Reusable Bags News

At almost every store consumers enter today there will be a display of inexpensive reusable shopping bags. In some locations the free plastic shopping bags, which were once supplied free with each purchase have been outlawed due to environmental concerns. Shoppers can be seen in practically every location carrying their bags into the store, or purchasing new bags because, once again, they have forgotten the ones they already have at home. While reusable bags seem like a great idea, there are some precautions that should be remembered when making the choice to use these bags.

Shoppers should take a few minutes to think about what is placed inside the bags before automatically reusing them without taking time for cleaning. According to recent studies, almost 2/3 of the bags that are being reused in the store are contaminated with bacteria or mold. Some of the contamination comes from the outside of packaging that is handled by numerous other shoppers as well as store employees. Others may come from the fresh produce or meats that are being placed in the bag.

Most of the cloth reusable bags can easily be washed and then dried on a clothesline or by hanging over a shower bar. The simple act of washing and drying the bag can help to reduce the bacteria and mold that is being found in the reusable grocery bags. With the heavier plastic bags that are becoming popular in many warehouse stores today, the bag should be wiped clean using a good antibacterial cleaner and allowed to air dry.

Additionally, shoppers may want to consider using a specific bag each time for meats and another for produce. While it is still necessary to clean bags in between uses to keep the contamination to a minimum, this helps to ensure that the bacteria from meats and produces do not mix, creating a similar problem as that caused by using the same knife or cutting board for both meats and vegetables.

Another option for persons making purchases at large warehouse stores, like Sam’s Club or Costco is to take plastic totes or even ice chests for packing their goods back home. Just as with the reusable bags, the bins should be cleaned after each use. These bins and coolers are easily cleaned using a water hose after each use, but if they become especially grubby, a little soap and a scrub brush or a shot of chlorine bleach can help to disinfect the item. If using bleach, be sure to allow plenty of time for the bin to air and the smell of chlorine to dissipate before the next use. An added advantage of using coolers for refrigerated or frozen food is that there is less chance of spoilage on the way home from the large monthly shopping trip.

In general, reusable grocery bags are a great idea. They cut down on landfill waste and the number of disposable bags that cause litter along the roads and highways. However, there are some issues of which users need to beware and take proper precautions to avoid.

It is clear, that our energy future is moving away from a faith on fossil fuel energy such as oil along with gas, as well as more towards more renewable along with renewable sources of energy such as biomass. Well known forms of renewable as well as alternative energy sources include wind as well as solar. Both of these resources capture energy, though cannot provide energy on demand as they are dependant on whether conditions. Here is where the advantages of wood become clear. Wood is any form of untreated matter which can be used as a energy source. In essence wood is captured and stored solar energy. Because of burning in addition to supplementary chemical reactions we can use wood energy on demand to generate liquid fuels, gaseous fuels, in addition to advanced solid fuels such as pellets along with briquettes.

Learn more about Biomass

To capture as much energy from combustion wood as potential, it makes sense where probable to achieve cogeneration due to wood CHP units. CHP or combined heat as well as power units generate both warmth and electrical power for the property. This process can be achieve because of either advanced closed loop steam engines or owing to gasification. There have been important improvements in modern steam engine designs which recycle more of the fuel to amplify efficiencies. Also the units recycle the way, along with need very little maintenance. The closed loop steam engine will capture residual fuel from the wood burning process, in addition to turn a generate to make electricity. The additional likely wood CHP unit is a gasification system. Here the biomass in processed into syngas, this gas can then be used in an internal combustion engine to power a generator. The internal incineration engine will generate a significant amount of warmth, however if more heat is required the gas can also be burnt directly in a stove or boiler. The advantages of a biomass CHP unit are that the electrical energy formed can be sold back into the national grid. Therefore a residual income can be formed, plus it also encourages the user to lower electrical consumption to generate more revenue. Many people believe a network of small scale electrical generators feeding the national grid is the future not the large scale electrical power plants.

