Grace the Earth With Green

The Illusion of Variety in Consumer Products

2011-08-21T19:24:00.006-04:00

As people walk up and down the isles at the store, they throw items into their carts - shampoo, bottled water, toothpaste, detergent - but how often do they stop and think: where did this item come from? Most people don't. I know I didn't. That was until I looked at a bottle of Lipton tea and realized that it was made by Unilever, a company I hadn't even heard of before. I got curious, and started to look at the labels of a lot of the household objects in my apartment and found that many of them were being produced from the same company.

It is interesting to notice that there are so few companies that make many of the major name brand products that we are familiar with. Take Proctor and Gamble, for example, or Unilever.

Proctor and Gamble produces all of the following name brand products:

Pantene
Herbal Essences
Aussie
Pert
Head and Shoulders
Ivory
Crest
Scope
Oral-B
Bounce
Cascade
Charmin
Comet
Dawn
Downy
Febreeze
Gain
Mr. Clean Tide
Swiffer
Joy
Puffs
Pringles
Covergirl
Tampax
Always
Gilette
Venus
Secret
Olay
Duracell
Eukanuba
Iams
Pampers
Vics
Ace

How many of these names is familiar to you? Did you know that they made all of these products, before you read this post? Although these are not all of the name brands that Proctor and Gamble produces (if you want to know more, they list all of their products on the Proctor and Gamble website) it covers a good majority of them.

So why is it large companies or corporations don't produce all of their products under their name? Its all one big magic trick. Its all about creating the illusion for consumers, that there is variety, and that they are in control. But this illusion, often covers the truth about a given product. The truth that consumers really don't have as much control about the products they buy as they think they do. The truth that the money you paid for the product is going to this huge corporation and not to a smaller business.

The illusion of variety is seen anywhere you shop, with all sorts of products, foodstuffs, clothing....just look around a little and you'll see that they have, really pulled the wool over our eyes in some ways, whether intentional or not.

The Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch

2011-08-17T13:43:00.003-04:00

Just something I heard on the news the other day and I thought might be interesting to share.
Here is a link to one of the articles on the "garbage patch" that I found on the Mother Nature Network: Garbage Patch

When my dad was watching the news last night, the words "great garbage patch" and "ocean" caught my attention and I wandered over to the couch from the kitchen. On the news, they spoke about how trash in China and Japan is ending up along our Western coastline, traveling by the ocean currents. I didn't catch much more than that, but this topic sort of follows up on a previous article I did on how plastic was hurting aquatic life, so I thought it would be appropriate to mention, and did a little more searching on it.

Plastic, especially, does a lot of damage, but there are other things that an animal often mistakes for food and cannot digest that are also lethal, or things that they get caught in like nets and fishing line. Being that there is 100 million tons of garbage now floating in our oceans, who knows what kind of damage this is causing. Yes. 100 million tons of garbage. Of course, this is only an estimate, but such a monumental number should be attracting more attention. Studies have yet to be done on exactly how this is effecting fish and other aquatic populations, but we can speculate that it is likely having some effect on declining populations.

The largest problem this poses is that the ocean is so large that it is impossible to drag nets and pick it all up, and most of it lies right beneath the surface, where it is difficult to see from above. Some of the floating garbage is turning up along our coasts, but there is little that we can do to remove it. So what do we do about it? Prevent the garbage from washing out, or even prevent it from being created in the first place. No garbage = no waste = no landfills = no garbage pollution.

The Reading List: Must reads for the environmentally conscious

2011-08-12T23:18:00.003-04:00

Here are some books that I have read so far that I consider to be must reads for anyone interested in the environment. Many of these are not only interesting, but they are good reads as well. Not all non-fiction books have to be boring....just saying....

1. Hot Flat and Crowded by: Thomas Friedman
2. Omnivores Dilemma by: Michael Pollan
3. The Weather Makers by: Tim Flannery
4. The Party's Over by: Richard Heinburg

More Stumbleupon: The Story of Bottled Water

2011-08-12T22:30:00.008-04:00

And the verdict on bottled water vs. tapwater is??? Drumroll please.....

Ta da! Tap water! Less expensive and more sustainable as well.

Tap water is cleaner, tastes better and is not a product of commercialism and industry. Bottled water on the other hand, is. In the 1970's soda and related industries were concerned about their revenue leveling off. So, they had to come up with another product to sell, and people could only drink so much soda. Scaring people about tap water and that bottled water was purer, and tasted better, the companies "manufactured demand" for the new product. Bottled water companies are constantly selling us lies about the location of where their water is extracted from and how good it is. Where does most of the water from bottled water come from anyway? The tap! Thats right. The tap. And you are paying 2,000 x more for regular tap water if you buy bottled water than you would be if you just getting it from your kitchen sink. Not to mention bottled water isn't FDA regulated......

Take this into consideration:

1 million cars could be fueled by the amount of gasoline used to make plastic water bottles each year

Not including the gas it takes to transport it.

And to transport the bottles again when they go to the landfill, or to be "recycled" (this could mean that it is being shipped overseas instead, depending on where you live).

So next time you reach for the water bottle. Think twice. Take a reusable one instead.

Here is a link to the cool video, if you don't feel like reading ....:The Story of bottled water

Back from Ireland!

2011-07-18T14:07:00.005-04:00

Ireland is probably one of the most beautiful places on Earth that I've ever visited. It has this surreal quality to the landscape that even pictures don't do the justice in capturing. Often times, especially along a road known as "Sky Drive" while we were spending time in Galway, took you into a totally different mindset. Often you'd have to ask your self: Is this real? Am I really here? Sloping countryside, crisscrossed with stone walls leading down to the water below, the water almost a crystal blue hue, sparkling in radiance as the sun peaked down between the clouds to shine upon it. Really breathtaking. If you ever get the chance to go to Ireland, I would encourage you to take this drive. In comparison, I'd consider the "spectacular" Ring of Kerry to be completely over-hyped.

