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The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a huge wake-up call for all of us.  We all must carefully consider the devastating impact that the actions of corporations and individuals are having on our world’s eco-system. Much has been written and will continue to be written about BP and the public relations nightmare it caused itself through the epic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  But you may not know that there’s another ongoing environmental controversy centered around the issue of deforestation and a company called Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).   Businesses and organizations everywhere can learn a great lesson from the situation APP finds itself in. APP is a division of the mega corporation, Sinar Mas, and calls itself one of the world’s leading pulp and paper companies.

APP has recently been linked to being a major contributor to deforestation. Deforestation, the human-caused disappearance of naturally occurring forests by logging or burning, is a huge problem in today’s world.   It is estimated that around 50% or more of the world’s plants and animal species live in the 7% of the world where rainforests currently exist.  For example, the most famous of rainforests, the Amazon, a majestic 1.4 billion acre (5.5 million square kilometers) rainforest located in South America covering sections of 9 different countries, has only 82.3% of the moist broadleaf forest cover it had in 1970.   It is also estimated that between 1991 and 2000, the total loss of Amazon rainforest increased from 415,000 square kilometers to almost 600,000.  The data above is according to Wikipedia.com.

Another lesser known but equally struggling rain forest, the Indonesian rainforest, has made recent headlines after a report from Greenpeace.  In the report, Greenpeace accuses Asia Paper and Pulp of “relentlessly trashing rainforests, driving species extinction and, if left unchecked, will threaten Indonesia’s efforts to address climate change.”  APP is a division of the mega conglomerate, Sinar Mas, and calls itself one of the world’s leading pulp and paper companies.  According to CNN.com, Indonesia is one of the world’s biggest culprits of emitting greenhouse emissions largely because of the clear-cutting and burning of rainforests for logging and other purposes.   Indonesia has long been a recipient of criticism for its environmental practices mainly because of disregard for international and even their own laws. APP is currently going through a public relations nightmare due to the Greenpeace report, and of course is claiming Greenpeace’s claims are exaggerated.  Yet things recently took a turn for the worse for Sinar Mas when in July, 2010 Wal-Mart, already becoming a major advocate for transitioning its customer base to the use of sustainable green bags)announced it has “taken steps to stop” buying their paper, as a result of this and other controversies surrounding APP.  Sounds like APP’s denial of the problem is making things worse and now costing them major business.  The loss of Wal-Mart’s business over the next year will significantly impact their bottom line.

This brings us to a great question: In today’s difficult world-wide economy, how can business’s ensure they are adopting environmentally-friendly and energy efficient business practices and not on the wrong side of a PR controversy?   Business.Gov, the official business link to the US Government, has an 11-step guide to help companies ensure they are energy efficient, compliant with environmental regulations, and recognized as a “green business”.

Here are the steps (Click here to visit their site):

1 – Comply with Environmental Regulations

2 – Develop an Environmental Management Plan

3 – Build Green

4 – Buy Green Products

5 – Adopt Energy Efficient Practices

6 – Reduce, Reuse

7 – Recycle Wastes

8 – Conserve Water

9 – Prevent Pollution

10 – Create a Green Marketing Strategy

11 – Join Industry Partnership and Stewardship Programs.

Step 4 “Buy Green Products”, is a great suggestion that many companies fail to consider.   A unique way to raise awareness about deforestation while promoting your brand is through eco friendly promotional products like seed paper, which is made of actual seeds and can still germinate and sprout into a flower when planted.  Something as simple as seed cards such as a seed business card or a seeded thank you card can create a truly memorable interaction with a client or industry colleague.  You could also include a statement about deforestation on the stationary, making it absolutely clear about where your company stands on environmental issues.  Another one that stands out on this list is step 6, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Wastes”. Remembering to reduce and reuse is the best way to eliminate the need to recycle in the first place.

Now is the time to take action to stop deforestation as well as ensuring your company is recognized as a “green business”, thus solidifying your green reputation.  The 11 steps above are a great guide for any business owner or CEO to implement green practices in your business.   Embrace the challenge of perpetually improving your organization’s environmental footprint.  Your company’s leadership and example will help stop the devastating effects of deforestation and the investment will be well worth it.