Read more about Wood Pellet

Supplementary advantages of biomass over fossil energy energy, is that wood is a alternative fuel source. This means we can replace the wood we use quickly. This makes wood fuel sustainable. The facts are that we at this time generate huge volumes of wood in addition to regard it as waste to be sent to landfill. Utilizing the current wood we generate for energy would meet a substantial percentage of our fuel needs. It would also lower the charge of supplementary goods, as it would diminish costs along with raise profits margins turning a waste into a valuable asset. This in tern would benefit the economy, producing more local jobs. The best way to use wood is to compress biomass into pellets. This has more than a few advantages, and is achieve through using a pellet mill. In the pellet mill the biomass is compressed at high temperatures.

More information on Pellets

As citizens, businesses and non-profit organizations seek to transition to cleaner power sources like solar and wind, some big energy firms whose business models rely on polluting sources are standing in the way.

In Georgia, the energy company Georgia Power has lobbied for favorable public policies at the Public Service Commission (PSC) and State legislature that are making it difficult for the state’s residents to transition to solar power.

IPS learned that the Dekalb County school system wanted to put solar panels on their schools, but could not do it because of state policies like the Territorial Electric Service Act of 1973 which gives Georgia Power a monopoly over the purchase of energy.

“In Georgia, we have about a dozen state policies preventing creation of solar energy,” James Marlow, vice chair of the Georgia Solar Energy Association, told IPS. “One of those is the Territorial Act.”

“If you’re looking at a school, one of the common ways of setting up solar panels is using a power purchase agreement or PPA,” Marlow said.

Typically, one of the biggest obstacles for businesses and organizations to switch to solar energy is the initial cost of obtaining and installing the panels. A PPA allows a school system, for example, to obtain the panels for no cost from a solar installation company which finances the panels.

Then, the school can purchase the energy from the solar installation company, which would own the panels, for a 20-year period. Marlow said that a PPA client typically pays for the panels after the first five years and then saves money on energy for the next 15, all the while avoiding the use of dirty energy.

However, because of Georgia’s Territorial Act, individuals, organizations, and businesses with solar panels can only sell their energy to Georgia Power. This means they cannot enter a PPA with a solar installation company and may have difficulty affording the panels in the first place.

For those who are able to buy or lease their own solar panels, selling that energy to Georgia Power–the only allowed buyer–is subject to the rules of Georgia Power’s net metering program. Net metering is where residents and businesses with solar panels sell any excess energy produced by the solar panels to Georgia Power for use by other customers.

“The problem with the current net-metering program is… there’s a waiting list and it’s limited. Net-metering in Georgia has a cap of 100 kilowatt hours,” Marlow said, adding that one state in the US South, North Carolina, is taking the lead on solar power. “In North Carolina, that cap is two megawatts.”

“We requested a 5 megawatt cap in Georgia. Georgia Power has lobbied to limit that to a smaller number,” Marlow said.

But why would Georgia Power put a cap and waiting list on purchasing solar power from Georgia residents and businesses?

The company explains that its ability to purchase solar power from Georgians with solar panels is limited by the proceeds of its “green energy blocks” program, wherein Georgia Power customers are allowed to pay extra to purchase blocks of solar energy.

“We had to cap the amount we would buy back, because there’s only so much the program would bear as we rolled it out and it started to be developed,” Ervan Hancock, Georgia Power’s renewable and green strategy manager, told the Savannah Morning News newspaper in July 2009.

“Georgia Power will only buy solar energy if it’s funded through purchase of green energy blocks. Right now they only have 4,500 customers such as the US Center for Disease Control and Warner Robins Air Force Base. The funding from that goes to buy solar energy from your rooftop,” Marlow said.

However, Georgia Power charges more for solar power than it does for coal-based power, so there’s no incentive for most customers to purchase it. “They purchasers of the blocks would pay a slight premium to buy clean energy versus buying coal energy,” Marlow said.

Many of the purchasers of blocks of solar energy are government agencies that need to comply with government mandates to support clean energy, Marlow said.

Other states like Colorado have taken a different approach to encourage the use of solar panels. They charge all energy customers 50 cents a month, a very low amount, to support the purchase of solar energy from producers.

