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Archive for February, 2009

Feb
25

Opening Newborn Baby Gifts is Not the Only Activity - Add Games

Posted under environment

Although traditional baby shower games never fail and are always a success, new baby shower games are emerging and spreading across the United States. These cool, unconventional activities are different than the classics but with all the fun and more. If you are aiming for a hip, edgier baby shower with a twist from the classic, all-American baby shower, include a few of these new, trendy games that are sure to be a hit at your shower.

The “Dirty Diaper” game is one of the most clever and unusual, yet surprisingly sweet games out there. For this game, fold white cloth napkins or square pieces of white fabric into small diapers. Inside one of these mini diapers, place an unwrapped Hersheys kiss or any other chocolate bonbon. Fasten all the diapers with a baby diaper safety pin.

When guests arrive to the baby shower, hand one mini baby diaper to each person. Tell the guests to keep them closed and to not open them until instructed to do so. Then, when the time comes for all your games and activities, tell your guests that one of them has a dirty diaper. Tell them to open the diapers all at once, and whoever has the “dirty diaper,” or the chocolate bonbon inside of their diaper, wins a prize.

Another game with a meaning is the “umbilical cord.” For this game, you will need two spools of string or yarn, and two spoons. Choose volunteers and set up two or more teams of about eight to ten people. Attach each spoon to the tip of each string or yarn. The point of the game is to pass the “umbilical cord” through all the members of each team, by passing the string in through the neck seam and out through the opening of the skirt of each team player. This is very humorous, as you can imagine. The first team that passes the cord through all of the members wins.

A game that is becoming increasingly popular among baby showers is “Guess Whos Baby Picture?” For this game, make sure to tell guests on the invitations, and remind them before the shower, to bring in a baby picture of themselves when they were infants. Number each picture and put them up on a big bulletin board. During the games and activities session of your baby shower, give each guest a paper and pens or pencils. Have each paper numbered with the amount of pictures posted on the bulletin board.

When the game begins, tell the guests to fill in the numbers on the paper with the names of the people who they believe correspond to the baby picture. For example, if I think that baby picture #1 corresponds to Katie, I would write “Katie” after the number one on my paper. The guest that has highest number of right answers wins the challenge. If there is more than one guest with the same highest number of right answers, issue a tiebreaker.

Remember, all of these new games started as an idea. Try to come up with a few clever, never before used games. Who knows, they could potentially become a hit by the end of the year!

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Feb
25

U of Toledo professor shows off solar house, electric car

Posted under solar power for houses

Dr. Al Compaan, chair of the UT Department of Physics & Astronomy shows off his solar-powered home and battery-powered truck. Compaan paid for electric last year and hasn’t bought gas in years.

Feb
25

Home Solar Power & Wind Power: Saving Energy the Economical Way

Posted under solar power

Like many of us, perhaps you have been taken aback by the unending and continual rise of the prices of your electric bills. The time for you to act on it is now. Enumerated below are ways on decreasing your electric bills for good.

This piece of writing tells us about some ways, both easy and simple, that will eventually lessen or eliminate for good dreadfully-priced electric bills.

One simple yet unpopular step that is often taken for granted is actually limiting the use of electricity itself. You can begin with the room that you are in right now. If you are supposed to leave for quite a while, will you not look around and inspect your surroundings for any appliance that will be left on? Make sure that you put all electric appliances off. This does not only mean switching them off, it also means unplugging the electric cable from the power source whenever necessary. This simple step is guaranteed to help. Be reminded that a dollar will not be complete if it lacks a penny.

Small investments in smart gadgets: One example of a smart move is switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Despite the small amount of investment, these CFL bulbs can save you energy and money.

Power Save gadgets: Said equipment has the capability to monitor the power supply in a household. Moreover, it regulates the minimum required electric power at home.

