Earth Hour 2008

www.earthhour.org 

Eat Local

Ran into this article in NOW magazine…

Idea is to eat locally grown food and discourage the shipment of imported produce/foods which in turn require the burning fossil fuels to get them to your neighborhood grocery. At the same time there is the benefit of supporting the local farmers/economy.

Another interesting related fact. Most fluorescent bulbs are made in China in coal powered factories then shipped across oceans via fossil fuel burning ocean liners to their final destination: your local hardware store. In the grand scheme are florescent bulbs environmentally friendly?

They might still be, considering they last 8 times as long and use a third the electricity. But it would be interesting to see the results of such a study.

Heard a similar argument from a friend recently about Christmas trees. Fake trees do save trees from being chopped down every year, but real trees are farmed and do serve their purpose while they grow to a standard 7 foot height, then are naturally recyclable, while the fake trees sit in dumps for years (and are also likely manufactured and shipped from China).

Another study I’d be interested in seeing the results for… until then these arguments will be stuck in my head.

The A in Apple stands for Al

Al Gore (former US VP) was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his efforts to spread the word about Global Warming.

This brought about a lot of controversy over the true criteria for the prize. Global Warming ~ Peace?

But Apple is certainly proud! … Did you know Al has been on Apple’s board of directors since 2003? I didn’t!

Technically he was awarded 1/2 the prize along with the IPCC. It’s interesting how the Nobel site declares the prize and its portioning.

Will be enough to bring Gore back to US politics? I believe so…

Green Tax?

The provincial government encourages initiatives in support of renewable energy sources like wind and solar energy, yet turns around and taxes a farmer that erects a windmill?

Mind you its $160,000, 80-kilowatt windmill from Holland (where else!) that he says generates enough energy to save him $3,600 / year. Not the most efficient windmill in my opinion. Never-the-less, should such a “green” act be punished?

Government says the windmill increased his property value… Hmm. I guess that’s true… And that as a result, the man must pay more property taxes. The net of this equation is that the tax nearly cancels the benefits of the power saved, nevermind the cost of the windmill.

If windmills are not taxed, will they be considered a tax loophole since the property they reside on will sell for more? Maybe, but I think they’re missing the big picture here…

Plastic Bag Ban

With the recent news that Leaf Rapids, a Manitoba town, prepares to be the first Canadian town to put a stop to plastic shopping bags, and San Francisco following close behind with the same eco-friendly law, environmentalists and supermarket trade groups duke it out. The first thing that popped into my head … “What will people use to pick up dog poop?”