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Welcome to Visit Our environmental-parts

The natural environment comprises all naturally-occurring surroundings and conditions in which living things grow and interact on Earth. These include complete landscape units that function as natural systems without major human intervention, as well as plants, animals, rocks, and natural phenomena occurring within their boundaries. They also include non-local or universal natural resources that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water and climate.

Natural environmental Parts

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Hand Sanitizer and the Environment

Medically the use of hand sanitizer is recommended for health concerns. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends the use of sanitizing products in healthcare settings. Studies have shown the clear benefits of its use. The sanitizers decrease gastrointestinal sicknesses within the home and reduce the amount of illness in schools that use them. Thus it decreases the amount of absenteeism in the schools. However they recommend that the sanitizer being used contains at least 60% alcohol for it to be effective. Otherwise the product is simply moving the bacteria around your hands.

However, environmentalists are concerned with the impact of the plastic waste produced from small bottles of sanitizer on the environment. This is because the recycling
rate is low. Plastic is generally bad for our environment because it is non biodegradable. Some plastic bottles are shown to give off dangerous chemicals. The softer and more flexible the plastic the easier it breaks down, but sanitizer bottles are generally made of thicker plastics than say a disposable water bottle. The chemical make up of the plastic is bad on the environment. The excess waste is bad on the environment as well.

So how can we benefit from hand sanitizer without the negative impact of millions of bottles of empty plastic? Hand sanitizer dispensers eliminate the harmful environmental effects of hand sanitizer. Not only do these dispensers offer improved hand hygiene and decreased illness, they are easier on our environment than small plastic bottles of sanitizer. There are other benefits of choosing the dispensers. They dispense an accurate amount of the sanitizer every time. Many have automatic dispensing therefore eliminating the need to touch dirty surfaces in order to benefit from it.

To receive the complete benefit of using hand sanitizer it must be applied correctly. To correctly apply the sanitizer you should dispense a dime sized amount into the palm of your hand. Rub your hands together ensuring the sanitizer is spread over the entire surface of your hands. Let it dry before you continue touching other surfaces.

Find Out How You Can Save Money On Electricity

Even if you belong to the lucky ones that are not hit by the recent recession, you should be informed on ways you can go green in electricity. Having this information has many benefits. Some of them contribute to a better and healthier environment and the rest to saving money.

One of the things you have certainly heard is that you should switch off all appliances when they are not in use. The problem is that people seldom do that although they know it. However, you should really get into this habit. Appliances that are not switched off are left in standby. This means that although your television for example is not playing anymore, it is not switched off.

You might believe that but the fact is that it needs power to stay in this standby mode. So you are spending money. The same thing happens to all the appliances you use in the house, stereos, coffee machines, dishwashers and anything else. Make sure you unplug the appliances to be certain that you dont spend money for nothing.

Another way you can save money on electricity use has to do with the way you wash your clothes and dishes. You can use cold water for the dishwasher and for light programmes in the washing machine. Remember that clothes you wear every day and are not very dirty can be adequately cleaned with cold water. This way you save money and you also save the environment.

You should also know that today there are tablets or liquids that are made to be dissolved in cold temperatures and dont need hot water to wash. So you can have the same results as previously. Another thing you can do is to hang your clothes in the air to dry them instead of using a drying machine. This is also good for the clothes, as air drying is a natural procedure that helps the fabric breath and retain its shape.

Another thing you can do is to change the bulbs you use. New energy saving bulbs cost more. This is true. However, they save energy and you will certainly see the costs decreasing after you use them. A good idea is to replace your old bulbs as they burn. This means that every time you want to replace an old bulb just replace it with one that saves energy. This way you will eventually have all your bulbs changed without having to pay a big amount of money all at once.

Another thing you can do to save money on electricity is to keep the appliances you use in good condition. Make sure you change the filters, follow the instructions to use them properly and undergo any maintenance needed. This will help them function properly and they will also last longer. Sometimes appliances are not correctly used and this causes them to need more power and you end up using more electricity and increasing your bill.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Water Quality

This is the first in a three-part introductory series on water quality. This article focuses on potential contaminants that can negatively impact the quality of your water. The second article will give you information on bottled water. The final article discusses water filtration and water treatment options available to consumers.