According to the Morning News, the Tennessee Valley Authority has enrolled 13,000 green-power customers and has no cap on the annual amount of green energy it will buy from producers. Florida Power & Light “is building three solar facilities that combined will generate 110 megawatts of electricity… Duke Energy in North Carolina plans to invest 50 million in rooftop installations.”

To be sure, Georgia Power is only following the regulations established by the legislature and PSC. However, they lobbied for those policies to be enacted in the first place, Marlow said.

“At this point, the utilities are opposed to solar and they’re not working to foster its development,” Marlow said.

In addition to regulatory tricks, there are more direct ways in which big energy companies like Georgia Power are blocking solar and wind power.

“They are trying to block clean energy by trying to flood the market with cheap, dirty energy,” said Erin Glynn, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, referring to companies attempting to build two new coal plants and two new nuclear reactors in Georgia alone. As previously reported by IPS, numerous coal and nuclear plants are in planning stages throughout the U.S. South.

“If you build these giant power plants, there will be no demand for clean energy. The clean technologies are here today. People have solar panels. The companies are blocking the market,” Glynn said.

Big energy companies are lobbying at the state and national levels to prevent public policies from shifting towards renewable energy production as well. Georgia Power’s parent company, Southern Company, employed 63 lobbyists to fight the recent federal clean energy bill.

A recent report from the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI) shows that many big utility companies employed two dozen or more lobbyists to oppose the clean energy bill, while Southern Company had far more lobbyists than any other company.

“We feel it’s very important to educate our legislators, and we continue to work with Congress to further address the issues we see as critical to our ability to provide affordable, reliable energy,” Southern Company spokeswoman Terri Cohilas told CPI.

Southern Company argues that pursuing renewable energy or taking steps to address carbon dioxide’s recent classification as a pollutant will drive up the cost of energy to consumers. However, Marlow believes that dirty and clean energy are quickly approaching “cost parity,” and he said there are indirect costs of dirty energy such as high asthma rates near coal plants.

Twenty-nine states have a renewable portfolio standard, which requires that a certain percentage of the state’s energy will be renewable by a certain date.

“California and Colorado will require 30 percent comes from renewable by 2020,” Marlow said. “North Carolina requires 12 percent. Georgia has no requirement. North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast that has a renewable portfolio standard.”

You can’t go anywhere these days without seeing some reference to the term green. One of the ways you can become green is by hiring a sustainable energy web host for your websites. These companies are leading the way in lowering their carbon footprint as well as minimizing their environmental impact. Changing to one of these green hosts may have been part of your business plan, but trying to find the right one can be a challenge. This article is going to give you information about four of these green web hosts that will help guide you to the company that’s right for you.

One site that you should take a look at is hostpapa.com. Take a look at their homepage, and you’ll see many reasons why their business is growing. Instead of using traditional power sources, they use wind power in order to lower carbon emissions and in turn provide the same opportunity to customers. In their basic package you will receive free site-building software, and easy-to-use control panel, free domain names for life, unlimited bandwidth as well as disk space, telephone, chat, and email, and it all comes with a 30-day money back guarantee. They can also assist you in transferring your sites from your current web host.

A second company to consider is ipage.com. Their entire business including servers, databases and office operations, are run completely using wind power. In addition, they offer a package of services which includes:

• Security Suite – protects your business with daily spam and malware checks, a super-secure data center, constant network scanning, and business verification.

• Marketing Suite – features include $50 in Google Adword credits and $25 in Yahoo credits, a website authentication seal, site visitor analytics software, and a 60-day RatePoint Newsletter manager.

• Support Suite – with this package you get 24/7 phone, email, and chat; online assistance; a consumer ranking award; excellent tutorials, North American phone agents, and rigorous QA testing.

• Design Suite – as the last facet of the ipage features, you get an online store, online PC backup; a template-based site builder; secure FTP; Google Webmaster Tools integration; and a blog, photo gallery.

