Thinking Green and Buying Gifts
Gift shopping is not often an environmentally friendly process. You can drive all around town, trying to find a gift that is just right, or you buy it online and deal with often excessive packaging. It’s not easy to get under control.
While some of this really cannot easily be contained, there are some things you can do to consider the environment even as you give great gifts.
Some people will be more open to gifts that are obviously environmentally friendly. You may be shopping for someone who would be delighted with some stylish cloth shopping bags so that they don’t need to get plastic bags at the grocery store anymore, or they may think the entire idea is nuts. That’s something to consider as you shop.
The kind of gift you give is the first thing to consider. Quality should always be a factor. You don’t want to give something that is going to break quickly. In many ways this is as important as what the item is made of and how it is made. Things that break quickly, even if made in an environmentally friendly fashion, are not all that good for the environment.
If you have the skill to make things, sometimes that can be very green too. It can depend on what you’re making and what you use to make it, but there’s something about a well done handmade gift that can really stand out.
But gifts don’t have to be things. You can give a membership to a museum, tickets to a play, or offer them some of your own time. Many times these are even more appreciated than other kinds of gifts.
Shopping isn’t the only challenge, of course. Gift wrap is also a challenge. But you can do all kinds of things that are greener and/or more creative.
Try making your own gift wrap, for example. Butcher paper, paper bags and so forth can easily be decorated attractively. This is especially fun for children to do.
You can also make the wrap a part of the gift. Kitchen tools in a new bowl, for example. If you skip the all too common plastic wrap you can keep your gift from wasting anything more than a tag.
Perhaps above all else, make sure you’re giving something that will be wanted and used. Things that are used and treasured for years are far better for the environment than things that last only a short time, for the most part… except of course for food gifts. You don’t have to give up gift giving to live a greener life, but you do need to think more about what use will be made of what you give.
Stephanie Foster blogs at http://www.greensahm.com/ and gives advice for stay at home moms on trying to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. She has more tips on green gift giving at http://www.greensahm.com/category/green-gift-ideas/
On The Road To $100 Oil: The Historical High Is Actually $99.04 Per Barrel
With eyes focused on whether and when oil breaks through the $100 barrier, it turns out that $100 a barrel is really $99.04, at least in terms of the all-time record, according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA).
CERA, an IHS company (NYSE: IHS), finds that the inflation-adjusted high of $99.04 in today’s dollars, $39.50 in 1980 dollars, was reached during the spring of 1980 when geopolitical turbulence in the Middle East, and Iran in particular, created acute uncertainty about the reliability and adequacy of oil supplies from the world’s most important oil exporting region.
“Breaking the historical high of $99.04 per barrel will be a landmark in itself,” said James Burkhard, managing director of the Global Oil Group at CERA. “It will certainly have psychological impact since it will intensify momentum for the market to hit $100 per barrel. And it will have a concrete effect since it pushes the world economy deeper into uncharted territory-the oil price range which can contribute to an economic slowdown.”
CERA’s calculation of $99.04 is based on the April 1980 nominal average posted price of $39.50 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate. This is a monthly average price since, at the time, there was no crude oil futures market to provide a daily price. Crude oil futures trading did not begin until 1983. The translation of the nominal prices into 2007 U.S. dollars is based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index using annual averages.
“There are different indexes and methods that can be used to adjust prices to inflation,” Burkhard said. “These methods can result in prices that are lower or higher than our $99.04 per barrel calculation. However, we believe that using an annual average inflation rate provides the best basis for comparison between 1980 and 2007, and that is what makes $99.04 the benchmark for today.”
$100 OIL: WHAT IT MEANS
The oil price in recent weeks has taken on the trappings of a sporting record that once seemed untouchable. Now it is broken with such regularity that what has historically been viewed as a distant prospect-$100 per barrel oil-is in sight. The world has never experienced a triple-digit oil price. The all-time inflation-adjusted high was in April 1980, when, CERA calculates, crude oil hit $99.04 per barrel in terms of 2007 US dollars. The broader significance of a $90-$100 price range is that it highlights in dramatic fashion how different the oil market environment, and indeed the world economy, is today compared with the past two decades.
Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, made the following statement with regard to the rising price of oil:
“The oil market is demonstrating both ‘fright and flight.’ Instead of the proverbial ‘flight to the dollar’ in times of economic uncertainty, we’re now seeing ‘a flight to oil.’ The strengthening of oil since August is responding, in part, to the weakening of the dollar. For the last few years, the force behind rising oil prices has been strong global economic growth. Over the last several weeks, the market focus has shifted to economic weakness in the United States. At the same time, tension over Iran’s nuclear program will continue to recharge anxiety on a continuing basis in the oil market.
Historical assumptions about the dynamics of oil prices, demand, supply, and the global economy have given way to a new, but still unfolding, paradigm. This new paradigm is not without risks and dangers. The world economy can withstand the headwinds of very high oil prices much better than in the past, but prices of $90 to $100 push geopolitics and the economy deeper into uncharted territory. High oil prices will tend to exacerbate geopolitical tensions in the short term and create a sharper divide between the winners and losers of a very high oil price environment.
Today’s price levels bring us farther into the range where the oil price can contribute to an economic slowdown. The effect on economic and oil demand growth depends on the duration of $90-$100 oil. Although not widely recognized in the face of the attention on the record, for 2007 the year-to-date annual average for West Texas Intermediate is just $70- not $100.
Burkhard continued: “The reaction to oil prices varies much around the world, owing to differences in income levels, taxes, subsidies and the relative use of oil in a national economy. But, if oil prices were to average around $110 for six months or more, it would increase the world economy’s vulnerability to a serious downturn of the early 1980s’ type. But even prices in the $90s have negative impacts on the economy and consumer spending. We just haven’t seen the full effects yet, for the year-to-date annual price for oil this year has been $70- not $100!
“CERA’s Break Point scenario (as described in CERA’s Dawn of a New Age: Energy Scenarios to 2030 study) demonstrates that $120-plus prices would not only have major economic impact, but would lead to much stronger conservation policies among consuming countries and would greatly accelerate innovation and efficiency and a move away from oil, even in transportation.”
High oil prices in the 1970s set the stage for the most severe global downturn since the Great Depression. Indeed, the high prices of 1980 were at the beginning of the worst three-year period of economic growth of the past four decades. For the oil price to potentially play a similar role in a significant economic slowdown, prices would have to average from $100 to $120 per barrel for six months to a year. To be sure, negative economic repercussions on consumer spending and economic growth will also materialize even at prices in the $90s range. Also, of course, oil prices do not exist in a vacuum, but will interact with other economic developments, particularly the unfolding consequences of the credit crunch.
The jump in price from $75 at the beginning of September to the mid-$90s in early November highlights the dominant sentiment driving the oil market-that oil supply will be unable to keep pace with rising demand. The market may hit prices above $100 unless signs emerge that the oil price has reached a level that is reducing economic and oil demand growth. However, if oil demand growth hits the brakes or if supply anxiety eases, we could see a steep fall in price.
Daniel Yergin added: “Oil prices at this level will themselves be a negative in conjunction with everything else going on in the U.S. economy. While $60 or $70 oil had little effect on the economy, that does not mean the same will hold true for $100 oil. One point is obvious – we’re much more likely to see an impact on demand at this higher price level, especially in the context of a slowing economy.
“A continuing downslide for the dollar will put oil on an upslide.”
Daniel Yergin, chairman of CERA, received the Pulitzer Prize for “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power” and the United States Energy Award for lifelong achievements in energy and the promotion of international understanding. Vist CERA at http://cera.com.
Home Energy Makeovers
While not legislated as it is in the entire United Kingdom, the United States is nevertheless no slouch when it comes to home energy assessment. The use of a domestic power assessor to determine what a home is doing to reduce carcinogens from being released into the environment and to improve its energy efficiency has become, if not common place, at least readily available.