Having reliable access to high quality drinking water is important for everybody. Many factors might affect your home water quality. The first thing people think about when they think about the quality of their home water is possible contamination. Contamination concerns are different for homes that receive their water from a local municipality than they are for those who receive their water from a well. Well water quality is often more of a concern because there are many more variables at play. However, city water has possible problems as well. In addition to contaminants that may be present in your water, the hardness of your water, whether it is from a city treatment facility or a well, can be an issue.
Possible Contaminants of City Water

Approximately 85% of homes in the United States get their home water delivered by a public water department. It is the responsibility of the municipality to ensure that the water delivered to our homes meets the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These regulations cover approximately 90 different substances and indicate what the maximum contaminant level is for each substance. Water is required to meet these specifications when it leaves the water treatment facility. However, just because our drinking water quality meets these water quality standards, it does not mean that it is completely safe.

Just because there is a water quality standard, that does not mean the standard is met or adhered to one hundred percent of the time. If a water treatment facility delivers water to the public with contaminant levels above those required by law, they must report that fact to the authorities, but there are rarely any consequences because enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act is lax. You can ask your local water department for a Consumer Confidence Report, which will list any pollutants that have been detected in your water over the past year. There have been reports of chemicals such as arsenic, uranium, bacteria, tetrachloroethylene, or radium in local drinking water sources.

In addition, some of the chemicals used to treat our water and make it safe to drink cause byproducts that themselves are unsafe. For example, water treatment facilities treat drinking water with chlorine to remove microbes and clean the water. A side effect is the formation of chlorination byproducts called trihalomethanes. These chlorination byproducts have been linked to an increased chance of cancer. There can be other unintentional contamination of public water supplies because the testing to make sure that the water is potable is done as it leaves the plant. Water sometimes sits in reservoirs before it is delivered to the customer and that adds an additional chance for contamination.
Possible Contaminants of Well Water

If you get your tap water from a private drinking water well, then the possible dangers associated with water quality are greater for you because you do not have government agencies regulating or testing the quality of your water constantly. It is your responsibility to make sure that your home water quality is acceptable for you and your family. There are some naturally occurring sources of contamination and others are caused by human activities. If you limit the activities around your private well, then you should be able to control the human aspects of water quality degradation, but you should still have your water quality tested at least once a year to make sure it is safe for consumption.

Some of the naturally occurring sources of water pollution are microorganisms, radionuclides, radon, heavy metals, and fluoride. Most microorganism contamination is a result of runoff from flooding. The water running over the ground can pick up bacteria and parasites from animal refuse and the soil. Underlying rock and soil can contain elements such as uranium and radium, which are radioactive, and they do pose a health risk. Radon is a gas that is produced when uranium starts to break down. That gas can find its way into your water supply and then into your home. Radon is most dangerous in the air, but radon in the water is a way to introduce the gas to your home. Heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, selenium, and lead are all present in rock and soil formations, but rarely in concentrations that would be harmful to your health. If these metals are present in high concentrations in your well water, it probably comes from a human pollution factor. Most people are surprised to hear that fluoride can be harmful because most public water treatment facilities add small amounts of fluoride to their drinking water to aid in dental health. However, large concentrations can lead to damaged bone tissue and are a real risk with private well water.

Local activities such as large-scale livestock operations, landfills, farming operations, mining, construction, manufacturing, and other industry can all affect the water quality of your well water. Livestock operations can be bad because the waste produced by thousands of animals has to go somewhere. Many farmers use the manure on their crops, but some of the waste migrates into the local water supply and can create water quality problems in your home. Pesticides and fertilizers can also be a source of pollution. Many chemical and industrial operations use harmful chemicals. These can contaminate the drinking water supply due to improper disposal of waste or accidental release. Your own activities can also put your water quality at risk. If you are not careful with normal household waste like cleaning solvents, used motor oil, paint, soaps, detergents, etc. they can contaminate your drink water. A cracked or faulty septic tank could also be a problem.
Water Hardness

Other than possible contaminants, water quality is also influenced by how hard your water is. Water hardness is a measurement of how high the mineral content is. The minerals that are present in hard water are primarily calcium and magnesium. While there is no evidence that water hardness has any adverse health effects, there is some anecdotal evidence that says hard water can cause dry skin.

Perhaps the most noticeable side effect of having hard water is that soap does not lather well in hard water. That is why you might notice a difference in how much lather forms when you wash your hair on vacation. If you have hard water at home, you tend to use more soap or shampoo to achieve the desired amount of lather when cleaning your body or hair. If you travel to a place with softer water, the same amount of soap or shampoo will produce much more lather than you are used to and you may feel like it is hard to rinse thoroughly.

