Now’s the time to convert your house from tungsten to CFL. Especially here in the Northern Hemisphere where the night’s are getting longer and we’re using our bulbs more.

Pick up a few packs next time your at the store and start enjoying your lower energy bills!

Global Warming Myths and Facts

If anyone ever has any doubt that they should act to reduce global climate change, this article should answer all their questions. Read it and pass it on to everyone you think could benefit from it - and in the end we all will!

Cheers,
Christine

The great news is that energy efficient bulbs have really increased in popularity, which has not only brought down prices, but increased the options now we have available. You can now get energy efficient light bulbs in just about every shape and size. Even 3-way and dimming varieties are available.

As of now, your best option for lighting is probably CFLs or compact fluorescent lights. LEDs may replace them at the top of the eco-hierarchy, but that is still a ways down the road.

Here’s what’s so great about CFLs:

- They last 10 times longer than your average incandescent (your standard bulb).
- They use 75% less energy than that incandescent. (This is a great way to reduce your household energy use.)
- They save upwards of $30 in energy costs over the lifetime of each bulb.

When you calculate the reduction in energy consumption and the resulting reduction in polluting emissions when we all swap out a few standard bulbs for CFLs, the difference we’d make is mind blowing!

In the USA for example, if each home replaced one light bulb they’d save $600 million in energy costs per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to what 800,000 cars produce in a year (according to the US Department of Energy). Those are no small numbers!

So the next time a bulb burns out in your house, pick up a CFL to replace it with. This is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to make a real difference in your impact on the planet.

Better yet, buy the bulbs now. You can either replace your energy-draining bulbs today or have the green bulbs on hand for when they burn out.

One more thing…

I’ve heard some concern about there being mercury in CFLs and the environmental implications of this once the bulbs are disposed of. So I did a little research…

The amount of mercury in a CFL is less than the amount in your watch’s battery. So not really a big concern, although you should not just throw you old CFLs (or batteries) in the trash. Many places that sell CFLs will take them back for proper disposal. You may also be able to drop off used CFLs, and batteries, at your local fire station or the city dump.

Check in your area to find the proper disposal method. Although you’ve probably got 5 years before you’ll need to worry about that!

Some Other Eco-Friendly Lighting Options

If you want to go all out, power your lights and your house using solar or wind power. You can also get solar tube lighting which ingeniously brings bright, beautiful sunshine from a covered hole in your roof to pretty much any room in the house. There like super cool, super bright skylights.

But for today, your simplest way to make a difference is to buy a couple packs of energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs and swap them with the light bulbs you use most often.

It’s great to get these tips in video form, because you can actually see how to do each thing. This one focuses on reducing water use in the bathroom – where over 60% of the water in your house can be used up!

Enjoy – and then go do it too!

The vital importance of the oceans on our lives and the wellbeing of the entire planet.

There was a great movie playing at the science center’s very cool domed movie theatre. You really feel like you are ‘in’ the movie when you watch it on a screen that surrounds you. This wonderful movie, called ‘The Living Sea,’ was showing the importance of the oceans in our lives. Narrated by Meryl Streep, with music by Sting – it was full of breathtaking photography, while also bringing up some important points.

Here are a few of the things that struck me the most:

Whether we live on the coast or are completely landlocked, we are all really ‘islanders’. When you compare the size of the oceans to the relatively small surface area of land on this planet it is easy to see this point.

70% of our oxygen comes from ocean plants. 70%! I have long been concerned with the deforestation of forest, the Amazon Rainforest often topping the list, but maybe we all should be a bit more focused on the preservation and health of our oceans.

It’s really one big ocean. It’s not like the earth is segmented. The currants travel all over the world, along with many species and the many pollutants that are dumped in the water. People making harmful decisions on the other side of the planet not only affect our water, but our wildlife, and our water and air quality. It is ALL connected. We can’t just destroy one area of the ocean and not expect it to impact everything else.

So what can we do?

We can start by simply being more conscious of how we personally affect the health of the ocean. Such as making sure that we do not contribute to over fishing, or the killing of other creatures that occurs with certain fishing practices.

An easy way start is too make sure all your tuna comes from a source that doesn’t harm dolphins in the fishing process (look for the little dolphin with a slash through it on the can).

Not dumping waste in waterways is another easy one (which I’m sure you’d never do anyway!).

A visit to an aquarium will show you a lot about what is in these amazing oceans and how we can affect them – both negatively and positively.

