I understood that there are about 133 islands that make up French Polynesia.  Most people begin their journey into Paradise at Papeete, Tahiti and continue on by boat or island hopping, small planes.

Raiatea was one of my last stops.  Friends of mine had just left and the owner of the hotel where I stayed had some old, wobbly bicycles he loaned to guests.  I wobbled myself around the small island, and found that free dives and snorkeling near the reef surrounding the lagoon was of most interest to me.  I helped to refull the fish tank in the hotel’s dining room that afternoon.

The manager mentioned that, for a small fee, the man who ran the mail boat would take me to Taha’a where he had a girlfriend.  I was shown how to make French bread and bake it in the islands huge stone ovens for which the island was famous.  It is now known as a center of fire walking.  Beyond this island is the atoll of Tetiaroa and Marlon Brando’s “vision”.  Construction of The Brando Luxury eco-resort is slated for late 2011.

There is concern that heavy construction could have a negative effect on the population and almost pristine environment.  47 deluxe bungalow villas (each with a private plunge pool), a spa, scuba diving, island activities and archaeological tours of royal Tahitian sites will be included.  The airstrip is being refurbished and extended to meet all safety requirements.  A platform on the coral reef will provide protected access to the island.

Tahiti Beachcomber SA is overseeing the project.  Richard Bailey, CEO was a good friend of Brando’s and worked with him for many years on their joint venture.

The hotel features “sea water air conditioning systems” (SWAC) drawing on an inexhaustible supply of completely renewable clean energy with zero impact on the environment.  His company works closely with the Tahitian Ministry of  Environment.  They stive to protect marine life and educate the public.

www.thebrando.com

Of the $3.25 billion in subsidy costs from the stimulus act, $500 million is specifically for biofuel projects, and $750 million is for large transmission projects that begin construction before Sept. 30, 2011.

Applicants have 45 days to apply for the new guarantee authority, DOE said.

The government-backed authority should help boost lending capital for renewable and other clean-energy technology projects, which has dried up with the financial recession. The stimulus act also included an extension of tax credits for renewable energy and added flexibility where companies can apply for grants instead of using tax credits that the Treasury Department also made available this month (E&ENews PM, July 9).

“This administration has set a goal of doubling renewable electricity generation over the next three years,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement. “To achieve that goal, we need to accelerate renewable project development by ensuring access to capital for advanced technology projects. We also need a grid that can move clean energy from the places it can be produced to the places where it can be used and that can integrate variable sources of power, like wind and solar,” he said.

The loan guarantee authority should decrease the cost of the investments, making a “smart grid” investment a lower investment risk and thus less costly for consumers. DOE also announced the availability of almost $4 billion for demonstration and grants for smart grid projects last month (E&ENews PM, June 25).

Now, I feel that I must return.  The Panama Canal is being expanded to almost twice its width, update and preapred for a new world of the 2000’s.  We visited Canaima Park near the Canal, and drove inland to see the falls.  There were only the very rich, and the very poor. 

Gamboa Rainforest Resort is nestled among the vast Soberaina National Park Rainforest, some 30 minutes from Panama City.  At last a fascinating and emerging part of the world!

You can take a boat ride or go fishing in the Panama Canal, they provide jungle adventures via an aerial tramway, take a visit to Monkey Island, do a bit of bird watching on Pipeline Road and enjoy kayaking at the Panama Canal.

The resort itself has a breathtaking pool and spa where you can kick back and relax, and it’s being called “stunningly beautiful luxury.”  See you there…

www.gamboaresort.com/index_english.html

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

You have repeatedly and appropriately called for a Clean Energy Technology Fund of $150 billion over ten years that could be funded from receipts collected from a greenhouse gas cap and trade program. The stable support this Fund would provide is essential to pay for the research and development needed if the U.S., as well as the developing world, are to achieve their goals in reducing greenhouse gases at an affordable cost.

This stable R&D spending is not a luxury. It is in fact necessary because rapid scientific and technical progress is crucial to achieving these goals, and to making the cost affordable.

We are concerned that “The American Clean Energy and Security Act” (H.R. 2454) that recently passed the House provides less than one fifteenth of the amount you proposed for federal energy research, development, and demonstration programs. The legislation provides no stable, specific funding for sustained research in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science, or for the energy research and associated technology development programs of DOE (at the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Electricity Deliverability, Fossil, and Nuclear offices).

Given the expected growing federal budget deficits, and the corresponding pressure on the government’s discretionary budget, this is a serious deficiency.

We hope that you will urge the Congress to send you a bill that will invest in energy research, development, and demonstration at an amount approaching the stable $15 billion annual support that you have proposed.

We stand ready to assist you in any way we can.

Signed,

Paul Berg, Physics 1980
Stanley Cohen, Physiology or Medicine 1986
Robert F. Curl, Jr., Chemistry 1996
Johann Deisenhofer, Chemistry 1988
Val L. Fitch, Physics 1980
Jerome Friedman, Physics 1990
Sheldon Glashow, Physics 1979
Roy Glauber, Physics 2005
Dudley R. Herschbach, Chemistry 1986
Wolfgang Ketterle, Physics 2001
Roger D. Kornberg, Chemistry 2006
Herbert Kroemer, Physics 2000
Robert B. Laughlin, Physics 1998
Leon Lederman, Physics 1988
Anthony Leggett, Physics 2003
John Mather, Physics 2006
Marshall Nirenberg, Medicine 1968
George A. Olah, Chemistry 1994
Douglas Osheroff, Physics 1996
Arno Penzias, Physics 1978
Martin L. Perl, Physics 1995
William D. Phillips, Physics 1997
David Politzer, Physics 2004
Robert C. Richardson, Physics 1996
Burton Richter, Physics 1976
F. Sherwood Rowland, Chemistry 1995
Phillip A. Sharp, Physiology or Medicine 1993
George Smoot, Physics 2006
Horst Stormer, Physics 1998
Richard Taylor, Physics 1990
Daniel Tsui, Physics 1998
Steven Weinberg, Physics 1979
Frank Wilczek, Physics 2004
Robert W. Wilson, Physics 1978

We’ve seen reference to the dangers plastic poses to marine life, garbage that we humans directly and indirectly deposit in the oceans, but how clearly have we received the message? Not well enough according to a recent article in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin entitled “Leatherback turtles: The menace of plastic,” co-authored by Dalhousie University’s Mike James.

