Photo Credit - Suto Norbert: Dreamstime.com

When was the last time that you left the kitchen with every intention of returning and then getting distracted in another room of the house? Did you leave the lights on? When was the last time you left the front porch light on all night? When was the last time that you turned on all the lights in the living room, just to watch television? Did you ever stop to think that you were wasting energy? Well, today you will.

The moment you flip the light switch off, you are saving money. That means you save money by the hour, minute, even second. Every light bulb has a watt rating printed on its surface. This rating will tell you how much electricity the light bulb uses. A 60watt bulb uses 0.06 kilowatts per hour. If you can get into the habit of turning off those lights, you could save 10 to 20 percent of your electricity usage.

It’s a pretty simple habit and one that can have great benefits. The cost may not be that high for a room with only one light bulb, like a closet, but think of those rooms where we tend to leave the lights on even when they are not in use. The kitchen and living room in most houses have much more than one light bulb and that is draining energy. Work with as little light as you can, this will help save you some energy. During the day try to work in rooms with lots of natural light, that will diminish the need for artificial light (and it’s a good stress reliever).

Living a sustainable life style doesn’t have to be hard, you just have to be conscientious of what you are doing. Always think about how you can get by with less. In today’s society we waste more than is really necessary. You would be surprised at how easy it is to get by on less.

Photo Credit - http://www.everystockphoto.com/photo.php?imageId=993739

There is something very simple that can be done to save you money. There is something very simple that can be done to reduce climate change. There is something very simple that can be done. The only question is: are you willing to do it? My blog posts are going to help guide you into living a more sustainable and ecolonomic life with spending little to no money.

Today I’m going to discuss how to slay those nasty vampires sucking the life out of your house. You may not know you have them because they disguise themselves as friendly intruders. They are your appliances. Your appliances amount to 20% of your energy bill, but what’s worse is that 75% of the energy used by appliances is when they are not in use. The simple solution: unplug your appliances.

When you are leaving in the morning go around and unplug things like TVs, DVD players, VCRs, stereos, cell phone chargers, microwaves, computers and printers (don’t unplug your fridge; that would be bad news). These items, when not in use, suck watts and hike up your energy bill. If you make a routine of unplugging these items in the morning before leaving for the day, than it will quickly become a habit and not a hassle.

If you really don’t think you can get into that habit, or if your electronics are plugged into outlets that are hard to get to there is another solution. Plug your TV, DVD player, and related items into a power strip. When you are leaving for the day all you have to do is flip the switch to turn off the power. It really is that simple.

If you are curious about how much energy your appliances use, the U.S. Department of Energy has a simple formula that can open your eyes to just how much energy you really do use.

If households would start slaying these energy vampires than power plants would be supplying less energy and thus less fossil fuel will be emitted into the air. So, unplug your appliances, save some money and save the o-zone.

I am here today to explain this blog and give you some insight into the future. To be completely honest I wasn’t very sure where the topics were going each day. I wanted to write about ecolonomic issues and ideas, but I never narrowed it down from there. I had helpful and informative blogs on ways to go green. I had news blogs and I had just miscellaneous blogs. Over time however I have discovered what I want the focus of this blog to be. I want to help the everyday people in the world become sustainable.

Each post I intend to bear light on ways for the average individual to help the environment and help their wallet. That is what the word ecolonomics, fist coined by the late actor Dennis Weaver, is all about. It is a word bringing together the terms ecology and economics. We need to have those two entities living harmoniously together in order to truly live sustainably.

So, as this blog moves forward, I will help all of my readers and those who just stumble across my posts to become ecolonomic. As the recipient of my blogs, what is it that you want help in becoming more ecolonomic?

US driving habits contribute to the carbon footpint

It can’t be stressed enough the importance of reducing your carbon foot print, but the task can be daunting and if not undertaken correctly, overwhelming. I want to list some simple things that you can do to reduce that foot print, not break the budget (and even expand it), and relieve levels of stress.

