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Electric car’s Technology
Posted on November 28th, 2009 No comments
Water Efficiency
“The Resource Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”
In my last water efficiency article (Water-Efficiency: Why Most Advice You’ve Read is Absolutely Inefficient), we began a slow turn away from lighting with a discussion of the 80/20 Rule and how your little positive behavioral changes with water aren’t even a drop in the bucket when your other positive behavioral changes - making homemade pizza - evaporate the entire year’s ocean of benefits in a few tasty bites.
In a four-part series, we talk about a resource besides energy: water.
- Today, we begin far above this “turn off the porch lights and take short, icy showers” efficiency thing to show you how we got to where we are now both in fuels and in other resources.
- Next week, we introduce the resource called water, its parallels with fossil fuels, and its role in global warming.
- The following week, we continue going with the flow of water, when we show the parallel between the current hot Oil Wars and in the future cold Water Wars.
- And in the final week, we tie together the articles in a symphony of three movements, showing you how all the elements hold the Resource Matrix in place and how, like Neo in the movie, you can break the code that creates the graphical user interface and see the illusion for what it really is. (At least, my version of it, anyway.)
Ready to take the red pill and see how deep the rabbit-hole goes?
We start with one of the most boring subjects known to college students, one birthed out of the Enlightenment when extremely titled, idly rich, powdery wig-headed fancy foppish men dressed like women and walked in high heels and squealed like school girls:
Economics: it’s totally insane
Economics is described as the science of allocating scarce resources. Since it’s the study of human behavior, it’s a social science rather than a physical science.
And although any individual’s behavior may not be predictable, individuals as a group can be. Kinda like the weather: you don’t know much about a single raindrop’s effect but you can track the overall storm and predict what’s next.
Economics likes to fool itself that it can predict behavior based on the assumption that people make rational choices. Understand what people think and you understand what choices people will make.
It unfortunately leaves out the other part of being human: human behavior based on emotions.
And emotions weigh heavily in how we interact with each other, especially in exchanges of value.
Maximizing returns:
“I want your goodies for nothing”Economics recognizes that people are motivated by self-interest to maximize their benefits at the lowest cost.
On an individual basis, this can turn into a “win-lose” proposition:
- I want to acquire the best stuff for the cheapest terms
- I want to dispose of the lousiest stuff for the greatest terms
In short, you want diamonds and gold for nothing and they want to give you useless junk for a king’s ransom.
May the Force be with you:
getting diamonds and gold for nothing:Economics comes out of 18th century political economy, which studied production, buying and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government. Political economy itself comes out of moral philosophy.
This moral philosophy apparently had room for colonialism, which comes pretty close to getting your diamonds and gold for nothing: forcibly take over a country and use its people to extract its resources to be reallocated to your bank account. And make sure nobody but you has any say in the matter.
Social good in the equation:
A few people didn’t see the morality in this philosophy. Enter the lousy, meddling individual do-gooders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mohandas Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Upton Sinclair, and many others who messed with the “I want your goodies for nothing” crowd.
And some of the individuals do-gooders formed their own organizations like the Sierra Club and Greenpeace.
They all worked to increase awareness that there are alternatives to being forced to give away your diamonds and gold for nothing while having no say in the matter, and worked to change deals from “win-lose” to “win-win.”
The “I want your goodies for nothing” crowd, who could only lose in the change to “win-win,” found their salvation in the late 1800s with the rise of modern psychology (the scientific study of mental functions and behavior). Applied to politics, it’s called propaganda. Applied to spirituality, it’s called religion. Applied to commerce, it’s called marketing and advertising.
All these applications are forms of hypnotism, and are based on the proven principle that if you repeat anything enough times, including a falsehood, your audience will grow to believe it and then to defend it as the truth.
The “I want your goodies for nothing” crowd used economics to hypnotically declare for 250 years that fossil fuels, the air, and water were without cost. They called them “free goods.”
And they used force (”Oh yeah, and what the hell are you going to do about it?”) to declare that pollution had no consequences.
What’s an Oxymoron?