Have you remembered to BYOB in 2010?  This is a question everyone must ask themselves. We are halfway through 2010 and there has never been a more crucial time to bring your own reusable green bags. When you BYOB, rather than using single-use plastic or paper disposable bags, you immediately become a part of the solution to the massive urban litter problem associated with disposable shopping bag waste.  As of June 23rd 2010, it is estimated that nearly 238 billion plastic bags have been consumed in 2010 alone.  What’s even more alarming is the impact that plastic and paper disposable bags are continuing to have on the environment.   As we continue to follow the progress of large-scale efforts to reduce the use of plastic and paper disposable bags and the associated waste, we’ll find that many options are available to all of us individual consumers in order to make sure we are a part of the solution to this problem.

The good news is that BYOB momentum is growing rapidly in 2010.  If you haven’t heard yet, the California legislature has proposed a bill; AB 1998 (to be voted on by the Senate in August), which would ban single-use bags sold in supermarkets, drugstores, convenience, and liquor stores and take full effect by 2013.  Even “The Governator”, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said that he would sign the bill if it makes it to his desk.   This would be a gigantic victory for all friends of the environment to have the most populated state, in the 3rd largest country in the world, to put a ban on single-use plastic bags. Considering that China first cracked down on plastic bags in 2008 and Ireland legislative efforts to reduce plastic bag usage began in 2002, it is so wonderful to hear that California lawmakers have brought this bill to the table.

In the USA, cities from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Washington DC have passed or enacted laws that either tax consumers for the use of plastic bags or ban them altogether, but California would be the first US state to take action if this bill were to pass.  Believe it or not, even legislators from the state of Texas have proposed legislation that would add a 7-cent tax per single-use bag.   It’s so exciting that there’s a possibility that both Texas and California could soon have laws in place to fight the plastic bag epidemic.  Efforts by individuals and governments to reduce large-scale use of disposable shopping bags is a great way to motivate people and spread the word about the positive benefits of eco friendly reusable bags.

Plastic bags can take up to 1000 years to biodegrade completely, and before that it just breaks down in to smaller and smaller toxic pieces that end up in our food, water, and soil. Biodegradable bags are a great alternative, once discarded in landfill sites, the exposure to sunlight, oxygen and heat will convert these bags into water, carbon dioxide, mineral salt and biomass. Like a fallen leaf, it will disappear over time and leave NO HARMFUL RESIDUE in the soil.  Plastic bags end up in our landfills and often get tangled and cause permanent damage in waste management machinery. Millions if not billions of other bags end up as urban litter and usually find their way in to rivers, lakes, streams, and the ocean.  Animals, especially marine animals, get entangled in plastic bags, and/or ingest them and often suffocate or starve to death.

So the solution brings us back to BYOB, which is incredibly easy. Just remember to use eco friendly reusable shopping bags or wholesale recycled bags, or reuse an old bag, period. Be sure to keep extra reusable bags in the trunk of your car or in your backpack, because you’ll want to make sure they are accessible when you need them.  You can also give them to your friends as a reminder to BYOB.  Of course, always remember to recycle whenever the opportunity presents itself, recycling is always a victory for the environment.  Adopting a BYOB habit in our individual lives and businesses is really the best way to ensure we are truly part of the solution rather than the problem.  Now is the time to go out and lead by example.

It is that special time of year again. The Earth’s birthday, well we don’t know that for sure. So lets call it the Earth’s re-birthday, Earth Day 2010. In honor of our planet and her precious finite resources, Factory Direct Promos is proud to announce the release of new attractive eco promotional products for businesses. These crafty eco promotional items such as custom printed reusable bags made of non-woven polypropylene material or RPET recycled material, business cards made completely of seed paper, and PLA corn products are an excellent way for a business to promote their brand, message and environmental awareness amongst their potential customer base at trade shows and conferences.

Factory Direct Promos, owned and operated by Jason Tunick, based out of Coral Springs Florida has been streamlining custom eco bags and promotional products at wholesale prices to businesses since 2003. Jason has a background in advertising and marketing platforms for companies and has always been an ambassador for the environment and protecting vital ecosystems from overflowing landfills and litter throughout our streams and rivers. He entered the business-to-business realm to motivate companies to effectively drive both their brand and raise interest in taking a stand for improving the ways we handle waste in our society. Here’s Jason’s take on businesses being eco leaders for America:

“I believe that by interacting with hundreds to thousands of businesses we can reach millions. The consumer must understand that we have a duty to this planet and it cannot be taken for granted. My efforts to help companies promote their brand with eco friendly products is making a small difference, but it is a million small differences that lead to one gigantic positive outcome for all people on this planet. I hope to leave our mark by lightening our carbon foot print on the Earth and establishing a mecca for all generations to come.”