A fairly new country with a constitution only just established sometime in the 1930's, Ireland is still a little behind on the times. Thatched roofs were still the norm up until the 1960's, and the last place in Ireland to receive electricity in Black Valley was only about 20 years ago. But maybe this is what makes up the charming allure of the green landscape, dotted with sparse trees, lots of rocks and dotted with white specks of sheep. Most people today are still farmers, living out in the country side, harvesting turf for burning, or raising cattle or sheep. Major businesses are centered in the major cities like Dublin or Cork. The abandoned churches, friary's, castles and abbeys are most spectacular, telling stories of a time gone by. Ireland is definitely one of the world's hidden gems and a place worth adding to your list of places to visit.

Ireland - A Vacation in Paradise

2011-07-01T17:30:00.004-04:00

Heading off with the family tomorrow for a two week vacation in one of the greenest places on the earth! Ireland. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees for nice weather. Rain and wind are in the forecast for most of the days that we will be in Galloway. But, all the same, Ireland has been a place that I have always wanted to go. Maybe its the allure of the green, rolling hills, the old stone buildings, the ocean, or the rich history and culture. I have never really been able to ever explain exactly why.

Its going to be an interesting trip, for sure. Its the first time any of us have driven on the left side of the road, and of course, most of our trip is driving around the southern part of Ireland. Oy. Nobody's allowed to crash the rental car. Please nobody crash the rental car. *cough cough* It will also be the first time most of us, minus dad, has flown first class, and the first time for all of us, for staying at a bed and breakfast. We're all super excited!

In any case, I'm sure there will be many stories to tell, and many pictures to share when I get back. See you all in two weeks!

Appalachian State's Solar Homestead and the Solar Decathlon

2011-07-01T16:00:00.000-04:00

This topic ties back to myself more personally than many of the things that I have written about in the past. I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity in such a large and what I consider to be, a significant event.

For my Sustainable Development class which I took during the spring semester, we were required to have a given amount of volunteer hours as part of the course requirements. We were given no restrictions to what we could do, or what organization that we had to volunteer for, except for that it had to relate, somehow, back to the class.

Having gotten recently involved with the school newspaper as a photographer at the end of the fall semester, I had heard that the Appalachian State would be taking part of the 2011 Solar Decathlon competition.

I had no idea what the Solar Decathlon even was, at first, when I was given the assignment to photograph the Solar Homestead headquarters. But I had heard, from some people in the publication office, that it had something to do with solar homes, and at the time, that was enough. They had me hooked. I wanted to know more.

Just taking photographs just wasn't going to be enough to fill my appetite. After talking a little with a few people at the headquarters, I walked away with a business card, some names, and an email address.

Before I had even signed up for the class, I had emailed them about possibly volunteering. I had never heard back. But the class gave me even more of a reason to try again. This time I heard back from them and returned to start designing flyers and brochures for our school's Solar Homestead.

With my foot in the door, I started learning about what the Solar Decathlon was all about. Here is what I found out:

Held since 2002, the US Department of Energy started the Solar Decathlon as a clean energy initiative. It uses the underlying idea that education is the ultimate foundation to any sort of change, and is a competition which is helping to teach college students, as well as the general public, about sustainable construction and the potential of solar energy in powering buildings.

Every other year, 20 collegiate teams are chosen from around the world to compete in designing, building, and operating their own solar homes. This year five countries and four continents will be represented in total, when all of the teams gather for the final leg of the competition on the National Mall's West Potomac Park in Washington, DC from September 23 to October 2.

One of these 20 teams chosen to compete for the 2011 competition was a university recognized by the Princeton Review as one of the greenest universities in the country: Appalachian State. Since being admitted to the competition, the school has managed to assemble a large collaborative body of student, professor, and community volunteers to run this project. Funded mostly in part by private sponsors, the ASU Solar Homestead team is working on designing and constructing their solar home for the fall competition.

The home being constructed by the university is reflective of the traditional outdoor living lifestyle of the Appalachian Mountain region. The 1000 square foot, two bedroom, one bath home is largely made up of what are known as Outbuilding Modules, or OM's, which constitute for 800 square feet of the design. Not seen in any other solar home designs submitted to the competition, these OM's are unique to the Solar Homestead. They will be built to function independently from the main structure, both structurally, and functionally, serving multiple functions such as acting as a car port, storage space, or outdoor seating area. But by far the largest contribution that the Outbuilding Modules have to offer, is that they will be providing all of the energy to the home, thanks to the high tech and highly efficient bi-faced photovoltaic solar panels installed in the canopy of the OM's

http://thesolarhomestead.com/

I personally believe that the Solar Decathlon will have a big impact on energy systems and home design and construction in the next few upcoming years, especially as we are learning that we have to start moving away from being dependent from old and "dirtier" resources such as oil and coal. We are designing the future, and I am both grateful and proud to say that I have been a part of it.

Allergy Shots = Ending up doing less productive things....

2011-07-01T14:03:00.000-04:00

After getting my allergy shots this morning, my arms decided that they didn't really like the shots and I had bumps larger than golf balls in all three places where I'd been pricked. *Sigh* So, rather than doing more productive things, I was stuck at the computer with one arm holding up an ice pack to either one arm or the other for about an hour. My mouse clicker ended up wandering from facebook to CNN.com to YouTube and I came across this video. I thought it was funny and thought you all might enjoy it. Its part of the second episode in the Tag Your Green Roadtrip Series.

The Discovery of Stumbleupon

2011-06-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

So I have finally discovered Stumbleupon. Let me tell you this right now, it has the ability to keep you entertained for hours. So if you are looking for something to do, maybe you should check it out. But for those of you who have things better to do, be warned.

However, it has been good, especially when I've been at a lack of ideas on what to blog on. Many times you discover things you've never even heard of before. And, it all relates to things you are interested in. Check off topics that you like (art, environment, music, history, computers etc.) and it pulls up all sorts of sites. Maybe this is why its so easy to get caught up in it.

Ok. Ok. So what does this have to do with the topic of my blog? Well, it was more or less a "stumble" I made a few days ago, across the idea that there is a whole new culture that is emerging in the U.S. and other places around the world. A culture of people who have chosen to live off the grid.

Now, what does "off the grid mean", well, it means not being dependent on power companies to supply energy, growing your own garden, going back to the old ways of living.

