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I am learning more about global warming and the impact a family of four has on this earth versus 250 people in an undeveloped nation. Things like this really make me want to get more involved and lessen my footprint on the earth, but how? Where do I start? I want to vote for the right laws to help this but I don’t understand them all. I can’t afford an electric car or to start using a solar panel for energy, so how can I help?
The four corner stones of the current environmental movement are Reduce, Recycle, Re-use, and Re-purpose with a theme of Sustainability. The good news is that most of us have plenty of eco-friendly opportunities available to us with equally commiserate financial rewards. In some cases, it does take an investment of time or money before the savings can be realised.
I often suggest that people start scouring the “frugal living” sites and boards for as whole host of money saving ideas. Money is but one resource we use. What we spend our money on involves a whole host of additional resources. Saving resources is what the Reduce, Re-use, and Re-purposing cornerstones are all about. For a personal inventory of opportunity, start by peering into your garbage, recycle, and waste cans and bins. Do you see paper napkins, paper towels, disposable wipes, or individual serving containers in your waste stream? What types of chemical based items do you see in terms of cleaning, garden, and other non-food items? Start with those things that are easy to remedy even if they are a small, over all portion of your waste stream.
Another area to take a personal inventory from is your budgeting system, check book, credit card receipts, cash receipts, bills, etc… These also tell you what you spend your money on, buy, and consume. You may want to address utility bills and/or the resources used that generate those bills. This could be things like using less electricity or water, using less vehicle fuel through combined trips, and so on. Or you could discover that maybe off-road racing could be replaced by pedle bike racing for both an economic and an environmental savings. Some people take up visiting their local library more often for both an economic and environmental savings.
Reviewing one’s spending habits also brings up the idea of doing more active purchasing decision making which can also reduce certain types of consumption and hence resource use. Doing things like taking an closet inventory before hitting the mall can help one realise that what they really need is a coordinating piece to something they already own versus a whole new outfit. Developing honest needs criteria and purchasing decisions on tools, equipment, and supplies for either the home or garage; you can add additional environmentally conscious criteria such as durability as you choose too.
For many, minimalist living is not particularly functional for most of us trying to also be environmentally conscious. You may see the need for better window treatments, different landscaping, or some just plain caulk even if you are “only a renter”. Cloth linens like napkins, towels, and scrub rags may be an investment opportunity for both financial and enviornmental returns. Individual glass serving containers, a stainless water bottle, and so on may work for you. To be able to honestly Re-use and Re-purpose, most of us need some tools of the trade, to learn some skills, and be able to think outside of the box within the Do-It-Yourself (DYI) frame of mind too.
Start small and with the easy stuff; what may be easy for you is not necessarily going to be easy for me. It’s a whole life style change with a number of economic and health benefits that simply happen in the process. And, the opportunities simply keep on coming in easier and easier modes as the rest of the community comes on board.
I’m going to be an owner/operator in a biodiesel manufacturing plant and I will have millions of gallons of biodiesel to sell, (if theres anyone looking for a large supply, here i am!) But i am looking to find out what other options are available in addition to what i will already be doing to make money in this area?
Im especially interested in ways to sell back to the power grid.
I do know a decent amount about solar panels and wind, but are there any other ideas out there or really ingenius ways to add to this desire?
What better way to make money helping the earth!
if you’ve got any information or suggestions that cant be posted privately, feel free to contact me!
fantasticreality@aol.com
PS: please make no mistake, this is mostly about my desire to succeed and profit in business within this industry!
Check with your local authorities to see if you need a license or something for fuel distribution.
But be careful. There are an awful lot of people in this world who contributed a great deal to the mess it is in now in pursuit of a buck, and by the time they get far enough they could care less beyond their lifetime. If it was done for long enough and in enough quantity, even bio-diesel would be as bad for the environment.
I think either the efficiency of consumption needs to go up, or the quality of the fuel needs to be a lot cleaner. Otherwise find a less crude form of motivation than the dump pump that is todays conventional engine. Take a look at how far the car has come, but ask yourself if it should have come farther. Even though bio diesels are more efficient than crude diesels, which are more efficient than conventionals, the bar remains too low.
i want a BIG solar cabin like about 6 rooms but what’s cheaper building it myself or paying someone to do it?
Hey Aloria, by, “solar cabin,” do you mean a cabin that is powered by the sun? We live in a log cabin now that is solar powered, is that what you are driving at?
Any cabin can be solar powered, ours was originally powered by the utility grid and a propane tank, but due to frequent power outages and my inherent desire to go green, we decided to go solar. We are still connected to the grid, but our bills are less than $5 per month now. The grid is basically our backup source.
