When it comes to gardening, there are some additional benefits to just having your own fruits and vegetables. Not only can you be a “green” thumb, but you can be a contributor to the “green” living movement by recycling common household “garbage” items into useful, and helpful, garden utensils. Take the common soup can. By removing the top AND bottom lids, this cylinder becomes a useful starting pot. Removing the top and bottom lids will help aid in the removal of your plant start with greater ease. Now, don’t throw away those lids! The lids can be placed at the base of light loving plants, such as tomatoes! The lids will reflect sunlight, thus providing extra light.

In addition, the reflected light has been shown to repel plant eating insects and aphids. To deter birds from your fruits trees, punch holes in the lids and hang them from tree branches. Apparently the reflected light and movement scares these rascals away.Another “green” idea for recycled starting pots are used, washed, individual jello or pudding containers! They are just the perfect size to start individual plants! It is also wise and frugal to wash and reuse any and all previously purchased vegetable or plant containers. It is important to wash the containers out, and even use a mild bleach solution, to kill any bacteria or pest that may have hitched a ride with the previous “owner.” Styrofoam or plastic trays from pre-packaged meats make excellent holders for peat pots or pellets. They are also practical holders for your individual plant starts and help prevent water from getting on your window sill or potting bench.

Pre-packaged dinners, such as lasagna, come in perfect containers in which you can convert to a medium for starting various herbs or vegetables.One gallon plastic milk jugs have a variety of uses. The milk jug can be either used as an individual miniature green house, or, by just using the top 2/3rds of the jug, you can make your own “hot” caps for tomatoes or peppers. I have also used the extra plastic to make plant markers. With a “sharpie” and a plastic marker, I have a winning combination…all water resistant so I don’t forget what I planted and where!Popsicle sticks are another excellent choice for garden stakes or plant markers.

I even keep the plant markers from the previous garden season. I just simply reuse them if it is the same type of plant or I turn the marker over and write on the back the new vegetable I am growing!Instead of going to the land fill, raked leaves, lawn clippings, spoiled hay, etc., can and should be used for mulching around individual plants and on garden pathways. Please see my article on mulching for a much more detailed description of the benefits.As you can see, there are many practical, useful, and helpful applications that can be employed in your backyard garden from “recycled” items. By employing these “green” tips in your garden, you will not only improve the environment, but you will greatly enhance your “green” thumb!

‘The sun is a constant source of energy. Everyday it provides us with 5000 times as much energy as the whole world needs.’ (Unknown)

In the 1950s and ’60s efficient energy use was often neglected in constructing buildings and houses, but the high energy prices of the 1970s changed that. Some buildings built in the 80′s use only about 20% of the energy used in buildings constructed just ten years earlier. Techniques to save energy include designing and siting buildings to use passive solar heat, avoiding overlighting, and using better insulation. A “life-cycle” approach, which takes into account the total costs over the entire life of the building, rather than simply the initial construction cost or sales price, is encouraging greater efficiency.

SOLAR ENERGY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Climate

South Africa is one of the areas in the world with the highest count of sunny days per year in the world therefore making it also one of the most appropriate places in the world to use solar power energy should that be the only reason for using them.

A photovoltaic sell uses the sun’s light to create an electric current and not the heat of the sun as is commonly thought. A photovoltaic sell actually decreases in efficiency when the sell is heated extremely because of the resistance building up in the material. Because of the above fact, one can see that these photovoltaic panels is actually less efficient in very warm climates. South Africa, in summertime, can be extremely hot and could cause a photovoltaic panel on certain summer days to work less efficient although not as significantly as 25% less efficient as it is said can be lost in desert-type climates.

Cost efficiency & economy

Eskom South Africa provides our country with some of the cheapest conventional unsustainable electricity costs in the world, and that is the main reason for solar energy technology not taking off in South Africa. Although a number of solar thermal panels is in operation, even in residential buildings in the country, photovoltaic panels was up to date just not cost effective enough to justify the money saved using conventional electricity for manufacturers making them available on a large scale. Because of the uncommonness and unavailability of these panels the prices of theses panels has not significantly decreased in South Africa as it has in other more technologically advanced and environmentally aware
countries.

