Most commodities come with a clear price attached to a distinct amount. A bag of potatoes, a can of beans, a jar of peanut butter….the cost of these is stamped on a sign at the grocery and an individual label breaks down the nutritional details.

Zerofootprint's Talking Plug

Electricity is sold with a price tag also, a price per kilowatt. Every month, customers pay a provider based on how many kilowatts their household has used. But there’s no label breakdown.

We don’t know how much electricity was expended to power the HVAC or dishwasher or fridge or computer. It’s a mystery what caused that spike in our bill. Our worst power phantoms are hiding.

Could the problem be those old incandescent light bulbs?

We don’t know. We’re in the dark.

“The way we use electricity is quite antiquated and quite dumb,” said Zerofootprint founder and CEO Dr. Ron Dembo, in a news conference Monday to introduce his group’s solution, the Talking Plug ™.

If we knew more — like how much, when and on what we were spending our electricity dollars, we’d be wiser consumers, he said. We could shift electricity use to off-peak hours making utilities happier  –  reducing our bills and our carbon pollution.

The TalkingPlug™ can be the starting point for all that because it takes energy monitoring to the micro level. It exposes errant appliances and runaway energy hogs in the home, but unlike similar, competitor devices that merely signal high or low energy use, it sends a stream of information to a software program (Zerofootprint’s web-based VELO software) so residents can monitor or re-tailor their energy use, and turn things on and off remotely via the Internet.

Set top box not needed today? Turn it off from your office or laptop computer.

“It’s win, win, win,” said Dembo, whose  Toronto-based carbon management company launched in 2005.

The TalkingPlug, he explained, is not just another cool gadget, but a foot in the door toward a new way of thinking about electricity. By putting more transparency into electricity consumption, Dembo proposed that it could lead to a paradigm shift that’s needed to fight climate change.

“It’s about changing culture more than anything,” he said. And changing the culture is necessary. Right now, green buildings are producing wonderfully new efficient buildings, he noted, “But if you leave the electricity on it doesn’t make any difference.”

His theory: You’ve got to develop precise measurements so people can compare their usage. “In short, it’s understood that if you want to change culture you compare things. These products allow you to compare very easily,” he said. This will take environmental consciousness to a new level, he predicts.

As the information bubbles up, and becomes accessible, there could be many applications, Dembo said, such as these:

• 

  A computer screen would register energy use using the TalkingPlug (Photo: Zerofootprint.)

  A school could track its precise energy consumption using TalkingPlug technology, and it could be made public with a meter over the door showing if current energy use was in the red, orange or green zone. Such a device could inform the public and exert pressure on schools — or businesses — to watch their watts.

• Appliance companies could track how their products worked in the home, and aggregate that information and use it for marketing. They could prove their claims of lower energy use, and do research.

• Utilities and residents could make deals to idle, by remote, certain appliances at certain times, resulting in a rebate for the user and a reduction of peak demand for the utility. (Utilities are built for peak demand to avoid blackouts, Dembo explained, but “it’s only a few minutes a year that we hit full peak.” So at the commercial level a lot of electricity is generated to be on “stand by” that is not needed, and never used.)

All these are all potential applications for the TalkingPlug technology, Dembo said, adding that this new technology will be compatible with Smart Meters that are being installed by some utilities to get a better handle on how energy is used in a given home. But they won’t require rewiring or any retrofitting of appliances.

The SmartPlug and Smart Meter technologies could work “in tandem,” Dembo said. “I see this as a rapidly convergent market.”

Right now, the TalkingPlug is being custom produced, and each one costs about $50. But that will come down to somewhere in the $30s after the first of the year, and drop further as it’s adopted and can take advantage of economies of scale, Dembo said.

ZeroFootprint operates a for-profit software and carbon management programs aimed at helping companies reduce their carbon footprint through better risk management and new technologies. The organization also operates a non-profit foundation with a mission of reducing carbon pollution.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

We hate to just sit around and wait for technology to work us out of this global warming fix….but hey! Look at this technology from Popular Science’s just released Best of What’s New list:

• 

  GE’s new “hybrid” hot water heater uses up to 62 percent less energy than the same size traditional hot water heater. This 50-gallon water heater, which uses heat pump technology along with traditional electrical components (hence: the hybrid terminology), is featured in the home technology category. The Energy Star-rated appliance could be expected to use around 1850 Kilowatts of electricity per year compared with about 4,800 KWh for a standard hot water heater. Downside: It costs $1,600. Upside: It qualifies for a $480 energy tax credit.