“Free Good” in economicsThe free good is a term used in economics to describe a good that is not scarce. A free good is available in as great a quantity as desired with zero opportunity cost to society.
Earlier schools of economic thought proposed that free goods were resources that are so abundant in nature that there is enough for everyone to have as much as they want. Examples in textbooks (even in the 1980s) included fresh water and the air that we breathe. However, these are now regarded as common goods because competition for them is rivalrous.
In short, there is no free lunch.
An additional moral philosophy:
“There’s a sucker born every minute”
becomes
“How can I help you help me?”The “I want your goodies for nothing” crowd continues to rise early and work late to craft their “win-lose” deals every day.
Yet, out of those rising early and working late, a small radical fringe discovered the curious fact that if you don’t beat a dog bloody every time you see it, it’s less likely to bite your hand off, and it even might go out and hunt down a squirrel for your evening stew.
Their moral philosophy became a hybrid offshoot.
The Hybrids still want your goodies, but they are willing to help you get your goodies with less pain and damage to yourself so you’ll be willing to come back to them and hand over more of your goodies.
Both use the same mind-numbing hypnotic slogans: “We care about you.”
The difference is the Hybrids actually do some of those same things that someone who cares about you would do. Even if they don’t actually give a hoot about you. Contrast that to the “I want your goodies for nothing” crowd, who merely sends you more hynoptic slogans when they want your goodies.
Where Do You Want to Go Today?
Everywhere but hereWe’ve all awaken to the shocking realizations that:
- finite energy resources will run out
- actions have consequences, and the consequences of our actions are already visible, rather scary, and quite irreversible, and
- the “I want your goodies for nothing” crowd hasn’t been telling the truth
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, you could just pop some soma and totally trip out.
But the cowardly old world we’re experiencing has quickly turned into a total bummer of a bad trip, man. Down with the Establishment and praise the Collective.
We’re all in this together, or
Toss the lousy, greedy bastards overboardThe decades of the Do-Gooders increasing our awareness of possible “win-win” possibilities and of the Hybrids backing their “we care about you” lip service with actual service has brought us to another realization:
There’s a price to everything, and if I don’t pay the price, someone else will, and somehow, some way, on some sunny day, they’re going to get even and make me pay.
And this has been an important change in the understanding of energy efficiency and global warming: the environment has a limited capacity within our human-lifetime periods to absorb civilization’s byproducts and transform them into resources. It usually needs geologic time to turn dead trees and critters into oil and gas. In the meantime, the trash piles up in the streets.
The solution: create less trash.
Thanks to the Do-Gooders, we have greater awareness or our actions and the desire to change, and have the Hybrids offering ways to change.
And the result is a shift of power away from the “I want your goodies for nothing” crowd. It’s now Power to the People.
But wait, there’s more …
to the Resource MatrixJust because you know about fossil fuels, their finite amounts, their polluting, warming effects on the environment, and alternatives offered by the Hybrids - even if you have done your part to the best of your ability to reduce, reuse, and recycle — you haven’t escaped the Resource Matrix.
Energy to power our lives is one component of the Resource Matrix. And it’s the most visible in discussions of global warming and being resourceful. But there’s more:
Coming Attractions!
In the next three articles, we will talk about concepts concerning the resource that makes up 75% of the planet and 75% of your body:
Water.
You’ll learn that, although 75% of the planet is water, only 3% of water is potable (can be consumed), and of that 3%, only a small fraction is available, and of that small fraction, only a small fraction is potable, because the rest is polluted for hundreds of years to come.
You’ll learn how the actions of an illiterate, lice-infested, foul-mouthed peasant on the other side of the globe affects you where you are.
You’ll learn how, unlike oil, water is transferred invisibly from poor to rich by sleight of hand, like paying your utility bill through your online bank account.
You’ll learn how poor water decisions, rather than fossil fuel’s atmospheric effects described in Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, leads to those drybeds of the formerly humongous Aral Sea and along the Amazon.
