“Going Green” column published in Spirit Seeker magazine
Most people would love the possibility of having a clean, renewable energy system that produces all of their electricity. As utility rates continue to climb, our summer electric bills have gotten our attention and seem to scream for an alternative solution. Many people are discovering that solar electric systems are well suited to accomplish this…
Legislators have long used a variety of incentives and disincentives to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. Subsidies, like tax credits and loan guarantees, help jumpstart and grow new businesses. Taxes, penalties and outright bans make it uncomfortable or illegal to continue doing what we’ve done in the past. So when the federal government banned the…
For those of you who’ve been following my blog or Going Green column for a while, you may recall the success story on home energy efficiency I wrote about late last year. Since our first energy audit in 2007, we’ve made a number of improvements to our home to reduce the amount of energy we…
Last month Los Angeles became the largest city to adopt a ban on plastic bags. For some, this may seem like a harsh and overly restrictive regulation that is at least inconvenient. We’ve come to expect retailers to provide free paper or plastic bags for us to carry out our consumables, and this new restriction…
I attended my daughter’s high school baccalaureate tonight. Unfortunately my daughter couldn’t attend, because she graduated early and is working as an au pair in France. I found myself lamenting that my oldest child, now a young adult of eighteen, wasn’t able to hear the heartwarming and inspiring words of her school’s administrators, teachers and…
We Americans certainly love our lawns. The small yards of urban dwellings have grown into relatively common quarter-acre lots, and larger homes often rest on sprawling plots of land that are 2-4 times that size. Corporate properties sport lush lawns and landscapes that offer a country club quality. In total, we have over 40 million…
The past few months we’ve been exploring different opportunities to embrace sustainability. We examined a number of trendsetting advances in Germany that can be applauded and built upon, including an energy independent community and an ultra-efficient home that produces enough energy to also charge an electric vehicle. One thing that many Americans have come to…
Sustainability is generally defined as “meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” Our abundant fossil fuel resources have been an enormous energy reserve that we’ve been able to use to build and grow with, and yet we have to recognize the finite nature of those fuels. Debates may…
Germany is once again leading the world toward a more sustainable future, introducing an ultra-efficient home capable of producing twice as much energy as it consumes. The surplus energy can be used to charge an electric vehicle, or be exported to the grid. The house was designed by a team lead by Professor Werner Sobek…
It’s exciting to see more and more people embracing sustainability. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay recently demonstrated leadership in the area by convening a Sustainability Summit December 6-7 at the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Missouri History Museum. The event brought both experts and interested citizens together to discuss their ideas and formulate a plan. …
