Looking for ways to reduce your utility bills and increase your home’s value in the future? Reducing your carbon footprint is as simple as changing to energy efficient appliances and light bulbs. Improving your home will require investing in energy saving windows, nontoxic building materials and paints, and considering switching to alternative energy sources, such as solar power.

Solar power is one of the hottest trends in home improvement right now. Builders across the country are learning to install solar panels in new construction and solar installers in California are staying busy converting homes as part of the California Solar Initiative. By converting your home to solar power you are making an investment not only in your home’s value, but in your community’s green economy. You’re also reducing reliance on fossil fuel generated electricity.

The biggest appeal of switching to solar power is the savings. A complete switch to solar means no electricity bill from your local utility. It may even mean that you can sell any excess energy back to the utility. Best yet, many states, such as California, are currently offering tax credits and rebates on the cost of converting to solar power. So in addition to saving money on electricity use for years to come, you can get some of the cost of the installation back at tax time and maybe even make some money selling your solar-generated electricity, so your utility company ends up paying you.

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Harnessing Solar Power for Your Home

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Everyone knows that it is one of the biggest problems in California, and they happen every year. Wild fires kill many people and it is time to increase the number of people and amount of equipment available to respond to thee fires. Schwarzenegger made a very nice speech before signing a bill to do just that.

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Schwarzenegger Talks About Wild Fires

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Experts are saying that the raising oil prices is not due to the massive spill that happened last week, but rather to the rebounding economy, and therefore is a good thing. This doesn’t stop a large number of people from worrying about the higher prices. Most analysts are still saying however that the prices will continue to rise to over three dollars a gallon before they might decrease. The reason they are fairly sure that the price hikes are not due to the spill is because the incoming oil has not been slowed down by the mess that was created.

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Rebounding Economy Pushes Oil Prices Higher

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We have all seen the videos of the opening day, if you haven’t I suggest you find one, it looked like it was pretty crazy. As for the rest of us who couldn’t afford one, or weren’t willing to wait in line all that long in a line, it looks like we missed out. However, if you didn’t get one because you are a college student and couldn’t afford one, there may be good news for you. You may want to check out this story, because if colleges start giving these to their students this really will be the new wave of the future.

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Ipads for Education?

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When I was in college I was a member of a food co-op.  The place was called the Gentle Strength Health Food Coop, and until about ten years ago it was the only place to find organic fruits and vegetables, as well as anything else one would want to buy from the grocery store.  The one catch, the one element that made this place different from all the other stores in the city at the time, was that nothing was sold and no products were carried, which contained artificial anything.  For many years, a large portion of the population still bought their fresh produce in corporate markets, unaware that there was an option to pesticides.  The years past and the larger, corporate health food chains such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s moved into town, and the co-op and its organic market went out of business.  There is a parking lot there now, where the forty year old small store used to stand.

I needed to get back to this kind of life.  I wanted out of the city, and although Trader Joe’s is great, I wanted a real garden, a real farm.  I had heard of the Terhune Orchards in Princeton, New Jersey so I booked a flight and booked a hotel and was off.  During the two generations of Terhunes who ran the farm, it had had only three kinds of fruit trees, apples and peaches with a few pear strewn here and about.  But in 1975 a Pam and Gary Mount bought the orchard and turned it into a farm.  Now everything from fresh herbs to tomatoes to squash and peas can be bought here.  The catch is though…you won’t find your produce polished to a nice shine.  You won’t be hit by the tiny sprinklers as you pick out the best zucchini and you won’t smell dirt.  At the Terhune Orchards and Farm, you “pick your own”.

You pick your produce from the plants and the trees, and you dig your potatoes out of the dirt.  The couple had spent many years in the Peace Corps, and the notion of sustainability is something they brought back with them when they returned to the States.  When traveling through Princeton in the summer time, this is a great place to stop off and pick a basket of strawberries.  For working vacations, many people take a few weeks, live on the farm and work the fields.  In the ever growing corporate world, it gives one peace of mind to know that there are still places to get away from it all, in order to get back to what is real and to what is important.

