Here’s an example of one of their videos for a solar power charger for cell phones and ipods:

I just got last month’s electricity bill and it was almost half what it had been a year ago and a savings of $110 for that month alone! Since the energy savings were so dramatic, I reflected on what I had been doing bit by bit over the last year, to achieve that result. Yes, some of the stuff seems obvious and I am a bit embarrassed that I even had to think of changing our behavior – but here goes.

1. Of course, I have been changing light bulbs to more energy efficient ones, but more importantly, I religiously turn off the lights in a room when I leave if only for 5 minutes, and I certainly do not leave lights on in the house even in the hallway when I am out. Outdoor path lights blazing for the one unscheduled visitor a year are a thing of the past.

2. I have turned the fan on our furnace from ON to AUTO so the fan is not going all the time and we still get enough air circulating.

3. I do not use the dishwasher until it is a full load, and so we use the dishwasher half the number of times we used to.

4. We spend time in our summer home every weekend, so our primary residence is unused at weekends. I turn the heat way down as I leave and deal with the inconvenience of a chilly house on my return.

5. I told my husband at the end of last year that if I caught him turning on the built in wall space heaters this year when he watched television, or if he threw open the windows in our bedroom to air out the house all day and heat the outside- I would levy a fine of $10 a day. After coughing up fines a couple of times, he no longer opens the windows for a long time in winter and wraps himself up in a throw blanket rather than turn on auxiliary heat.

6. We no longer think it is our god given right to walk around the house in shorts in the dead of winter and dress in layers with silk undershirts to keep toasty. Our thermostat is several degrees lower than last year.

7. We turn the computers off when not in use, and unplug all unused appliances, even the lowly toaster, except the refrigerator, in order not to spend money on ghost energy.

The reality is we have achieved these improvements in our energy efficiency with a minimal effort on our part. Like many Americans, we were thoughtlessly guzzling energy without any thought of impact it might have on the planet. The best part for us personally is seeing that energy bill go down every month and being able to pocket the savings. It has now become a game as to where next we can effect improvements. There is still more we can do, but I feel we are on our way to being far more responsible about our consumption of energy than we have in years.

Some of these energy saving products offset their costs by lowering electricity bills. Other eco products are just plain reasonably priced, decrease landfill waste, and make sense.

Here are some examples:

CFL Light bulbs – Use 1/5th the energy and last 10 times longer than incandescent light bulbs, reducing energy usage and costs

Energy Saving Dryer Vents – a solution for conventional dryer vents, which often act as an “escape hatch”, allowing outside air to enter your home through the exposed opening, increasing heating bills in winter or cooling bills in the summer

Reusable Water Bottles – a money saver thanks to replacing the need for buying cases of water, and decrease landfill waste

Evaporative Coolers – a portable evaporative air cooler provides substantial energy saving over refrigerated air units/air conditioners. An evaporative cooler provides you with cool and filtered fresh air, which is free from C.F.C and has low acquiring, maintenance and running (electricity) costs

The Going Green Expo in early February in Boston is now a distant green memory, but was well worth the visit. I tromped around wearing our very own juicebags solar backpack, which charges cell phones, mp3s and other portable electronic devices. A few people, including the green business reps, asked me to demo how it worked. I came with my own cellphone charger and phone inside the pack, and promptly brought it out upon request.

The thousands of folks who were walking around when I was there seems to be a good indicator that going green is important to Americans, especially in Boston. And now that our city was ranked the 3rd greenest in the US, we can have something to be proud of.

These are my favorite green gift recommendations this holiday season from GreenandMore.com. We have tested all these green gift items and know that they work and think that in some way they all contribute to making the Planet a better place for future generations.

Mercia Tapping
President, GreenandMore.com

Gift Certificates now available at GreenandMore.com in denominations of $25, $50, $100, and $200 – click for details.