Also, because the electricity has been so inexpensive in SA, the cost of paying off a solar electricity system that provides the same amount (or sufficient amount) of electricity as a conventional system, will take an extremely long time to pay off with the money saved without using conventional electricity, and most home owners in South Africa doesn’t stay long enough in one home to justify the cost saving.
Another factor is that the technology is becoming more advanced day by day, and one might purchase a system today which will reach the end of it’s life before the system has paid for itself with money saved from not using conventional electricity is over.

Sustainability & the environment

Eskom might well be one of the cheapest electricity providers in the world, but it is also a fact that eskom releases some of the most pollution in the atmosphere by burning coal to generate electricity. Although air pollution doesn’t seem to be that big a problem here than in other countries where acid rain etc. is huge concerns for the community, it would be wise to sooner rather than later start to concentrate on the environment in South Africa and that is when solar power could start playing a big role as an energy provider.

Appropriate for us?

Solar panels can be used very effectively and appropriately in the remote areas around the country because the cost of connecting to the conventional power grid by laying cables might be even more expensive and once a solar PV system is installed one does not need any tools or technicians to maintain a PV panel regularly.

There are a number of places in our environment where solar power could be (and are already) used very effectively for example water pumps to dams in nature reserves. PV panels have also been used to power electric fencing in game reserves very successfully for interruptions in electricity is eliminated and big mammals like elephants has no chance of breaking through a fence as could be the case in an normal power interruption.

In conclusion, the use of solar power in South Africa isn’t that far fetched when one look at the very appropriate weather conditions and the need to look at a more sustainable and renewable energy source for the future.

Ok, so unless you are truly inspired to reduce your carbon footprint you most likely will not be cooking in your solar oven daily. But, if your environment has enough sun then you really have nothing stopping you. I completed these plans and when i was done i was so excited. My wife told me that it was an adult version of the famous ‘EZ Bake Oven”.

First off you should know that commercial solar ovens are available on the market and are way more advanced than these simple plans, but these plans will cost you nothing. The best part is that you will most likely have all the materials handy which makes for a really fun and easy project.

So what do you need?
A coupe of cardboard boxes
Aluminum Foil
Elmer’s White Glue (Make sure that it is nontoxic)
Invisible Tape (Make sure that it is nontoxic)
Newspaper
Black Construction Paper
Stapler
Scissors
Plastic Wrap
Pencil

Lets Get Started
I built my solar oven with two cardboard boxes, these can really be of any size but the larger they are the more materials you will need. Make sure that one box fits inside the other box, and that there is a 2-3 inch space around the smaller box.

Insulating the large and small cardboard boxes
Next you will need to line the bottom of the larger cardboard box with wadded up newspaper. After you have done this place the small box in the larger cardboard box and begin to fill the gap of the smaller cardboard box with wadded up newspaper as well.

Line the insides of the smaller box
You now will need to line the sides inside of the smaller cardboard box with aluminum foil, this is also where the tape comes in handy, like i said make sure that you have nontoxic invisible tape to hold the aluminum into place.

Line the bottom of the smaller box with black construction paper and the purpose of this is really just to absorb as much heat as possible.

Creating the Reflector
You can place another piece of cardboard on top of the large cardboard box and trace the shape of the box to build the reflector.

After you have cut out the traced shape draw a 2-3 inch line inside the piece of cardboard and cut it out. Next, cover this piece of cardboard with aluminum foil (try to get the foil as smooth as possible for maximum heat reflection). Tape or glue the aluminum foil to hold it into place.

Attach the reflector to the outside back of the large box. You can also hold the reflector in place with a metal coat hanger and you can just bend it to the shape that you need.

Start Cooking
You will now be cooking with a really simple and low cost solar oven. Happy solar cooking!

