Solar, wind and other clean technologies are key to fighting climate change. But what do you do if you can’t put solar collectors on your home or buy an electric car or tap into your own windmill? RE Royalties has an answer: invest in “Green Bonds” that help finance investments in renewable energy generation, energy efficiency management and sustainable infrastructure.

When RE Royalties offered to sponsor a post here so we could all learn more about their unique approach to fighting climate change and protecting the planet, I immediately said “yes!” Here’s what I learned by interviewing electronically their chief operating office and co-founder, Peter Leighton, a veteran renewable energy executive with over 20 years of experience in the energy sector, including wind energy and more. This year Peter was named as an Honouree to Canada’s Clean50 for 2020.

In a nutshell, what is RE Royalties?

RE Royalties Ltd. is a specialty finance company created in 2016 that provides innovative financing for climate change solutions. It does so by using a “royalty financing model” to build and support renewable and clean energy projects and companies globally. In other words, it collects royalties from the companies it finances, and uses those royalties to build more projects.

With climate change a pressing issue globally, RE Royalties has become an important and innovative source of capital for renewable energy projects. Royalties is a publicly traded company on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “RE,” It is the first to pioneer the royalty-financing model for renewable energy projects.

Green Bonds enable you to reduce your personal carbon footprint and directly fund the growing green economy.

Why invest in clean energy at all? It seems like the market for solar, wind and geothermal is taking off nicely on its own.

Renewables are currently the lowest cost source of new electricity generation in two-thirds of the world. But, we have many clients who still have trouble accessing low cost capital to help them deliver their renewable energy projects. Our goal is to help these clients build more renewable energy while delivering our investors with growth, yield and the opportunity to help the planet.

The fundamental vision of RE Royalties is to:
1. Help build a cleaner and more sustainable world; and
2. Generate a strong, economic long-term return for our investors.

Why do you need investment dollars when governments subsidize companies like yours so heavily?

This is an interesting question and I would like to answer it in three parts.

Firstly, RE Royalties does not receive any form of government subsidy, whatsoever. We pay tax, we pay our employees and our suppliers on a competitive market basis, and the capital we raise is priced based on investor choice.

Secondly, there is a broad perception that renewable energy is subsidized. I would agree that historically, government policy was necessary to develop the renewable energy industry and subsidies were required to get the monopolistic public utilities to encourage innovation. The fact is that today, renewable energy is the cheapest source of new electricity generation in two-thirds of the world and will be the cheapest everywhere by 2030.

Thirdly, I note that on your excellent website www.biggreenpurse.com, you state that you believe that “… the fastest, most effective way to stop polluters is by pressuring them in the marketplace.” I could not agree more!! I would turn your question around and ask it a different way. Why as a society, are we OK subsidizing the fossil fuel industry by not asking them to pay for the negative impact to the planet that they create?

Personally as a consumer, I am happy to pay a deposit fee to encourage me to recycle a pop bottle, or to pay an extra charge if I forget to take my knapsack to the grocery store and have to use a plastic bag. I am happy to pay for transit to get to work, if it is snowing and I cannot ride my bike. I am also happy to pay a premium for organic produce because I think that is better for my family and better for the global environment. In other words, I am already paying for the negative externalities associated with bottle production, plastic bag production, transportation, and industrial scale farming.

Our society has the opposite view of the fossil fuel industry. There is a groundswell of anti-carbon tax sentiment even though we know that global carbon emissions are causing climate change. Just ask the citizens of California, Washington and Oregon whether they would like to remove the subsidy that prevents the oil and gas industry from paying for their product’s negative externalities. This would be like me saying that I don’t want to pay the city for garbage pickup – that I would prefer to just throw it in the woods.

How risky are Green Bonds compared to other types of energy investments?

It is difficult to compare risk across investments unless you have a clear view into all of the details of each investment alternative, and a clear view of the investment risk horizon for each individual investor. The assessment of Green Bond risk depends on the following: the individual investor; the financial strength of the issuer; and the details (terms, conditions, covenants, etc.) of the offering.

RE Royalties Green Bond offering is different from others in the marketplace because the Bonds are senior-secured against the assets of RE Royalties Ltd. Think of this being like a car loan where the bank’s loan is fully secured against the asset, or car.