“We wanted to see if plastics ingestion in leatherbacks was hype or reality,” says Dr. James, senior species at risk biologist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada and adjunct professor with Dalhousie’s Department of Biology.

“It was a monumental effort that looked back at necropsies over the last century from all over the world,” he explains. (Necropsies are post-mortem examinations performed on animals.) “After reviewing the results of 371 necropsies since 1968, we discovered over one third of the turtles had ingested plastic.”

Since leatherbacks prefer eating jellyfish, it’s widely believed they mistake bags or other plastics for their meals. Since jellyfish and marine debris concentrate where ocean water masses meet, leatherbacks feeding in these areas are vulnerable to ingesting plastic.

Once leatherbacks ingest plastic, thousands of spines lining the throat and esophagus make it nearly impossible to regurgitate. The plastic can lead to partial or even complete obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in decreased digestive efficiency, energetic and reproductive costs and, for some, starvation.

“Plastics ingestion doesn’t always cause death, but there are clearly health risks to the turtles,” says Dr.James.

Fascinated by reptiles as a child, Dr. James developed a lifelong interest in turtles, from raising them as a kid, to his PhD research and now as a biologist and conservationist. He says there are simple ways to stop these ongoing threats.

“The frustrating, yet hopeful aspect is that humans can easily begin addressing the solution, without major lifestyle changes,” says Dr. James. “It’s as simple as reducing packaging and moving towards alternative, biodegradable materials and recycling.”

Leatherback turtles are classified as critically endangered world-wide. The true population size is not precisely known, as only adult females come ashore for nesting in remote tropical locations. During the summer and fall, Canadian waters support the highest density of foraging leatherbacks in the North Atlantic.

The U.S., European Union and 12 of the world’s largest nations plan to embrace “an aspirational goal” of reducing emissions of global-warming gases by 50% by 2050, according to a draft declaration by world leaders set for release next week in Italy.

The draft, seen by The Wall Street Journal, sets up a framework for detailed negotiations on the issue ahead of a United Nations climate conference in December. But it leaves key areas in the climate-change debate in dispute. The draft is subject to change ahead of a meeting of global leaders starting Wednesday.

The declaration recognizes a “broad scientific view” that global temperatures shouldn’t rise more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but doesn’t lock in the “two-degree ceiling” that some nations and environmentalists want. Global temperatures currently are about 0.8 degree Celsius above those levels.

The train is also one of the greenest ways you can travel.  I can’t recommend it enough.  I will also be filing some stories, post-trip, about my experiences, to give you a more intimate view of what train travel is actually like.  Do you have your own stories?  Let us know!

In the meantime, the number of cats in my house has increased a bit over the last couple years. I rescued an abandoned domestic cat who was living in my yard, along with her two surviving kittens, but before I could get her to the vet, she had another litter – of seven. They lived in my rec room, and I set out finding various places for them, including a couple friends’ homes, and several no-kill sanctuaries. In the middle of this tumultuous period, I was home alone one evening near Thanksgiving when I heard a small, terrible cry coming from outside, repeated over and over again. I grabbed a flashlight and stepped into the darkness with trepidation. Huddled on the breezeway, a tiny kitten, not four weeks old, sat abandoned. I have to admit that my eyes filled with tears as I scooped her up – not just because I felt badly for her, but because I was so overwhelmed by the sheer number of cats I was trying to help.

The story ends well. I found places for all the cats. I never discovered where the baby kitten had come from; I often wondered, as I bottle-fed her and cleaned her and taught her how to use the litter box. There had been no female cats, let alone pregnant ones, in my neighborhood. I think she was abandoned by some callous creep, but at least she was left at the right place. Her name is Mija (Spanish for “my little girl”) and she lords it over my older cats with the supreme confidence of a beloved creature. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I believe that we human animals have a strong responsibility for the well-being of all other animals, particularly the ones that we domesticated. There are so many ways to help, and every small contribution, whether cash or volunteer work or simply being a responsible pet owner, adds up and makes the world a much better place. Please help any way you can.

Links

·    ASPCA

·   Humane Society

·   Best Friends Animal Society

·    Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

“The resulting video, recorded using ambient light at 100 meters (328 feet) depth, not only successfully gave the fishermen a clear idea of how the thieving whales were stealing the fish—they pluck the line at one end to jar the black cod free at the other end, somewhat like shaking apples from a tree—but it gave scientists a chance to match the animal’s acoustics with video depictions of its physical features.”

There is so much about other animals and our planet that we don’t yet know – I personally look forward to more of such breakthroughs in science.

The fossil, known as Ida, was discovered in the Messel Pit near Darmstadt, Germany, in the 1980s. Scientists disagree about Ida’s place in the evolution of primates, but such an ancient and well-preserved fossil will likely fuel study and debate for decades to come. The BBC article states:

In the PLoS paper itself, the scientists do not actually claim the specimen represents a direct ancestor to us. But Dr Hurum believes that is exactly what Ida is….He told BBC News that the key to proving this lay in the detail of the foot. The shape of a bone in the foot called the talus looks “almost anthropoid”.

Interestinger and interestinger…

President Obama’s appointment of Van Jones’s as Green Jobs Adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality seems startlingly à propos, especially on the heels of Power Shift ’09, — a major youth campaign which demanded, among other things, green jobs. In light of federally funded job-creation initiatives, a rumored shift in the U.S. economy as a whole, and louder-than-ever support for new green infrastructure, the timing couldn’t be better for paying more attention to how a green economy really works.

Political support is only the beginning. A key issue will be sourcing the workers that can produce and manage clean energy. Many fields require more boots on the ground per kWh than fossil energy sources. For example, in 2008 the number of workers employed in the US wind industry jumped to 85,000, surpassing the 81,000 currently needed to mine coal, even though wind power currently provides only a fraction of the electricity in the US that coal does. According to this University of Massachusetts study, (PDF) investing in projects such as wind power and mass transit creates three to four times more jobs than the same spending directed towards the coal industry.

And training these workers is more complicated than pointing Joe the Plumber towards a solar water heater. The National Council for Workforce Education, in a recent report with the Academy for Educational Development titled Going Green: The Vital Role of Community Colleges in Building a Sustainable Future and Green Workforce (PDF), points out:

[M]any jobs that are currently, or predicted to be, in demand are ‘middle-skilled’ jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree. It is important to note that although there will be a growing number of new green occupations requiring new knowledge, skills, and abilities, it is expected that the majority will be transformed from existing jobs, requiring a redefinition of skill sets, methods, and occupational profiles.