Solar panels for home use are now not only widely manufactured, but the pace in which they are being adopted is picking up pace too. Many people are now concerned about issues such as global warming, energy efficiency, carbon emissions, doing what we can to help protect and preserve our environment. They may also have heard that this method of powering the home is not only friendly to the environment but will also lead to huge savings in electricity costs too. But they didn’t look any further into it as they thought it would be way too expensive and complicated.

In fact it is so straightforward that once many people discover how simple and affordable this really is, they decide that they will be happy to trade off the time and effort for the huge cost savings they will make. And then they go out and purchase the necessary materials to create and install their own solar panels for home use themselves. As they discovered, for less than $50 you can learn everything you need to know about how to do this!

Going sun powered will seriously reduce your electricity costs by 70% upwards. And less electricity costs amounts to hundreds and perhaps thousands of additional money you will have saved each year and can now spend on other things. And this is the way it will be for the years ahead too – amazing.

If you’ve not looked into this already, then now when everyone is looking to save money and offset costs is as good a time as any to get educated on one of the best and smartest ways of saving money there is. For less than $50 you can discover how simply and easily you can build and install your own solar panels for home use today.

Compost Bins are decomposed plant and waste materials that are gathered and broken down. The materials are piled into a bin or pile and turned a couple of times a week. You can use the soil from compost bins as fertilizer or to just boost your soil nutrients.

It takes about 6 months to 1 year of adding and turning a compost pile before it is ready to use. If you start in the Fall, you should have some fairly good soil for Spring planting.

You can create compost piles or bins in a ton of different ways. I’ve know people who have simply chosen a 5×5 square in the back corner of their yard and started their pile there. This is not the optimum way to create one because:
It will not stay tidy and the compost and contents are more likely to spill over into the yard It will be easier for animals to intrude and use your compost pile as a feeding ground.

It makes more since to create a compost pile or bin in something that is enclosed and not easily accessible.
There are many items that you can place in your compost pile or bin, but these are the primary items. The EPA has a full page of information about how to create and add to your pile.
Grass clipping Leaves Fireplace ashes Fruits and vegetables Coffee ground and filters Nut shells Egg shells Shredded newspapers

Make your own compost bin out of a trash can!
Using a large trash can with a lid, Drill 6 holes in the lid, then drill 6 holes in the bottom. Drill holes along the sides of your trash can as well – enough to provide good drainage. In total, you will probably have anywhere from 25 – 30 holes around the top, sides and bottom.

You will need something to attach to the bottom of the trash can so it can drain well. We build a simple wood platform, but I have seen people use a square wall built from concrete blocks or bricks. Basically anything that will raise the trash can off the ground. Attach your platform to the bottom of the trash can.

Start collecting items and placing them in your compost bins and turn every 2-3 days with a shovel. You can also roll the trash can along the ground to mix it.

After about 2-3 weeks, you should start to see worms in your compost pile. If you don’t, you should consider digging some up and placing them in the pile. Worms help break down the materials more quickly.
In about 6 months or so, you should have the makings of some really great soil for all your gardening needs!

With the current fears over global warming combined with rising energy prices, there is a lot of incentive for people to make their houses as energy efficient as possible. Rising sea levels make the problem of global warming particularly threatening to Florida as so much of the state is exposed to water. Fortunately, there are green ways of constructing houses that will minimize a structure’s carbon footprint. This allows the owners to save money in the long-run and make a small contribution to fighting global warming at the same time.

One of the best ways to make a property green is to preserve trees during construction. These trees, on top of being attractive and lending a home an established air, provide a windbreak to winter winds and will shade a house in the summer. By offering the house shade, the trees reduce the amount of energy needed to keep the house cool in the summer. If that isn’t enough, an established tree can take as much as 60 pounds of pollutants out of the air in a single year.

Another way of saving money on energy is by installing energy efficient windows. These windows combine a variety of technologies like lowemittance (low-E) glass coatings, gas filler between layers, and composite framing materials. The technologies help to keep heat inside in the winter and outside in the summer.

In addition to energy-efficient windows, there are new, energy efficient insulation options. In addition to the glass fiber batting, there are now sprayed insulations made of foam, cellulose, or wool as energy efficient alternatives. A simple measure such as increasing the R-value of insulation is a cost-effective way to save energy and help to reduce the heating bills in the winter and cooling bills in the summer. These two areas of bills amount to roughly half of the energy used in a house.