About 85% of the households in the United States have what is considered hard water. That means that the water has at least 8 degrees of General Hardness or 80 milligrams of calcium oxide per liter of water. Some of the hardest water can be found in streams in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona, and southern California. Some of the softest water can be found in parts of New England, the South Atlantic Gulf, the Pacific Northwest, and Hawaii.
Water Testing

If you are concerned about your water then you might want to consider water quality testing. You can either send your water to an accredited lab or purchase water quality testing kits that you can complete on your own. Obviously, you will get much more valuable results if you send your water to a lab because most in home water quality tests only show a positive or negative result and do not give you a quantitative answer. If you have well water, then you should test your water regularly. The EPA recommends at least once a year, but it is probably better to test it at least twice a year after the seasons change because spring and fall runoffs can cause many changes in your water quality.

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maria_K._Bernal

What is Water Purification? The Methods and Results of Filtering Water

Water purification is a procedure where unsafe elements are removed from a raw water source. The process is needed so that people are able to drink clean water without having to be adversely affected. Besides, the majority of drinking water is supposed to be for people to drink. In addition to that, water purification is also used for the following purposes:

· Pharmacology

· Medical

· Industrial

· Chemical

There are also different methods to which this process is used that include:

· Filtration

· Reverse Osmosis

· Water Softening

· Ultra filtration

With the water purification process, governments are involved in the quality of water their region will consume. They are responsible for having a low and a high end of points of contaminants. With this, there are elements that dictate how the water will be produced.

There are some countries that are required to keep certain amounts of chlorine in their water system after the water is processed at the treatment plant. The chlorine is used to lessen the chance of the water getting unclean or unsafe again during the distribution process.

Water purification is also responsible for removing elements such as:

· particles of organic material that is suspended, parasites

· algae

· bacteria

· fungi

· viruses

· calcium

· magnesium

During this cleansing process, the smell, taste and appearance may or may not be removed. These items are not necessarily a requirement to conduct the purification. Some people think that they can determine whether or not the water is safe just by examining it with their eyes.

This is far from the truth. You can boil water or use a filter and you still would not be able to remove all of the impurities form the water you drink. The same holds true for natural spring water, which was considered harmless a few centuries ago.

Even that has to go through testing to see if it needs to be treated prior to consumption. In order to determine an authentic process to purify the water, a chemical analysis would have to be conducted. Funds have to be available to do this because this type of analysis is not cheap to perform.

Water can also be purified by boiling, bleaching or using iodine. Boiling is one of the best ways to get rid of impurities in the water. It will get rid of viruses and bacteria. However, it is not advised to be used when going camping because of the amount of fuel that is used for this process.

However people choose to do it, they must make sure that they are using the guidelines and purifying the water the right way for human consumption.

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Judy_J_Turner

Why Should We Test Our Water?

If water smells bad or looks a little hazy, then we instantly know that there is something wrong. Unfortunately, it is also very possible that what we are drinking is crystal clear, tasteless and odorless, only to find out that it can still be unsafe for us to drink or use for cooking our food.

Water is one thing that is essential to all living things. It is needed in order to survive. There are water testing test kits available for sale, which are a very good way to see if there are any substances and contaminants in our water that we just cannot detect.

Here are some of the reasons that we should regularly conduct a water test:

1. Almost 40% of the rivers in the United States fail to meet the standards of clean water. According to Clean Water Action, approximately 7 million Americans become sick every year due to tap water that is contaminated. Regular water testing conducted on the public supply will help ensure that environmental and health standards of the country's Environmental Protection Agency are met.

2. Municipal drinking water systems provide 90% of Americans with what they can drink. The law states that these supplies should regularly be tested for radioactive materials, toxic chemicals, pathogens and other contaminants. However, private water supplies are not tested. This responsibility generally lies with the property owners. If you find yourself about to purchase a home, it would be a good idea to test the water supply that can be found in the local area first.

3. A water test kit will be able to show the levels of harmful substances in the water. Harmful minerals and chemicals in what we drink can contribute to lead poisoning, heart disease and even cancer. Certain substances found in this resource can also change the taste of what we drink and what we eat.

4. If we have our water tested and find that it is below safety standards, then we can end the problem as soon as possible. By knowing that there is something wrong and that something must be done, a home purification system can be purchased in order to make the water more potable.