We also built our cabin ourselves, and yes, it saved us a ton of money. Almost anything you do yourself, if it’s done correctly, will be far cheaper than paying someone else. In terms of cabins, the best bet is to get a kit from a reputable builder. We did, it came on a truck with a guy from the kit company for one day to get us started and show us what went where. In the end the entire cabin was up in 3 weeks for a fraction of the estimates I was getting locally. Later we added the solar electric equipment, a small wind turbine, wood stove, solar skylight, solar water preheater and rainwater tank. We still use a little propane, just a lot less than we did 15 years ago.
If you are intent on building a cabin from scratch with solar in mind, and you have some acreage, there is very little you need to design in. Panels do not have to go on the roof, in fact, in many cases, they work better on the ground. In the winter the snow makes a natural reflector so some of the photons that hit the ground in front of the array bounce up into the panels and improve output. You can sweep snow buildup off them much easier, and you don’t have to modify or drill holes in your homes roof to install them. Underground wiring into the home is easier to install anyway, and junctions and disconnects are right at ground level.
Also, if you can do a wind turbine, they make a very good compliment to solar power. Generally, in seasons when you have limited sun, like winter, you usually have more wind, and vice versa, so you almost always have some source regardless of the weather. The real trick to making a home solar is making it energy efficient. Ours now has low voltage led lighting on most of the main floor and outside, compact flourescent lighting in most other places, efficient appliances, automatic shut offs for bathroom fans and so forth. In exchange for those investments, we got by with a smaller array, smaller inverter, smaller battery bank, and on days when we need utility power, a smaller bill. In the winter our woodstove heats the entire place and even some of our water. There are lots of possibilties, but you have to do more research than asking hacks like me online for your answers. Not everyone who responds to websites like this has good experience, or knows what they are talking about. Check out the sources below and try to get to an energy fair, they are listed in the back of Home Power Magazine. You’ll be able to talk to more experts on this stuff in one place at a fair than anyplace else on earth. Take care, Rudydoo
Can anyone tell me how the cost compares to a regular house? What are the disadvantages?
That depends on what type of Earth home you’re talking about. If you’re talking cob, you can basically build the entire house for free, or very, VERY low cost because you use what you have on hand. You can install solar panels for electricity, catch rain water in large drums for all your water needs, compost EVERYTHING biodegradable…etc. You could live nearly bill-free taking this route. However, this is a bit much for most people. On the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got a typical house, hooked into the local electricity and water, with garbage service and the whole “9”…just using adobe or something similar for the outer walls. That might save you some money, but it won’t be a huge difference, especially if you have a contractor build your home. The cool thing about cob is you can do everything yourself, as long as you’re physically able. You’ve got to narrow it down…how much are you willing to do yourself? How much do you want others to do? How much time and energy are you willing to put in yourself? What do you want your home to look like? Put in some research, and make those tough decisions. Good luck!
Im just wondering because a lot of people don’t. Don’t you think it is our duty as able denizens of earth to care for it?
I mean we should care for it don’t u think? I do. I try my best to be green, maybe Im one in a million but at least I don’t contribute as much as others to pollution.
global warming is not a faith; it’s a fact. People who consider it a theory are either ignorant, fundamentally religious or haven’t taken the time to open their eyes.
I am a huge advocate of green living- we reduce, reuse and recylce, which all are very cheap and easy methods to make a difference.
I run a small business selling handmade, natural fiber, fair trade clothing and other eco-friendly items. All my fabric is natural and purchased from fair trade certified sellers; which is actually cheaper in the long run, and better for small economy, b/c you’re buying straight from the maker, and not from a middleman or mass-production line, who raises costs to pay for marketing and machinery. you also support small mom and pop joins and third world country populations by doing so.
There’s so many ways to go green with out spending tons of money- and most everything that is a little more expensive will, in the long run, save you money.
Installing solar panels, better insulation, low flow water systems and using energy efficient light bulbs are perfect examples- sure, he energy efficient bulbs are five bucks, but one of them will last you a guaranteed five years- think how many 3 dollar bulbs that will save you, on top of saving mama earth!
Better insulation, solar panels and low flow water (sinks, toilets, showers) all will save you tons on your utilities- if not erase them entirely!
Buying organic, fresh, local produce from farmers markets can be a few cents more, but it’s excellent for your health, and helps support sustainable farming methods and small farmers, which are the ones more inclined to rotate their crops, since it’s not a mass-production. Rotating their crops helps fight erosion, minimize the need for fertilizers and chemicals, since the soil has time to replenish itself, and helps stop the dangerous issue of runoff from rain becoming polluted with those chemicals, which then runs into area streama and rivers, causing harm to wildlife habitat.
