Posted by green baby on January 30, 2009
Have you noticed more and more people bringing their own bags to the store with them these days? Plastic bags are out of style! Today’s “hip” shoppers use reusable shopping bags.
Why? What if you’re not concerned about being “hip?”
The truth is that being hip or trendy isn’t the issue. The reality is that using plastic bags creates a financial burden, damages the environment, and harms wildlife.
In California alone, nearly 600 bags are used by consumers EVERY SECOND! What happens to these bags? They are mostly discarded. It costs California tax payers nearly 8.5 million dollars a year to deal with plastic bag litter. Another $25 million is spent on land filling the plastic bags.
Marine life is also horribly impacted by plastic bag use. Hundreds of marine species are adversely affected by plastic bags who’s debris makes its way into their ecosystem and is ingested. Sea turtles get the most press as they often ingest plastic bags that resemble jelly fish and die. However, sea turtles are not the only sea animal impacted negatively by plastic bags. In some parts of the ocean, particles from plastic bags outnumber plankton by a ration of 6 to 1.
Can’t they be recycled?
Recycling plastic bags is, unfortunately, not economically viable. The cost to recycle 1 ton of plastic bag is roughly $4,000. The result? A batch of recycled plastic that can be sold on the commodities market for $32. Given those numbers, it should be no surprise that less than 2% of plastic bags are recycled.
A growing number of bags are actually being shipped to countries with less stringent environmental regulations where they are incinerated.
Additionally, simply producing plastic bags consumes a precious, non-renewable resource (petroleum). The world literally uses hundreds of billions of plastic bags every year, every single one of which released toxic chemicals to our environment during production and requires non-renewable resources to produce.
That’s a lot of bags being produced. That’s a lot of bags to attempt to recycle. And that’s a lot of bags that end up all over the planet mucking up the environment!
The craziest part of this whole situation is that it’s easy to fix. Just quit using plastic bags! compact reusable shopping bags are available in all kinds of sizes, colors, and designs. Many stores offer a credit for bringing your own bags and reusable bags themselves are sturdier and capable of carrying more items, meaning less hassle for you.
So, despite the number of people that have begun using eco bags simply because they want to fit in, you should rest assured knowing that it’s a trend worth following. Look good shopping with them and feel good knowing that you’re helping our planet in doing so.
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Posted by green baby on January 24, 2009
With the rapid advancement of solar power, new products are entering the market containing “integrated solar panels”.
For example, solar shingles. Essentially, these are ordinary roof shingles which are made out of photovoltaic materials. They perform the same function as ordinary roof shingles, with the added capability of producing electricity.
The advantage of these thin “solar panels” is that they can now be integrated right into one’s building materials – so instead of having solar panels on your roof, you would now have a solar roof.
Aside from being more desirable from an aesthetic standpoint, this also eliminates the need for bulky and heavy “traditional solar panels” to be installed.
How are Solar Shingles Made?
Advancements in solar power technology, such as the inventions of solar ink and other combinations of semi-conductors, have made it possible to combine or include photovoltaic materials in with a wide range of other products and materials. Solar cells no longer need to be made out of bulky heavy-weight silicon panels. They can in fact be printed on just about any type of material – such as metal, plastic, and others. Researchers have even found methods of producing organic photovoltaics, although that is, at the moment, still in an entirely experimental phase.
Benefits of Solar Shingles
- Attractive style
- Fully integrated shingle roof
- Lower electric bill
- Free electricity
- Pollution-free power
- Increased home value
- Protects the environment
- Exceptionally durable
- Great investment
- Significant state cash rebates available
- Federal tax incentives available
Costs and Financing
To be honest, right at this moment solar shingles might still seem expensive to some, but as any new technology develops its products become cheaper with time. However it does appear that the cost will be considerably lower than installing a comparable set of conventional solar panels. In one recent example, the entire cost of a home solar shingle installation was approximately $16,000, with a $12,000 tax rebate. This brought the entire cost to only $4000. That’s considerably lower than the usual cost involved in installing a home solar power system – but one has to keep in mind as well that the cost of tiling or shingling a roof is covered at the same time. These are, after all, shingles as well as solar panels.
