Goal For The Green

A lot of families understand that the world is changing. With changes in weather, the environment, technology, and the growing population, it’s important to make a conscious effort to reduce our carbon footprints. While this may seem like an overwhelming concept, the truth is that going green is something any family can accomplish. It may take some time and some getting used to, but families can learn to gradually change from being highly dependent on energy to being more comfortable with unconventional oil. 

English: The carbon footprint. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First off, if you’re going to go green, you need to talk with your family about it. Never expect that your family will simply understand or go along with your plans until you’ve discussed it. After all, sometimes changes can be scary, especially for children. Instead of dropping the idea of a drastic change on your children, let them know that you’ll be making some gradual adjustments in the way your family lives your life. Explain to your little ones that change can be a good thing. In this case, you’re making changes that will impact and better the world around you in order to make it a more beautiful place for your children’s children to live.

Next, make a plan. How will your family start living greener? Maybe you want to do something extreme and move off the grid. That’s great! Most families, however, will opt for more realistic and gradual adjustments that they can accomplish while living in the same location. For example, maybe you want to reduce the amount of energy your family uses, maybe you want to start cooking with less plastic, or maybe you simply want to replace your light bulbs with energy-efficient ones. Make a list with your family and figure out how you can accomplish each item on it.

It’s also important that you understand making changes can take time. Even though you might be emotionally ready to go green, it may take time to physically accomplish all of the changes. For example, maybe your family wants to start using reusable grocery bags instead of disposable ones. That’s a noteworthy goal. It may take you a few weeks to get all of the bags you’ll need. If you’re on a limited income, it may take a few months. Similarly, your family might take some time to install solar panels or other green changes you want to make to your home. While this shouldn’t stop you, it should help put things in perspective. It’s vital that you remain content and encouraged even while you work on your personal goals toward living a greener, more ecologically friendly lifestyle.

Finally, encourage your children for the efforts that they make in changing the world around them. Your kids might have friends who make fun of them or tease them for the way your family chooses to live, but it’s fantastic that your kids want to make the world a better place for the people around them and for their future children. Remind your kids that if each person starts to make just a few changes, the world will quickly become a better, more beautiful place.

More than 90 percent of American homes are expected to see an increase in their winter heating costs because of rising residential energy prices, according to a recent report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Saving money and staying green throughout the winter months is tough because of colder temperatures. The flurry of holiday travel and visiting out-of-town guests doesn’t make it any easier. Take on the challenge and keep energy consumption down with the following tips that help reduce environmental impact and your expenditures.

Make It Automatic

The goal is to build systems into your daily life that make conservation nearly automatic. For starters, make it a habit to always turn off lights when you leave a room or the house for the day. Model this practice for your children and any visiting guests to adopt as well. By establishing clear “house rules” for energy usage, your January energy bill will be less likely to make you faint.

Invest is simple, affordable gadgets to help you automatize your energy usage. Lowe’s home improvement store recommends stringing fewer holiday lights. Also, use a timer to automatically shut lights off overnight and during the daytime. Timers are reasonably priced and available at a range of hardware and department stores for anywhere between $10 – $30.

Quick Fixes

During busy weeks of shopping and holiday errands, empty your car out fully each time you come home. According to Energy.gov’s holiday energy tips, driving with an extra 100 pounds of cargo can increase your gasoline expenditure by almost a dime a gallon. Energy.gov also recommends switching from traditional holiday lights to LED lights, claiming that the latter only costs $0.27 for 12 hours of festive light. Traditional electric lights cost almost $10 for the same amount of burning time.

The Long Haul

Paying attention to costs and conversation during the holidays is a good start, but savvy, eco-conscious homeowners know that good energy saving systems are worthwhile year-round. Once the craziness of the holidays dies down, put long-term strategies into place, such as installing storm windows that can significantly reduce your heating costs.

Visit www.electriccompanies.com to learn more about living in one of the deregulated states that allow homeowners to make informed choices about an energy provider that’s best for your budget and your green lifestyle. Choosing your own provider equates to big savings in the long run. You’ll also trust where your energy is coming from and make smarter choices about how to use it efficiently in your own home.

For those who love spelunking, finding caves is often a matter of discovering the openings on the surface and then working your way lower into the ground. Many caves might start out with just a small opening that is really no larger than a house or even a doorway, but there could be miles of tunnels under the ground. The caverns could be huge, with soaring ceilings that are even larger than any room you have ever stood in before. It is very fun to explore all of these areas as long as you have the right equipment so that you can stay safe.

English: Ice cave in Big Four Glacier, Big Four Mountain, Washington, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you ever considered the fact that there could be more caves that are simply hidden under the ground, that do not have an entrances that people can see? These caves could be larger than the ones that you have been in before, but you would never know they were there. You could walk over the top of them without knowing what lay just twenty feet below the soles of your shoes. This is something that people are often investigating with geophysical instruments manufacturered by Advanced Geosciences, Inc. They are looking for new caverns and caves that have never been explored before.

The instruments do this by looking at the resistance in the ground to electricity. When the ground is made from one solid material, the resistance levels are going to look the same, no matter how far down the impulses go. If there are different materials, the resistance could increase or decrease accordingly; as you can imagine, the electricity will move through solid rock much more slowly than it would move through something like sand. By looking at how fast the current can travel, you can effectively see what is beneath the machine to a certain depth, mapping it all out.

The way that this could be used to find new caves is that you would simply look for large patches where the resistance dropped to nothing at all. That would indicate that the electrical current was traveling through the air. It also might not be able to travel through the air at all if it is too weak, and so the current will stop and the signal will be lost. The cave may still not be accessible, depending on how deep it is, but you can at least know where to look for new explorations.