Buying all natural fiber clothing is not always more expensive, either- and natural fiber clothing is ten times more comfy than synthetic crap! You can buy baboo, cotton, hemp, linen (flax) and rayon (made from cullulose pulp); which are all natural fibers, and more easily available directly from the uSA.
Growing some of your own produce and herbs is also an excellent green method that saves money- you don’t have to grow your entire supply, but just a few is a great start and far cheaper than buying! Instead of wasting money on harmful chemicals to fertilize use compost made from left over grass, etc.
Instead of buying insecticide, research what insects are harmful to your crop in your region, then buy and plant plants that repell them instead- now you’ve saved money at the grocery store, chemical supply store, and on your health insurance, b/c your eating better!
Carpooling, taking the transit/rapid or bus is also financially and energy efficient.
And if you’re really devoted, there are more and more places now that you can convert your car to run on biodiesal at, and more and more suppliers of it- plus, you can also make it yourself, since most restaraunts will ggive you their used oils for free.
Recycling will save you money in tons of ways- you can earn some change turning in some of it to the scrap yard; and the rest of it you will find a million and one uses for. I save every tiny scrap of fabric, and the ones too small to use for patchwork we use instead for stuffing pillows, and misc. items.
Taking an old pair of jeans or a shirt that only have a small hole in them or frayed hems and cutting it up to make something out of is also a great way to recycle- if you have a shirt with a pattern you love that’s too small or big, use the fabric to make something else with- a shirt, skirt, etc.
Save old magazines and books and turn them over to friends, or goodwills; even doctor offices.
Hang your laundry to dry instead of using the dryer- your clothes will last much longer!
Try getting digital issues of your magazine subscriptions; and if you can afford it, look into the kindle by amazon- you can buy and instantly download books right to the handheld device, instead of using paper.
Heating your home and hot water, plus providing your heat to cook with wood burning stoves is a huge impact, and easier than ever, thanks to renewed interest- imagine no gas bill!
There’s so many ways to go green and save money- and even with the costlier things, it all pans out in the end.
http://www.therainforestsite.com/clickTo…
here’s another way to be eco-conscious without spending a lot- click daily to save rainforest- that’s it! There’s several other charities too, and all it takes is a simple click. You can also buy items from there that most of the profit for is donated to the cause.
Mostly, remember this isn’t all just nickels and dimes- the earth has everything we’ve ever needed- but if we keep destroying her, we’re going to run out of those things. None of this stuff is hard or difficult- it’s all about habit.
Each year are average temp. meets new highs/lows; in the past five years alone we’ve had more severe weather than was seen in centuries.
The polar ice caps continue to melt, causing an increase in water levels, and a decrease in habitat for the Antarctic wildlife.
Here are two sites that explain it more clearly:
http://www.globalwarming.org/
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/
Please take a few minutes to read about this subject- it’s our responsibility to make changes in our consumption of fossil fuels and to stand up and make the rest of the world listen.
Again, remember: even simple habits can make a huge change- changing your light bulbs with energy efficient ones; growing and buying organically and only supporting small local farmers that practice sustainable agricultural methods. Even switching things like your shower head to a low flow; buying only natural fiber clothing from fair trade certified companies and recycling your plastic, paper and aluminum can make massive changes.
A great way to make a difference is to plant a tree- in it’s life, one tree can consume 20 tons of carbon dioxide- about 48 pounds each year when matured. CO2 is the single greatest factor in the greenhouse effect.
Hemp is an excellent resource- it produces the strongest, most durable fiber known to man, can be used in almost any manner from clothing to rope to oils for food, butter, essential moisturizers for the skin, etc.
Support hemp products, and educate your friends who aren’t familiar with the effects of global warming.
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/
Above is the link to a site that allows you to calculate your carbon footprint, which means you can see how much damage you yourself do. It also allows you to chart and offset your carbon footprint by making small changes so you can see, with time, what a huge difference those small efforts make.
Lastly- remember the three R’s! Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle! It’s not hard to do, it’s all about making changes and turning them into habit.
Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox here- love and light to you and yours-
I don’t. They continue being consuming “hounds”, still looking for the latest gadgets and innovations to buy, wear, and play with. What I do see is a bunch of people that talk and type well and have enough time on their hands to complain, but are really doing nothing or very little. You know who you are and you know whether you are really DOING something or not.