Home appliances: It is but inevitable for a household to continue increasing the number of electric appliances it utilizes. However, the manner of using these appliances dictates whether it will increase the electric bill or not. So as to control the use of energy of these appliances, here are some tips:

See to it that there are enough clothes to wash before using the washing machine

Check and monitor the settings of your heater and your air-conditioner. Programmable thermostats can prove to be helpful for the busy family.

Even for just a moment, the TV, computer monitor, and other electrical appliance must be turned off whenever they are not in use.

Despite the decrease of the use of electric power, a lot of people still choose to set up their own home solar or wind power generators that can give free electrical energy. In fact, more and more American homeowners are practicing this economical way of generating electricity. It is the same case with a lot more people around the world. Every decrease in the amount of your electric consumption is a simple step in saving the earth.

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Feb
25

The Home Made Power Plant Reviewed

Posted under solar power

Hello, today I am going to be discussing a product I bought a while ago called the Home Made Power Plant.

Im sure you have likely heard of the home made power plant because it is one of the most well know products to buy online when it comes to saving energy.

As I said a minute ago I decided to order this product a month or two ago and have decided to review it today.

First of all if you are into diy and making stuff then this is just what you need. Making your own home made power plant is fun and you can get the whole family to join in.

The main effect of buying the home made power plant is that you will be able to create your own energy source and start saving energy.

The second point is to help you save a good chunk of money from your energy bills.

So to save all this money and energy we are going to be building a power plant that is environmentally friendly and can be built cheaply, quickly and easily.

It will please you to know that the product is amazing easy to follow and is all step by step with full colour pics and walkthrough that you will have a power plant set up in no time.

To be honest I am not that technical when it comes to building stuff especially power plants. But I had it all set up in a day.

Now something really exciting that you should know and that pleased me when I heard was that having your own power source will raise the value of your home price by thousands of dollars, so not a bad investment.

The home made power plant really is very easy to follow and is actually a fun little project that has the great benefits of saving you energy and money.

My home is now worth thousands more plus I am saving money and energy, I recommend you get the home made power plant.

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Feb
24

Key Pieces of Solar lights

Posted under solar power

There are many benefits of Solar lights. One of the main advantages to incorporating this type of lighting into your home is that you will see a drastic reduction in your overall energy costs.

Seeing that the variety of light is dependent on the emission of the sun and not the electrical energy that is part of your house, this is extremely advantageous when it comes to eliminating expensive electrical rates!

Solar lights are actually considered to be the most effective way to reduce light maintenance. These lights only require a little upkeep on a periodic basis.

As soon as you do the installation, it is not likely that you will have to do more maintenance than that. This makes solar lights more pleasing to customers than regular light!

When choosing solar lights for your home, you will find that there are many different options available to you! There are lights that can be chosen for the outdoor area of the home, as well as for the indoor area of the home.

Solar lights is also considered to be a great way to reduce emissions as well as your carbon footprint overall! If you want to save money, and do your part to contribute in a positive way to the environment, solar lights is a great way to accomplish your goals!

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Feb
24

Pollution reduces flowers’ fragrance

Posted under environment

Air pollution is decreasing the fragrance of flowers around us and making it difficult for insects to find them.

This was revealed by University of Virginia (UV) researchers who blamed cars and power plants for reducing the aroma of flowers by as much as 90 percent.

This, in turn, prevents pollinating insects like bees from finding food. To make things worse, the non-pollinated flowers won’t have a chance to grow and proliferate.

Researchers believe this explains the dwindling population of bees in several parts of the world, including California and the Netherlands.

The study was made by Jose D. Fuentes, UV professor of environmental sciences, and his students Quinn McFrederick and James Kathilankal. It was funded by the National Science Foundation and appears in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

“To investigate this, they created a mathematical model of how the scents of flowers travel with the wind. The scent molecules produced by flowers are very volatile and they quickly bond with pollutants such as ozone, hydroxyl and nitrate radicals, which destroy the aromas they produce. This means that instead of traveling intact for long distances with the wind, the scents are chemically altered and the flowers, in a sense, no longer smell like flowers. This forces pollinators to search farther and longer and possibly to rely more on sight and less on smell,” reported ScienceDaily.Com.

