Enough solar electricity to power the US for $.10/kwh

Here is an interesting article I came across about a company that claims they can gear up in the next 18 months to power the entire US with solar power that would cost less then $.10 per kilowatt hour!

Sunny Outlook: Can Sunshine Provide All U.S. Electricity?

Quick Tips for the Day for Saving Water & Gas

Here are two quick tips that will help you save the earth and your wallet!

1. When you stop for lunch and are thinking about the drive-thru, think again. Instead of sitting in your car waiting to order while it's running, why don't you just park and run inside to order? You'll get a little exercise in the process, and you can save some gas as well (not to mention the carbon you will release while the car was running!).

2. Do you have a kitchen (or any room) faucet that takes forever to get warm water? There are some great solutions out there to get you hot water faster, but even easier why not save the water that you are running while waiting for it to warm up? Set a bowl or pat in the sink while you run the water. Once the water warms up take the bowl away and use it for your original goal. Then use the bowl of water to water your plants, rinse off dishes etc. Also think about keeping the bowl there if you are just washing your hands or something like that. The little bit of soap or debris that was on your hands won't bother your flowers at all. Then you won't have to run more water to take care of the plants!

The Laing Autocirc pumps are a great way to get hot water quickly to your taps without wasting water. They claim that for a average family of four, installing one of their pumps will save about 17,000 gallons a year! I put one in my house and love it. Instant hot water when ever you need it! When I have more time I'm going to do a blog post here with some pictures of the process of installing the pump and more of a review, so check back.

Stop spending money on bottled water, before it literally kills you!

Here's an interesting thought that I came across today. The bottles that your bottled water comes in actually contaminates the water you drink from them. There are all types of water bottles out there, none of which are truly safe to drink your water from (at least none that bottled water is sold in).

There are actually large municipalities and swanky restaurants that are banning the bottles!

Studies have shown that the water in the bottles is typically no better then what is coming out of your tap. Almost half of the time the water in the bottles started out as tap water anyway.

The major environmental problem with the bottles is the manufacturing process and the disposal process is using up oil, and clogging out landfills.

Additionally, bottled water costs thousands of times more then the water that is flowing out of your tap! Now is is really a solution that will save you some green!

All of these factors add up to one thing: Buy one good truly reusable water bottle and fill it with water from you tap. It'll be better for you and thousands of times cheaper!

The following is a link for a water bottle that good for you, and will actually keep track of you hydration level! Sportline HydraCoach Intelligent Water Bottle (SL705)

Want to know more of the details? Check out the following articles:

Tapped Out
Bottled Water
The Bottled Water Madness
Plastic Water Bottles: Really Bad for the Environment
KleenKanteen

Affordable Wind Power - DIY

This is what we've all been looking for, for quite some time. I'd like to put solar on my roof, and a turbine on my land, but I've yet to find something that is cost effective. Take a look at what I've come across here.

It's a wind turbine that is tall and skinny, that looks simple enough to install on my land myself, doesn't take up to much area because there are no blades, and costs less then $4,000!

It looks perfect. It produces 1KWH in an average 12 mph wind. It'll kick on at 8mph, and is rated for wind up to 100 mph. The maintenance takes about 30 mins a year, and you have to change the inverter every 10 years. Seems pretty "fool proof!"

So far everything I have seen simply is not cost effective. Or even if it was the project would be much to large a scale for the two acres I own, and then free time in my life.

If anyone out there has installed one of these before please comment on this post. I am seriously considering placing and order!

Normally it is my understanding that if you have solar or wind there is some electrical equipment that you need to install so that the power created will power your house when needed and additional power created will go back into the grid. The website mentioned something about a "plug n' produce" option which sounds like you can just plug it into your household outlet and power the house that way. Sounds interesting and much cheaper then installing all the other equipment. It does say you can also hardwire it as well.

Now 1KWH isn't going to supply all the power you will need, but it certainly will cut into your power bill. And it looks pretty scalable. In other words I am thinking about getting one to try it, and if it seems to work well then add a second one, and so on.