• 

  Sole Power Tiles provide solar power while posing as clay roofing tiles, albeit blue ones. Still, this sounds like a great way to thwart your homeowner’s association while going green with your roof. The curved photovoltaic tiles are thin, but their curved architecture allows them to pick up 10-15 percent more solar action. They were developed by SRS Energy with advice US Tile, the country’s largest clay-tile manufacturer.

• A powder to neutralize mercury by Steward Advanced Materials. This grand prize winner, called Thiol-SAMMS, holds promise for cleaning up lakes, rivers and toxic waste spills, as well as cleansing tap water efficiency and affordably.  “Thiol-SAMMS is made of silica molecules assembled into a spongelike pattern of holes, packing the surface area of a football field into just one teaspoon,” reports Popular Science. Each tiny opening is coated with sulfur atoms, which can bind with poisonous mercury, rendering a material that can be safely stored in landfills. (Let’s hope advances like these don’t stop us from trying to stem the pollution at the source, however.)

• The Eco2 Plastics Environmental system helps save water, millions of gallons of water, by supplying recyclers with a corn-based biodegradable solvent that cleans plastic containers so they can be recycled. This proven technology is already in operation at one recycling plant. Now you don’t have to wonder how they get that ketchup out of your old bottle. The old way: use a ton of water. This solution: Save the water and make recycling more affordable.

The 100 winners of the Best of What’s New “represent the higheset level of achievement in their fields,” said Mark Jannot, editor-in-chief of Popular Science.

There’s lots more fun to be found on the list, which features everything from a  handy home-use air leak detector (by Black & Decker; $50) to an entire hospital, El Camino in the Silicon Valley, that employs state-of-the-art robots.

While the number one award-winner on the list, an amplified, smart stethoscope by 3M and Littman Electronic, isn’t green, per se. It could save millions of needless echocardiograms a year, thereby cutting medical costs and making health care a little more sustainable — a goal we can all take to heart.

This Sunday, Nov. 15, is America Recycles Day, a nationwide initiative by Keep America Beautiful and the National Recycling Coalition. In its 12^th year, America Recycles Day is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to not only recycle, but buy recyclable products. There is more garbage going into landfills now than ever before. Recycling can not only slow climate change, but preserve and protect the environment around us. Everyone has the ability to do their part.

“The purpose of America Recycles Day is to continue to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling and encourage more people to join the movement toward creating a better natural environment,” states their website.

Last year the amount of energy saved from recycling aluminum and steel cans, plastic PET and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging was equal to:

• The amount of electricity consumed by 17.8 million Americans in one year.
• 29 percent of nuclear electricity generation in the US in one year.
• 7.9 percent of electricity generation from fossil fuels in the US in one year.
• 11 percent of the energy produced by coal-fired power plants in the US.
• The energy supplied from 2.7 percent of imported barrels of crude oil into the US.
• The amount of gasoline used in almost 11 million passenger automobiles in one year.

It is easy to get confused on what can and cannot be recycled. There are quite a lot of items that are acceptable such as: steel cans, aluminum cans, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, junk mail, plastic beverage bottles, milk jugs, glass bottles and jars, cereal boxes, other clean and dry cardboard boxes. Do not forget that your old electronics are also accepted at many retail stores including Best Buy. Stay away from items such as plastic grocery bags, Styrofoam, light bulbs, food-soiled paper, wax paper and ceramics because they cannot be recycled.

Take the pledge to not only recycle, but to tell others about the benefits.

There will be events held all over the country Sunday, find one near you.

If you already recycle at home, transfer that same philosophy at work or school. It is nice to have a day to remind us to recycle, but do not stop at one day, make it an everyday practice.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

PHOENIX — When the Greenbuild Expo 2009 landed in Phoenix Nov. 9 with 30,000 participants, the circus came to town for Mick Dalrymple. He runs the a.k.a. Green Eco-Friendly Building Center, the Phoenix area’s first store of its kind.

Phoenix Convention Center

Dalrymple also sits on the national board of the U.S. Green Building Council, the organizer of Greenbuild Expo and International Conference, which this year (its eighth) has packed 1,800 exhibitors into the recently expanded Phoenix Convention Center.

An electrical engineer, former Hollywood filmmaker and graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Dalrymple first came to green building as a way out of an oil-based U.S. national security policy. He would give talks on how green building could lead to energy independence, and when people complained they couldn’t find where to buy these mysterious carbon-neutral products, he opened a store.

Dalrymple has enthusiasm and some concern for the abundant new green technologies and materials on hand.

Just as former Vice President Al Gore cautioned the green builders at an opening celebration Wednesday night, Dalrymple warned against “greenwashing” – selling something as green that isn’t.

