Light up your life...

Ever heard of a compact fluorescent lightbulb or CFL. It is a funny looking swirly thing that fits into the light socket. They cost a bit more than incandescent bulbs but use 1/4 of the energy, and last several years longer. They are sold in nearly every location where lightbulbs are generally sold. In fact, recently The Home Depot was selling these bulbs for $ .74 a piece so they are certainly becoming more mainstream and lower in price.

A new 7 watt CFL will be comparable to a regular 40 watt bulb. A 26 watt CFL is equal to 100 watts and so on. Make sure to look for the Energy Star label.

Make sure you throw these bulbs away in the recycle bin as they now contain minute parts of mercury to eliminate the flicker when you turn on the light. They even make new CFL's that can be installed with dimmer switches. NICE.

Vintage Clothes

There are many stores, besides the Goodwills, that have high end hand me downs. They call this vintage clothiers. Sometimes these shops have second hand clothes that have never been worn. Buying vintage is a more ecological means of fashion. By purchasing a shirt or pants the second time around means that you avoid all of the energy used in production and shipping costs associated with the transaction helping to reduce the associated carbon emissions.

Clothing is one of the most damaging products on the global market for carbon emissions. Every item has an impact on the environment. There are synthetic fabrics made from petroleum , the cotton fabrics account for less than 3% of the farmed land globally but it consumes huge amounts of water and approx. 1/4 of all of the pesticides.

My wife has been going to clothing swaps for years now and is enjoying the great finds and women she has been able to meet. If you don't need to always have the newest styles here are a few links for you to learn more about clothing swaps in your area:

Swap Style

Clothing Swap Organization

The Greens Organization

Open the Window

There is nearly 25 tons of CO2 emissions that come from every American home each year. We have included a few ideas that could be accomplished in just a few weekends that will change your home and your life, today.

How about opening the window rather than turning on the AC. Make sure your doors and windows are sealed with weatherstipping and caulked. If your Water Heater has no insulating blanket around it we suggest you add one. It is very easy to do, and anyone can accomplish this task. You can also turn the thermostat on the WH down after this task saving more energy. Better yet, install an On Demand WH, or known as a Tankless WH to save on water and energy consumption. How about washing your clothes at night time in warm or cold water. Add in a natural Oxy powder to the laundry rather than bleach so your water works harder to get your clothes clean more naturally. If you adjust your thermostat only two degrees higher in the summer and two degrees lower in the winter will save on your energy bills as well as your CO2 level. Make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated. You can also install a Thermal insulating blanket in the attic which will repel the suns thermal energy that heats your home in the summer time. We also suggest installing a HEPA filter on your air return vent, and clean your air ducts. This will help keep your interior air cleaner and take out dust, pet dander, and other air particulates. You will feel better after this action, especially if you have anyone with allergies in the home.

These little things will make your home much more comfortable immediately and create a solid impact on your CO2 levels your home emits. You will find it to be a noticeable change in your living environment.

The first of many green ideas for the new year

We hope that you all had a wonderful and safe holiday season. As this year comes to an end we wanted to close out the year with a steady flow of blog entries and bring in the new year with a string of green ideas to help move eco consciousness forward. These ideas will help your immediate carbon footprint, with something that you personally can begin with, as well as some that will help the global carbon footprint, by us a society that we could begin to do.

Let's start with something that we all can begin to work on. An easy thing that we all can do to help eliminate the constant paper trail in our homes is to do our bill paying and banking online. The online security has come a long way to make this action safe. Just ignore the e-mails that are "phishing" for personal data. You should monitor all electronic statements and report any problems immediately and your credit won't get hit. This action alone will save trees, help eliminated fuel consumption by the trucks and planes that need to transport the paper checks and bills every month. We could cut solid waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse emissions by 2.1 million tons a year according to the research group Javelin Strategy and Research.

You should ask your employer to directly deposit your paycheck to help you eliminate the noxious gases emitted from your car to the bank on paycheck day. You would eliminate your time waiting in the bank line, and you will have your money in your bank faster, too.