View all Eco-Friendly Gifts

	HYDROGEN MODEL CAR
	I showed this Hydrogen powered model car to a bunch of high tech CEOs who all wanted one for themselves – forget about the kids! This is a big kid toy. For most of us, hydrogen powered vehicles seem like a distant dream but take a glimpse of the future with the power source that may one day power the planet. In 2006 this was Time magazine’s best new toy of the year. The Science Kits at $259.99 are what we are giving to the grand kids this holiday season. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: HYDROGEN MODEL CAR $114.99
	KILL-A-WATT ELECTRICITY MONITOR
	With the ever increasing costs of energy wouldn’t it be nice to cut down on costs by finding out which machines and appliances in your home are actually worth keeping plugged in? The Kill-A-Watt Electricity Monitors are the perfect device! Simply connect your appliances to the Kill-a-Watt electricity usage monitor and it will assess how efficient any appliance or machine really is. Wonderful stocking stuffer for Dad! CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: KILL-A-WATT ELECTRICITY MONITOR $39.99
	JONTA LED FLASHLIGHTS
	Ever run around in a power outage only to find your flashlight has run out of batteries? You can just crank these powerful Jonta flashlights up if they ever die on you but with 100,000 hours of LED light that is very unlikely. With no dead batteries to put in landfills these make a useful green gift. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: JONTA LED FLASHLIGHTS $69.99
	INDIGO ULTRABRIGHT LED LANTERNS
	These lanterns are perfect for camping or additional lighting on your deck providing 2.5 hours of continuous light before you wind them up and no batteries required, making them a useful but eco friendly gift or household item. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: INDIGO ULTRABRIGHT LED LANTERNS $41.99
	SOLIO SOLAR CHARGERS
	The Solio charger is a solar powered energy source that can power all of your electronic devices from cell phones to iPods to GPS systems. The sleek, ultra modern design is also compact and lightweight making it great for anyone who is on the go in the outdoors and finds themselves out of juice. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: SOLIO SOLAR CHARGERS $119.95 and up
	SOLAR JUICE BAGS
	Flexible solar panels on your computer notebook case, handbag or back pack – can you believe that? We gave one to our teenage grandson a messenger bag as a gift last month. Stay plugged in to your iPod, cell-phone, or other electronic device while at the beach, walking to class, or simply window shopping. Juicebag Solar Bags and Backpacks have you covered. Each uses a flexible panel of cells and represents the latest in flexible solar technology. And every bag, made of recycled soda bottles, is constructed of rip-stop nylon, guaranteeing years of use. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: SOLAR JUICE BAGS $224.99 and up
	LIGHT CAP SOLAR BOTTLE
	The LightCap is not only an unbreakable one-liter water bottle, it’s also the coolest solar powered LED light you’ve ever used. Simply Brilliant LightCap Solar Water Bottles use stored solar power and convert it to light, all on the top of your water bottle. Great green gift for campers. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: LIGHT CAP SOLAR BOTTLE $29.99
	HANDBAGS FROM INNER TUBES
	These bags are very chic, and you would be amazed to find out what they are made from. The creators of the Camara Handcrafted Hand Bags, take recycling to a whole new level, using recycled truck and tractor inner tubes to make bags that are works of art. As an added feature, all Camara bags come with an automatic lighting system, which helps you find what you’re looking for. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: HANDBAGS FROM INNER TUBES $144.99 and up
	THE ECO CHIC ATMOS ROCKER
	I was distressed to learn recently that for every four trees that are destroyed on this planet, only one gets replaced. So this rocker is going to be my own treat to myself this winter. It takes a while to be delivered as it is custom made, but it is as beautifully designed as it is eco friendly. The webbing on the seats is recycled surplus car seat belts and the beach bent plywood construction is kinder on our forests. I think these rockers are a work of art. A gift for oneself. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: THE ECO CHIC ATMOS ROCKER $1049.99
	BLUEAIR ECO 10 AIR PURIFIER
	My mouth literally dropped open when I first saw this air purifier. It is a first class, quiet, powerful air purifier that only uses 10 watts on its HIGHEST fan speed – a fraction of a low wattage light bulb. This is an air purifier that you can afford to keep going, day and night, without running up your electric bill- and for people like me that is important. I regard the ECO10 as an astonishing feat of ecological engineering. No air purifier, let alone those with a fan are so energy miserly. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: BLUEAIR ECO 10 AIR PURIFIER $899.99
	TRUEAIR ALLERGEN REDUCER – AIR PURIFIER
	If you or you’re your family are in need of a surprisingly good, little desk top air purifier at a bargain price, then the Allergen Reducer is virtually maintenance free and its Hepa grade filter can be cleaned by vacuuming it. No more filters in landfills. It is small enough to put in your suitcase for travel. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: TRUEAIR ALLERGEN REDUCER-AIR PURIFIER $159.95
	AIR-O-SWISS AIR WASHER HUMIDIFIERS
	When you are looking for a humidifier this winter season, in our opinion the greenest design for humidifiers are air washers because they do not have filters which need eventual disposal, and do not require mineral cartridges to control white dust. This means you have a quiet, enormously effective humidifier which is very durable. These get the green nod from me. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: AIR-O-SWISS AIR WASHER HUMIDIFIER $199.95 and up
	WHITEWING STEAM CLEANER
	Vapor Steam Cleaning is a green way to deep clean and remove dirt, stains, and kill dust mites, mold, germs, spores and bacteria. Steam cleaners sanitize and disinfect but without using chemicals, instead use dry steam of levels of 240°F and above. What this means is no more chemicals in your home and no supermarket plastic bottles in landfills. Our WhiteWing steam cleaner is very popular with our customers as it is effective without being overly expensive. For those people who want to treat themselves to the ultimate in steam cleaning there is nothing like Ladybug steam cleaners with its EPA certified disinfectant TANCs process. CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS: WHITEWING STEAM CLEANER $449.95

Can a car or truck use vegetable oil as fuel? Yes, with some modifications a diesel car or truck can use old filtered food grade vegetable oil (the kitchen oil that restaurants throw out everyday) as fuel. I have a 2004 Passat TDI, and I bought a kit from GreaseCar (see www.greasecar.com) that allows me to use vegetable oil or diesel as fuel in my car.

