Green Living

Energy Use of Household Appliances

Green Living

We’ve been putting our energy-savings plan into action over the last couple of weeks. We accepted the challenge to try and conserve energy, and then we outlined a specific plan of attack designed around getting the most bang for the buck. It took a little bit of effort to figure out where our savings could [...]

28 November 2007 Read the full article →

Our energy-savings plan

Green Living

This is a follow up to my earlier post about my family’s goal to conserve energy around the house – and my challenge to you to do the same. We’ve had a chance to review how much energy our various appliances use, and we’ve built a game-plan we think will help us reach our 10% [...]

19 November 2007 Read the full article →

My family’s attempt to conserve energy – and our challenge to you.

Green Living

I’ve said before that one person cannot effect meaningful change by himself. I could stop driving my car, install solar panels on my house, and begin harvesting rainwater, but none of that would make a bit of difference to the greater Phoenix area. The key to change is to have many people make a little [...]

15 November 2007 Read the full article →

Solar powered homes selling quickly

Green Living

Need proof that there’s more public support than ever for environmentally friendly homes? Clarum Homes is building a community of 47 zero-energy homes in Menlo Park, California. They began selling these homes this summer, and have already sold 44 of the 47! As a community, Menlo Park’s real estate market is trending downward, but is [...]

12 November 2007 Read the full article →

Water-Wise Landscaping in the Arizona Desert

Green Living

Tomorrow evening Peoria’s Water Resources and Conservation Division is offering a free tutorial on how an interactive CD-ROM can help residents incorporate water conservation into their landscaping. They will provide all attendees with a copy of the “Water-Wise Landscaping in the Arizona Desert” CD-ROM, which enables users to search an extensive plant database, tour Arizona [...]

24 October 2007 Read the full article →

Green Living takes effort but can be rewarding

Green Living

Business Week had a cover story this week about corporations being environmentally friendly, titled ‘Little Green Lies’. We’ve written about “green living” numerous times during the last year. I’m a big believer in the power of numbers – I can go completely “off the grid”, but it wouldn’t have much of an impact on the [...]

23 October 2007 Read the full article →

The Low-Down on Tankless Water Heaters

Green Living

My sister’s water heater just died on her this week, so she’s been researching the advantages and costs of transitioning to a tankless water heater.  If you’ve been thinking about switching to one when your water heater poops out, here’s some basic info to think about. Advantages: 1.  Tankless water heaters only heat water as [...]

26 June 2007 Read the full article →

Death – The Ultimate in Recycling

General Musings

Catchy, eh? I was watching a program yesterday on the death rituals of Tibetan Buddhism and couldn’t help but agree with their philosophy on the body after death.  Now, I’m not an expert in Buddhism by any means, so hopefully I understood their beliefs correctly - they believe that once the soul leaves the body, the [...]

23 June 2007 Read the full article →

Thinking About a Greywater System?

Green Living

Greywater systems are not widely used here in Phoenix, but could provide a fantastic opportunity for water re-use and conservation here in the dry Phoenix desert.  Greywater systems re-use water from your shower, laundry, sinks and dishes (pretty much everything except the toilet), rather than sending it down the sewer system.  The most common use of greywater is [...]

24 May 2007 Read the full article →

New advances give Solar Energy time to shine

Green Living

Changes in progress do not happen in a straight line, a-little-at-a-time, fashion. They tend to happen in spurts, or even quantum leaps. And it doesn’t matter what industry, or what technology we’re talking about. Someone will have an idea and create an industry-changing product (or create a whole new industry). Soon everyone scrambles to adapt [...]

23 April 2007 Read the full article →

Glendale Updating Street Light Technology

Green Living

When I was an undergrad at the University of Arizona in the late ’80s, there was a lot of talk about Low Pressure Sodium lights. (These are the darker, yellowish, not-so-bright streetlights that you see in some parts of town.) Everybody was talking about how great they were, well mostly my professors and some newspaper [...]

18 April 2007 Read the full article →