People that know me know that I’m not a big fan of celebrities. I think shows like Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood are pretty much the worst shows on TV and if I never hear the names Anna Nicole Smith or Paris Hilton again, it’ll be too soon. That being said, there are rare instances where celebrities use their fame to help promote things that benefit us all. I heard that Ellen DeGeneres has been promoting ”going green” on her daytime TV talk show and has tips on her website for ways we can all help the environment and decided to check it out. I’ve visited the site and there is a page of tips and other interesting information about environmentally-friendly products there. It seems that Ellen is trying to use her status as a celebrity to do a good thing here and I hope this becomes a new trend among celebrities. 

–Links– 
Green Tips 
Green Products

      When comparing hotel prices, the difference between a $50.00 room and a $500.00 room could be quite staggering… unless you’re a trucker. Considering the amenities many truck drivers have in their trucks these days, many save money by spending the night in their trucks… but were you aware of EXCESS IDLING laws? Receiving a citation in this department could cost $500.00 and only goes up from there. To run their “hotels on wheels”, drivers need to keep an idle engine so they can keep their batteries charged, but with such imposing regulations, it seems a near-impossible task. Because of this, idle reduction devices have seen a dramatic growth in sales in recent years.

Currently, with the price of diesel being around $2.50, auxiliary power units (APU’s) can pay for themselves in about two years. However, weight and initial installation costs drive many truckers away… rigs included. Though there are some other alternative systems which are available that are much more weight and pocket friendly.

FUEL FIRED HEATERS - Run pumps & Blowers 

They consume very little electricity and use as little as 0.03 gallons/hour at a low setting and less than 0.1 gallons on a high setting, producing about 11,000 BTU’s/hour. 

TRUCK STOP ELECTRIFICATION

A parking space with clean, filtered hot or cold air, cable t.v., internet, and access to shore power for $1.85/hour or less. 

ON BOARD ELECTRIFICATION - (Basically, an internal for of truck stop electrification)

Uses deep cycle batteries and an inverter and can power lighting and various accessories. 

COLD STORAGE - Maintains temperatures in already cooled cabs. 

Chills or freezes a special liquid mixture to remove heat from air blown over them when the engine is turned off. 

HYBRID SYSTEMS - Combines many of the above technologies to achieve the most efficiency per task. 

Creates an optimal solution for an individual driver’s needs. 

As you can see, there are many options out there, with new ones being marketed all the time. So keep informed at Greenerthinking.com, and research what’s available to help you meet your needs before investing in any idle-reduction system. The only thing you’ll be missing out on, is a couple of bars of soap, and perhaps a complimentary mint.

One of our main purposes for this website is not only to do something good for the planet, but to also help consumers save money by cutting energy costs. Well, I’ve decided to take that a step further by helping to point out some investments that present ways of hopefully making money for investing in companies that are doing something good for the environment. 

Stock Symbol – Company Name 

• Solar Stocks
o ESLR – Evergreen Solar
o FSLR – First Solar
o SPWR – SunPower
o LDK – LDK Solar Inc.
o YGE – Yingli Green Energy Holding Company

• Wind Stocks
o GE – General Electric (Yes, the General Electric. They’re subsidiary GE Wind is a leader in wind power)
o FPL – FPL Group Inc.

• Ethanol
o GPRE – Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc.
o PEIX – Pacific Ethanol, Inc.
o USBE – US BioEnergy Corporation
o VSE – VeraSun Energy Corp.

• BioMass
o MEOH – Methanex Corporation
o GEYC – Green Energy Corp.

• Hydrogen Fuel Cell
o HYGS – Hydrogenics Corporation
o QTWW – Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc.
o FCEL – Fuel Cell Energy
o PLUG – Plug Power Inc.

• Geothermal
o ORA – Ormat Technologies Inc.

• Wave Power
o OPTT – Ocean Power Tech Ocean Power Technologies, Inc.

• Recycling
o AERT – Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc.
o CSAR – Caraustar Industries, Inc.

• Renewable Energy Automotive
o CLNE – Clean Energy Fuels Corp.
o ENA – Enova Systems Inc.
o SATC – SatCon Technology Corporation

• Green Mutual Funds
o Winslow Green Growth Fund: WGGFX
o PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy: PBW
o Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund: GAAEX

There are so many different types of renewable energy that we are always hearing about these days, that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the cleanest energy is still the energy we don’t use. This kind of goes along with my previous article from June 4th, that we always have to be looking not just for cleaner sources of energy, but ways to use less energy. There are so many ways that we all waste energy everyday and if we just look at our own homes, lifestyles, and routines, that I’m sure we can find ways to cut down on our usage by not leaving lights on when not in use or keeping the refrigerator door shut as much as possible just to name a couple. So, keep in mind when you’re looking for ways to cut energy, don’t just look for cleaner energy sources, but look to not waste it as well. 