You’ll learn how to measure the global water impact of any nation, city, corporation, even yourself - to the nearest gallon or liter.
You’ll learn the little changes you can make - the water equivalent of “change your incandescent lightbulbs to compact fluorescent lamps” - and still be able to take your wastefully long showers.
And all of this is for one purpose:
To help you see the Resource Matrix, everywhere, all around you.
And now I would like to offer you free access to powerful info on energy efficiency that’s easy to read and cuts through all this “green” information clutter — so you can literally start making positive changes today.
You can access it now by going to: http://www.a19.com/pub/articles/
From Cinnamon Alvarez: Founder, A19 — woman-owned green manufacturer of hand-made ceramic lighting fixtures
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american idol - green brain
Posted on November 28th, 2009 No comments
Have You Got Earthday Business on Your Mind?
The sun is shining across the hills of West Cork as I listen to the story of Earthday told by a team of evangelists with nothing but Earthday business on their minds. In 2008, visionary Simon Ford started a group to bring like-minded, positive people together in socially conscious activities. He called the group Social Traffic and right now that group has Earthday business on its mind.
The group’s first major campaign centers around Earth Day with an event named, Earthday Birthday a global birthday party for Mother Earth. Earthday 2009 and the celebrations that will go with it is all set to clamor its way across the social media landscape like some all embracing vine, covering the sometimes harsh elements of the online world with a softer, greener facade which many hope will last for more than a lifetime.
Earthday 2009 is a global celebration and a day to spread awareness of people’s destructive impact on the planet. But before you jump right in there and start changing the world on a massive scale here’s a few simple things you can do to make a difference right now, tomorrow and every single day after that.
Here’s my list of top five things to do to celebrate Earthday 2009 and reduce your impact on our planet;
1. Plant a tree or two. If you’re feeling energetic plant a whole field full.
A tree will absorb CO2 and other forms of pollution, provide a home to hundreds of creatures, help to create and retain soil and performs a whole host of other ecological functions. And, in case you needed a reminder, will leave a lasting legacy of your time on the planet.
2. Walk to work for a day, a week or a whole month. You’ll feel better and the earth will be a much healthier place to live too.
You might even want to think about joining a car sharing scheme and make it a permanent part of your work life balance to drive to work only one day a week and sleep the other four in the passenger seat while someone else does all the hard work!
3. Dry your dishes naturally. Turn off the dishwasher at the dryer stage of the cycle and leave your plates and cutlery to dry themselves for a change!
4. Turn off all your plug sockets before bed. Maybe spend the evening in the dark for one day a week and treat the kids to a few ghost stories before bedtime!
5. Don’t be a water importer.
Get rid of your supply of bottled water, keep a jug of fresh tap water in the fridge and reduce the damage we do to the environment by producing plastic bottles to hold gallons of mineral water that tastes no different to the clear, fresh water that is piped through your home.
So, if you’ve got business on your mind this Earthday, perhaps you should take a few minutes to look around you and realise how precious our planet is and how beautiful that small piece of turf is right outside your window.
If you want to know more about this subject and how you can make a difference take a look at this great squidoo lens all about Earth Day Birthday right now.
Neil Ashworth is a member of Simon Ford’s Social Traffic Team who are raising awareness of environmental issues using the power of social media marketing to support the Earth Day Birthday campaign.
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Where Have All the Forests Gone?
Posted on November 27th, 2009 No comments
Where Have All the Forests Gone?
Scientists have discovered that forest trees offer unexpected help in the fight against climate change. Tropical rain forests are soaking up more carbon dioxide pollution that anybody realized. Almost one-fifth of our fossil fuel emissions are absorbed by forests across Africa, the Amazon and Asia, suggests Simon Lewis, a climate expert at the University of Leeds, who led a a laborious study of the girth of 70,000 trees across Africa.
David Ritter, senior forest campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said, “This research reveals how these rain forests are providing a huge service to mankind by absorbing carbon dioxide from our factories, power stations and cars. The case for forest protection has never been stronger.”
And yet we continue to cut them down across the world at an alarming rate!