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The Terhune Orchards of Princeton

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One way to update the look of your traditional fireplace, is also a great way to increase the efficiency of that fireplace.  Fireplace inserts have become extremely popular for a number of reasons.  They provide a means of insulation, preventing the heat from escaping through the masonry and the walls surrounding the fireplace.  Some of the older designs of fireplaces, are polluting to the environment, and just not that efficient.  This metal shell, will prevent the heat from leaking through, and will also serve to more evenly and effectively disperse the heat throughout the house.  Decorative face-plates add to the design, creating new looks as well as more heat.  Fireplace inserts have been in use since the 1980′s.  At that time, they were not so efficient and had a bad reputation for being un-safe.  They were not connected well and allowed many carcinogens to be released up through the chimney.

Now though, as the designs have improved, the liners go all the way up the chimney, ensuring that the insert stay firmly in place.  The stainless steel means that corrosion will not be an issue, and the structure will remain viable and functioning for many, many years.  This improvement has also had another effect, which is that it drastically cuts down on the level of pollutants.  They increase the performance of the fireplace, creating the heat that a free standing wood burning stove would create.  The hearth mount is another way to increase the heat, and to give the fireplace a whole new design.  These are inserts that extend out from the fireplace, and provide a second hearth so to speak.  Most of the inserts are certified nowadays, by the EPA, so you can be certain that this will not only benefit the performance of the fireplace, and the looks of your home, but they are more effective in the means of protecting the environment as well.

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Updating the Look of Your Fireplace

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The Seattle Mariners announced that they will celebrate Earth Day. I didn’t know what that exactly meant, so I went on-line to their home page found out what they have planned for the day. I was completely impressed. So, while I was on their official site, I purchased Sports Tickets, which I’ve never done, but just for the Earth Day event.

Before the game even starts the Major League Baseball is sponsoring the first carbon-neutral game. This includes implementing a recycling program for plastic, paper, if necessary, glass and food scraps. The Mariners have reportedly bought ‘green’ power credits which will off-set a sizable carbon footprint when a game is played. The money is supposed to fund a renewable energy facility. There will be wind farms popping up throughout the entire Northwest. Apparently, on ballgame produces over 230 tons of carbon dioxide! I would’ve never guest that, at all. The reason why is one must consider all the flight travel for both teams. All the ground transportation for fans, all the electricity, especially if a game is at night. The energy it takes to dispose and recycle the waste generated for one game.

At the pre-game Earth Day celebration, the CEO of the Mariners admits buying the carbon offsets isn’t enough, but that it is a beginning. Then the 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox was recognized for their environmental installation of solar powered trash compactors at Fenway Park. Plus, the solar panels which will be used for all the hot water used at the park. It was really awe-inspiring to actually see the sports industry take on global issues such as taking measures to help with our environment. I would’ve never in a million years would’ve thought that any sports enthusiast even new we were in an environmental crisis. But, I was wrong and happily so.

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Green Sports Tickets

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Wind farms are found across the globe.  What exactly is a ‘wind farm’?  Well, wind farms are large area of land, generally located outside of major cities in the vast plains, atop mountain ranges or hills, along the coast lines, and some are even located out to sea.  On this farms are large amounts of wind turbines, set in rows and capturing enough energy to light entire cities.  A wind turbine now days, has as its prototype, the simple windmills of the Netherlands.  Simple idea really, the blades on the turbines turn when the wind blows.  The turbine consists of the blades, a system of gears that begin to operate as the blades turn, and the energy is sent by the turning of the gears to a generator which stores and utilizes that energy.

Smaller turbines, and singular ones can be used.  The farms are built in areas that are known to consistently be hit with windy conditions.  That is one of the considerations of the wind generated electricity is that in most areas, wind is unpredictable and for the energy to be cost effective and reliable the wind must constantly blow.  Some residents in areas that are scheduled to have these farms constructed have protested those plans, as some say that the large number of turbines are not pleasant to look at.  However, when the general population becomes more aware of just how much this free form of energy could save them each month, their minds will most likely consider it all differently.

