Go Greener Tips

Declare Your Independence From The Grid

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:11:31 +0000

Say goodbye to electric bills and hello to renewable energies. Solar power is one of the best and most reliable renewable energy sources available. The problem most novice environmental warriors find is that the cost of professionally installed solar power systems is way beyond their budget and it could take well over 10 years to see a return on their investment.

Never fear, there are alternatives. The most cost-effective way to take advantage of the power of the sun is to build solar panels on your own.

Sound like too much? If you are scared it would be difficult, it is just not true. It is easy to build solar panels with the proper instructions. Easy enough for kids, teens and adults. The parts aren’t complicated either. Most of the supplies you would need to build solar panels are available at your local hardware store or you can purchase a solar panel kit, which will include all the parts you require to be generating your own energy from the sun. It is possible to construct several small solar panels to power small appliances or small tools in your workshop. Or for the very adventurous and determined alternative energy seeker, you could build solar panels to service a much larger electric load.

There are many resources and guides available with detailed instructions on how to build solar panels. The first and most important step is to seek out quality detailed instructions. Then it is off to your local hardware store to find or order your supplies and next thing you know, or the next time you have some free time, you will be able to assemble and install the system yourself. Watch out though, the neighbors may start asking you to build solar panels for them too.

Not only is it going to save you money to build solar panels yourself, but you can feel proud that you are doing your part for the environment as well. Declaring your independence from fossil fuels and making a much-needed impact on the world and in your neighborhood.

Professional solar power systems can cost thousands to be installed and in today’s economy most of us don’t have money to spare. Make the choice to go solar today and learn to build solar panels on your own. It will be savings you can be proud of.

Declare Your Independence From The Grid is a post from: Go Greener Tips

Greening Up Your IT Department

admin — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:21:27 +0000

We all want to improve our environment, and especially now, we want to be more conscientious of how our actions affect our planet. Taking simple steps in your place of business is no different than making steps at home. It is all a matter of paying attention to what you have and how you will use it or even dispose of it. This is especially true for IT departments that are faced with recycling computers, printers, telephones and other electronic equipment that can be hazardous to the environment.

To start making improvements to your IT department, you may want to create a baseline report demonstrating your current carbon footprint. By starting with a baseline you can then make decisions regarding priorities and cost. In creating your baseline report you can follow these steps:

1. Energy Consumption Report - How much energy does all of the electrical equipment in your department use on an annual basis? You can find industry averages through the Department of Energy.

In addition to the energy consumed when operating the PC, take into account the heating, cooling, and ventilation requirements necessary to operate your network. This can account for a major source of green impact. According to IDC, 48 cents of every dollar spent on a new server goes to power and cooling.

2. Disposal Practices - What are your current hardware disposal practices? Does your organization utilize a certified PC recycler, who ensures toxic and hazardous materials inside the PC or monitor are disposed of properly? Do you participate in the server manufacturer's disposal program where parts are returned to them for reuse whenever possible? Account for resale or donation programs as well in your catalog.

3. Hardware Lifecycle and Acquisitions - The final step in creating your baseline is to catalog your acquisition and PC lifecycle practices. Understanding the average lifespan of a PC in your organization will help to determine how to consider the environmental impact of manufacturing a PC. Note the average refresh cycle of your organization's desktop, as well as the current lifespan of servers. Include any significant upgrade or replacement plans in the next 12 to 24 months. In this step also take note of any consideration your organization gives to green manufacturing practices during the purchasing process.

Once you have created your baseline report, you can begin to outline objectives on how to improve your department. On objective may be to replace desktop units with those that operate with more energy efficiency. In the past IT has been faced with an either-or decision regarding PC power management.

Desktop managers needed access to networked PCs for general maintenance and urgent security updates. Inconsistencies between
operating systems and software applications or network security issues made waking machines from a lower power setting such as sleep or hibernate inconsistent and unreliable. Conservative estimates put wasted energy consumption of unused computers at a third of the overall consumption.

Second, ensuring proper disposal and recycling of the insides of your IT hardware is an important environmental tactic. More than
1,000 chemicals used during electronics production are considered health hazards or toxins. According to a recent e-Week article, these toxins, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems and other illnesses.

Third, using battery free or rechargeable batteries in your mice can also help with this disposal problem. Each year, Americans throw away 84,000 tons of alkaline batteries. These AA, C and D cells that power electronic toys and games, portable audio equipment and a wide range of other gadgets comprise 20% of the household hazardous materials present around the country in America's landfills.