A design feature that does not require any extra materials gets the placement of a house involved. People who build custom homes are at an advantage when it comes to the final method of cost saving and green measures. If a home is designed by an individual and placed on a specific lot, the home owner can request that the south side of the house have more or larger windows than the other portions of the house. This measure will allow the house to capture more heat in the winter and also provide more natural lighting to the home year-round. Using natural lighting saves money on electricity and in a variety of other areas, such as purchasing light bulbs. While any home can incorporate the previous energy-efficient models, only a custom-built home can be placed so that this is true.

Think Green, Go Green, Act Green, Be Green, Feel, Smell…Green-Green-Green! If you are a building owner, manager or operator how many times have you heard about this ‘Green Monster’ sweeping across the nation? No, not the outfield wall at Fenway Park, but this green monster of eco-friendly concepts and energy smart ideas for your building.

‘Green’ topics can be found in magazines, newspapers, websites, talk radio, television commercials, talking heads on CNN/Fox, politicians, the U.S. Government…the whole world is talking green. Saving the environment once meant tossing our old newspapers in the recycle bin, but now building owners are being faced with a much more radical view of what it means to be ‘Green’. Property Managers are being pressured by building owners to ‘think green’. Building Consultants, like myself are being pressured by property managers to ‘think green’. I in turn pressure my vendors to provide ‘Green’ products…and so on and so on.

Energy costs will continue to rise, oil prices have recently hit the $100 dollar per barrel and the U.S. Government is handing out tax incentives for those who can dramatically cut utilities. Now more than ever has saving the environment also meant saving money. If green building research is on your agenda for 2008, well then you are in luck. In this edition of Mechanical Matters, I will touch ever so briefly on why ‘Going Green’ is important and share with you several sources of green research that I found helpful when composing this article.

But first I want to share with you a statement read that really sums up why ‘Green Building’ technology is important to me as a mechanical building consultant. Joanna R. Turpin, with Engineered Systems Magazine said this:

“Manufacturers in all sorts of different industries are advertising their green offerings these days – products that help end-user save energy, lower emissions, reduces wastes, etc. Nowhere does that make more sense than in HVAC industry, where high-efficiency heating, cooling and ventilation projects are in great demand by building owners looking to cut energy cost and lessen their impact on the environment.”

I couldn’t agree with her more. The rest of her article went into great detail about how ‘Green’ products and concepts made to a particular facility resulted in tremendous energy savings. I could go into great detail about ‘Green’ products that are on the market right now, but in this edition I wanted to address the whole ‘Green’ thing head on. I will leave ‘Green’ products that I endorse for another edition. For now I want to answer two questions. 1. Why is having a ‘Green Building’ so important? 2. What is my first step towards a ‘Green Building’?

Recently I sat down to watch television with a pen and notepad in my lap. I wanted to jot down every ‘Green’ advertisement, or ‘Green’ subliminal message that saw. Wow! I saw energy efficient light bulbs that apparently grow from trees and are picked like apples. Eco-friendly car commercials highlighted the MPG (mile per gallon) ratings in ‘Green’ across the screen. Learning channels such at HGTV, Discovery, National Geographic have ‘Green’ related topics airing daily. There is so much ‘Green’ coming through television that I thought I needed to adjust the color balance. Everyone seems to have great ‘Green’ ideas for sale, but why?

