It warms our faces and grows our food; the sun is our life blood and gives us everything that we need to survive. Using its potential, however, has escaped the worlds population, or at least until relatively recently. Harnessing the suns’ full potential may be a long way into the future, but until technology shows us the true possibilities of solar power we can use what we have as a matter of necessity, economic need and personal responsibility

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Perhaps you are happy with the status quo of today. Perhaps you feel all is fine and you don’t feel the need to change a system that’s worked for over a century. If you do, consider a few of these benefits to solar power and you may just recognize its potential in a somewhat more responsible, yet selfish, light.

I don’t care about the environment?

Perhaps everything in the world is fine with your life. The last thing you care about are trees, fresh air and clean water. Heck, the water shows up every time you turn on a faucet, the heat comes on when it’s cold, the light switch brings you light. What’s there to worry about? Consider that this is just the problem. If you dont care for the environment, the faucet may not bring you clean water, the heat may not go on and the car certainly will not start. If the environment is kept clean and left to do what it was intended to do, everything will continue to work fine. But get in its way and everything you thought was fine wont be for long.

One way to accomplish the goal of keeping all the comforts of home working properly is by using other sources of power generation like the sun, not generating nasty things that get in the way of the environment doing its job. Current sources of power come from dead things like old forests gone millennium ago. Environmentally responsible power, heat and transport come from living or energized things like water and oxygen molecules. Sun can be turned into electricity and used to power your car, heat your home and generate your light. But to make the process work, you need to be able to see the sun, which means caring for the environment and not getting in its way.

Cost savings

One of the best things about caring for the suns ability to do its job is that it saves you money in the long run. Once solar systems are purchased and installed, they cost little if anything to operate. In most instances, the government will even help to pay for the upfront costs of installing the system through tax incentives. Additionally, power companies in most regions are required to pay you for energy that you have generated and not used. Yes, you read correctly, the power company will pay you!

Profitable

In most instances, 70% of the northern hemisphere can generate enough solar power to run and heat their homes with existing solar systems. This means that whatever is left over goes back to the power grid if you so choose. Just think of your power meter running backwards. The extra power you need for that cloudy day is stored in ever more efficient batteries. Most current users indicate that the use of solar systems only takes a little thought in power management.

Off the grid
Depending upon how you feel about the topic, one of the better reasons to use solar power is that you can take yourself off the “grid” so to speak. Many people dont enjoy being a part of the social collective that is interconnectivity. Going solar takes you away from this one aspect of community and puts you closer to self reliance.

Versatile

Even though the solar power generation systems of today have come a long way to providing power, heat and a host of other services there is a long way to go. This is not to indicate, however, that solar power is not currently versatile in form and function. Solar panels can currently be formed into thin sheets to for car top electric powered cars. They can cover suburban rooftops and not be noticed, unlike those 1970s units. Costs are also coming down almost as fast as the flat screen TVs of today. Flat screens that solar power can power up through the use of a process called photovoltaics.

Personal responsibility

Past the cost savings and environmental benefits that solar power brings you should consider using it because you are part of a larger social order that will procreate. The human species has not been around for all that long and is doing its best to end its run in one way or another. If you would like to give your childrens children a better shot at continuing the human species run on this planet solar power is one small contribution that you can make all by your little self.

Water runs dark, trees are dying and the air we breathe gets thicker and thinker by the moment. There are several solutions to these problems, but oddly, the source that got the whole thing going may actually be the answer to solving the poor choices made for the planet. Solar power got the entire process going and may be the solution to getting it back on track.

In its intentional use, solar power gave us heat and light. As evolution worked its magic solar power was not an alternative source of power, it was the- source of power as it warmed the earth and moved the air. Now, our modern technology has evolved to a point where we can once again use solar power to warm and move our air. But why should we use solar power when the same planet that gave us the sun gave us the coal to accomplish the same task? There are many reasons, and most of them are of the kind that people can identify with; they are self serving and entirely hedonistic.

