Maglev Wind Turbine

This monster of a wind turbine, which uses magnets to levitate its fan blades is capable of generating enough power to replace 1000 traditional windmills. The Maglev can also produce electricity with winds as low as 3 miles per hour. How much electricity? This bohemuth can crank out a whopping Gigawatt of electricity, impressive compared to the 5 Megawatts from its puny cousins.

Continue Reading!

60 seconds to save the Planet

Here are the top 3 short videos from Current TV and The Alliance for Climate Protection's Ecospot contest. The top four videos will be shown on Current TV and featured in the Alliance's national campaign.

The Grand Prize Winner: Sky is Falling


Second Place: Are you Game


Third Place Winner: I did Noth'N

Continue Reading!

Energy Action Coalition

"Energy Action is a youth founded and lead coalition of 40+ organizations working to support and strengthen the student and youth clean energy movement in North America"
Look cool and support youth organizers working towards a renewable energy future. T-shirts are around $15.00 and all prodeeds go toward the movement.

Continue Reading!

Designer Bulbs ?

Whose bright idea was it to remain with the lackluster models of today's light bulbs anyway? I'm not sure either, but the Plumen Project by Hulgar is shining new light on the look of CFLs we have become accustomed to. this UK based boutique electronics company has taken the bland and turned it sleek and stylish. The only downside of this being you may not purchase a bulb when you just need a bulb and require light anymore but because you want the bulb for its appearance and design.

Continue Reading!

Spudware

What could be more enjoyable than lounging around eating fries or baked potato? How about eating your spuds with utensils made from spuds ! Our dream can now become reality with Spudware. These biodegradable utensils made from 80% potato starch and 20% soybean oil are equivalent in durability to regular plastic utensils and are heat tolerable ( you can eat soup with them!). Not only that, but as opposed to petroleum based plastic utensils which take centuries to break down , Spudware composts in 180 days. Now all I need is a biodegradable plate and cup and I'd be set , oh wait you can find all that through Excellent Packaging and Supply as well, Snap !

Continue Reading!

Green Team

This is really funny. Its kind of off topic but at the same time it isn't. It does have a recycling theme to it. Go Green Team!

Continue Reading!

Extreme Recycling

I need to start working on my skills. These guys have some amazing talent when it comes to recycling. Just watch.

Continue Reading!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The waste we produce is taking over our planet as space in landfills dwindles as does the sites to place them. And once casted to a lifetime in these garbage hotels, our waste proceeds to do further damage as it decomposes producing the toxic liquid leachate and the 2 greenhouse gases Carbon Dioxide and Methane.
So the next time you are shopping before you make a purchase consider the 3 R's:

Reduce
- Can I buy this product with little or no packaging at all? ( 30% of our garbage comes from packaging)
- Do I need to buy this or can I borrow it from somebody?

Reuse
-After I am finished with this product can it be reused or can the packaging be reused?

Recycle
-If I can't reuse the product or packaging, can I recycle it?


Following this thought process will help cut back on your waste from products you are purchasing but there are more ways to use the 3 R's to benefit the planet:


Reduce
- Reduce environmental damage from cars and carpool, walk, bike or city transit whenever possible.
- Cancel your junk mail. Look for the toll free number on the junk, call it and asked to be removed from their mailing
list.

Reuse
- Buy cloth bags that can be reused over and over again to carry your shopping.
- Use a travel mug when get your morning coffee.
- Take your old clothes, furniture, books etc. to a thrift store or somewhere that collects donations.

Recycle
- Look for products such as, toilet paper, paper towel and garbage bags, that are made from recycled materials.
- Compost your organic waste.
All together now " Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! "

Continue Reading!

Paper or Plastic Bags ?

Plastic is a by product of oil, meaning if we use less plastic bags we use less oil, which is fantastic.
1 ton of paper bags equals 13-17 trees, and I like trees don't you?
With that being said, which is the earthly way to go? The answer is neither. Reusable bags made from renewable resources, such as cotton, is the definite way to go.

Plastic Bags
Its been estimated that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used each year. Thats equal to more than 1 million per minute. A lot of these bags end up as litter in parks, on roads clogging drains , hanging from trees like little scary ghost bags and in our rivers, lakes and oceans. The latter killing immense amounts of marine life each year, as they consume the bags mistakenly for food. Furthermore these bags are not biodegradable and actually break down into tinier more toxic particles (photodegradation). However they are recyclable. Most grocery stores have a bin where you can drop off your bags which are then recycled. If your grocery store does not have a bin and you don't have access to a bin, make sure to reuse bags that you have. I always keep a couple in my backpack when hiking to use as a liner if my boots get dry. They can be used as garbage bin liners instead of buying them. Or the obvious, reuse them for your groceries.

Paper Bags
They don't have as bad of a reputation as plastic bags but the amount of waste and pollution produced from the machines that harvest the trees and produce the paper to make the the bags, is being greatly felt by mother nature. They are also more accessible to being recycled which puts a check mark in their good column. If you have a compost pile, paper bags can be composted as well, provided the amount of printing on them is low. If these options don't work for you they also make excellent wrapping paper for gifts or garbage bin liners.


As I said before though, reusable bags are the way to go and most grocery stores carry their own line of them, for a reasonable price. Keep them in your vehicle so you always have them when you go to the store and if you do forget them just say you don't need a bag if you can carry what you bought. Reduce !

Continue Reading!

Put a brick in it !