What will happen when we lose natures best carbon filters?
As a nature nut, I feel compelled to address these very questions in this Earth Day lesson, because up until now, truly had not understood the serious impact we humans have had on the very things in nature that can save us from destruction, like rain forests …up until now, that is.
I’m grateful to have joined an incredibly talented and caring circle of people through on-line social networking who have inspired me to learn all about Earth Day, connect with the people involved in it and take action on what I’ve learned by celebrating Earth Day Birthday. This Earth day Lesson is written with the intention to inspire you to do the same.
Having just recently moved to Australia, I was fortunate enough to experience a wild rain forest filled with several waterfalls on a friend’s property. It was an experience that will stay with me forever because we can not feel the power of a special place like this and not intuitively know we have a duty to protect this amazing life form from destruction. The desire to share the spirit which envelops it is intense!
I intuitively knew I must share the experience, as well as my research as to what has been discovered about rain forests and their role in overcoming the challenge of global warming and the extinction of species.
Is “Deforestation” a Dirty Word?
It’s pretty easy to understand why deforestation has gotten a bad rap!
For example…
- Excessive commercial logging and clear cutting. These obvious moneymaking acts are rampant and the greedy business people make the bottom line their priority, regardless of its illegality and obvious wrong-doing.
- What happens to the animals! Trees are home to many species, including indigenous humans, who suddenly become homeless and often, extinct! Not to mention the demise of many plants which are natural wonders, many with healing properties.
- One major effect of deforestation is climate change. Deforestation has been found to contribute to global warming…the process when climates around the world become warmer as more harmful rays of the sun comes in through the atmosphere.
Changes to the earth as a result deforestation work in various ways:
One fact most people don’t realize is the abrupt change in temperatures it causes in the nearby areas. Forests naturally cool because they help keep moisture in the air. Some forget, also, about the water table underneath the ground. The water table is the common source of natural drinking water by people living around forests. Water table could dry up if not replenished regularly. When there’s rain, forests hold the rainfall to the soil through their roots, then the water sinks in deeper to the ground, replenishing the water table.
What do you suppose will happen when there are not enough forests anymore?
Water from rain will simply flow through the soil surface and not be retained by the soil. Or the water from rain will not stay in the soil longer, since the process of evaporation will immediately set in. Not good, right? I think we’d all agree that the need for drinking water is NOT negotiable.
So, if deforestation is so bad…why are we still allowing it?
Even though the word “deforestation” itself conjures up negativity and destruction, people don’t seem to realize that there are actually quite a few benefits of deforestation.
Just imagine what it would be like to live without the use of lumber. Wood is one of the most basic natural resources, and it is renewable simply by growing more trees. The trick is to balance it’s consumption by growing more trees to replace the ones removed. This is not, however, such an easy task.
With thousands of people losing their jobs, just imagine if the wood industry were to suddenly find themselves jobless. There are the people who cut down trees and process them and those who “clean up” after them. As forest is cut down, arable land becomes available for farmers, or used as an area to place urban living sites like apartments, houses, and buildings. If mandates are made for replanting trees, then jobs are also provided for the people performing that service.
With arable land being valuable for growing food, new land area provides a much needed place to grow a food supply to deal with the planet’s steadily expanding population of humanity. Additional living areas can be converted into more than just housing areas. Buildings can house offices for work, or factories to produce essential items, or even research facilities for things like new new medical or technological advances can end up in these deforested areas.
A colleague of mine, originally from Germany, would make a strong argument for forestry as a full time profession that can maintain a never ending supply of wood, as has been done in Europe for thousands of years. “In these forests, nobody clear cuts anywhere and trees are selectively selected while the rest of the forest remains and new tree-seedlings are put where the cut trees were. Europeans would probably argue that there are so many desert areas in the world that could be populated similar to the valley of the sun around Phoenix where no trees have to be sacrificed.”
Great arguments from both sides, so how do we proceed?
Let’s look at the REAL causes of Global Warming for answers
It comes full circle, back to carbon dioxide and the need for nature’s most effective carbon filter…forests.