There are many ways for a business to promote their brand with Factory Direct Promos; anything from recycled paper pens to reusable stainless steel water bottles. Amongst the new eco product lines are the 100% biodegradable corn products, often referred to as PLA, an acronym for polylactic acid, which is a strong polymer that biodegrades completely within 30-45 days. Another interesting product is seed paper, made completely of seeded woven material. When these seed cards are discarded they break apart and plant in the soil. Within two weeks a sprout will break ground and a flower is born, what a provocative idea! This versatile seed paper can be used for business cards, greeting cards, promotional flyers, CD cases and much more all custom printed with company logo and message. Jason also recently introduced a line of Grow Green Kits, desk plants or herbs that simply need water to germinate and sprout. His featured lines of reusable stainless steel water bottles are a perfect way to everlastingly promote a business’ brand and be a part of the solution to the plastic bottle waste issue.

eco custom promotional trade show bags

The core competency of Factory Direct Promos has always been eco friendly wholesale reusable bags and RPET recycled custom bags. Jason is able to keep a very small turnaround time on the custom imprinted logo bags, delivering within 60 days and in stock wholesale reusable bags are shipped in as little as one week. The recycled PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) material is made from 85% used plastic water bottles. Through a process of heating and shredding the bottle is grained into fine strings of material which are then woven into the recycled bags. Yes, that is correct, the plastic bottle waste is transformed into a recycled and reusable bag. These promotional trade show bags are durable and can then be custom imprinted with company logo, message and colors. This is an extraordinary alternative to plastic trade show bags, which when handed out are typically discarded within 24 hours and add to our waste issues. So for a company to hand out reusable bags is a win-win for the business and the environment. The bag is kept for an extensive period of time, keeping the brand alive in the consumer’s mind and is not thrown away to pile up in a landfill somewhere.

Factory Direct Promos is now making an asserted effort to help spread the word in online eco forums, blogs and social networks. By creating and maintaining an  eco blog resource full of updated reusable bags news and information on recycling, plastic waste, and other green issues, Factory Direct Promos is directly engaging the world-wide eco friendly community like never before. Jason’s team writes original articles on the issues green-minded people care about, and portraits of other interesting eco-minded companies and organizations detailing their perspective on methods for a greener planet. This reusable bag blog is the medium to create an active eco community online and tighten the fabric of the web to motivate more discussion and debate on which direction we should move as a people to solidify our planet for the future. So on this Earth Day 2010, the first of the new decade, Jason is reaffirming his oath to the environment and his leadership in the B2B market to help companies promote their brand, environmental awareness, and their inherited responsibility to our planet and future generations.

About FactoryDirectPromos.com
Factory Direct Promos Inc was founded by Jason Tunick in 1996. Located in Sunny South Florida, Factory Direct promos, Inc. is a direct manufacturer of Eco Friendly Promotional Products imported direct from his exclusive factories overseas. The website features over 100 eco products such as reusable and recycled bags, stainless steel water bottles, recycled lanyards, organic t-shirts, corn pens, seed paper bookmarks, seed paper shapes, recycled baseball caps and more. Jason Tunick’s twelve year commitment to finding and using renewable resources in his design, development and manufacturing of environmentally friendly premium products, makes his Eco Life product line a pioneer in the eco movement.

With an environmental disaster in the Gulf dominating the headlines in recent weeks, now more than ever, people from all backgrounds understand the great environmental need for changes in our individual lifestyles and cumulative habits as well as for company’s organizational culture and dedication to our Planet’s future. Much in the way that smoking has largely been pushed away from indoor public spaces and why it is not socially acceptable to text or talk on the phone while driving, we’ve also nearly reached the tipping point for cultural consciousness when it comes to reducing, reusing, and recycling.

The public gets it, and the green movement will continue to grow rapidly.  Any large company that is not routinely evaluating its processes and procedures for eco friendliness faces a potential public relations nightmare over the next decade and beyond. It’s critical for small businesses and large corporations to solidify their eco conscious reputation too.  Businesses must always remember that customers have choices.  As consumers critique sustainability in their own lives, they’ll also be looking at your business.  It is more important than ever to show these potential customers your corporate commitment to green practices.