“The business has become more mainstream and a lot of the traditional channels are starting to be populated with ‘light’ green materials. They may be better, but nowhere near what is possible, or they may use toxins or child labor to produce it,” Dalrymple said, noting that the maze of certifications in the industry sometimes can lead to more, rather than less confusion. He also mentions the small percentage of recycled materials in some so-called recycled products: “Why not recycle more? I want to see more things recycled—pecan shells or pistachio shells—stuff people normally think of as waste. Why is it waste?”

Dalrymple also has some idea of where the wild things are at the jam-packed Greenbuild Expo 2009.

• LED residential lighting
  

“I’ve been waiting five years for the next step in LED. I think this will be the year of the LED. I have a background in film and I just love lights,” Dalrymple said.

Cree's Indoor Recessed Light

He may be right. LEDs (light-emitting diodes), traditionally the light on your clock radio—use less energy, live eons longer, dosn’t emit heat, work with a dimmer switch and don’t contain the mercury of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Until now, LED fixtures have been too expensive and didn’t look “warm” enough for household use. New technology has improved the products and brought the price down. The life of an LED can be 50,000 hours (or more than 5 years if you left it on around the clock).

Cree LED Lighting, a growing green company based in North Carolina, is working to improve the quality and price of LEDs. Cree offers “Cree True White Technology,” to deliver warm color and very high efficiency. Its LR6 LED uses 12 watts to deliver the equivalent of a 65watt incandescent. LR6 and other fixtures can be retrofitted into existing recessed lighting hook-ups, last about 12 years in homes and cost under $100.

RAB Lighting’s outdoor LPack, made for over garage doors and pathway lighting, uses about 13 Watts to light the equivalent of a 55 watt  incandescent for 50,000 hours; at $140, it comes in a cool aluminum housing that looks sort of like an over-sized Blackberry.

• Composite Flooring.

“Shredded bamboo is now made into flooring that has patterns and looks fabulous. And the popularity of cork flooring is growing, almost replacing bamboo,” Dalrymple said.

A fast-growing grass, bamboo is a renewable resource, but for optimal environmental imprint, it shouldn’t be harvested before 5.5 years and should come from the hardy moso species. Ask questions when shopping.  Some manufacturers use formaldehyde for bonding—but they don’t have to.

Teragren Flooring doesn’t use formaldehyde and offers an array of Floorscore-certified  (a third-party certification by Scientific Certification Systems) bamboo flooring; this year Teregren sells water and bacteria-resistant countertops, in addition to flooring.

Sustainable Flooring's shower cork

Cork flooring isn’t exactly new – Frank Lloyd Wright used it in his 1936 masterpiece Fallingwater with good reason.  It’s a natural insulator, is silent and reduces jostling of the joints and spine when you walk on it. The best cork comes from the Mediterranean. A softer version grows in China, but the durable stuff is firm and a by-product of the wine-cork industry in Portugal and Italy.

Both Expanko and Sustainable Flooring show gorgeous samples of Mediterranean cork tile and mosaic cork tile. Expanko provided the new floors when Fallingwater was restored.

With flooring, comes the danger that what adheres it may be manufactured with formaldehyde and other toxins. A new product from Smith & Fong Plyboo, SoyBond, is formaldehyde-free, made from soybeans for use with bamboo. Plyboo also makes a line of nontoxic plywood.

• Certification and label help.

With the mainstreaming of green building, new green labels abound at Greenbuild Expo — and at every home improvement store. But which ones mean anything? Dalrymple says keep in mind that a third-party rating, like Green Seal for paints, cleaners and other products, is likely to be more dependable than the “green this or green that” labels created in the marketing departments of home improvement companies. A growing legion of online help is available to sift out the scientific from the marketing messages.

Ecolabelling is a tool for anyone. It’s a nonprofit that tries to compile data on every green label in the world and tells you what the label is worth.

The so-called “Amazon.com of green building products,” Buildingease helps designers, contractors and others search for certified green products. Click on “3″ to find legitimate third-party green product ratings. It’s a one-stop portal for researching, rating and buying green building products at the lowest price.

Mick Dalyrmple, owner a.k.a. Green

The newest entry in online aid is GreenKonnect, a search engine built for the green building industry. The Beta version bowed at Greenbuild Expo.  Watch for the actual launch. Utilizing a database of LEED-certified building projects and green products used in LEED buildings, site organizers hope to become a first stop for architects, engineers and contractors planning projects for LEED certification or other types. It will be free to everyone at first. Later, manufacturers will pay, based on product sales.