These small actions could begin to help the environment immediately. The overall impact would be measurable, albeit small, but the feel good factor would be quite high.

Ships in a bottle or bottles in the sand...

Let's go back a bit and talk about plastic bottles and water again. Beverage containers make up approx. 15% of all packaging waste in the U.S. Americans “throw away” about 200 billion, with a B, containers, including aluminum cans and plastic bottles every year.
As of the year 2000, according to the Container Recycling Institute, only 31% were recycled. CRI placed pressure on the large bottlers Pepsi and Coke to begin to use recycled content in their bottles. This action will not only reduce waste, but it would also take less energy and be better for the environment. If they were to make aluminum bottles from recycled aluminum it would require 95% less energy than producing one from the virgin material. In doing this, the beverage companies could save over 1.6 million barrels of crude oil to produce the plastic bottles. Pepsi announced a statement saying that they would use 10% recycled material for their bottles. Coke responded by stating that they were already doing so. However, they were also already using bottles in other countries with 25% recycled material.

Even with these recycling numbers it still means that two thirds of all bottles and cans go into the landfill. There are 11 states with bottle bills on their books. This means that there is a deposit for the consumer upon purchase of the beverage. These deposits are generally 5 -10 cents. States with plans with a ten cent deposit have seen as much as 97% return rates back to the stores for recycling. If you wish to help CRI with their efforts to persuade lawmakers to create more bottle bills you can contact them at CRI.

Much of this problem can be reduced on your part by not buying products like bottled water to begin with. As we stated previously finding a good water filter for you home or kitchen to purify your tap water can help reduce the debris of bottles that get thrown away every year. It takes 45 million gallons of oil to produce the bottled water that is sold in America every year.

Where does all of our garbage go?

My wife once asked me a question that has created some numerous conversations for us over the years, that being, “Where does all of the garbage go?” This is a critical question and should not be taken lightly. Most people simply want their cans emptied, removed and to then get rid of the stuff for an out of sight out of mind. We have reached a point in our growing global society to become well aware of the direct impact that refuse has on our local and planetary ecosystems.

Here is a short list – buy less, consume less, avoid single use items, reuse or recycle everything we can. Eat local, and fresh as much as possible.

We will continue this discussion with more detailed entries on this topic.

H2O is the tie that binds...

Did you know that it takes nearly 64 ounces oil to create a 16 ounce bottle of water. These calculations take into account the processing, filtering, bottle creation, labels, etc. This does not include transportation of the product to the shelves for purchase. It is widely known that over 60% of consumer purchased bottled water comes from the tap. The bottling corporations will then filter, bottle, and ship the filtered tap water to the store for end sales. With a planet covered in water, yet only approx. 2% of the world's water as drinkable, we know that there is a water shortage. In the long run for our water needs conservation will not be the only means to maintain our supply.

It is simple math really. As our population continues to expand, this puts a strain on our food supply. As more crops are necessary to plant in order to feed the people and animals these crops need water. Farmers use nearly 90% of all the needed water supply. Farmers are also subsidized for their water costs, yet a high percentage of farmers will water their crops in the middle of the day. Most of this precious commodity will not even go into good use as it will evaporate before it reaches through the soil. A city dweller might pay $1200 per cubic foot acre when a farmer will pay $17. As the battle for water continues we see cities buy out these water credits from farmers for future water scarcity times. The system is broken.

Although, Las Vegas, known for its dry and arid climate reclaims nearly all of its water. They then filter it and pump it back into nearby Lake Mead to where it is held to be used again. Lake Mead has been in a steady declining drought in the past 7 years. It has reached levels that have unearthed an ancient “lost city” that was drowned by the creation of Lake Mead. The lake has gone below one of its two pump levels making the city dash to create a lower third pump station.

Perhaps having a natural landscape to the true environment would help so residents would not need to water. Instead of buying bottled water it would be best to purify your water at home and carry a mug or thermos instead. These are little things that can make big change if we can all do our part for this scarce commodity and our planet.

a rate, is a rate, is a rate...

