Dr Cara Augustenborg - Ben & Jerry's Climate Change Ambassador
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Irish student Cara Augustenborg is currently the Irish Ambassador for Ben & Jerry's Climate Change College, an International Youth Programme to find innovative climate change solutions and put them into practice. Cara who holds a Masters and Doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering beat hundreds of other entrants for a place on the scheme.
Augustenborg's Green DIY campaign aims to encourage Irish homeowners to take action against climate change and lower their carbon footprint by undertaking simple DIY projects in their homes. Cara will develop and implement her campaign over the coming year through the Ben & Jerry's Climate Change College. Working with a team of experts including Polar Explorer Marc Cornelissen and the WWF, Cara will learn all the skills required to become an active campaigner.
Cara, has just returned from Alaska for her unique mission against the Stop the melt in Alaska campaign.
Dr Cara Augustenborg - Ben & Jerry's Climate Change Ambassador
Cara who holds a Masters and Doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering beat hundreds of other entrants for a place on the scheme.
Cara is 30 years old and is half Irish; she is married to an Irish man and lives in Bray.
Cara's Top 10 Green DIY Tips
1. Be Natural - More than 5,000 chemicals are commonly used in toiletries and bathroom cleaning products, many of which contain hazardous waste materials, hormone disrupting preservatives, neurotoxins, artificial perfumes and colorings. These products can cause the air inside our homes to be more polluted than outdoor air! Plus, the chemicals we use to clean our sinks, tubs and toilets all end up in our water systems, polluting our rivers and seas and harming fish and wildlife. Fortunately, there are plenty of natural alternative products you can use to clean your eco-bathroom. Companies such as Ecover and Lilly's http://www.lillysecoluv.com/ manufacture environmentally friendly cleaning products available for purchase throughout Ireland. In addition, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and bicarbonate soda are all inexpensive and effective non-toxic products that work great as bleaching agents, deodorizers, abrasives and stain removers.
2. Wash Me Green! - Bathroom water use accounts for 65% of the water used inside our homes. So conserving the water we use in the bathrooms can make a big impact in reducing our environmental footprint! Turn off the taps while brushing your teeth and try to limit your time in the shower to under five minutes. If you're like me and find you lose track of time in that lovely warm shower, try setting a timer before you get in and you'll find that not only are you doing your part for mother earth but you're also less likely to be late for work! When remodeling a bathroom, look for low flush toilets that use only 6 liters of water per flush or dual flush toilets that use 30% less water than their single flush counterparts, and install low flow showerheads and taps to lower your water use and energy consumption by nearly 50%.
3. Get Scrappy! Food scraps and yard waste make wonderful plant compost once they've broken down. Food waste comprises approximately twenty percent of household garbage, so that's a lot of compost and a lot of savings on bin charges, not to mention an inexpensive way to keep your garden green and healthy. There are a variety of composting options available depending on the space you have available and the types of organic waste that you generate, so now there is no excuse not to compost. If you have a lot of yard waste from gardening, a simple leaf composter can be made from wood pallets. If you don't have the space or enough yard waste for a leaf composter, consider a wormery, which relies on cute little worms to digest your kitchen food waste. My own home is too small for a womery, so I've opted for a Green Cone, which is partially submerged in the ground so that worms and other native creepy-crawlies can get in and do the composting for me.
4. Re-Energize! - The best way to make a real positive impact on Climate Change is by reducing your home energy consumption. Many appliances continue to use electricity even when on stand-by mode. The average microwave oven uses more power over its life to run the clock than it does cooking food!! So unplug your appliances and chargers or switch them off at the mains when you're not using them. On average, you can save 2% of the energy you use to heat your home for every degree you lower your temperature settings, so use a timer to turn down the radiators even more when you're sleeping or away from home. One of the next Green DIY projects I plan to do is to install a wood burning stove into my existing fireplace space. A modern woodstove can convert over FOUR TIMES more energy from wood into heat compared to a standard open fireplace, so I'm expecting to see a dramatic decrease in my home fuel consumption once the project is complete!
5. Wrap Up Tight! - The tighter the seals in your home, the less energy you'll need to keep it warm. Identify and seal air leaks around chimneys, window frames, and openings for plumbing and electrics. Keep the curtains closed at night and make sure you don't just heat the space between the curtains and the window. You can install a radiator shelf to deflect heat past the curtains into the room. If your home is an older one, adding additional insulation is one of the best Green DIY projects you can do! In many houses over 15 years old, the depth of existing insulation is quite small as old insulation settles over time and becomes much less effective. Attics should have approximately 150mm of insulation, but older homes usually don't. For example, in our 1950s home, we found only 25mm of insulation left in the attic roof, which means heat (and money) have been pouring out of our roof for decades! Insulating your attic is a relatively easy DIY project, especially if you use a natural insulation product that doesn't require as much protective clothing. In addition to standard fiberglass insulation, there are plenty of excellent insulation materials available in Ireland, such as natural or mineral wool, recycled cotton, or cork.