After wading through all the political bull, I found a very convincing statement on Go Green Initiative’s website:

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world population is expanding at a mind-boggling rate. The world reached 1 billion people in 1800; 2 billion by 1922; and over 6 billion by 2000. It is estimated that the population will swell to over 9 billion by 2050. That means that if the world’s natural resources were evenly distributed, people in 2050 will only have 25% of the resources per capita that people in 1950 had. Throwing away items that could be recycled diminishes energy, water and natural resources that could be saved by recycling. To read the rest of this article, please go to gogreeninitiative.org

Ok, so if we don’t strive to protect our environment we could potentially consume all of our natural resources…I can buy that. No matter what side of the political fence you sit on, I think we all can agree that recycling and conserving some of our natural resources just makes sense…we should all do our part. BUT recycling and protecting the environment is not a new concept. So why ‘Green’? Why now? Second to saving the environment, ‘Going Green’ has risen in popularity to another ‘Green’ acronym…MONEY. ‘Going Green’ is big business. It’s no secret anymore. For most business owners its common knowledge that lowering energy consumption positively effects the bottom line. It’s also common knowledge that product manufacturer’s can now label their products ‘Green’ and sales will increase while saving our environment.

For the sake of time and political debate, I will stick to ‘Green Building’ topics and steer clear of ‘Green Party Politics’. As Engineered Systems magazine stated, your building’s mechanical system consumes the majority of your energy. Unless your building is in the manufacturing industry or a nuclear power plant, chances are your mechanical system is the biggest contributor to your light, gas and water utility bills. To learn more about how HVAC Energy Efficiency, please go to Wikipedia.org and type HVAC. However, to reach perfect ‘Green Building’ stature, please take heed by one of the most profound statements ever made by a frog: “It’s not easy being green.” – Kermit the Frog

In order to achieve perfect ‘Greendom’ you may have to spend a lot of ‘Green’ to get there. (For the definition of Greendom, please go to my website and click on the glossary. Look for Greendom in the ‘G’ section). Un-like Kermit, ‘Green Building’ can be easy, but getting there may be a challenge. Whether you are replacing/updating your mechanical systems, improving sequence of operations, new lighting, building automated controls, low flow toilets or addressing your building’s envelope you will discover those ‘Green’ improvements won’t be cheap. However, through precise Energy Audits, building owners can discover how much energy is wasted, and target the areas of improvement that have the greatest return on investment.

You may be saying to your self right about now, “But Jimmy, we didn’t budget any building improvements this year…we don’t have the capital!” That’s why the Energy Audits are so important. Your audit may reveal an area that could be improved and the energy savings alone could finance the project with out any capital. Even if the Energy Audit didn’t result in immediate cash flow improvements, you will still have a sound road map to model your building’s capital investments for the next 1-5 years. Now do I have your attention? Keep reading.

I work with a lot of engineers, who are a lot smarter than me, and have dedicated the past 20 years of their lives to energy services. The company that I represent is both an Energy Star Partner and U.S. Green Building Council member. Normally when writing these articles I try not to boast about my day job. Unfortunately there are a lot of companies out there that are selling ‘Green’ performance-contracted energy projects, that have no business doing so. Just because they are in the lighting business, or maybe they sell a great control system, doesn’t mean that they have your ENTIRE building’s best interest at heart. So, there you have it…I am now forced boast.

“Any desired improvements to your facility’s mechanical systems, lighting, water systems, operations, controls and so forth can be financed by the money saved through energy smart decisions, or green concepts. Through precise energy audits, engineered solutions, strategic planning and skilled craftsmanship, we can improve facility operations, lower energy consumption, improve cash flow, and put money on the bottom line. Unlike those controls companies that push ‘Performance Contracting’ we can self perform all of the work we propose. We won’t push a specific brand of controls or equipment that is proprietary. We take our own energy audits, engineer our own solutions, assign our own project manager, utilize our own man power with no subcontracting. This in turns saves the building owner money and shortens the ROI.” – Jimmy V.

I could write an entire book about ‘Going Green’. There is a lot of information out there on this topic. In an effort to keep this article under 5,000 words I will close and leave you with a list of websites whose ‘Green’ commentary I found very valuable in my own research. In these websites listed below you will discover thousands of eco-friendly and energy smart practices. We now know that ‘Green’ concepts can improve the world we live in and save money. It’s a win-win so what are you waiting for? If you are interested in these ‘Energy Audits’ I have spoken so highly about, call me. Together we can bring your building into the 21st century, improve our environment and put so ‘GREEN’ back on the bottom line. Our ‘Green’ thumbs are standing by.

