Green Living Tips

Do you care about the environment and your health, but want to be stylish with your home décor at the same time? Luckily, there are plenty of green living options that can be implemented in your home in order to create a great look while remaining eco-friendly.

Making Sustainable Choices

Making sustainable choices are an important component of green living. Making sustainable choices means purchasing products that don’t cause a negative impact on the environment and that will not make it more difficult for future generations to continue to sustain themselves. Making sustainable choices during the design process is referred to as 'green design' or 'sustainable design'. Some great sustainable choices to consider when decorating include:

• Natural stone counter tops
• Cabinets and other products made from woods such as bamboo, eucalyptus, or recycled wood
• Carpet made from natural fibers, such as wool and cotton, or made from recycled materials
• Green-friendly paint and home wallpaper, which is being offered by a growing number of manufacturers
• Antiques – after all, they are being recycled!

You don’t have to create a bland and boring home décor in order to enjoy green living. In fact, there are numerous options out there that will allow you to make your home look great while still protecting the planet.

Appliances for Green Living

When it comes to green living, a great place to start is in your kitchen. Remodeling can add a great deal of value to your home, can make it more functional and attractive, and can help you make your home more eco-friendly.

When buying for your kitchen, look for modern appliances to help bring your home up-to-date. By purchasing those appliances with the Energy Star rating, you can potentially cut the amount of energy you use to power those appliances in half. Adding faucet aerators to your kitchen and bathroom faucets will also help reduce the amount of water you use while still providing you with a high pressure stream of water.

Obtaining Green Products

Fortunately, green living is rapidly growing in popularity. In response, many manufacturers are offering lines of eco friendly products that can be used for decorating purposes. In addition, a growing number of online and offline stores that are dedicated solely to green living are becoming a more common occurrence.

Although it may take a little more time and effort to find and purchase eco products for your home, the effort will be worth it. Not only will you be doing your part to help conserve and protect the environment, green living is better for your health and can save you money in the long run.

What Everyone Should Know About Renewable Energy

It has long been observed and proven that nature has already provided man with enough resources for energy—sunlight, geothermal heat, tides, and wind. Because these energy are abundant, in fact, so abundant that they could be replenished perpetually, they have come to be known as renewable energy.

Though extended discussions about renewable energy and its sources can become winded and more complex, every average person interested enough should at least know the basics in order to grasp the concept of how incredibly beneficial these energy sources are.

Man has long harnessed the power of wind and had applied it for practical purposes, albeit in smaller scale such as the power produced in windmills. Current technologies had long converted these simple renewable energy mechanisms to develop wind farms that generate energy supply without the associated risk of pollution
. A lot of wind farms have been established in the United States and abroad to generate electricity. This provides proof on the increasing attraction of using wind power as source of renewable energy while decreasing environment risks and hazards. One critical consideration in establishing wind farms would the presence of constant strong winds, which is why many wind farms are located in elevated areas and even offshore locations are considered viable settings for this kind of renewable energy facility.

Renewable energy from water comes in many different forms. The most common would be the hydroelectric energy that is generated by waterfalls while some areas of the world also generate micro hydro systems that produce smaller amounts of electricity. Renewable energy is also tapped from currents deep under the ocean. This is termed as tidal stream power and several technologies have been developed to harness these viable source. Other sources of renewable energy generated from oceans would be tidal changes, temperature difference, tidal motions, and of course, waves.

Another viable renewable energy source is sunlight, which earth certainly has in abundance. There are numerous technologies developed to tap the solar energy and convert it into electricity, heating systems, and even cooling systems. Though most of these technologies are still in the initial stages, there is no denying the potential benefits promised by this renewable energy source. One of the leading concerns is cost of the materials used, though several affordable yet more efficient designs are still expected to be introduced into the market.

A lot of geothermal power plants had been built and have long been operational in several parts of the world. This is because this source of renewable source of energy generates power at low operating cost. Though some experts may contend that geothermal energy would not last as long as the others and is technically not renewable, it is still expected to provide large amount of power for a long time, even for a hundred years or so. However, it is still classified as a renewable energy source by the International Energy Agency and, like all other sources mentioned above, geothermal energy is reliable and environmentally friendly.

Though none of the renewable energy sources are considered to compete with fossil fuels just yet, it still provide some form of alternative for environmentally conscious individuals and communities in doing their share of lessening environmental degradation and destruction, something we can all ultimately derive benefits from.

Is There A Pattern Forming Here?

"Green Building" is a broad term used to describe the design and construction of sustainable and environmentally conscious buildings.

The driving force behind this is to lower our negative impact on the environment and, at the same time, make the buildings we live and work in safer and healthier for us.

According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) statistics,`buildings are responsible for all of the following:

* 39% of US carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions

* 70% of US electricity consumption

* 15 trillion gallons of water consumption



Even though there is still some controversy over the effect of greenhouse gases on the environment, the last two statistics are very important for those of us living in urban areas experiencing continuous growth, especially the American Southwest. With our population expansion, aging water and electrical infrastructure, and shrinking landfills, designing and constructing green and sustainable buildings makes practical sense from a utilitarian perspective.

In fact, USGBC data shows that green buildings use 36% less energy, require fewer raw materials, and divert less waste to our landfills. Furthermore, the "increased" cost of green building is only one or two percent more expensive than a conventional building. This minute difference exemplifies the tangible and long-term benefits of sustainable design, primarily due to the fact that green buildings conserve water and electricity. Thus, while they are more expensive to build, green structures will save money by conserving more energy over time.

Another push towards the green build movement is by local governments. More and more municipalities
are adopting the USGBC LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines for new
and renovated buildings. In 2006, at the USGBC Greenbuild expo, the Mayor of Denver challenged other major cities to see who can have the most LEED® certified green buildings. They are accomplishing this by offering tax breaks to private corporations and mandating sustainable construction for city-financed projects.