Thousand of products and so little time. A solid two day’s of looking is on display at Greenbuild Expo. For detailed listings, visit the Greenbuild website.

Then, if you plan to transition into a green home, start small, says Dalrymple. “Buy a few low energy bulbs. See how you like it. Pretty soon you’ll be opening a green products store and wondering: why did I do that?”

(Kate Nolan writes about the environment and health in Phoenix. She worked formerly as areporter for The Arizona Republic; managing editor at Phoenix New Times and editor at Playboy.)

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Would you feel guilty if your toilet was “phantom flushing” or slowly leaking gallons of water a day?

Leak Alertor

We would, and we’d be concerned about the costs on our water bill too.

A Philadelphia-area company feels our pain. The company, nth Solutions, has invented the Leak Alertor to let you know when the water closet is out of control, so you can get in there and fix the flap or that other thinga-majig that makes the toilet behave.

Nth Solutions’ staff has done a lot of research on this topic of wasted water too. They report that at any given time, one in five toilets in the US is leaking. So in the US, where the residential person-to-commode ratio is pretty high, 50 million toilets might be silently leaking.

That info comes from the American Water Works Association, an industry association that is committed to clean, safe water (and a thriving water industry). If it’s true, and we’re guessing the AWWA is in a position to know, you can start to see why you might need a Leak Alertor.

Still, we asked Eric L. Canfield, president of nth Solutions, to give us a little more to go on and he did.

Leaking toilets, he said, are the number one cause of high water bills and the average leaking toilet can waste hundreds of gallons of water a day or enough to fill a couple swimming pools if left to leak away for a year or so.

Yikes, you’d have to take a lot of one-minute showers to pay back that water debt!

But, still, we respectfully prodded Canfield: Wouldn’t I know it if my toilet were leaking? Wouldn’t it wake me up at night with a faint little whiney sound?

No, he said, it wouldn’t necessarily alert you. (But the Leak Alertor would, with a little red light.) Many leaks are silent. Furthermore, he explained, many people with less than perfect hearing might not catch a leaky toilet, and others, who do hear that “phantom flush” misinterpret it and think all is well in water closet land.

And so, Canfield has the solution, a water-conserving, made-in-America solution that’s a bit of a hard sell in these times, but does only cost $19.95: The Leak Alertor, installable in less than a minute, without tools.

Who knew?

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

In 1995, The ULS (Use Less Stuff) Report developed a statistic that is frequently quoted to describe how much extra waste is generated between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day: 5 million tons. Use Less Stuff Day (the third Thursday of November) was created to educate people and help them reduce that waste.

Rather than declining, that number has grown by 20%, to 6 million tons. Obviously, Use Less Stuff Day hasn’t been a big enough event to get people into the conservation spirit. Starting this year, ULS is proclaiming the entire week before Thanksgiving (Nov. 19-25, 2009) to be Use Less Stuff Week.

According to Bob Lilienfeld, editor of The ULS Report, here are some reasons why people need to be more aware of waste during the holiday period:

• Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, Americans generate 25 percent more waste per week than during the rest of the year. This creates an additional 1.2 million tons per week, or an extra 6 million tons, for the holiday season.
• According to the USDA, Americans throw away 25 percent of food purchased — 52 billion pounds each year, or 170 pounds per person. When you add in food waste from restaurants, retailers and other commercial purveyors, the University of Arizona estimates that the real amount wasted is closer to 50 percent.
• If every American family reduced holiday gasoline consumption by just one gallon a week, the result would be an annual reduction in greenhouse gas production of 13 billion pounds (6.5 million tons) of carbon dioxide.
• If American households reduced their holiday ribbon usage by just 2 feet, the result would be a savings of 50,000 miles, enough ribbon to circle the Earth twice.

Where there’s a need, there’s a way. Turns out that the biggest number of ENERGY STAR homes are being built in steamy Sunbelt locations where keeping the AC under control is an urgent need.

The top market, with the most ENERGY STAR-qualified homes built since the program begin in 1995, is Houston, with 144,000 homes.

The next top cities with the most homes built to these guidelines include Dallas, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles, according to a list released by the EPA, which announced today that there are now 1 million ENERGY STAR-qualified homes in the US.

The ENERGY STAR program requires that buildings take extra steps to conserve energy by using sufficient insulation, a tight building envelop, high-rated windows and efficient heating and cooling systems, making them 15 to 30 percent more energy efficient than homes built to standard code.

