Green Inspired Topics

There's this really fascinating commercial floating around out there in cyberspace that caught my attention recently. It's promotes green technology in the form of asustainable dance club. According to the web site:

The Sustainable Dance Club incoroporates innovations in the field of sustainable design and applied techniques with social responsibilities in attractive club surroundings. The Sustainable Dance Floor will generate electricity from the movements of dancing people.

The idea for this sustainable dance club was the pure genius of Enviu , innovators in sustainability and Doll , a studio dedicated to the art of building. Together, these two have come up with a fantastic way of dancing at clubs while saving the environment at the same time. Pretty awesome if you ask me! The presentation of this concept was tested on October 14, 2006 in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and was a huge hit. Now, let's see if it will ever catch on in the United States!

For more information about auto transport or vehicle transport , contact National Transport . 

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Company Glance

One company, Hybrid Technologies , is hoping to change the way that people look at hybrid vehicles. Hybrid Technologies, according to their web site, is a concept and brand development corporation in the field of alternative-fuel automobiles, motorcycles , scooters, bicycles and alternative-fuel products. Currently, they are focused on developing and marketing lithium-powered vehicles and products in order to make the environment a cleaner, more fuel-efficient place to live and work.

According to a recent article published in the Huffington Post , Hybrid Technologies is planning to produce two working eco-friendly vehicle models by the end of the 2009/beginning of the 2010 year. The two models are said to be,

an all electric that will have a range of 150-180 miles, and a plug-in hybrid model that they are entering into the Progressive Automotive X-prize competition and will boast a 220 mile per gallon efficiency...

I don't know about you, but 220 miles per gallon is enough to get me excited!

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What is CSA all about?

 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) provides a direct link between local farmers and consumers.  According to Sustainable Table , each season, members of the CSA purchase a share of a farmer's crop before it's planted.  This allows the farmer to pay for seed, water and equipment up front so that he/she is less dependent on the bank for loans.  Each week (usually from June-October), the farmer delivers great tasting, healthy food to pre-determined spots in the area.  Some people can even pick the food up directly from the farmer's property (depending on where you live ).

CSAs are great for many reasons:

• Local farmers connect directly with consumers, thereby helping to develop a regional food supply and stronger local economy.
• Costs of food are lower because the "middleman" has been cut out.
• Consumers get a variety of FRESH produce, which means that there are no preservatives, etc.
• CSA farmers typically use organic or biodynamic farming methods, thereby minimizing environmental pollution.

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Calfee is the owner of Calfee Design, which is based out of California and sells bicycles.  Typically, Calfee used carbon-fiber bicycles before coming across the idea for bamboo bicycles. He first came up with a prototype for the bamboo bicycle after wondering whether or not a bamboo frame would hold up against the weight of a human.  It turns out that bamboo is stronger than it looks.  Now, Calfee's unique bamboo frame bicycles sell for approximately $2,700 a piece.

The proud designer and owner claims,

Serious bikers like them because they're high-performance frames.  Environmentally conscious people like them because making them burns less carbon.

For more information about car transport , visit National Transport today!

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The next time you go through old boxes or do your spring cleaning, before you hit the 'autopilot' button and just start throwing things out, think first about how you might possibly reuse or recycle that item. Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not telling you to be a packrat here, but there are plenty of people out there who are finding fresh and innovative ways to reuse and create new things out of the old.

One eco-chic designer, named Mana Bernardes , is gaining considerable attention from fashion designers around the country.  She is a young jewelry designer, poet and visual artist from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.  According to her web site , her jewelry line, Mana, was based around community education social projects with the Museum of Rio de Janeiro and the European Design Institute of Sao Paulo where she worked with teenagers and students in Brazil teaching them how to make jewelry by creating innovative things out of recycled items. 

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Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to receive anymore energy bills or electric bills for your home or apartment? Well, it might actually be possible. According to a recent article in the New Zealand Herald , a woman named Charmaine Watts (ironic last name, isn't it?) hasn't had a power bill for eight years now!

Watts is in charge of the Sustainable Electricity Association of New Zealand, which is a group that represents small-scale wind, hydro and solar power generators. She claims that anyone who has a roof has the potential to make their own electricity. So, what's the problem then? It turns out that a lot of people are still somewhat anxious when it comes to renewable energy because it is still on the expensive side and a lot of governments don't subsidize renewable power.

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According to an article published in The Earth Times , washable diapers may actually be better for the environment than regular, disposable diapers.  In Amsterdam, a dutch foundation for the protection of the environment has been conducting research on washable diapers and have found out that they are better for the environment when compared to single-use diapers.  

Some critics might argue that washable diapers are not necessarily better because they require you to "wash" them, which would use up water.  However, according to spokesman Hans van Dijk of the organization Milieu Centraa in Utrecht;

Contrary to all previous studies that looked primarily at the damage to the environment-starting from the moment a customer buys one type of diaper or another--our study also looked at the production process, including transportation.