The RE Royalties Green Bond also pays a fixed annual rate of interest of 6%, paid on a quarterly basis for the life of the bond. This means that a potential investor knows exactly how much they will earn on this investment. Finally, the International Capital Markets Association oversee the Green Bond Principles governing the issuance of Green Bonds and this means that investors can be sure that the bond proceeds will be used only for truly green investments.

Would Green Bonds ever invest in nuclear power companies, given that some who are concerned about carbon see nuclear power as a solution?

Our investment mandate at RE Royalties would preclude us from using the proceeds of our Green Bond financing from investing in nuclear power companies.

Can Americans or Europeans or the Chinese invest, given that the company is based in Canada?

Yes, investors from the US, Europe or China can purchase our RE Royalties Green Bonds, but they will need to have a Canadian investment account to buy and hold the securities. Canadian securities regulations require a high degree of disclosure and transparency, so the fact that we are traded on the Canadian exchange may be an advantage for some foreign investors. The fact that we trade in Canadian dollars may also be some advantage to  US and foreign investors who are looking to increase their exposure to the Canadian dollar. Some investors in very low interest rate environments such as Europe or Japan may also find the 6% yield on our green bonds very attractive.

In addition to solar, wind and geothermal, are there other promising renewable technologies that Green Bonds might help boost?

Our vision is to create a cleaner future by investing in renewable and sustainable energy. We are agnostic to technology, meaning that we will support any technology. We like proven technology and we have a bias for operating projects. This is because we really like near term cash flow!

It is important to note that to meet our goal of helping to build a cleaner and more sustainable world, we are focusing on both renewable and sustainable energy. Put simply, the world’s carbon emissions are very broadly speaking, driven approximately one-third by electricity generation, approximately one-third by building heating and cooling, and approximately one-third by transportation. Currently we are focusing on the electricity generation piece, but we do see lots of opportunity to utilize our royalty financing product to advance projects in the energy efficiency and transportation sectors.

Is the 6% per annum interest rate guaranteed, regardless of how the economy (nationally and globally) performs?

Yes, the 6% interest rate is guaranteed for the term of the bond. There is no relationship between the interest rate and the performance of either the national or global economy.

What is the projected growth rate of the renewables economy over the next 5 to 10 years?

Globally, $289 billion was invested in renewable energy projects in 2018, according to the United Nations. This investment is expected to increase to $534 billion by 2030 according to the UN Environment Programme as of June 18, 2019.

You can learn more about investment opportunities with RE Royalties Green Bonds here.

The post RE Royalties Green Bonds Power Clean Energy appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Most of us are all about living! But when the time comes, and we or a loved one pass on, we’ll have to deal not just with dying, but with the body that’s left behind, too.

The options for an environmentally friendly burial have really increased since the deaths of my father and mother. My mother chose cremation; my father, a traditional burial. (By the way, when my beloved dog died, I had her cremated and buried her ashes in a wood urn.)

When I die, I’m donating most of my body to science. I haven’t decided yet on how to deal with what’s left over (and my family will play a role in that decision, since I believe funerals are as important to our living loved ones as they are to us). I’ve considered cremation and having my ashes scattered on my favorite beach. I’m also intrigued by the idea of putting my body in an organic cotton bag and just being buried in the ground where I can decompose and maybe fertilize a tree or flower bed.

Hopefully, I (or, my family) won’t have to deal with this quandary any time soon! But because funerals are such big business and burials can have an unexpectedly significant environmental impact, I thought it would be interesting to look at just one option more and more people are considering: cremation. And to do that, I partnered with SafePassageUrns.com. I like SafePassage because they have a terrific Circle of Life Tree Planting Initiative. Their goal is to plant a tree for every cremation urn that they sell.

But back to cremation itself. I used to assume that cremation was the most environmentally friendly burial option because it didn’t necessarily require a wasteful casket or embalming fluid. According to SafePassage, over 4 million square acres of forest are cut down for wood to make caskets. Plus, 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde-based embalming fluid are used to preserve bodies until they’re buried. Without giving it much thought, I figured cremation was better because it would “just” burn the body and leave behind organic ashes.

