SanJoseGreenHome.com

The big companies like Whole Foods, Safeway and even out own Trader’s Joe’s would never skew the truth… or would they?  When we are purchasing organic foods, green clothing, and dealing with green businesses, it’s imperative to do research into the suppliers of these items to ensure we’re getting the environmentally friendly products that we think we are. 

Advertisers are in the business to do one thing –  sell us a product.  And sell they do in a variety of ways, including tricking the consumer – entirely legally.  It all comes down to words. 

Advertisers have a blast with the organic food market. For example, did you know that the phrase “all natural ingredients” has no legal meaning? (more…)

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When most people hear about “Greening” their San Jose home they automatically think solar panels. While it is true that getting off the grid is fun and rewarding there are many more simple steps we can take towards a more greener home.  In fact, installing expensive solar panels may not make sense if we have a drafty, energy leaking house.

Since homes produce twice as more greenhouse gas emissions than all passenger cars, giving your San Jose house a green energy tune-up may be the best place to start.  It is incredible how much money you can save by simply implementing a few tips: 

1.      If your heating bill is higher than your mortgage and your Persian cat is wearing a sweater it’s time to change those windows.  By replacing old single pane windows you will not only be more comfortable in your house but also put a plug into one of your main enegry leaking sources.       

2.         Switch all of your light bulbs to fluorescent type. They are four times as efficient as traditional incandescent bulbs, and they last 10 times as long.  You can find them (more…)

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Yes, making your home more energy efficient actually pays.  When Congress passed the financial bailout bill late last year, it included a range of federal tax credits and cash gifts for businesses — but also a suite of new and renewed tax credits for individuals who want to make energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements to their homes.  When President Obama signed the economic stimulus bill in February, the federal government expanded and extended some of those credits.  So what’s in it for homeowners and other regular taxpayers?

Alliance to Save Energy Website provides specific details:

For improvements made in 2009 and 2010, you can get an income tax credit of up to $1,500 for installing efficient new windows, insulation, doors, roofs, and heating and cooling equipment in your home. However, efficiency criteria will vary dependant on when these items are “placed in service” (installed).

Who gets it? Individuals who install specific energy-efficient home improvements.

What energy-efficient home improvements are eligible? The overall $1,500 cap can be reached in several ways with the purchase and installation of energy-efficient products that meet certain efficiency criteria: (more…)

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San Jose officials are deciding this week whether to ban the ever useful plastic bag from stores in San Jose.  If they did, we would officially stop contributing to the 19 billion single use plastic bags Californians carry out of the stores each year.  Average time of use for a plastic bag? – 20 minutes.  Time to decompose under perfect conditions?  Anywhere from 500-1000 years.  Most likely, every single piece of plastic created that wasn’t burned or recycled is still here on this planet. That’s a lot of plastic.

According to the article in San Jose Mercury News, ”Environmentalists and waste managers say those bags strangle sea birds, clog storm drains and paralyze recycling machines. In San Jose — particularly after a storm causes the Guadalupe River to rise and retreat — the bags can be spotted draping tree branches like unsightly jewelry.”

San Jose is considering several options, including a fee on the thin, non-biodegradable bags, a ban or a public education campaign.  Wow, options?  Options are good but why not implement all three or add a fourth one?  Ban the non-biodegradable plastic bags, introduce biodegradable bags, charge a few pennies for a biodegradable or paper bag AND launch a public campaign.  I am originally from Eastern Europe and ever since I remember, Europeans paid a few cents for a plastic bag or brought their own.  No one ever even dreamed of getting a FREE plastic bag.

Here’s an interesting part though.  According to the Merc, this last May, a Santa Clara County commission called on all cities here to establish a ban on plastic bags and a fee on paper at most retailers by April, 2010.  But you know what happened?  County supervisors rejected such a move, citing concerns from shoppers, business owners and representatives of the plastics industry.  Really?  Concerns from shoppers?  Business Owners?   (more…)

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Want to know the world’s top destroyer of the environment? It is not the car, or the plane, or some coal plant: it is the cow.

A United Nations report has identified the world’s rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs.

