A Bit From The Green Glossary For Everyday People:
Eco-footprint - Measures how much land and water area a human requires to produce the resources he consumes and to absorb his wastes. It compares human demand with planet Earth’s ecological capacity to regenerate. Estimating how much of the Earth (or how many planet Earths) it would take to support humanity if everybody lived a given lifestyle. Example: For 2005, humanity’s total ecological footprint was estimated at 1.3 planet Earths - in other words, humanity uses ecological services 1.3 times as fast as Earth can renew them. If you want to calculate your own eco-footprint, try this site …
I’m actually out of town on a family “rescue mission,” but I’ll be returning shortly. In the meantime, please enjoy the following solar video by GreenInsights
It has been a while since I have been surfing and probably will not be surfing anytime soon. So, I was just kinda taking a look around to see if there are any improvements in this fun sport! Well, I was surprised to see that there was. In the past, surfboards have been made with wood, stryofoam, resins, etc. Today, the makers of surfboards are using recyclable and sustainable materials, such as:
- Reclaimed and sustainably harvested wood
- Cork - a renewable resource
- EPS foam - a recyclable surfboard foam
- Epoxy - which emits very low VOCs (volatile Organic compounds) and does not require solvents for clean up. (more…)
I thought I would do something different for today. As I have been surfing around the internet, I have found It’s a Blu World.
Since the weather has turned hot and energy is being consumed, they even have an energy drink called Blu Frog Healthy Energy. Remember to recycle the cans when done consuming. It is always a good green thing to do!
Are you a contest fan? Well, the folks at BluFrog have a few to select from.
o BluGamer: The Ultimate Gaming Package
o Happy Blu-Year: Win A New Years Trip to NY
o Blullapalooza: Win A Trip to Lolapalloza in Chicago
o BluStreak: Win A Richard Petty Racing Experience
o XtremeBLU: Win A Trip To The Winter X Games in Aspen
All you have to do is select which one you would like to enter, up to 3 times, and wait for the results.
You can enter by either Twittering, a blog post or just a blog comment.
I think I am going to try to win the XtremeBLU trip to Aspen. I have not seen snow in quite a while and would love to just hear the crunch under my feet again! Along with seeing some of the sports that have been super-sized since my days. Not to mention enjoying the feel of temperatures below 100 degrees!
So have some fun, visit BluFrog and be sure to enter to win! (Contest Rules Here)
The EPA (Enviromental Protection Agency), has released the 2007 recycling report. It takes two years for the EPA to gather the data and crunch the numbers.
Last year Forced Green reported the 2006 numbers with hopes of bettering those very good numbers in the 2007 report. (more…)
Hydrokinetic power is renewable and does not release airborne pollutants or greenhouse gases. Also, unlike wind and solar power, hydrokinetic energy can provide continuous power that utilities can depend on any time of day. Achieved from flowing water from rivers, ocean currents, tidal streams and artificial waterways such as canals. The flowing water currents drive rotors in turbines to generate electricity, just as breezes drive rotors on wind farms. (more…)
At the Merhoff home Mary gets her three little sleepy ones up, dressed, fed, then off to another full day of school and extra curricular activities. Which makes it very hard for this working mom to go all the way to Pratt, 30 miles away for grocery shopping. So she is very excited about Dillons the Greensburg grocery store about to re-open.
Greensburg had a population of 1,500 people before the storm, between 700 and 800 are already back. Steve Hewitt believes to get to the population back to pre-storm levels, the business incubator, schools, hospital, and streetscape needs to be completed. For people to see the reality of Greensburg coming back will motivate them to return with their business’ and residents. (more…)
Despite all the talk about carbon capture, carbon footprints and carbon trading, carbon dioxide only causes nine to 26% of the greenhouse effect. That means that the majority of warming results from gases with a much lower media profile than the paparazzi-trailed starlet of global warming, CO2. In honor of last weeks’ report in the Journal of Geophysical Research, which identified a brand new greenhouse gas, we count down the gases that bring us bikini weather in Antarctica and beachfront property in Montana.
10. Sulfuryl Fluoride: The new kid on the block, MIT scientists identified this chemical as a greenhouse gas on March 11th, 2009. Used as a fumigant, Dow Chemicals produces sulfuryl fluoride to kill termites. The chemical, which is highly inert, has a lifetime of up to 40 years, and traps 4,800 times more heat per molecule than CO2. The chemical only exists in 1.5 parts per trillion in the atmosphere, but according to the recent Journal of Geophysical Research, that number is going up by 5 percent a year. (more…)
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are increasing rapidly: Up 16% between 1990 to 2005. The fastest way for each of us to reduce our carbon footprint is to change our use of vehicles. The best way to do that is a vehicle that uses little or no gasoline. So why not exchange that planet-choker on wheels with a vehicle that will drastically reduce your carbon footprint as well as relieve urban noise and congestion and put a grin on your face at the same time! (more…)