A third company that deserves consideration is supergreenhosting.com. Using 100% carbon neutral friendly hosting, this website offers consumers energy efficient servers, unlimited bandwidth, email accounts, and hosting space as well as a #1 control panel. In addition you will get $25 in ad credits at both Yahoo and Google, $50 apiece on MySpace and Facebook, a point and click site builder, 1-click WordPress and Joomla installs, and website templates. Just so you can have the confidence to choose their services, supergreenhosting.com guarantees your satisfaction or else your money back at any time.

One last carbon neutral web hosting site is a2hosting.com. This is a company that takes pride in giving its clients reliability, competitive pricing, outstanding service and support, advanced technology, and Linux web hosting. Other features available with their executive web hosting package include free set up, unlimited disk space, email, monthly data transfer, and domains. They tell you up front that there are no contracts or hidden fees involved in signing up with their company,  and their money-back guarantee is for 100% if at any time you aren’t satisfied. That bonus alone is hard to beat. Additionally, you have the capability to set up forums and blogs, a $25 credit if you are transferring from another host and $245 in PPC advertising credits.

There you have it. Compare the features, visit the websites to check out prices, and then decide which eco-friendly web hosting company you want to work with. You’ll find great value at all of these websites, and at the same time, you’ll be helping to clean up our environment.

Home owners who want to make their houses energy efficient with alternative power can use the Energy Star tax credit if they meet several program requirements. You cannot use tax credits for all Energy Star products, therefore, always make a purchase based on an informed decision. You will be able to save up to 30 percent of the product costs, depending also on how the tax credit would apply to you. Determine what you need in order to qualify for the federal programs.

The house where you’d like to utilize the Energy Star tax credit for must be a principal residence. The system isn’t compatible for new constructions, and it can’t be utilized for rentals as well. The Energy Star tax credit include the costs for installation. Fans, heaters, wind turbines, photo-voltaic panels, biomass, each has special features and brings peculiar requirements for the availability of an Energy Star tax credit.

You can further utilize the program for insulating your house. With this, you’ll consume lesser energy if your house has a good insulation. You will be able to lower the costs for the typical bulk insulation products, as well as products that air seal. Air leaks and weather stripping reduction will be taken care of more effectively. In cases of insulation, the costs for installation aren’t covered by the tax credit. You have the chance to make huge savings if you can perform the installation yourself (just like if you’re going to make solar panels by installing them all by yourself).

Windows, doors and skylights with U-factors are eligible with the Energy Star tax credit. This means that you will get a 30 percent discount from the product price, and save up to $1,500. The Energy Star labels make it easier for the average consumer to choose the right products. Even so, you should check the eligibility of the program before making any purchase. When you close the deal, you need an itemized invoice from the installer or the retailer.

Different requirements apply for alternative power products bought before June 1, 2009 and after June 1, 2009. Check the documentation and use the labels or the manufacturer certification statements in order to become eligible for the tax credit. You may need more documents for doors than for windows, just to mention one possible difficulty. Never think that the procedure is quite complex; you just need to get the right info and then take advantage of this big opportunity.

Most of us recognize the importance of recycling paper, plastic and glass, but forget about recycling batteries. That less than 5% of batteries get recycled proves the point. That figure should be much, much higher, as recycling batteries is no more difficult that recycling anything else. So, if you are not currently recycling the batteries that you use, the question is – why not?

Some people say that recycling batteries is too difficult or inconvenient, but that is no more than an excuse, and a poor one at that. Lots of supermarkets have recycling points for batteries, and you can also find them in some libraries and schools. All you have to do is take your batteries and drop them in a box. Not hard, right? If you cannot think of anywhere in your local area that recycles batteries than do a quick search on Google for ‘recycle batteries + the name of your town’.

So, which types of batteries can be recycled?

Button batteries :  These batteries, which are used in watches and hearing aids amongst other things, can have the mercury-oxide and silver-oxide reclaimed from them. This means that not only are there environmental benefits but there are economic ones too. For this reason, jewelers and pharmacies are happy to take these expired batteries from you because they can actually make some money from them.

