Sustainable Living Stack Exchange
Sustainable Living Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
6
votes
2 answers

How much power does an Electric Airpot use while on standby?

We have just brought a Buffalo K711 4.25L Electric Airpot that is great for my wife as she is disabled and can find a kettle hard to pour. I was expecting it to be well insulated, however its sides feels very warm while it is running, so making me…
Ian Ringrose
  • 385
  • 3
  • 7
6
votes
1 answer

How does yerba mate stack up against tea and coffee?

Caffeine has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system - as most coffee drinkers will attest, it provides a boost to our productivity and creativity. It has also been associated with lower risk to Alzheimers and other forms of dementia…
Eric H.
  • 1,202
  • 1
  • 8
  • 15
6
votes
2 answers

How to save heating energy with roommates?

I live with roommates, and am only a renter not owner. I'm looking for ways to help with energy conservation despite this. We have one roommate who is wasteful about leaving lights on and, in particular leaving the bathroom window open in a heated…
dsollen
  • 723
  • 4
  • 13
6
votes
2 answers

Analysis of Water Usage by Family Demographics

I want an analysis of daily water usage that breaks out the data by family type and size in the United States. (Although I am happy to get usage data by demographics for any part of the world if that is all that is available!) For instance, the…
Doctorambient
  • 163
  • 5
6
votes
1 answer

How to avoid plastic in aquaponics designs?

Ignoring the question of whether aquaponics is a sustainable process (which it may not be due to seemingly high energy input required for water movement and filtration). Most aquaponics designs use plastic as a basic building block for every…
mghicks
  • 293
  • 1
  • 6
6
votes
1 answer

Good uses for sweet whey

I make cheese from time to time which produces copious quantities of whey (often more than I can drink in the mean time). Are there any extra uses for whey that I may be overlooking?
Chris Travers
  • 7,039
  • 20
  • 44
6
votes
1 answer

Does my facial scrub contain microplastics?

I was wondering if my facial scrub contains any microplastics. In particular, the tiny beads that are inside the soap, are they made of plastic? Are they polluting the waste water or they just decompose? Find below the ingredients list: aqua…
user3161330
  • 163
  • 3
6
votes
1 answer

Does it matter whether I recycle packaging as one contiguous chunk or as separated parts?

I deliberately avoid cutting off or tearing off parts of packaging which I intend to recycle as in my mind I would imagine that this makes the recycling process easier. But does it actually? Is there any benefit to keeping packaging whole for the…
Newbyte
  • 187
  • 8
6
votes
1 answer

Sustainable suit fabric

I'm in the need for a new suit - several actually, I'm getting married. I want the suit to be made sustainably, but living in Singapore there are no tailors that I can find that use sustainable fabric. I have found a tailor who's happy to use fabric…
ChrisJ
  • 253
  • 1
  • 6
6
votes
2 answers

Angle of solar panels on flat roof

We just had a solar panel install in the United Kingdom (latitude of 57 degrees). The contractor quoted us for panels installed at a standard 35 degree angle. However, the actual install was panels at a 10 degree angle (i.e. nearly flat). The…
Jim
  • 61
  • 2
6
votes
6 answers

Are pine needles poisonous to goats?

I'm finding seemingly contradictory information with a normal search (forums). Many sources say that their own goats love pine needles and there's nothing wrong with letting them eat them. Occasionally somebody jumps in to say that pine needles…
Tim Lehner
  • 161
  • 1
  • 1
  • 5
6
votes
3 answers

What is the difference between biodegradable and compostable plastic?

I read this and still don't fully understand the difference. Which decomposes faster? Do they mean biodegradables don't need "certain" conditions so they are good to go into a bin (or a hole in your backyard)? Or do they mean biodegradable plastic…
Sergey Zolotarev
  • 1,683
  • 6
  • 15
6
votes
1 answer

How much of their waste do EU countries recycle?

The EU citizens separate their rubbish more or less. Yet there are accounts that everything gets mixed and buried together after collecting all of it gets exported to Asia burning is not recycling Is there a reliable source stating e.g.…
Vorac
  • 443
  • 2
  • 12
6
votes
1 answer

Should payback periods take the time value of money into account?

I am currently reviewing a paper estimating the payback period for different building renovation strategies. The calculations I see typically go something like this: you pay (say) USD 3000 today, save USD 300 per year in energy savings, ergo there…
lindelof
  • 501
  • 2
  • 9
6
votes
3 answers

How many kilowatt hours of electricity does it take to heat 180 litres of water from 15 to 60 degrees C?

I think this calculation uses the specific heat capacity for water, which is from memory a bit over 4. Can someone please do the math? Also, if we assume electricity costs $0.30 per kilowatt hour, what is the cost of heating a full 180 litre hot…
Highly Irregular
  • 8,795
  • 10
  • 38
  • 78
1 2 3
…
99 100