Finally a affordable personal renewable energy source that I an install myself for a nice weekend project!

Link: Affordable Wind Turbine

Wind Turbines in Bahrain World Trade Center

Here's and idea that I thought was a great one. This is an article about how the world trade center in Bahrain used some unused space to create some green energy.

They installed three wind turbines on an existing sky scraper. The article doesn't give much as far as info about the spec but it seems like a great idea. I'd be interested to see if they could supply all the power for that building.

As you'll see there are quite a few comments from readers all who seem to think they are smarter then the next. They can't really have any specific knowledge of the project so it's amazing that they know so much, but they do touch on all of the elements that I'm sure when into the decision of whether to install the turbines. Someone has to be the devil's advocate right?

Link: Bahrain World Trade Center Getting Its Turbines

Solar Oven - Saving the planet one muffin at a time!

Ok, have you heard of these? Remember when you were a kid and you were chasing ants around with a magnifying glass during you summer vacation? Well the concept is the same only now you are cooking dinner.

I've seen plans for them online and in magazines, but have not yet had the time to build one. The most basic plans I've seen called for a plywood box that was lines with sheet metal. The most sophisticated one that I've seen I read about in Business2.0, where a company was selling professionally made units that came on their own trailer. They were selling them to third world countries so that people could use them to cook instead of building a fire, thus reducing pollution.

The following are some links of sites that either sell solar cookers or offer plans to build your own:

Solar Cookers International
How to Build a Solar Cooker
The Solar Oven Society
How to Make a Pizza Box Oven

Of course any solar oven is going to save you either electricity, propane, or whatever you use to run your current oven. Even if you don't use it every day, every little bit will help. Just think of all the CO2 you'll keep out of the atmosphere, while you enjoy your favorite recipe with your family!

10 Things you can do at work to save the planet

Ok here at Saving Green we always try to save the planet in a way that also saves you money. This time we'll still save the planet, but your company is going to save the money. Hey, maybe you'll start a trend and can ask for a raise right?

Below are ten suggestions to save the planet while your at work:

1. My office building has handicap accessible doors leading into the building. I think this a great, IF, you are handicapped. If not, save the electricity and just pull that door open yourself. It's really not that heavy, I promise!

2. Also along the same line, we are all guilty of riding the elevator when we could just go up 2 flights of stairs to the office. Have you ever caught yourself waiting 5 mins for the elevator, when you could have been in your office in 1 min if you just walked up the stairs? Well, at the same time you are saving the electricity to run the elevator. The exercise you'll get is just a nice bonus!

3. Do you have a personal light or lamp at your desk? Do you really need it on when you are just using your computer? Also, always make sure that you turn it off when you leave for lunch and go home for the night.

4. Is it too hot or too cold in your office? I've seen people with space heaters under their desk that they run all day because they are cold. Even if your company thinks they are saving money by turning down the heat in the winter, if they allow everyone to run space heaters they are definitely losing. Call HR, or your building supervisor, or your boss, and talk to them about adjusting the heat.

5. Is all of your office equipment set to go into sleep mode when not in use? Make sure that your photocopier sleeps after a set amount of time that makes sense for your office usage. Especially when you go home for the night. Or even better it might make sense to turn the machines totally off when you go home for the night. Even in sleep mode they are still drawing some power.

6. Can you ride your bike or walk to work? This one will save you gas money, and reduce emissions at the same time. You'll also get some more of that exercise! Even if you can't bike or walk, maybe you could carpool and cut your cost and emissions in half.

7. Use your misprints. Did you print two copies when you really only needed one? Or was there a typo that you changed and reprinted? Save the misprints and use the back for notes and scrap paper. Ok, it really great that the sticky notes are that fun color and they'll stick to your monitor, but is that really that important. All you really need is a note on your chair to make sure to print those TPS reports right? (note: make sure your not using the back of a printout containing confidential data!)

