Go Green in Silicon Valley, California - Invest in a “Bloom Box”
What do five major companies in Silicon Valley have in common when it comes to investing in green energy and technology?
Fed Ex, Walmart, Staples, Google, and Ebay are among the first large corporations that recently invested in their neighbor “Bloom Energy” located in Sunnyvale, California. These green minded corporations purchased Bloom Energy Servers. This technology in a nutshell is comprised of thin fuel cells that are manufactured from beach sand and are painted with a patented green and black ink on both sides of the cell. They are then stacked together and are sandwiched with metal alloy. These skinny fuel cells utilize oxygen and various fuel sources to create electricity with no emissions. The end result of this cutting edge technology is changing the way people generate & consume energy. The number one benefit of the Bloom Box is unlike solar and wind power, it’s produces continuous and reliable energy 24/7 365 days a year. Therefore it has the capacity to provide everyone with clean, reliable and affordable power.
K.R. Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy originally invented the technology for NASA to produce oxygen on Mars. When the project was scrapped by NASA, Sridhar reversed his Mars machine and started pumping oxygen in instead of producing oxygen. After proving the effectiveness and versatility of his Bloom Box, Sridhar is setting very ambitious goals for setting up a Bloom Box server at the White House, as well as placing them in every American home within 10 years and creating opportunity for the product to be in homes worldwide.
Since July 2008 the Bloom Energy Servers have collectively produced over 11 million kilowatt hours of electricity - with C02 reductions estimated at 14 million pounds. The perspective of these statistics is comparable to powering 1000 American homes for a year and planting one million trees.
Bloom Energy was recently broadcast on 60 minutes. You can watch the episode here.
Composting & Vermicompost - Moraga Hardware & Lumber
| April 3, 2010 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 2:30 pm |
Composting & Vermicompost
Date / Time
2010-04-03 / 1-2:30 p.m.
Location
Moraga Hardware & Lumbar
Description
1409 Moraga Way, Moraga
Space Available (925) 376-3600
30 spaces / 30 available
Is There a Green Light for the “Kia Ray” to Enter the Hybrid Market?
At the recently held 2010 Chicago Auto show, Kia unveiled a snazzy concept hybrid car “The Kia Ray” that turned a few heads at this prestigious show. Upon a first glance, this car proves to be very eye catching with its EcoDynamic inspired design. This amazing four seat compact sedan has a proposed mileage range of about 746 miles with an impressive fuel rating of 202 mpg. The battery alone can power the car for about 50 miles on a single charge. This truly green car reduces its carbon footprint by utilizing roof top cool glazing solar glass and recycled materials whenever possible
Kia’s popularity has been gaining momentum in the US market since it’s official entry into the market in 1994. Recently Kia opened a plant in Georgia employing 2,500 people and creating an additional 7,500 jobs in the surrounding area. Their best quarter sales were stated in 2009. They continue to diligently and methodically market themselves and are spreading their consumer awareness through providing an affordable vehicle and a solid 10 year 100,000 mile warranty.
If you are curious about how the various Kia vehicles perform, rent a Kia on your next vacation or road trip. Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, Dollar, National & Alamo all provide Kia car rentals. Do your own research, make your own decision and remember, invest your money wisely. Choose companies and products that resonate with your core beliefs.
Composting & Vermicompost - Lindsay Wildlife Museum
| March 27, 2010 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 3:30 pm |
Composting & Vermicompost
Date / Time
2010-03-27 / 2:30-4 p.m.
Location
Lindsay Wildlife Museum
Description
1931 First Avenue, Walnut Creek
Space Available
30 spaces / 30 available
Sign-up
Composting & Vermicompost - Mt Diablo Nursery
| March 20, 2010 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 2:30 pm |
Composting & Vermicompost
Date / Time
2010-03-20 / 1-2:30 p.m.
Location
Mt. Diablo Nursery
Description
3295 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette
Space Available
30 spaces / 30 available
Sign-up
Two Cool Concepts I read in Go Green, Live Rich
In my opinion, I think I found my #1 green resource book for this year. David Bach & Hillary Rosner.
“>Go Green, Live Rich is about 50 simple ways to save the earth. Although I am already familiar with many of the subjects they discussed such as driving an energy efficient car, changing my light bulbs and recycling I did find several new concepts that I hadn’t thought of and am looking forward to exploring this year.
Concept #1 - Green Investing
Investing green as a way to build your portfolio. Developing more of a conscience regarding where you invest your money is something I never really thought about. As I invested in my 401K, I innocently let everyone else decide where it was going to be invested. Now that I am older and wiser (haha) I want to change the world and one way to do that is to invest more responsibly, I want to reward and endorse companies that are producing sustainable products and services that are socially and environmentally responsible. How else are we going to make a change? These days change certainly isn’t coming quickly enough through our voting power.
A couple of places to begin your research is Morningstar.com. David Bach also has his own investment alerts at www.greengreen.com
Concept #2 - Take a Volunteer Vacation
In this current economy everyone is talking about taking “staycations.” In my opinion this is not a real vacation. A volunteer vacation is 
where you save money and have a terrific adventure by providing valuable manpower on a project that is helping the plant and all its inhabitants. Depending upon the type of project you choose, you can be a place with spectacular scenery with time to spare to enjoy it. In most cases by volunteering your food and lodging are included.