The report goes on to say that community colleges are an ideal place to begin offering such training, since existing vocational programs can be modified, rather than starting from scratch. Fast-growing fields such as energy efficiency, renewable energy and alternative fuels are particularly unable to wait for the development of entirely new programs. Courses already exist at several US schools, including Santa Fe Community College, Great Basin College, Cuyahoga Community College, Central Carolina Community College, and Lansing Community College.

“Community colleges fill a very different role than the other higher education institutions,” says Jay Antle, Sustainability Committee Chair at Johnson County Community College. “The real difference is that the research institutions are inventing and perfecting the technology that community college-trained workers will install and service.”

So, where will the money to fund these training programs come from? As much as $75 billion of the new stimulus bill has implications for the higher education sector, in areas like campus renovations, student loans, federal work-study programs, technology and climate research. Four billion is earmarked for job training. Another $500 million was allocated to the Department of Labor for green jobs education and training, though none of it was set aside specifically for community colleges (though it looks like the DOL may end up granting some to those who apply).

In order to make the most of the limited funds, community colleges are finding creative opportunities to collaborate. A joint project of San Francisco Bay community colleges called the New Energy Workforce (NEW) Initiative has found that cooperation with local workforce boards and each other increases their ability to respond to trends in clean and green technology. In concert, they are launching coordinated courses in photovoltaics and energy management, expanding offerings in renewable energy, and providing “Train-the-Trainer” courses for instructors at other schools.

Department of Labor resources will primarily be coming through local Workforce Investment Boards (WIB), says Kitty O’Doherty, convener of the NEW Initiative. “There are roughly 13 WIBs in our region, and they oversee the operation of one-stop career centers, using Department of Labor funds to provide a variety of career services, including job training, to unemployed and recently laid off adults as well as youth.”

As community colleges coordinate with the local workforce boards, they are better able to predict local employment opportunities. Available energy from wind, solar and geothermal sources varies according to location, and regional networks are more likely to have connections to area employers and estimate training needs.

For example, Centers of Excellence hosted at City College of San Francisco and West Valley College conducted a study in 2008 on Bay Area solar sectors, finding that there was a growing demand for photovoltaic panel installers, solar thermal installers and professionals in photovoltaic sales and marketing. Some fields, like photovoltaic installation, were projected to grow as much as 56 percent in the next 12 months. It was the perfect place for the NEW Initiative to step in.

“When we saw the need [for PV solar technicians], we turned our attention to it immediately,” says O’Doherty. “DeAnza College led the way in securing a grant to fund the effort; Cabrillo and San Jose City Colleges capitalized on existing infrastructure to quickly develop and offer new courses; seasoned faculty at Diablo Valley College hosted a train-the-trainer event to jumpstart both the Cabrillo and San Jose City College courses as well as five others in the region. We can be fast at figuring out which colleges are best positioned for each need; work to meet it; and all the while ensure we don’t over-saturate the market.”

She goes on: “This is a call for new levels of collaboration. We convened the Workforce Investment Boards and the colleges in our region in February, and both groups are extremely committed. They [WIBs] are going to have the funding to place people in these jobs, and we’re going to have the training. The common mission of preparing individuals for meaningful careers and creating a well-qualified workforce for our region is a very compelling motivator.”

Xarissa Holdaway blogs for the Campus Ecology program at National Wildlife Federation and edits ClimateEdu, an email newsletter for colleges and universities.

Photo: Lindsay Randall, Environmental Sustinability Coordinator at Purchase College, advocates for green jobs at the Capitol during PowerShift ‘09.
Photo credit: Xarissa Holdaway

That’s the problem that a team of University of Virginia business students has a plan to solve. And their plan has been getting some validation recently.

Darden School of Business students Baijnath Ramraika, Ravi Yekula and Chip Ransler won two business plan competitions last week, raking in $5,000 at Wake Forest University on March 29 and pocketing $10,000 on March 30 from the Darden-U.Va. Business Plan Competition. The top finish in the Social Entrepreneurship category at the Wake Forest Elevator Competition also netted the team a share of $65,000 in legal and marketing services. Last week’s success follows three other wins in the past six months that garnered a total of $3,000.

The business, called Clean India http://www.clean-india.com/, will use algae and sand filtration to treat and recycle wastewater as a “pay-for-use” service.

The garment makers of Tirupur, India generate about 100 million liters of chemical dye-laced wastewater per day, and generally face no penalties for dumping it into the local water supply, Yekula explained. To make their pollution less obvious, the companies typically add toxic de-coloring chemicals to the water before discharging it. The resulting contamination has caused such a shortage of clean water that the local price of clean water has doubled in the past five years. Many places in India, China and other developing countries face similar water supply challenges, giving Clean India lots of long-term growth potential.

But several factors make Tirupur an ideal spot to launch the business, Yekula said. For years, many Tirupur businesses got water by drilling wells, but the growth of this practice has completely depleted the local groundwater. The local municipal water supply is poorly developed, and so manufacturers purchase 60 percent to 70 percent of their water needs from private suppliers, who typically deliver it by the truckload. Clean India will also use tanker trucks to shuttle contaminated water to their treatment facility, and to deliver the cleaned and recycled water.

The large, up-front costs of traditional wastewater treatment equipment are not economically viable for these small garment makers, Yekula said, so Clean India plans to sell them recycled and cleaned water as an on-demand service, costing slightly less than they now pay for delivered clean water. The first target customers are a number of textile firms that are clustered together in a Tirupur industrial park. Three of the firms have already signed on as ready customers whenever the business gets online.

Clean India will use algae and sand filtration to treat the contaminated water. The algae is grown in a patented bioreactor, and then introduced to open ponds of wastewater. The algae breaks down the toxic elements in the water into nonharmful elements. Then a sand filter captures any remaining sediments and particulates. The whole process takes about five days for a given batch of wastewater. The process can be customized by identifying strains of algae that are best suited to removing particular pollutants.

The process is labor-intensive, as workers must move water from pond to pond and separate the algae every day. This harnesses India’s low-cost labor as a substitute for the high capital costs of traditional wastewater treatment equipment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, Yekula said.

The modular system can be expanded as new customers are added. A 5-million-liter pilot treatment facility will cost $1.5 million. It should pay for itself in 18 months, Yekula said, and produce $4 million in revenue and $1 million in profits by the end of five years. By year five they hope to expand to 26 plants.