Clean energy cash incentives and tax rebates are available at a federal level, and most states also have a clean energy or sustainable energy source rebate program. This, combined with energy savings, does make them affordable, and will in most cases pay for itself over time.
You can find more information about solar power at Solar Power Updates and News Blog and you can find a variety of solar power products at the Solar Power Store.
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Posted by green baby on January 24, 2009
When trying to find the best electrical fireplace for your home, you’ll notice that there are a lot of choices; a staggering number of choices, in fact. When it comes to finding a unique electrical fireplace, the consumer is literally spoiled for choice. There are simply so many different styles, designs and sizes of electrical fireplaces that it can be hard to decide which is best for your home. It is also important to note that, while an electrical fireplace is by no means a “complicated” mechanism, it is still in your best interests (as a consumer) to understand what makes them tick, which will hopefully give you a strategic shopping edge.
Standing Electric Fireplaces warm spaces by means of electric coils and fans. The coils are electrically heated and a fan forces the warm air outwards to provide heat. The fans in these electric fireplace heaters are usually extremely quiet, but you should be sure to ask the retailer of the electrical fireplace you are considering exactly how loud the fan is, just in case. These electric fireplace heaters do very well at evenly warming relatively big areas, but a single electrical fireplace may not be able to do the job of warming your whole house.
In general, a good quality electrical fireplace will generate somewhere around 5000 BTUs in terms of heat. This is enough to make around 400 square feet warm – the size of a large room or a studio apartment. electric fireplace heaters generally run on a standard 120 Volt outlet, and can be as mechanistically simple as an on/off switch or may sometimes feature advanced controls, giving you improved command over the exact yielded temperature of the fireplace. From an aesthetic point of view, it may also be in your best interests to consider the appearance of the false flame in your electrical fireplace; older and lower-quality models generally feature static images of fire, which needless to say don’t look particularly authentic. Many new portable electric fireplaces feature a hologram flame image instead, which are often adjustable to appear as a subtle blaze or a roaring fire depending on what the situation demands.
To find the perfect electrical fireplace for your home, prior planning is an absolute necessity. Again, it is important to note the BTU output of your ideal electric fireplace, as you’ll want one powerful enough to effectively warm your living room. The aesthetic decisions you will need to make, especially regarding the appearance of your fireplace flames, will be entirely up to you and your existing home décor. An electrical fireplace won’t raise your insurance rates, as they are considered “guaranteed safe,” but you should still take care to pick out a firebox with a good warranty. When it comes to finding the perfect electrical fireplace for your home, you’ll be sure to make a decision you’ll be happy with as long as you do a little research and thinking about your needs first.
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Posted by green baby on January 16, 2009
Many of today’s top celebrities are hopping on the “green” bandwagon and are using accessories to show it. Several hot young celebrities have been spotted shopping with reusable grocery bags and purchasing organic goods.
Once again it is becoming hip to be environmentally friendly. Those of you that are like me and can remember the sixties and seventies should be able to recall similar times. Today, “thinking green” is a way of life.
“Green” is a new term currently being used to loosely encompass all things having to do with environmental consciousness and sustainability; what we are doing today and tomorrow that will have an impact on the world we live in tomorrow. These days, buildings, companies and even cities “go green,” meaning they are being built or are utilizing systems or technologies that embrace environmentally friendly and sustainable practices and principles. Decreasing the emission of greenhouse gases (atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect), decreasing the amount of water pollution, decreasing the amount of refuse in landfills, preserving natural areas and forest land, reusing and recycling are all topics and issues now encompassed in the term “green.”
However, it’s hard for all of us to see how we can make an impact in our daily lives. One way that is catching on with the movie stars in Hollywood is using reusable shopping bags. It’s simple and effective and is something that we can all do easily.
In the 1970s, plastic bags became the way to transport purchases from stores to households, and replaced the paper bag. Statistics that are completely reliable are impossible to attain, but the US EPA estimates that over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks, and wraps are used every year by US citizens. Estimates in China state that the county uses around 3 billion plastic bags each day! The issue with plastic bags is that they are not environmentally friendly. They are not biodegradable, which means that they cannot be naturally broken down to an eco-friendly state. Instead, plastic bags photodegrade, which means that they are broken down by light into little toxic bits that work their way in to waterways and soil where they are ingested by animals. When you consider how many plastic bags we use, you quickly realize how much toxic material is being put in to our environment.