I’ve since come to learn that there are downsides to conventional cremation, too. Among them, burning a body (sorry to be so graphic, but that’s what it is) requires a significant amount of energy (usually natural gas) to turn body mass into ash. In the process, heavy metals like mercury (embedded in tooth fillings) can be released into the atmosphere. Toxic dioxins, methylene chloride, and furans could be released if the body contains pacemakers, silicone breast implants, and other replacement body parts. The National Institutes of Health note that particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be released by cremation as well.

That said, a more benign form of cremation is now available. It is called “resomation” or alkaline hydrolysis. The way it works is this: the body is placed in a pressurized, enclosed container that is filled with a fluid combo of water and potassium hydroxide. The fluid is heated to around 320 degrees F and also put under intense pressure that prevents boiling but enables the body to be chemically broken down. When the process is complete, liquid and soft bone remain.  Most municipalities require the liquid to have the same pH level as the water in the community’s sewer system; when it does, it can be disposed of down the drain like other water waste. Remaining bone is crushed to create a dust that resembles ash. That “ash” can be then put in an urn and either buried in a family plot or kept as a keepsake.

Now that I know about resomation, I’d probably consider that if I opted for cremation. If it weren’t available and I still wanted to be cremated, I’d try to find a newer constructed crematorium that was outfitted with air pollution control equipment as well as the most energy-efficient equipment available.

As for an urn to choose, as an avid reader, I happen to like this one, in the shape of a book, from SafePassageUrns. It will biodegrade if buried, but would be beautiful on a bookshelf if my loved ones decided they wanted to keep me around for a while!

TELL US ABOUT YOU! Have you thought about how you want to be buried? Please share you questions and comments below.

NOTE: Partnerships enable us to bring you the expert content you need to lead the greener life you want. Our editorial opinions remain our own.

The post “Green” Cremation Urns May Ease the Pain of Burying a Loved One appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Many barbecues use charcoal to grill food. But making charcoal is wasteful, and burning it pollutes the air and adds to climate change. Here is what you need to know about charcoal, plus 5 green green barbecues that will keep your air much cleaner.

What’s Wrong With Charcoal?

⇒ Charcoal is actually made from wood, and making it can be a pretty wasteful process. Only 20 to 35 percent of the wood needed to make a chunk of charcoal actually ends up as charcoal, reports Rodale.

⇒ What doesn’t become charcoal gets converted to gas and emitted into the atmosphere, where it adds to the greenhouse gases that are heating up the planet and causing climate change.

⇒ Plus, burning charcoal creates “black carbon,” a sticky soot that floats into the upper atmosphere that also contributes to climate change.

⇒ Closer to home, burning charcoal pollutes air locally because when it burns, it emits carbon monoxide and tiny, smoky particles that pollute the air. Some cities are considering banning charcoal and wood barbecues to help protect their air.

5 Green Barbecues

Here are some green barbecues that Mother Nature herself might use.

1) Solar – There are many solar options to choose from, including “cookers,” which are more like ovens, and barbecues, which you can use to saute and grill. Because you’re cooking in a pan or on a tray and not over an open flame, you won’t get the charred flavor you expect from a typical barby. But solar tops the list for clean outdoor cooking, and it’ll save you money on charcoal and lighter fluid. Search “solar barbecue” online to compare features and purchase prices. The only fuel you’ll need to get started is direct — and free — sunlight. Take a look at this solar cooker with trivet as another possibility.

2) Natural Gas or Propane – Natural gas and propane burn cleaner than charcoal or wood. Because they create a cooking flame, they still impart a grilled flavor. They’re also clean to handle. If your grill uses propane, you’ll power it up using a refillable tank that you can get at Home Depot, Ace Hardware or maybe even your grocery store. If you already use natural gas to heat your home, and if you keep your grill in one place, you may be able to hook up a gas line directly to your grill. Gas grills come in a wide variety of sizes, from a big “Cadillac” model with lots of bells and whistles (like side burners for pots, and side shelves that can store cooking utensils) to small fold-up options that are great for picnics and tailgate parties. Don’t buy big when a smaller size will do, and whatever you buy, take care of it to extend its life. That means cleaning up right after you use it so food doesn’t moulder on the grate or cause rust. Keeping it covered with a waterproof tarp is also a must.

