Environment

CFLs and Mercury

The other day, Rob pointed me to an article on a topic which has been in the news quite a bit lately – the concern over the mercury contained in compact fluorescent (CFL) lamps. The original piece is here. That article – and many others – gives the reader a somewhat inaccurate impression of the …

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Solar Technology in the Streets

The other day I noticed a solar-powered lighting system beside a main road, connected to a set of school-zone warning lights *. Once I began looking, I noted several solar-powered devices around the streets. Here are just a few of my favourites.

Saving Water : Designing a water-efficient house

Designing a new house? Great. This article looks at the many things you can do at this point which will radically reduce the amount of water you use – without adding anything at all to the total cost. By how much can you reduce it? In many areas, it’s quite possible to disconnect from the mains supply altogether – or at least to stop using water from that source. This is the sixth and final article in the series on saving water.