Car batteries : Most modern countries have laws that require car battery sellers to collect old used batteries. The used batteries can be crushed into small pieces, with the plastic components being recycled into new plastic products and the recycled lead being turned back into new batteries or sent elsewhere for other uses.

Household batteries : These are the most common types of batteries and you will surely have at least some of them in use your house at the moment. They are not easy to turn into new batteries, but they should be taken to recycling points anyway. Though they may not be able to be used for any new purpose, at least they will be disposed of properly rather than being left in a landfill to damage the environment.

Learn More : Battery Disposal

If the increasing energy bills are driving you crazy, then here is some good news for you. By harnessing the potential of wind power you can now say goodbye to hefty power bills, once for all. You can easily build your own wind turbine at home and start producing your own electricity. If you are wondering how to build a wind turbine at home, then the answer may come as a pleasant surprise to you. It is possible to build one by simply using supplies from a local hardware store.

Let us take a look at how to build a home wind turbine at home, following some simple steps.

1. For all those wondering how to build a wind turbine at home, the first step is perhaps the most crucial one. You should first of all have a plan ready with you. There are scores of plans available these days in the Internet. You can always choose some of them and suitably modify them incorporating some of your ideas. It is only when you have planned everything thoroughly and have got all the supplies prepared, that you should proceed further.

2. You can also get a reliable guide on the topic before you proceed further. With a guide, the whole process becomes a lot easier, since you only need to follow some simple step by step instructions.

3. Make sure that you select the right place for the device in your home. The place that you choose should be such that it receives good wind current. At the same time, it should also not be a hindrance to your neighbors too. In fact, you should take them into confidence before you go about building the device.

4. It is actually a good idea to visit garage sales or thrift markets to procure some of the supplies that you will need to build a domestic wind mill. If you are lucky enough, you can even build the whole wind turbine using recycled materials.

5. While how to build a wind turbine at home has got a lot to do with detailed planning about the materials that you choose, you also need to make sure that the various components are light in weight. The blades for example need to be light in weight. This will make sure that even the slightest current of wind will be able to rotate them.

6. Get the right motor compatible with the size of the wind turbine that you are constructing. These days there are a huge variety of motors available.

If you are looking for green energy, using solar generated power may be your choice. Commercial solar energy now has been used effectively in many industries. For domestic, people now start to realize the importance of using the right type of energy. This can save them money and sometime can earn them some money if they do it the right way. The government of some countries permits businesses or homeowners to sell excess solar power back to the utility companies. This may be one of the advantages of using this type of power.

The major concern for anyone who wants to change from using conventional power sources to this green power is the investment. People are afraid of spending thousands of dollars upfront and don’t know when they can cover the cost with the saving they get. The good news is that there are many ways that you can implement. If you have enough budget, you can spend up to ten thousand dollars to build your own solar panel on your roof. However, if you do not want to spend a lot of money, you can find some ways to install solar panels within the budget of a couple of hundred dollars.

Solar power is the most practical renewable energy source currently. It is clean and does not cause any pollution. We have sunlight in most parts of the world. So, we can use this energy source almost anywhere. Also, the maintenance cost is very low. You almost pay nothing else after the installation process of the panels.

Another good point is that using home solar power systems can protect you from blackouts. If more people sell their excess energy to the utility companies, they can also protect everyone else from blackouts too. Commercial solar power is not only good for protecting the environment we live in, but it can also save the lifes of many people. A lot of people die from the power failure during extreme weather conditions. Using solar power can save people from this type of problem.

When it comes to the disadvantages of using the energy, there is nothing much. People are worried about the initial big investment. It can be resolved if they do it the right way. Then there is no other thing to be concerned. Solar energy has been considered to be alternative power source for years. With modern technology now, we can be building solar panels with less investment. The energy is both clean and renewable. We should consider using it to save our world from the pollution problems.

Choosing the fuel source that will be most economically and environmentally friendly can be difficult. While there are many alternative fuel sources, the electric choice MD is still one of the most economical and environmentally friendly selections in the world. Research and development is moving electrical technology forward and soon the use of electricity in all aspects of life will be the normal standard for people.