Me- I have started growing ALL my own vegetables, xeriscaped my yard landscaping, collect rainwater(as much as possible for watering), reduced my fuel usage from over $700 month down to about $85 monthly even with rising fuel costs, I recycle or reuse everything, have replaced all of my lighting with energy efficient bulbs. I recycled my dishwasher and now do dishes by hand. I use all of my grass clippings and garden stuff for my compost pit. I am doing as much as I can and would like to see others make a similar effort. This is the only way we can get a grasp on our declining environment.
to those with concerns about a dishwasher using less water, yes. maybe, but washing dishes by hand means the dishwasher does not use 9 amps of electricity for a soli hour.
Also, to the comment about using more pesticides and chemicals, I have never used chemicals in my garden. The bugs are free to eat all they like, there is plenty left for me.
The way I see it is if people like you make it cool others will follow. Who cares if they dont care if they change a few of their habits to be in with the cool crowd. If some wannabe changes a few of his light bulbs to more effcient ones that a net gain. If every household in the country switched one light bulb that would eliminate one massive powerplant. Keep on doing what your doing because pioneers like yourself make it socially acceptable, and cool to be enviro friendly. You also drive the price of these items down by creating a demand for more companies to produce enviro friendly products.
The average person is never going to do their own composting its just not going to happen. Some people dont care, others, well I live in the City. Allot of us have a porch and maybe a patch of grass if were lucky, composting just aint gonna happen. The average person may one day put in solar panels because it will drive their electricty costs down. They may buy a hybrid because of gas costs ect. What people dont relaize is that being friendly to the earth is oftentimes being friendly to your own pocketbook.
Im starting a new job and visited the office the other day just to find out we dont recycle paper. Of all things paper!!!! We may just be 4 people, but we produce TONS of paper that becomes obsolete very quickly, sometimes within days of printing. So yeah thats gonna be my first non work related work project once I get a firm footing in the office lol.
In geography my class is watching the film the eleventh hour which is all about global warming and climate change and i felt so bad about it. My family already recycles and we use a compost heat and i try to keep unused lights of but is there any other ways I can help the earth?
Try to walk, bike, or take public transit rather than driving (or being driven). When you have to drive, try to carpool. Whenever you buy a car, buy one that’s as fuel-efficient as practical.
Try to buy locally grown/made products when you can, transportation uses fuel. And, besides, locally grown produce is usually fresher.
Reduce unnecessary consumption: refill a bottle instead of buying bottled water, try to buy things in bulk rather than individually packaged, avoid disposable plates/cups/packaging when you can, don’t rush out and buy the latest and greatest phone/computer/game system if the one you have works just fine for you, don’t waste food, et cetera.
Unplug things like phone chargers, TVs, computers, etc if you’re not using them, because they draw power even when they’re off. Power strips help, you can just turn off the power strip rather than physically unplugging things.
Switch to compact fluorescents, LED lights, or other low-energy lighting rather than using inefficient incandescent light bulbs.
Buy used clothing/toys/etc when practical, rather than new ones. It’s a form of recycling. And you can get a lot of mileage by simply trading with friends–both of you get a “new” item without any resource use.
Don’t waste water (it takes energy to process and heat). Take short showers, don’t leave the water running when you brush your teeth, install drip irrigation if you have a lawn/garden, cover your pool if you have one, et cetera.
Research alternative energy. Figure out if your family could install a solar water heater, solar panels, a small wind turbine, or other forms of non-fossil power. Encourage your school to do the same.
But *don’t* beat yourself up about not being perfect, just try to do the best you reasonably can.
I was wondering what the best renewable source was a for our future and wanted some opinions
Please discuss why your answer holds the most potential for our future
Also give for and against reasons:)
Thanks a lot!
Wow, this is a great question. There are many renewable energy sources that hold a lot of potential. I’ll list them:
– Wind: This holds massive potential, and we’ve begun to see this already. In fact, if only three of the fifty United States implemented full, large-scale wind power plants, enough energy would be produced to power the entire country. Wind power is also profitable – a good investment, if you have land or know anyone who does.
– Tidal: This is another huge one. For example, the waters around the United Kingdom could be utilized to provide electrical power for the entire nation. There’s a lot more ocean on the planet than land, so the potential for this one is obvious.
– Hydroelectric: This involves damming rivers, and has already been used with great success (see the Hoover Dam in the US and the Three Gorges Dam in China). If more large rivers can be utilized in this way, the electric potential is great.
