Giving a Gift that Changes Lives
Microfinace is a growing trend allowing people with good hearts and limited finances to make a difference in the lives of the hardworking working poor.
Giving a gift that gives back is a powerful tool for change. As little as $20 can mean the difference in a child being able to attend school for the first time, an orphaned household receiving an LED-powered light to illuminate the night or an entrepreneur being able to start a business and feed her family.I’ve outlined several opportunities for giving in http://www.redding.com/news/2008/dec/21/green-gadget-these-gifts-can-change-lives.
Another gifting organization is Universal Gifting www.universalgifting.org, a non-profit organization that supports microfinance - gifts creating loans to the working poor.
These kinds of gifts offer [...]
An Environmental Move for Change
An online grassroots movement is taking place, one intended to put electronics manufacturing giants on notice.
The idea, says Frank Paniagua, CEO of Green Plug, Inc., is to let manufacturers know consumers want more convenient and more eco-friendly products.
“I Want my Green Plug” asks the public to stand up for eliminating power supplies that only end up in landfills.
“I Want My Green Plug” (http://iwantmygreenplug.com), is a movement for change, said Paniagua. Consumers can go to the website and list all the electronic devices they use and the manufacturer. After submitting their green “wish list”, readers can click on links to Green Plug’s new universal adapter.
He hopes consumers votes will help create [...]
Thoughts of the holidays
As it’s Christmas Eve and so many have already quietly fled their offices – to travel to be with family or to get some much needed quiet R&R, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect.
We face challenging and fascinating times ahead. A new President who’s been the defacto head of State for several weeks now. Serious encironmental concerns and issuess looming – coal plants, status of the wolves, some of our most trasured recreational areas threatened with oil exploration, EPA regulations, rising food prices, the economy and its impact. The list goes on.
In the midst of all this, take a moment for gratitude. Regardless of circumstances and situation, there are [...]
Simple Conservation to Take Hold in Shopping Centers
A few months ago, I wrote an article about an exciting system that consumers can use to significantly save on water consumption
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/sep/14/green-gadget-drought-fighter.
Now a major shopping center developer, Regency Centers has announced they will begin installing this “smart” irrigation system at selected locations.
The initial pilot for the installation of these irrigation controllers will cover 36 sites in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
Regency expects to save approximately 42 million gallons a year. These systems are designed to reduce runoff and cut consumption by using real-time weather information to remotely adjust watering cycles, frequency and amounts.
A number of city governments have already invested in this water conservation system, and have already realized [...]
Renewable Energy from the Mississippi?
Back in October, I wrote several posts about an installation off the coast of Spain that would generate electricity from “wave” energy, a new technology being considered as a renewable energy source around the world.
Now this exciting technology is about to come to the upper Mississippi River.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the licensing of the first commercial hydrokinetic power station to be installed off the Hastings, Minnesota shore.
Movement from the river will generate electricity without requiring standard diversion measures such as conventional hydropower plants. Two Hydro Green Energy proprietary surface-suspended hydrokinetic turbines will be installed, each rated for 100 kilowatts. The power station itself will generate an estimated [...]
The Latest in Recycling
As consumers, statistics show that we’ve grown more practiced with recycling paper, plastic and aluminum. Now there’s another area to consider. These won’t fit into your recycling bin, but recyclers are beginning to accept them.Well-used mattresses are beginning to be recycled for their steel, cushioning and wood contents. Recyclers in places like Massachusetts, Wisconsin and the San Francisco Bay area have begun accepting worn-out mattresses. Many say this trend won’t catch on, but, if it does, it will be yet another way to alleviate dumping thousands of our daily landfill discards.
Mattresses are unwelcome at landfills for many reasons. They don’t compact well. Their springs often cause damage to machinery by getting tangled up. And they’re [...]
Green Speed Bars?
A new concept in discouraging speeding may be coming to your town in the near future. Designers Jae-yun Kim and Jong-Su Lee have created the first smart ”green” speed bump.
Designed to flatten when a vehicle goes within the speed limit, these yellow and black speed deterrents remain upright when approached by speeding vehicles. Implanted with small internal dampers that sense cars approaching at low speeds, faster velocities keep them upright, giving drivers a solid jolt.
These retooled road devices utilize LED’s in order to be visible to unsuspecting travelers.
The two designers hope drivers will get the idea that driving at constant legal speeds and reducing stops and starts all help minimize pollution, [...]
Innovative Energy Generators
As an update one of my very first posts (”Innovation and Creative Thinking”, August ’08), a revolving door that generates energy using the power of each person entering the building has been installed in the Driebergen-Zeist railway station in the Netherlands.
The door was designed by architecture firmRAU and built by Boon Ed. It’s anticipated the door will generate 4,600 kwh of energy each year.
As added enhancements for curious travelers, the door boasts a transparent ceiling and LED lights displaying how much energy is generated each time the door is used.
So why is it that subways and railways get the coolest innovations in energy generators? Wouldn’t it be useful to expand [...]
Human Energy Powers Japanese Subway Station
In the latest drive to harness alternative energy, the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) has installed a revolutionary new piezoelectric energy generating flooring in their Tokyo subway station.
With human foot traffic the most easily available energy, this new power source has been installed in the flooring in what’s commonly believed to be the busiest subway station in the world.
JR East recently converted the floor covering from rubber to stone tiles. The total floor space utilized for this power-generating system now encompasses approximately 25 square meters. The company estimates generating around 1,400 kilowatts per day from the system, enough energy to power all the station’s systems.This system will collect the kinetic [...]
An Eco-friendly Gun-Toting Hiker?
Chalk another one up for Bush and his “midnight regulations” tactics. If further devastating the environmental protections like the Clean Water Act weren’t enough, now he’s “making the world safe for democracy” by allowing concealed weapons to be carried on national parks.A reversal of a 25-year-old federal rule restricting this practice, beginning in January ’09, park visitors will be able loaded guns into national parks or wildlife refuges. The only caveat is they must either have a permit to carry or that the park or refuge allows weapons entry.
The bad news, besides significantly raising the probability of accidental shootings and serious injuries for unsuspecting nature lovers, is that weapons will [...]