Ron Mertens’ blog

Here’s some interesting facts, comparing e-readers (Apple’s iPAD, really) to regular books:

One e-reader requires 33 pounds of minerals and 79 gallons of water. A regular book requires about 0.6 pounds of minerals and 2 gallons of water.
Making an e-reader requires around 100 kw/h of energy (around 66 pounds of co2). A [...]

I’ve just finished yet another environmental book: The Ecology of Commerce (by Paul Hawken).  The book is from ‘93, which makes it rather old (can you believe it’s almost 20 years since ‘93?) – but it’s still excellent and highly recommended.
The main thesis of this book is that the markets today are not efficient, because [...]

Tags: ecology, economy, Environment, green

Well – not just for you, also for the cows and the environment. Check this ‘complete’ list of what’s wrong with milk. It’s in hebrew.
Come on guys – stop drinking and eating this stuff!

Great news – my host (Host Gator) is now green – the servers are wind powered (through purchased green credits). So if you’re looking for a host, that is a good reason to choose those guys (which, all in all, I’m quite happy with). Be sure to follow this link, so I can get referral [...]

If you have 20 minutes to spare, check this out. A great video about the consumer way of life – and what are the implications to our planet, and society, and happiness. So Michal and I are doing at least one thing right – we do not watch TV (we do watch DVD movies and [...]

I just received a large parcel in my mail. It was from Microsoft (which was suspicious at best). I decided to take the risk, and open it.
It was this large cylinder, saying that “the writing is on the wall – Microsoft Software as a Service”. Inside was a spray-paint can (!) with a small leaflet [...]

Check this out – the world’s first OLED lamp, and a beautiful design, too!

A few years ago Michal and I decided that we don’t want to have TV anymore – we disconnected from cable, and ever since we don’t get any TV. We do watch DVD movies and TV series still.
I had just finished reading a fascination book – ‘Four arguments for the elimination of TV‘, by Jerry [...]

I’ve finished reading this book, the Skeptical Environmentalist. I didn’t really read the whole thing, some parts I “skimmed through”. Basically it is a danish statistic professor, who thinks the “world is in great shape”, and tests most environmental “problems” and shows us that things are rather good. His idea is that we need to [...]

I just finished reading “The Carbon War”, by Jeremy Leggett. Jeremy was an Oxford professor, until he decided to do something about Global warming. He joined Greenpeace, and the book tells of the years 1990-1997, from the early warning signs to the signing of the Kyoto agreement.
The troubling part is that Jeremy (and obviously he [...]