Just think…Each time we drive a car, each time we use electricity from coal fired power plants, use natural gas or oil to heat our homes, we cause carbon dioxide (CO2) to be released into the atmosphere, as well as other heat trapping gases. The concentration of CO2 has increased by 31 percent since industrialization of our society and atmospheric methane gas has increased by 151 percent, caused mainly from agricultural activities like growing rice and breeding cattle.
As the concentration of these gases increases more heat is generated and trapped in the atmosphere. The increase in trapped heat alters our climate causing changed weather patterns which can bring unusually intense rainfall (precipitation) leading to flooding and severe storms, long dry spells leading to drought conditions and forest fires the like we just witnessed in the Australia Bush fires of 2009.
So what’s the solution?
There is no one best solution. Humans have been clearing forests over thousands of years for a variety of reasons. Obviously, as the statistics suggest above, much of the bad effects we experience today are happening at warp speed, so we really can’t afford to take our time in changing our ways.
Each of us can do something! Individually we can do small things…but together we can make a huge contribution to creating and implementing positive solutions. One has only to get on-line and Google the terms Earth Day or Earth Day Birthday to research, connect, watch, listen, take part and take action along with millions of other caring souls, government entities, non-profit associations and conscientious companies who are not letting any “grass grow under their feet”.
Earth Day, which was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an “environmental teach-in” in 1970, is celebrated each year on April 22, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues onto the world stage.
Events are happening in every corner of the earth. Attend one!
Mankind needs Mother Earth. Mother Earth needs you to participate! Can you put aside just $10.00 for a gift to give your Mother Earth on her birthday, April 22nd, 2009?
Debbie Ducic, also known as GutZy Woman, gently, supportively and passionately helps “GutZy Women (and Brave men)” overcome their fear and frustration of technology and multimedia marketing in order to be more successful in their businesses, fund raising efforts and lives. Debbie has expanded her reach and her professional resources by becoming an evangelist for socially conscious, eco-minded movements and she can be contacted through her website: http://www.gutzywomen.com . More valuable resources and information from Debbie as well as 49 other GutZy Web Women can be immediately accessed by downloading the “Attraction in Action, Volume 2″ book at her blog: http://www.debbieducic.com
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Recycle, Reuse and Reduce - A Quiz For Families Who Want to Recycle Cans
Posted on November 25th, 2009 No comments
Recycle, Reuse and Reduce - A Quiz For Families Who Want to Recycle Cans
Does you family recycle aluminum cans? Do they do it to get a little extra cash or because it is the responsible thing to do? How much do they, and you, know about what happens to the can after the soda is gone? Here is a quick true and false quiz on recycling. It will only take 2 or 3 minutes to find out what you know and what you need to know about the importance of families recycling.
Circle the answer for each of the 6 questions. Now test the other members of the family.
1. In the time it takes you to read this question, 50,000 12-ounce aluminum cans are made.
True or False
2. When you recycle one aluminum can you save enough energy to equal a half gallon of gasoline?
True or False
3. There is no limit to the amount of times aluminum can be recycled.
True or False
4. We use over 80,000,000,000 (billion!) cans a year.
True or False
5. At one time, aluminum was more valuable than gold.
True or False
6. More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product.
True or False
Surprise! All of the answers are true.
Did you know that for every $10 spent buying things $1 or 10% goes for packaging that is thrown away. Packaging, and that includes aluminum cans, represents 65% of household trash. Wow. What a waste of money and resources. We can do better than that.
Our family is making a special effort to Recycle, Reuse and Reduce. Will you join us in helping to protecting our earth and natural resources? Maybe your family could put up a special box to save aluminum cans for the recycling center.
(c) Judy H. Wright http://www.ArtichokePress.com You have permission to reprint this article in your blog, ezine or offline magazine as long as you keep the content and contact information intact. Thank You.
Artichoke Press is the home site of Judy H. Wright, family relationship coach and author. If your organization would like to schedule Auntie Artichoke, the storytelling trainer, for a workshop please call 406.549.9813.
