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1500 questions
5
votes
1 answer
Toilet tank with both water main and waste water (underflow)
I'm looking to supply my toilet tank with rain water and grey water from, say, the washing machine, but if that's not enough water to fill up the tank, I want to use water from the water mains to top it off. Preferably, this would be an automatic…
Bas
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2 answers
What do developing nation farmers do when agribusiness stops sourcing products from deforested land?
This story about a researcher at my university included this line:
...in recent years global retailers like McDonald’s and Wal-Mart have
committed to removing beef and soy produced on deforested land from
their supply chain. In turn, commodity…
LShaver
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5
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1 answer
Should cardboard contaminated with unknown dirt be recycled?
Lately, postal cardboard packages have been arriving with an increasing level of exterior contamination with generic black dirt. Although the composition of this dirt is unknown, this can be a concern in manufacturing certain recycled products, such…
user4255
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How to clean a reusable plastic coffee cup, such as KeepCup?
I've owned a KeepCup for about a year and though I clean it after use it really is starting to stink.
I've tried scrubbing it with a scouring pad and detergent and leaving it to soak overnight, but it still smells bad.
The cup looks like the one…
MeltingDog
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7 answers
Mismatched socks? What to do with hundreds of them?
I may be unique here but over the years I have collected perhaps hundreds of mismatched socks of various sizes and colors. Some are good cotton and others are like new. Since I have a large family and many no longer fit the children, I want to…
ychirea1
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2 answers
Do worm farms smell?
I live in a small inner-city apartment. I am lucky to have a small courtyard area with a modest garden. I was thinking about getting a worm farm but am worried about the smell. Obviously, up close they would stink a bit, but could this permeate the…
MeltingDog
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2 answers
How does footprint per dollar vs footprint per kilo compare for different methods of raising livestock?
As various investigative reports and documentaries have made clear by now, the environmental impacts and animal welfare abuses of CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) are dreadful and should be reformed or abandoned if we wish to achieve a…
LShaver
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5
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1 answer
Do I need to remove sellotape to recycle Christmas wrapping paper?
If sellotape or plastic stickytape is left on wrapping paper when I recycle it, does it matter? (or how much does it matter?)
What happens to it during the recycling process?
Let's assume I separate and exclude any gift wrapping made from plastic.
Highly Irregular
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How environmentally friendly is palm oil with a certified organic label?
I'm trying to reduce my consumption of palm oil because palm oil production is responsible for deforestation, large forest fires and loss of biodiversity.
The problem is that palm oil is present in many food and non-food products under many…
THelper
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2 answers
How much irradiation from the sun is required to generate solar power?
Interested to know how to calculate how much energy photovoltaic (PV) panels would produce given x amount of solar irradiation per day - amount of direct sunlight and how much that might be effected by y amount of cloud cover. Also does temperature…
yoshiserry
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Does bio jet fuel have a positive energy balance?
This article which was recently trending got me thinking about biofuels: Alaska Airlines makes first flight using jet fuel made from trees.
I am not familiar with the numbers for biodiesel, but I know that the energy in to energy out (EIEO) ratio…
LShaver
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5
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2 answers
What is the most sustainable way to convert forested land to farmland?
My understanding is that the Mayans, who lived in a very thick forested area, used slash-and-burn to clear land for farming, which was a terribly unsustainable way to do it. What is the most sustainable way to clear temperate forested land (such as…
margalo
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Are The Great Lakes Getting Cleaner or Worse?
I live in Hamilton Ontario which a major city right on the shore of Lake Ontario, and I was just doing some personal research on the pollution levels in lake Ontario. Generally the water here has a negative stigma of being dirty, and I was just…
user3956
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3 answers
Does the world have a defined amount of water?
I was thinking the other day, after having a very wet winter season in New Zealand, if we are getting all this rain, are other parts of the planet, getting droughts? and of course this lead to the question, does the world have a defined amount of…
Grant Nilsson
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1 answer
What metrics are usually used to quantify forecasted power error for weather-dependent renewables?
What metrics are usually used to quantify forecasted power error for weather-dependent renewables such as wind or PV?
I guess that there are at least two kinds of errors: where the magnitude of the forecast is wrong, and where the timing of the…
410 gone
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