This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of sustainable projects built by LEED® Certified general contractors. However, this growth has not come without challenges. Currently, the following issues are restricting the number of green projects being built:

* Increased demand for green products has lead to long lead times

* New and unspecified materials are labeled “green” products which are not necessarily certified

* Building officials are struggling with a steep learning curve on how to evaluate these new products and sustainable building techniques



Despite these difficulties, the USGBC, sustainability advocates, and green building construction management firms are meeting to overcome these challenges.

The LEED® process is constantly under review and continues to adopt the latest codes and products. This includes Standard 189, a new minimum standard for green building. The USGBC is currently developing LEED® 3.0 and working with national code writers to include new products and techniques.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has even rolled out a new initiative called "Sustainability 2030," which at its roots, is looking to design all buildings by the year 2030 as carbon neutral. The USGBC has even initiated the Green Advantage Builders Certification for contractors to certify their knowledge in green building
techniques.

So what does green building mean at the end of the day? It's simple yet profound: Do the right thing for you, the environment, and the next generation. While most companies are concerned with their bottom line, they ought to embrace the idea that energy and water conservation, green building, and the use of "green materials" in construction stands to increase their savings over time while positioning them as a leader in environmental stewardship.

According to the USGBC, we spend 90% of our time indoors. Due to this fact, scientists have identified an increase in allergies, asthma, absenteeism from school, and even work. There have been numerous studies done on post occupancy productivity levels, which have increased within "green" built facilities. Not only does
green adaptation result in less sick days taken, but also shows an increase in productivity, job
satisfaction, and in the case of schools, better grades.

Who Am I?

That is the million dollar question each one of us could be asking ourselves. I wonder every morning for about an hour!! I then get along about my day and realize all these things I do, ideals I entertain and people I interact with and . . .and . . .and STILL I wonder who I am.

That said; I am passionate about a lot of things. I am passionate about people, politics, the earth, my children, God as I do or do not understand Him . . .Me . . . I Am. . .We Are . . . and last but not least my wife of 16 years.

I started this blog because I need some ways to advertise a web site where I'll be selling goods to the world of a sustainable nature. There are many other things I'll need to do of course but I needed to start somewhere so here I am. I would dearly love to make enough from this venture to stay home and run the business. Currently I only make it home every two weeks to see my family; my occupation keeps me traveling constantly. Someday!!!

On the political front I don't see much happening. In one corner we have McCain accusing Obama of being Brittany Spears and in the other corner we have Barak saying no he isn't. In reality McCain's ideas on solutions for our energy crisis don't appear to be all that far removed from Bush's. I think that it is very hard to pigeon hole McCain in the same hole as Bush even if they are from the same party. Let me put it a different way; had McCain applied for a job with the federal judicial system under the rule of Bush, he would have been turned down. All in all McCain is an alright guy. I had breakfast at the same table with him while in Antarctica and he is probably the most genuine human being in politics I'll ever meet personally in my lifetime. He is a very unassuming man; a man that is where he is because he is trying to accomplish a task not make a name for himself.

Barak, on the other hand, stands for change; change that is long overdue. Bush has made such a mess out of things that ANYBODY would be a welcome change at this point. The trouble is; does Obama understand what he is getting into and what it will take to straighten out the mess we are in. The economy is way out of whack our deficit is quoted as anywhere from 3.5 triillion (from the conservative estimates) to 9.5 trillion (taking in consideration what is owed to Social Security and some other things). In any event it is a mess and Barak will need some talented help if he is going to get America back on track. I'm not sure he can put together the right team.

Personally I think the next superpower will be the European Union. There is no way around it. They have largely stood back while the U.S. has tried to bail itself out of George Bush's war and we have borrowed ourselves back into a corner. The E.U., excepting the British, have been wise in staying out of a situation that can only end in humiliation.

We, as a nation, have the opportunity right now to take back our place as the worlds superpower. All we need to do is expend more resources in the direction of sustainable energy. To build whatever it takes to power the world into the next millennium is the challenge we must accept. The American people have the knowledge and innovation to do exactly that; provided they can get the funding to do it.

Oil Reserves

What makes Obama think selling oil reserves will solve any of the problems we have with oil today. Is it just a band-aid to lower prices temporarily? He can't be serious! It must be just a political ploy to get headlines. I thought he was an eloquent enough speaker to command headlines without pulling some lame stunt like that.

A couple of months ago, when Hillary thought we should shake loose of some reserves, Obama claimed it would do nothing for the prices or reserve stockpiles. Now he has taken an about face on the issue.

Come on Obama! What's with you anyway? How has our situation changed that we can now sell oil reserves and fix the oil problem. It hasn't! Your just looking for press!

It is a well known fact that oil prices today have a built in speculation cushion of about 30%. In other words, without speculators manipulating the prices they would be considerably lower. Even at that; how significant would it be. I say notta! At $2.80 per gallon; gas would still be to high. There just is not enough money in a consumers pocket to pay that price for gas continually. Add to it escalating prices at the grocery store and other places and it is clear; we need to do something drastic. Selling oil reserves is not it and neither is drilling off shore.

Drilling off shore will not fix the problem. We need drastic policy shifts of a green nature along with the incentives to draw serious investors out of the woodwork with enough capitol to dive into wind & solar power with the tenacity it takes to come out the other side with a workable solution that will at least LOOK like there may be some hope for a greener sustainable future.

If we end up taking a back seat on a global scale; it will only be the fault of the few holding the controlling interest in the oil supply in the USA. It doesn't have to be that way. We had what it took during the industrial revolution to see far enough to put us ahead of the curve far enough for it to last into this century. Now let's do it again. We are the free thinkers of the world. Come on; we can do it.