Obtaining Transparency in Recycling Through Green Halo

What is the purpose of Green Halo? Green Halo Systems is a fully integrated web based management system that provides the necessary tools for contractors, recyclers and other businesses to transparently comply with local, state and federal recycling guidelines.

This online line software resource allows you to track, report and follow projects in real time with precision and accountability. The Green Halo project is taking a giant step forward in supporting the green movement and should play a very important role in meeting the newly enacted CAL Green guidelines.

Over time, Green Halo should be able to accurately predict how fast the momentum of the green movement will progress as builders join forces with like minded sustainable suppliers so the price of using the right materials will become more affordable. Building design techniques should take a giant leap ahead with the objective of designing with less waste. These trends should be easily visually documented in a short period of time.

As a big advocate of reusing and recycling I look forward to observing what creative and innovative ideas develop for repurposing the waste and recycled items that are introduced through this program.

Wouldn’t it be a great goal to eliminate the need for our landfills? By removing recyclable material from our landfills we can definitely slow down the rapid need for more landfill space. Our common goals should be to educate and train businesses and consumers how easy it is to change a few habits. Over time we can all collectively make a difference.

Check out Green Halo here.

Sunflowerproject.org Beeing environmentally proactive

At the November 2010 Green Festival I had the pleasure of meeting people from the Sunflower Project. I was asked to participate in the project and was given a packet of Sunflower Seeds. My mission should I choose to accept it is to plant the seeds in my yard in the hope of being able to attract and report back through their website on the bees that choose to extract pollen from my flowers.

I can honestly say I’ve been disheartened over the past few years as I look out in my yard and have to really squint and pay close attention to my blooming flowers just in case I miss a bee sighting. As a child I remember gardening and pulling weeds on a hot day and I was comforted by the gently lull of bees busily buzzing and carrying pollen all around me. Now I hear nothing but the whine of electrical current going through our power poles, street lamps and cell towers. Do you think the bees have had enough of emfs being released into our atmosphere?

I am not an expert on what has caused the demise of our bee population but I do know that without bees pollenating, our food supply will diminish very quickly.

I look forward to planting seeds with my family and am excited at the possibility of participating in a bee revival in my own backyard. What a worthy project and a great way to slow down and do something purpose driven that will make a difference.

How many different species of bees can you identify? I knew of two but after visiting the website I discovered there are more than just honeybees and bumble bees. Have you ever heard of carpenter bees and green bees? I recommend checking out their website they have great pictures and it is very educational.

The Sunflowerproject.org

The Benefits of Installing a Radiant Barrier in Your Attic

Radiant Barriers are a cost effective way of reducing energy cost in your home by reflecting the heat away from your attic space therefore making your air conditioning run more efficiently. The radiant barriers also helps keep the second story floor of your house maintain a closer temperature to the first floor temperature.

The radiant barrier is to reduce cooling loads in warmer or hot climates, It is primarily a thin but extremely durable thin sheet of highly reflective material usually aluminum applied to one or two sides of a substrate material.

There are two different types of radiant barriers installation a rafter installation, which is when the radiant barrier is attached to the faces or bottoms of the rafters or top chords of the roof trusses. It is important during this installation that air can flow at the roof peak about 6″ and 3″ at the bottom of the rafter.

The second type of installation is a floor installation where the barrier is laid across the floor of the attic on top of the existing insulation. The effectiveness of this type of installation depends on two variables. One, if it is reflective on only one side it needs to be facing up towards the roof. The second variable is a long term accumulation of dust may reduce the effectiveness of the method of installation.

In my opinion it makes sense to attach the radiant barrier to the rafters because if you have duct work and piping up in the attic you are going to be providing additional temperature control and “insulation” instead of leaving them exposed to the outside elements of extreme heat and cold.

If you want to “Do it Yourself” click here and order your own supplies. By the way, if you decide to do the rafter method you should probably order 50% more material than the square footage footprint of the attic space.