8. Ask for a recycle paper bin if you don't all ready have one. We've all seen them, the big blue bin that you put your scrap paper in (this is of course once you have all ready used the back to remind yourself to print your TPS reports). It will then get recycled and save a tree!

9. Did you ever notice anything that wasn't working properly at work that you know was wasteful. For instance the toilet is running constantly and won't shut off. Or the refrigerator door is broken and won't close properly. It only takes a minute to send a quick email to whomever is in charge of taking care of those types of things for your building. Save the water, electricity, etc.

10. Screen savers. Yeah they are fun. Once you've not been using your computer for 10 mins a great white shark starts swimming around in your monitor, or the man starts cleaning the window from the inside, etc. They are cool to see, and once upon a time they actually did serve a function. If they same thing appeared on your monitor in the same spot a long time old monitor would burn that image in. So even when you had a different screen up, your could still see the shadow of that popular image. But the technology of monitors today is such that they will no longer burn and image no matter how long you have it on there. So once 10 mins goes by just have your screen go to black. It actually takes a little more energy to run a screen saver then to just let the screen go black. Not a lot, but if we all do it, it'll add up!

Which has more Mercury, CFL's or incandescents

Mercury. It's the last reason that people haven't changed over to CFL's. Mercury is bad for the environment and bad for humans as well. Sounds horrible right?

Actually Mercury is bad, the problem is people don't realize the amount of Mercury that is released into the environment to run a regular incandescent bulb. Most of the electricity that is produced in the US comes from coal fired power plants. When you burn this coal, Mercury is released into the environment.

The amount of Mercury in a CFL is very small and getting smaller all the time as R&D improves technology all the time.

Now, you are using the same electricity from coal plants when you are running your CFL's, but of course you are using 1/3 to 1/4 the power you would when using an incandescent bulb. The amount of Mercury actually contained in the bulb is tiny compared to what is released into the environment from the coal power plants. Also, the Mercury from the power plants is released into the environment. The Mercury in the bulbs is trapped in the bulbs and would only be released if the bulb is broken. Most CFL's will last 5-15 years and end their life when they finally burn out. They can then be recycled thereby releasing no Mercury from the bulb itself.

Of course the CFL's are much better for your wallet as well. The electric bill savings over the life of the bulb far outweigh the additional cost for the purchase of the bulb.

The moral of the story is this: There is no good reason not to change all your bulbs to CFL's! They will save you money, save the CO2, and reduce the Mercury in the environment as well. Additionally, they don't burn as hot so when you are running the AC in your house they will release less heat and therefor save you money cooling your house.

Buy your CFL's!

Cool site offering green products mostly for businesses

This is a cool site I found that offers many green products. If anyone owns a commercial building with a flat roof it looks like you could benefit.

Not only will this new roofing material much better reflect heat and save you money, but it also can be deducted off your taxes in the first year instead of depreciated over 39 years!

http://www.greenproducts.net/

An interesting article on green building in NYC

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/environment/20070501/7/2161

History of Environmental Issues (time line with pics)

This following is a link to a great time line of environmental issues that I came across while surfing the green web. I'm not sure that this time line will save you any green but I'm sure you can see how at the very least it is costing you precious green!

Scary stuff!

http://www.worldwatch.org/brain/features/timeline/timeline.htm

Top 10 things you can do TODAY to save the Environment and Electricity (Green).

You hear about it all the time: all these simple things that you can do to do your part in saving the environment. They are on the radio or TV and when you hear them they sound like a great idea. But then you continue about your life and forget that great idea. So the following is a list of 10 easy things that you can start doing today to do your part in saving the environment. And as always here at Saving Green you will save your own money in the process.

10. If your refrigerator is older then 10 years old consider purchasing a new one. The refrigerators of today are much more energy efficient then they were even just a decade ago. A new refrigerator could cost 50% less to run then one purchased just 10 year ago. The older your refrigerator the more the savings!