Along with passing the 1 million mark, the ENERGY STAR “label” for homes is growing in popularity, said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

“This is an amazing achievement for the Energy Star program – but the real winners are the 1 million American families who have the chance to save money and keep harmful pollution out of the air. That’s great news for anyone who wants to cut costs and protect our planet,” Jackson said. “We’re going to keep the number of Energy Star homes growing, because every new Energy Star home is a step towards lower costs, cleaner air, and communities that are environmentally and economically sustainable. We’re giving everyday American homebuyers the power to lower their bills and join the fight against climate change.”

The EPA, which oversees ENERGY STAR, estimates that the existing ES-rated homes will save their owners, collectively, $270 million on their electric bills this year, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to operating 370,000 cars for the year.

The cities with the most Energy Star-qualified homes:

• Houston, TX (144,000)

• Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (103,000)

• Las Vegas, NV (80,000)

• Phoenix, AZ (73,000)

• Greater Los Angeles, CA (57,000)

• Greater New York, NY (25,000)

• Tucson, AZ (19,000)

• San Antonio, TX (19,000)

• Sacramento, CA (18,000)

• San Diego, CA (18,000)

• Columbus, OH (17,000)

• Des Moines, IA (16,000)

• Indianapolis, IN (14,000)

• Austin, TX (13,000)

• Greater Philadelphia, PA/Wilmington, DE (12,000)

• San Francisco-Oakland, CA (11,000)

• Boston, MA (10,000)

• Denver, CO (7,800)

• Orlando, FL (7,600)

• Oklahoma City, OK (7,500)

Want to know more? You can take a virtual tour of an ENERGY STAR home at the program’s website. You also can find an ENERGY STAR builder in your home state or city, using the website’s builder finder.

In Omaha, Neb., Travis Freeman is a bit of a local Christmas legend. Not only does he own and operate Brite Ideas Decorating – which specializes in both commercial and residential seasonal lighting – but he also is known for his efforts in putting together the Salvation Army’s  Tree of Lights, a big part of the local holiday landscape.

Omaha's Tree of Lights uses LEDs (Photo: Brite Ideas Decorating)

Christmas, of course, isn’t a famously “green” time of year, unless you are talking about the trees we cut down or the currency that seems to fly endlessly out of our wallets and purses. The spirit of the season almost insists that we throw caution (and energy) to the wind when it comes to fancying-up trees and winning the arms race on outdoor decorations.

For years, the Salvation Army was no different.

“When we had our tree outside the Crossroads Mall, Travis used incandescent lights on real evergreen trees offered each year by local residents…not very green!” recalls Susan Eustice, Divisional Director of Publications and Communications for the Salvation Army. “Travis encouraged us to think a bit more green…”

That process started about five years ago, when Freeman began to dabble in new kinds of lighting. This year, he may have outdone himself.

The 2009 Tree of Lights, made of metal, weighs more than 6,000 pounds, stands 75 feet tall, and will be illuminated by 55,000 lights and 100 starbursts. The 10-foot base features an additional 16,000 red and green lights, and the tree is topped by a star illuminated with another 2,500 lights.

An electric bill only Warren Buffett could afford?

Hardly. Freeman’s creation is built entirely with LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs. By his estimate, this year’s tree will use about 90 percent less energy than a similar display using traditional incandescent lighting.

“It takes about one-tenth the energy to run LED lights as it does incandescent lights,” he said. “It used to take 180 amps to run that tree. Now, the whole thing draws about 19 amps.”

When you go shopping for lights this season, you’ll find no shortage of LEDs vying for your attention, sitting on shelves right next to their incandescent brethren. Those boxes will tout savings of 80 percent or more over the older technology, an environmentally-friendly edge that could take some of the sting out of those post-holiday bills. Claims that the lights will burn twice as bright and last up to 20 years are pretty attractive, too.

The catch: A significant difference in your up-front costs.

Outdoor LED multi-colored lights

During an early November visit to a local home and garden store, we priced the incandescent mini lights we’ve used on our outdoor display in recent years against similar LEDs. A string of 100 incandescents  on a 25.5 foot length were offered at $4.99. A string of 60 warm white LED minis (20.33 feet) came in at $14.99.

Bottom line:  Making the switch is the “green” way to go on several fronts, but you’ll have to part with considerably with more cash up front to do so.

Bottom line 2: If you can pony up that cash, you’ll probably get your money back over the long haul…and maybe save yourself some other aggravations in the process.

Most folks are accustomed to trudging to the store in November after discovering that a significant number of last year’s strings mysteriously passed away in a closet, basement, or attic. And anyone who has known the joy of seeing that middle string on the tree burn out after the ornaments, tinsel, etc., have been added can appreciate the prospect of more dependable, longer-life lights.