The alternative is to build more sites off shore, and while it is more expensive to construct these sites, they generally produce more energy as the wind out to sea blows constantly.  A few concerns surround the off shore farms, as they may interfere with the shipping lanes, and the placement of the sites must be carefully considered as the possible damage to marine life and aquatic birds is not an option.  What is a fact though, is that just one turbine produces enough power to light the one thousand homes over the course of a year.  The possibilities are just overwhelming as the countries of the world move towards a greener more environmentally friendly way of living on the planet, and protecting it at the same time.

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The Wind Turbine and the Wind Farms

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I’m so glad that my husband convince me that the best way to go from one spot to another was to call up and hire Cape Town Car Rentals. I thought we could do without the added expense, but the freedom it gave us was well worth the cost. Cape Town offers some fantastic locations for our family in a very relaxed and playful atmosphere. We are always on a constant quest to find child friendly spots offering restaurants with child menus and offers stuff for us adults. We managed to find a few places with which I will share.

We found in Cape Town itself  the Deer Park Cafe’ located in the suburb of Oranjezicht. It was trendy for the local families because the cafe offers deli style food and a large play park. The menu has enough variety for both adults and children. Deer Park Cafe was a wonderful way to spend time with our children and eating some gourmet treats. Then the next day we found the Shoreline Cafe’ located at the waterfront. It was created for pure enjoyment and is right next to the Two Oceans Aquarium. It has an indoor play area with lined AstroTurf and has a big TV screen to entertain the older children while the younger ones are kept busy on the very creative jungle gym and slides.  The food was not as good as Deer Park, but the play area did a good job of tiring out my children. They conked out early that night.

The next morning we headed to the Cape Farmhouse Restaurant in Red Hill. It’s en route to Cape Point, where we were headed for the day. We had an unforgettable family day out. The farmhouse turned restaurant created a very gorgeous space with which to savour a long lunch under vines.  On the grassy play area, geese roamed around. There was plenty of running around for the children. The menu comprised of gourmet delights and a local band played while we ate.  But, the ultimate child friendly venue was the Barnyard. Located in Tokai. It comes complete with farm animals, three jungle gyms and home-style cooking.

We drove to each place in Cape Town with no problems at all. The direction we got were good and our children got to see some of the best sites Cape Town offers. I highly recommend hiring out a car when in Cape Town, it’s worth the expense.

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Cape Town Child Friendly Restaurants

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When I first saw a report about how Dubai, apparently running out of shoreline, started to build it’s own artificial man-made island in the shape of a palm tree called The Palm Islands. An artificial island to accommodate the best Hotels and Restaurants Dubai has to offer. It was built with dredgers loaded with sand and tons of intricate and complicated engineering so amazing and spectacular. But, all that complication seems not to be necessary. In Mexico, a person found some broken discarded fishnets and combined them with empty water bottles and some dirt to create was in called Spiral Island. Mexico attempted to annex this island and turn it into a tourist attraction.

It amazes me that if we have the technology to create land, then why do we, the human race, go to war over land?  Instead of waiting for mother nature to slowly create more land via a volcanic activity, which can take hundreds or thousands of years, let just keep adding on to our coast lines. I know, according to Global Warming, that currently we are losing coast line. But, we are an innovative society, we like to build wonderful amazing things. Even the earlier tribes in Peru, a pre-Incan people, got creative and build The Uros, a group of man-made islands that have been in exsistance for hundreds of years. Now, that didn’t take a something like the massive and extremely expensive undertaking of creating the man-made Islands of Dubai.

Tokyo, an island in itself, back in the 1800s built an artificial island called Odaiba in Tokyo Bay. It was built in defense to treats from other countries, but now has developed into a major commercial, residential and leisure site. Why fight over land when we can create Islands in the oceans of the deserts.

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Creating Islands in the Oceans Deserts

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