Solar leads to cost savings

All one has to do these days is open up an electric and heat bill to see how much it costs to heat and light your home. Solar power is a great way to just about eliminate the costs associated with lighting and heating your home. For those that are using solar powered heating and lighting equipment today there is little if any cost associated with heating and lighting their homes. Yes, there is an up-front cost to installing these units but pay back times through cost savings and tax credits are getting shorter and shorter due to better technology and awareness. These current users report that they actually make money from using solar power systems just by paying a little closer attention to how they use the power that they have. For the most part, they indicate that a 30 second glance at back-up batteries for piece of mind is all the extra time required to start saving money.

Money maker

Some may say that piece of mind doesn’t go very far when it comes to a series of cloudy days. Batteries, they say, can run out or get low. From all reports, however, cloudy day issues, in a majority of the worlds climates, are not an issue. In fact, a majority of users find that they have an excess of electricity that ends up just going to waste. Or so most people- once – thought. Although the entire US is not quite there yet most sates require that utilities buy back excess power generated from those desiring to remain on the power grid. Although it may sound a bit odd, solar power users find that their electric meters actually run backward quite a bit of the time when solar power systems are in use. God forbid there were a few weeks of nothing but clouds and cold, but if there are the owner is free to use the power that they sold back to the utility. Past the home front, add a water wheel and a wind mill and you have a nice little income generator with the electric utility paying you.

Off the grid

There is a certain segment of the population that just does not want to be connected to the grid, as the power and information society calls it. For these people solar power is a great option. Solar units are fairly low cost and getting lower cost every day. They can also withstand a 1 hailstone traveling at 50mph. For survivalists or even for a farmer that needs to irrigate his crops in the middle of nowhere, solar is the way to go.

Develop a new technology

Man at his basic is a curious being. What if? Is always being thought about whether its just a casual thought during the day or figuring out how to get to Mars. Advancing technology is just who man is. Using solar may satisfy our current environmental issues but it also satisfies our intellectual needs. If solar power isnt used it wont advance and our need to know wont be satisfied. Intellectually, solar is a great idea.

Leave the world a better place

Throughout time man has found a way to screw up the planet in one way or another. Most of the time, man has screwed up because of ignorance or with good intentions. Using solar, at the moment, appears to be one of those good intentions. It may end up being a bad thing 200 years down the road, but for now, it may be one of the only ways to leave the world a little better then when we got here.

Plastic lumber, poly-wood, permo-wood, envirowood, poly lumber and eco-lumber are all names for the same great product – no matter what you call it – it all still refers to the revolutionary material that is transforming the casual and patio furniture industry. Poly wood is both environmentally friendly and economically viable.

Constructed from recycled milk jugs and plastic containers, recycled plastic lumber is formed into many of the profiles you would expect from traditional lumber. This feature allows it to be sawed, cut and screwed much the same as wood lumber. It is now being used for decking, railings, picnic tables, benches, patio furniture and even childrens playground equipment. Consumers can rest assured that the use of recycled poly lumber helps to keep billions of pounds of recyclable plastics from entering our every growing landfills. Due to increased environmental awareness post consumer plastic bottle recycling has dramatically increased over the past ten years from 234 million pounds to over a staggering 1.5 billion pounds.

Traditional hardwood lumber is often treated with hazardous chemicals to ward off possible insect attacks. It also will over time need sanding and some type of refinishing and will also start to rot if left out in the elements for prolonged periods of time. On the contrary, plastic lumber contains no hazardous chemicals and can not leak or contaminate the soil nor does it require any maintenance beyond cleaning as needed which usually just requires hosing off.

Recycled plastic lumber is built to withstand all of the elements from frosty winters, to tropical sun and salty, windy coastal weather. This plastic lumber is weighty and not to be confused with a thin plastic product that his formed and molded into chairs that you find at many home supply stores. Poly lumber is actually formed into 2×4s, 2×6s and the like to then be cut, screwed and assembled into furniture that will adorn your patio, deck, poolside or garden. New applications for this product are being thought up every day. The most recent suggestion was for an artificial reef which would have a life span of 60 years submerged in the ocean.

Recycled plastic lumber is an economically viable alternative to traditional hardwood lumber. It is built to last a lifetime so there will be no replacing your splintering, bug infested or rotting patio furniture in a matter of years. Recycled plastic lumber is a friend to numerous environmental issues such as deforestation. By using recycled products for furniture you are helping to reduce the use of our forests and precious air filtering trees for our day to day needs! We all know that our forests and trees play a major role in helping prevent global warming.