You are also invited to visit our blog at http://www.AskAuntieArtichoke.com for answers and suggestions which will enhance your relationships. You will also find a full listing of free tele-classes and radio shows held each Thursday just for you.
Thanks for joining our community of caring parents, family members,coaches, teachers and mentors who want to help raise a generation of responsible adults.
Titan Energy launches operations at first solar farm | Cleantech Group
1 MW photovoltaic plant using Suniva’s technology comes online as Indian officials approve target for 20 GW of installed capacity by 2020.
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Astronomy | Speaking of web pages showing scale (OK, it was almost two weeks ago, but still cool), BABloggee Mike Sperry reminded me of this site which shows the solar syst.
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Already the world leader in solar, Germany expects a record in terms of new solar added this year. And now, with the UK set to adopt a national feed-in tariff, some predict heady growth for solar on the island commonwealth.
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Help Save the Environment by Recycling Cans
Posted on November 22nd, 2009 No comments
Help Save the Environment by Recycling Cans
I like walking. Whenever I can I leave the car at home and walk. I walk to the shops, to the library, and many other places as well. Every day I see used aluminum drinks cans dropped on pathways and in hedgerows. If people want to dispose of them this way at least drop them where they can easily be picked up by someone else, and not in a hedgerow or other difficult spot where it is easy to be scratched and prickled by thorns.
Many people have a twinge of conscience about the environment and what we can do voluntarily to help save it. Recycling cans is what we can do easily. All you need do is separate them from the rest of the rubbish and either take them to a recycling centre or leave them in your “recyclables” bin, to be collected by, in our case, the local council.
The one thing we must not do is put them in landfill, because they don’t biodegradable.
Instead of throwing away empty aluminum cans away here are four ways to reuse them.
1. Used ring pull cans could be used as a miniature vase for a flower or two.
2. Rinse out used cans and use them in the garden shed for storing small items such as nails and washers.
3. You could use an old can to practice your putting. Take it to the office and put it on the floor any time you want to practice your putting.
4. Rather than leave your pens and biros scattered all around the house why not put them all together in a used can.
This is just four ideas of what to do with used empty cans. You might well be able to think up many more ideas for recycling cans.
Philip Woodrow is a part time author who writes on a variety of issues of personal interest including: Help save the environment and Recycling cans
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Star News Of monsanto Seeds
Posted on November 21st, 2009 No comments
Recycling Helps Prevent Global Warming
If you want to keep the environment clean then you need to recycle everything you can. You should set aside a few spaces so that you can keep your recyclables in a separate area. All of your water bottles should go into one container so that it will make it easier for you to take them to the recycling center. Also you need to make sure that you recycle all of your chance and glass bottles as well because this will also help the environment. Many people do not know that you can also recycle your old newspaper, you can call to have it picked up each month.
If we are going to prevent global warming than one way that you can take part is to recycle everything you use. the best thing you can do is educate yourself on the best way that you can recycle all of your throwaway items. Maybe some of your old clothes can be donated to Goodwill this way they can be recycled and used again. Make sure that you try to avoid using plastic bags from the grocery store because once they end up in a landfill they can cause a lot of problems. Once you have started a recycle program in your house you will find that it is easy to do.
Remember that if you want to improve the environment you need to recycle everything you can. It always works better if you have specific containers that you use for each of your recyclable items. Once you make a few small steps towards improving the environment you will feel better about yourself.
Get Free: Recycling Advice
Save with: Great Recycling Tips
Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Environmental Issues and Going Green
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Green Tip - Moms Use Clothe Diapers
Posted on November 19th, 2009 No comments
Green Tip - Moms Use Clothe Diapers
Sure, this is a little messier than the easier, disposable version. However, do you even realize the amount of disposable diapers that are filling landfills?? Cloth diapers are a choice that every mother should seriously consider. Let’s look at some facts that are quite alarming…
Disposable Diapers Sobering Facts:
* from birth to about 2-1/2 the average child will go through about 7,300 diapers
* the cost for that is about $2600
* 18 billion diapers enter landfills each year
* disposable diapers make up about 3.4 million tons of trash
* health risks such as fertility issues in males, eyes, nose and throat issues and even asthma-like symptoms have been connected to disposable diapers!