There is even websites which are solely devoted to teaching people how they can live off the grid, and about those who already are and how they are doing it.

http://www.off-grid.net/section/off-grid-101/

I think its an interesting concept, especially in a world where many of us are struggling with the economy. Not having to pay for electricity or city water can be a cut back on many costs. (Using a well and installing alternative energy sources can be a solution to these) Of course, not all of us are going to be wiling to go completely off the grid, and give up on many of the amenities that we are so dependent upon to make our lives easier. I for one, would be willing to try it, but I don't know if I would be able to live that way.

Each to his own, right?...But you don't have to give up modern living completely...check out this video....

More Blah Blah Blah About Saving Green

2011-06-28T19:21:00.000-04:00

I know that most of you by now, are probably tired of all of the blab about global warming this, climate change that, do this to be green, cut back on emissions yada yada yada. At this point, many of these terms are just starting to fade into the background, and when someone says "save the earth" or "go green", its so easy to simply ignore them. They've become a part of so many marketing terms and commercials, which we tend to ignore in the first place, that we no longer really differentiate between the two. For those of us who still feel strongly about the lack of action that we feel is taking place, or things should be learning, doing, or teaching, I think that it is about time for a different approach. For those who don't really care, you should probably stop reading this....

How are problems that we are having, related to the environment, related to our everyday lives? Think about it...think about it....have an idea? Yup, its economics. Its money. Just continually spitting out terms and facts and information on seemingly irrelevant information is not going to change anyone, or anything. What we should be talking and writing about is: How we can save money, how we can improve the economy, how we can create new jobs.

Sadly enough, economics seems to be what our world revolves around nowadays, whether we like it or not. Money makes the world go round. So why not change the old talk about the environment and global warming into talk about economics? Now, I'm not saying to abandon these terms and all the facts and all the blah blah blah, its important we know what is really going on. But if we could just change the approach, and change the way the topic is being marketed.

How are we going to do this? You may ask. Simple. Literally find ways how "going green" will save the green. Money I mean. The problem right now, is that upfront, most things which are considered to be better for the environment are expensive, like solar panels for example, and most people don't wish to spend that much money all at once. Show them that in the long run that they will be saving money, and show them examples and how much, and they might be more convinced.

Lost for other examples as to how going green can save you? Here are a few obvious ones that I'm sure you've heard of before, you know...the usual blah blah blah about saving energy and such:

air dry your laundry, rather than running the dryer
buy a water-saving or water efficient washer and other energy efficient appliances
don't run the water for longer than you need it
turn off the lights when you walk out of the room
don't use plastic plates, cups or silverware - they cost money vs. washing dishes
avoid using paper towels and paper napkins as much as possible - use hand towels, sponges, or cloth napkins to clean up the mess instead
eat your leftovers - rather than making something new
eat at home as often as possible - eating out is expensive and wasteful in many cases
take the bus, train or other public transit system when possible - it is often cheaper to pay for a $10 bus ticket rather than paying for the $20 or $30 in gas it would take you to go the same route
don't buy water bottles - they may be tempting, but using a reusable one saves you lots
re-use grocery bags as trash bags - rather than buying trash bags
adjust water temperature settings in your home - hot water makes up a good portion of the cost for heating
switch to a hybrid car - again something which is expensive up front, but really saves you in the long run...rather than paying $40 or more to fill up your tank you'll pay closer to $10
repair, when possible, rather than buying new
improve insulation in your home
borrow books rather than buying new ones, or read it through Kindles/iPads/online
have a garage sale, rather than throwing away - someones trash is someone else's treasure, right?

More examples that you might not have heard of:

install solar panels - they may be expensive upfront, but they start paying for themselves within about 7-8 years
make your own cleaning products - vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice make efficient alternatives to spending more on grocery store brands, and they work just as well
collect runoff from rainwater to flush your toilets - saves on water and money toward your water bill
if you own a business and you do advertising through brochures, business cards etc.. consider your target audience and send your advertisements to those who more specifically fit your criteria...rather than spending to print and send 20,000 pamphlets and get only a 15% return rate
Go paperless, when possible, and do your advertising, brochures, paperwork, revisions etc. through the computer only
replace PC's with desktops - they use much less energy to run

I'm sure there's much more that I haven't listed. But I hope its enough to get you started....and remember...think save green...not go green. Saving green saves green, going green does nothing.

A-Z of Global Warming and Environmental Issues

2011-06-28T18:49:00.000-04:00

Alternative energy sources

Biofuel is not green after all, especially not ethanol

Carbon Dioxide

Deforestation

Emissions cap - will it help?

Flooding is becoming more common and more severe

Groundwater contamination

Heating of the earth and oceans

Ice caps melting

Just ignore it, many don't believe that we are humans are causing environmental problems

Kids and generations after us will have to deal with the problems we leave behind us

Loss of biodiversity

Meat industry contributes to many environmental problems

Need to take action

Ocean and sea levels rising

Pollution of air, water, and soils

Questions on how to fix, stop and solve environmental problems

Rising sea levels

Smart grid

Thinning ozone layer

UV Rays

Very controlling corporations - over our resources and our decision making

Weather pattern changes

X it off the list.... loss of species

You can be the change we want to see

Z zzzzz....bees are disappearing - they are essential to our daily life and food production

As Earth Warms, Trees May Absorb More Carbon

2011-06-26T17:55:00.000-04:00

A recent study that was released shows that a warmer environment may cause trees to actually absorb more carbon dioxide than they do now. Research done on a small part of the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts, where the environment was artificially warmed by about 9 degrees. The warmer atmosphere caused the nitrogen cycle to speed up, freeing up inorganic nitrogen which the tree uses as nutrients more quickly, and therefore causing trees to grow faster and absorb more carbon as it grows.

Proof of this can already be seen in the old, untouched tropical rainforest's in Africa, where trees are getting bigger. These old forests absorb about a fifth of the total carbon emitted by burning fossil fuels, or about 4. 8 billion tons of CO2 each year. However, we cannot be solely dependent on the trees ability to soak up enough carbon to clean up our atmosphere, and still must be reminded to take some responsibly on how much CO2 we are emitting. We still release about 32 billion tones of it per year, 15 billion of which stays in the atmosphere, while the rest of it is absorbed into the ocean, soils and soaked up by the trees.