First, let’s talk energy. You don’t need to run out and buy solar panels or wind turbines in order to save energy. There are many simple things that will help reduce the amount of energy that you use. Turn off the lights. It may seem too simple, but it helps. If you aren’t using the light or if you leave the room, flip the switch. If you aren’t pumping electricity to your house then the power plant supplying your electricity isn’t burning as much fossil fuels. Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They are a little more money, but they last longer and don’t use as much energy. Work with the least amount of light that you need. When you are on a laptop make sure you have it on the energy saving. This will reduce the amount of electricity it uses and will save the battery for longer use. Lastly, replace old appliances with ones that have an energy star rating. This is a little more costly, but you find a significant change in your utilities bills.

Hydroelectric dam in Ghana - photo-G. Meyers

What about water? What can you do to save water? Rain collection is a great way to reduce the amount of water you may use in watering your garden. More efficient dishwashers and washing machines also help. Washing your clothes in cold water rather than hot is just as affective and saves water. Don’t spend too much time in the shower. That will help a lot with saving water. Just be conscious of the amount of water you use.

Food and health are very important in going green, but this always seems to be the most expensive thing to do. Shopping at Safeway is one of the best ways to do this. I have found that the majority of organic products offered there are cheaper than the competing brands. Another great thing to do is buy fruit and vegetables that are in season. This will give you the cheapest price for you quality and quantity. Lastly, shop your farmer’s market. This will give you home grown, organic produce that gives you the assurance of the greenest veggies and fruits (unless you were to grow them yourself).

Transportation is a key in going green. You can get a more fuel efficient vehicle but you are still burning gas and releasing it into the environment. There are healthier and cheaper solutions. If you are close enough, ride your bike to work and places you are going. You will stay in shape and help the problem of pollution. Public transportation is also a good way to help the environment, but the buses still emit pollution. Walking and bicycling are some of the healthiest forms of transportation for yourself as well as the environment.

These are just some very simple, very cheap things for you to do to go green. You don’t have to be an eco guru to make a difference on the environment and just because you care about the planet you live on doesn’t make you some sort of crazy tree hugger, it just makes you intelligent. Simple life style changes can really make a difference.

Dealerships are making deals on new cars when you bring your clunker in. Photo from mlive.com and by Katy Batdorff of The Grand Rapids Press

If you haven’t heard of the new government program CARS, then you must really be out of the loop. No worries though, because I am here to give you a little more insight. The Car Allowance Rebate System or CARS is a government funded and dealership operated program where people can take their cars into certain dealerships and get a $3,500 to $4,500 rebate if they trade in their gas guzzlers for a more fuel efficient vehicle.

It is one of the many steps that the government is taking in trying to support a more eco-friendly culture, but they never thought it would be as popular as it has proven. The government put $1 billion into the budget for this program expecting that amount to last for at least a month. What really happened is far more shocking. The money was gone is just seven days. This occurred just this month and now the government is rushing to put $2 billion into the budget so as to keep the program going. Many dealerships had to cancel transactions because they were afraid there would be no more money for customers and the government would cut the program.

The junk yard will be filled with many junkers that dealerships will have to despose of themselves. Photo from japanesenostalgiccar.com.

It hasn’t been all grins and giggles though. This program has caused a lot of hassle for the dealerships. They have more paperwork that they have to fill out and they are responsible for the disposal of all the clunkers. The only aid that the government is giving is the rebates to the people who trade in their cars.

Dealerships have, though, seen a major boost in sales since the program started, which is the whole goal in the first place. This was supposed to be a program that would help to stimulate the transportation market as well as help stimulate people’s involvement in going green. It seems that this has been accomplished.

I am still undecided on whether this program is a benefit or a not. I don’t think this is the best way to make people more energy efficient. Just by giving them money to buy a more fuel efficient car doesn’t mean we are going to help the earth. There are still those junk cars that will need to be dealt with. I only hope that the majority of the parts can be scrapped and recycled. Those are large items that don’t need to be occupying the landfills. I also think that giving more money in the promotion of public transportation and no-fuel methods of transit would be a better way to help the environment. Put some money into the development of better sidewalks and bike paths. Give people free bus passes if they only use public transportation as their means of travel. These are the types of things that will help the environment more than more fuel efficient cars on the roads. What do you think? Tell us your thoughts.

Dandelions are a very familier weed and seems to really like flower beds and lawns. Photo from Grian Herbs Knowledge Base.