For many people the decision to use alternative energy sources is not difficult. However, deciding on the correct resource for the region in which a person we have can be very difficult. Therefore, it will be necessary to do some research on the difference types of systems to generate electricity and identify the best system for your needs.

One of the more popular means of generating electricity in a home is the use of solar energy. The cost for installing solar panels in a home to the long-term costs of public electrical utility costs is very low. As a matter of fact, after a person invests the initial funds to install solar panels in their home, there are little or no costs beyond maintenance and upkeep of the panels.

If you are considering solar panels or switch electricity in MD for an area that does not have continual sunlight, having a backup storage system that will provide electricity will be important. Some individuals use a generator on those days when power is unavailable through their solar panels. Other people have storage systems built into their solar panels that provide electricity to their home for several hours without sunlight.

Metropolitan areas and large cities use other resources to generate electricity. These include wind turbines. And large cities that have access to hills and high winds the use of wind turbines is an extremely cost-effective way to generate electricity for entire cities. These turbines are set on a hillside where the wind blows for the majority of the time. As the wind blows the blades of the turbine generate electricity which runs by conduit to a main power center.

Another source of electrical power is found through the use of water. Many cities that live next to large bodies of water, rivers, etc., build power plants near the water source to generate electricity. The water flows from the dam or other water source through the generator, and out into the river bed or stream. This is another very cost effective method for generating electrical power, however, it also is not a cost effective means of generating enough power for a home residence.

There are many benefits to switching to an alternative source for electricity. Among the benefits are the incentives and tax breaks provided by most government to people who install solar or other energy producing systems in their homes. Besides reducing or eliminating a carbon footprint, a person can very easily retrieve their initial investment over the course of several years. This is especially true if they convert their entire home to the alternative collection system that will produce electricity.

When you are making the electricity providers MD that will be best for your home, talking to professionals who are knowledgeable about the different types of alternative sources will be helpful. A professional will be able to provide you with the important information you will need to prepare your home for the switch to an alternative energy production source. They will also be able to help you calculate the cost of installation and the savings that you will experience after you have a system that is functioning at full capacity.

If you’ve never heard of generating electricity through the use of a magnetic generator, you’re losing out on a very important preposition. Because magnetic energy is the brave new wave of the future.

More and more home owners are realizing the importance of finding an alternative to just buying their electricity. As most power generating companies still use fossil fuels to power their giant plants, they are dependent on these fuels. And as reserves of fossil fuels keep falling around the world, more and more companies discovered that they have no alternative but to raise the price of electricity to deal with the rising price of these fuels. So who bears the burden of this extra cost? The home owner, of course.

Which is why more and more home owners are searching for ways to reduce this heavy financial burden, and a magnetic power generator is certainly one way to do so. Of course, the conventional method of energy generation for home owners has traditionally been sunlight or wind energy. Given that solar energy is only available when the sun shines, and wind energy is only available when the wind blows. This means that your savings occur only at times when these energy sources make themselves available, and this despite your considerable initial investment. And that initial investment is certainly something to consider, because solar power systems are usually not cheap. Not to mention that they need extensive areas to be set up, and while some people may have roof space available for this, not everyone can say that. Now a magnetic generator runs off magnetic flux, which is always available, and therefore is not just a limitless source of energy – it is also an energy that is available to your convenience at any time of the day or night.

So how does such a machine work – how does it harness magnetic forces? This machine works by using a circle of magnets to create a magnetic flux field – this field holds a central core in suspension which rotates by an exciter motor. Once operational, this core will continue to spin perpetually, as well as to provide a perpetual source of energy for your household needs. And there’s an added advantage – unlike the fossil fuels that most energy companies use, a magnetic energy machine is not only free to run, it’s also clean. Oh yes, unlike using hydrogen for a fuel, magnetic generator produce no harmful by-products. And unlike hydrogen, which is highly dangerous as a fuel, magnetic energy is totally safe for use. Learn how to build a magnetic generator today!