Offshore drilling is usually referred to the act of mining underground resources of earth slouching beneath sea-floor close to the shoreline. Normally, the term “offshore drilling” is used to express the process of oil extraction off the continental coasts although; the term can also be applied to drilling in lakes and inland seas. The initial offshore drilling was conducted at the 19th century ending in Baku at the “Bibi-Eibat” field and in the year 1896 at “Summerland field” on the Californian Coast. Oil & gas production in the sea is the most difficult and more than for land-based fitting and much of the improvement in the offshore petroleum sector revolves around overcoming these challenges. This includes a significant necessity of “Manned facilities have to to be kept above sea-level.”

This can be only achieved with vast constructions with their foundations on the sea bed, like “the Troll” – A platform stationed on a depth of 300 meter. With height of 472 meter, it can be acknowledged as the biggest man-made movable construction. Type of other platforms including floating types only anchored to the sea-floor. These floating platforms trim down the construction costs but the additional security measures are required as well as apparatus for nulling out heave due to strong waves. In both of oil ridges, the ocean adds numerous hundred meters to the liquefied column in the drill string increasing “bottom hole pressure” as well as escalating the required amount of energy to lift sand and cuttings for oil-sand separation on the platform. as of modern times the emphasis of oil companies is to conduct maximum production subsea for instance amenities to split sand from oil and re-inject sand prior to pumping up to the platform. In this process there are no installations visible above the sea-level.

Subsea installations enhance the goal of the petroleum industry of exploiting natural resources at gradually deep waters that have been inaccessible in the past. It also evades several challenges related to sea ice as in the Barents Sea.

Offshore manned facilities present logistics and human resources challenges

An offshore oil ridge can also be defined more or less as a small world with support utilities like cafeteria, resting quarters and administration located offshore. In the North Sea, the employees are transported on the platform by helicopter for a 2-week shift. This in turn means higher air pollution. Materials and wastes are transported by the means of ship and it is required to be delicately maneuvered due to the inadequate floor area on the platform. As of today, huge attempt exerts into moving the recruited personnel’s onshore.

Offshore and Its Significance

The continental boundaries, the geographic area adjacent to and deceitful seaward of a coastline have become gradually more significant to the natural gas & oil industry over the precedent century. The continental boundaries comprises of three portions:

1) The continental shelf consisting low water depths hardly ever deeper than 200 meters i.e. 656 feet only and expands towards seaward from the seashore to the distance assorting from the 20 km i.e. 12.3 statute miles to an extent of 400 km i.e. 249 statute miles.
2) The continental incline where the sea-bed slumps off to the rock bottom of up to 5 km i.e. 3.1 statute miles, and
3) The continental ascend which plunges very shallowly seaward from the foundation of the continental incline and is in part poised of down-washed sediments dumped at the slope bottom.

Environmental Issues

There are an assortment of environmental hazards that are allied with offshore natural gas & oil discovery and production. Amongst them several things like wastage discharges or leaks of toxic materials into the sea causing damage to the marine life and helping poachers in the rapid extinction of several rare species whether on purpose or unintentionally harm to the coastal habitation due to the mass construction & functions of fabricating infrastructure and impacts on the fiscal base of coastal populations.

The spilled oil goes through and breaks up the metabolism structure of the bird’s plumage diminishing the insulating capability making the birds susceptible to the temperature fluctuations and weakening their floating abilities. It also harms bird’s flying capability making it complicated or unfeasible to escape from predators. In attempt to clean themselves birds usually swallow oil that causing kidney damage, liver malfunction, and digestive tract irritation. This restricted foraging capability rapidly cause lack of fluids and metabolic discrepancies. The majority of birds exaggerated by an oil spill pass away unless there is human involvement in saving them.

Marine mammals exposed to oil spills are exaggerated in analogous ways as seabirds. The Oil coats the fur of “Sea otters and seals“, reducing their insulation capabilities leading them to frequent fluctuations in body temperature and hypothermia. Intake of the oil results in “dehydration and impaired digestion.” In United States only offshore drilling rigs and faulty pipelines spilled approximately 1.9 million gallons of precious oil in the U.S. waters. There are a hefty total of 224 reported accidents of oil leakage during 1990-1999, average of roughly 500 gallons/day.