3) Electric – If your energy source is windpower, an electric grill will generate the least pollution of all barbecue options apart from solar. But even if your power comes from the regular electricity grid, an electric grill makes sense if you want to protect your local air quality. Plus, if your apartment complex or homeowner’s association forbid gas or charcoal grills for air quality or safety reasons, electric grills can save the day. Popular Mechanics tested five outdoor electric grills by grilling corn on the cob, vegetable kebabs, hamburger patties and boneless chicken breasts. It’s worth reading their reviews to get a sense of the options available, what they cost, and how their performance compares.

4) Superior Lump Charcoal Without Petroleum Additives – Of all the barbecue options, charcoal is the most polluting. But if you are using charcoal, look for hardwood charcoal made from wood waste recovered from the lumber industry, which you can find online, at Whole Foods, and possibly some big box stores. Or, give charcoal made from coconut husks a try. Bon Appetit reviewed charcoal, wood and coconut here.

5) Chimney Charcoal Starter – Charcoal and lighter fluid are usually sold side by side. But in addition to the smoke emitted from burning charcoal, lighter fluid pollutes the air, too. Why? It’s made from petroleum distillates that produce volatile organic compounds that create smog. A cleaner alternative is to tuck crumpled newspaper or dryer lint into the bottom of a charcoal chimney. Load charcoal on top, and light with a match. Give it 15 minutes, then pour hot coals onto the fire grate.

By the way, if you are grilling meat, trim the fat before you put it on the grill. Avoid thick oily marinades as well. Fat dripping on hot coals creates smoky flare ups that can leave cancer-causing agents called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the meat as it cooks. Pre-cooking in an oven or on a cook top also helps by reducing the amount of time the meat needs to stay on the grill.

The post 5 Green Barbecues That Won’t Pollute the Air or Make You Sick appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Why is the Green New Deal such a big deal? And what impact could it have on your life and the life and future of your family and community?

I’ve read the Deal from top to bottom and here’s what I’ve figured out:

What the Green New Deal aims to do is:

Eliminate the carbon emissions fueling climate change and
the resulting extreme weather events, economic disruption, and disease it causes.

…and 

Do it in the next 10 years.

But what, specifically, does the Green New Deal call for? Here’s a rundown of the Deal and what it means for us and our kids.

First, what actually IS it? The Green New Deal is a resolution, not a proposed law. It does not suggest specific legislation. Instead, it sets an exciting goal that calls for the US to reach “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2029. In doing so, it acknowledges how current energy production affects every aspect of our lives, including employment, health, housing, and education.

Still need to know more about climate change? Don’t miss this post:

Top 10 Reasons to Take Climate Change Seriously!

Why Is It called a “New Deal”? The reference is to the New Deal President Franklin D. Roosevelt created in the 1930s to save the United States from the worst depression in its history. FDR’s New Deal not only put people back to work but established a host of federal agencies and programs to protect farmers, the unemployed, youth, and the elderly.

Several of those programs, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), as well as the Social Security System and the Securities and Exchange Commission, endure today and continue to benefit millions of Americans.

How would the Green New Deal benefit the environment? This past year, rampant forest fires and severe hurricanes destroyed millions of acres of forests. Climate change has made it possible for voracious pests like the pine bark beetle to extend their range northward, killing additional millions of acres of trees. Every year, oil spills pollute lakes, rivers and streams. Fracking for natural gas emits horrible air pollutants and contaminates the drinking water of hundreds of communities.

Phasing out the coal mining, fracking, and oil drilling whose emissions cause pollution and climate change would improve air and water quality. Reversing rising global temperatures could stop the spread of many pests and illnesses like Lyme disease, which have been on the rise as ticks extend their range into what were once cold climates.

How would the Green New Deal get us off dirty energy and onto cleaner energy sources? The Deal suggests a multi-step plan that begins with efficiency. It would upgrade all existing buildings to “achieve maximal energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability.”

New energy would be achieved by “Meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources”  like solar and wind. The GND also advocates investing in “clean, affordable, and accessible public transportation,” and expanding high-speed rail to reduce the need for polluting air travel. It would spur “massive growth in clean manufacturing” while “removing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing and industry as much as is technologically feasible.” Helping farmers and ranchers eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., the methane cows and pigs emit when they belch and fart) is on the list, too.

Would the Green New Deal benefit children’s health?  Yes! The Deal advocates an immediate transition away from burning the fossil fuels whose emissions are the primary source both of climate change and dirty air.

