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Happy Earth Day everyone! What have you done for the earth lately? We should thank the earth for providing us with our beautiful home by doing something to help save the environment. Now that everyone has insulted their homes, or are planning on doing so, what’s another step to save energy and money?

This next solution is much easier than insulting your home and will save a large amount of energy. All you have to do is replace your regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs. These bulbs use 60-80% less energy than incandescent light bulbs. Besides using substantial less energy, these CFLs last 6 to 15 times longer than their incandescent counterparts. The average light bulb lasts about 1,000 hours, in comparison to the CFLs that lasts 6,000 to 15,000 hours.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs have improved with technology as well. They were often known for buzzing, flickering, and unpleasant light but recently they’ve had better light quality, emitting a “soft white” light, and can be used in dimming fixtures.

Over time these CFLs will save the user $30 in it’s life, and up to 2000 times it’s own weight in greenhouse gas emissions. Making the switch is easy, and considering the energy savings, everyone should make this change. Transitioning to a more sustainable lifestyle is an individual responsibility that will greatly benefit our Earth, so what better day to start than today, Earth Day!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/green-basics-compact-fluorescent...

With summer’s sweltering temperatures right around the corner, homeowners should be looking to invest in insulating their home to make the next few months more comfortable and enjoyable. There’s nothing worse then being outside in 90-degree temperatures and then coming home to an even hotter house.

The savings from insulation vary depending on how much of the house is insulated, and how much is installed in each area. Regardless, you are looking at anywhere from 30 to 70 percent in savings, and an all around better living environment. With a fully insulated house (including the roof and floors), and weather stripping around windows and doors, you’re basically looking at no air infiltration.

If you are living in an older home and haven’t upgraded your insulation, you will receive the most payback for your money. The insulation will pay for itself in five or six years, and with some insulation, you’ll never have to replace it.

In a properly insulated house there is less need for heating and cooling energy, which eventually will save tremendous amounts of non-renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Just imagine if every poorly insulted house got the proper insulation, the amount of non-renewable sources we would save. While were talking about environmental issues, if you choose a green company like JoeGreen, you’ll be using insulation made from renewable resources and without formaldehyde. Recycled newspaper is used in cellulose thermal insulation and spray foam insulation is sugar cane based.

Have you ever wondering where your old computers, phones, and other electronics go to be recycled? In reality, a lot of electronic waste, or “e-waste," is not recycled at all. It is simply shipped over to developing countries such as China, Ghana, and Vietnam. The number of countries with e-waste sites is increasing, along with the amount of e-waste being imported.

In many cases, in America and in other countries, people bring their electronics to a company, believing that their computer or other device will be melted down completely with only precious metal scraps left behind. In actuality many of these companies are shipping large amounts of used electronics over seas to be handled by other countries. This is the cheap and easy alternative to disposing of these electronics safely. Although countries like China set up laws to ban e-waste, the trash still ends up in massive dumping grounds like the one in Guiya; a city in China that has been built around the e-waste trade.

The dumping grounds are a dangerous area where plastics are being burned; their fumes and chemicals fill the air and pollute the water. Even more damaging is what goes on behind closed doors. People, usually women, are cooking circuit boards to extract precious metals. All day, everyday, these women are working unprotected, breathing in toxic fumes from the melted lead.

Not only is this devastating industry harming the health of millions of individuals and polluting our planet, it has another effect on Americans that might hit closer to home. Many of the computers that are being shipped abroad arrive in the hands of the buyer with an intact hard drive that is theirs for the browsing. Any information that was on your hard drive before it’s disposal, is fully accessible for those who know how to reach it. Along with pictures and other personal data, financial data has been discovered and used to access people’s bank accounts and steal their identification.

A group of graduate journalism students from the University of British Columbia have traveled to Ghana, China and India to explore and document this industry. They provide us with an educational video with surprising information and graphics that is worth watching. It ends on a more positive note with a recycling plant in India that was built to handle India’s growing amount of e-waste safely and environmentally.

A businessman in India notes that he believes safe recycling will be a growing industry because eventually the government will have to regulate e-waste more strictly. U.S.’s regulations on e-waste are unclear, leaving it up to companies to handle the recycling. Safe recycling companies won’t come cheap, but they are something worth investing in now to slow the hazardous effects of e-waste.

http://webecoist.com/2009/11/28/trashy-times-where-do-recycled-gadgets-r...

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/video/video_index.html

American Council on Renewable Energy, or ACORE, has updated an interactive report: Renewable Energy in America. The report provides a summary of each state’s status on the implication of renewable energy. It includes information on installed and planned capacity, markets, economic development, resource potential, and policy.

The report states that Massachusetts has become an early leader in clean energy research and innovation. A combination of investments from the private sector and policy measures, such as the new target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, make us one of the leading states in energy efficiency. We are host to multiple renewable energy resources, including off shore wind, wave and tidal power. There are obstacles in the way of reaching utility-scale renewable energy projects such as siting concerns, unclear permitting requirements, and unclear interconnection standards.

Cape Wind became the first offshore wind farm in the United States to receive all required permits in January 2011. The project will produce up to 420 MW when complete. Massachusetts is also developing an R&D program to reduce the cost of offshore wind.

We are also taking many other initiatives as a state to increase the amount of clean energy usage. In February 2011, the Patrick-Murray Administration highlighted $9 million in investments in 45 clean energy projects to be implemented in cities and towns throughout Massachusetts. These projects are truly impressive; while greatly increasing clean energy they have also employed over 250 people and are expected to yield approximately 8.6 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity, producing enough energy to power and heat nearly 1,000 New England homes annually.

BPA or Bisphenol A is a dangerous chemical found in many household items, including food packaging. It is a plastics ingredient found in plastic food containers, baby bottles, and in the lining of canned foods, beverages, and infant formula. When released from the plastic, this chemical mimics the hormone estrogen and can cause developmental problems, brain damage and cancer.

According to new research BPA has been found in more than 90% of Americans. One scientist said BPA is excreted by the liver from the body within 6 hours, but there is controversy in the scientific world over this claim. Some say this study wasn't sensitive enough, and the liver doesn't actually remove all BPA before it reaches the blood. The risk of exposure to BPA and the chance of it getting in our bloodstream is greater than previously thought.

Don't take the risk of being exposed to high levels of BPA! Look for alternatives, instead of getting canned items get powdered baby formula, fresh or frozen vegetables, bags of dried beans, soups in glass or cardboard containers, and stainless steel reusable water bottles. All these options are friendlier on the environment too! Also, avoid putting plastic in the microwave, transfer the food into glass or ceramic instead.

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/09/20/20greenwire-study-human-exposure...

http://www.naturalnews.com/030869_BPA_exposure.html