Using eco bags avoids these issues and reduces the number of bags disposed of and produced. So the next time you go shopping, think about your favorite Hollywood star or starlet and do what they do – bring some reusable bags!
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Posted by green baby on January 15, 2009
Do you think paper bags are a better choice than plastic bags? Perhaps you assume that because they are more biodegradeable that they are a better option in the check out lane at your grocer. Although you are right to assume that better options are out there for the plastic bag, unfortunately paper bags are not the answer.
According to a 2006 report from the US Environmental Protection Agency, more than 30 percent of our municipal solid waste comes from paper. In the United States alone, 10 billion paper bags are consumed each year, representing 14 million trees harvested for their production. According to the Film and Bag Federation, generate 80 percent more solid waste, produce 70 percent more atmospheric emissions, and release up to 94 percent more waterborne wastes, compared to plastic grocery bags.
These numbers show that the amount of energy consumed and amount of pollution generated by paper bags simply make paper bags a horrible alternative to plastic bags for everyday shopping. The truth is that the only good alternative that has the potential to break this horrible path that we are currently on is the reusable shopping bags.
In light of the above information, reusable bags then, especially those made with natural materials, are the best alternative for lessening the negative environmental impact of disposable bags for our world. With a growing number of manufacturers and distributors of these bags, as well as an increasing variety of availability in terms of sizes and styles, reusable shopping bags are a more attractive, as well as socially and environmentally conscious choice for bag use today.
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Posted by green baby on January 9, 2009
You’ve got the Christmas tree, the glimmering lights, the Yule log burning, and sugarplums dancing in your head, so all you need now is holiday area rugs from Abingdon Rug Outlet. Quality area rugs reflecting holiday style offer a welcoming sense of warmth to guests – family and friends who travel to spend the season with your family. Why not create for them a seasonally-designed haven of holiday cheer?
What’s better than mistletoe, fresh winter berries, and Jolly ‘ol St. Nick? These are the perfect themed accents to inspire the Christmas spirit. Part of the appeal for these Christmas staples is that they are used for only a portion of the year. Isn’t it wonderfully exciting each year to pull out the Christmas decorations? And when your decorations are unique and one-of-a-kind decorations, they feel even more special, even more magical. Everyone pulls out ornaments and nativity scenes. But it is the extra special pieces that get attention and make Christmas memorable and unique.
Check out our dazzling selection of holiday rugs on our web site. Abingdon rugs are the perfect pieces to fill all the spaces in between your decorations and fill out your style. Our rugs contain the perfect colors to get the Christmas spirit flowing in your home. Snowmen and wreaths, reds and greens — and all the perfect Christmas cheer in between. Not only can you use these discount area rugs to fill your own home with Christmas memories, but they make the perfect gift for family and friends. It doesn’t matter if your friends decorate with french country or postmodern minimalism because everyone loves to pull out a cute snowman in December.
So look through our extensive selection of rugs, and we believe you’ll find holiday area rugs that suit you as well as those you are wanting to buy gifts for this year. We have a wide assortment of sizes, shapes, and materials. Whether you are looking for something in a natural fiber blend or in a washable synthetic, we have a rug for your taste and budget. They are the kind of accents that your children will remember.
We’ve got winter area rugs that can take you from the first snowfall right through to the green buds of springtime. The Joy, Peace, and Love theme is a perennial favorite, and the NOEL area rug with bright red poinsettias is a traditional dazzler. How about a leaping folk art reindeer, three whimsical snow people, or a brass french horn? We’ve truly got it all for you. Stand apart from your friends and neighbors and take your holiday decorating to an entirely new level of Christmas cheer, with a special selection of braided area rugs you can feel right down to your toes.
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Posted by green baby on January 9, 2009
Geoexchange systems, a third category of geothermal energy use, are becoming increasingly common throughout the United States and Europe. These systems use relatively shallow, but constant, earth temperatures for efficient heating and cooling of buildings. There are two main methods of utilizing geothermal energy: direct heat usage and electricity generation. Direct heat usage is the most commonly used form because it is the simplest. He spoke to the expansion of geothermal energy in the Western United States. That expansion is coming to Washington state.