And maybe this movie is playing at your local science center too! I believe the movie started out playing at IMAX theatres and has now found its way to other venues. I also found ‘The Living Sea’ on Amazon if you don’t have a science center or similar type of place nearby and you’d like to see the film.

During warmer weather, sleep with the window open at night to get the cooler nighttime air coming directly to you, rather than your air conditioner having to produce it.

Now get off your computer and go join some local events (a quick Google should help you find activities in your area)! Or even just go for a walk outside and enjoy this wonderful and amazing Earth we are all a part of.

Have a fantastic Green day!
- Christine

Now, rather than paying $30,000+ to install solar panels on your roof and waiting a decade just to get your money back in the energy savings, you can get solar panels installed professionally at no cost to you!

I believe there are several companies that are seeing the potential here and beginning to offer this service, but the big one seems to be Citizenre. Let me explain how this program works:

You call them up, a consultant comes to your home to determine how many panels you need and where they should be placed. You approve of their plan and give them a $500 deposit (which you get back at the end of your contract – with interest) and sign a contract to use the panels for 1, 5 or 25 years. They install the panels, batteries etc and you start paying them the amount of your current energy bill rather than your utility company.

So how is this beneficial?

Well first off, you are now getting your power from the sun, rather than the grid (which came from coal plants or whatever the case may be) – yay for the planet! This also means no black-out, or rolling brown-outs for you! And the icing on the cake…

…Your bill will be the same every month for the rest of your contract! Think about that for a moment – not only can you count on your bill never changing, be it summer or winter, but as the utility companies energy prices go up – you can just gaze up at your solar panels and laugh at all the dough you’re saving! Just think, in 25 years your energy bill will NEVER go up. The savings here just boggle the mind!

This has got to be the biggest no-brainer decision I’ve seen in a long time!

You can check out the Citzenre REnU home system here. Over 30,000 people have already reserved systems (it looks like they just started this early this year, so the sooner you reserve you system the sooner you’ll get yours). So far this is only available in the United States, but I’ll let you know as soon as I hear of a similar service in other countries. Or if you hear of one, please let us know by adding a comment!

All of you reading this from the USA, I hope you visit their site and take a serious look at adding this to your home – we’ll all thank you!

I’m thrilled that a company has come up with such a great way to provide solar energy to everyone. No longer is it a luxury reserved for a few – we can all benefit and fix our planet at the same time!

-Christine

Why can’t we have weekend eco-warriors? People who dedicate time on the weekends to environmentally conscious pursuits. The more I think about it, the more I love the idea, and the more people I think it would be fantastic for.

Here how I see it:

It’s a great way to spend time with your family. Even if you are just getting out there and enjoying nature and your environment, you are making a difference. You are fostering a love and appreciation of nature in yourself and your family. After all, don’t we take better care of the things we love and feel a part of?

Make it your family’s thing – spend your weekends in the great outdoors. Enjoy your surrounding and do a few things to improve and care for it. Not only are you setting a great example, but you are teaching your children how to care for and respect the place they live.

If it’s not a day you want to be spending outside, you can be eco-warriors in your own home. Do a few projects around the house to lower the impact you and your home have on the environment.

Reading eco-conscious books not only builds your family’s knowledge and inspires you, but it’s a wonderful way to connect.

In no particular order, here are some eco-warrior ideas for you and your family and/or friends this weekend. Have fun!

Go for a bike ride.
Take a walk (or hike).
Clean up a nearby natural area (around a pond, a path or trail, a ravine etc).
Plant some native plants in your yard.
Install a rain barrel.
Set up a composting system.
Do a few things to reduce your household water use (Here’s 10 ideas LINK HERE).
Plant a tree (a fruit tree provides additional rewards, if your climate allows).
Go on an eco-shopping trip to pick up some energy efficient light bulbs, weather-stripping etc (remember to bring your cloth shopping bags).
Visit your local farmer’s market to pick up local produce (it’s fresher and hasn’t been shipped around the world).
Even playing board games together is eco-friendly. You will use less power by you all being in the same room (just make sure no lights are left on elsewhere in the house), and by not having the TV on.
Take your recyclables to the recycling depot, this much more fun and much faster when you go together.
Plant a vegetable garden.

Let’s all commit even a little time each weekend to being eco-warriors! We’ll not only be benefiting the planet, but we’ll be doing great things for ourselves and our families!

You can post you eco-warrior ideas here to share with everyone.

Hope you have a wonderful and green weekend!

-Christine