“India has a scarcity of water,” Yekula said. “This problem is huge, but we think Clean India has a solution that actually makes a difference. … It’s not only solving a social problem, it’s doing it in a very profitable way.”

Clean India has not yet lined up financing for the pilot facility, but investors and venture capitalists have expressed interest, Yekula said. “With the global economic meltdown, people are looking for places to invest where there will still be at least some growth, and India is still growing.”

223,777 Smoking-related items (cigarettes, lighters, cigars, tobacco packaging, etc.)

116,835 Beverage containers (plastic, glass and cans)

53,712 Bags (11,336 paper and 42,376 plastic)

11,039 Large objects (refrigerators, cars, building materials, etc.)

6,078 Toys

4,404 Balloons

Read the rest of the report at the Ocean Conservancy web site.

Last night I read this great children’s book “The Wartville Wizard,” by Don Madden, in which an old man, unhappy with his neighbors’ habit of littering, becomes a wizard with “the power over trash.” Instead of yelling “slobs!” and picking up the trash along the road by his house, he sends each piece of trash back to the person who threw it out, where it sticks to them. In the end the townspeople, covered in their own trash, promise never to litter again if the wizard will just remove all the trash that is stuck to them. The wizard agrees, “but he would miss yelling ‘slobs!’ a little, because that was kind of fun.”

This seems an appropriate message for Earth Day, the 40^th anniversary of which is happening this Wednesday, April 22^nd.  According to the official U.S. Government Earth Day website:

“Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. Earth Day is a time to unite around new actions. Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet…Earthday.gov is a cooperative effort across the entire U.S. government.”

This website features information on how you can help improve the planet, through both individual actions and volunteer opportunities.  They also include a section just for kids.

This Earth Day, ask yourself, what if everything you threw away were to come back and stick to you? You would probably give a lot more thought to what you threw away. Although we are continually reminded to “reduce, reuse, and recycle,” unfortunately too many people forget the first two and think that it is all about putting cans and bottles in the right bins.

What if there were no garbage service? What if you had to find a way to reuse everything you bought? Think about how much trash you buy. Take a look in your garbage can. Is there anything in there that you could have reused? Is there someway you could have avoided buying that trash? I just did that. I see that I have thrown away plastic bags from cereal boxes that I could reuse somehow. Next time, I could buy cereal from the bulk food section, reusing those very bags. When they finally wear out, perhaps I could find some other use for them. My husband takes old plastic bags and fills a burlap sack with them, making a target for his archery practice.

I know a couple who built one wall of their house out of old colored bottles and straw bale. The effect was almost like stained glass. I know some other people who have used crushed recycled glass as a fantastic decoration on their new floors. Crushed glass can be used to make amazing mosaics.

How can you reduce the amount of stuff that you bring home, just to throw away? You could start by buying things with less packaging. Here are some ideas to reduce your imprint, when it comes to garbage.

Buy used clothes from thrift stores. Give away old clothes that you don’t wear anymore. Have a clothing exchange party. This is especially good with kids’ clothes, since they grow out of them so fast. If your old clothes, sheets, etc. are too trashed to give away for someone else to use, turn them into rags (instead of buying and throwing away paper towels) or use them in craft projects (make a crazy quilt!).

Buy whole foods and cook from scratch. Bring your own reusable grocery bags to the store, and/or reuse paper bags.

Consider also where the things you buy come from. I was looking through this catalog the other day of “green living” products, the motto on the front: “simple choices make a difference.” Inside they advertise all kinds of organic clothes, “recycled” products, etc. but on closer inspection you see that many of these things are made in China or some other country where there are very little environmental controls. And think about all the resources it will take to get that product to you! Is this really “green living?” Is this really a “simple choice?”

It turns out that living simply in this world can actually get pretty complicated. But it is worth it to try, instead of just yelling “slobs!” at the rest of the world, even if it is kind of fun.

Other sources of information on Earth Day can be found at:

· Earth Day Network

· Wikipedia

Do you intend to celebrate and participate in Earth Day?  Share your stories with us!

]]> http://dailyrevolution.com/?feed=rss2&p=362 1 http://dailyrevolution.com/?p=292 http://dailyrevolution.com/?p=292#comments Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:36:44 +0000 Editor http://dailyrevolution.com/?p=292 As I flew out of New Orleans after the holidays this year, I looked down on the bayous that border what’s known mainly as the 9th Ward.  Having lived in New Orleans and Metairie (a suburb) we all knew how low the 9th Ward was, and that when there was a severe enough storm (considering that Lake Pontchartrain is like a saucer) it would flood big time.  And yet they built houses there.

Call it bayou or wetlands, it’s much the same.  In Florida we’re busy building new subdivisions, pushing the wetlands and all the creatures who have for centuries occupied the wetlands, into a state of strangulation.

Louisiana’s wetlands are in an environmental emergency as it disappears before our very eyes. If something is not done now, the reversal process will be too difficult to save the wetlands or Louisiana’s entire southern coast.  Two estuaries, the Barataria and Terrebonne basins, are the most rapidly eroding estuaries on earth.  We’re losing time.  Since the erosion began, Louisiana alone has lost 2000 squre miles of wetlands – 1.2 million acres.  Approximately 25-30 squre miles of Louisiana’s wetlands disappear each year.  By 2050, another 435,000 acres and, if nothing is done, it will be gone by 2075.

Within the bayous are fishermen and trappers – a way of life unique to Louisiana.  This area hosts one of the largest seafood nurseries in the nation.  Here in Florida, we’re busy paving over our wetlands which borders on insanity, but we’ll place it at the feet of greed.  What’s the interpretation of federal and state policies calling for ‘”NO NET LOSS OF WETLANDS”?  We stand on soapboxes, talk “green” and ecotourism until our throats are dry, and the crowd has gone home…

The Florida Army Corps of Engineers between 1999 and 2003 approved 12,000 permits in Florida which permitted wetlands to be destoryed – they cannot be replaced.

Paving Paradise:  Florida’s Vanishing Wetlands & the Failure of No net Loss -  By Craig Pitman and Matthew Waite

Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life & Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast – By Mike Tidwell (March, 2003)

According to Green For All, on March 16, Jones is to become Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). “His duties will include: helping to shape and implement job-generating climate policy; working to ensure equal protection and equal opportunity in the administration’s climate and energy proposals; and publicly advocating the administration’s environmental and energy agenda.”