-Links- 
Xinhuanet.com

      Have you ever had the feeling of being overwhelmed? …suffocatingly so? To the point of feeling your life is being threatened? Perhaps your life being thieved from right underneath you? You are not alone! Many plants feel this way too. Why? Because sometimes their natural competition in life is not so natural… to them at least. I’m talking about plants of the invasive kind!

Invasive plants are plants that can have devastating effects on our environment, our economy, or sometimes, even our own health! “Invasive” is a term which applies to a handful of species which are classified as the most aggressive in the plant kingdom. They have the innate ability to both grow and reproduce at a rapid and exponential rate. Once established, they can wreak havoc in their new-found territories and cause some major changes. Liken them to dominant tyrants of the plant kingdom… NOW!!!

Although most invasive plants are non-native, most plants that are non-native are not invasive. That is, most native areas that are introduced to a foreign species usually dominate the new-comer due to its lack of adaptation. They may find the areas growing season too short, the conditions for its seeds to germinate or spread may not be ideal, or perhaps it lacks a defense against local herbivores. The bottom line is that non-native plants do not have the upper hand… usually.

Whether introduced intentionally or by accident, invasive plants can spread faster than the Rage Virus from the movie ’28 Weeks Later’. Overwhelming the local flora and fauna, the “invasives” dominate vital the components of life one by one. Water, light, nutrients, and eventually space itself all fall to the way of the invasive. One can see it it perhaps not a good idea to plant such a doomsday device.

Some destructive invasives have damaged forests, wetlands, fields, and waterways. This causes erosion and deprives a habitats wildlife from its food… and in some cases, this means humans too! When the total cost of damage is added up considering all types of invasive species (both aquatic and terrestrial), the United States alone is annually estimated to loose 137 billion dollars!!! The cost is due to lost productivity, maintenance, restoration, control, and losses to habitat, livestock, and wild life. This is not to mention that when large areas become carpeted with such plants and god decides to “liven things up a bit”, a common forrest fire can become a Dante’s Inferno due to an almost inexhaustable supply of dense fuel. Perhaps it could be considered the 10th circle of hell… perhaps not… either way, it’s devastatingly expensive.

To get a look at a couple of the most common devastators, take a look at:

-PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE (Lythrum Salicaria)

&

-GARLIC MUSTARD (Allaria Petolata)

What can you do to help prevent the invasion?

1. Once identified, try eliminating such species from your own landscape.

2. Use native plants.

3. Request that your neighbors and municipalities to substitute such plants with more appropriate selections.

4. Request that your local nursery stop carrying invasive plants.

If you’d like, try filling out one of these Nursery Wallet Cards to give them.

5. Technically, breathing slower may disrupt their growth on a picayune level, considering they need your CO2 to survive.

Hopefully this article has informed you of invasive plant’s existence as well as taught you about their threat on all fronts. Know what some common types look like and try to avoid planting them if possible. Fight the good fight, and remember, if you see one face to face, you are smarter than it is… Hopefully, …and if you ask it to fight like a man and it answers you, you are probably drunk… besides, a plant would probably fight like a plant anyhow.

Here is an example of a problem concerning an invasive species DEVASTATING EFFECTS

-SOURCES-

USDA
invasiveplants.net

Since one of our main priorities here at Greener Thinking is to provide people with ideas about how to conserve energy and in turn save them money in energy costs, I wanted to write a few tips on how everyone can increase the energy efficiency of their home. 

• Next time a light bulb in your house goes out, replace it with a fluorescent bulb replacement. They may cost a little more than what you’re used to, but they last far longer and use much less energy. Also, be on the lookout in the near future for LED bulbs. These are even far more efficient and longer lasting than the fluorescent bulbs, but so far from the ones I’ve seen, aren’t very good for lighting your home. This is because they are much better for a focused bright beam of light, rather than for dispersing it throughout a room. 

• If you have an old thermostat that simply has an on/off switch, you can replace it with a newer model that allows for configuring different settings depending on the time of day. This will let you set your heat or air conditioning to not kick on as much when you won’t be home or are sleeping. 