It is certainly an interesting concept, and good news for us, if the study turns out to be correct. But it does not deter the fact that the warming of the earth is still going to cause a myriad of other problems.

Sources:

1. cleantechnicia.com/2011/06/27/nasa-map-tracks-carbon-stored-in-tropical-forests/

2. www.necjogha.org/news/2009-03-11/trees-getting-bigger-absorbing-more-carbon

3. www.digitaljournal.com/article/307404

Creative Corner - Newspaper Basket

2009-07-23T18:01:00.000-04:00

I "stumbled" across this website the other day. I thought it was a rather neat way of recycling your newspaper. Rather just putting it in the recycle bin, use your newspaper to create a unique-looking basket. Check it out!!

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/47658/the-times-they-are-a-changing-how-to-make-a-basket-from-a-newspaper

Synthetic Carbon Eating "Trees"

2009-07-21T21:59:00.000-04:00

A synthetic "tree" is currently be developed at the University of Columbia in New York that would collect CO2 from our atmosphere. As wind passes through its plastic "leaves" the carbon dioxide would be trapped, compressed and stored in its liquid form. The tree, in comparison to the real McCoy would be able to collect CO2 about 1,000 times faster. However, when taking into consideration how much energy is used to collect the gas, for every 1,000kg collected, only about 800kg is actually removed from the atmosphere. Because, approximately 200kg would be re-emitted by the coal plant powering it. Not terribly inefficient, considering. But if it was set up to run off of solar or wind, it would be able to collect the total of about 1 ton of CO2 an day without re-emitting any CO2.

The idea of a synthetic tree that can collect excess CO2 in the atmosphere is a break-through concept, especially in the world today where more than 6200 million tons of CO2 is being emitted each year across the globe. But, my question is, where would this excess CO2 go? Would it be pumped underground or poured into the oceans? Doing either would likely cause more problems..

I would like to propose another idea, which would completely eliminate of the potential problem as where to put the excess CO2. What if we could create synthetic "smart" trees that could convert a specific percentage of CO2 to Oxygen as real trees do? They would be able to gauge the percentage of the gases in the environment around them, and adjust, as needed the correct percentage of CO2 that would need to be converted in order to keep the correct balance of CO2 and Oxygen in our atmosphere. In this way, we would be able to ensure that there were no imbalances, and we wouldn't have to worry about where to put the collected CO2, because it would be converted into Oxygen.

With all of this excitement going on over the possibility to collect CO2, let it be reminded that we should still be doing all we can to reduce carbon emissions. Just because we can produce machines to reduce CO2, doesn't mean that we shouldn't be trying to cut down on our carbon footprint!!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/06/22/synthetic.tree.climate.change.ccs/

Possible Alternative Energy Sources

2009-06-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

Reading Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded has gotten me thinking about alternative energy sources that we could possibly be looking into. I don't know if any of these have already been researched or are being put into practice but here is some ideas that I have come up with on my own.

Using electrolytes from salt water (or other salts) to create power
Finding a way to synthetically reproduce the process of photosynthesis to create energy

I know, from doing experiments in my Chemistry classes this first semester, that the first is very plausible. Such an experiment was using salt water and other electrolyte solutions to power a small toy motorcycle. However, I just don't know if using would be used successfully on a greater scale. It would be interesting to do some research on this to see if this to see if this has already been proposed as and idea for alternative energy sources.

As for the second, I'm not really sure how that would work. I just know that for plants at least that: sunlight = photosynthesis = glucose = energy. There must be a way to reproduce this idea using today technology, so that we can turn such a process into something that we humans can use, something that will be green and non-carbon emitting.

Anyways..just sharing my thoughts!!

Electric Cars of the (Not so Far) Future

2009-06-23T16:44:00.000-04:00

In March of 2009, a plan was drafted which would put $2.4 billion towards the development of new electric plug-in vehicles, and as part of the stimulus bill, $2 billion more that is to be set aside in order to aid the jump start of the manufacturing of these cars. This government funding will assist Obama to reach his goal, to have 1 million plug-ins on the road by 2015. In order to prepare for this transition, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has initiated Project Get Ready, installing charging stations in three cities, Raleigh, Indianapolis and Portland, as part of an evaluation process in the development of these new stations. The goal of the project is to hopefully smooth the transition to electric cars and encourage people to use them when the become available, by providing sufficient places to plug-in. Of course, there will also be a federal tax credit for up to $7500 for the purchase of these cars to boost their sales.

Electric cars, will most likely become part of the new, upcoming vision of a smart grid, able to both consume and provide energy. "Smart charging"would control when the cars got charged, or when they gave up energy back to the grid, buying energy when it was the cheapest, and selling it back when it was more expensive, working similar to the exchange of the stock market. This charging method would help with ensuring that the supply of electric matches the demand of the market, and it would also provide that energy is being more efficiently distributed and used.

Most major car manufacturers such as Ford, Nissan, Chrysler, Dodge, Tesla and Toyota are all working on creating new car models that are either hybrids, or full bred electric vehicles. New electric/hybrid models that will likely become available somewhere between 2009-2011 include: Chevy Volt, Dodge EV, Tesla Roadster, Model S, Tazzari Zero, BYD E6, Toyota Prius, Th!nk City, UEV Spyder, Miles ZX40, Phoenix SUT, Colt MIEV...just to name a few.

Interested in perhaps buying one? Most of these right now are not very affordable to the average middle class family, running anywhere between $12,000 and $110,000. But, don't worry, as with most things, as electric cars become more popular, the price will eventually come down.

I have no doubt that the EV (Electric Vehicle) is the car of the future, with people demanding ways to get more mileage for their money Obama and the EU encouraging car makers to alternate to start manufacturing plug-ins. In terms of long term environmental changes, though, the electric car is, perhaps, only a temporary fix, still relying on, as Friedman calls them, "fuels from hell" (coal, oil, natural gas, etc.) to produce the electricity to power the cars. We still need to be keeping an eye towards the future for more sustainable, alternative fuels. But if we could switch over completely more environmentally fuels such as hydroelectric, geothermal, solar and wind power to create all of the electricity, this idea will be revolutionary. Would this be the case, we could be running our cars on very clean fuels with little to no emissions. Imagine what a green world we would be living in then!