9. Wash your clothes in cold water instead of hot. Approximately 90% of the energy required to run one load of wash is used to heat the water! Use cold water and save 90% of the cost every load!

8. Skip the clothes dryer and air dry your clothes. It is expensive to use electricity to create heat. Whether it's your oven, the heat in your house, or your dryer this is an expensive process. If you can skip it all together, do so. If you can hang your clothes outside that is the best. If not maybe you could run a rope in your basement and do it there. Even if you have to put them on hangers and hang them around the house. You'll be amazed at what this will save you!

7. Insulate your hot water tank. You have all ready paid to heat the water in your hot water tank. While you are not using it some of the heat is lost through the walls of your tank, which you then have to pay again to reheat! Help reduce the cost of this process by wrapping your hot water tank with insulation. Most home improvement stores sell kits of insulation for this exact purpose. Or to stay on the cheap you can literally take wall insulation and wrap it around the tank and tape it (just be careful not to cover any working parts of the tank, or fire hazard areas of the tank). If you are unsure how to do this call a local handyman who could perform this task for you.

6. Install programmable thermostats. Setting these thermostats to not cool or heat your house when you are not there can save you big GREEN. These also can be purchased at most home improvement stores for under $75 and are fairly easy to install. If you are unsure a local handyman can easily perform this task for you. Typical savings are approximately 1% per degree of setback per 8 hour period. So for every degree you turn down the temp (during heating season) for an 8 hour period you will save approximately 1% of the cost to heat your home. So turn down the temp 10 degrees while you are at work and save 10%!

5. Insulate your home! Most homes built more then 20 years ago are under insulated. Adding insulation will keep in the heat or cool that you are paying to produce. Additionally, another benefit of adding insulation is it will reduce the amount of noise that comes into your house. With heating costs again on the rise for this up coming winter now is the time to SAVE! Also don't forget heat rises. Check you attic and ceiling first as the most savings can be found when insulating them.

4. In the summer become your own biggest fan! Fans are much cheaper to run then air conditioners and can make a room feel 5-10 degrees cooler. Install ceiling fans where you can. Otherwise use pedestal or box fans which are cheap to buy and cheap to run. If you have a basement set up the fan so it will blow the cooler air up into the living space.

3. Don't let the water run when you are shaving or brushing your teeth. Especially if you are using hot water. If you only need a short burst of water make sure you keep the faucet at the cold setting. Even if the water never gets up to temp at the faucet you are pulling hot water through the pipes and using the amount of hot water that you ran at the tap.

2. Plant trees 15 to 20 feet from the house which lose their leaves in the fall if you live in an appropriate climate. In the summer the leaves will shade your house and reduce your need for air conditioning. In the winter the leaves will have fallen off and let light through the branches to warm your house and reduce the need for heating.

1. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. These bulbs use approximately 25% of the electricity that traditional incandescent bulbs use. They cost a bit more but last much longer than traditional bulbs as well. The energy savings will far outweigh the additional purchase price over the life of the bulb and you'll find that you are changing bulbs much less frequently. Every little bit helps but changing most if not all of the bulbs in your house will really be noticed on your bill I promise you. Most home improvement stores now sell most any variety of CFL's that you would need. They have regular, 3-way, decorative, ceiling fan bulbs, etc.

Saving Green is a blog that I host to hopefully help you save money and save the environment at the same time. I believe that even if you want to save the environment people won't really do much to change until they find that they can also save money in the process.

I would like to hear you feed back as it will help me to get the message out. If you agree or disagree with anything that you read here please let me know. My goal is to get the best info possible on Saving Green, so please help.

How long until we run out of oil, and why this isn't the most important question!

The Problem

President Bush said it. We are addicted to oil. I don't know if we're addicted, but we count on it for everything, and don't yet have a viable alternative. The problem is that the end of oil is coming sooner then anyone of us thought, and that end is coming soon! I always comforted myself by thinking when it runs out, then "we" will come up with another alternative to power everything we use. The question is going to be if we have enough time to come up with a solution. This isn't a problem that our grandchildren will have to face, it is something we're going to need to solve in our lifetime!