While acknowledging the cost, Freeman says he is finding more and more customers willing to dig a little deeper on the short end.

“It’s an easier sell, because people are keeping their lights. They’re not throwing them away; they’re taking better care of them. With the old ones, they’d buy new lights every year. It’s not even worth it to keep them.”

Mindful of the price gap, some retailers are offering creative incentives. From Nov. 5-15, The Home Depot offered customers a $3 credit on old or broken strings (up to five redemptions) toward purchase of LED lighting. Online retailer HolidayLEDs.com offers a 15 percent discount for shoppers who send in their old strings to be recycled.

For those unfamiliar with the new kids on the illumination block, LEDs are a type of semiconductor that generates light when an electric current passes through positive and negative materials. Different colors and efficiency levels result from altering the composition of those materials. Early on, LEDs found applications in traffic lights, DVD players, cell phones and other electronic devices. Ongoing improvements in the technology are allowing LEDs to expand into new markets.

Today, LEDs seem to be leapfrogging compact fluorescent lights (CFL) as the next significant change in lighting technology. More than a year ago, lighting giant Philips announced it was shifting its focus from CFL to LED moving forward. Others seem to be following suit.

“We know the cost will come down and the technology will improve,” Kevin Dowling, vice president of innovation at Philips Color Kinetics, told the San Jose Mercury News.

While making the monetary commitment to LEDs can be a difficult call for the average consumer, manufacturers find themselves in a quandary as well.  Conventional business has been based on the assumption that customers need to replace bulbs regularly. Philips and others must weigh the advantages of cutting costs with the knowledge that better bulbs mean less frequent sales.

And, like hybrid cars, LED lighting is cutting edge, with all the good and bad that implies. Both have clear advantages, with a few bugs yet to be worked out.

Angel LED light (Photo: 1000Bulbs.com)

“The one thing, and it’s getting better, is the colors,” Freeman says. “Particularly with the whites and warm whites, it’s getting consistency. The reds, the blues, the greens are definitely better.”

Good enough that the citizens of Omaha will be getting an eyeful this holiday season.

“It’s an amazing tree,” Freeman says. “Every year, more and more people are attracted when we light it.”

This year, they’ll be seeing more than colors and holiday cheer. They might just be getting a glimpse of Christmas Future, too.

Copyright © 2008 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Looking to upgrade from your old, often unreliable incandescent Christmas lights to those cool, environmentally-friendly LED (light emitting diode) numbers you’ve heard so much about? The Home Depot is offering an incentive to do just that.

Between Nov. 5 and Nov. 15, you can redeem old or non-working Christmas lights and get a $3 off coupon toward the more energy-efficient LED string lights as part of the company’s second annual Christmas light trade-in. Customers are limited to five redemptions, and all of The Home Depot’s US stores are scheduled to participate.

LED lights cut energy use by about 80 percent over traditional incandescent string lights. They also are estimated to last up to 10 times longer.

So, what happens to your old lights after you part with them? According to The Home Depot Web site, here’s the recycling process:

• The light bulb coupler and the socket plug are manually clipped.
• Three byproducts result and four categories of raw materials.
• Each byproduct is independently shredded for separation, returning glass, HDPE plastics, and non-ferrous copper as well as ferrous steel.
• The prepared separated raw materials are then sent to licensed smelters for re-casting or re-molding, all in accordance with local, state and federal statutes.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

A field monitor checks a gas meter for leaks. (Photo: Department of Energy)

From Green Right Now Reports

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced today that the first installment of $123 million in federal Recovery funds for weatherization will begin to be released Nov. 2, part of $253 million that the state will use for this purpose.

The Governor said the funding represents an unprecedented level of investment that will help to create new, “green” jobs, save money for struggling families, and stimulate local economic activity as weatherization agencies buy required material, vehicles and equipment.

“The weatherization program stimulates the economy in several ways,” Gov. Rendell said in a statement. “It saves money on energy bills for people who need it the most, and keeps those dollars circulating in local communities because families will be able to spend more on food, clothing and other necessities. It also will create new jobs in the growing ‘green’ economic development sector.”

Pennsylvania’s allocation of $253 million for weatherization from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the fourth largest in the nation; only New York, Texas and Ohio received more. The money will be paid over three years.

Ohio technicians prepare to seal a roof prior to re-insulating an attic containing vermiculite. (Photo: Department of Energy)

In Ohio, the $266.8 million Recovery grant from the Weatherization Program is allowing the state to boost the energy efficiency of more than 32,000 homes. Adding insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment will reduce energy costs for Ohio homeowners by an average of 24 percent. In general, the Weatherization Program allows for an investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and is available to homeowners making approximately $44,000 a year for a family of four. The Department of has recognized Ohio as a leader in the weatherization program with 951 homes completed in July 2009.