Last, reviewing your current recycle and disposal program to ensure that all recyclable parts are returned to the manufacturer, and that equipment bound for disposal is not sent to countries with less-stringent regulation is another green strategy that has significant impact and is easy to implement.

Any of the above steps or objectives along with objectives you might discover that will help your IT department become more environmentally conscientious will be of help, no matter how large or small. It just starts with a plan.

Greening Up Your IT Department is a post from: Go Greener Tips

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Small Lifestyle Changes Make a Big Difference: Going Green

admin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:41:28 +0000

There are plenty of things you can do as an individual, and a household, that can reduce the damage done to our environment.

The most effective changes you can make to your lifestyle begin, as all the best things do, at home, and the best part is these changes require nothing more than small alterations to your normal routine. The best way to start is to cut down on your energy uses. There are a variety of ways to do this, but start by always ensuring that appliances that are not in used are switched off at the plug – stand-by is not your friend. The same goes for lighting – if you're not in the room, switch the light off.

You can also save water and energy by only boiling as much water as you need. A good way to do this is to fill whatever mug you're going to use with cold water, put it in the kettle, half fill the mug again and add this, and boil. You need slightly more than a full cup as boiling produces steam and causes evaporation. On the same water-saving vein, having a bath is far more eco-friendly than using a shower.

Other small changes that will drastically reduce your energy consumption include relying less on heating – if you're just a bit chilly, put a jumper on rather than reaching for the dial. And for whatever heating you do use, if you foil back your radiators, you will get more heat into the room for the same energy use.

Outside of the home there are still plenty of options. Check and see if your bank or telecoms provider offers paperless billing. This usually means your bill is sent in full to an email account and this is turn really helps the environment. It is also worth investing in some sturdy, long-term canvas bags to use while shopping for groceries – the carrier bag is one of the worst eco-enemies in use today. Complete eradicate it from your weekly shop and your carbon footprint will go into freefall.

The last, and perhaps most obvious, green friendly tip is the three Rs: recycle, recycle, recycle. Separate all your waste products in their appropriate places, so instead of just putting it all in one bin, split it into categories like food waste, garden waste and plastic and then send it to be recycled.

When it comes to being eco friendly, small changes to one person's habits can make a huge difference to the earth.

Small Lifestyle Changes Make a Big Difference: Going Green is a post from: Go Greener Tips

The Appliance of Green Science

admin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:39:18 +0000

You don't have to just watch information about being eco-friendly, in the developing green world the very appliances you get your TV fix from can be green themselves.

For every appliance you currently have in home, there is a green counter-part out there somewhere. Everything from televisions, through fridges and microwaves, to computers can be given a green stamp of approval thanks to great initiative eco inventor. It is now more possible than ever to enjoy and profit from the technological age without hurting the environment.

The majority of green appliances work on the basis that they consume far less power than their standard rivals. With a basic appliance, up to 50% of the power available can be being used even if the appliance itself is turned off or on the dreaded stand-by. Green appliances are designed to counteract this, some reducing their energy consumption – when compared to non-eco items – by up to 60%. The less power used, the less of a strain on the planet's resources, and this can only be a good thing.

There is even the option to eliminate your reliance on electricity and energy totally by replacing certain items for those that use an entirely different source of energy. There is now a multitude of solar-power and wind-up electronics available, from torches to radios, and even mobile phone charges. At present there is no way of fully running a major domestic appliance from solar or wind up energy, but considering the huge leaps in innovation from green inventors in recent years, it is surely only a matter of time.

Becoming eco-friendly can sometimes to be kind to the environment but not to your wallet. Although it's easy to understand why people may assume purchasing green-specific electronics would be more expensive, this isn't actually the case. Most appliances are the same price and provide the same features with only a small difference in price. However, this can be saved on your energy bills as you will be using less power in the long run thanks to the unique design of green electronics, so you will actually save more in the long run. Helping you to save the world and to save a few pounds into the bargain.

The Appliance of Green Science is a post from: Go Greener Tips

Solar and Wind Power – Renewable Energy Systems

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:27:17 +0000

Excess0Energy asked:

Solar Thermal Energy and Photovoltaic Solar Panel and Wind Turbine systems. Complete Grid-Tie and Off-Grid Battery Backup Systems. Integrating Renewable Energy Systems since 1985 in Ontario Canada. Worldwide Sales of complete package Wind/Solar and Battery Systems.