It is so easy to go green and support the environment.  A very common way for a business to go green is by starting some sort of company recycling program in the office place.  As a matter of fact, the newest trend is to eliminate the need to recycle altogether whenever possible.  Simple green practices include having your employees and customers go paperless or distributing reusable stainless steel water bottles and reusable coffee mugs to employees to help reduce the use of disposables.  Another great way is to simply remember to turn the lights and business machines off when leaving the office.   Individual circumstances will vary, but you’ll likely find that many localities don’t provide public recycling options for the community, nor do they do much to encourage people or businesses to go green as of yet.  If your business finds a way to implement sustainable and recyclable business practices and office culture, despite existing roadblocks, then don’t hesitate to blog about it or brag about it in a press release, and tell the story of your company’s eco consciousness and dedication to the environment.  Be an advocate for your community, and help remove the barriers to recycling, through the practice of thousands of companies we can motivate millions of consumers to make changes in their lifestyle creating monumental and fundamental change.  The extra efforts to take care of our planet in this era will eventually be recognized, improving your organization’s reputation as an eco ambassador and pioneer.

You can also benefit by making going green a part of your marketing strategy.  Giving out eco friendly promotional products at trade shows and job fairs is a subtle way to create a memorable experience and promote eco consciousness and awareness of world-wide green issues.  Trade shows and job fairs are a great example of where your business must stand out above the competition, and eco friendly custom bags are a great way to do just that.  Not only do you hand out a reusable product with your company’s logo and insignia that stays with the customer indefinitely but you are also showing your corporate sense and dedication with the use of sustainable and recyclable products. In this lackluster economy, your company must be admirable and memorable in the eyes of every possible customer, vendor, colleague and even a talented candidate for employment.  In most cases, a final decision is not made on the spot, so you must stand out and perpetually stay in the prospect’s mind, customized recycled trade show bags made entirely of one use plastic water bottles is a cost-effective and sociably admirable marketing method as well as a great way to leave a quality long lasting impression on your audience and our Planet’s fragile future.

Care about our world’s oceans, plants and animals?  Of course you do, and you’re not alone. Concerned people everywhere agree we have an environmental disaster of historic proportions on our hands in the Gulf of Mexico. You may have heard that the oil spill appears to be larger than previously thought.  Purdue University engineering professor Steve Wereley, after analyzing BP’s congressionally mandated live video feed of the spill, estimates that up to 100,000 barrels of oil are leaking from the bottom of the ocean every day.  This news adds to a laundry list of bad news on the worldwide environmental and economic front in recent years and it can be overwhelming and flat out depressing to think about.

But what can we do to help?  Most of us have jobs and families we must attend to. It’s not like we can just drop everything and head down the gulf to help with cleanup.  Furthermore, many of us wouldn’t have the slightest idea of how to help with an oil spill clean up or have the resources to make a significant difference.   So how can we be a part of the solution?

We have to stop thinking so big, and begin small.  It is little decisions like riding our bike to work and recycling our aluminum cans that is what we must do to help.   For far too long our culture has treated issues such as recycling as “optional” and with complete ignorance.  We have an extremely short memory as a society.  As an example, check out Anne Casselman’s article about the Top 10 Biggest Oil Spills in History at PopularMechanics.com. The shocker is that the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 doesn’t even make the list.  Oil spills keep happening throughout the world repeatedly and we all act like this is a once in a decade thing or something.

The truth is that oil will continue to be drilled as long as there is demand for it.  Our culture’s attitude about clean energy and the green movement needs an immediate shift.  But like I said, we must start small and simple!  For example, another huge environmental issue is the amount of plastic that is being used in this world, and this plastic is ending up in our oceans just like the oil.   You’ll be shocked if this is your first time hearing about The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and as Oprah Winfrey reported last year “ is estimated to be twice the size of Texas”.   Although this giant garbage dump is composed of all kinds of floating trash and debris, plastic is the biggest problem because it never really decays completely.  So not only do we have oil spills in to our oceans, we also have plastic and trash spills.  According to the Container Recycling Institute, 51.9 billion beverage containers have been consumed so far this year, as of late May.  Reusable water bottles are a perfect example of the kind of simple changes we can make in our individual habits and lifestyles. Imagine the difference that can be made if the average person chooses to use stainless steel water bottles instead of plastic bottles.  In the same way, we can prevent environmental catastrophes by not driving gas guzzling inefficient cars and walking or using public transportation instead.

We all care deeply about the health of our planet, and now we need to turn our disgust for the disaster in the Gulf into simple action and minor adjustments in our lifestyle.  Don’t let the latest news get you down, develop a vision for a healthy planet and do the right thing: Go Green.

If you enjoy going to the beach near where you live, or perhaps where you go on holiday, you might consider doing some beachcombing. It is very fun to discover fascinating and possibly valuable trinkets in the sand. Perhaps you will find one or more things that are worth a lot of money. But even if you just want to prospect on the shore for personal amusement, a beach walk is an excellent way to get some fresh air and exercise.