With the new rate cut from the Feds are we to be expecting a slow turn around in consumer confidence? Did we really think that a 1/2 point adjustment would save the day? Why is there such a backlash with the 1/4 point reduction. This should show us that the Fed's don't see the economy in such dire straits that they must cut more. First the press was telling how Greenspan was a failure, now that they can reflect in retrospect, as they now say he slashed rates too haphazardly. Yet, then when they are wanting another rate cut, it's okay if it is from Bernanke? Or has our system changed so that it is okay to slash now? The economic numbers are still strong. This is more of the fear based "free" press.

A new rate on the horizon...

The feds are deciding a new rate in the morning. We'll see how things progress from an expected 1/4 point reduction.

A lighter shade of green

We have been seeing a declining dollar for bit now. With the Dow on a string of positive closing days as we approach the Fed meeting to decide on a possible rate decrease, there is optimism. Will the Yuan get a restructuring to help offset China's inflationary concerns? Will the oil rich countries begin to revalue their commodity pricing(oil) to a basket of different currencies? Will the recent government's decisions to get involved in mediating to reconcile the subprime debacle help with consumer confidence?

With a China Yuan restructure we would see a bit of help in the exchange numbers with the United States. Perhaps we could add to this with maintaining the import laws and product safety from China and other trading partners. These steps are already in place they just need to begin to be enforced. These moves would give a boost to our export numbers immediately.

Over the long term, if the oil region would revalue their oil pricing to a basket of currencies there would be a more balanced overall price point to the other regions that import the crude. Perhaps this move would spread the value throughout the various consumers of their product without putting so much responsibility on the greenback. This action in the short term would hurt the dollar, however, in the long run a hold a more stable means of controlling the currency fluctuation and barrel pricing increases necessary.

As the government begins to get involved with the United States subprime situation to help bring some band-aid to the crisis there are many who feel the government should stay out of this one. Is this type of involvement necessary for the government?

So many questions?

Where, oh where, will the interest rates be?

Today, the Bank of England has reduced the UK interest rates from 5.75% to 5.5%. There has not been a rate reduction there since August of 2005. This rate cut comes as their economy has been showing signs of a slowdown. Their anticipation of this cut is to prevent the slowdown from getting out of control. The European Central Bank held its benchmark of 4% despite the growing Euro and rising inflation there. Although, they are keeping a close eye on the U.S. and its subprime mortgage situation and its continued effects on the overall marketplace. All of this comes in line with expectations that a rate cut is due the U.S. for the same reasons.

With the oil pricing and food cost increases with the European community of 315 Million consumers has left a wake of concern as inflationary fears continue there. This created a delicate decision process for the Bank of England. Though this should stave off some of the growing fears and stabilize consumer confidence as surveys there show housing prices to be falling.

United States Treasury Secretary Paulson issued a statement today claiming confidence in the Government's discussions with Banks to agree on a plan to lock in rates on the millions of upcoming teaser loan rate increases. Fannie Mae CEO, Mudd, said that the cap on ARM's should last for at least two to three years. Many of these loans begin at rates of 7-9 percent, or less in some cases and are expected to reset to 11-13 percent. All of these new rate locks are aimed at keeping people in their homes. It was noted that the borrowers with steady incomes and relatively clean payment histories will be the focus of the restructuring deal. The overall public concern on this issue is the backlash that may be created through which economic demographic will benefit the most from this restructuring plan. There are numerous fears that the lower income first time home buyer may get left out of the picture.

Paulson has identified four categories of subprime borrowers to focus on in coming to these tough decisions. There are those who can afford to pay adjustable-rate loans; those who don't have the financial wherewithal to sustain home ownership; those who choose to refinance their mortgages which he called "the first, best option" and those who can afford the introductory rate but not the adjusted one. The government seems focused on helping the last category.