The WSJ says “Obama has touted the job-creation potential of his clean-energy initiative. Now, the focus seems to be on making sure that the administration’s overall climate policy—including a cap-and-trade bill to curb greenhouse-gas emissions—will create more jobs than it endangers in Rust Belt states.”

Harvard University’s Robert Stavins says that job creation and a green agenda are non-compatible.  “Addressing the worst economic recession in generations calls for the most effective economic stimulus package that can be devised, not a stimulus package that is diminished in effectiveness through excessive bells and whistles meant to address a myriad of other (legitimate) social concerns. And, likewise, getting serious about global climate change will require the enactment and implementation of meaningful, dedicated climate policies, most likely a comprehensive national CO2 cap-and-trade system. These are two serious but different policy problems, and they call for two serious, carefully-crafted policy responses.”
Van Jones and Green For All (now to be headed by Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins) have found success in the Oakland area with small-scale green job creation.  Now we shall see what ideas he can bring to fruition nationally.

With fascination, I’ve traveled on the famous Blue Train across Egypt, had dinner on one of the Dome Cars in Alaska, relaxed on the legendary trains of Europe, slept on the wagon lits of Italy and France, and watched the visages of the Industrial Revolution on a train from Washington, DC’s Union Station to New York City.

USA Today informs us that there will be an $8 billion infusion to get Amtrak on the “fast track”.  Somehow we fell out of love with train travel vs. planes and automobiles.  Europe (including the UK) is expanding their fast trains and “greening” their system.  The time is now for these faster, newer trains taking us past gridlocked airports and congested highways on electrified railroads speeding up to 200 mph.  Remember, there’s never been a serious accident on Japan’s or any other hi-speed railroad.  The new system in this country will reduce our dependence on oil, cut pollution and create jobs.

By April, Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood is required to issue a strategic plan detailing how DOT will use the $8 billion.  States will then be advised on procedure to apply for grants.  In Florida our schedule is Tampa-Orland0-Miami for a hi-speed rail corridor.  It will create an entirely new industry in this country.

Amtrak’s electrified Acela already exists – 135 mph.  The $8 billion is only a beginning…California’s system alone would cost $50 billion to complete, and it’s already in the works!  Check out www.amtrak.com.  Let’s fall in love again.

The SS UNITED STATES is considered a special and beloved icon, and it is now listed with the Florida-based ship brokerage firm, Southport Atlantic.  Star Cruises, parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, purchased the ship in 2003.  NCL has abandoned plans for the ship’s refurbishment, and ownership is now in the hands of the holding company.  The ship is considered the crowning maratime achievement of the 20th century.

Despite the recession, some hope must be found for saving this ship.  The paddlewheelers that have graced the Mississippi and inland rivers are almost a memory as the DELTA QUEEN becomes a hotel moored in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the fate of the other paddlewheelers is uncertain.

Star Cruises and NCL appreciate the national symbolism and historical value of the SS UNITED STATES.  It can be saved by a public-private partnership to acquire the ship.  What shouldn’t it become a tourist attraction in a major U. S. city?  (www.ssunitedstatesconservancy.org).  Let’s make it happen!

Let’s say you want to go from Tampa to Miami.  Drive to the automated highway, pay a toll, roll on to a flatbed, stop your car and then read a book or contemplate your navel as you travel over 100 mph.  Arrive at the exit you want for Miami, the flatbed stops and you start your engine and are on your ‘way.  No accidents, no traffic pileups and you didn’t use a drop of gas!

In the St. Petersburg Times Luis Perez wrote about St. Pete’s new city project to convert a hybrid auto into a rechargeable electric car. As he pointed out, this hybrid uses gasoline and battery power to get better mileage from the engine.  The plug-in electric hybrids start the same way, but have larger long-life batteries that can be recharged from a standard outlet.  Progress Energy says you can save as much as 50-75% on fueling costs vs. gasoline.

It’s a two year City project with a price tag of about $37,000.  The utility will reimburse the city only $28,000, and the $9,000 balance should be recouped in future fuel savings.

Several years ago St. Pete started a “green city” initiative adopting earth-friendly policies in lighting.  The door is opening wide for the future complete with public plug-in stations for batteries.  Progress Energy has partnered with Ford to develop the plug-ins.  The optimum distance for such technology is 40 miles per day.

The 3,500 vehicles (19 hybrids) in our city’s fleet are targeted, but there are no immediate plans to purchase more hybrids.  Wonder if the automated super highway has merit any more?

Ecoventura is celebrating the event with 3 of their identical 20-passenger yachts.  Their staff of naturalist guides have prepared lectures on Darwin.  You’ll find special edition books and DVDs on board the yachts, and passengers will receive commemorative certificates for the voyage.

Ecoventura’s yacht Eric is the first hybrid energy tour boat in the islands.  A $100.000 investment included installation of 40 solar panels and two wind turbines on the upper deck.  This technology will support about 17% of the energy once produced by two carbon fuel-based generators.  By 2011 all yachts will have this.

The Charles Darwin Foundation and Galapagos Conservation Trust have joined to mark the celebration with an anniversary Fundraising Cruise.

Tours for “Island Hopping” are available .  The Red Mangrove Lodges will be home from Santa Cruz to Isabela and Florrana, as well as the Lapagas Camping where you can stay in treehouses with a  view of the sea and giant tortoises.  Even Darwin would be impressed.

www.kleintours.com www.ecoventure.com

www.oceanadventures.com.ph

www.metropolitan-touring.com

Like me, Tom remembered his parents taking lemon in their tea.  My mother always gave me lemon water when I had a sore throat, and many people I know are having lemon with water at restaurants with their meals.  They feel it’s healthier than coffee.

As nurse Ann Heustad says, “When life gives you a lemon…squeeze it, mix it with six ounces of distilled water and drink twice daily.”

Jethro Kloss’ book Back to Eden recommends, “The medicinal value of the lemon is as follows:  it is an antiseptic, or is an agent that prevents sepsis (the presence of pathogenic bacteria) or putrefaction (decomposition of tissue).  It is also anti-scorbutic, a term meaning a remedy which will prevent disease and assist in cleansing the system of impurities.  Due to the digestive qualities of lemon juice, symptons of indigestion such as heartburn, bloating and belching are relieved.  By drinking lemon juice regularly, the bowels are aided in eliminating waste more efficiently, thus controlling constipation and diarrhea.”  The book is a gem and contains page after page of the plus factor of the lemon.

