There are some myths running around out there that need to be clarified
with some reasons why they are just that ….  Myths!

Myth 1 – Replacing windows is a good investment.

New windows will take 20 to 30 years to pay for themselves. Replacing
single-pane windows with double-pane low-e windows will save energy and money.
In a house with 20 windows, you will save $17 per window in energy cost each
year. It will take you almost 24 years to recoup the cost of windows that cost
$400.00 each. A more economical option: storm windows, starting at around $30, (more…)

The Global Seed Vault, opened this year on the far-northern Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, is a backup for the backups. It’s badly needed as around half the seed banks in developing countries are at risk from natural disasters or general instability.

Superman had it right: if you want to keep something safe, build a mountain fortress above the Arctic Circle. That’s the thinking — more or less — behind the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Almost every nation keeps collections of native seeds so local crops can be replanted in case of an agricultural disaster. The Global Seed Vault, opened this year on the far-northern Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, is a backup for the backups. It’s badly needed — as many as half the seed banks in developing (more…)

May 2008

The new city council is meeting for the first time.  Mayor Dixson asked Steve
Hewitt to give the administration update.  Steve lets the council know that
the business incubator is fully funded.  Kim Alderfer, Recovery Coordinator,
and Steve visit the business incubator site only to find that 3 days of rain
has slowed all activity.

Tyler Schmidt is running for student body president.  Shane Engelken is also
running for student body president.  They put their flyers together, hung
them in the most unique areas and are getting their speeches ready. (more…)

School is soon to be in session. As you all know, when children return to school,
the masses of paper head home. What are they? Pictures, drawings, spelling tests,
and a variety of other items. You home is now invaded with a mountain of paper
trash. Just normal correspondence with the teacher, brings 5 to 6 pages itself.

So why not start a re-cycling box the first day the kids start school? It should
be exceptionally easy to fill. Especially on that certain day of the week, i.e.
Tuesday Folder. Which is the day the teacher sends home the last weeks graded
papers. A weeks worth of graded paper can be up to 20 pages. Some of which you
may keep and the rest usually ends up in the file 13 (trash can). (more…)

The U.S. Department of Energy says you are paying about $100.00 a year for nothing and the EPA estimates that this nothing consumes $4 billion worth of power each year. Equivalent to the power generated by 12 power plants.

This energy Black Hole is the total of all those appliances that still draw power even when the power buttons are switched “off”. The average house hold has between 20-25 of these appliances that have electronic controls or smart features that still pull energy while “playing possum.” (more…)

Here we go with some little tidbits ……

100 million trees worth of junk mail arrives in American mail boxes each year.

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Every year, 20 million tons of packaging goes into landfills. (more…)

I am sure that you have heard or seen these before, but I feel the need to share them
with you to help out in your everyday living.

- Peel a banana from the bottom and you won’t have to pick the little “stringy
things” off of it. That’s how the primates do it. Take your bananas apart when you
get  home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

- Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much
longer and not mold!

- Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
- Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking. (more…)