Green Articles

Events For 03/06/09 (Friday)

ESCAPE FROM SUBURBIA - SPECIAL SCREENING

Event Organizer: ECLA PA (a Post Carbon Institute chapter)

Hot water heaters use a lot of energy.  In order for a home to continuously have water at a high enough temperature, the water heater must work constantly to keep the water at whatever temperature the heater is set to.  This is akin to keeping a boiling pot of water on the stove all day just in case you may want spaghetti later.  It just doesn’t make sense.

In the United States, there are plenty of kinds of toilets and restrooms, however there is largely only one flushing method, and it’s costing us all a great amount of water.  Older toilets use about 3.5 to 7 gallons per flush, but it doesn’t need to be that way.

There are plenty of efficient models out there, but to be sure about what you’re getting into, focus on getting either a low flush toilet, or a dual-flush toilet, which has two settings.

Nutria, despite their seemingly wholesome name, are a major menace to Americans from all walks of life. These animals are expanding their populations in at least 16 states as they continue to wreak havoc across the country from Davis, California, to Dorchester County, Maryland. Now, Nutria are not very dangerous on their own, as they are semi-aquatic rodents with a penchant for marshlands; however this does not mean that they are not a threat.

Wind power has been touted as one of the future sources of American energy by every forward thinking politician out there. If you listened to a stump speech by any candidate for any position in the United State government in the past election, you would have been read a laundry list of long-forgotten fuel sources that would not leave Americans dependent on nations and peoples that are not friendly with us at the moment. The list included solar energy, wind, geothermal, nuclear, oil, gas, coal, and hydroelectric.

Most people use their car every day. Whether it is to get to and from work, to pick up the kids from school, or to run some errands, we often take our vehicles for granted. But with something used so heavily, shouldn't we consider trying to make it as efficient as possible? Listed below are a few tips that will help to conserve gas, increase your mileage and reduce your emissions.

GREENandSAVE has partnered with the St. Norbert School in Paoli in order to better educate their students with an Eco-Curriculum about the environmental challenges we face as a nation, and as a global community. The Eco-Curriculum is a multi-faceted lesson plan that helps students to understand what sustainability really means.

This week’s case takes us to Newark, Delaware and the home of Middle School teacher Stanley Karanski.  A crime has been committed and the Energy Crime Scene Investigator Team is called in to inspect.  I was minding my own business, sitting behind my desk with my feet up as usual, when the call came in.  My Assistant Investigator, Tammy Argyle was late again, so I answered it myself.

“Energy Crime Scene Investigation, Jake Unguruhurr speaking,” I said in my coolest film noir voice.

Biomass is an organic matter that can be used to make fuels, chemicals and other products, as well as provide heat or electricity. For example, wood is one of the oldest and most commonly used examples of biomass. Burning it produces heat to give us warmth.

Other sources include plants, aquatic plants, animal waste, organic compounds from municipal and industrial waste, which can be used to produce fuels and chemicals, as well as power. Biomass resources can be replenished through cultivation of energy crops such as fast growing trees and grasses.