Green Environment Initiatives

Today we are hearing more and more about communities that are “going green.” For some communities, this effort to become more energy efficient is easier than for other communities because of the communities’ varied characteristics. Additionally, some communities’ citizens strive harder to be more “green” than others in order to attract like-minded environmentally responsible residents. What if, however, you don’t even want to live in any community-green or not? What if you prefer to live in a commune, for example, or reside on your own and mostly live off the land? Such options have their positive and negative attributes, but going back to nature on one’s own has more negative issues to address than positive.

The number of communities who are adopting a philosophy of “going green” is rapidly increasing and for good reason. These communities are adopting policies and laws that require citizens to “be kind to Mother Nature.” Of course, no two communities are going to be exactly same, but most of them share basic characteristics as described below:

Air Quality
The Climate Protection Agreement encourages communities to drastically reduce greenhouse emissions-by 7% from their mid-1990s levels. Toward that end, over 250 communities have already conformed to those reduced guidelines. Some of the cities who have done the best job include Cincinnati, Ohio; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and Boulder, Colorado to name a few. The nation’s annual top 10 cities’ names are found in The Green Guide which is published by The National Geographic. Along with the cities’ names, the publication provides information about a variety of environmental issues.

Public Transportation
An effective public transportation system is essential toward becoming a cutting-edge “green” city; therefore, if a city wants to be taken seriously as a positive environmental example to others, it will establish an exceptional, user-friendly public transportation system. An effective public transportation system will save transportation costs for a community’s citizens and will minimize pollution levels by reducing the number of vehicles on the roads. Even though some citizens may refuse to use public transportation, the city’s commitment to providing an environmentally responsible transportation system illustrates its commitment to the cause.

Recycling Programs
Any household can recycle, but communities that set up a formal, centralized recycling program will encourage more residents to participate. Generally speaking, the cost of a community’s recycling program is shared by all the town’s residents through water bills or city taxes. Providing recycling receptacles to all residents will also help promote and encourage recycling. The most effective towns and cities provide different recycling containers for different types of recyclable materials. For example, many towns provide different containers for boxes, newspapers, aluminum, metals, and plastics. Some towns even help residents recycle organic materials and lawn clippings.

Water Supply
For a variety of reasons, a city should care for its water supply. First, unless the water is fit to drink, the citizens will be forced to purchase bottled water or invest in a water filtration system. Additionally, many cities, especially those in arid regions, suffer for lack of adequate water. Even if these thirsty cities encourage conservation, there is only a limited amount of water for its citizenry. Continual water usage causes water costs to rise, which, in turn, causes the pressure to conserve to rise as well. In communities where water meters have been installed, citizens seem to use less water. By contrast, in cities where there are no water-usage meters, the residents have no evidence of their water consumption and have, therefore, little to no incentive to conserve.

Housing Designs
Cities that are attempting to become more “green” have a higher-than-average number of homes designed to be exceptionally energy efficient. These homes feature such characteristics as:

· solar panels
· thick insulation
· nearby deciduous trees
· window covers
· double-paned windows
· fans
· automatic awnings
· attic ventilation systems
· solar light tubes
· solar heating systems, and
· skylights
By Shaz Mkenzy

This article will explain the benefits of using a magnetic generator, how you can do your part for the environment, reduce the load on the power grid, and save your hard-earned cash. It will provide other free resources for these generators.

The magnetic generator has become very popular in the past few years because of its cheap electricity and it is very environmentally friendly. I’m sure your are well aware of the depletion of our natural fuel resources like gas, oil and coal. These resources are depleting at a faster rate. Many people believe Saudi Arabia has less than 80 years of oil left in the ground. The depletion of these resources has seriously damaged the environment. Engineers and scientists in search of new environmentally friendly sources of electricity have discovered magnetic generators to be environmentally friendly and a cheap source of electricity. These generators are a great renewable source of electricity that does not consume the Earth’s natural resources. This unique and environmentally friendly generator will save you money, help the environment and provide electricity when the power grid is down.

If you want to talk about efficiency, you will find that a magnetic generator is the most efficient form of energy production while producing cheap electricity. If you compare it to current generators using coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels you will find it more efficient and safer for the environment and our families. Most electric companies beg us to reduce our electricity usage on peak days. When you start using a magnetic generator, you are doing your part to reduce the energy load to the electric grid. By doing this, you are killing two birds… no, make that three birds with one stone. Most important you are saving money; you are doing your part for the environment and reducing the load on the electric companies’ grid.

What is the cost to setup a magnetic generator? What kind of maintenance is required? The initial cost of a magnetic generator is very low. This kind of generator is also very inexpensive to maintain. Once setup you just let it go, it uses perpetual motion, so, once it is running there is really nothing left to do.
By J Frank Stewart

Solar panels for homes are often associated with families who are associated with green living rather than families who are making a logical investment.

Most see solar energy systems as only commercially viable for very large installations – farms installing acres of them at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds, making thousands and thousands of pounds of profit each year, off the back of economies of scale.

However, for the last year, homeowners have rapidly started introducing panels to their homes. The Feed in Tariff, introduced in April this year, is a government scheme that pays households for each unit of electricity that they sell back to the main grid.

This scheme pays the most money to household sized solar panel systems – the size of solar panels designed for homes. If your system is under 4kW, then you will receive approximately 41.3p per unit of electricity sold back to the main grid (this is index linked, tax free and guaranteed for 25 years).

Therefore, solar energy systems for homes can make around £850 to £1,500 per year. This represents approximately a 9% return.

Suddenly, solar energy systems seem like a viable way of households making a lot of money with very little work! All that is necessary is to make an appointment with some solar panel companies, and then get the panels installed, sit back and watch the money roll in!

At even less expense, thermal solar panels can be installed – these are cheaper, costing from around £3,000, and household systems are eligible for the Renewable Heat Incentive. This is an even newer scheme, which means that an expected 18p per unit generated will be sold back to the main grid. You won’t make as much money, around £450 per year, tax free and for 20 years, but the panels will pay themselves off after about 9 years, and then a further £4,500 or so will be made with no work by anyone in the home.
By James EF Hawkins