwhile to share with close to 2 billion people and why the hell should anyone care or take time to read these blogs? And, if they don't have anything worthwhile to blog about, why are they even bothering?

So I ask myself, do I have something worthwhile to share, do I want to spend yet another half hour or even 10 minutes more in cyberspace or on a computer, than I do already in one day? Probably not. Yet, I do feel like I have something to say, whether it's eloquent, profound, relevant, moving, erudite, or grammatically correct (most likely not), I have decided to take the leap, put myself out there in this small small world anyways and see what happens.

So dear reader, if you have spent some of your precious time reading the Wanna Be Blogger, thank you. If you want to continue to follow, you may find on occasion something relevant to your own life from this, among many things, middle aged married woman living in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco with two sons (ages 12 and 9), who spent many of her professional years working on incredible environmental and human rights campaigns, traveled to many beautiful, depressing and vibrant places, now works for the California state government, loves the ocean, is mediocre at a lot of outdoor sports and master of none (wanna be athlete), is a Giants, Yankees and Tigers fan, refuses to Tweet (o.k. maybe), to eat any organ meat, except the occasional homemade chopped liver, and who is, at this moment in time, the somewhat reluctant Wanna Be Blogger.