* long term negative affects on animal and water life.
* the chemicals that make disposable diapers white increase the risk of cancer
* affect development
* they use more water. yep. you may need to wash cloth diapers, however, way more water is used making disposable diapers!
* a study, conducted by Anderson Laboratories in 1999 and published in the Archives of Environmental Health, found that disposable diapers release chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and dipentene. They have been shown to have toxic health effects, such as cancer and brain damage, when used over time or high exposure.
* they use 1.3 million tons of wood pulp. that’s about 1/4 million trees every year.
* they take up to 500 years to break down.
* more viruses than you want to know about…including polio, survive for two weeks or more after disposed of.
There are many many many more reasons to avoid disposable diapers. However, I think our readers are intelligent and the above information is enough to get you thinking! Research for yourself. You will be shocked!
Go for organic natural reusable cloth diapers. You will not only be helping the environment and saving money, you will also protect your sweet precious love bugs from harm!
Copyright © Green Christian Network, All Rights Reserved
About the Author: Cindy Taylor is a Christian stay at home Mom who love the Lord and cares about God’s planet. You can see her passion and writing at her website, Green Christian Network (http://greenchristiannetwork.com).
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It is a Real Threat: Hazardous Waste
Posted on November 16th, 2009 No comments
It is a Real Threat: Hazardous Waste
For those staying in urban and suburban areas, we enjoy the regular collection of waste and recyclable materials. However, what most of us are not aware is the waste that is brought to dumps is actually many times more toxic than it was 30 years ago.
Hazardous Home Wastes
It is surprising just how toxic our world has become in just a few years. Synthetic chemicals didn’t even exist in any significant numbers before the turn of the 20th century. In the past, home furnishings were made of natural materials, such as carpets, pillows, curtains, bath items and towels. The things that are in the most and close contact with us each day, especially those made before 1980, were made of sustainable and renewable resources.
However, this is no longer true today. Every time when we replace our furnishing, we are trashing away materials that could contain chemicals, such as batteries and electronics. These home wastes are part of the hazardous waste brought to dumps each day.
Hazardous Waste In Overwhelmed landfills
In many countries, the problem of hazardous waste is compounded by the crisis of overwhelmed landfills. The danger from this waste getting loose in the environment is even more serious and precarious than ever. Increased danger of containment systems being breached is very real.
As pressure on forest and agricultural lands mounts, erosion due to major storm events could unleash these toxins into the ecosystems that is already fragile and damaged. Hazardous waste is becoming an acute problem beyond management in many countries.
Ben provides consultancy to real and virtual estate owners. Eco-Renewable Resources is one of Ben’s interest, with particular business focus on Sustainable Development
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Solar-panel maker plans HQ in Valley, Chinese solar-panel manufacturer Suntech Power Holdings Co. announced Sunday night that it would locate its North American headquarters and manufacturing facilities in the Valley, …
Greentech Media: Solar Research Hits the Sunshine State
Florida now claims to be home to the country’s largest solar-panel installation. One of its cities, Gainesville, was the first in the United States to adopt a solar incentive policy that resembles the kind that has made Europe the …
Image courtesy of M&M® Solar Project Little known fact: Green M&Ms® are actually â??greenâ? â?? made by solar power! The reason it’s little known is probably because it’s not exactly, li.
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Save the Planet by Becoming Energy Efficient
Posted on November 12th, 2009 No comments
Save the Planet by Becoming Energy Efficient
Save the planet! As Earth Day approaches April 22, what are you doing to get ready? Earth day is an event that started to bring attention to our environment. How we handle our garbage reflects our environment. Here are three tips to help save our environment.