There are generally two ways of water testing. One way is to do it on your own by purchasing a home water test kit. You will need to get some from the tap, place it into a glass and simply follow the instructions found on the kit.

Another option is to obtain a sample from your home and take it to a local testing facility. Depending on where you live and what kind of testing facilities around you, this way of testing water could be hard.

Either way, we should make it a point to test our water on an annual basis. It doesn't matter whether we choose to test it ourselves, or if we ask a professional to do it. We must do our part to ensure that our family is drinking safe and clean water.

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lena_M_Butler

What is the Best Water Bottle With a Filter?

When you think about a water bottle, you probably think of those cheaper bottles that you buy at the store. You probably fill up the bottle with some water, drink from it, and it doesn't even daze you that the water tastes like plastic. Who wants something like that anyways? You're going to find that many people just settle for cheap and that can be a bad thing, trust me!

If you're looking to find a bottle that's going to work for you, I wanted to tell you why you should look into a filtered water bottle. I don't know if you have drank from one before, but you're going to find that not only is there a huge difference in taste, you're going to save a ton of money when it comes time to purchasing water bottles.

Let's do the math for a second. Let's say that you spend $5 a week on a 24 pack of water. You're looking at $260 a year. If you pick up a nice filtered water bottle, you're probably going to spend $15 tops. Many filters on the market today are going to be able to filter out about 500 gallons of water, which can easily last you the entire year, if not more. Now, you see where I'm going to with this, right?

What are the best water bottle filters on the market?

Surprisingly, there are a lot of brands to choose from. Some of the highest rated ones on the market are from brands such as Clear2Go, New Wave, McNett, as well as Power. They all vary in shapes and sizes. Do you want a straw with yours? Do you want to drink straight from it? These are all questions that you're going to want o ask yourself.

When looking to purchase a bottle with a filter, make sure that it can filter out more than 500 gallons. Another thing to look into is to make sure that you can get a water bottle that is going to be durable. Check reviews, prices, and more. I would advise you that you shouldn't spend no more than $15 - $25 on a bottle. I had found that if you go online, you can generally get the best prices. By purchasing online, you're also going to be able to get a good idea on what other people think about the bottle.

Keep all these things in mind and you should be able to find one that works the best for you!

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Tessin

Water Bottles with Filters

The times have changed and when you think of filling up with water in the past, you probably grabbed some awful old bottle off the shelf and it more than likely tasted like plastic!
It’s time to get rid of those older water bottles and switch to one that’s going to work for you.  This is why I would recommend that you pick up a water bottle for your college days.  You’re going to find that you’re going to get awfully thirsty during your lectures, as well as when you’re doing your homework.  Instead of heading out to purchase $1.50 waters at the vending machine each day, you should consider a filtered water bottle.
Not only are these bottles going to be cheap, they are going to save you so much money over the long haul!  They really only will cost you around $20 to maybe $40!
Listed below are 5 water bottles that you should check out that are going to work as a bottle, as well as filter the water coming through them.

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Vitaminder LivPure Filtered Water Bottle (around $10): This relatively cheap water bottle is going to be the price of two cases of water, or even 7 bottles at the vending machine.  It will improve the taste, as well as filters up to 500 bottles of water!  You can also purchase replacement filters.
Portable Water Filter by ECOFLO (around $30): This cool water bottle not only is going to filter your water, but you can do it all within the bottle itself, making it very easy to use.  They state that it is capable of 99.8% of reduction in all 4 areas of your water.
Brita 35391 Classic Pitcher (around $25): Yes, this is made from the popular filtering company, Brita.  You’re going to fill your pitcher up, set it somewhere cold and with this kit, you’re going to get a handy dandy water bottle that you can use on the go.
ZeroWater ZJ-003 (around $70): This is a little on the expensive side, but what you’re going to find out is that you’re not going to have to carry around heavy pitcher, or a pallet of water.  Instead, you can fill these water bottles on the go, making it very convenient for you.
Go Berkey Kit (around $140): Yes, this bottle is a little high, but if you’re going to be using it a lot, you may find that the investment is going to be well worth it.  It comes included with a bottle, short stem, a carrying case, as well as a portable filter.  It holds approximately 1 quart.
By going with one of these kits, you’re going to find that you can potentially save $100s over your college year.  Since the filters rarely have to be changed ,the models above are going to be something that you’re going to want to look into!

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