Cash for Clunkers Bill - All that glitters is not gold

2009-06-22T16:10:00.000-04:00

The Clash for Clunkers Bill was approved by the U.S. Senate on June 18.

The new bill will encourage the purchase of newer, more environmentally friendly cars. Old vehicles no older than 25 years can be traded in for vouchers worth $3,500-4,500, depending on the improved gas mileage of the new cars in comparison to the trade-in. For new cars getting 4 mpg or more than the old vehicle, vouchers of $3,500 will be given, and for those with 10 mpg or more, $4,500.

Here are some qualifications and regulations for receiving vouchers:

your current car must have been registered under your name for at least a year
it must be insured at least one year before the trade
vouchers are not good for buying used cars
you cannot trade in for a motorcycle
old cars cannot be any older than 1984 models
must get an average fuel economy of 18 mpg or less for combined city/highway driving
the new car cannot be worth any more than $45,000
the new car must get at least 22 mpg (this is rather low, considering that the corporate avg fuel economy for new cars is 27.5 mpg)

What will happen to the cars that get traded in? They will likely be salvaged.

Purchases of new cars that qualify can be made starting July 1, 2009 until November 1st. The vouchers will only be good for 1 million purchases.

There are, however, problems with this new bill. First, it takes some functioning cars of the road before they have even expired. Although, they may not be efficient in terms of gas mileage, it still seems an awful waste of a good, sometimes even relativley new car, that will likely end up in the junkyard. Second, how many cars running on the road are actual "clunkers"? This law is limited, focusing only on the really inefficient, older vehicles. Ideally, it would also put some interest into cars getting mileage of 27.5 mpg or less, setting down a new average fuel economy for US cars of around 30 mpg, which would be close to the 35 mpg average set to be reached by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 by 2020. Meanwhile, it would still offer some sort of incentive for buying more efficient vehicles, not necessarily sending the old ones to the junkyard, but just encouraging people to buy cars with better fuel economy.

However, the Clunker Bill is only requiring that people purchace new cars with only an average of 22 mpg, which is not even up to par with the current U.S. standard for 2009 of 27.5 mpg. Improvments of miles per gallon is only marginal, with a minimum difference of 4 mpg between the car being bought, and the one being turned in! Its definately not a great enough difference if you ask me, especially if you are looking at improving the environmental impact in terms of CO2 emissions.

Lastly, because these cars that are being traded in are just going to be sent to salvage, it is likely that people will look at the voucher and decide that they can get more for their current vehicle if they just sell it on their own, rather than trading it in. How much will they really be able to get for trading it in, surely it is not as much as the actual worth of the car. And, just to point out, most people who drive these clunkers, are more likely to be unable to afford buying a new car in the first place. Even with the federally funded voucher, many still would not be able to afford to buy a new car.

So how successful will this bill actually be? Probably not very. When the bill gets revised in November, I think that these problems should be given a serious head-to-toe exam. Now, don't get me wrong, we are in need of a new legislation that would help our economy, reduce oil dependence, and cut down on CO2 emissions, but I don't believe that this particular bill is going to be strong enough to do all that very effectively. Really, all that glitters is not gold, and although this bill has appeared to be promising, will likely quickly be discovered to be fools gold.

Hot, Flat and Crowded - Part I: The Truth about America

2009-06-06T20:04:00.000-04:00

After reading The World is Flat for my freshman seminar class, I never thought that I would ever read another one of his books. His explanations were often unnecessarily long and drawn out, and I had little interest in economics. To me the book had been somewhat interesting in terms of what was going on with globalization, but I felt as though it could have been condensed into a much smaller, more comprehensible version for those who are not familiar with economic linguistics. But, much to my surprise, just two days ago, picked up I just started reading Friedman's new book Hot, Flat and Crowded, and have gotten through about the first fifty pages. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since.

It clearly states the ugly, raw truth. The truth about America, and the truth about globalization, overpopulation and over consumption, that no one, clearly, has been wanting to face. One of the points that he makes is, is that America has been number one, now, for so long, that has become like a spoiled, rotten child. This child, after winning the chess game of WWII, has gradually lost the work morality that it once had, thinking, now, that things are going to continually be handed to them because they are the best. Or so it thinks.

So as other countries speed ahead in technological, political, and green advances, we are getting left in the dust. But what is to be, perhaps, of the most concern, we have lost something extremely important to our countries internal infrastructure and inner workings. We have lost the most the political will of American politicians and their ability to focus on the longer-term tasks at hand. Again, this is perhaps another good reason for comparing America to a small child. The key players of government, are easily persuaded and molded by lobbyists to meet their own needs, just as a toddler might put his hand in a tub of hot water when coaxed by a simple suggestion and sweet words. Often, in this way, the lobbyists are successful in creating an "artificial economy" which, on its own, is able to influence supply and demand. Such an example would be in the auto industry, and the demand for larger vechiles by "artificially" creating low gas prices through government funds, and in turn creating greater demand for larger, more gas guzzling cars. Thus, it has created the problem with the gradually rising gas prices, and made for grumbling consumers. Why? Because most Americans drive bigger cars, because greedy car and oil and gas companies wanted to make more money and lobbied to keep gas prices low. The problem could have been avoided entirely had we allowed for the gas prices to naturally rise, or by adding a gas tax, such as the "Patriot" $1 gas tax after 9/11 which would have allowed for us to move towards our independence from the energy and resources supplied to us by the Middle East.

But, again, America is still that toddler, unable to focus on anything but short-term goals. We were moving in the right direction after the 1970's oil Embargo, setting into place a lower fuel economy to meet within the span of ten years, which we met without a problem. Even funding was being put forth for solar and wind research already during this time in the United States. However, as the gas prices again started to fall in the mid 1980's, the average fuel economy on a car went back up, and less and less was being done to make progress in terms of looking for alternative energy sources. I argue that, had we continued on this path, perhaps we would be at pace, if not ahead of Europe and Japan in terms of green sources of energy, and maybe even our economy would still be flourishing as well.