Kansieo.com

Solar and Wind Power – Renewable Energy Systems is a post from: Go Greener Tips

Renewable Energy

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:23:07 +0000

rockinrapunzel asked:

video i made for science about renewable energy, energy transfers and electricity. Using funky music from the apples in stereo. In memory of Treacle the hamster who has passed away. Oakmeeds

Caffeinated Content - Members-Only Content for WordPress

Renewable Energy is a post from: Go Greener Tips

MIT Clean Tech/GABA Lecture with Dr. Hermann Scheer

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:38:33 +0000

Google asked:

Business Association of California, Inc. and the MIT Club of Northern California Clean Technology Program invite you to this joint event. Towards Energy Autonomy New Politics for Renewable Energy. This is also the topic of Hermann Scheer's latest book. Hermann Scheer will discuss how policy models fostering renewable energy can pave the way for energy autonomy. He will also discuss the current trends regarding the upcoming review of the German EEG (feed-in-tariff) which is due by the end ...

renewable energy

MIT Clean Tech/GABA Lecture with Dr. Hermann Scheer is a post from: Go Greener Tips

House Of Your Dream

Green Tipster — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:19:09 +0000

Convert sawdust into heat.
What about starting your dawn with such “tempting” physical exercises as chopping wood? I don’t afraid resisting my laziness in this case because this activity is to my liking, I should say. Precisely for me chopping wood can be considered to be my own kind of sport activity. But in fact I should confess that this sport activity can only be a kind of hobby because when taking into account the fact that we live in the world where various alternative sources of energy have become available. As for me chopping wood is only a sort of physical relaxation. But at the same time the entire system of my home heating is completely based on the application of wood pellets as my primary fuel. By the way I’ve got a great variety of wood logs around my cottage. Furthermore my garden is full of trees. This means that by means of my wood processing machinery I can process wood from the trees of my garden. By the way my axe is a pretty good tool to hew my trees. My muscles always wait for some pretty physical practice.

By the way you might have encountered my website devoted to my chopping wood. On this website you can hire me to hew trees in your garden and perform other wood processing procedures. It goes without saying that I want to get some cash for my job. But in fact money can’t be considered to be very essential in this case for me. When engaged in chopping and hewing it’s quite possible for me to perceive my entire body as the knot of tough muscles. Moreover I feel myself as an entirely happy being hugged by my beloved nature. As for me working with my axe in the forest is more preferable to compare with my everyday chopping in my garden.

It’s clear that my hewing results in dumps of sawdust. Wise people know that this stuff can be effectively used for heating my home in winter. I have already told you above that I’ve got a piece of wood processing machinery at home. This means it’s possible for me to produce wood pellets using tons of sawdust as the raw material. By the way I own a nice wood pellet stove. I charge this lovely heating device with wood pellets made by me. Thank to this heating device I can enjoy the warmth of my native home. It goes without saying that wood pellets burn with rather a sufficient combustion efficiency. This environmentally friendly fuel doesn’t pollute nature. This fact is to my liking, certainly because I like the surrounding environment more than anything in the world. I think you should also purchase this device for heating your home nest.

It is truly fantastic how gifted we get when the time comes to be more well-balanced about energy. The energy crisis that is promised to ahead pushed lots of people to inventing new ways of taking care of energy issues. One of them - wood pellets which are really great and ecologically smart.

Find out more about how easy the switch on wood pellets can be, and how it can help many people round the globe. For the
insight and inspiration about wood pellets, please go to this web site.

House Of Your Dream is a post from: Go Greener Tips

Friendly Devices At Home

Green Tipster — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:16:33 +0000

Your eco friendly fireplace.
It’s not a secret that winter will appear in a couple of weeks. This means that it’s your concern to prepare for the most terrible season in the world in advance. Of course you know that in the nearer past different “dirty” sources of energy were primarily used for heating human homes. I mean such substances as oil, gas, coal and wood. But to my great joy an era has already come and now it’s not advisable to use those conventional sources of energy mentioned above. By the way many people advise to start actively using electrical heating because it’s often supposed to relatively be eco – friendly. But in this case there’s one serious shortcoming I should say. Do you know that electricity is rather expensive to be used for heating? From my point of view electrical heating can only be used by relatively wealthy people.