That would be good news for all kids, but especially for the millions who suffer from asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Less air pollution would also mean fewer “code red” or “code orange” air quality days, so kids could play outside more. In the long term, reducing the extreme weather events associated with climate change would protect children from threats associated with hurricanes, wildfires, and floods. It would also help stop the spread of infectious diseases, poison ivy, and the ticks that cause Lyme disease.

Who’s going to pay for it? The sponsors of the resolution, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA), view the Green New Deal as an investment, not an expenditure. “We will finance … the Green New Deal the same way we paid for the original New Deal, World War II, the bank bailouts, tax cuts for the rich, and decades of war–with public money appropriated by Congress.”

In all likelihood, individual programs would be paid for by some combination of re-allocated federal program budgets and private entrepreneurial investments, like those Elon Musk made to create the Tesla electric car and John Mackey made when he established the Whole Foods grocery chain.

Anything as ambitious and creative as the Green New Deal is bound to generate detractors and naysayers, and the Deal is no exception.

But with sixty-nine percent of Americans saying they are “somewhat worried” or “very worried” about climate change, according to a December survey by Yale University in Connecticut and George Mason University in Virginia, it would seem that a majority of Americans want government to do much more than they’re doing to rein in this catastrophe-in-the-making.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for Congress to act to do your own part to start saving energy and using  solar and wind.

Start by reading this post:

18 Smart Ways to Save Energy At Home

Then,

Check out the Sunrise Movement, a non-profit coalition that’s working to advance the Green New Deal across the country.

And stay tuned! I’ll have more specifics coming your way soon about how you can take advantage of the Green New Deal.

NOTE: A version of this post originally appeared on Moms Clean Air Force. Make sure you check them out!

The post 6 Reasons Why The Green New Deal Is Such a Big Deal appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Car sharing services claim they save people money by eliminating the need to own their own vehicle. But for Big Green Purse readers, the environmental benefits of car sharing matter just as much.

I’ve been relying almost exclusive on car sharing for the last six months, when I decided to experiment with going carless and opened up membership with Zip Car and Car2Go, two car sharing services that are in my neighborhood. I’ve become a big fan of the practice. I’m delighted to team up with Ridecell.com, a mobility platform, to explain some of the environmental benefits of car sharing compared to owning your own vehicle.

The Financial Benefits of Car Sharing

Car sharing services regularly highlight how customers can save money sharing a car rather than owning their own vehicle. I’ve certainly found this to be true.

Here are some of the direct money savings that come from sharing a car via a service rather than owning one:

On average, it’s estimated that a car costs its owner almost $10,000 a year – not including car purchase or car payments. You can do a lot of car sharing for that amount of money!

The Environmental Benefits of Car Sharing

Here’s how the planet wins when you share a car:

Less Pollution From Manufacturing – More people utilizing one vehicle over and over results in fewer cars needed to be manufactured, and less parts needing to be built, distributed, and used, as well. The United Nations Environment Program reports that “vehicle manufacturing is more damaging to the environment than the production of any other good, including livestock farming and steel making.” One of the most important environmental benefits of ride sharing is that it reduces the need to manufacture more cars!

Less Parking Infrastructure, More Green Space – With fewer people purchasing vehicles, we don’t need as much parking infrastructure, including parking lots, parking garages, and on street parking.

Less Gasoline Burned, So Less Climate Change – When you share a car, you end up driving less because you’re not automatically jumping in your own car for short trips or random errands. As such, car sharing can reduce the total number of miles driven and the amount of gasoline burned. Since burning gas emits carbon dioxide (CO2) and CO2 is a primary cause of climate change, sharing cars can help put the brakes on what might be the most serious environmental problem our world faces.

Less Air and Noise Pollution – The primary source of urban air pollution comes from vehicles burning gasoline. Just as reducing vehicle miles traveled benefits the climate, it also helps reduce air pollution. Fewer cars traveling means less noise pollution, too.

More Walking, Biking, And Using Mass Transit – Once you get into the mind set that you’re going to share a car, it’s not a big leap to decide to take the bus or subway, too. People who car share may also be more likely to walk or bicycle the short distances that they might otherwise have traveled in their own vehicle. I’ve personally found this to be true for me. I regularly walk distances of two miles or less rather than drive them.

The Car-Sharing Process

If you’re interested in utilizing a car-sharing system instead of owning your own vehicle, here’s how it all works.