One company has been training and employing domestic energy assessors by the hundreds for the last four decades. A leading provider of these certified domestic energy assessor professionals, the firm studies and energy efficiency of homes in 30 of the U.S. states. It also moved into the realm of commercial and government buildings, which many domestic energy assessor employers have not had the scale to do. Its software applications and staffing meet the needs of even the largest companies and government agencies. For the last 28 years even the major utilities have been the recipient of energy audits by the firms domestic energy assessors, as well as inspections and follow-up support activities to implement the suggest energy efficiency improvements.
Nor are low income properties left behind in this energy efficient program. For the last 15 years a domestic energy assessor has been available for the low income homeowners who reside in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington DC.
The firm is not standing still in its domestic energy assessor and energy improvement program. Research and development is a constant, with the mission to keep introducing new services and products to protect the environment and save its inhabitants money. Its newest product, not available until 2008, is a recently patented thermal shade. Currently in the testing stage, it may soon become part of the domestic energy assessor suggestions for energy efficiency.
The expectation is that the full fledged energy assessment program by this firm will exceed five million energy-efficient participants by the end of 2009. The arrival and work of a domestic energy assessor is just two parts of a four-step energy efficiency implementation offered by this Maryland firm. The four steps are inspection, analysis, implementation and financing. The inspection step, the first part, is when the certified domestic energy assessor comes to the home or commercial property, measures it, examines it and notes where improvement in energy efficiency is needed.
Step two is the detailed analysis that results from the visit by the domestic energy assessor. The use of a specialized software application produces the report which indicates where the savings might be found through the use of energy efficient procedures and products.
The next step in the energy assessment process is the actual implementation of the suggestions made by the domestic energy assessor. Not only are you now armed with suggestions but the energy report also provides a database of qualified local contractors that can carry out the energy-efficient improvements.
The final step, the actual financial look at the improvements, spells out the cost of each implementation but also notes what the savings should be for the new products and services.
James Copper is a writer for http://www.propertycareerskills.co.uk
The Best of Roof Gardening
Life in metros is very busy with lot of hustle and bustle. The people are literally crammed in the cities and the city breathes in lot of pollution. Plants and trees in the courtyard are distant dreams in the city. The city is the garden of cement and concrete and there is no place for trees. But there is always a solution to every problem, what if one cannot have a courtyard and enjoy the cool breeze. One can definitely have a roof garden (terrace garden) where one can sit and relax and enjoy the greenery soothing to eyes. The company of the nature will bring back your ebullience and the tiredness will vanish in the thin air.
You can create your own roof garden which is a type of indoor gardening. But certain things should always be taken into consideration while making it. See to it the roof on which you want to create your garden should be strong enough to carry the weight of the garden. The terrace should be slapdash and the drainage system should be very effective with no leakage of water in the roof garden. If these condition are fulfilled you can choose any of the garden design pattern from the Social Patterns, Natural patterns, Archetypal Patterns or Aesthetic Patterns.
Once the garden design pattern is chosen the work will start with the five primary compositional elements of garden design, it will begin with the planting design, then the landform design, water design and paving design and the design of any other structures if you want to include will be added in the end. A detailed plan is very essential to start with, and execute it in an effective manner. The roof garden should be proportionate with lawns, small trees, ground covers and shrubs. If you want you can include the concept of rock garden or terrace garden or make a structure to provide shade. Choose the Fiber-rooted plants as the roots of the Tap-rooted plants grow through the building and causing damage to it.
Go for the appropriate soil type for your roof gardening. The soil rite or peat moss is best for such type of gardening as it does not exerts pressure on the building. This type of soil is very costly and it is better to use blended with garden earth or manure. For perfect drainage system you will need to do roof garden construction. The construction must be done with burnt bricks as other bricks turn to mud and collapse the drainage system. This can spoil your garden. Place these bricks evenly on the terrace, or corrugated sheets can also be used for the same purpose. Put a net lawn on the top of the bricks, preventing the soil getting into the bricks.
If the garden is more than 500sq.ft then construct drain at various places and put several pipes leading to main hole and properly cover these pipes. Prepare the mixture of soil first and then put into the pot as per the required quantity and then sow the selected indoor plants.
For more information visit our website http://www.ROOF-GARDENS.COM