Recently while researching "green" issues online I came across the following website from which I learned much of the information contained in this article. I highly suggest you take the time to check it out as there is much more detail then I have mentioned there. The site is Life after the Oil Crash.

We all know it. Fossil Fuel is not a renewable source of energy. We've always known it. The question has always been when will we run out of it! Until recently no one really worried about it because we kept finding more and more oil and seemed that we had plenty for a long long time. Thing are soon going to change!

If you think of the planets oil as a whole you could picture the entire supply in gallons (or barrels). I always pictured this as an enormous jug of oil with a spout. When anyone was pumping oil out of the ground we were essentially opening the spout and letting some out. Thus reducing the total amount left in the jug.

The problem is this metaphor isn't really accurate to how we get oil out of the ground. Instead of a straight line graph which all of the sudden goes down to zero when the last drop comes out of the metaphorical spout, the worlds oil supply is better represented as a bell curve. The oil that we can get out of the ground will increase every year until we hit the peak, and then will decrease every year as the same rate it had been increasing.



This is immensely important because of how dependent our world is on oil! The problem is that every year the world as a whole increases the amount of oil it will need to quench it's appetite. So for instance if we need 100 million barrels this year, then we'll need 110 million barrels next year, and so on with no reduction. So basically every year we'll need more and more oil.

However because oil extraction follows a bell curve, once we hit the peak of production that is going to be the max that we can take out of the ground for any one year. Every year there after we'll be able to get about 8% less then the year before. As a planet we are close to using all of the oil that comes out of the ground each year all ready. So as our demand increases every year, and the supply decreases every year we are going to run into issues. It is estimated that at just a 5% deficit for the year our economy which is so dependent on oil will fall apart! This means oil will become so expensive that most people will not be able to afford it. Therefore oil companies will not be able to produce it. So even though there is more oil in the ground we'll essentially have run out because it is no long economically viable to bother with it.

Think of all the things in our world that count on a constant supply of oil that will fall apart. All of the food we eat is produced by farmers that run nothing but diesel powered equipment. It is then transported the store by diesel powered trucks. It is then put on shelves in stores that are heated by oil or natural gas. The lights are on in the stores so we can see by electricity which is usually produced by burning natural gas or coal (natural gas by the way also follows the same bell curve and is expected to hit its peak approximately 10 years after oil). We then drive to the store in our gas powered cars. We then take them home to our electric refrigerators. We then use our electric or gas stove to cook the food. This is just the food industry. Just going to work burns gas to get there. If you work in an office the lights and heat are on there. The computer you use uses electricity. It took electricity to run the plant where the computer was manufactured. Etc, etc, etc. You get the picture. Total collapse of our economy! The next depression is coming!

How long do we have?

The US hit it's peak around 1970. Every year since then we have produced less oil. Most other regions of the world have also hit their peak and are on the decline. The one region of the world that is still climbing is the Middle East, which is why you hear so much about it and we are so dependent on it's oil. The problem is that it is estimated that they are only a few years away from hitting their peak as well. Other recent oil discoveries which are considered "large" would only supply the US for maybe a year!

In 1999 Vice President Cheney said the following:

By some estimates, there will be an average of two-percent annual growth in global oil demand over the years ahead, along with, conservatively, a three percent natural decline in production from existing reserves. That means by 2010 we will need on the order of an additional 50 million barrels a day.

As an interesting note President Bush's ranch is completely off the power grid. Through advanced technologies the range is self sufficient creating it's own energies to sustain itself. Is this a coincidence?

There are additional oil reserves that are embedded in shale and other hard to reach areas however they again are not enormous reserves that would sustain us for very long. Even if they could extract them it might take more energy then could be created by the oil extracted. In other words even if it was financially beneficial for an oil company to extract this oil, they would burn more oil in the process of extracting it then they would extract.