Therefore, recycled plastic lumber is quickly becoming a resource that is sought out in all types of applications with both environmental advantages as well as economical advantages. Recycled plastic lumber is definitely a product worth looking into with virtually no maintenance the advantages of this environmentally friendly product is undeniable.

The last five years has seen a revolution in how governments, people and industry view energy. The positive aspects of biomass energy have come to the forefront in this discussion.

Why Use Biomass for Our Energy Needs: The Pros

The primary positive aspect of biomass is it is part of the biocycle of life. This means it isnt toxic to the environment because it is more or less the environment. An additional benefit is the fact biomass almost always breaks down relatively quickly to its natural elements. This means a biomass fuel spill would be far less damaging than an oil spill, particularly in the long run.

The burning of biomass does kick out carbon dioxide among other gases. Carbon dioxide, of course, is a greenhouse gas. Proponents of biomass energy, however, argue that the gases produced are not really a problem because they are part of the current biocycle. By this, they are arguing that carbon dioxide is a natural element produced in nature and they are correct.

Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are outside of the natural biocycle in the world because they are buried in the ground, which effectively means they are not part of naturally occurring phases. As we dig and drill fossil fuels out of the ground, we are adding the harmful elements found in them to a system that cannot withstand the massive influx.

We already use many biomass fuels in our daily lives. The first cavemen used them to light fires for warmth, protection and cooking. Today, we use them to power our automobiles in the form of biodiesal and bioethanol. Whether you realize it or not, these two fuels have been going into our cars at gas stations since 1990 in parts of the country. The reason is they are used as additives in gasoline for the purpose of cutting harmful carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, federal law mandates their use in certain cities such as Los Angeles as well as in most government vehicles.

Carbon dioxide produced from vehicles makes up over a third of all the greenhouse gases produced in our country. Bioethanol made from corn cuts these emissions by over 20 percent compared to your basic gasoline. Biodiesel made from soybeans cuts emissions by as much as 80 percent. Any way you cut it, using biomass fuel is a step in the right direction.

Living in the suburbs can be comfortable and classy for most people but it can never compare to country living where there is plenty of fresh air. Most people who are city bred are more exposed to airborne diseases compared to those who live in the country.

There are people who would rather breathe the clean country air, although their lifestyles and careers prevent them from doing so. There are however plenty of ways and means to remedy this and to create a semblance of country living,

One such common remedy to imitate clean air is to use home purifiers and air cleaners in the comfort of ones home. Home air purifiers generally improve the quality of air you breathe as it removes substances like cigarette smoke, allergens, bacteria, chemical vapors and other irritants that can cause asthma and other chronic diseases.

People who can afford the cost of installing a central home purifier should do so because it can offer healthy living options for the family members wherever they are. Aside from protecting the entire household, a centralized air purifier is also less noisy compared to a room purifier. While it can be more expensive, centralized home purifiers are most cost effective as compared to installing one air purifier for each room.

Air purifier systems with more technologies to offer are better because it offers benefits to the user. Experts prefer the hepa air purifiers as they are proven to be 99.99 percent efficient in removing air contaminants. The hepa air filter removes pollen, bacteria and other allergens form the air and do not release them back into the air again. However, hepa air filters are not capable of removing smoke, or cigarette odors from the room as well as very small particles.

Most homeowners who use hepa air filters use other technologies like ionizers, activated carbon filter and ozone generators to maximize their air purifiers. Ionizers allow the smallest particles to attach, making them large enough to be captured by the air filter. Activated carbon filters help the hepa air purifier in capturing cigarette smokes and other fumes.

While it can cost more than a centralized home purifier, individual air purifiers are more effective in purifying a single room. You should not fall for claims that portable purifiers can purify the entire house because these purifiers are basically used for a single room only.

If you are concerned about costs, you should be wary on the wattage of the air purifiers you use because an air purifier with a wattage level of 100 or over can add as much as $100 to your annual electricity cost. Those with high wattages can also be noisier than air purifiers with small wattages.