Going Green – Do you know what the 4th “R” of recycling means?

It’s time to expand our thinking and add another layer to our recycling strategy. How many of you know the 4 R’s of Recycling? What is the missing “R”? Well if you’ve been watching my events post you could probably make an educated guess. The fourth “R” is “Rot” I have listed all the composting events going on in Contra Costa County for 2010 in my events section. I highly recommend that if you don’t know a lot about composting that you attend a class. Last year I made an attempt to compost and I made a nice garbage can full of stinky sludge. The good news is after attending the class I learned about the scientific part of composting and I started over and now my composting pile is starting to do it’s job. It’s amazing what a little air will do to help in composting.

Another surprising benefit to composting is that my trash can is not full every week. Little did I know that this one small change would reduce my trash so much. I am so much more aware of what I’ve throwing away.

Did you know that composting has a significant impact of reducing the carbon dioxide released into the environment?
Composting helps the climate! The US EPA estimates that simply increasing our national recycling rate from its current level of 30 percent to 35 percent would reduce GHG emissions by 10 million metric tons of so-called carbon equivalent (MTCE). That amount is equal to the average annual emissions from the electricity consumed by roughly 4.6 million households. (2.)

There is a great article on the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority website pertaining to the impact of the 4r’s on our climate. Did you know the EPA ranks landfills the second largest source of human released methane gas?

I challenge you to think about making one small change and consider composting. Worm composting is a small way to start and it’s something you can do in a small tub that doesn’t use very much space.

Here is a link to a quick guide to worm composting at www.savvygardener.com.

What did Uplifting Green Learn Since Earth Day Last Year?

My journey this past year into becoming a more responsible, sustainable and environmentally good steward of the earth and the resources has proven to me that I can change. Through my diligent writing, research and undying curiosity of needing to know the truth, I’ve made friends and have started developing a like-minded audience.

Let me preface my accomplishments this year by stating that when I made the proactive and conscience decision to live a “greener” life I was definitely “talking the talk” but did not know how to begin to “walk the walk.” Now I have the drive and ambition to peel another layer off the onion this next year and I hope to achieve more and pass my knowledge and experience along to whomever wants to listen.

So how did I start becoming an actively conscience steward of my environment?

First, I needed a broad view of what comprises of my worldy sustainable issues. For me, I realized I consume too much of everything. I use too many resources, I aimlessly throw away anything and everything not fully realizing the impact of my actions.

What did I do with this information?

Second, I asked lots of questions. I follow treehugger.com, planetgreen, mygreenpurse, I watch “Living with Ed” I read books two especially good ones were, No Impact Man by Colin Bevin and Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach

What did I learn?

Well, everyone has there own opinions, some more drastic then others but the end result is there are many people who want to change their ways and many people are changing their lifestyles, careers and attitudes based on wanting to live a more sustainable, responsible and eco friendly lifestyle.

What did I specifically do to change this past year?

1) I made friends and I started this blog, I’ve joined many green forums and green groups. I want to know as much as I can and I want to tell everyone about what businesses and services are doing it right.

2) I made a few personal changes. I try to carry a commuter cup into Starbucks and my friends always commetn on it but I do make a statement and an impression.

3) I started really recycling. I compost my food scraps and some of my lawn trimmings. My daughter is earning money from our recycling efforts too. My trash can is usually only half full by the end of the week.

4) I joined freecycle.org and instead of buying new things I try to reuse and repurpose. It’s really kinda fun.

5) I became a Contra Costa County Bay Area Green Certified Business. That was pretty exciting and it really got me motivated to make changes around the house. We know have all CFL lighting and I’m much more aware of my energy consumption. This is an area I want to work on for the next twelve months.

What do I want to accomplish for the next twelve months?