A solution is needed and fast! At least a ten year window would be needed to convert everything over to a newer technology rather then oil.

Why haven't I heard anything about this before?

Think about the impact of this kind of information on the economy. It would fall apart now instead of after we actually hit the peak in the middle east. Until recently President Bush said there was no such thing as global warming, and there was no issues with oil. In his state of the union address in January he finally mentioned the existence of global warming for the first time. I also recently heard on the news that he is pledging that we reduce our oil consumption as a country by 20% over the next 10 years. Why all of the sudden are these things important to him?

Also, you have to wonder about the war in Iraq. Even if there were not issues in the region we would run out of oil. However are they just trying to stabilize the region so that we can extend the flow of oil a few more year and "buy us some time" to come up with alternatives?

What are the alternatives?

This is the the hard part. Lets say for instance that we could power everything by solar power. That would be great and seems like we have solved the problem. The issue is then deploying this new power. You could just buy all the solar panels that you need. However in the plant that makes the solar panel they are using oil energy to produce them, as is the trucking company that brings them the raw materials, and the postal service that brings the panels to your house, etc. Basically even if you could quickly find the answer to replacing oil, it would take years to deploy it into the economy. In the mean time what would we be doing for energy. This is why it is going to have such a devastating effect on the world!

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that we need a solution to the oil crisis that is looming much sooner then almost everyone thinks. Even if we do find the solution the real question is if there is going to be time to implement this solution before the world economy falls apart!

Future articles

Check back to the Saving Green Blog often as future article will cover some of the following:

1. What the small silver lining to this problem is
2. How the greenhouse gas effect ties into this problem
3. Ways that you can help
   

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As part of this blog I have promised to bring you a useful tip at the end of each post if possible. This is helpful hint #3.

Helpful Hint #3

Did you know that 90% of the energy used in a laundry wash cycle is used in heating the water? Try using only cold water as save 90% of the cost of doing a load of wash!

Saving Green Electrically

In the Famous Words of McFly in Back to the Future..."What the hell's a gigawatt?!"


Indeed what the hell is a gigawatt? Or more pertinent to how we're going to save the planet and our wallet with this post, what the hell's a kilowatt hour? Let's find out...

In looking around on the internet on ways to be more green around the house I came across a site all about electricity. I think it's very well put together and the guy really seems to know his stuff! There is tons of info on there including all you'll ever need to know to finally fully understand you monthly electric bill.

Anyway back to defining a kilowatt hour. If you look at a light bulb it will say how many watts it is. For instance a 100 watt light bulb. This is the rate of electricity that it will draw. However it is not the amount of electricity it will draw. To know the amount (which is what the electric company uses to know how much to bill you) you have to know for how long you have been drawing electricity at the rate of 100 watts. The most common amount of time used is an hour.

So for a 100 watt light bulb which is turned on for an hour, it was drawing 100 watt hours. Since this is a small unit of electrical measure you must convert this to kilowatt hour. There are 1000 watt hours in a kilowatt hour. So the 100 watt light bulb that is on for an hour used .1 kilowatt hours of electricity. If you power supplier charges say .17 cents per kilowatt hour, then you have just spent about 2 cents to run that light for that hour.

Surprisingly low I thought. However think about that same bulb that you forgot to turn off when you leave for your 1 month business trip. So the light stays on all month. That's 24 hours a day for 31 days or 744 hours. Or in dollars that's $14.88. I guess I can still afford that. But how many lights are there in your house? One light won't kill you but when they gang up they will. (See my first post's helpful hint #1, switch to compact fluorescents!)

The moral of the story however isn't to just turn off your lights (all though you really should turn off your lights if your not using them). It's the larger amp guzzling appliances that you can change to really make a difference. Buying a new refrigerator, or using cold water to wash you clothes, or switching to a LCD monitor for you computer can make a sizable difference. And remember anything you do even if it's small can add up.