But the U.S. has been afraid to move forward in terms of tackling environmental and energy resource problems. Afraid, that regulations and taxes would somehow ruin the economy and somehow take away from"the American way of life". But if this was true, then why, may I ask, has Europe been so prosperous while the rest of the world is having to cope with a the current economic crisis? They went green. Not only has their dependency on the Middle East been lessened, there has also been a creation of thousands of new jobs, which has, in turn led to a stronger economy. Isn't this what the US has been looking for? A solution to our economic problem? Well, here it is.

The questions still remains, though, will America continue to act like a spoiled, paranoid child, or will it mature, taking up the responsibility as a greatly needed, green role model? And if, and when it does, will it be on time, or will it be too late? For, the window to start making changes, changes that will matter, is closing, and closing quickly. Environmentalists predict that if, by 2012, no immediate action has been made, especially in terms of CO2 emissions, the Earth will be stuck irreversibly in a grey cloud of smog and heat.

NC to ban throwing away plastic bottles

2009-06-04T16:58:00.000-04:00

People in North Carolina, every 1.3 minutes, will have thrown away enough plastic bottles to reach the height of the first Wright Brothers’ flight, and every 1.7 hours, will have thrown away enough plastic bottles the weight of a school bus, or about 23,000 lbs. of plastic!! However, starting October 1, 2009, these statistics are hopefully going to change. In a recent decision by NC legislators, North Carolina will be one of the first states with a law that will make it mandatory for people to recycle plastic bottles.

The law is designed to help lower energy consumption within the state. Creating new plastic from recycled materials, rather than from virgin raw materials, uses 2/3 the amount of energy required to make the exact same plastic products. But not only does recycling plastic bottles save energy, it also saves money, helping corporations to reduce the cost of production thorough recycling and reuse.

However, legislators are aware of the one problem with this law. How will it be enforced? Not much can be done to make sure that all plastic bottles end up in the green bin. But, the idea of definitely is a step in the right direction.

Blackle

2009-06-03T17:38:00.001-04:00

Want to surf the web, while still being green, go black! Blackle, created by Heap Media is another way for us to save energy. Its black screen takes less energy to power than traditional, white screen browsers. On its homepage, it provides a count of how much energy has been saved by enabling this new concept. So want to save energy? Go Black!

Earth Hour 2009

2009-06-03T16:40:00.000-04:00

The Green Thing

2009-05-31T10:59:00.000-04:00

Doing research for my blog, I came across this very interesting green website called The Green Thing. It lists seven things that you can do to lead a "greener" life. Walk the walk, stay grounded, all-consuming, easy on the meat, human heat, plug out and stick with what you've got.

Even if you do not join the website, you have to at least take a look at the video that they posted! Its really cute, and its a really easy way to remember the 7 "green things". Take a look!

Creation of Jobs by Going Green

2009-05-27T16:12:00.001-04:00

I was looking through the Parade Magazine that comes in the mail with our local newspapers the other day, and an article jumped out at me. "How Germany Created Jobs by Going Green". Living in Germany for six months during my junior year in High School, I'd realized that they were far ahead of us in terms of the "green revolution". Their system of recycling is much more organized and required for everyone. Everything is sorted into specific bins. Glass, plastic, paper and organics are all separated. What can be recycled is, what can't be is either composted or thrown away. They are much more conscious about not only recycling, but also water and electric usage. This does have to do a great deal with the fact that water and electric is much more expensive than it is here in the United States, but it encourages people to cut back and conserve. Wind and solar power is also much more widely used than it is here. And that is what is really providing many of the jobs.

According to the article in the past five years, Germany has produced more than 50,000 jobs based just off of wind energy, and more than 250,000 green related jobs total. Then why aren't we following Germany's example? We could certainly use any opportunities to create new jobs, especially in today's struggling economy.

It appears, at least, that Obama is considering looking into the idea of creating a more "green economy" in order to help pull the US out of the depression. If policies go into affect, driving America towards a perhaps brighter, and greener future, more than 5 million jobs could be created in the next 10 years.

So the solution to a failing economy and hurting environment? More green jobs. As of yesterday the plan for a new national program was released, one which would be training workers for "green jobs" to make public housing more energy-efficent.

Obama and Biden have the right idea, and so far it looks as though we are moving in the right direction. But, America still needs to be more agressive about attacking the growing global enviromental concerns. We are the second largest polluter in the world, second to China. There is so much more that the US could be doing, including going back to sign the Kyoto Protocol, but we are not. However, I do see that the Obama administration being much more effective, than when Bush was in office, in at least trying to improve some of these environmental problems. And for that, I am greatful.

The Plastic Plague - Part I: Plastic Kills

2009-05-25T23:45:00.000-04:00

Plastic kills. It is a deadly, silent sniper which invades the worlds oceans and coastlines, causing the death of more than 1 million birds and over 100,000 marine animals annually, including endangered animals such as sea turtles and whales.More than 50% of all marine litter is plastic, covering 46,000 square miles of ocean. And, although all trash which is not properly disposed of is harmful to wildlife, plastic is number one on the most wanted list, killing its victims in a myriad of ways.

Animals, unlike us, are unable to differentiate trash from food. Something as simple as a plastic bag, bottle or other debris can easily be mistaken for a meal.It may seem completely harmless to us, why would we even think about eating plastic anyways? Yuck. But think about it, plastic does not degrade. When an animal ingests it, it is not digested. It is a foreign substance that is not able to be broken down by the bodies enzymes, so it simply sits in their stomach and digestive tract. Over time, when enough plastic has been eaten, it blocks the proper digestion of food and excretion of wastes. Animals starve on a full stomach. Of plastic.

But not only does plastic manage to starve its victims and ruin their digestive systems, it also suffocates and strangles them.They get tangled in fishing lines, nets or plastic rings, which either hinders their movement and ability to obtain food, or it gets wrapped around their necks.

These deaths may seem cruel, but that is because they are. But they are also entirely preventable. Be responsible, and properly dispose of your trash by not littering. Take the time to throw away that plastic bag you brought your lunch in when you went to the beach, or recycle the plastic bottle that you were drinking out of. Think of it this way, by picking up your trash, you are not only keeping the beaches and other natural areas clean of unsightly debris, but you are also saving lives.

