jules.ca

telecom, technology and the occasional floobergeist

I’ve got an abundance of bits and pieces of canadian telecom and internet experience, and I am thrilled to be in a place in time when all is changing, technology is developing, and the status quo is being disrupted. 

Floobergeist is a word that is beginning to defy definition.  The more I roll that smooth pebble around, the more it becomes to mean. Floobergeist started out as the magic dust that turns dreams into ideas.  And then it began to encompass the zing that happens when you have conversations about those ideas. And now, it’s the whole evolution from dream to conversation, with each step improving the later and the former along the way.

Everyone aspires to good conversations. They can lead you to adventures you’ve never imagined, and to people you can twig with.

Let’s have a good conversation…

welcome.

Fragrance Plugins: Fruits of the Devil

April 03, 2008  /  jules kivell

As I was busy plugging in a new air freshener this morning, I noticed a little power usage annotation on the back… ~ 2.1WAnd I thought - what the heck - these things *draw* that much power? They don’t do anything!!!!And then I started looking around to see if anyone else had noticed this - and what the power consumption actually is for these plug-in air fresheners.

Total electricity consumption then is: * 20 million units x 2.5w x 24 hours x 365 days / 1000 = 438,000,000 kWh (kilowatt hours, the standard measurement in the US for power consumption over time) * To power a year’s worth of Glade Plug-Ins therefore requires almost 26 million gallons of oil, or 613,000 barrels (one gallon of oil produces 17kWh of electricity, there are 42 US gallons in a barrel, so 714kWh per barrel) * It also equates to 1/8 the output of a typical 500 megawatt coal-fired power plant. In the course of producing this much energy, the power plant will also create 1250 tons of sulfer dioxide (causes acid rain) and almost half a million tons of carbon dioxide (causes global warming).
Richardsona // Adam Richardson’s Blog - Blog - The Surprising Energy Consumption of Glade Plug-Ins

 

More info over at Apartment Therapy indicates that the plug-ins aren’t only enviro unfriendly, but also contain chemicals that can have an impact on our health!!!!

Air fresheners have become a staple in many American homes and offices,marketed with the promise of creating a clean, healthy, and sweet-smellingindoor atmosphere. But many of these products contain phthalates(pronounced thal-ates)—hazardous chemicals known to cause hormonalabnormalities, birth defects, and reproductive problems.

 

This is uncool. I’m pretty sure I’m a bit of a goof for using these things.

(jules now walks through the house unplugging everything)

Alternatives:If you can’t totally unwind from having interesting smells, you gotta switch to the infusion choices:Fragrance Diffusers at Fruits and Passion

The Body Shop’s Fragrance Diffuser

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