There are a variety of car-sharing services you can investigate, including ZipCar, Car2Go, and GetAround, which is a network of car owners who share their vehicles. (Some rental car companies may also a car-share service; check them out locally.)

While each program can operate a little differently, in essence they work by having you sign up to their system via an online registration form of some sort.

You will typically need to choose a plan based on the number of hours each month you want access to a car, and/or the amount of miles you plan to drive.

Once you’ve joined a program, you can log in to the company’s app or website to find an available vehicle in your area. Some systems will show you on a map where the closest cars are to your current location, while others allow you to input a zip code and search that way.

Once you’ve chosen a vehicle, you can reserve it for your preferred time and then use your membership card, phone app, or other system instructions to gain access to the vehicle on the day.

Most of the time you will need to return the car to the same parking space where you got it from, but some car-sharing programs will give you the choice of a one-way usage which allows you to leave it at your destination instead.

Car sharing is most convenient for people living in urban and more densely populated suburban areas that also offer good mass transit options. If that describes your city or community, I highly recommend you consider car sharing before you purchase another vehicle.

Note: Our partners enable us to bring you the expert content you need to lead the greener life you want. Our editorial opinions remain our own. Thanks!

The post The Environmental Benefits of Car Sharing Compared to Owning Your Own Vehicle appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Has your community set a goal to go carbon neutral? When you start planning, make commercial LED lighting a priority.

LEDs aren’t just for the lamps in your living room. They can meet pretty much any lighting need your city or town has. They work in office buildings, retail developments, transit centers, hospitals, schools, factories, communal workspaces, show rooms, libraries, and more.

In fact, if a space needs a light, there’s no good reason why it shouldn’t be an LED.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with the LED lighting experts at Alcon Lighting in Los Angeles: to explain the many benefits of commercial LED lighting.

Why Choose Commercial LED Lighting?

LED lighting is popular for some reasons you’d expect, and maybe a couple you’ll find surprising.

LEDs are modern, stylish, and functional. As you can see from these photos, they look as cool in the kitchen at work, pictured above, as they do lighting up building corridors, which is why Sustainable Los Angeles chose them for their space.

But in this day and age of climate change, extreme weather events, and expensive energy, the added bonus of using an LED is that it’s a climate saver.

“An LED light bulb can reduce heat and energy consumption by 90% while increasing color rendering and light quality,” Alcon points out on its website.

Put another way, LEDs are the best way to get the affordable, quality light you want without the climate change or environmental impact you don’t.

LEDs also help keep the air in your communities cleaner.

Most lighting is powered by electricity that’s generated by coal-fired utilities. Burning coal releases carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the major causes of climate change. It also emits tiny toxic pollutants that turn into smog and make our air dirty to breathe. When you use LEDs, you cut the CO2 AND the air pollution.

That, on top of the money saved and the high quality of the light LEDs exude, is why, if your goal really is to have a carbon-neutral city, you actually can’t achieve that goal without switching to commercial LED lighting.

Here’s one additional benefit to LEDs.

If you walk or drive through your community or city at night, how many buildings seem to have every office light turned on, even when no one is there working?

With commercial LED lighting in place rather than old fashioned bulbs, you can reduce energy use in these buildings by 90% – even when the lights are left on (though, of course, we still want them turned off when they’re not in use).

Lighting accounts for almost 20% of the energy a commercial building uses (it’s about 11 percent for residential buildings, which is still a lot!).

Whether you’re building new construction or renovating existing structures, make sure that the architect understands that commercial LED lighting is a top priority. If the architect is not familiar with LED lighting options, the experts at Alcon Lighting can lend some expertise.

By the way, if you’re wondering how LEDs compare to CFLs (compact fluorescents), this post explains: 

7 Ways LEDs are Better than CFLs

NOTE: Sponsors like Alcon Lighting help us bring you the expert content you need to lead the greener life you want. All editorial opinions remain our own.

The post Commercial LED Lighting Can Help Your City Go Carbon Neutral appeared first on Big Green Purse.

It’s a common misconception that you don’t need to worry about the air you breathe unless you’re outside. Smog, carbon monoxide, ozone, and polluting particles sometimes make it difficult to breathe outdoors. However, the air INSIDE our homes can be even more dangerous to breathe. That’s because the chemicals we use in our homes can build up and pollute our indoor air. People spend more than 90% of their time inside rather than out, so if our indoor air is polluted, it can pose a real threat to our health. That’s why we’ve teamed up with EcoExperts.com to offer you these 5 smart and easy ways to improve indoor air quality.