Despite all of this confusion and concern the Treasury Chief remained adamant that while the housing recession and credit crunch will impose restrictions of the U.S. economic growth, he maintains, as do we, that the economy remains sound. The fundamentals are stable with continued job gains, healthy corporate balance sheets, rising exports, and a newly reduced oil pricing are easing some consumer fears as well.

We feel that despite these ups and downs the strength of the fundamentals of the dollar will be reflected in foreign exchange markets. As we have discussed previously, the dollar is widely held throughout the world as a reserve that this holds weight to the stability of the currency as a whole. There should certainly be discussions throughout this economic slowdown on a global scale as to create new measures of inflationary protections for all. This may mean getting back to a gold standard for a better balance to the overall board.

The printed Dollar hangs in the "im"balance

In the long run,, the value of paper money becomes zero. Money is a natural development in the open marketplace. In the past as governments gained power they assumed monopoly control over money. History has shown us that in time governments learned to outspend their revenues. New or higher taxes have always ticked people off, so it wasn’t long the learned power learned how to inflate their currencies by reducing the amount of gold in each coin. Of course the governments did this action always hoping their subjects wouldn’t discover the fraud. They always found out, and they always objected.

It was back in January of 1980 when gold reached a record high or $835. Base this on today's prices to include inflation and you come up with $2,250. That said, gold, right now is a bargain.

Currencies rise. Point in fact, the Euro, in its infancy (2002) was worth $ .86 to the dollar. Currencies fall. As now it takes $1.48 dollars to buy that same one Euro. Peso's, Rupee, Rupiah, and many other currencies are on the rise, as the dollar slides. What is our Government doing about this today? What can be done for tomorrow? These are questions that are being discussed at this time in Washington as they ponder a new rate increase possibility. What will this do to the U.S. Economy? The big question is what will other countries do if this continues on?

There is a rising concern with inflation throughout the planet as other countries position themselves and take shelter from this storm. The oil rich states consider turning their backs on the greenback and peg their currency to a basket of various other currencies and not rely solely on the dollar. Without an action such as this they may find it difficult to curb inflation in their economies. This action will create a more flexible interest rate policy, but it may not be good for the greenback paper currency status as the world's reserve currency.

Since the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944, the dollar became the predominant world reserve currency replacing the British Pound. At that point in time the U.S. had a huge amount of physical gold, and a huge amount of political clout and military might, which it displayed in World War II. Impressed, the world accepted our dollar at a value of 1/35th of an ounce of gold as the world’s new reserve currency. This is where the saying that the dollar was “as good as gold,” came in. It was convertible to all foreign central banks at that rate. However, for American citizens, it remained illegal to own. This was a gold-exchange standard that was doomed to fail from its inception.

The U.S. did exactly what many predicted she would do, just as in the past of Kings and Ceasars. The saying goes that history repeats itself. The U.S. printed more dollars for which there was no gold backing. Since it is paper, and easy to print, that became the easy out. But the world was content to accept those dollars for more than 25 years with little question-- until the French and others in the late 1960s demanded we fulfill our promise to pay one ounce of gold for each $35 they delivered to the U.S. Treasury. Economically, this should be true. If any commoner were to borrow from a bank, their loans need be paid back. There are very serious circumstances if this action does not happen such as bankruptcy, lawsuits, and more. This is simply what the French were looking for. We have always been a society that spends more than it earns, so we “make” more. This resulted in a huge gold drain that brought an end to a very poorly devised pseudo-gold standard. This all ended with Richard Nixon on August 15, 1971, when he closed the gold window and refused to pay out any of our remaining 280 million ounces of gold. In essence, we declared our insolvency and everyone recognized some other monetary system had to be devised in order to bring stability to the markets. There has been no resolution to this date.

Which brings us to a quote by George Bernard Shaw:

"You have to choose [as a voter] between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the Government. And, with due respect for these gentlemen, I advise you, as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for gold."

Iceland Pioneers a Country of Clean Energy

In 1874 the science fiction writer Jules Verne envisaged a world in which water would replace coal as the fuel of the future. Now the Icelanders believe they can turn that dream into reality within a generation - and they are taking the first steps next year in their project to create the world's first hydrogen society.