6. Let the Sunshine In! Window shades, blinds, or shutters can control light penetration and significantly reduce heat loss or gain through windows. Let sunlight in through windows during the day to warm up a room, and close curtains just before nightfall to keep the heat in. The heavier to curtain, the more effective this technique will be. Using insulating window blinds or quilts may be an appropriate way to improve old single-paned windows. As soon as you can afford to replace to replace single-paned windows, installing high-performance double or triple glazed windows is the best way to save energy, making it worthwhile over the long term to pay more for the most energy efficient windows available.
7. Stand Up for Green Floors! - Disposal of old flooring is an ecological nightmare - landfills are overflowing with old types of synthetic flooring which do not degrade. Therefore, before you tear your existing flooring out, consider re-surfacing or applying new flooring over the existing flooring reduce your impact on our local environment. An inexpensive and fun alternative to replacing existing flooring is to paint over it. You can add sponge art or stenciling to give the floor a unique touch. When installing new floors, look for materials that: are recycled and recyclable; last longer than conventional flooring; are safe for you, your family and the environment; save you money; and make your home look and feel good. Unhealthy floor coverings are manufactured with synthetic materials and adhesives, which contain volatile compounds which cause indoor air pollution and are hazardous to your health. In addition, manufactured, synthetic flooring consumes a high amount of energy to produce compared to natural materials.
8. Grow Up! - For those of you with a garden to tend to, remember that Mother Nature doesn't need chemicals to keep her garden gorgeous, so use natural compost as fertiliser and keep pests away naturally by encouraging native species to visit your garden. Your garden can be a refuge for wildlife, and with biodiversity in danger from the effects of climate change, now is the time to do as much as possible to give new homes to our native species. The right plants can provide food for caterpillars, lady bugs, frogs, etc., which in turn provide food for larger animals like birds and foxes. Adding a well maintained water feature to your garden is also an attractive way to create habitat for wildlife such as frogs, newts, dragonflies and fish.
9. Eat your Greens! - We spend a lot of time cooking in our homes, so becoming an eco-chef can make a big difference to our environmental impact. Show your culinary prowess by buying locally. Most of our food is shipped hundreds or thousands of miles to reach us. This uses a lot of fuel and has a huge impact on climate change! So, reduce your carbon footprint by buying locally and growing your own food as much as possible. Start small with DIY projects as simple as growing foods such as herbs, tomatoes, or lettuce in pots. If you enjoy that, look beyond your kitchen and grow as much food as you have space for in your garden. Planting fruit trees is a great way to beautify your garden while also providing an environmentally-friendly food source and a weapon against climate change. For those with small gardens, look for dwarf or semi dwarf tress which don't take up much space.
10. Now We're Cooking! - If you're kitting out your kitchen, invest in your pots and pans. The healthiest pots and pans are either enameled cast-iron, stainless steel, or ceramic. These pans will last a lifetime and do not leach chemicals into the food or the air upon heating. When you're cooking, always choose for the smallest pot or pan to do the job at hand. The smaller the pot, the less energy required to heat it. Make sure to match the diameter of the pot with the diameter of the range because using a smaller pan on a larger burner can waste up to 40% of the heat produced! That sends money up in smoke!
Additional Info
The Dream Kitchen. - It seems that one of our favorite DIY projects is to create our dream kitchen. When it comes to remodeling your kitchen, there are a million options to make it an eco-kitchen. A truly "Green" kitchen contains cabinets and countertops that do not pollute your home with chemicals and are made using materials that take the environment into account. Most kitchen cabinets are made from plywood or pressboard covered with a veneer or a laminate glued together with formaldehyde, which gives off carcinogenic fumes. The newer the material, the more fumes it gives off, so many new kitchens are often not that healthy! If the over-all design of your kitchen is good, refinishing your existing cabinets or replacing cabinet doors is a smart Green DIY option. You'll keep the old cabinets from going into landfill, and you'll save a huge amount of money on your kitchen remodeling project. When purchasing new cabinets, consider buying cabinets made from FSC certified sustainable timber, bamboo, "low VOC" composite cabinets, or Ready-To-Assemble cabinets which create less waste during production and use 45% less packing material compared to their traditional hard wood counterparts. Give preference to materials that can be reused or recycled when it's time to replace them.
Planet Paint - The Environmental Protection Agency in the United States rates paint as one of its top Household Hazardous Wastes and sources of indoor air pollution! Conventional paints have high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are potentially harmful gases when they're applied because they diminish indoor air quality and can cause problems for those with allergies or chemical sensitivities. Paint is the second-largest source of VOC emissions after automobiles, but no one should have to be subjected to noxious fumes in their own home! Fortunately, alternative "eco-paints" are now available in Ireland. An environmentally friendly paint is one that is biodegradable and emits no gases. In addition, it must be as low maintenance and long lasting as its conventional rival. When buying paint, read the label on the back of the tin and look for the VOC and solids content. Aim to purchase low VOC and high solids content paint to lower the risk to your family's health.
For more tips on how to do green DIY visit Cara's website www.greendiy.ie