Improve Indoor Air Quality 5 Smart Ways

1)Keep your floors clean.

Surprised by this one? Think about it. Whatever you’ve walked through before you came into your home you’re bringing right along with you. Allergens and toxic chemicals can accumulate along with household dust and normal dirt.

⇒Keep floors clean first and foremost by putting a door mat outside and inside the door so it is easy to trap loose dirt before you even come in your home.

⇒Leave your shoes at the door so you don’t track all that pollution everywhere in the house. This is especially true if you have carpeting or area rugs, as the dirt and dust can get embedded in carpeting fibers.

⇒Vacuum weekly, using a vacuum with strong suction power and rotating bushes to raise pollutants up and out of the carpet where they can be easily sucked up.

⇒Use a microfiber mop to sweep up on hard floors and tile. Depending on how much traffic you have going through your home, or if you have outdoor pets coming inside, you may need to do this daily.

2)Reduce home humidity.

A cool home may be comfortable, but if it’s too cool and damp, it will breed mold and mildew.

⇒Keep the humidity level inside your home between 30% and 50%.

⇒In basements and below ground family rooms, use a dehumidifier to pull excess moisture out of the air.

⇒In bathrooms, turn on ceiling fans when taking a shower, and let the fan run 20 minutes afterwards to do its job.

3)Test for radon.

One of the most fatal of indoor toxins, radon is a colorless, odorless gas that has become a leading cause of lung cancer worldwide. This poisonous gas is common to all kinds of soil and seeps up into basements and homes without basements, then persists when air circulation doesn’t vent the gas to the outside. Even granite countertops have been found to emit radon.

Fortunately, testing for the presence of radon is inexpensive. service providers like Eco Experts can conduct the test, determine whether you’re in danger, and help remediate the problem before you get sick.

4)Use non-toxic household cleansers; avoid synthetic perfumes and fragrances; don’t smoke. 

Many cleansers contain “VOCs,” volatile organic compounds that are known carcinogens. Commercial “air fresheners”  probably contain phthalates, which are known to trigger asthma, headaches, nausea and worse. The dangers with “second hand smoke” are well-documented and almost as significant as if someone were smoking rather than inhaling someone else’s cigarette smoke.

Most home cleaning can be accomplished using a simple solution of fragrance-free liquid soap, some baking soda, and warm water.

For a more fragrant interior, simmer a pot of popourri on the stove, open windows to let in fresh air, and remove rotting food and pet waste if it has not been cleaned up.

Don’t Miss: 16 Causes of Indoor Air Pollution

If you must smoke, go outside and stand far away from any open windows or doors to prevent the smoke from getting inside.

5)Vent kitchen ranges, chimneys, wood stoves, and fireplace inserts.

Prevent carbon monoxide and other byproducts of gas and wood combustion from building up in your home. Use the stove fan when cooking and make sure your chimney is clean and allowing dirty smoke and air to escape up the chimney rather than into your home.

Keep a carbon monoxide detector in good working order to avoid deadly build-up of this lethal gas.

Take a look at : Indoor Plants for Air Purification

By the way, take many of these same steps if you work in an office. And make sure whether at home or at work, you get outside frequently. Going in and out will both help you clear your lungs and help promote air exchange between bad air and good (or at least, not quite so bad).

The post Improve Indoor Air Quality 5 Smart Ways appeared first on Big Green Purse.

When you were learning to drive, were you taught anything about ways to save gas? Probably not. Yet transportation contributes 14% to total global greenhouse gas emissions. Fumes and air pollutants coming out of vehicle tail pipes are one of the biggest sources of smog and dirty air, too.  I’d love to see driver’s ed programs include information on driving efficiently and cleanly for new drivers. Until then, we’ve teamed up with DrivingOffice.com, which helps new drivers in my home state of Michigan pass their driver’s test by taking the Michigan permit practice test. Here are 10 ways to save gas this summer you need to know, whether you’re new to the wheel or have a lot of miles under your tires.

1-Follow the 10-second rule before you idle your car.

