Archive for April, 2009

What Green Vehicle Does America Want?

Green vehicles and technologies have been in the news and on a lot of people's minds recently.  However, no one seems to have the same definition of the term.  Is a vehicle green merely because it is small, light, and extremely fuel efficient, or does it need to use alternate fuel sources or have other really ground breaking technologies to qualify. Really, it just depends on who you ask.  Different people want different things out of their vehicles, and there are many different shades of green.  That means that automakers can't please everyone with one design.  They're going to need to think about the vehicles they're producing and the demographic they want to target. For some of us, a higher miles per gallon rating on a vehicle is enough to make it qualify as green.  If you're in this camp, a hybrid gasoline-electric vehicle or a car that's simple small and light.  Some are big fans of the newer diesel cars and trucks, which get higher mileage rating and produce much less in the way of emissions. Others of us feel that these vehicles are too much ...

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it

Population Control - Ultimate Greening

Population control is a controversial issue, and it's one that many people have really strong opinions on.  However, population control doesn't have to be a hot button issue.  It's relatively simple - if you're not sure you want to be a parent, or the reasons you're planning on having children are due mostly to social pressure, maybe you should reconsider.  Kids are very important, and it's important for their parents to know they want them and know they can take care of them.  After all, raising another human being is resource intensive! A single child in the United States is responsible for a lot of carbon emissions, power usage, food consumption and other influences on our world.  Every one of us has a big impact, and the larger our families, the more we add to the strain of our global ecosystem.  It's true for many other countries, too.  The average Australian will generate nearly nine hundred tons of carbon in his or her lifetime, and to offset the amount of CO2 generated by a child watching three hours of television daily until the age of eighteen, more than two hundred tress would need to be planted. The waste generated by our children ...

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it

Cooling Food Without Electricity

Most of us are used to having a refrigerator in our homes to keep food and drinks safely cool.  However, people throughout the centuries didn't have these appliances to keep their food in good condition.  There are ways to keep food cool enough to be safe for eating, and you don't need to power them with electricity. They may not be as cold as an electric refrigerator in some cases, especially when it's extremely hot outside.  Whether you're trying to reduce your electricity use, or you're in a situation where power isn't available, here's some information about refrigerating without electricity. The vast majority of non-electric cooling methods use evaporation to keep food at a comfortable temperature.  Working a lot like evaporative air conditioning, these methods have been used for a long time.  One common type is a pot in pot fridge, also called a Zeer pot.  These devices were invented in the mid 1990s to provide cheap, efficient cooling in areas without access to electricity, such as Nigeria.  However, they're using principles that have been around in a long time. To make one of these "fridges", you'll need two unglazed pots made from ...

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it