Offshore drilling also results in a major amount of air pollution. As per the study by NOAA {National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration} it is revealed that every offshore drilling platform spawns just about 215,000 pounds of air pollutants each year. A standard discovery oil or natural gas well releases around 52 tons of dangerous nitrogen oxides, 15 tons of carbon monoxide, 5 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 7 tons of volatile organic hydrocarbons in the earths atmosphere contributing their part in the global warming, smog and acid rains.

The offshore drilling actions also release massive amounts of toxic wastage into the sea water. As per the revelations by the National Academy of Sciences {NAS}, a single oil well generates about 1500 – 2000 tons of toxic material which is further discharged into the sea water. Rubble comprises of drill cuttings, which are rocks grounded into pieces by the drill bit and sludge carried up to the platform throughout the drilling process. This sludge consists of toxic metals like “lead, cadmium and mercury.” Other noxious wastes like “benzene, arsenic, zinc and other known carcinogens and radioactive materials” are regularly unconstrained in the “produced water.”

During the 1960s, the United States of America witnessed an escalation in environmental consciousness which set the juncture for the development of much environmental legislation, policies and supervisory orders that have exaggerated natural gas and oil actions on “Federal offshore” areas. All natural gas and oil activities are required to undergo all the way through a huge number of environmental reviews by Federal, State in addition with local agencies. Federal agencies performs a responsibility in regulating and synchronizing U.S. environmental laws comprises of “the DOI, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).”

To safeguard the US waters, some of the environmental acts were introduced by the government for the regulation of the companies. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 -The National Environmental Policy Act was legislated by the American congress in the year 1969 to judge the environmental shocks of any projected events in addition with logical alternatives to those actions with the aid of expert tools like Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and Categorical Exclusion Reviews. An EIS is geared up for each lease sale held by the MMS.

Clean Air Act -All air pollutants emerging from the industrial activities are initially synchronized at the Federal level by the Clean Air Act {CAA} enacted by the US Congress in the year 1970. Anticipated and present natural gas and oil facilities are required to plan and design as part of their developmental plans and reporting events and comprehensive harmful chemicals release data to prove in conformity with the CAA.

Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 – The Coastal Zone Management Act was enacted in the year 1972 foundational on the professed necessitate to conserve, guard, develop and reinstate or improve the U.S. coastal area resources. This Act promotes coastal States to design an individual Coastal Zone Management Plan for the US coasts and entails State review of Federal actions that concern utilization of land and water in the monitored coastal areas. The uniformity clause of this Act grants the power to States to appose any Federal action that they judge are not reliable with the permitted Coastal Zone Management Plan. As per the NOAA in 2003 34 out of 35 coastal States and U.S. territories were contributing in the agenda and as of current situation almost 99% of the U.S. shoreline was covered by these approved plans.

Clean Water Act of 1977 – This act was enacted with intention to control the water polluting units to aid the sea environment heal. The Clean Water Act 1977(CWA1977) is the prime law prevailing the release of pollutants into all U.S. waters. The EPA necessitates that a “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit” is necessary to be acquired prior to any discharge of pollutants.

As of current situation, humans enjoys the pros and cons of the technology and the know-how to progress ahead of the dependence on polluting oil and gas drilling by using hygienic, secure and inexpensive renewable energy sources like windmills etc. As a substitute of relying eternally on unpredictable sources of oil and gas, there is a requirement to adapt superior technology to trim down the energy demand today and far-off into the future. There is also a need to identify all the resources like offshore drilling which creates hazardous situations for the environment and need to substitute them. To cope up with the escalating energy needs of US, it is not right to destroy the atmosphere.

Southern California residents have recently noticed home pests invading their homes; which can be a real problem, not to mention nuisance. Insects and rodents create an unhealthy living environment and this can result in people getting allergies and even succumbing to some diseases.

