A clear argument on why it does not make sense to drill for oil in ANWR.

McCain and Palin want to drill soon and now, but really does it make sense? Is it the right thing to do? The time is truly now to not make renewables second fiddle, but to really start using them now! Watch the video below for more.

I try not to blog on politics too often, but I just have to share this video.

Another reason why it is getting harder to hate Wal-mart.

With the good Wal-Mart is doing for the environment these days it is getting harder and harder for me to hate them. It started with their new green, LEED certified stores, moved to a reduced packaging for soaps and call to suppliers to do it or lose the shelf space and then moved to getting suppliers to remove BPA from plastics.

Now another supplier, HP, is following Wal-Marts direction and reducing packaging for laptop computers. Basically the laptop takes three small plastic bags and a piece of cardboard. They now fit 31% more product on a pallet and they are re-using laptop cases to ship them in. It is an amazing change that all laptop suppliers should follow and I hope they do.

So, now that leaves me with one more reason to not hate Wal-Mart. If they could only make the store layout more friendly, I may actually venture inside one.

Source: GreenBiz.com

North Pole is an island for the first time in 125,000 years!

If nothing scares you into thinking about the impact we have on our climate, then perhaps this will. The north pole has become an island for the first time in 125,000 years. It wasn’t a meteor, it wasn’t a volcano, it was us. The time to change is now, not when we get around to it. Little changes count as well as big changes, but conscious change is what it will take. See the full article here. When I can actually find a link to a U.S. Paper that covers this story, I will post it. Found a U.S. source thanks to Scream to be Green.

Source: Mail Online & Scream To Be Green

Sunday update - The week in green news.

What is the carbon footprint of McCain’s countless (can’t count them all) homes? - Grist

Not to be left out - Gore hits the waves with massive new houseboat - Pajamas Media

Two large solar plants planned in California - New York Times

China pushes for energy efficiency - Cleantech

Hyundai plans to sell hybrid in US in 2010 - Cleantech

How strong is a shipping container home?

I have posted on Shipping Container Homes numerous times in the past and everytime I get questions on the strength. Sure they are cool, but can they handle being a home? Will they stand up to being stacked on each other?

Well, I was driving down the freeway here today and took some pictures of shipping containers holding up a bridge. A concrete and steel bridge. See, here in Utah they now prefab our bridges and then put them in place. Like a prefab home. It leaves for very little downtime of the roads. It is a cool process. The coolest thing though is that they build them on top of shipping containers. Yes, the containers hold up the bridge. I have photos below and think this will help you see how they would stand up as a house as well. I took the pictures with my phone, so I apologize if they are not the best quality.

The great BPA SNAFU. Cool! Now we get to vote with our pocketbooks!

So the FDA has decided that BPA is ok. That we have acceptable levels (click here for the FDA Report) of a chemical (Bisphenal A) that changes us hormonally and we can handle it. So whether we want to or not, we better accept that fact that they will continue to allow the plastics industry to keep feeding it to us. Cool! Good for them. In fact, more power to them. They think they won and that is fine. I think they didn’t!

What, wait, why? Why do I think it’s cool? Why do I think they didn’t win? Well, the plastics industry threw the money around, the lobbyists did their jobs and the FDA said BPA is ok. Really, it is. Trust Us! Why the hell would I trust them? Didn’t the government tell us that nuclear testing in the Nevada desert was safe while clouds of white powder rained down on us??? Yeah, sure, I trust them.

So now the cool part, we the American People get to show them all what we really think. We don’t need a law and we don’t need to do anything very difficult. All we have to do is put down the plastics with BPA in them. Stop buying them and move to the store shelves where they carry the alternative products. Alternatives do exist, so buy them folks. If it isn’t labeled as BPA free then just don’t buy it. You don’t need it. If we do this it will go away without a law. We will have thrown our money around and those big billion dollar plastics industry guys will back down and just change the damn formula. It really is as easy as that.

So make this your decision from now on: If it doesn’t say BPA free and it touches my food, then I won’t buy it. I don’t need it.

Help me spread the word of 350.org and win a prize!

A couple of weeks ago, while attending the Outdoor Retailer Convention, I had the opportunity to attend a breakfast event where Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy, Fight Global Warming Now and many other wonderful books, spoke to our group.

As one of the founders of the 350.org movement, Bill issued a call to action. A call to spread the word of 350.org and it’s mission. I am taking that call to action to heart and spreading the word to the readers of both my blogs. My call to action is to have 350 readers of EACH blog comment on the post along with what they will do to spread the word and the mission of 350.org . Can it be done? SURE IT CAN! Once you read this, post a comment and then digg this post, stumbleupon this post and twitter this post. Spread the word and then invite them back here to comment and continue spreading the word.

So how about it? Will you commit, will you respond and will you spread the word? Let’s get 350 responses here! As an added motivator I am also throwing in a prize. Once I have 350 comments from 350 DIFFERENT people I will draw a name. The name drawn will win a copy of Deep Economy by Bill BcKibben.!

One Catch though, if I don’t get 350 comments, there will be NO DRAWING

Watch the video below and learn a bit more about 350.org, learn what the heck I am talking about and then commit to spreading the word. How will you do it? Comment below and let me know.SInce I am a realtor I am going to place a note about 350.org on the next 350 listing filers, just listed cards and just sold cards that I send out. Along with spreading the word through my blogs. Just think about it. 350 comment and spread the word to 350 more. That is potentially 122,500 people touched with the message of 350.org

350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet.

The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.

Sunday Upate - The week in green news.

Bush Signs Bill banning Lead From Toys - MSNBC

Solar Power Hits Home - Time

California Plans Worlds Largest Solar Plant - Economic Times

Clorox Green Works: Cleaning Claims Challenged - Consumer Reports

Solar Cell Breaks Record For Efficiency - Cnet News

Will Solar payback for you? Find out at RoofRay.

I was reading my regular feeds today and came upon RoofRay in a post over at GreenTech Blog by Cnet.

Basically what you can do with RoofRay is draw your solar array on YOUR roof using Google Maps and then RoofRay determines your square footage, total potential power generation capabilities and then your payback time. It takes into account all the main variables as well, using data for your region to determine number of sunlight days, smog, etc… In my own situation I learned that I can generate more than enough power for all of my needs using the roof on my garage and my home.

This is a pretty useful tool for anyone considering whether or not solar is right for them and if you are considering the purchase of a home and want to add solar to it, you can see right away whether or not it will work. Do note, however, that there are still a lot of variables to consider that they can’t possibly consider (think neighbors trees) and that ultimately you should still have a professional evaluation done. All in all this is a pretty cool tool.

Source: Cnet Green Tech Blog