• One of the things that often gets forgotten when people think about energy usage is the hot water heater. It actually uses up a large amount of energy and there are some ways you can help this. First of all is the obvious, you can lower the temperature setting on it. But something most people don’t know they can do is to put a water heater cover on it. This helps to insulate the hot water heater and keep the heat from getting out. Also, you can get this same type of insulation for the hot water pipes to keep the heat from escaping there. 

• Often times, the weather stripping can come off of doors that are at the entrances to our homes and we may not even notice. For instance, maybe your 6 month old Labradoodle puppy named Ginger chewed it off (not that it has ever happened to me or anything….). This can be a major area for energy to be escaping the home. Very similar to when you’re driving in your car with the air on and your kids want to roll the windows down, a situation we’ve all been on one side of or the other. 

• When it’s a hot, sunny day, one thing you may want to do is to make sure the blinds and/or curtains are closed before you leave for the day. This helps to ensure that the sun won’t be heating your house as much while the air conditioning works hard to keep it cool. 

• Another thing that is good is to have your ductwork in your home cleaned every so often. This helps to keep the heating and cooling system in your home as efficient as possible and prevents it from having to work as hard for the same result. 

I hope everyone can utilize these suggestions and save some green on their energy bills and at the same time, save a little green to look at and enjoy outside as well. I plan to have more articles like this one in the future with more tips to increase the energy efficiency of your home, so check back often.

Growing up in Lower Michigan, when someone asks you what you are doing for the weekend, your answer starts by you whipping out your hand and positioning it like an oven mitt. Needless to say, “The Thing To Do,” is going north for the weekend. You may ask “Why!?” Well, I will tell you. 

For all nature lovers, “Going Up North” signifies “Being One With Nature.” While up north you do things like pop up a tent, breathe in the fresh air, and actually see how many stars there are in the sky at night. There are many more stars than you can see through the city lights, believe it or not. This art of camping slows you down, and makes you appreciate the world around you.

Some people take the term camping a bit liberally. Some people take everything including the kitchen sink. Yes I am talking about those huge trailers that include the pullout wall, sleeper sofa, air conditioning, toilet, shower… and kitchen sink. With all of that it is easy to guess that that is not any more naturesque than your home. But what you may not have thought about until the recent, well last several years of gas price gouging, is the efficiency a trailer can have on completely draining your wallet during travel. 

I have never owned one of these large trailers, I am more of a tent camper, so I was a bit naive when it came to the cost of this luxury. While camping this weekend a couple of people in our party, trailer owners, were bragging about their gas mileage. Something I find fascinating because I love statistics, a good graph gets me every time. So anyway, they were talking about how they tweaked their trucks so that they were running optimally and one said, “Yeah, I tweaked my truck to perfection, increased my mileage by 3 miles per gallon!!!” 

With my interest peaked, I listened in a little longer, I found that he almost doubled his gas mileage!!! He was now sitting atop an astounding 8 mpg. Now driving my “Mini Jag” (read Kia), I felt ripped off with my 28 mpg!!! I know, I know, it’s not that bad, but $50 for a tank of gas is getting a little old. I can’t even imagine filling up my tank three times for a two-hour trip.

With this kind of performance, I started to think of the possibilities of an electric truck. That could be the next huge thing in transportation and delivery. With the amount of gas all large truck drivers go through I am sure electric trucks would save delivery companies millions on gas. It would be a much easier vehicle to place batteries in than consumer grade cars because large trucks already have a large cavity where the engine would normally sit. They could also use the generator idea of the Chevy Volt.

Another advantage of research and development in this area is that delivery companies would have no problem funding this project if it were to save them millions, possibly billions, in the future. If larger delivery companies funded the research, the technology could be developed quicker and allow for much quicker commercial adoption.

The quicker that we can become independent of gasoline, the better off we will be as a country and human beings in general. Come on people crank up the R&D. Consumers are looking for an alternative more than ever, why not give us a solution!!!

Links 
Chevy Volt

If you are an American Express cardholder, you should check out a contest they are currently running. You may have seen the commercials on TV for it. It’s called Members Project and it’s a contest to see who has the best idea for a project to help do some good for the world in some way. American Express will donate $1 for every member that registers a project, up to $5 million, that will go towards the winning project idea. This is a great opportunity for those of us that care about the environment and the future of our planet to get together and get a quality project going with a good chunk of funding. When they’ve narrowed down to top 50 ideas, they will begin to allow voting on the ideas. Please feel free to email us with any projects you may have submitted so we can see if they make it to the top 50. So, let’s get over to the website and register some ideas! 

American Express Members Project