They found that the distances traveled by the scent of flowers were limited in today’s polluted world compared to the days before the automobile and the industrial revolution.

“The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters; but in today’s polluted environment downwind of major cities, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters,” Fuentes revealed.

“It quickly became apparent that air pollution destroys the aroma of flowers, by as much as 90 percent from periods before automobiles and heavy industry. And the more air pollution there is in a region, the greater the destruction of the flower scents,” he added.

To preserve the beauty of flowers and prevent them from dying, do your share to stop air pollution. Walk instead of driving if you’re going to a nearby place. Ride a bicycle, join a carpool or shop by phone or mail.

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Feb
24

Calculating Carbon Emissions from Refrigerants to Comply

Posted under environment

Companies using refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are required under federal and state environmental laws to report carbon emissions. The regulation is in place to reduce greenhouse gases and stabilize global warming. Monitoring, collecting data and performing detailed reporting of CO2 sources are all components of calculating carbon emissions.

Refrigerant systems use high levels of greenhouse gases, so the EPA established the Climate Registry Protocol for calculating carbon emissions on a regular basis. The international equivalent of this requirement is outlined in the Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol. The main purpose for calculating carbon emissions is to begin reducing the damaging effects that refrigerant gas has on the environment.

Refrigerant gas has been identified as a key source of carbon emissions. Refrigerant gas used in commercial refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is comprised of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons. These substances release carbon, chlorine, fluorine and hydrogen into the air during normal operation, thus depleting the earth’s ozone layer. Calculating carbon emissions and submitting the results to the oversight agencies is a way for government to manage the problem. Companies that fail to submit the required forms for tracking and calculating carbon emissions are severely fined.

Information about reducing greenhouse gases by calculating carbon emissions is contained in EPA, ISO, World Resource Institute and Climate Registry protocols. In summary, the mandatory regulations require facilities using refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to collect, organize, calculate and report carbon emissions.

Some volume of carbon is released into the environment by any company with a refrigerant system. Trying to determine how much carbon is emitted is an intricate process. Calculating carbon emissions begins by collecting data across the entire company and all its locations and identifying the gases. From there, a determination on how much of each gas is released must be made. Then various reports that include tracking methods need to be completed and submitted.

There are refrigerant management programs to help with calculating carbon emissions. Because there are so many components involved in monitoring, gathering and recording carbon emissions data, these programs streamline the process electronically. It is less tedious than doing it manually and much more accurate. One comprehensive refrigerant management program that also features a Refrigerant Tracker and a Carbon Calculator is offered by Verisae at www.verisae.com. Calculating carbon emissions is challenging for facility personnel, but with a Refrigerant Tracker application and a Carbon Calculator, the task becomes simpler because it tracks and reports refrigerant gas usage for all AC/HVAC systems operated by a company.

There are several reasons that led to the EPA and international environmental agencies to require companies to include calculating carbon emissions in their reports. Most importantly is to identify the major sources of greenhouse gases. Equally important is to establish a tracking mechanism for determining how much harmful gases are released at any given time. The information will be used to improve air quality with measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

By calculating carbon emissions, companies will be able to recognize the extent of their carbon footprint. For companies with multiple locations using refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, the task becomes even more critical. But there is help to address this challenging issue. Software provided by Verisae at www.verisae.com tracks carbon dioxide gas emissions across all sites so companies can do their part to ensure a healthy environment for years to come.

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Feb
24

Home Solar Power & Wind Power: Saving Energy the Economical Way

Posted under solar power

Like any rational human being, you most likely have been shaken by the never-ending increases of your electric bills. It is about time for you to do something about it. Below are some tips on how you can actually decrease your electric bill for a lifetime.

This piece of writing tells us about some ways, both easy and simple, that will eventually lessen or eliminate for good dreadfully-priced electric bills.