Ohio allocated funds from the grant to local community agencies and other public and not-for-profit organizations. In addition, 54 independent contractors were hired to supplement existing contractors. It is estimated that by completion of the project at the end of March, 2012, 590 new positions will be created and 487 jobs retained.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has awarded $288 million in federal stimulus funding to 66 cities, counties, and eligible nonprofit organizations across the state to weatherize the homes of an estimated 40,000 low income Texans. Overall, the state received $326.9 in weatherization funds, the balance of which TDHCA will award in 2010.

The Recovery Act provided approximately $314 million more in funds than what Texas typically administers each year for weatherization activities. By comparison, the state annually weatherizes approximately 3,700 homes using current funding levels of approximately $13 million.

October, like many months, is stocked with special campaigns. As almost everyone knows, it is Breast Awareness and Diabetes Awareness Month (interesting duality there as we load up kids with Halloween sweets).

Lesser known commemorations: “Eat Country Ham Month” and “Vegetarian Month” — which weren’t well coordinated, eh?

Who knew that October also hosts National Weatherization Day, which is October 30? So as we prepare our haunted mansions, we might also consider those scary power bills to come after Hallows Eve.

Here are some ideas for tightening up our building “envelope”  from various sources, including the Cool Cities Home Audit Checklist:

• Seal up leaks. Double duh, but have you done it? Wherever you feel air seeping in, know that heated air can waft out. Cool Cities says stop door drafts with a draft stopper, or just put down a towel. For outside window frames, caulk is your best friend.

• Remember to set your hot water heater at 120 degrees. Excessive heating of water during cool months can needlessly hike up bills, and your carbon footprint. It’s like the phantom in the attic, or basement, keeping hot water at the ready — even when you don’t need it.

• Don’t just close off the chilly attic. Seal it off with foam weatherization tape, or buy or make an attic door cover.

• Close the drapes at night; open them to let the sun in during the day.

• Check your furnace filter monthly, and check the vents to make sure you’ve got good air flow. See the EPA’s Heat and Cool Smartly Guide for more.

• Remember to close that fireplace damper after the coals after burned out. An open fireplace literally sucks the warmth from your home, and that’s just ghoulish or foolish.

And if you’re making serious improvements, remember it’s not just solar panels that qualify for federal tax breaks. Windows, insulation, new furnaces — all that — can earn you some return at tax time. See the EnergyStar website for details on federal incentives. For more about insulation, see our story.

This year, too, environmental groups are jumping in to show that weatherization is not just for misers, it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions too. The Sierra Club has lined up business partners, energy service providers and town officials across the country for events highlighting the importance of making our homes energy efficient.

“Residential buildings are responsible for a staggering twenty percent of global warming pollution. Many families lose money on energy bills each month because their homes aren’t energy efficient,” says Sierra Club Clean Energy Solutions Representative Allison Forbes. “Weatherizing homes is one simple solution that will create thousands of good jobs, put money in the pockets of American families, and help fight global warming.”

Some of the events include:

• In Denver, the Sierra Club will celebrate the graduation of local workers from a weatherization training program offered by the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA).

• In Charlotte, North Carolina, volunteers will canvas neighborhoods, giving  low-income and elderly residents information about weatherizing and how it can help them save on energy costs.

• In Detroit, Sierra Club will participate in a “utilities summit” for residents to learn about government assistance available for retrofitting homes. The city has funding set aside to upgrade about 4,000 homes in this city where nearly 40 percent of the population is now below the poverty level.

For more info about how to reduce household energy bills, see Sierra’s weatherization webpage.

Ornamental gourds (Photo: Cooksgarden.com)

If you’ve cruised the produce section at the grocery lately, you probably stopped to eye the small, colorful, oddball gourds near the pumpkins and winter squash.

You might have seen the Shenot crown of thorns, looking like a squash-like starfish (below right); the winged gourd, the mini red Turban (reminding one of a very small pumpkin with a bigger pumpkin hat), and the golf ball-sized prickles, which might make you think twice before touching them.

Shenot Crown of Thorns (Photo: Reimerseeds.com)

Autumn’s wee ornamental gourds have been staples of the harvest for many years, but time and hybridizing has produced smaller, wackier (or more beautiful, depending on your perspective) ones.

We’re talking about the colorful, warty gourds in the Curcubit family (which includes squash, pumpkins and cucumbers), not their bigger, more utilitarian cousins, hardshell gourds.