Where did I get this idea? My co-worker had a Greasecar, and he told me about the financial benefits that he was getting with his converted 1996 Passat TDI. The cost of gasoline is around $2.50 – $3.00 per gallon. Waste vegetable oil (WVO) can be acquired for free, and it can be bought already filtered (I pay $1.25 per gallon).

The GreaseCar kit for my car cost $1,170 including shipping, and I had a diesel mechanic (GreaseCar experienced) in Lowell, MA install the kit for $840. My total expense for converting my car was about $2,000. My monthly savings (buying filtered veggy oil) is around $100 month. It will take about 20 months of driving the car on vegetable oil to pay for the conversion. Now that the car is converted, it’s cheaper to drive than any hybrid electric gasoline car.

How do I like my GreaseCar? I’ve had some minor problems, but overall it’s been a great experience. I save money, and I’m recycling at the same time.

Is this for everyone? No. I spent months researching the topic reading everything I could find, researching the right car/kit, install mechanic, and a local source of filtered fuel. For people that filter their own veggy oil for their converted cars, there is more work and more savings. I buy filtered oil, so now I only spent a few extra minutes per week (compared to someone who drive a gasoline car).

Grease is the word.

Here are some pictures:

1. 13.5 gallon aluminum tank for the veggy oil (tanks fits in the wheel well)

2. 4.5 gallon “cubies” of oil (weight is 35 pounds each)

3.2004 Passat TDI

4. Modified engine

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One of the great contrasts I saw after a recent trip to England, is that people rarely use a clothes dryer; whether they live in the city or country. Of course my family owns dryers, but they hang their clothes out to dry. Now in this country it is often forbidden—and seen as littering the landscape—interesting!

I recently returned from the UK, where I grew up with solar panels, and where recycling wasn’t even a term—it was a way of life. We reused every piece of string and paper bag. Foil or cling wrap were carefully washed and reused, and we never went from one room to the next without turning out the lights. After living for 35 years in America, I realized just about a year ago that I had forgotten my roots; and was a greedily guzzling resources like many other Americans.

Turning the clock back has not been easy, and we have a long way to go before we are done greening our household. Among the many little steps we have taken, the first benefit we have realized has been a huge drop in our electricity bill—we have been tracking a 40% reduction in the last 4 months compared to last year.

This is what we have done:

1. I bought a Honda Accord hybrid and cut my gasoline bill almost in half.
2. Bought a Maytag front load washer to replace our top load model.
3. We stepped up our recycling habits and now recycle everything that moves.
4. I hound my husband mercilessly about turning off the lights as he leaves a room, and patrol the house each night for lights left on at bed time.
5. We no longer put on the outside lights unless we are having guests. This is not a sacrifice, as we normally enter through the garage.
6. We are making the switch over to compact fluorescent bulbs. Who would think there are so many light fixtures in one house?
7. Switched off the second refrigerator in the garage and will only use it for holidays and special events.
8. Turned off my dehumidifier in the unfinished part of our basement. It turns out that we don’t really store valuables there.
9. Used putty to seal up the drafty windows in our north facing room.
10. Installed an attic tent to keep the attic temperature isolated from the rest of the house.
11. Keep the shades down in our south facing windows during the day when we are out of the house.
12. Last but not least, I turn off the air conditioning for the weekend when we go to our summer home. My husband squawks about this one as it takes time to cool off the house when we come home. But since our electric bill has decreased, I have prevailed.

There is so much more to do, and these are some recent green accomplishments. I will keep you posted on the next wave of updates.

Car Pooling in the metropolitan Boston area is not just about reaching your destination. It is about the journey–the conversations, the interruptions and—finally– reaching the workplace safely!

Commuting is necessary because the majority of jobs in Massachusetts are concentrated in the greater Boston area. Many of us are unable to take the public mode of transportation and fewer of us carpool. We are two friends who are lucky enough to work at the same company about 40 miles from home. We have decided that we save not only gas and wear and tear on our cars—but the planet as we deal with international issues of importance as well as the trivial! A few reasons for back ups and long delays from our experiences:

1. Rain, sleet, snow or ice
2. Flying debris from trucks
3. Geese crossing the highway
4. Cell phone users crossing lanes and not signaling
5. Construction, construction, and more construction
6. Truck rollovers
7. Car fires, accidents….and the rubber neckers who can’t stop gawking!

All of these problems can leave us frustrated and stressed when we commute alone– which is as little as possible. Together the commute is incidental to solving the problems of the world. Whatever the headlines or events in our personal lives, we have solved them by the time we get to the office. Whether it be global warming, heath care, family, elections, we have the answer—or recognize that there is no answer!

We will chronicle our commute–the good, the bad and the unbelievable in the weeks ahead.