If you’ve ever had your own garden you know the dilemma of weeds. They are always getting in the way and can be real pains in the neck (and back). If you don’t really care about the environment then toxic herbicides are the way to go, but they are harmful to more than just those weeds. Herbicide run off is toxic to wild animals and even children who play near the place they were sprayed, not to mention other plants and insects as well. The chemicals can also ruin the soil. The solution is a lot better than getting down on hands and knees and plucking the weeds out though. There are things you can do that are good for the environment and will make those pests a little more manageable.

Planning is the key to a weed free garden. Fall is sadly making its way around the corner (where did the summer go?) which means that those gardens are going to wither away. This is a great time to attack the issue of weeds before the spring comes next year. If you have a flower garden with annual flowers then at the end of the summer or whenever the flowers start to turn brown, completely dig out the garden. This way you are pulling up any seeds of perennial weeds that will return the next spring. This is very important in vegetable gardens because harmful insects can also live in the ground.

Once spring arrives and you are planning on starting a garden the next step would be to lay down a protective

The right tools will make gardening easier as well as aid in the reduction of weeds. Photo from the Garden Tool Buyer's Resource.

covering that will be buried later. There are very nice landscaping fabrics out there that are designed specifically to keep weeds out. Newspaper can also work and is far cheaper, but it will degrade after time and I’m not positive about the effects the inks may have on the ground. Once you have placed down a protective fabric or covering bury it in gardening mulch. This is what you will be planting your flowers and plants in.

These few steps will greatly minimize weeds coming up, but it won’t eliminate them. If you do have weeds come up, they should be very easy to pull because they are rooted in mulch and not soil. If they happen to get through the fabric than dampen the garden area first and then pull the weeds, it will be much easier.

If you do want to use a spray you can use either a corn gluten spray or a vinegar spray. Corn gluten is great because it will kill the weeds as seeds, but it is not good for gardens that are already planted or have seeds that you do not want to kill. Vinegar will kill any weeds that are already grown. Spray the weed directly and make sure you don’t spray any plant you want to keep. The stronger the percentage of vinegar, the more likely it will kill weeds. This spray will work great for driveway and walkways where weeds tend to show up.

Those are just some ways of dealing with those pesky plants. Are there anyways you have found of getting rid of weeds and eco-friendly way?

The United States and China are going to collaborate together in making better green technologies. Their focus will primarily be the building sector. Both countries goals are to have eighty percent more efficient buildings. China builds more structures than most other countries in the world. I believe that if they take greater measures to produce greener technology they will greatly affect the climate and also the activity of other societies.

The plan for the two countries is to build a joint center for the engineering minds of the US and China to come and create the best green technologies. Their emphasis will be in building technologies, but they will also put some focus on transportation and other technologies.

This could be one of the greatest collaboration of all time. China is known for its intellects, but to combine that with the power and motivation of the United States, it will truly be remarkable. If China starts building green and becoming more efficient the entire world will see a great change. There is no hiding the fact that many consumer products come from China. More efficient buildings means greener products, which means the globe is going to experience consumer goods that were produced in eco-friendly ways. This could be the biggest step for demonstrating to other industrialized nations (like India, one of the largest populated countries as well as a mass consumer and producer) to go green. I believe this will be a grand collaboration. What are your thoughts?

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Research was the thought in my mind. I have discovered that you are able to highlight and search when using a Kindle. This is a great feature that can be used for many different industries. Kindles could become a student’s best friend if it can bring text book prices down and make research and notes easier.

These reasons have made Kindle look very handsome. E-books seem quite eco-friendly, but some recent events have made my feelings toward them a little unsettled. Just in the last week a publisher decided that they no longer wanted certain books to be an e-book. Everyone who had bought this book through Amazon had the book taken from them. They were reimbursed, but they no longer had the book. That is a very disturbing fact. When I buy something, I expect to be able to keep it. I may want to return it due to malfunctions, but I don’t expect the cashier to show up at my house and just take what I bought, leaving a stack of bills in return.