The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organization, entitled Livestock’s Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world’s 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

Burning fuel to produce fertilizer to grow feed, to produce meat and to transport it – and clearing vegetation for grazing produces 9 percent of all emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. And their wind and manure emit more than one third of emissions of another, methane, which warms the world 20 times faster than carbon dioxide. (more…)

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Did you know that millions and millions of dollars are spent each week on advertising campaigns to give us the perception that bottled water comes from some pristine mountain spring or magical underground aquifer, assuring purity and quality?  So I decided to put a couple of our local delivery services to the test and… it seems like the two services available in San Jose area like Alhambra and Arrowhead Water are not all what they are cracked up to be. 

This time I was only concerned with the PH levels of the water and not the impurities or the taste.  There is a growing awareness that our bodies are just way too acidic because of our life style, pollutants in the environment and out diets.  Human body’s normal PH levels are about 7.4 and we have a “perfect” PH balance when we’re born.  But after we’re able to visit the potty room on our own and independently reach into the cookie cupboard we start exploring foods that are much less friendly than our moms would put in our mouths when we were babies.  We then start eating what “tastes” good instead of what really is “good” for us.  Then come the pizzas, fried foods, coca colas, burgers, steaks, beer, and of course… fried calamari.  Combine all this with an acid pumping stress day at work and we are now bathing our cells in acid bath.  The body’s natural defence system kicks in and it does everything it possibly can to compensate for the acid by introducing alkalinity back into the blood stream and try to pump the acid out with liquids – water.  But where does the body store the alkaline substances to compensate for this acid influx of acid?  Well, most proponents of this theory say that it comes from our cell tissue and our bones.  Our body borrows it from our flesh and bones.  And what happens when it can no longer do that? (more…)

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If it sounds a bit that “Green Living” is my favorite topic it is because its true…  Laundry detergent made from flowers!  Flushable diapers! Potato chips fried in organic oils! Have you noticed how these days, everything seems to be marketed with an eco-spin – even products that are notoriously bad for people and the planet? So are companies truly seeing the green light, or are they just “greenwashing”?  Here are a few red flags and shopping tips that will help you choose products that really make a difference.

Vague claims. Words like “natural,” “green,” “eco,” “nontoxic” and even “biodegradable” don’t mean much on their own. They’re easy to slap on a product, and they’re not currently regulated. Look for more concrete terms like “organic” and “recycled,” which are overseen more closely by the feds and verified with a symbol on the package. (And note that “recyclable” just means you might be able to recycle the product in your community, while “recycled” actually means the company has incorporated recycled materials in the product.)
(more…)

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Some people believe that nuclear power is the answer to climate change, others have proposed green technologies such as wind or solar power, but Barack Obama’s top man on global warming has suggested something far simpler – painting your roof white.

Speaking in London prior to a meeting of some of the world’s best minds on how to combat climate change, Steven Chu, the US Secretary of Energy and a Nobel prize-winning scientist, said last week that making roofs and pavements white or light-colored would help to reduce global warming by both conserving energy and reflecting sunlight back into space.

“Now you smile, but if you look at all the buildings and make all the roofs white, and if you make the pavement a more concrete-type of color than a black-type of color, and you do this uniformly… It’s the equivalent of reducing the carbon emissions due to all the cars in the world by 11 years,” he said.   “It’s like you’ve just taken them off the road for 11 years. It’s actually geo-engineering.”

The principle could also be extended to cars where white or “cool colors” designed to reflect light and radiation could make vehicles more energy efficient in summer. “If all vehicles were light-coloured, there could be considerable savings because then you can downsize the air conditioning… and downsizing the air conditioner means more efficient air conditioning and a considerable reduction in energy,” he said.

“The idea would even work in countries with temperate climates, such as Britain, because white-coloured roofs would help to reflect the radiated heat from homes and offices back into the building during winter months,” said Dr Chu. “One unresolved issue concerns the aesthetic considerations of making sloping roofs white. But with flat roofs that are not visible from the street, there should be no objection to painting them white.” He said energy efficiency will be the most immediate way of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.”

Don’t some of the most complicated problems in the world sometimes have the most simple solutions?  It takes a genius to see it and it takes a president to sell it. 

Now, where is that number of my favorite painter guy?

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