Some lemons, as they point out, are sweeter than others.  A rule of thumb for selecting a lemon that is both sweet and high in mineral content, is to pick one that has a high specific gravity measurement and is heavy for its size.  By comparing equal-sized fruit, the one with the greatest weight will have the most mineral content and sugar.  A thick skinned lemon won’t be as heavy as a thick skinned lemon and won’t have the desired sweetness or mineral content.  The method that “people in the know” use is to check the two ends on the lemon.  One end has a point where the blossom started to grow; the other end has a stem or a dimple where the steam used to be located.  On the stem end of a highly mineralized, sweet lemon, you’ll see little lines radiating out of the stem like sunbeams.  These little lines can look like a star-shaped structure and is called a calyx.  The calyx may have three, four, five or more points to the star.  The greater number of points on the calyx, the higher the mineral content of the lemon.

If you’re in good health, weigh less than 150 pounds,  then squeeze the juice of one half a lemon (1 oz.) into a glass of purified water, and drink the mixture twice a day (i.e. one lemon a day).  If you weigh over 150 pounds, squeeze the juice of an entire lemon (2 oz.) into a glass of purified water and drink the mixture twice a day (2 whole lemons a day).  The lemon juice can be diluted more according to taste.

It’s back to basics, and the value of our mutual dedication to planetary health and wellness through simple healthful remedies.

As they point out “…often dogs confuse signals as to their role in our ‘pack’, and usually think that they are the Pack Leader instead of us.”  It’s a matter of our becoming the “Alpha Dog” through Amichien Bonding giving you simple tools to allow your dog to elect you as the leader.  A friend of mine who has a “dear little dog” capable of destroying her home when she’s out, jumps up on guests, barks all the time and has other obsessive behavior has, through this training, become a model citizen.  In other words, it works.

Marina, in her area, provides one-to-one consultations, complete with back up e-mail and/or telephone service to work with you based on your commitment to assist your dog to a happier life.  The organization also has DVDs for “show and tell”.

The organization has also promoted programs at Yellowstone in the saving of young wolves there helping to transform our understanding of the natural world.  Since my two pugs are now in “dog” heaven, it pulled on my heartstrings to surf through the fascinatng pages of pictures and stories which we wish to share with you.

www.happyandrelaxeddogs.com

In England the train system has been made “green” and carries much of the nation for longer distances as the Brits do not have an abundance of private cars.  They also have an excellent bus system.  Within the Tampa Bay area we see bus service cut-backs and routes being combined.  A fast rail system concept died an early death.

We’re not a nation of walkers, rather preferring the comfort and ease of going from place to place easily.  My doctors, shopping mall, grocery store and office are too distant to walk, so I understand.  Most of us, by the very nature of the beast,  have to drive and continue the pollution problem

Frank Lloyd Wright had proposed long ago, to build an “inner city” in Chicago where people could live, shop, work and be entertained without leaving the area or using a car.  And Chicago has the “L”, the elevated train service which was available nearby.  Then came the suburbs, and the move was away from the city or town.

I don’t drive in London, Rome or Paris, but I adore the autobahns  of Germany with someone passing me at 120 mph!  Mexico City with no emission control laws (last time I checked) greets you at the airport with an eye-stinging, yellow haze that continues until you leave.  I took the Aerial Tram over the Rain Forest in Costa Rica.  The glorious birds and butterflys were all there, but I could see bare spots where the “jungle” had been cut through and I wondered about ecotourism.  Along the ocean more and more condo developments and hotels were being built.  Where there had been heavy rains, there were huge mud slides.  The trees and landscaping that might have saved it, were gone…

We are the cause with our greed, self indulgence and total disregard for the fine balance of nature.  We have to reestablish that balance realizing, one and all, nation to nation. that substainability is imperative.

The basic format of war has changed often due to internal short events of bombing and combat within the major centers.  Kabul, Afghanistan has been used as an example by Charles Montgomery in Dwell magazine.  It’s not a subject one would expect in this upbeat, “in the moment” design publication.

Called “security architecture”, it provides mud brick surfaces on Jersey devils, among the building blocks repairing Kabull’s historic neighborhoods – “earth” architecture is being explored in a laboratory.

Walls of brush matting and mud that hold up under fire, layers of rammed earth are much the same.  If there’s an explosion it would break into dust, not chunks of “killer” concrete.

Unlike the privacy walls of the past, the international rebuilding teams have erected fort-like edifices which may or may not survive a car bomb!  Security is the buzz word, and this new architectural group is designing Kabul’s first “green” blast barrier.  Some blast barriers are made from refrigerator size wire catges and bags filled with dirt known as HESCO are being used in stacks by the international group.

HESCO and chest high cement blocks interspersed by sniper nests, can be seen on the main road from the airport through the city.  In all of the attempted reconstruction the residents still want to walk their streets freely almost thwarting the efforts.

Aside from suicide bombers, there is the rampant vandalism, graffiti and locals willing to feed and hide terrorists within the high, bare concrete walls.  It has become, in many instances, “us vs. them”.  And it has been proven that urban design does change the psychology of a city’s inhabitants, especially when they feel safe.

A new concept – a greener world within a war-torn area.

The green component of the much larger stimulus plan would cost at least $15 billion a year, and perhaps considerably more, depending on how the projects were defined, aides working on the package said.

During the campaign, Mr. Obama supported a measure to address global warming by capping carbon emissions while allowing companies to buy and trade pollution permits. He said he would devote $150 billion of the revenue from the sale of those permits over 10 years to energy efficiency and alternative energy projects to wean the nation from fuels that are the main causes of the heating the atmosphere.

But the Obama adviser who discussed the green energy project said Mr. Obama would not await passage of a global warming bill before embarking on the new energy and infrastructure spending. House and Senate supporters of a climate bill said they would continue working on legislative language but did not expect quick action on a cap-and-trade law because of the economic emergency.

That means that the green-jobs program would not be financed with pollution credits bought by power generators and other carbon emitters, but instead would be added to the budget deficit.

Congressional officials working with the Obama administration said the stimulus program was also likely to involve tax breaks or direct government subsidies for a variety of clean energy projects, including solar arrays, wind farms, advanced biofuels and technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-burning power plants.

Read the rest here.