In order to get the best results from your beachcombing excursion, try to time it so you will be there when the tides are low. This will increase your chances of spotting something that has just washed up, and grabbing it before anyone else does. You may also want to try to find a less popular beach, where there are fewer people also looking for treasures, to decrease the competition. But do not go anywhere on your own where there are no other people, for personal safety. Invite a friend along who also loves the ocean.

Do be sure to have some basic supplies with you to make the trip easier and more fun. Some plastic bags or rigid containers will be necessary to carry whatever items of interest you may find. If you prefer to have your hands protected from wet sand and whatever else you touch, some latex, vinyl or other waterproof gloves will be necessary. Because you will be trekking a lot of sand back to your vehicle, having a cordless handheld vacuum available will avoid grittiness on seats and floor mats. You will want to have towels as well as water or other drinks, and protection from the sun in the form of sunscreen or a hat. And if you wish to make the investment, a metal detector can be handy for finding coins and jewelry buried under the sand’s surface.

If you are lucky in your prospecting, you may find some beach glass. This is much sought after by collectors and also by jewelry makers, who fashion it into unique pieces such as pendants and rings. Beach glass is bits of broken bottles or other objects that have been worn smooth by being tumbled around in the ocean for long periods. This, as well as contact with sand and other materials, produces a frosted look and texture.

Another item much sought after by beachcombers is, of course, jewelry. People who go swimming and surfing sometimes lose jewelry of all sorts in the waves. Both ladies’ and men’s watches, finger rings and toe rings, and other such items can come off in the water and eventually be washed ashore. This is where a metal detector might be an advantage, but you may still find a lot of good things just by careful looking.

When you return from your beachcombing excursion, the fun begins of inspecting your treasures and perhaps finding something of financial value. First, though, you need to find an area where you can spread them out and work on them. If you have a garage with a work area, that is excellent, or else perhaps a computer workstation desk you are no longer using. These generally have several levels of shelves and storage spaces that are ideal for this purpose.

Now that your treasures are arrayed in your work area, you can polish them up and admire them more fully. Depending on the materials you are working with, you may want to investigate cleaners and solvents for removing grime, tarnish, and so forth. Also nice to have is a set of brushes for getting dirt and sand out of crevices. Old but clean makeup brushes can be good for this purpose. Finally, you can look online at collectibles websites to see if you have something of real value. But whether you sell your treasures or keep them to admire, you have had a fun time collecting them.

No matter what the situation is that leads you to move into a new place you end up with a great opportunity to have the ability to clarify your goals and your environment. Moving into a new place far away or just down the street provides you with a clean, fresh slate to start your work. Creating an environment that will help you remain focused on new goals isn’t hard at all.

Before you move, clean. Nobody will do a better job cleaning the dust bunnies and the corners than you will. So bring forth the Hoover Windtunnel bagged vacuum that you packed in the back of the van and give it a good once over. Visually, your efforts and cleanliness will give you a great starting point when it comes to rearranging your goals.

The bedroom and the bathroom are two areas that you spend time in during the morning hours as well as the last hours before sleep. Creating a great set up here is good for an emotional boost. A simple new bedding collection can give you a nice refreshing outlook in the morning and send you off the sleep with renewed vigor for tomorrow.

The bathroom can become a special place for self pampering. Spend time on the decorating, and be willing to splurge on some of the best eye cream or the best fragrance that you can find. The bathroom is your daily reminder to care for yourself on a regular basis.

Give yourself a few days to check out what you might need to give more attention to. In many cases you might find that there are areas of your new place that are still too related to the old place. Change it. Whether that requires some rearranging or buying something new, the sooner you change it the more your new environment will support your new fresh start.

When you are working on giving yourself that new start and a new environment you might want to take a few moments to reflect on how your goals are matching your interior efforts. Write a few goals down and see how you can set up your home in a way that will be beneficial to making sure you stay focused.

If your biggest goal is learning to be more organized so that you end up being more responsible, then by all means set up your place in way that will make perfect sense to help you along. If you have another goal related to being able to create happiness wherever you go, how is that evident in your efforts now? We can be crafty and help ourselves by creating an environment that we feel we can grow in.

There are several eco friendly businesses that can be found online today. One example of a great company dedicated to advancing sound environmental sanitation ideas and products is Envirolet®. They build some of the highest quality composting toilets that are in use in many homes today.

What is a composting toilet?

