Goal For The Green

Para-education and green living information

Lemonade Award

Nov-26-2008 By Barbara Zak

lemonade-1

Special Thanks to Live Life Veg, for awarding Goal For The Green with the Lemonade Award.  Now I get to pass the award on to ten other blogs.

The winners are:

Solar Energy-Green Lifestyle For You

Chasing The Wind

Forced Green

Focus Organic

Kat’s Healthy Living

Strawbale Homes

My Autism Insights

Abundant Alliance

More Than Sew So

My Tangible Wealth

The rules of this award for recipients:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude.

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

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A friend of mine sent me information on this very important topic.  The tone of the article pertains to pregnant women, but actually it is important information for everyone.  Kristen J. Gough, wrote this very   informative article, in which she shares results from a new study.  The study suggests that cell phones may pose some health risks to a pregnant woman’s developing baby.  But, before you toss your wireless phone, find out exactly what those risks may by clicking here.

What you need to know at the heart of the debate over whether cell phone use can cause health problems—not just in pregnant women but to anyone—is the way wireless devices work. A cell phone uses radio frequency waves, a form of electromagnetic radiation, to transit messages to and from cell towers. For more information about this, check out what the Food and Drug Administration is saying, just click here.

These waves are the same as those your microwave generates to heat food but at a much lower amount. High amounts of these waves can disrupt body tissues—that’s one reason you wear protective shielding when you get an X-ray. Because stronger forms of this radiation, such as that used for X-rays, can be harmful to the body by damaging cells and DNA, it is called ionized radiation. Microwave ovens, cell phones, and other wireless devices also use electromagnetic waves to function, but because the radiation they produce is not thought to damage body tissue, it’s known as non-ionizing. Still, the body absorbs non-ionizing radiation generated from your phone. According to the FDA, which regulates radiation levels in cell phones, the amount of RF energy your body absorbs “is called the Specific Absorption Rate,” or the SAR level.

What concerns researchers, however, is that the long-term effects of cell phone use are still largely unknown. Cell phones may emit low levels of radiation, but does constant, heavy use amplify the effects of the radiation?

Available scientific evidence does not show that any health problems are associated with using wireless phones.  On the other hand, there is no proof, that wireless phones are absolutely safe.  Some studies suggest that some biological effects may occur, but such findings have not been confirmed by additional research.

The technology is simple and readily available. To date there are two billion people worldwide that use wireless phones.

What can you do If you are concerned about the potential hazards of cell phone use on your unborn baby, there are steps you can take to minimize your exposure to radio frequency energy (RF).  First of all, don’t do anything that can interfere with your phones signal strength. The harder your phone has to work the more RF (radio Frequency) energy it is putting out.  Use it according to the manufacturer’s suggestions, just as it came out of the box.  No, rhinestone or rubber sheaths.  Use a blue-tooth whenever possible, and keep the phone away from your body, especially your belly, on a waist-clip or in a pocket. Just a few changes can make a big difference.

For more information on how you can protect yourself and your children click here.

What I like about the information above , is that a person can look at one thing and continue researching, if you are interested in knowing more.   Another wonderful and highly recommended source that you can listen to or read, is the Electro Pollution Solution by Dr. Sherrill Sellman.

Beyond Silliness !

Aug-24-2008 By Barbara Zak

Are we being logical about Global Warming ? Probably not, since we now call it climate change.  It might be a little ridiculous to think that man caused climate change to happen.  Sure, we are a contributing factor, but we all know that the earth undergoes sometimes drastic climate changes-naturally!  Mother Nature has never needed any help in that area.  Even if we would have heeded the warnings 30 plus years ago, after the “gas crisis,” -much of what is happening now, would still be happening.  We have no control over it.  But, we probably have contributed to our crisis by not practicing good conservation.

So, what makes us think that we can change our habits and replace our energy demands with alternative sources, in just ten years?  Today, here in the United States, only 7% of our energy comes from alternative sources.  Hydroelectric power  comprises 36% of our total alternative energy usage.  Another 5% comes from the use of wind energy.  These two sources cannot be tapped into much further, without studies of the damage it causes to already fragile ecosystems.  Fish and wildlife suffer as a paradox of our need for alternative energy sources.  It seems the only time we hear about these unfair tradeoffs, is when people protest (NIMBY) not in my back yard, when it is time to build dams and install wind turbines into already settled communities.

Today, over half of our alternative energy is in the form of biofuels.  Sources such as switchgrass (it needs an enzyme to break it down) and ethanol (corn based) are our hope for renewable energy.  Geothermal and solar power (through photovoltaic cells) offer another 6% of our current alternative energy usage.  While these sources are promising, they supply a very minor amount of our total annual energy needs.

Will we meet the goal in ten years?  Probably not, but we have to start somewhere.  It is estimated that it will cost upwards of $2.5 trillion to achieve approximately half of our home based energy needs through alternative energy sources.   Some feel that the environmental impact of biofuels is worse than that of petroleum souces.  Sure, more information is needed in these areas, but we can’t stop progress.  We must move forward.  We should make more use of resources that we already have here at home.  More use of nuclear energy, natural gas, and ways to safely make use of hydrogen should be looked at more closely.