RELATED LINKS Green for All Original Article Daily Revolution Archives

A new publication outlines strategies for developing green-collar job initiatives and pathways out of poverty at the local level. Co-authored by Green For All, this report describes a 4-step approach for local initiatives and highlights a dozen great efforts already underway around the country. Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities

Publication outlines strategies for developing green-collar job initiatives and pathways out of poverty at the local level.

Green For All, in partnership with the Apollo Alliance, Center for American Progress, and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, recently released this guide to help cities across America develop strategies to spur the creation of green-collar jobs and opportunity in their communities.

The new guide, Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities: Building Pathways out of Poverty and Careers in the Clean Energy Economy, is a first-of-its-kind publication that addresses the demand for this information and outlines a strategic framework in which local policymakers and advocates can develop a green-collar job initiative that responds to the realities of their local economies and communities.

“Our green future will be invented at the local level,” said Van Jones, founder and president of Green For All. “This report offers those leaders some of the best thinking and models currently available for building green-collar jobs and the training pipelines necessary for city residents to fill those jobs and claim the promise of living wage careers.”

The guide encourages cities to take a four-step approach.

1. First, set a baseline to start from. Identify your environmental and economic goals, and assess local and regional opportunities for achieving those goals.
2. Second, develop a green economic development plan. Enact policies and programs to drive investment into targeted green economic activity and increase demand for local green-collar workers.
3. Third, ready your workforce. Prepare your green-collar workforce by building green-collar job training partnerships to identify and meet workforce training needs, and by creating green pathways out of poverty that focus on recruitment, job readiness, job training, and job placement for low-income residents.
4. And fourth, build on your successes. Leverage your program’s success to build political support for new and bolder policies and initiatives.

Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities also includes 14 case studies of successful green-collar job training or policy in 11 communities on both coasts, the Midwest, and the South.

We are on the cusp of incredible change. People everywhere are now talking about the promise of green-collar jobs to serve both the planet and the people. We hope that this publication helps people in cities across the country realize their own dreams of a strong green economy that provides pathways to prosperity for people in need.

Download Report  from Green for All ]]> http://dailyrevolution.com/?feed=rss2&p=234 0 http://dailyrevolution.com/?p=41 http://dailyrevolution.com/?p=41#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:34:52 +0000 Dewey Davis-Thompson http://dailyrevolution.com/?p=41 080714: Mother Earth Monday

RELATED LINKS Green for All Original Article Daily Revolution Archives

A new publication outlines strategies for developing green-collar job initiatives and pathways out of poverty at the local level. Co-authored by Green For All, this report describes a 4-step approach for local initiatives and highlights a dozen great efforts already underway around the country. Green-Collar Jobs in America?s Cities

Publication outlines strategies for developing green-collar job initiatives and pathways out of poverty at the local level.

Green For All, in partnership with the Apollo Alliance, Center for American Progress, and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, recently released this guide to help cities across America develop strategies to spur the creation of green-collar jobs and opportunity in their communities.

The new guide, Green-Collar Jobs in America?s Cities: Building Pathways out of Poverty and Careers in the Clean Energy Economy, is a first-of-its-kind publication that addresses the demand for this information and outlines a strategic framework in which local policymakers and advocates can develop a green-collar job initiative that responds to the realities of their local economies and communities.

?Our green future will be invented at the local level,? said Van Jones, founder and president of Green For All. ?This report offers those leaders some of the best thinking and models currently available for building green-collar jobs and the training pipelines necessary for city residents to fill those jobs and claim the promise of living wage careers.?

The guide encourages cities to take a four-step approach.

1. First, set a baseline to start from. Identify your environmental and economic goals, and assess local and regional opportunities for achieving those goals.
2. Second, develop a green economic development plan. Enact policies and programs to drive investment into targeted green economic activity and increase demand for local green-collar workers.
3. Third, ready your workforce. Prepare your green-collar workforce by building green-collar job training partnerships to identify and meet workforce training needs, and by creating green pathways out of poverty that focus on recruitment, job readiness, job training, and job placement for low-income residents.
4. And fourth, build on your successes. Leverage your program?s success to build political support for new and bolder policies and initiatives.

Green-Collar Jobs in America’s Cities also includes 14 case studies of successful green-collar job training or policy in 11 communities on both coasts, the Midwest, and the South.

We are on the cusp of incredible change. People everywhere are now talking about the promise of green-collar jobs to serve both the planet and the people. We hope that this publication helps people in cities across the country realize their own dreams of a strong green economy that provides pathways to prosperity for people in need.

© Daily Revolution™ – Web Site by Internet Adept

RELATED LINKS Everglades Restoration Daily Revolution Archives

The Everglades Restoration Project has repaved many waterways of southern Florida, making unstraight the path. Mankind steps back and the untamed borders of nature have returned. A flock of ibis peck in the grass for morning niblets and a raccoon family snugs high up into a palm tree to sleep out the stifling afternoon heat and drenching storms. Most important of all, the shoreline is ragged and rough, and flourishing mangroves buffer the wake of man-made craft, still buzzing up the canal.

If we go “backwards,” how far should we go? The crabs have safe homes again, no longer pummeled by rough waves at odd intervals. But oil soils the water, and trash still meanders the lee. There is more to saving the Everglades, it seems, than just fixing the water flow.

In Taking the Risk Out of Democracy, Alex Carey asserts that the moneyed interests in the world have steered public debate in a direction that suits their business. “The question is no longer whether or not pollution should be allowed, but how much pollution is OK.” Of course, one might say, some pollution is inevitable in the course of human industry. So the question, they say is “how green should we be?”

At sunrise a friend insists “God said ‘Go forth and trash the place.’” And we have. Now it is time to pull back. Mankind must restore balance with nature, goes the mantra. What would that balance actually be? Perhaps we need to look at the world before humans existed as a major species. Only then can we balance with the rest of creation. Otherwise it is just a matter of “how much nature” will we allow.

© Daily Revolution™ – Web Site by Internet Adept

RELATED LINKS WeCanSolveIt.Org Daily Revolution Archives

OK. At last it seems that ranks are closing on environmental issues among the American leadership. First we see Pat Roberson and Al Sharpton sitting on a sofa on the dreariest black and white beach you can imagine. One does not imagine that the talent in these ads were convinced to shoot on location. But what they do now seem to agree upon has been to close a chasm traditionally much further apart than green screen is from black and white, namely the “climate crisis.”

On the WeCanSolveIt.org web site the copy adds “At the taping of this clip, the two joked and prayed together. If these polar opposites can come together on this important and moral issue, why can’t you?

