water & energy
Get That Stuff Outta My Water
Maura Yates
Recently, the Associated Press (AP) released a report detailing its findings of an investigation into pharmaceuticals and contaminants detected in our drinking water supply. The report states that 41 million Americans are exposed to contaminated drinking water supplies.
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Energy Vampires Surround Us
Cut them off and save!
Maura Yates
Energy Vampires are those electronic devices that we leave in the standby mode. In order to be ready to operate at all times, the electronic device, gadget or appliance maintains a slow, reduced draw of electricity. This is where the reference to vampire is rooted: it still sucks energy when turned “off.” Even though the device's draw is reduced, you are still paying for energy you aren't using. The bills can add up, particularly now with the rising cost of energy.
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Weary of Your Water?
Maura Yates
When doctors recommend drinking eight glasses of water a day, they certainly don't expect us to put our health at risk in the process! You see, although our water is processed it is far from pure. In fact, sometimes it contains many different toxins, chemicals, pesticides and organic material that may jeopardize our health, even if it is just absorbed by our skin in the shower.
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Sun-kissed cooking
Kathleen Davidson & Amy Godfrey
Imagine, not having to heat up the kitchen or consume fuels to make a great meal -- simple, safe and convenient solar cooking can do the trick. Sun-baked foods stay moist; the natural internal juices do not bake out, resulting in a superior, moist taste and much less shrinkage.
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Greywater Turned Green!
Maura Yates
Chances are you have heard the term “greywater” but never been quite sure what it means. Greywater is all the water in your home that goes down a drain, excluding your toilet and kitchen sink water. Picture a color scale with white on the left and black on the right: if white represents fresh drinking water and black represents dirty waste water (toilet water or black water), greywater is in the middle because it’s not clean enough to drink, but it certainly isn’t polluted enough to flush down the drain. Because of its unique make-up greywater offers many versatile options for use in outdoor landscaping.
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Biocompatible Soaps
Maura Yates
Essential to life, our water is a precious resource and we often forget how important it is to use it wisely.
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Go Solar!
Maura Yates
Photovoltaic (PV) systems use solar cells to capture electrons from the sun and direct them into electrical wiring, forming a direct current (DC). This is the same kind of current that flows from a regular battery. It can be used to power a variety of devices as-is, or it can be converted to alternating current (AC) for standard household use.
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