Plastic Plague - Part II: Plastic May Cause Cancer

2009-05-25T20:51:00.000-04:00

Cancer today seems as though it is more abundant in humans than it was even 30 years ago. More advanced medical research and knowledge has allowed for us to learn about and treat thousands of diseases and other problems, but we have, as of yet, found a specific cause, and permanent treatment for cancer. But cancer being more prevalent in current years may have some correlation to one thing. Plastic.

Studies so far have not been able to completely prove this theory, but it is something which is under current investigation. Although there are many skeptics about whether or not this is true, there have been some research done on the topic to suggest that it may be, in part, at least partially true.

Bisphenol A, otherwise known as BPA is an important component to many of the plastics that we use, such as containers used for food and beverages like baby bottles, shatterproof sport bottles, sealants, and plastic wraps. However, studies done has proven that BPA is linked to various health problems. Early onset puberty, obesity, diabetes, hyperactivity, breast cancer, impaired immune function, sperm defects, prostate cancer and disease and impaired reproductive development have all been somehow correlated to having been exposed to Bisphenol A.

Those most at risk are fetuses and infants because they are still developing and are highly sensitive to chemicals, which may have an impact on the altering of genes or abnormal growth of cells. But, this does not mean that we are all not susceptible. No doubt, all of us are exposed to these plastics and chemicals every day. They are rather hard to avoid, plastic is used to make countless products that we use on a daily basis. However, contact with BPA itself may be able to at least be prevented.

By paying attention to the packaging of foods that you buy, and plastic containers you use, you can at least bring the exposure of BPA down to a minimum. Although I am not suggesting that scientists are 100% correct in their prediction of the impacts that BPA has on the human and animal populations,I am merely trying to educate people about a possible cause of the worlds most formidable word - CANCER. For what if it is true? Than we are all at risk.

Where are our water sources going?

2009-04-23T14:46:00.000-04:00

In the news, I've been noticing that there are more and more occurrences of drought in many places around the world. It was an especially pressing issue for my area not to long ago, when our main water reservoir began to dry out. The summer heat pressed the government to set up drought provisions, having people cut back on watering their lawns and water usage within the household. Raleigh had never had to face such a problem with severe drought before. But with so many new people moving into the city limits at a yearly growth of about 3-4%, its not all that surprising, water consumption has undoubtedly at least doubled over the past 5-10 years, putting pressure on our local reservoir. The growth, in combination with a lack of rain 2007 saw record lows. The scary thing is though, Raleigh is not the only area having to deal with these new water shortages. There are many other areas around the world who are realizing these water problems. Cyprus, Somalia, Australia, Barcelona and many other areas are facing severe droughts.

It is predicted that by 2025 more than 50% of the world will be dealing with shortages, and by 2050, more than 75%. The availability of fresh water is rapidly declining as the growing human population continues to use this "renewable" resource for everything in their daily life from agriculture to industry and production, to household use. We may have enough water just yet to sustain our current population, in most cases but what happens if the world runs short on water? Food shortages will run rampant and we could face an even larger energy crisis than we are already seeing today. With so many vital resources depleted, outbreaks of war are likely, fighting no longer over nuclear weapons, or political issues, but over the things in which we require to sustain life itself.

I just find it hard to believe that this crisis is quickly approaching, and people are more worried about the economy than in preserving our natural resources. You'd think that we would be more concerned.

Going Green A-Z

2009-03-01T19:35:00.000-05:00

A

Air Filter Changes
Clogged air filters take more energy to circulate the air. Regularly replacing air filters saves electricity and improves the air quality in your home.

Adopt
Adopting an animal, stream, highway...helps to provide funds to keep the world around us cleaner or to provide funds for research to save an endangered species.

Add Solar Panels
Although right now, solar panels aren't that cheap, they'll pay back what they're worth in the end, and perhaps more! They increase property value, and you can sell what extra energy you produce to energy companies or neighbors. And, once they're installed, you no longer have to worry about paying that monthly energy bill!

B

Bring Your Own Bag
On average, 60,000 plastic bags,are used in the US every five seconds.Who likes to see the plastic bags jumping about on a roadside or fluttering, caught up in a tree? It isn't all that aesthetically pleasing. Plastic bags are non-biodegradable. We do not know for sure, but it is estimated that it will take a single plastic bag sitting in a landfill over 1,000 years to completely decompose. Bringing your own cloth bag will save on thousands of plastic bags, and the energy needed in order to produce them. Not only are cloth bags more durable, but they are much more environmentally friendly.

Bike instead of driving
If you live within a mile or two of work or school, why are you driving? Biking provides many benefits. You'll save on money, emissions, and get exercise too!

Buy Energy Efficient Cars
Hybrid electric cars and new hydrogen powered cars being produced not only cut back on emissions, but also save you money. All 22 vehicles currently available will save car owners about $13,000, over a five year/70,000 mile period, in comparison to their traditional counterparts. Tax reductions are also being offered as incentives to buy these new cars.

Build Green
Building with more environmentally focused products is not only good for the rest of the world, but it will also save you tons of money.

C

Compost
Composting in your backyard has a variety of benefits. It enriches the soil, helps clean up contaminated soils, prevents pollution and offers economic benefits to users by reducing the need for artificial fertilizers which only usually harm the environment.

Climb the Stairs
Using the stairs, rather than the elevator will save on energy, and keep you fit!

D

Donate
Rather than throwing away old clothes, toys and household items, give them to local charities or goodwill where they can be reused instead of throwing them away. Just as the saying goes: One man's trash is another man's treasure.

E

Eat In

By spending the time to took cook at home rather than eating out, you save on gas and on wasted food. Restaurants throw away hundreds of pounds of uneaten foodstuffs each year.

Florescent Light Bulbs
Although initially more expensive than traditional light bulbs, in the long run, you end up saving money. CFL's last 10 times longer and use about 1/3 of the electricity in comparison to the incandescent bulbs.On average, it saves about $45 per bulb, per electric bill!! Not only will it save you money by switching over, however, but it also produces a half ton less of carbon emissions.

G

Garden

Growing a garden has aesthetic qualities, provides you with fresh fruit, veggies and herbs, and helps prevent erosion.