Iceland has already gone further than any other country in exploiting its abundant sources of renewable energy. Virtually all of its electricity and heating comes from hydroelectric power and the geo-thermal water reserves tapped from the hot rock layers lying just beneath the surface of this extraordinary island. But with no fossil fuel resources of its own, the country relies on imported oil to power all its cars, buses and fishing trawlers, which provide 70% of its income.

Despite its natural advantages, the small population (around 270,000 people) produces more greenhouse gas emissions per head than any other country. Iceland hopes to power its trawler fleet with hydrogen. So Iceland's next energy revolution will be based on converting its own renewable energy into a form that can power its own transport system, slashing those emissions and ending its dependence on fossil fuels completely.

The key to this change is the technology of fuel cells, in which electricity to power an engine can be generated by hydrogen and oxygen, with vehicle exhausts emitting only the most innocuous substance imaginable - water.

But producing the hydrogen economically without creating more pollution in the process is one of the stumbling blocks in turning fuel cells into a genuinely clean alternative, and this is where Iceland believes it has a head start. It's about being independent and relying on ourselves to continue the way we live

The pioneer of the hydrogen society concept is Professor Bragi Arnason of the University of Iceland in Reykjavik - who has now earned himself the nickname "Professor Hydrogen". He first put forward the idea of basing Iceland's economy on home-produced hydrogen back in the 1970s, and admits that at the time, people thought he was crazy. But politicians started to take a different attitude once major corporations started to visit his laboratories to hear more about his ideas.

The idea at the heart of the project is that Iceland can use its pollution-free, cheap electricity to "split" water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen through the process of electrolysis, something it has already been doing for nearly 50 years at a plant producing ammonia for fertilisers.

"Many experts say that in 20 or 30 years, solar energy could be harnessed in an economic way and turned into electric energy," Professor Arnason said. "In Iceland we don't have to wait for solar energy to become economic because we have this cheap hydropower and geothermal energy. We can start now."

Iceland already harnesses the geo-thermal energy with the creation of a hydrogen economy now official government policy, the first concrete step will be the arrival of the first emission-free fuel cell buses on Reykjavik's streets. The idea is eventually to replace the capital's entire 80-strong fleet. They will be fueled at a new filling station being built on the outskirts of the city by Shell, one of three major corporations putting money into the project. The hydrogen to power the buses will be produced on site, using clean electricity from the grid to split water.

Spirit of independence

The next stage will be the conversion of private cars on the island. Iceland's experts are also looking at the practicality of switching the huge trawlers that tie up at Reykjavik's fishing harbour to hydrogen power. My grandchildren, when they are grown up, will live in this new economy where Iceland will be totally independent of imported energy

The project director of Iceland New Energy, Maria Maack, said: "We are so reliant on our fisheries, and the fisheries are totally dependent on oil. So we have a chance to be quite independent of this. It's not about the environment so much, it's about being independent and relying on ourselves to continue the way we live."

That spirit of independence has already taken Iceland through two great energy revolutions in the past century. First, it exploited its vast hydroelectric potential to make electricity from the start of the 20th Century, and then in the 1940s it tapped the geothermal water supplies which now provide all of Reykjavik's heating needs and about 10% of the country's electricity.

Professpr Arnason believes the third revolution is within sight. "People my age will see the first steps towards the hydrogen economy. My children will watch the whole transformation," he predicted.

"My grandchildren, when they are grown, will live in this new economy where Iceland will be totally independent of imported energy, and where all the energy in the country comes from clean renewables."


By BBC environment correspondent Tim Hirsch

The countdown begins...

It is now December and the countdown to the Christmas holiday is here. There are messages everywhere begging for your hard earned dollars. The request to spend and charge and spend more. They remind us that if there is no money in the till, then bring out the credit. If that's what it takes to keep the wheels of our country turning...