This information is just he tip of the iceberg! If you find this interesting you really should check out Mr. Electricity's web page. Not only does he explain what a kilowatt is, but he shows how it relates to your power bill. And more importantly how you can use this information to reduce your bill.

In sticking to my new credo or saving the planet by saving your wallet, this could not fit more perfectly. In order for the power company to supply you with the electricity that you use, somewhere a power plant is burning coal, natural gas, oil, or maybe nuclear (there are wind, and solar but as of right now they are a small percentage). All of these except maybe nuclear (I don't know enough about this one but it obviously has pollutants of its own) create CO2 gas which gets released into the air and contribute to the greenhouse effect. So the less electricity that you use the less fuel will need to be burned to create it. So every time you decide to wash your clothes in cold water you are doing your small part to save the planet. Of course at the same time you are lowering your monthly power bill. Both things will make you feel good :-)

Again I highly suggest that you check out Mr. Electricity's web site. I found quite a few items of interest on there, and haven't had time to check out all that he has to offer yet!

As promised here is this post's helpful hint...

Helpful Hint #2:

Did you know that it is a myth that lights and other appliances use more electricity when your first turn them on to "warm up"? According to Mr. Electricity this is not true. Actually, I guess technically they do use a very tiny bit more which is where the myth comes from, but the amount is so small you wouldn't even notice it on your electric bill!

I always thought the myth was true, so if I was leaving a room that I knew I was going to come back to shortly I would leave the lights on "to save money". I guess I can stop doing that now!

First Post

OK so I'm finally part of the whole blog phenomenon!

My goal for this blog is to try to have a place for people to come and save or make more money in a way that will also have a beneficial impact on the planet.


Recently I have been trying to save money and have realized that many times these days saving money can go hand and hand with saving the environment. Too many times I think people want to save the environment, and would like everyone to join them no matter the cost. There will always be a percentage of people that are willing to save the world no matter the cost. Realistically though, in order to get the rest of the world to join in there has to be some benefit. Until Global Warming threatens our lives in a imminent way (like within the current year, or maybe the current week) people will always wonder what's in it for me?


People think in an immediate way. Saving the planet in 200 years sadly is not good enough. Saving you money on this month's electric bill will get people to listen. Reducing the cost of building your new home will be interesting to people (and if we can do it in a "green" way then so be it). If companies find out that more people will buy their product because it was manufactered so there was less impact on the environment they will listen.

The bottom line is money talks and you know what walks. A few people doing something about the worlds problems really isn't enough to help that much. The way to get everyone on board to to affect their wallet.

This is a hobby for me not a job but I am thinking that if I can have a informative posting once a week at least that would be great. Each time I'll try to include a helpful tip on how to save you some money in a green way. "Saving Green"

I'm new to all of this really, and I'm by no means an expert. My wife and I recently had a son, and have #2 on the way. Being a new father got me thinking about what we are passing down our children. I don't have all the answers, and only recently totally accepted that there is a problem. But it is pretty interesting to me especially if I can save some money! So in future posts I'll try to come up with some answers no matter how small to help. I encourage you to reply with your thoughts and input.

I grew up never recycling, just throwing everything out. If you think of everytown in America having a landfill, at some point we are just going to run out of room. Literally it has to go somewhere! Kind of a gross world filled with trash for our kids. Now I know that there really isn't anything in it for me, but honestly how much effort does it take to recycle these days. Every trash service that I know of offers recycling with your weekly pickup. You just throw it in a different bin when you get rid of the can or bottle! Seriously if your not doing this then come on. All though I guess really there is a gain for us. If my recycleables go in a different bin then they don't go in the trash bin. If I'm not filling the trash bin then I could get a smaller bin and pay less for trash service. So there you go. Once again helping the environment helps your wallet!

Helpful Tip #1:

If you replace 5 of your most used incadencent light bulbs in your house with the new compact flourescent spiral bulbs, you should save about $60 each year!