I don’t want to always be thinking about how I may not have my books in the morning. I also don’t like to think about the fact that I can’t share my books in anyway. What happens when I no longer want a book? I can’t donate it, I can’t get store credit at a used bookstore, and I can’t even give it to a library. No, all I will be able to do is delete it. That just seems like a waste of money.

I think the industry of e-books needs to become a bit more stable before they can be completely trusted. I also feel they should create a way in which e-books can be shared much like a library system. This way you wouldn’t have to buy every single book that you want if you are only planning on reading it once. This would be much more beneficial. What are your thoughts on these issues with e-books?

There are many different plants that can be used to create fuel. One of the most common is corn which creates ethanol. Sugar cane and palm trees are also used. These plants are can’t make over 650 gallons of fuel per acre of production, where as algae can make 2,000 gallons per acre. Algae are able to take amble amounts of carbon dioxide and turn it into lipids which can be used to create biofuel. Exxon is partnering with a company that studies the genes of plant life and discovers ways to create alternative fuel. They have found a way to make algae take in more carbon dioxide. This will not only allow the algae to produce more fuel, but it will also be able to help with carbon emissions which is another hope of Exxon. They would like to be able to start algae farms near industries that produce a lot of carbon dioxide so as to reduce the amount of carbon that is emitted into the atmosphere.

These ideas are just formulations caused by the new standards that the Obama administration is putting into play. This is one of the many steps that are being taken to curb the impact of climate change. I believe that algae would be a great alternative fuel. I know from experience that it can grow in almost any water (fresh or salted) and it is not a product that is farmed immensely for other reasons (like food). Corn is such a substantial food in other countries that a mass use of it for biofuels could create a shortage of corn for food, not necessarily in the United States, but in third world countries. By using a plant that can grow quickly, can be grown wherever there is water, and is not used much in any other industries; we may just have ourselves a fine alternative fuel. Do you think so?

The two biggest debates were over money and the environment. Waxman and Markey let a lot of changes occur to their bill. It could be said that they were more worried about getting the bill passed than they were about keeping the plan that was originally drawn up. There were cold welcomes for the bill from many representatives from the Mid West and surrounding areas where coal and farming are the major industries. There were some amendments made to make these industries happy, like giving farmers a carbon offset credit by not tilling the ground which releases carbon into the atmosphere. If industries want more allowance for their carbon emissions they can just invest in some carbon offsetting project, like planting trees. This is a nice gesture, but there is no way of knowing how much carbon is offsetting from these projects. It should be the same amount that the company is getting in extra allowances, but it doesn’t seem the bill is taking that measure.

Money is a big problem among the Republicans. They see the bill as being something that will hurt the economy rather than build it up. Some feel there is not any concern for the public in this bill. They believe care is only for the environment and the large industries. It is estimated that each household will incur about $175 a year by 2020 because of this bill. Also, the allowances will cost $13 to start with and each year will get higher over time. Some believe that $175 maybe the amount that this bill will cost in taxes, but if industries will have to start paying for allowances it will mean that the cost of consumer goods will go up as well. We may have to pay more in taxes, but we will be paying for these companies allowances as well. The price of goods may not go up very much, but they will, most likely go up. Many Republicans tried to make amendments that would cancel the bill if the amount for electricity went up by certain amounts. All of these amendments were rejected. It seems like this bill has forgotten about the people who pay to keep the government going and will be helping to pay for this bill if it passes Senate.

On the complete other spectrum some environmental groups feel the bill is not doing enough to stop pollution and reduce the effect of climate change. There are some who feel that there were too many amendments that weakened the bill to suite those who started opposed to the bill. The bill is a grand step to reducing pollution and the effects of climate change, but many who have seen this bill feel that India and China are going to need to take up similar standards if we are ever to see major impacts on aiding the environment.

Because of these two very shaky reasons there is speculation as to whether this bill will pass the Senate because of how close the vote was in the House. There is no way to know exactly how this bill is going to cost the public. There also is no way to tell how it will affect the economy. One thing is certain though; if the bill does pass the Senate there is still much work to be done to figure out how to implement the laws. This will not happen overnight. The economy could be better by the time the bill is actually put into effect. Who knows? What are your thoughts on this? What input can you give about this bill? Are there other controversies that you know of and could brief us on? This bill could have a major impact on all of our lives.