It goes without saying that this economic downtime is extremely hard for many people. Many people have already gone broke unfortunately. As for me my personality isn’t going to give up. I’m an optimist I should say, because I know for sure that this terrible economic crisis will disappear soon. You only need to wait for some time.

But for a while you should forget about this economic disaster. Now let’s think about the prospects of heating your home with new alternative sources of energy. So this time to use eco friendly sources of energy has finally come. Now let’s call those magic things. Certainly I mean wood and corn pellets. Besides this you should also know about the existence of special devices to burn this stuff for your sake. I’m talking about specialized pellet stoves and various inserts to be put into your old fashioned fireplace. It goes without saying that that you’ve got a complete right to make your choice acceding to your specific preferences and requirements.

I know for sure that in there’s a charming old fashioned fireplace in your living room. When taking into account our current economic disaster it’s not difficult to predict the gradual extinction of such ancient devices in the nearer future. The matter is that such devices aren’t longer effective to my great regret. It’s because they consume a large volume of wood and at the same time they fail to give you enough warmth. Thank God now it’s quite possible to upgrade your fireplace with the help of special additional devices which are pellet inserts. These inserts are extremely effective because they use this eco friendly fuel mentioned above. Moreover they are easy to install, so you can insert them by yourself without somebody’s help. Of course if you don’t intend using your fireplace any more then you can buy a special pellet stove.

In the list of different energy saving alternatives, we seriously recommend you to read more about wood pellets.

This is a short list of benefits of using wood pellets. They are not high-tech; they do not need huge investments into fancy "machinery"; they are ecological in the heart of it. Please invest 5 minutes of your time into learning more about wood pellets - it is really important now.

Friendly Devices At Home is a post from: Go Greener Tips

Biomass Energy Is The Best Gift Of Nature

Green Tipster — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:04:26 +0000

Biomass is beneficial.
Consumers in many countries have already switched to alternative forms of energy. This is facilitated by environmental conditions as well as prices for oil and oil products and gas with coal. Moreover don’t forget about the progressive depletion of fossil fuel resources. This means that they are going to disappear very soon. It goes without saying that the quantity of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases with each passing day, as in the past two centuries as an energy source fossil fuels were used. As a result there’s an increase in annual emissions of CO2. For example in 2007, the emissions reached up to 44 billion tons and among them 26 billion tons was the result of our using conventional sources of energy.

The fertile material of plant origin is the natural replacement of fossil fuel resources. For example, vegetable oil and cereals are the raw material for biodiesel and bioethanol. And there’s a byproduct of this production which is the biological gas. Besides this pellets are worth of your attention. They are the product of granulated wood waste and other agricultural waste such as chips, shavings, sawdust, cereal straw, sunflower husks and so on.

The heat derived of pellet combustion and coal combustion can be considered to be almost identical, but the combustion of pellets gives carbon dioxide emissions by 10-50 times less and the formation of ash by 15-20 times less to compare with coal. Thus pellets as are more rational to use in comparison with coal.

Any company that has a constant access to wood waste can produce pellets and gain additional profits. As for the production of wood pellets in the industrial scale I can say that for this purpose the following raw materials are used such as sawn wood, pieces of wood with the presence of bark and much more. The production capacity of these lines is 500 kg / hour. But this is only the initial rate. If required it will be possible to produce pellets with the rate of 1000 kg / hour.

The raw material for the production of wood pellets should be clean. You can also use wood with bark but you should realize that pellets with bark won’t be praised too much. Pellets of this material are in demand for enterprises around the world. The lowest percentage of ash in pellets his achieved by a slight content of the cortex. They are considered to be a premium product and they are suitable for using even in domestic boilers. Thus the market for these products becomes wider. So as you can see you’ll get plenty of opportunities when dealing with wood pellets no matter whether you are going to be a consumer or producer. The main thing is that you’ll be rewarded with certain benefits.

Among many energy saving alternatives, we seriously recommend you to read more about wood pellets.

Just a short list of advantages of using wood pellets. They are not sophisticated; they do not need huge investments into fancy equipment; they are ecological in the heart of it. Please invest part of your time into reading more about wood pellets - it is really important now.

Biomass Energy Is The Best Gift Of Nature is a post from: Go Greener Tips