We're working on the house still, getting ready to install wood floors and replace a lot of the molding.  One of our bathrooms just completed a remodel, everything was gutted and replaced except for the bath tub.  We finally bought a dining room set, so now I can invite our friends and family over for a civilized meal (instead of sitting around the coffee table in the living room).  We also have a new bedroom set which I love!  After we get done replacing the floors, we'll need to work on renovating our pool bath and master bath.

We recently went on holiday to North Carolina; for Christmas 2006.  I cannot wait until Jeff and I can move there, we just love it.  The mountains are beautiful, there is still plenty of land available and traffic is not too bad.  And most importantly, it does not get too hot or humid there, or even too cold.  We will definitely be moving to North Carolina in (hopefully) the next 5 years or so.  We just need to get done remodeling our current house first ;-)

My Green Soap-Box

Before you make your next car purchase, please put some serious thought into it.  Do you really need a huge SUV that guzzles gasoline?  A new car that gets under 30 MPG is just plain irresponsible and there's no reason for it in 2007!  There are many cars and trucks out there that get pretty good gas mileage; you just need to do some research.  Also, there are some excellent hybrid vehicles out now which actually look good and help keep our environment clean.  Moving to alternate forms of energy and fuel will be a slow process, but keep in mind change happens one person at a time.  Please make sure the next person who makes a change for the better is YOU!

Global Warming

Over the last several months I've been thinking about this problem more and more.  Recently, I've started to take action and move past the knowing-doing gap that most of us seem to get stuck in.  I wanted to jot down some info here to help people better understand what global warming is, why they should take it seriously, and what we can do to held reduce it. 

The 21st century signals a cross roads for our planet.  50% of forests worldwide have been cleared; we have eliminated countless species, and burned millions of years of stored fossil energy in a century and a half.  The greatest challenge for everyone on this beautiful planet will most likely be the steady climb in temperatures over the next century.  A consensus of national and international scientific organizations has linked the planet's current warming trend to human created greenhouse gases (aka global warming).  The most significant greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO²⁾, and the biggest source is burning oil (coal and natural gas).  50 years from now, if we do not take major steps to reverse this trend, we will have more CO² in the atmosphere than we've ever had in scientifically recorded history, going back 700,000 years.  The consequnces of this we know (floods, heatwaves, shortages of food and water), but we don't know what the magnitude will be.

Green Corporations:  Some environmentally responsible corporations are already taking steps to help reduce Global Warming.  In Arizona, the Redhawk Power Generating Station has partnered with Green Fuel Technologies and is conducting an experiment.  They are capturing a portion of their powerplants greenhouse gases with algae.  The algae eats CO² and divides.  This greatly helps to reduce greenhouse emissions from the powerplant.  The oil trapped in the algae is then harvested to make biodiesel; Starch in the algae is made into ethanol and proteins left over in the algae are then used to make animal feed.  Over the course of this project, the oil fields will sequester about 43 million tons of CO², the equivalent of removing 8.8 million cars from the road.

What can you do?   Another way to help reduce Global Warming is to expand renewable energy technologies that never produce CO² in the first place.  Currently there are several forms available in different parts of the country:  Solar, Wind, Methane.  If your area does not offer any alternative energy sources, there are Offsets which can be purchased online or through your electric company. 

Green Homes/Buildings:   Approximately 50-60% of the power in the US goes not to cars, but to air conditioned, heat & light buildings.  This is why 'Green Buildings' are so important; their goal is three fold:
1) Use fewer and more sustainable building materials
2) Dramatically reduce energy and water consumption
3) Build without the use of toxic chemicals.

A green home can generate much of it's own energy and then use that energy as efficiently as possible.  Solar thermal systems can heat all the hot water, which can also be piped under the floor to provide efficient radiant heat from the ground up.  Photo voltaic panels can provide nearly all of a buildings electricity, which is made easier when coupled with Energy Star efficient appliances.  High efficiency glass (which contains more iron) allows more natural light into a space, but not enough that it gets too warm -- this means less artifical light is needed.  A green building can help to eliminate what is known as 'The Heat-Island Effect' -- created by a cities dark asphault streets and dark absorptive roofs, which trap the sun's heat and make a city up to 6 degrees warmer than nearby areas during the summer.  This can be prevented if buildings install a green roof, planting trees and plants on their roof.

Green Facts

• LED lights use 1/10 the power of incandescent light bulbs.
• If every American household replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a compact
  fluorescent bulb, the amount of pollution avoided would be equivalent to removing nearly 800,000 cars from the road.
• 1 Ton of Recycled Paper saves about 30 trees, 7000 gallons of water, 4,000 kilowatt
  hours of electricity, and 60 pounds of air pollutants.
• The paper industry is one of the top energy intensive industries in the world.
• 15 million barrels of oil are saved per year from recycling aluminum cans.
• Methane, as greenhouse gas, is 21 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide.  Methane
  is emitted when landfill garbage decomposses.  Greenhouse gas can now be converted
  into clean burning energy.  (look up 'Green Fuel Project' and 'Solae Company - Boiler
  House')
• A landfill in Florida will soon be using plasma-arc technology to vaporize it's garbage at 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  The 3,000 tons of trash burned daily will generate enough electricity to power 36,000 homes.

Source: Modern Marvels (History Channel) -- Environmental Technologies episode

I'm working on growing a container herb garden.  So far, I have Spicy Globe Basil, Sweet Italian Basil, Cilantro, Orange Mint and Italian Flat Leaf Parsley.  I had Rosemary also, but that died... I'm not sure why yet.  I'd love to plant some Thyme as well.  The one problem I've run into are snails.  I read online that snails get shocked when exposed to copper however, so I put copper wire under the dirt in my containers.  That has seemed to take care of my snail problem, now I just need to remember to water my herbs regularly :-)

The next project I'd like to try is composting.  I might be biting off more I can chew with this, but I think the left side of my yard would be a perfect spot for a compost.  I just need to research this a bit now to see what's involved (prep and maintenance).... right now, it's just an idea.

Feeling a bit down?  Pop in any Dave Matthews Band CD (or concert DVD) and your mood will change instantly!  (Gwen Stefani is another one of my favorites!)

Trouble sleeping, ladies?  Try Marian Keyes, she's a great author -- easy and fun read.  Most of her novels are set in London or Dublin, she has a funky UK writing style and she's very descriptive when discussing male/female relations ;-)  While her books may not put you to sleep right away, they do make for very interesting dreams!