Green Tips For You! » Off the Grid!

Amazon – Riding The Green Wave

JoshuaV — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:15:34 +0000

Rage. Road rage, phone rage, internet rage, fashion rage, email rage. We all know what it’s like to “rage”. It’s all over the place. But, have you heard of “wrap rage”?

Me neither either I started doing research for this article…;)..

People at Amazon.com have realized that consumers are sick and tired of all the extra packaging on their products. Why do we have to wrestle with our kid’s toys to get the plastic off? How annoying is that plastic? The dolls are probably laughing at how idiotic we look trying to free them from their plastic prisons!

Amazon.com has partnered with Mattal, Microsoft, Fisher-Price and other name brand companies to reduce the amount of plastic and packing materials. There is a better type of packaging that are 100% recyclable and are already made from 50% recycled material already. This would save a considerable amount of money as well as recycled materials. CEO Jeff Bezos hopes to have all of Amazon.com’s products use this type of packaging sometime in the near future.

Amazon.com not only has new packaging trends to go green, but they are also selling green products. Everything from toys, groceries, baby products, solar power kits, shoes, home and garden supplies etc…All of these items can be found on the website’s “Green Page”.

Their “Green Page” has three separate sections: Ease Into Green, Eco Chic and Go Extreme Green.

Ease Into Green is for those who are just starting their venture in going green. This includes the initial steps including light bulbs, garbage bins and other beginning concepts in the green world.

Eco Chic is comprised of clothing that is made from recycled materials as well as organic products for the family. Environmentally friendly furniture, beauty products, bathroom products and baby products are all found on this page.

Finally, Go Extreme Green is for those of us who are green extraordinaires. This is for the greeners who are off the grid and want to live a semi-independent life. Kits to create your own gardens and products to reduce energy and water usage can be found here. This section of Amazon.com’s Green Page is for those who want to take their green abilities to the next level.

It doesn’t matter what stage of going green you’re in. Amazon.com’s Green page has everything that you could need to either start up or take it to the next level. Amazon.com has the perfect plan for you.

Green Living

Living off the Grid – A viable option?

JoshuaV — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:27:08 +0000

What exactly does it mean to live off the grid? If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking of living off in the woods completely isolated from civilization.

Going “off-grid” doesn’t actually require a huge life change. Everything will be the same except you will use alternative energy sources away from main power grids.

“Off-grid” means that you will be separated from the power source that delivers electricity and other resources to the rest of the community. Think of all your bills– Electric, water, sewage, heating, etc. They all stem from some company that gives everyone the same services.

Now think of all the money you can save by creating your own energy sources like wind generators or solar energy options that will make you capable of living independently.

Here’s an idea for you to think about. Harvesting rainwater. By digging a well and installing a water pump, you can collect rain water that is ready at your fingertips.

Not everyone goes off-grid immediately in every aspect. It takes time and effort. People will use the money they saved on other energy sources they’ve cut out to continue the cycle of becoming independent.

Imagine never having to pay for electricity again. It’s possible. More and more people today are creating their own alternative energy sources by creating wind and solar energy systems. This drastically lowers their bills.

Try starting slow and gradually considering which connections you want to try to cut first. Think about what you need most and how you can use different methods. For instance, if you live in a colder environment and are dependent on heating, think about wood stoves and geothermal heating options rather than heating systems.

If this is something that you are serious about, check out more information online and you can find more ways to make your transition off the grid so much easier! You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Green Living

Get Off the Grid With Geothermal Heating and Solar Panels!

GuestPoster — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:37:12 +0000

Yes this is actually possible. There is not much stopping you from upgrading your house with these devices, and from there, generate your own electricity. In fact, you can generate large enough amounts to supply your entire house with electricity as well as sending surplus out on the grid, and make money by doing so. Which devices am I talking about?

Geothermal Air Conditioning

When people talk about geothermal energy, they usually mean geothermal power generation. This a method that extracts boiling hot water from large underground reservoirs, and by sending it through a steam turbine, we convert the heat to electrical energy.

This would of course be a bit pricey for you (not to mention it most likely is not possible to do so in your area), but there are other ways to tap into this energy source. Geothermal energy is also a term used to describe the stable temperatures we find just a few feet under the ground. You are probably already aware of the fact that the sea resists temperature changes above water levels; it keeps the heat energy better than most other things. This is also true for the ground.

When the temperature above the ground is colder than the heat we find a few meter below, we can use this difference to provide a stable stream of heat into your house. The amount of electricity that is required to enable this process is about a fifth of what’s required with normal heating. This is in many ways how a conventional heat pump works, except in many cases a geothermal solution would be even more beneficial.

Solar Panels

I will not go deep into the technology of solar cells in much detail, however, I will give you the basics: PV-cells (also known as photovoltaic cells) are responsible for turning photons (sunlight) into electrons in motion through a circuit. This is a current.

If we add enough of these cells together, we can soon generate enough electricity to supply your house, and in some cases even more.

The thing about solar panels is that you would benefit from a battery that stores the solar energy chemically for later use. This is especially important if you don’t have a stable source of solar energy available (which will most likely be the case).

I hope you got a lot out of this article, and if you want to read up on similar technologies, go to EnergyInformative.org.