Get Active!

Show other people what you are about and why it is important to start changing our lifestyles and become more eco-friendly. The more people who know about what they can do to help the environment the better!

H

Hand wash Dishes
Hand washing dishes, rather than tossing them in the dishwasher, will save about 7 gallons of water per wash. If you wash dishes 3 x a day, you're saving about 7000 gallons of water each year!

Hang Your Laundry
Hanging your laundry out to dry not only makes your clothes smell clean and fresh, but it also saves on a lot of energy, believe it or not. By hanging your laundry just 2x a week you can save 748,800 Watts per year.

I

Install low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets
Low flow plumbing fixtures save on a lot of water. Compare the traditional fixtures to the friendly ones: Low-flow toilets: maximum of 1.6 gallons of water per flush vs. 3.5 gallons of water used by a standard toilet. Low-flow shower heads: about 2½ gallons of water per minute vs. four and five gallons per minute. Low-flow faucet aerators: 2 1/2 gallons per minute vs. 4.

Insulate
By properly insulating your house, you save on heating and cooling costs, which account for about 50-70% of the energy costs in your home, and in the meantime you're using less natural resources such as gas or electric to keep your home at a comfortable temperature.

J

Junk Mail

Junk mail isn't only a nuisance but the amount of wasted paper used for junk mail each year adds up to 100 million trees. Email companies you no longer want to receive adds or magazines from, and the ads you do receive, make sure to recycle!

Kitchen Habits

Using plastic baggies, plastic wrap and foil only accounts for more trash in the landfills. Store your leftovers in reusable plastic containers instead.

Leftovers

Save what is leftover from your lunch or dinner. Food can be usually eaten safely for up to three days after it was cooked.

Make Use of Public Transportation
Using public transportation like the bus or train saves gas and cuts back on emissions. Compare how much more efficient it is to ride a train rather than drive. A train uses only about 48mpg and only has an emission rate of .35 lbs per mile. Compare that to a small vehicle, which produces 1.1 lbs per mile and gets 30mpg or less!!

N

No Paper Towels

If each household eliminate paper towels from their home, by using cloth instead to mop up messes would save 3.4 million cubic feet of landfill space and 800,000 trees.

O

Observe

Observe what others are doing to change their lifestyles and become more eco-friendly. Maybe they are doing something that you have not yet though of.

P

Plant a Tree
Trees are aesthetically pleasing, provide shade and keep our air clean. Planting a tree helps get rid of some of the CO2 in the atmosphere, and turns it into air that we can breathe.

Power strips
Rather than unplugging each of your appliances individually, using power strips will save you time and money. You can save up to 15% annually on your electric bill by turning off your power strips every night or each time you leave the house.

Q

Quit Smoking
Smoking contributes to pollution. Not only does it contribute to the excess CO2 being let out into the atmosphere, but the process in producing a cigarette itself is perhaps even more devastating. Four miles of paper per hour is used to wrap cigarettes, and 600 million trees are cut down each year in underdeveloped nations just to dry tobacco. Then, after the cigarette has been used, it is thrown away, releasing over 600 harmful chemicals into our soil and drinking water. Yuck!

R

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!!
Paper products, plastic, and glass are all products which can be recycled. Recycling saves energy, natural resources, and space for waste disposal. In just recycling paper alone, we could cut back on air pollution by a whopping 75%!

S

Support Local Farmers
Buy from local farmers markets. Not only is the food fresher, it hasn't wasted gas driving miles to come to you, and you're supporting your local economy.

Solar Chargers
You can buy solar chargers to re-charge your cell phone, iPod and other small electronic devices. Its free power produced by the sun! And you can use it anywhere so long as it is not cloudy.

T

Take Shorter Showers
Cutting back the time you take to shower down to five minutes, and by showering fewer times per week cuts back on heating costs by about $99 a year, saves 350 pounds of CO2 emissions and over 45000 gallons of water.

Turn Down the Thermostat
Setting your thermostat on 69 degrees Celsius, rather than at 72 saves energy and cuts down on your annual heating bill by about 5 percent.

Turn off lights when you aren't in the room
For 4 light bulbs left on over a 52 hour period, about 4,160 watt-hours of energy is produced. That’s 41.6 cents. This adds up, by taking the extra time to turn off lights, you'd save about $150
a year by turning these lights off.

U

Use Recycled Toilet Paper
Companies which produce toilet paper, in just three months, can use over 24,000 tons of wood for their products. Using recycled toilet paper saves trees, and it feels just as good on your butt as other non-recycled papers.

Use Greener Cleaners
Many allergies are triggered by products we use around the home. A way to avoid this and help the environment by using more eco-friendly household cleaners such as vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda.

V

Virgin Product

Vote

Vote for politicians who hold the same view as you. Officers in the government who are more aware of the environment are more likely to yield to your suggestions to do the best they can to be make changes.

W

Write With Recycled Pencils
Using recycled pencils made from old denim or newspapers rather than buying regular ones will save trees. One full grown hardwood produces, on average, about 172,000 pencils, or about 11,600 incense-cedar trees cut down each year to meet the US production of 2 billion pencils.Why cut down more trees when there is already plenty of old products that can be reused to make new pencils?

Water Barrels
Water collected from your gutters can be used for watering plants and flushing toilets. Keeping your foliage green doesn't have to put a tag on your water bill.

X

Xeriscaping

Conserve water through creative landscaping by keeping less of a lawn, picking appropriate plants for your area and mulching to keep moisture in. Less maintenance is required, it is pollution free, and it promotes habitat and property values!

You

Its up to you to make a difference. Encourage friends and family to take action and exercise green practices yourself. We can make a difference one household at a time.

Zero emissions

The less CO2 emissions and other chemical pollutants being released into the atmosphere the better. Excess CO2 in the atmosphere is leading towards health problems,especially in developing countries, and to global warming. Cutting back on emissions will hopefully somewhat hamper this process. Everyone must contribute their efforts.

Zeitgeist

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~ Native American Proverb Your actions today will ultimately influence the world and what it is and means to our future generations. Preserve the earth for yourself, preserve it for your children, preserve it for the sake of life.