In contrast to septic systems which use anaerobic decomposition, a compost toilet is aerobic. This means that the system depends on oxygen alone for the decomposition of the waste material. In general, the innovative toilets are low flush if they use water at all. Some are totally waterless which as you can imagine will save a lot of money long term. For the person who is into gardening and has a need for compost or fertilizer, this can be a really reliable and environmentally perfect choice.

There are many benefits to utilizing the Envirolet® waterless toilet or some other brand of composting toilet system.

1. Many towns throughout the U.S. now offer rebates to homes that are using compost toilets for their waste management. It is wonderful to see communities coming together to fight the cause for the things that will ultimately help the environment or at least cause decline in the current trend of harm.

2. As noted above, the use of such a low flush or waterless system can greatly decrease your household utility costs. In today’s economy, every penny in our budget counts, so this savings can be very noticeable especially to bigger households.

3. Using such a system will definitely help to promote a positive impact on the environment. If more people would get on board with this plan, it would greatly reduce water contamination and water usage in general. This is an important thing to consider when we think about how our current actions affect our children and grandchildren for years in the future. We must think about the implications of everything that we do right now that does affect the world of which we live.

4. Many of these toilet systems allow for anything that is alive in nature to be disposed of. This means that you could completely do away with the compost bin that you’ve been using for kitchen waste and put everything into the one solution. If you practice an organic lifestyle that includes your own garden, this would be a great system for you to consider for the household. Your toilet will now be creating the compost that you can use to fertilize your garden, thus saving dollars on gardening costs as well as utility bills.

Recently, I had the awesome opportunity to spend a few months in Dublin, Ireland. I was amazed at the wonderful system that is in place there for making it easy for households to be environmentally conscious. Many households keep a small green bin for organic material in their kitchens. The meal time clean-up includes making use of this bin and almost nothing food related goes into the actual trash can. The town then collects the material from these small bins and households on a regular basis. I loved this and hope that more cities and particularly places in the U.S. would be fast to get on board with this idea.

For the avid composter, the Envirolet® composting toilet is a natural progression in the enironmental friendly lifestyle that you are currently used to. Consider this choice now or in the future as something that can help to align you on your path as you fight for health and a clean environment.

There is plenty of information available on the efficiency of brand new cars and when you buy one you will be inundated with this information. The car dealer knows that by plying you with positive information about the car there will be more chance that you will want to buy it. This is even more likely if the car is environmentally friendly or if it is very economical on fuel.

With more and more people becoming more energy conscious and more aware of damaging CO2 emissions, it is more important than ever that cars are producing less. So when it comes to buying new cars, how friendly a car is to the environment can be very important. But does the same apply to used cars? Fuel efficiency and friendliness to the environment are things that will concern used car buyers as well. And for most of us, how economic a car is, can be extremely important especially due to the recession and the ever increasing prices of fuel.

You might be pleased to know that there is a company that is making sure that used buyers can get the same kind of information that brand new car buyers get. HPI are car data specialists and they are offering a service where they will provide these details on any used car you are thinking of buying. If you want to find out information such as running costs, CO2 emissions, fuel efficiency and other vehicle history then you can get it from HPI. This information can be extremely useful in helping used car buyers to make their minds up about which used car they would like to buy.

So that is why it could be worth your while paying HPI to do a check before you buy a used car. It will enable you to see how fuel efficient a particular car is and whether or not it is environmentally friendly. This information is so specific to the used car you are buying that it would be silly not to avail of this check. You will be happy that you parted with £19.99 for one of the valuable checks.

When you think it’s time to look out for used cars, you are always better off trying to research your vehicles beforehand. This research will let you find the best cars available for each category you look at. Once you’ve finished, you could find youself driving away from the dealers in a used vauxhall vectra or even a used ford ka.

Each American household typically spends $1,900 each year on power. Unfortunately, most of this money gets wasted on electronics that are plugged in long after use, thermostats that remain too high, power-hogging appliances, cracks under the door and conventional light bulbs. Not surprisingly, the amount of fossil fuels emitted by a house is comparable to having two cars on the road. Experts say that making small changes to save energy in your home today can help you find better savings tomorrow.

There are many easy low-cost and no-cost ways to save energy at home. Installing a programmable thermostat will give you better control over your home’s temperature, without needing to remember to adjust the thermostat when you leave the house or go to sleep each night. You can change all your lights to Energy Star compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use less power and last longer than conventional bulbs. You can air dry dishes or hang laundry outside, instead of using the dry cycle on your appliances. When you’re not using your lights, computer, monitor, TV, DVD player or power strip, turn off the devices for better savings. Lower your water heater thermostat down to 120°F and try taking shorter showers, rather than baths.