Sharpton opines “We all need to work toghether liberals and conservatives.” “It is the right thing to do,” adds Robertson.

Watch it for yourself:

Then there is the unlikely combination of congressman and congresswoman, Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi, again seated in an equally unlikly drab locale: The most obvious of objectives include advocacy, a Polar Bear Petition and general personal involvement in community groups and local efforts. There is a also a page that includes many suggestions on reducing personal imact on the environement, here they are:

At Home
• Turn down the heat and air conditioning when you aren’t home. Try using a programmable thermostat or setting your thermostat yourself to 68 degrees while you are awake and lower it to 60 degrees while you are asleep or away from home. In the summer, keep the thermostat at 78 degrees while you are at home, but give your air conditioning a rest when you are away. This will allow you to save about 10% a year on your home energy costs. If every house in America did this, our total greenhouse gas production would drop by about 35 million tons of CO2. This is about the same as taking 6 million cars off of the road.
• Choose energy efficient appliances. Because they use less energy, EnergyStar appliances like refrigerators can reduce carbon pollution, and have a big impact on your energy bill. Plus, choosing energy efficient products is easy-just look for the EnergyStar logo. EnergyStar products typically exceed the federal energy standards by at least fifteen percent. When buying appliances that use the most energy in your home, like heaters, air conditioners, water heaters and refrigerators, also use the Energy Guide card posted on the appliance to help you choose the one with the lowest annual energy consumption. To learn more about your home’s contribution to global warming, view our famous Black Balloons video (be sure to share it with your friends!).
• Warm up your home with insulation. Was your house constructed before 1980? If so, it could be one of the 80% of American homes built without enough insulation. This means your home heating costs could be going through the roof, literally. The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association has tips for both finding and getting the most out of a contractor to fix this problem and for doing it yourself.
• Change your home’s air filters. Heating and cooling uses about half of the energy in a typical home and can account for about $1,500 a year in annual costs. Click here to read about how you can conserve energy by doing some basic home maintenance like replacing air filters and insulating your heating ducts.
• Make the switch to compact florescent bulbs. According to the government’s EnergyStar program, if every American home replaced their five most-used light fixtures with EnergyStar rated compact fluorescent the savings would add up to $8 billion annually in energy costs. That’s like taking almost ten million cars off the road. CFL’s are widely available, affordable, and they last ten times longer than traditional bulbs.
• Wash your clothes with cold water. If you usually use hot water for your laundry you can cut your energy consumption in half by choosing warm water, and up to ninety percent if you choose cold. Your current liquid laundry detergent should work fine. If not, special cold water detergents are available. Your shirts and pants should be just as clean, and you’ll thank yourself when the electricity bill arrives.
• Switch to green power. It is likely that most of the electricity you use comes from non-renewable sources like coal. However, there are some utilities that will sell you climate-friendly electricity like wind, biomass, or solar if you ask for it. More than 750 utilities in 37 states offer green power products and signing up can be very easy. To find out what your options are, check out the US Department of Energy map or contact your local energy company directly. And, when you sign up for green power, ask your utility when everyone will be getting clean energy, even those who don’t request it. Read more about green power here. On the Go
• Take public transportation. One of the best ways to reduce your impact on the climate is to take a public bus, subway or train instead of driving. Since you don’t have to keep your eyes on the road, you can read, talk with friends or listen to music while you travel. If just 10% of US passenger car travel were instead on mass transit, we would save 75 million tons of CO2. Give public transit a try for one trip a week to start. You may be surprised by how convenient reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be. If your community doesn’t have many public transportation options, ask for it! Go to a city council meeting or write your city officials and tell them that good public transportation options are important to you, and good for the community.
• Find a carpool buddy at least once a week. Sharing a ride to work is one of the most efficient ways to cut down on drive-time emissions. Ask around — odds are someone else is heading in the same direction already. Click here for a step-by-step guide on finding a carpool group.
• Pump up your tires. Eager to save money at the pump? According to AAA, driving with under-inflated tires can hurt your vehicle’s gas mileage by two to three percent. Over a year, this could be like wasting an entire tank of gas. To check your tires’ pressure:
  1. Check the inside of the driver’s side door or owner’s manual and jot down the double-digit number followed by the letters “PSI,” which stands for Pounds per Square Inch. This is how much air your tires were designed to hold.
  2. Pick up a tire gauge (for about $5) and use it to measure the air in your tires.
  3. If it turns out your tires are under-inflated, visit a gas station for an air touch-up and you’ll enjoy an easier (and more energy-efficient) ride. Click here to watch Pump Your Ride — a fun video guide to proper tire inflation.
     1. Go ride a bike — or take a walk. Not only is riding a bike or walking a climate-friendly way to commute, it’s good for your health, too. Ride your bike to work, or use it for short errands. Your local bike shop is an excellent resource for information on bicycle commuting, the latest bike gadgets and safety tools, and it can even help you fix up that old three-speeder for trips around town.

     At Work

  4. Turn off computers and monitors when not in use. These common pieces of office equipment consume a lot of electricity. The single most powerful climate change tool on these machines is the OFF switch. Forget what you’ve heard about how powering up equipment repeatedly wears it out. That’s old information, dating back decades. New equipment can be safely switched off and powered back on when it’s needed again. Also, make sure the hibernation and sleep settings are enabled (click here to find out how).
  5. Ask for motion sensors in low-traffic areas. In commercial buildings lighting accounts for more than 40% of electrical energy use, a huge cause of greenhouse gas production. Using motion and occupancy sensors can cut this use by 10%. Ask your employer to consider installing motion sensors in lesser traveled hallways, restrooms, conference rooms, and storage areas.
  6. Use a power strip. Office equipment from faxes to toaster ovens draw energy just by being plugged in. Save energy by plugging all office equipment into a power strip. When you leave the office, just flip the off switch on the power strip. You can also use a power strip at home and save even more.
  7. Call maintenance if it’s cold. If it’s too hot or too cold, call the maintenance department since this probably means that the system needs to be adjusted (and energy is being wasted).
  8. Be creative — anyone can be a climate champion at work. Don’t work in an office? There is still plenty you can do to protect the climate at your workplace. Finding ways to save energy offers an opportunity for creativity and true American out-of-the-box thinking and innovation, and the rewards can be huge. Click here to learn more about what you can do at your place of work.

© Daily Revolution™ – Web Site by Internet Adept