I want to write about all the businesses in my area that are doing it right. I want to share their ideas and visions so we can start making better purchasing decisions and spend our dollars more wisely. I realize there are many greener options than I’m aware of and if I was unaware of them how could you know about them? How are we going to start supporting the right people producing the best products and services that are sustainable, responsible and eco friendly?

3 Steps to Save Money, Save Energy, and Reduce CO2, Doing Your Laundry

I’ve been pondering ways to save money and reduce my energy consumption around the house and I stumbled upon interesting ways to save money doing my laundry.

First a few facts:
1) According to a laundry article I found on the City of Concord’s website, doing your laundry has a significant impact on our environment. Did you know that over the lifetime of a T-shirt up to 9 lbs of carbon dioxide can be release in the air just through washing and drying?

These are general usage cost for a family of 4 for a washer and dryer

Clothes washer (with hot water)  -

Electricity kWh/yr –    1,080

Cost /Year – $86

CO2 emitted/yr  1,544

Clothes washer (minus hot water)

Electricity kWh/yr  - 99

Cost /Year $8

CO2 emitted/yr 142

Clothes dryer

Electricity kWh/yr - 1,060  -

Cost /Year  $85 -

CO2 emitted/yr-  1,516

Surprising huh?

So what is my plan? Well, I have a few obstacles but I can still make a difference. First the simple fix……

1) Wash my clothes in cold water. I had no idea that the hot water consumed 90 percent of a washers energy usage.

Second fix a little more challenging but doable……

2) Line dry my clothes. This is FREE SOLAR ENERGY and another big way to save on energy, laundry supplies and to preserve the longevity of your clothing. Have you ever smelled line dried sheets and towels? They are the best! Did you know the sun is a natural whitener as well as a natural antibacterial? A couple of challenges are living in a community that doesn’t let you hang your laundry as mine doesn’t allow you to hand your laundry outside. I’m thinking about hanging my laundry in the garage or  you can watch this funny video clip that is trying to get a petition signed so it is a right to hang your laundry. Check it out here.

Another advantage to line drying is you don’t need to use bleach or fabric softener, just shake, snap and hang your clothes upside down. If you really don’t like the stiffness of your jeans just toss them in the dryer for a couple of minute on wrinkle release.

3) Finally, use a really good biodegradable phosphate free laundry soap.

Here’s a link to some laundry soap options to get you thinking about some eco-friendly brands thank goodness the stores like Walmart, CVS, Target and Safeway are starting to stock eco-friendly laundry products.

Two Free Ways to Go Green – Reuse and trade

I’m pretty excited about two websites that I’ve been using lately FreeCycle.org and Swaptree.com. It’s like a huge never ending online garage sale. What a great bunch of like minded people exchanging, and trading items that they don’t use anymore for something they do need. Virtually no money is exchanged and useable items are not being thrown needlessly into our landfills do to plain laziness or lack of options of what to do with the item you no longer need.

FreeCycle.org is free to join and it comprises of a continually growing population of 4,775 groups and approximately 7 million members worldwide. FreeCycle.org is a non-profit organization and it’s all about generous people giving and receiving all kinds of free items in the own home town.
Their primary goals are to:
• Keep useable items out of our landfills
• Reuse someone’s junk is sometimes someone’s treasure
The Freecycle Organization is a volunteer army. All towns participating in the program are moderated by a local volunteer. Here’s the link to sign-up.

Swaptree.com is a cool website that lets you trade books music and video games. There is no charge for listing ads and most items can be mailed for $2.50 via US Media Mail. It’s easy to list items you just type in the ISBN number located on the back of the item you are trading into their search engine. Trade requests are emailed to you. You don’t even need to go to the post office you can print postage directly from Swaptree. Currently, if you refer friends to the website you can earn free shipping.
You can even provide trader feedback similar to Ebay.

I encourage my fans to check out these two great resources and let me know what you think. I love books and I enjoy the thrill of the finding something free hunt. Happy hunting!

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.

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.

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.

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