One easy but unrecognized step that a lot of people do not pay attention to is the limiting of the use of electric power itself. You can do this by starting at the room where you are in during this time. If you will to go somewhere else for quite some time, are you not going to ensure first that no appliance will be left on? All electric appliances should be turned off. By turning off we mean that you do not just push the off button or the switch; it also means that you unplug the power cable from the electric source. Simple as it may seem but it will help. Every penny is important in the completion of a dollar.

Small investments in smart gadgets: The use of compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs is one smart move. The CFL bulbs cost only a small amount yet they can save you a lot of money and power.

Power Save gadgets: These equipment help you check and monitor your homes power supply. In addition, they limit the minimum power that is necessary.

Home appliances: A home will continually increase the quantity of electric gadgets it has. Nonetheless, the increase in the price of the electric bill does not rely solely on the number of electric appliances at home but also in the way these appliances are being used. For the regulation of the use of electric power by these appliances, here are some things you can do:

See to it that there are enough clothes to wash before using the washing machine

Monitor and regulate your furnace and air-conditioner. A big help for the busy family is the use of programmable thermostats.

Even for just a moment, the TV, computer monitor, and other electrical appliance must be turned off whenever they are not in use.

Despite the decrease of the use of electric power, a lot of people still choose to set up their own home solar or wind power generators that can give free electrical energy. In fact, more and more American homeowners are practicing this economical way of generating electricity. It is the same case with a lot more people around the world. Every decrease in the amount of your electric consumption is a simple step in saving the earth.

About the Author:
Feb
24

Energy Conservation Tips: The Elements of a Homemade Solar Panel

Posted under environment

Is an energy-independent home a myth or reality? Many households are looking for opportunities to implement energy conservation tips, which decrease overall dependence on fossil fuels while trying to reduce the monthly cost of electricity. Solar panels can achieve these goals while providing a fun project for the Do-It-Yourselfer.

Solar panels harness the power of sunlight to generate electricity through the use of photovoltaic (PV) cells. If money is no object, a contractor can be hired to obtain and install a solar system for you. For those of us in the “other” category, there are other less expensive options. These include purchasing solar panel kits, refurbishing used solar panels, and the ultimate DIY of making panels from component parts. Solar panels can create a more self-sufficient household in which they meet your all or most of household electrical energy needs. The ideal scenario would have the electricity generated will exceed the needs permitting electricity to be sold back to the Grid.

Although the there are other component required for more complex systems, the basic elements of a homemade solar panel system include four items: Solar panel(s); Charge controller; Battery; and Inverter.

The solar panel: Solar panel When we think of a solar system, we see a solar panel, the total voltage is the sum of the voltage of all the photovoltaic cells in the system. To determine how many panels are needed we need to look at and average out the energy usage that appears on our bills.

Charge controller or regulator: This unit controls the charging of the battery so as to prevent overcharging. It also tracks the battery discharge status during the evening. By doing this, the charge regulator maximizes the life of each battery, thereby maximizing the efficiency of your solar energy system.

The battery: Storing electricity is the job of the battery, but not all batteries are alike. The deep-cycle marine battery is superior the run of the mill automobile battery because it is able to store all of the electrical energy generated by the solar panel.

Inverter: Solar panels generate and store electricity as DC or Direct Current, whereas our appliances utilize AC or Alternating Current. The job of the inverter is to convert DC to AC to meet our household needs.

More complex systems designed to sell back energy to the grid require a Kilowatt-per-Hour Indicator, which tracks the amount of electricity taken from the Grid and the amount sold back to it.

We should also not forget the obvious energy saving tips including the shutting off of lights in unused rooms and the use of Energy-saver fluorescent bulbs.

Our plan to implement energy conservation tips can include the use of homemade solar panels. Money can be saved through making solar panels from kits or assembling them from individual components.

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Feb
23

Home Solar Panels Installation

Posted under solar power for homes

http://EnergyForEarth.net

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