40% of your household water usage comes from flushing the toilet. Most of have heard that a method of reducing this water usage is by placing a brick in your toilet tank. The idea behind it being that the brick displaces water and in turn the tank requires less water to activate the float, which stops the tank from filling. Using brick to do this is a bad idea. Its bad for two reasons:

1. The brick will eventually begin to deteriorate and crumble. These pieces will then flush into the bowl channel and clog the holes. Eventually requiring you to purchase a new toilet bowl.

2. For most toilets a brick doesn't displace enough water to make any significant difference. Next time you have your toilet tanks cover off give the toilet a flush , the water never drains below the brick.

A better solution is to reuse something like a plastic pop bottle. Fill the bottle with marbles and place it in the tank. Before you leave it in there, make sure to test that your toilet is flushing all waste down properly. If you need a larger flush remove some of the marbles.
Also, your toilet is not a garbage bin, don't use it to flush away a piece of kleenex, cigarette butts or your toe nail clippings, save more water and throw it in the garbage ( or compost ) where it belongs.

Continue Reading!

On a roll with proper tire inflation.

Under-inflated tires create more resistance when rolling which in turn forces your engine to work harder. This of course results in greater fuel consumption. Having your tires properly inflated can increase fuel economy by up to 3.3 %. Not only that but keeping your tires properly inflated also increases your vehicles safety by improving its handling.
Tire pressure should be checked once a month as a 1 pound drop in psi (pounds per square inch or pound-force per square inch ) in all tires can make a great difference ( .4 % ). All you need to do this is a tire gauge, a basic one would cost you under $10.
To find the correct tire pressure for your vehicle , refer to your owners manual. Do not go off what is stamped on your tires as thats the maximum pressure for the tire not your vehicle. Once you know the correct pressure test with the tire gauge and fill as needed. Checking your tire pressure after you fuel up at the gas station is a great idea as you can use their air pump. Drive safe !

Continue Reading!

Clean Your Fridge Coils !

Your fridges condenser coils dissipate heat from your fridge, and if crusted with dirt and dust your fridge needs to run longer and more often consuming more electricity. The obvious solution is to clean these coils, at least once a year. Its easy to do and here's how.

1. Find where the coils are located, usually on the back of the fridge or on the bottom behind a cover panel.

2. Unplug fridge or if the fridge is a built in model, turn it off at circuit breaker. Pull fridge away from wall; to save your floor lay something, like cardboard, over it before pulling it out.

3. Remove back cover plate if required, you may need a screwdriver for this.

4. If coils are on the bottom use the long attachment on your vacuum and clean up dust from coils. If coils are mounted on the back use your vacuums brush attachment or a broom to clean off dust.

5. If needed use warm soapy water to clean off caked and crusted on scum.

6. Re-attach cover panel and slide fridge back into place. Plug fridge in or turn back on at circuit breaker.

There you go, your fridge is now running more efficiently.

Continue Reading!

The Basics

Everyone needs to do their part in conserving energy and producing less greenhouse gases. You don't need to go out and buy EnergyStar rated appliances and expensive flourescent bulbs to achieve this either. These are some basic things anyone can do to use less energy , and will save you money on your electric bill.

1. Turn off the lights when you leave a room

2. Use cold water settings on washing machines and dishwashers

3. Unplug appliances that are not being used


1. Why turn off your lights? . The most energy efficient bulb is a bulb thats turned off when its not needed. Every minute that a light is on in a room you are not in you are wasting money and energy. Look at it like this, a 40 watt bulb consumes 0.04 kWh and if you are paying 10 cents per kWh then you would save 4 cents every hour that light is off. But what about the initial power surge when you turn a light on ? . A common excuse people have to not turning their lights off is that the start-up surge of power that occurs when you turn on a light is greater and consumes more energy than just leaving the light on. So in theory its wiser to leave the light on. Now lets separate the fact from fiction. Yes , there is a small surge of power when you turn a light on, but its so insignificant that for it to make any differance you would need to constantly turn the light on and off every 2 seconds. Turning my lights off and on reduces the life of the bulbs ? . Yet again we have fact intertwined with fiction causing confusion. Incandescent bulbs ( bulbs with a filament ) can be turned on and off with no affect on their lifespan. Flourescents lights on the other hand do have a finite number of times they can be turned on. Each time the light is turned on a tiny amount of the coating on the electrodes of the bulb is burned off . If there is no coating then the light will not turn on. Still , for that to make any significance on the life of the bulb you would need to constantly turn the light on and off repeatedly.

2. Why use the cold water setting on my washing machine? . Heating the water for a warm wash produces up to 4 kilograms of greenhouse gases. Washing clothes on the cold water setting produces less than a third of a kilogram. Why use the cold water setting on my dishwasher?. The econo-cycle/cold cycle replaces your hot water rinse with a couple of cold rinses and the dry cycle is cooler than on a regular wash equaling less energy use.

3. Why unplug appliances and electronics when they are not in use?. Next time its dark out, turn off all the lights in your house and take note of all the flashing lights and red lights you see from your appliances and electronics. This is all "stand-by" electricity being consumed and can be eliminated by simply unplugging the appliance or electronic. Grouping like appliances and electronics together and plugging them into a power bar/surge protector is a simple way to turn off the devices, eliminating "stand-by" electricity consumption. Even after your cell phone or MP3 player is finished charging, its power adapter is still sucking electricity - so simply unplug it.

We're not all environmentally extreme, so if you're not, look at these as a way to save yourself some money on your electric bill.

Continue Reading!