Pests breed when many homeowners fail to properly keep their living environment clean. They can also suddenly crop up due to changes in the environment or when you bring foreign elements into your home, which is already affected by pests, without noticing. If you are faced with a growing infestation of insects and the can of Raid is running low, the only alternative that you have is to call a professional pest control service company to address the problem. There are many reliable pest control services in California, many of whom are more frequently using eco-friendly products.

A qualified pest control service should do the following for you:

They will send you an expert who will be a certified professional, and who has in-depth knowledge of pest behaviors and breeding patterns; in addition to how to eliminate the pest.

They will assess the extent of infestation of the pest and offer a solution based on the level of damage done. For example, if an increased level of moisture is the cause for the incontrollable breeding of the pest, they would likely come up with a low toxicity and odorless solution.

If any of your personal activities cause pests to come into your home, qualified professionals can alert you of the situation and provide advice to prevent future unwelcomed guests.

They will make use of non-toxic products when eliminating pests. Professional pest control services look into coping with the problem of pests on a psychological level and make use of environmentally sound pesticides.

In case you feel that you can control the pest problem in your living environment and feel the extent of damage by pests is manageable, you can control it using mechanical devices such as sticky traps (insects), snap traps (mice), electric-light traps (flies) and others, depending on the pest.

If you decide to use pesticides, read the label carefully. The label will give you directions on its usage and will inform you on any protective gear you may need to wear when using it. If you still have doubts seek professional advice on its usage. Finally, it is important to remember that pests will never come into a place which is kept clean. Therefore it is vital to implement steps that bring about a clean living environment to avoid this problem from happening.

When is the last time you picked up a paper and did NOT read something about going “green?” If you’re anything like me, words like “green,” energy efficiency, and sustainable building practices are now common phrases used in most major media sources. But the big questions remain, why go “green”? How can I go “green”? How can going “green” save me money?

There are countless advantages to making your business “green” and more energy efficient. Energy/financial savings, environmental benefits, marketing benefits, lower absenteeism, higher employee satisfaction- – the list goes on and on! In fact, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) supports that green buildings consume 26% less energy, have 13% lower maintenance costs, have 27% higher occupant satisfaction and have 33% less greenhouse gas emissions. With tremendous savings like that, you’re not the only business owner considering the advantages of going “green.”

Wind farms and solar arrays are common subjects in news headlines and popular ways to go “green.” You might even hear or read something on metal sunscreens and garden roofing or green roofs as other alternatives to going “green.” While these popular applications are terrific ways for your business to become energy efficient, they certainly aren’t the only ways for your building to go “green.” Your roof is commonly overlooked with regards to adding to your energy savings. Did you know that by adding a white roof or white roof membrane you can trim your energy costs by up to 20%??

The Benefits of Energy Efficient Roofing
There are many benefits to installing a white roof membrane or white coating to your commercial building but first, let’s take a step back to discuss how a white roof works. The concept is quite simple. As sunlight beams down through the atmosphere, nearly half of the energy is converted to light and this light is what hits our rooftops. With a standard dark-colored roof, the sunlight converts directly to heat causing the internal and external temperatures of your building to rise. White roofs diminish this heating effect by reflecting the sunlight back and not absorbing it as heat.

A white, or cool, roof is measured by two properties: reflectance (ability of the roof material to reflect light energy away from the roof) and thermal emittance (ability of the roof material to deflect absorbed heat). Ideally you want your roof to be high in both. You also want your roof to maintain a high SRI (Solar Reflectance Index). The Heat Island Group recommends an SRI rating of 30% or higher for sloped roofs and 70% or higher for flat roofs. Reflective roofing and energy efficient roofing helps to achieve this.

So, how can white roofing save you money and positively impact the environment? Installing energy efficient roofing such as a white roof or white roof coating may reduce your energy bills, use less non-renewable sources (i.e. coal and natural gas) and reduce your carbon footprint. In some states, white, or cool, roofs can qualify you for green rebates and tax breaks. So, save green by going white! Install your white roof today and save money for many years to come.