– Geothermal: This is possibly the biggest, and few people even know it exists. Geysers and other openings in the earth can be tapped into to provide massive amounts of energy. The earth produces this natural energy to provide power to the entire world several times over, and yet this resource remains largely untapped. There are a few successful plants in the 48 lower states and Alaska, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more in the future.
– Solar: Many people will say this is the energy source with the most potential. It’s already begun to catch on in big ways, and still holds huge possibilities. Imagine if every building in a large city had solar panels – the potential is obvious.
Alternative energy is a great topic of discussion. Keep bringing it up, and educate yourself further. Remember also that all of these sources could turn a profit – they aren’t only environmentally friendly but economically friendly as well. And ask yourself this: With all this potential, why are we still burning fossil fuels?
I have come across an ebook which talking about building own solar panel and wind generator in less than $200. Anyone read this ebook before? Is the method taught inside it working? My friend, who is an engineer is thinking to purchase one and would like to know some review from those who have read it before. Thanks.
This is the website for the solar panel’s ebook: http://ourguide.brinkster.net
Thanks again.
The only people I trust, since they have been into alternative energy since 1969 , is the folks who run a magazine called Mother Earth News. I’ve got the magazine now for 30 years and several times a year they publish information on how to make your own solar panels, wind generators, hydroelectric and solar drying and dehydrators, and tons of great ideas.
They also have an extensive library, including e-books, of authors who have published articles in their magazine. Get their magazine, like I said I’ve been getting it for 30 years or more and I still eagerly await every issue. It’s all about sustainable living and doing things yourself. Plus it’s only about $10 a year subscription.
Look at their online site to get some ideas and maybe look at their alternative energy library. Whatever books or DVD’s I purchased from them have always been excellent
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy.aspx
Solar heating is easy, simply focus sunlight onto a pipe with water in it and the water in the tube heats. A solar collector uses many pipes inside a panel to gather as much heat from the sun as possible when in sunlight. There is a temperature control so you only circulate water through the collector when the collector is warmer than the tank. If you have flow when the collector is cooler than the tank, the tank will lose heat through the collector, which defeats the purpose. Use a small pump to circulate the water into a large insulated tank and the whole tank heats. Then, use a separate pipe to circulate water from the insulated tank into your rooms where you have a simple radiator which transfers heat into the room. By controlling how much water goes through the radiator in your rooms, you control how warm the rooms get. The key is the huge tank which has to be very well insulated so it does not lose heat to the environment around the tank.
Solar cooling is different, and much harder. There is no way to use sunlight directly to provide cooling as there is for heating. However, it CAN be done. Use an electrical solar panel to generate electricity. Use batteries to store the power for when the sun goes down. Then use the battery to provide the power to run a coling unit. Compared to heating, cooling is inefficient and wastes a lot of the power available from the sun by turning the electrical energy into mechanical energy. The pumping process of a cooling unit is a horrible waste of energy to the environment. A compressor heats the gas that is compressed. You can see this for yourself by using a tire pump. Pump up a tire and the pump itself gets hot. The compressed gas is then cooled in a condenser section and liquefies. The liquid is then piped into an evaporator section where it cools the place where the evaporator is located as the liquefied gas “boils” and absorbs heat. Think refrigerator. There is a section outside which is the condenser and an evaporator section inside. In essence, the refrigerator is a heat pump. It uses the gas as the transfer medium. Air conditioning does the same for a house as your refrigerator does for the tiny box inside.
Now for the really cool, but prohibitively expensive way to do cooling, a Peltier junction. A thermocouple is two dissimilar metals pressed together. When heated, this junction generates a few millivolts. Put enough of these in series and parallel and you can generate electricity directly from heat. This is what powers the Voyager spacecraft which were launched in 1978 (did famous flybys of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune and sent back LIVE pictures over a 5 year tour.) and are about 10 billion miles away and STILL sending back data. The thermopile surrounds a radioactive source that as it decays, generates heat. The thermopile then takes the heat and makes the power that is still running these spacecraft today. Solar panels used in spacecraft near Earth will not work very well past about Mars, so the nuclear heat source was the only way to power the Voyager craft. Anyway, if you place alternate junctions on either side of an insulator and then apply power to a thermopile, the junction on ONE side get hot and the junctions on the other side get COLD. Now, if you use a solar electrical panel, batteries and a Peltier junction, you CAN cool directly using an intermediate electrical circuit , but it is only good for small things, like the CPU in your computer. You can’t make one big enough to cool a house and the amount of power it would consume would be more than you can collect, AND the cost of the materials would break the bank. But it IS pretty cool that the junctions that convert heat into electricity will get cold when you apply power in the absence of a heat source.