On the surface, the results of these restless boundaries are soaring mountain ranges (Himalayas, Swiss Alps, Andes), earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hot springs and geysers and potential geothermal energy. Today, geothermal energy provides about five percent of California’s electricity, and 25 percent of El Salvador’s wind energy. In Idaho and Iceland, geothermal heat is used to warm buildings and for other applications. In thousands of homes and buildings across the United States, geothermal heat pumps use the steady temperatures just underground to heat and cool buildings, cleanly and inexpensively. Geothermal energy refers to the heat contained within the Earth that generates geological phenomena on a planetary scale. Today, this term is often associated with man€s efforts to tap in to this vast energy source.
EGS expands the potential of traditional geothermal energy by orders of magnitude. The traditional geothermal approach relies on finding naturally occurring solar energy and pockets of steam or hot water. One such option that is often ignored is geothermal energy, produced from both conventional hydrothermal and Enhanced (or engineered) Geothermal Systems (EGS). An 18-member assessment panel was assembled in September 2005 to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of EGS becoming a major supplier of primary energy for U.S. Both should favor geothermal energy. Furthermore, since installation is where most of the cost of geothermal lays, once geothermal plants have been installed (due to government requirements and/or financial support), geothermal companies will continue to be competitive – even when legislative support runs out.
Geothermal energy is energy that emits from the earth. It comes from magma and the radioactive decay of uranium , thorium , and potassium . This curriculum unit describes geothermal energy in the context of the world’s energy needs with earth energy. It addresses renewable and nonrenewable energy sources with an in-depth study of geothermal energy — its geology, its history and its many uses. One of the disadvantages of geothermal energy is that it is not easily transported. It can only be used to generate electricity for surrounding areas.
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Posted by green baby on January 4, 2009
Designer Tejo Remy is hot and so are his lighting designs. The Dutch designer, Droog, features many of Remy’s designs around the world, giving a contemporary lighting crowd an artful experience with illuminating excellence. Always focused on the permeable boundaries of sustainable design, Remy proves that reclaimed and everyday materials can indeed delight us to reduce, reuse and recycle.
The famous Milk Bottle light, by Remy, invokes a simple sense of 50′s-era nostalgia. This striking product can be manipulated into a variety of lighting solutions. Capable of changing perspective wherever they are utilized, these lamps can both charm and inspire our personal living spaces. The single Milk Bottle lamp hangs independently, casting a subtle glow. The Droog Milk Bottle Chandelier is a collection of twelve individual bottle pendants, combined into one unusual light fixture. The contemporary chandeliers work best in spaces that echo their shape, mainly hallways, dining rooms or above kitchen islands.
A must for worldwide designers, this year’s “A Touch of Green”, held in Milan; found Remy’s functional and contemporary designs one of the most popular in lighting designs. Founded in 1993, Droog’s has offered many innovative green design ideas, bringing displays of award winning design to the public through practical and simple solutions, finding the brightest and the best of designers, artists and engineers.
Droog regularly taps the talent of young designers including Rody Graumans. Selected for inclusion in Droog’s first design collection, Graumans’ 85 Lamps Chandelier was also chosen for the permanent collection of The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Comprised of 15-watt bulbs and a bundle of black cords and sockets, this stunning display of light is used in many museums. Never could one imagine that simple discards could be arranged in such a graceful way. Less and more, the entire unit only weighs fifty-five pounds.
Creative in everything he touches, Arian Brekveld, designer, has a background in environmental and industrial projects and brings to Droog the Soft Hanging Lamp. By utilizing the old fashioned PVC drip method, he molds the traditional lamp into a soft, flexible globe for safety and beauty. Hanging blissfully from a matching cord, the plastics mesh as one to present a binded marriage and to make one wonder, ‘how do they do that’?
Illuminating the way into a green future with astounding new talent makes Droog a leader in modern lighting. Having the foresight since 1993 to see a need for change, they are far ahead of many designers in preserving our world with beauty and style.
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