A couple of places to check out are the Sierra Club www.sierraclub.org and Habitat for Humanity ” www.habitat.org
As I stated before Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying
“>Go Green, Live Rich discusses 50 simple ways to save the earth. I highly recommend this book if for no other reason than to tap into all the internet resources that are available.
Composting & Vermicompost - Heather Farms Community Center
| February 11, 2010 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
Composting & Vermicompost
Date / Time
2010-03-11 / 7-8:30 p.m.
Location
Heather Farms Community Center
Description
301 North San Carlos Drive, Walnut Creek
Space Available (925) 947-1678
30 spaces / 26 available
Sign-up
Composting Vermicompost - Moraga Hardware Lumber
| February 27, 2010 | ||
| 1:00 am | to | 2:30 am |
2010-02-27 / 1-2:30 p.m
Location
Moraga Hardware & Lumbar
Description
1409 Moraga Way, Moraga
Space Available
30 spaces / 28 available
www.moragahardware.com
1409 Moraga Road
Moraga, CA 94556
(925) 376-3600
Going Green, Burning Fat and Drinking Organic, Fair Trade Coffee from Boresha®
Okay my loyal fans, I really want you to give this a fair sip. If I told you I found a coffee that is 100% certified organic, as well as fair trade certified, and helps you burn fat would you be interested in hearing about it? I’m banking on the fact that you are reading this blog because you want to make better buying decisions this year and you want to burn off excess fat.
We’ve all been continually reading and watching the news and know that coffee beans are the #2 internationally traded commodity but not all coffee is treated equal nor are the people who work hard to cultivate, produce and deliver it to our doorsteps.
Boresha International roasts coffee in Concord, CA. Did you know that the United States does not grow any coffee except in Puerto Rico and Hawaii? The coffee beans purchased by Boresha arrive from the Ethiopian, Ugandon and Tanzania regions. These beans are grown on farms that are environmentally sustainable and boast of the following certifications.
(OCIA) - Organic Crop Improvement Association which is the oldest, largest and most trusted leaders in the organic certification industry 100% shade grown organic.
USDA Organic - The United States benchmark for standard agricultural practices. Operations must be certified by a state or private entity that has been accredited by the USDA.
Fair Trade Certified - The coffee was grown responsibly, the farmers received a fair price and no child labor was used.
So now you feel good about the coffee you are drinking, you are supporting the local Concord, CA economy and did I mention you can also burn fat at a rapid rate drinking Boresha’s B-Skinny coffee?® 
Boresha Coffee and Skinny Science joined forces and together have developed a patented fat-burning thermogenic coffee. BSkinny Coffee® received the first and only low glycemic coffee patent ever awarded. This low glycemic patent is for hunger control, balanced energy, and combats stress-related eating. Did you know that drinking coffee causes fat storage in humans? So technically you are getting the buzz you crave but you are stimulating fat storage at the same time. One of the key components of BSkinny coffee® is that is contains “Buffered Caffeine” instead of regular caffeine.
I am personally looking forward to trying Boresha Bskinny coffee® for myself if for nothing else than to know I’m purchasing and consuming a responsibly grown coffee that is being roasted in Contra Costa County. If I burn some fat in the process I’m certainly not going to complain.
If you click here, you can order a free sample, just pay for the shipping.
3 Organics Gift Ideas for a Special Day
Here are three organic gift ideas to spring upon someone special just because you want to make someone happy and be green.
Organic Gift #1 - A “love” potion drink
Square One Vodka
Share a cocktail with your loved one make an organic love potion drink- I’ve heard a lot of great things about Square One Vodka which is organic and made here locally. Apparently there are these newlyweds Jay Esopenko and Melissa Gugni, owners of Drink Event Bartending in San Francisco, that have designed a killer organic drink using Square One Vodka!
Love Potion #12
2 oz. organic 100% pomegranate juice
1 1/2 oz. Square One organic vodka
1/2 blood orange squeezed
1/2 lime squeezed
1/4 to 1/2 oz. simple syrup (1/2 raw sugar–1/2 water dissolved)
Now you can make this yourself because Square One Vodka is sold at Beverages and More but I also know they serve Square One Vodka at Caps Bar and Grill in Brentwood, CA. I’m thinking it might be nice to be served………
Organic Gift #2 - Flowers
red-pink-anemone
Organic flowers are beautiful, thoughtful and rapidly gaining popularity. Roses are great but there are so many more flowers out there to choose. If you want beautiful red and pink flowers to show your love, you might want to look for a organic anemone bouquet. If you want a titillating scent you might purchase a bouquet of narcissus. It’s not too late to order a organic flower bouquet. A great place to order from is http://www.californiaorganicflowers.com
Organic Gift #3 - Chocolate of Course!
Fair Trade Organic Chocolate Hearts
Next to Halloween, Valentines Day is probably the biggest chocolate holiday on earth. Chocolate is a definitely a mood lifter and contrary to popular belief, dark chocolate is full of antioxidants and when eaten in moderation it can help aid weight loss. Purchasing organic chocolate is good for the environment as well as your body since you aren’t knowingly ingesting pesticides.
At Kates Caring Gifts in Fremont, CA you can order a gift pack of 9 organic fair trade vegan chocolate cherry hearts and it won’t break your wallet at all. They are made in Northern California so you are also supporting our local economy. You can order online at http://www.katescaringgifts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=GS_PACK_O_HEARTS_CHERRY
So I guess I met my goal. I found three great organic gifts, all within California. Now let’s see if my followers start following my lead.