Those larger hardshells have been used for thousands of years as practical tools – spoons, dippers, bowls – as well as birdhouses, masks, pipes and even musical instruments. Throughout the centuries, artists have turned Lagenaria gourds into fascinating works of art. (Check out a sampling of some.)

But for now, we’re talking about mini-gourds such as the multi-colored eggs, the Ten Commandments, apple gourds and the huggable wooly bear.

Mini Red Turban gourds (Photo: Johnneyseeds.com)

“Think of them as cucumbers with an attitude,” Judi Fleming said. She is the point person for the American Gourd Society when it comes to talking about tiny gourds.

“I have noticed the trend of the last 10 years: The traditional bi-color pears, egg gourds, spoon gourds and crown of thorns have given way to the more popular angel wings and warty gourds,” she said.

If you buy some shiny (that’s because of a coat of white varnish or shellac) mini gourds at the grocery store, don’t think about eating them. Unlike other popular edible winter squash, such as butternut and acorn, you have missed the window of opportunity for eating small gourds.

“All gourds are edible in their young stages,” Fleming said. “In fact, most European and Asian cultures think we Americans are strange in that we let our gourds get old and hard. The ornamentals can have a slightly bitter taste.”

(OK, you can bake the tiny orange or white pumpkins if you want.)

The big question: Are they organic?

Maybe, maybe not.

Organic gourds are more likely to come from your local farmer’s market rather than the big grocery store.

Whole Foods’ produce expert James Parker spoke to a company representative, saying that they buy locally grown squash and gourds when possible, “to get them to market quicker. But they can come from anywhere.”

Prickles gourds (Photo: Johnnyseeds.com)

Right now, Whole Foods’ gourds are mostly from Indiana, North Carolina and California. “There are dozens (if not hundreds) of gourd varieties produced throughout the U.S. Some of the more common have simple names that match up with there general shape and color: apple, orange, pear, spoon, warty and egg.

“Unfortunately, the organic availability tends to be spotty, and very much local,” he told the representative.

“Yes, they can be grown organically. Any agricultural product can be produced organically if it is in compliance with the National Organic Standards,” said Miles McEvoy, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program. Large producers of small gourds would “have to get certification from an accredited certification agency if they sold more than $5,000 of organic products.”

Growing large numbers of these gourds can be tricky, which could be one reason lots of commercial producers don’t go organic. The gourds can fall victim to a variety of bugs and disease.

Their mortal enemies come under many names: striped or spotted cucumber beetles, squash bugs, aphids and the dreaded squash vine borer. Then there are the diseases: bacterial wilt, mosaic virus, mildew and others. Fruit rot is also a problem.

Plus, since most colorful little gourds are used as decorative items, there is probably a lower demand that they be organic.

Ten Commandments gourds (Photo: Reimerseeds.com)

But you can grow them organically.

The experts at Organic Gardening magazine say all gourds can be grown organically.

“Gourds, squash and pumpkins grow very well organically. There are many certified organic seed providers, and although insect pests sometimes pose a problem, it is easy to take care of them organically.”

The gourds fare best in warm climates, but they can grow in cooler climates as well. They must be planted immediately after the final frost. The magazine’s editors advised using row covers over the plants in the first month or so, until they’re sturdy, then remove the row covers and use soapy water or a hard water spray to zap the pests.

“Gourds, squash and pumpkins are some of the plants most susceptible to absorbing and retaining pesticides, so it is especially important that they are grown organically,” said a representative from the magazine.

Wooly Bear gourd (Photo: Johnnyseeds.com)

“Plants that are shipped across the country can leave a huge carbon footprint, even if they are grown organically, so ask your grocer if their gourds are organic,” they add. If not, find a local organic farmer, they suggest.

A few tips for growing gourds:

First, they take a while to grow, and they can’t survive the first frost of fall, so very cold climates won’t suit them. They are slow growers, and they’re big and sprawling, so you need to give them plenty of room. They prefer bees for pollination.

If you need advice on growing them organically, the USDA has many resources on their website. The American Gourd Society has a cornucopia of information and links for gourd growers.

Interestingly, a Whole Foods representative said that this year, the small ornamentals haven’t been selling as well as in previous years. Plus, the grocery chain has seen an uptick in sales of the larger, hardshell gourds, such as the gooseneck and the snake.

Psyched up to get some gourds? Hurry, because after Thanksgiving they’ll vanish.

Autumn Wings blend of gourds (Photo: Johnnyseeds.com)

Resources:

Cooks Garden

Reimer Seeds

JohnnySeeds

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