Last Update: May 2018

You have read Are Solar Panels for me? and decided that Solar Panels are in your future. Planning a new solar installation requires lots of analysis and planning.  You need to size your solar system, select solar equipment, select a payment option, and find a qualified local solar installer.

Get a Free Solar Power Estimate from a local vendor by clicking the advertisement above.

Sizing a Solar Electric System

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Last Update: April 2018

Get a Free Solar Power Estimate from a local vendor by clicking the link to the right.

2017 – 2018 continues the very popular residential Solar Federal Tax Credit first enacted in 2009.  The previous solar tax credit program was capped at $2,000.  With the new credit, you can claim up to 30% of solar power costs for a new solar electric system off your Federal taxes. Existing homes & new construction qualify. Both principal residences and second homes qualify. Rental properties do not qualify. Tax Rebate Expires: December 31, 2021 The Solar Federal Tax Credit 2017 – 2018 works especially well when coupled with a state rebate program. (CA, CT, NJ, NY)

Did you know you could get rebated on: Read the rest of this entry »

New rebates have been added.

Utility Company Dominion has a bunch of programs and incentives to help save energy and money.  They have really scaled back the rebates in recent years.

1. Buy qualifying ENERGY STAR® lighting from participating stores, you will receive a discount.
2. Home Energy Improvement program is a free in-home energy audit and improvement program for income-qualified customers.

Questions, call 1-888-366-8280.

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Having an Eco Friendly Green Christmas is more and more desirable these days. Beside losing all the gained weight, we can do the following to have a more green and healthy holiday.

How can you Green your Christmas?

• Reduce the number of trips you need to make or take public transportation
• Buy your fruits and vegetables from a local farmers market or from local sources.
• Buy organic when possible, except for product on the Clean 15 list
• Utilize reusable bags to hold groceries
• Don’t over cook or serve too much food
• Eat on real dishes and use cloth napkins
• Rent or buy your decorations from used clothing stores like Goodwill. Reusing items that you already have is even better.
• Donate extra food, money, clothing to those in need
• Compost the leftovers, fruits, vegetables, etc.
• Give out green oriented treats like organic fruit, re-purposed trinkets

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Last Updates: 10/10/2018

China Doesn’t Want our Trash Anymore!

In July 2017, China filed notice with the TWO that it plans to limit entry of foreign waste.  This means that scrap and other recycling will be imported far less in the future.  As the top producer of waste, the US will have to find a new place to unload our recycling. The US exported $16.5 billion in scrap during 2016 with over 2/3 of that going to China.

China is setting up a rule that used plastics and paper scrap would have to meet a 0.3% benchmark for carried waste. (staples, glue, other residue)  This level is very difficult to achieve. In the future, other countries including India, Vietnam, will have to pickup the load.

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Dog waste is a public health issue. Keeping parks and streets clean is an important problem that needs to be addressed daily. Our dog needs to use these bags one to two times each day.  Over the lifetime of the average dog, we will uses 5,000 of these.  Multiply that by the number of dogs in the US and you have a ton of dog waste.

Dog Waste Bags

Saw man’s best friend doing his business the other day, and the owner responsibly picking up the waste with a reused plastic bag.  Petroleum based plastic bags take forever to decay. Even if they are made from recycled plastic, it is still plastic. If these bags reach the landfill, they will take even longer decompose.

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Natural swimming pools have been popular in Europe for years, but are now starting to make a splash in the United States and grow in popularity quickly. They are a fantastic nature-based sustainable and chemical-free alternative to traditional and mass manufactured pools.

Literally ‘green’ pools are kept healthy by developing their own plant-based ecosystem while creating a beautiful landscape feature for your garden at the same time. The plants and their careful aeration process bad bacteria and keep the pool looking clear, clean and healthy. Various plant habitats are planted in different zones of the pool. These plants typically include; rushes, water lilies, and sedges.

In this article, we break down the steps of building your own natural pool from digging the hole, lining, zoning different habitats, planting and considering different pool deck ideas to get the most out of your natural pool. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost everyone has to deal with pests.  Whether indoor or outdoors, we need to think about eco friendly pest control or green alternatives to toxic pesticides and insecticides.

The Bugman had a great list of things to do to help prevent pests. Some of the best tips:

• Check your outside doors. If you can see light coming in from under the door or you can slide a piece of paper under the door, a bug can crawl in. You may want to install door sweeps or thresholds to keep them out.
• Check for openings around pipes and cables that penetrate an outside wall and seal any you find. These are excellent places for ants and wasps to enter.
• Make sure all of your screens are in good repair and that the doors and windows close properly.
• Install hardware cloth on all attic, roof and crawl space vents in order to prevent rodents and insects from entering. If you have a chimney, make sure you have a chimney cap.
• Keep debris away from the building as this will attract all sorts of insects, spiders, centipedes and rodents.
• Go around the building periodically with a broom and knock down any spider webs. Spiders will not stay in an area where they are continually harassed.
• If you have playground equipment, make sure you plug up the ends of the pipes on the equipment to prevent wasps from setting up housekeeping in them.
• Do not leave outside lights on any longer than necessary. Lights attract a number of bugs and all sorts of things that eat bugs.
• Cut back any branches on trees or shrubs that touch the facility. Ants will often use the limbs of trees and shrubs to gain access to buildings.
• Keep flies away by hanging a zipped block bag half filled with water on your doors or windows that get sunlight. This will confuse the flies.
• Keep rabbits and other small animals away by hanging CDs. This will confuse the animals.
• Yellow Corn Meal spread around the base of plants will control cut-worms.

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Annoying and wasteful.

Junk e-mail wastes natural resources, everything from paper to plastic to fuel to get the mail into your mailbox.  It is critical to limit the amount of junk mail you receive.

The Direct Marketing Association allows you to opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail and e-mail.

Stop Junk Mail.org has an easy to use printable form to stop junk mail. It has postcards to send in, places to write to, and 800 numbers to call to get you off many direct marketing lists.

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New rebates have been added for 2017.

Utility Company PPL Electric has a bunch of programs and incentives to help save energy and money.

• $150 Energy Star Central Air Conditioning rebate
• New Refrigerator Energy Star rebate $35
• $300 Heating and Cooling Rebate for Heat pumps
• Up to $400 rebate on water heaters
• Up to 75% on Insulating your home’s attic
• Up to $350 back for switching to a variable speed pool pump
• Low income: Home Assessment, weatherization, and appliances
• Appliance Recycling Program $35 rebate and haul your old appliance away for free through the Appliance Recycling program. Pick up your old room air conditioner and dehumidifier at the same time to qualify for a $25 rebate

New Home using PPL

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