- First, recycle. Recycling is taking some of our garbage and reusing it, directly or indirectly. To recycle a water bottle, you may reuse it again and again. But for gallon milk jugs or 2 liter soft drink bottles, you may opt to collect them and bring them to a recycling center. The recycling center will forward them on to a company that will melt them down and reprocess them.
- Second, shop efficiently. Try using what your Grandma used when she cleaned her house. Try using vinegar and baking soda. There are lots of sites that recommend natural cleaning products instead of chemicals. Also, buy those products in bulk. It reduces packaging which ends up in our garbage dumps and it may be cheaper, the more you buy, the cheaper it is.
- Third, conservation. Since I already have compact fluorescent light(CFL) bulbs installed, turning off the lights when I leave is the next best thing. My Mom always told me to turn off lights when I leave a room. She was right. Using more electricity only raises your electric bill. It will also increase your carbon footprint.
Education is a goal of Earth Day. Educating everyone from adults to children can get involved. Challenge your kids to come up with projects to bring attention to our environment. When we teach our next generation, we are saving our planet. But first, we must start ourselves. Be a steward of what God gave you. Become energy efficient by recycling and conservation. Our planet is worth it.
And now I would like to invite you to join me in learning energy saving tips you can do yourself to decrease your electric bill at http://energyconsciousconsultant.com Energy conservation should be out goal.
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Believe Me The Honey Bee Crisis is Bad!
Posted on November 11th, 2009 No comments
Believe Me The Honey Bee Crisis is Bad!
“My Oh My” this is getting serious. What is happening to our honey bees? We have been starting to see the actual effects of the honey bee decline after placing our last order for bulk beeswax. As a manufacturer of natural beeswax lip balms and candles we have always been getting our beeswax here in our home state of Florida and last month was the first time we had to order from outside the sunshine state. Is this due to the rapid decline in honey bees or are we just worrying too much? Well facts are facts and we have some serious problems with the honey bee decline. Why are the bee colonies down as much as 60% we ask? Well it does seem that bees and humans may have something in common. Nutrition is as vital to us as it may be to the honey bees and it is possible that the bees are undernourished which may be the cause of the problem. Many states are seeing less dense bee hives and this may be contributed to the lack of nutrition the bees are getting.
Another possible cause of the honey bee crisis may be the pesticides that are being used. Many hives die as a result of “pesticide poisoning”. There are literally billions of honey bees dying prematurely and the source must be found before this world suffers severely. The honey bee only has a six week life cycle in the summer, three weeks inside the hive and three weeks outside, but many are not even making it to the fourth week.
So yet another possible source of this dilemma is the huge rise in cell phone stations and also cell phone use. Some are claiming the huge growth of clogged air waves with cellular waves may be disturbing the bees and causing the early deaths. Stephen C. Sharp who has been studying this problem for many weeks while not a scientist gives no personal merit to this cause. He states “Cellular phones have been around for long enough to see a potential problem with the bees. This problem came like a train wreck. I think there would have been many initial signs if the cellular wavebands were the source of the bee problem.”.
Other topics that have been thrown around as to the potential source of the bee crisis has been a virus or possibly mites that have worked their way into the bee colonies. Whatever the cause it must be isolated and controlled. Bottom line is if the bees all die maybe we will too! Bees are the only source to carry pollen of various fruits and nuts. Many plants do not reap the benefits of wind travel for pollination therefore if the bees vanish so does much of our food supply. We would begin to see a decline in new plants, brush, flowers, crops, and more. The honey bee gets food such as nectar and pollen from flowers and in turn pollinates the flower which allows the plant to reproduce. No bees, no reproduction!
Sincerely,
Stephen C. Sharp
Port Orange, Florida
On sale at wholesale prices buy over 1200 premium organic certified herbs, spices, roots, leafs, barks, and more. Visit us online at http://www.SharpWebLabs.com today. Florida Herb House is centrally located in Port Orange, Florida and specializes in retail and wholesale distribution of herbs, gourmet culinary spices, natural seaweed, essential oils, organic coffee, herbal tinctures, organic mushrooms and powders, liquid ionic minerals, beeswax candles and lip balms, and much more.