Naturally, you’ll want to save energy in your home all year round, but some seasons are harder to get through than others. If you live in a climate with cold winters, the idea of turning the heat way down low may not appeal to you. Instead, you can open the windows on a sunny day to allow more solar energy in or, if you have leaky windows, you might want to trap heat inside by putting up heavy drapes. During the summer, the most energy efficient homes keep the lights turned off, using ceiling fans for air circulation or placing a bowl of ice next to a desktop fan.

It doesn’t have to be difficult trying to save energy in your home. The first step for many Americans is to get a better idea of how much energy can actually be saved. For $30, you can buy an energy monitor that will tell you how much power your electronics are consuming simply by plugging each appliance or device into the meter. This eye-opener will help you prioritize where changes need to be made. If you don’t have one already, the U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy agency recommends getting a programmable thermostat, which will automatically set your home to whatever temperature you choose at various times of the day.

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Today more and more homeowners are looking for ways to add some sort of green energy source to their homes. A green energy source is a form of power that comes from renewable resources. The most common sources of green energy are water, wind and sun. One of the biggest benefits of renewable green energy is that it does not add to the global warming or pollution problems.

Solar Energy Source

Probably the most well know green energy source is our sun. Most everyone has heard of solar energy which is the energy that is collected from the sun. Solar energy is becoming more popular everyday because of the various and multiple uses that it provides. You can put solar energy to work by collecting sunshine with solar panels and photovoltaic cells that convert the sun to electricity. Another use for solar energy is a hot water heater that collects the sun rays to heat the water. These homemade solar energy panels and sources are available to everyone. You can mount solar panels or hot water collectors on the roof of your home or garage and reduce your utility expenses.

Wind Energy Source

When you talk about an efficient green energy source wind is the winner. You can go back in history for thousands of years and see examples of wind as an energy source. Wind power has been harnessed to turn windmills for many years before anyone ever thought about the environment. Our ancestors used wind to power water pumps for irrigation and mills to grind grain. Wind is the safest and cleanest of all the green energy sources because it doesn’t contribute to pollution or global warming. Today you can harness the power of the wind by setting up a turbine that turns a generator when the wind blows. There are some areas of the planet that are better than others for harnessing wind energy. Having a regular source of wind is the key to producing a dependable source of energy.

Water Energy Source

One of the greatest green energy sources is water. The only problem with using water energy is that you need to be closer to a river or stream. Harnessing a moving water source is great way to create electricity with a generator. Years ago they built mills on streams and rivers to use the water energy to grind grain. Sometimes they even used a series of belts and pulleys to transfer the energy where it was need in the mill. Water is a great green energy source because it is natural, renewable and does not add to global warming or pollution.

You can take advantage of the green energy sources for your home in several different ways. You can make homemade solar panels, erect a wind turbine and take advantage of water energy if you live near a stream. When you select green energy solutions you will help reduce our use of foreign energy sources and fuels. Don’t forget the benefit of reducing your utility bills when you make homemade solar panel and you can help make the earth safer for future generations. A much safer and cleaner atmosphere is a real benefit powering your home with green energy power sources.

Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32, 2006) calls for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in California to 1990 levels by 2020. All we have to do to fix the problem is to determine emissions goals for cars and light-duty trucks and give the automaker their marching orders, right? Well, no. There’s a smarter way to go about it.
If we continue to assume that people will keep driving cars, and that the population is expected to increase, the carmakers alone are not going to be able to solve the problem.

What about changing the existing assumptions? What if people didn’t have to drive as far? What if a lot more people used public transportation? Could thinking like that, combined with lower emissions from the biggest polluters, enable us to reduce greenhouse gasses (ghg’s) in spite of an increase in population?

Enter Senate Bill 375 (SB 375, 2008), which requires a reduction of ghg’s to 1990 levels from new land development or redevelopment projects. Additionally, it calls for a technical advisory committee which will make recommendations to the California Air Resource Board (CARB) detailing how we are to reach the mandated goal.

So where does this committee come from? Who has the skill and knowledge to put together such a long-reaching plan? Twenty-one professionals have volunteered their time and talents to make this happen. For the most part, they fall into two groups: organizations who want their cities and counties to thrive and organizations whose goal is to reduce emissions. While these goals may seem to be at odds, the job of the Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC) is to make a plan to do both at the same time.

