Industrial-Design Improvements

5. Refrigerators with the freezer on the bottom. While being ubiquitous in Europe and elsewhere, these are sill hard find in the States. Just on the face of it, it makes no sense whatsoever to put the freezer, the least used part of the fridge, in the most accessible place; likewise, it makes no sense to put the part you want to keep coldest at the top, where all the heat from the machine rises, making the whole thing work harder than it needs to. One great company, which produces a wide range of large appliances, Equator, makes fridges, washing machines, etc. designed the right way, and far more efficient than what we're used to seeing in this country. I oversaw the renovation of an antique home in Florida. I specified appliances that were the most efficient I could find. When the electrician was looking at the manual for the Equator washing machine (all-in-one washer and dryer) he stood in disbelief. "This thing uses no electricity!" he cried. I, only half-jokingly, like to say that one of the biggest conspiracies we see every day is that of the power companies to make sure we use the most inefficient appliances we can--clearly to the benefit of their bottom line.

4. Packaging to go along with Germany's Green-Dot (Der Grüne Punkt) program. There was a very dark period for packaging in the 1980s and 90s: packaging in the US was abominably over-done; worse, it was actually dangerous. The hard-plastic packaging of of recent years, which could hardly be cut through with a saw, and which left behind jagged, hard edges which could easily wound a person, has, thankfully, been left behind in favor of plastic packaging that's easy to open. Better yet, those companies planning to sell to the EU must meet Germany's Green-Dot program packaging requirements. In that program, every manufacturer of every good, from toothpaste to cars, must be ready and able to take back all the products and the packaging when consumers are finished. Otherwise, products cannot be sold in Germany. This has meant we see more packaging like this (_sane_ packaging): easy to unfold and easily recyclable plain-cardboard wrappers, boxes which are folded in intricate ways to reproduce the cushioning effect of styrofoam, etc. but which can still be broken down and recycled easily, products with a single paper wrapper rather than a container, etc. Bless this brave new world of ours.

3. The recognition that "true linoleum" (not vinyl) is a much more durable, environmentally friendly, non-toxic and economically sound floor covering than wall-to-wall carpeting or vinyl. Real linoleum (made by Marmoleum and other companies, and made of fun things like wheat flour and flax oil) is truly amazing. It hardens to a rock-like toughness. It has absolutely no off-gassing (of toxic fumes) at all. It comes in a huge array of colors and can be laid in limitless artful designs. It lasts forever. It is very inviting to the touch and adds a certain sort of warmth to a space in which it is installed. And the list goes on. A school district in Florida (of all places) recently decided true linoleum would be used from now on, over the alternatives. The decision came in the wake of long-term economic-feasibility studies that showed not only would linoleum be a cheaper, sounder investment in the long term, but also there would be no accompanying ill-health effects, which are quite common with new carpet and vinyl installations.

2. The wide availability of compact-fluorescent bulbs. Compact fluorescents (CF) use about 1/5 of the energy as regular incandescent bulbs. An 11-watt CF bulb gives off a light equivalent to at least a 60-watt incandescent. If one were to install CF bulbs in every fixture in one's house, one would save a significant amount on monthly bills, in addition to requiring the power company to produce/acquire less power. Furthermore, CF bulbs last for years. Their initial cost is higher than for "normal" bulbs, but, over time, all things considered, their cost is far lower than average. I have two CF bulbs which I installed in my two desk lamps in the summer of 2000. That was in Florida. I have moved numerous times since. I have not ever even taken the bulbs out of the fixtures, and I have been using each all day long everyday. They are still burning strong. For those who don't like what they think of as "fluorescent" light, know that CF bulbs come in any color temperature you could possibly desire, from even warmer than a standard incandescent to even colder than daylight (say, 2100 Kelvin to 6500 Kelvin). P.S.: It's 02/2006 and those two bulbs I bought in 2000 are still burning brightly.

1. The vast improvements which are made in internal-combustion-engine (ICE) emissions controls every year. Without question, the best thing one can do to help curb ICE-vehicle emissions is to buy the most recently made care one can afford. One of the worst things is to buy a diesel car, bio-diesel or regular--diesels are the dirtiest engines there are. As most "semi" shipping trucks are diesel, and as the trucking industry has a lot of pull in Washington, little has been done to improve emissions with diesels; in fact, little can be done Even with industry unwillingness, emissions controls with non-diesel ICEs improve by leaps and bounds each year. Cars today burn so clean, one can suck the exhaust straight out of the tail pipe with nary an ill effect, especially the hybrids. Do the right thing: buy a new car!