What We Don't know CAN Hurt Us - and How We Can Fix It

Have you ever really wondered what happens to all the stuff we use on a daily basis, and where it all goes when it gets thrown out? It's not something that really crossed my mind until recently. And I don't think it's so much that most of us dodn't care as much as we just aren't aware.

A website called "The Story of Stuff" was recently brought to my attention that really opened my eyes. I have a link below where you can view a clever video that tells the full life cycle of products including how they are made, priced, sold, consumed, and then trashed, but even more importantly it shows the far-reaching impacts of production, overconsumption, and waste. It’s a wonderful video, very artistic and professional. Even though it’s fairly long (between 15-20 min.) it goes by quickly, so please do yourself a favor and make time to sit down, relax, and enjoy the viewing. If you don't have time now, be sure to bookmark it for a little later today.

If you are ready for a somewhat shocking, yet very informative and pleasantly interesting little film, please view the video. If you are at all like I was, you will be inspired to change your views on how we consume, and why.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Looking for Eco-Friendly Products?

If you are like most people, you look for the best quality and price in eco-friendly products. I have found a company based on good family values and who is truly committed to its quest to find, create, and offer a wide range of safe and natural products. Products range from books and candles, body and bath, kitchen and household, children, pets, clothing, even to a Green Wedding Registry.

The company favors manufacturers and artisans who dedicate their talents to creating clever, modern, and earth-affirming products out of unwanted everyday items. In addition, they look for fairly-traded products and those made from organic ingredients. They encourage manufacturers to use environmentally-friendly packaging and sustainable manufacturing techniques.

For those of you who enjoy the outdoors but want a little bit of "home" to take along with you, there are a number of solar-powered pockets, converters, bags and backpacks available, along with solar-powered batteries to charge your cell phone, iPod, PDA or other small electronics.

To check out these products and more,

Click here to visit 3rliving.com

Control Your Refrigerator's "Appetite"

Did you know that your refrigerator has a monstrous energy appetite? It is, by far, the single biggest consumer of electricity in the average household, being responsible for 10-15 percent of the electricity you use each month.

Older refrigerators, as a rule, are far less efficient than the newest ones—as much as 50 percent more efficient in many cases. But buying a brand-new, energy-efficient refrigerator may not be in your immediate future. Fortunately, there are other things that will help.

Don't set the thermostat too high. Even 1 degree will make a big difference.

If your refrigerator is near a heating vent, or always in the sun, then change the location, cover up the heat vent near it or drape the window.

Turn on your "energy saver" switch near the thermostat.

Clean the condenser coil. This one, simple thing can improve the efficiency of your refrigerator by about a third!

Get rid of your second refrigerator, if you have one. If you don't need it, don't waste the energy.

Make sure the doors seal properly, and keep the cool air in.

Take Control of Your Temperature

Did you know that about half of your household energy costs go towards just two things—heating and cooling. Additionally, and ironically, air conditioners inject additional carbon into the air and increase global warming.

However, even small changes make dramatic improvements in household fuel efficiency. That means we can all do something.

Because older heating and cooling systems are a third less efficient than the new systems, replacing the old with the new is a great idea, but it is not very practical for most of us. In the meantime, here are some things you can do right now to make sure you're setting the right temperature in your house:

• Tune up your heating system. This one thing every couple of years can reduce your heating costs by 10 percent a year.
• Clean vents, close unused vents, and change filters regularly in the vents. Again, just these simple things will save you 10 percent.
• Buy a programmable thermostat, which can regulate different temperatures at different times of the day. If you have one, make sure to use it. Believe it or not, three-quarters of people who have programmable thermostats don't use them at all!
• Add two degrees to the AC thermostat in summer, and lower the thermostat two degrees in winter. If everyone did this, the cumulative impact would be significant.
• Check windows and doors to make sure they are sealed. This will dramatically improve your household fuel efficiency. Ceiling fans, instead of AC, can reduce your cooling costs by more than half.

Stand Up and Be Counted

Are you interested in doing your part in the fight against global warming? I have found a great website that lets you show how you are taking steps to help stop global warming. They will print your number on a t-shirt that represents your position in the global count and how you add up!

These are cute designs and a fun way to show the world how you add up and where you joined in the count. They also offer the designs on organic bags and recycled water bottles. Help with a good cause and receive something useful and earth friendly at the same time.

To see and read more, please click below:

Change Your Lighting

The climate crisis is real and happening right now. It’s easy to feel helpless and overwhelmed. People are asking, “What difference will changing my light bulbs really make? The problem is so huge, and I’m just one person.”

Lighting

Lighting accounts for about 21 percent of commercial energy consumption and about 12 percent of home energy consumption. In terms of heat-trapping pollution, that means the lights in the average household produce just over a ton of carbon dioxide each year. If every household replaced just three 60-watt incandescent bulbs with CF bulbs, the pollution savings would be like taking 3.5 million cars off the road!

Here are a few steps to lower those numbers:

• Use energy-efficient lights. If you change just one 75-watt bulb to a compact fluorescent light, it roughly cuts 1,300 pounds of global warming pollution. They also last up to 15 times as long and save you money. (Learn how to pick the best bulbs.)

• Turn off lights. A large part of lighting expenses is from rooms that stay unnecessarily lit.

• Use natural light. Open your shades and use sunlight to help light rooms.

• Install motion-sensors so that lights automatically turn on when someone is in the room and turn off when empty. Convenience is a plus.
  

Better than regular bulbs

Until the last decade, LEDs could only produce green, red, and yellow light, which limited their use. Then came blue LEDs, which have since been altered to emit white light with a light-blue hue.

LEDs produce twice as much light as a regular 60 watt bulb and burn for over 50,000 hours. The Department of Energy estimates LED lighting could reduce U.S. energy consumption for lighting by 29 percent by 2025. LEDs don't emit much heat, so they're also more energy efficient. And they're much harder to break.

Other scientists have said they expect LEDs to eventually replace standard incandescent bulbs as well as fluorescent and sodium vapor lights.

If the new process can be developed into commercial production, light won't come just from newfangled bulbs. Quantum dot mixtures could be painted on just about anything and electrically excited to produce a rainbow of colors, including white.

A New Beginning...

As we begin a new year, I think it is a good time for new beginnings.. A new beginning for all of us. Whether you made a personal new year's resolution to change jobs, get your life in order, get your finances back on track, or maybe even to lose those few extra pounds that tend to creep up on us, these are wonderful and perhaps traditional resolutions that all have great merit.

But i would like to suggest a different type of new beginning. One for all of us and our futures in this world if it is to continue to exist. You see, a new focus has been taking place about our world and what we have done to it over the years. Whether that was because we were uninformed about our actions, or just plain neglegance, many people are beginning to stand up and take notice of what is happening. Air pollution and global warming is taking its toll in a very ugly way.

2008 is sometimes being referred to as the year of "Going Green". What I would like to do is focus on what that means, and what each of us can and should do to take part in trying to stop the damage that has been done, and will continue to do, unless we take action to change it.

Whether we take steps in our daily lives to make a change in a big way or just a small way, let's all at least take that first step.

I hope to inform and offer ways we can all take part in salvaging and maybe even reversing a little of what is happening to the environment, our wildlife, ourselves, our children and maybe offer some new hope for helping the planet heal.

Please add your comments and suggestions as I continue with my posts.

To a new beginning...