Who is representing our community’s varying interests? Ten committee members are involved in local government and city planning, five are involved in public transportation, five are from organizations that support environmental issues, and one from a California new home builder. They hail from all over the state – big cities and rural areas as well as colleges and non-profits.
The committee must submit its report to the California Air Resources Board at the end of September. In the next two months, they will put together recommendations of actions and measurements that will enable each region to meet the required goals, taking into consideration the capabilities of each entity and current and projected economic factors. No small feat.

In the end, their accomplishment will be one that could not have happened without such a multi-discipline long-term commitment. This is the only kind of effort that can possibly make a significant dent in greenhouse gasses in California.

Palm Springs Car Dealers, Accredited Online College, Orange County Cadillac

Deep into the periodic table, where the elements take on unfamiliar names like neodymium, erbium, terbium and ytterbium, lies a row of metals that are crucial to building wind turbines and electric cars. A new group wants to make sure that the United States has enough of these so-called rare earth elements to carry out its clean energy plans.

The metals already show up in many parts of daily life, such as a computer’s hard drive or the earbud headphones of an iPod. But their mass production carries a secret: Virtually all rare earth materials get mined and processed in China.

The Rare Earth Industry and Technology Association (REITA), which is less than a year old, wants to make companies and the government aware of the issue — before a clean-energy scale-up leaves the United States dependent upon a near-monopoly.

Keith Delaney, REITA’S director, managed to get onto a panel at an electric-car conference in Washington this week. He delivered a stark message to the enthusiasts whose usual focus is rushing the pricey cars into the mainstream.

The current Toyota Prius, a hybrid, uses about 4 pounds of rare earth materials, he said. A car with a heftier battery, such as the Chevy Volt, needs more. And a single wind turbine uses about 500 pounds.

Engineers have no way around this, he said: To keep these machines light and efficient, the metals are irreplaceable. Specifically, their magnetic properties are needed for the best-known technologies for electric motors and wind turbines.

“We’re stuck with rare earth technology for the foreseeable future,” he said. “The green energy goals of the nation really can’t be met without rare earth. They’re indispensable in so many applications.”

“Rare” earth metals are no rarer than many other metals in the Earth’s crust, such as copper and tin. What’s rare about these metals is that they don’t often cluster in rich lodes that are easy to mine.

Not in your backyard, in quantity

As Delaney put it, rare earth metals would likely turn up in any backyard — though not in any concentration worth digging up.

Through sheer geological fortune, China has the densest veins of rare earth in the world — a resource that has made it not only a major exporter, but also a major supplier of the second- and third-place exporters.

In 2007, 90 percent of the United States’ imports, measured by weight, came from China. Only one company has any production in the United States, and in 2008, it didn’t produce any.

That could spell a dangerous trend, Delaney said. By his estimates, world demand for rare earth metals is growing 10 to 15 percent each year, thanks largely to a growing appetite for electronics.

But as the world shifts to low-carbon technology, he said, China’s rare earth reserves will gain importance — not least to the Middle Kingdom itself.

Wind is the wild card

“The wild card is wind,” Delaney said. Two companies — one American and one Australian — are poised to open new mines in the next few years, but he said the accelerating Chinese renewables sector could sweep up the supply: “If demand for wind turbines goes through the roof, all bets are off.”

Delaney doesn’t just want to raise awareness: He hopes companies and governments will begin the search for more reserves.

Automakers have tended to consider rare earth a distant part of their supply chain, he said — one that they aren’t in a rush to scrutinize and protect.

But REITA has gained the attention of General Electric, a leader in wind turbines and a company that will be counted on for much of the clean technology built by the United States. Other members include Molycorp and the Colorado School of Mines.

Arctic veins, but investors seem chilled

Delaney wants to spur research that can locate more mines, as well as infrastructure spending. He said a ribbon in the northern reaches of Canada, near the Arctic Circle, holds promise. But the site is so remote that miners would need roads and water pipes before a single pound of metal was reaped.

Observers say dozens of exploration companies have pitched sites to investors, but they’ve found it difficult to prove their worthiness. Any potential mine demands a thorough feasibility study. The absence of nearby infrastructure means additional costs. And rare earth mines tend to be smaller than those for other metals, meaning they yield less cash for every infrastructure dollar invested.

The entire process can take up to 12 years, said Dan Cordier, a rare earth specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

But given the sudden burst of interest, he said, it wouldn’t be surprising if current evaluations went faster than usual.

“It’s happening so fast, I think it would be a matter of time before you could get a full understanding of whether those could compete against the larger deposits,” he said.

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