So What's the Big Deal?

Disposable diapers poses a very real concern for the environment.  According to conservative estimates, the modern infant can expect to go through nearly 5,000 diaper changes.  Other estimates bump that number up to almost 11,000! Additonally, the sheer volume of disposable diapers in landfills alone is presents a host of environmental challenges.   In the United States, disposable diaper experts (yes, they actually do exist!) estimate that the number of diapers that are thrown away in landfills is more than 21 BILLION a year.  If this wasn't bad enough, this number is actually expected to increase due to current trends in potty training where parents are actually waiting longer to wean toddlers out of diapers.  

What About Being Biodegradable?

Sure, disposable diapers contain plastic, which can be recycled and is biodegradable.  However, the plastics used in many disposable diapers can take over 50 years to break down.  Additionally, some of the other ingredients used to make disposable diapers can cause problems with the soil quality and lead to various other hazards with water supplies.   

So, what IS the answer then?  Perhaps parents should aim to potty train their infants as quickly as possible and whenever they can manage it, use a mix of disposable diapers with washable diapers?   The problems are quite clear, but the solutions are not.

For more information about capezio dance shoes , the best dance movies ever and dancewear in general, contact Stars Dancewear

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Thank goodness for healthcare providers like BCBSNC whenever we need to run to the doctor's office. But have you noticed how many doctor's offices aren't very environmentally friendly? Sure, they might be sterile, but there are some things that doctors can and should keep in mind when they are thinking of opening up or re-doing an office.

The first thing that the person (or people) in charge of re-designing a doctor's office needs to remember is that the people who are going there already don't feel well. So, why bring them into an envirnoment that has more toxins in it? Some things to consider begin with something as simple as what you're going to do with the walls. There are a few eco-friendly paints available such as Envirocoat, which provides longer lasting, lower costing paint. It's environmentally friendly and doesn't have the harsh smell that a lot of paints have. Additionally, it's easy to apply and will save you a ton of money in the long run.

How about those floors? Hard wood floors are preferable because they are easier to clean and don't trap smells as much. If you are going to decide to go with hardwood floors, there are plenty of non-toxic finishes that you can put on it. If hardwood floors seem like too much of an investment, there is also eco-friendly linoleum available.

Worried about lighting? If you are having your office designed from scratch, set your windows up so that they get the most daylight possible, this way you can use as much natural light versus having to buy high powered light. There are also plenty of eco-friendly light sources out there such as Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs and LEDs. Also, consider getting a dimmer so that you don't burn as much energy.

These are just some friendly tips to keep in mind when thinking about design implications in a doctor's office. For more information about health insurance in North Carolina, contact BCBSNC

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With the recent oil crisis, a population that keeps growing as well as the rising cost of our appetites (i.e. cost of food and instances of obesity), people everywhere are scrambling to find and figure out alternatives.  Part of this "enthusiasm" is coming from the need to save money.  I mean, it just cost me almost 70 bucks to fill up my car last week alone!  The other reason comes from a genuine concern over preserving and protecting the environment in which we live.  

What's the world to do?  The answer may lie in the very ground we tread upon.  According to a  recent article published in the Boston Globe , some soil scientists are  beginning to look at ways in which we can improve the overall quality of our soil.  The emphasis is being placed on the fact that soil is even more important than petroleum, water or air because it is an extremely limited and fragile resource.  There is no doubt that soil is something we often do not think about, if at all, and therefore, we take it for granted.  It is what our plants grow out of (which is what nourishes animals).  It is essential.  

The article goes on to state:

Nevertheless, progress in the science of soil has the potential to be truly transformative, and to help solve some of the biggest problems the planet faces. By 2050, according to Rattan Lal, a professor of soil science at Ohio State University, "All the necessities of food, feed, fiber, and fuel are going to be met by less than one-tenth of an acre per person, on average. And we already have seriously degraded a lot of the available land. So unless you can restore some of it you will just run out."

 It's truly something to think about.

For more information about dance competition costumes , dance recital costumes and dancewear shoes , visit Stars Dancewear

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It's that time of year; all across the United States, teenagers everywhere are getting into the prom swing of things, while college kids are working out the last of their senioritis kinks so that they'll have enough energy left over to P-A-R-T-Y once graduation pops up.  Among other cool things to throw a party with, why not have some awesome lights?!  The neat thing is that you can still throw a killer party while saving the environment.  Over at ecogeekliving.com, there are a bunch of cool toys for budding young adults  and adults alike to get into.  Solar powered lights like the one pictured here are a great option for parties or for your Christmas tree because they don't add to your electric bill and there aren't any of those annoying wires.  You get  60 brightly colored LED lights and a 37 foot cord for  50 bucks that you can put up anywhere.   They can be set to "blinking" or normal and turn on automatically as soon as the sun goes down.  When the sun comes back up ; just like the people at your party- they're gone :) 

For more information about individual health insurance , contact Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

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