I find that the negative growth fears permeating our society were self fulfilling. I will not say that they were unfounded. There are reasons to be aware and concerned. The press began to express the concern long ago helping to inaugurate a fear based mentality to various aspects of our economic society that I feel did not need to take the hits that are happening. The unemployment numbers were low, the overall economy was rather healthy excepting a few items in its menu, but the press kept pressing on.

As other "experts" jumped into the fray for their 15 minutes more and more people became fearful of their situation, and perhaps many did so without necessity. With people beginning to hear and fear the news and the trail of tears they spewed more and more jumped into the fear based bandwagon. All of this began to snowball and within a few months the economy went to hell in a hand basket.

Yes, there are and will be foreclosures. This happens in every market, all of the time. Yes, we have more than normal, although when one listens to the news today, it seems the way they portray the situation in the press is that 8 out of 10 homes will be foreclosed on. On a national scale the foreclosure rate is at 1 for every 555 homes. Although this number is up substantially than normal and is up more in some areas than other nationally, it still is not the percentage that can crush an economy. Te aftermath of a fear based economic system can and reckless charging can.

It began something like this. All of the turmoil in the subprime market has come about due to a pretty simple reason that being an inordinate number of recent home buyers will begin or have been defaulting on their mortgages. Much of this reason is due to the fact that most of these are the folks who historically have not been home owners due to their debt obligations, low income, and/or poor credit. In the past, they were known as renters.

The ultra-low rates that previous market guru Alan Greenspan put into place when he dropped the Fed Funds to 1% started an entire chain reaction of events. At the time he was lauded by many as the high priest of finance. Now, he is being touted as the creator of the doomsday effect. If high rates keep home prices down, well you can guess what ultra-low rates do. Home prices rose due to more people being able to enter the market and buy homes due to the lower monthly carrying costs, and we were off to the races. This brought out bidding wars and price increases not seen in our lifetime, or any other for that matter, in most areas throughout the United States.

This boom begat a feeding frenzy. Generally, what happens next and did is the corruption that soon followed. The financial institutions created products never seen before in the business of 110% financing or 40-50 year fixed rate mortgages. No Doc, Stated Income, Pic-A-Pay loans, and more offered borrowers numerous products to get into a home or investment. The appraisers jumped in and faked values to get loans approved (making a 100% LTV look like a 80%) for the financial institutions. Banks and mortgage brokers quickly learned how to get nearly anyone approved. There are reasons for these loans and a good purpose if used rightly. Those being Interest only ARMs, LIBOR based, etc. However, if these were used by borrowers without Real Estate experience, and many were, and advised to do so by Realtors, Brokers, the press and more. What happened was that they got people into homes THEY COULD NOT AFFORD.

Then, when the fear began and prices stopped rising the rates ticked up. Soon people could no longer bootstrap paying their mortgages by taking out more home equity loans, the foreclosure rates began to rise.

All of this is self perpetuating. Again, not unfounded, although, there was no slowdown, but a halt. There is only a small number of people in the broad scheme of things that will be going down the path of property foreclosure. The banking industry should be held responsible for their part in handing out so many loans using a products basis which holds no financial weight. Why would a bank issue a note for 1% teaser interest to someone who will not be able to afford this payment when it comes time to roll int into it's conventional financing? The tax breaks that these institutions will receive will help cover their losses, this is simply the process of doing business in a free market society. Although the market will and has fallen substantially for their mishaps and miscalculations. The irresponsibility of the financial institutions should be held liable.

As all of these circumstances are different there is still room for liability for all various parties involved. If a mortgage broker gave out a difficult to understand teaser loan to a bad credit or first time home buyers with no experience there should be some repercussion's on their end for these actions. If a property owner with a history of real estate experience purchased a property that is going to have them fall into the abyss due to the loan they received, or because they purchased too many homes in the past few years using these loan techniques and are now needing to pay the piper, they too should be held liable for their mishaps and misfortunes. In situations such as this, their credit history will prove their prior experience.

The challenge is to stave off the market in the meantime, while these parties involved weed through their situations.