It’s easy to think you’re only stopping for a short time when you idle in park, and not worth turning the engine off.

The truth is that, any time the engine is on and you’re not moving, you’re wasting gas and money.

In fact, idling a car for as little as ten seconds actually uses more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it. If you spend five minutes idling, you’ll waste a perfectly good gallon of gas!

When Should You Turn Off Your Car?

⇒Turn the car off when you’re stuck at a railroad crossing, or waiting to pick someone up at school or their house, and skip the drive-throughs when the lines are long.

⇒Turn off your car when you’re waiting for a pick-up if it’s going to take longer than 10 seconds to get your goods.

⇒Never idle at a school, especially when you’re waiting to pick up little kids. You’ll just be filling the air with toxic fumes they shouldn’t have to breathe.

Don’t Miss: Ways to Save $20 – $50 Every Month on Gasoline

2-Drive at a constant speed.

The more you accelerate quickly and brake suddenly, the more fuel you use.

How should you start and stop?

⇒Don’t be a “jack rabbit.” Ease up to a stop sign or stop light then ease away at a moderate speed.

3-Drive the speed limit.

Obviously, you want to drive the speed limit to avoid getting a ticket.

Driving the speed limit will keep you alive, too, since speeding leads to so many accidents.

But driving faster than 65mph gobbles up gas, too. In fact, driving at a speed of 85 mph uses 40% more fuel than if you drove at 70 mph.

How fast should you drive?

⇒Stick to the posted speed limit.

⇒Drive 65 on the highway to use a lot less fuel.

4-Keep your car tires properly pumped up.

Not having enough air in your car tires can reduce the number of miles you get per gallon of gasoline by 3%. That may not sound like a lot, but it could amount to as much oil as is in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Instead of destroy that wilderness, we can all simply keep our tires pumped up to the proper psi, or pounds per square inch.

When should you pump up your tires?

⇒ A good rule of thumb is to check the tire pressure every time the seasons change, so maybe four times a year. If you don’t know the psi, it’s easily found on a little sticker right inside the door jamb of the front driver’s-side door.

Keep a tire pressure gauge in the glove compartment of the car so it’s easy to check the tire pressure.

5-Change the oil regularly and get an annual tune up.

Maintaining your vehicle is important for lots of reasons. Cars tend to have a longer life if they are well maintained. They also run more efficiently, which means you do not have to buy as much fuel.

How often should you get an oil change?

⇒Read your vehicle manual, but most manufacturers recommend an oil change every 3,000 – 5,000 miles. You can find lots of coupons online for discounts that will bring oil change costs down to only around $20 bucks a pop.

⇒Tune ups are recommended annually.

6-Use air conditioning instead of opening windows.

You may think that opening the windows in your car, instead of using air conditioning, is a good idea. But it turns out that the opposite is true. Open windows increase the amount of drag, which means that open windows in a fast-moving car actually slow the car down, so you end up using more gas than you would if the air conditioning was switched on.

When to use AC?

⇒Use the AC when you’re traveling at speeds above 40 mph on the highway. You can use the lowest fan setting and keep cool air circulating to make it comfortable.

⇒Roll the windows down when you’re just driving around town at lower speeds.

⇒Use a windshield shade to reflect sunlight away from your car and keep internal temperatures cooler.

7-Carpool and share the gas – and the cost.

Carpools are a great idea. Not only do you save on the cost of gas, because you use your vehicle less frequently; you also get to chat with a group of friends during the journey.

8-Combine trips and use apps to shorten distances traveled.

If you do not plan your week effectively, you can end up driving a greater distance than required. If you need to go to the doctor and the mall, and they are both in the same direction, go to both on the same journey where possible. As a result, you drive a shorter distance and you save on the cost of extra fuel.

What apps are the best for creating gas-saving travel routs?

⇒Waze is popular, but Google Maps is great, too!

9-Park where you are

How many times have you driven around for a while, looking for a parking space that is closer to your destination? If you are able, it’s a much better idea to park in the first spot you can, and simply walk a little further. You end up saving money and time.

What apps make parking quick and easy?

Parking Panda

Park Whiz

Best Parking

10-Put your car on a diet.

Many people keep too much stuff in their car. Extra weight makes the vehicle heavier, increasing fuel consumption.

⇒De-clutter your vehicle and save money on gas. If you’re not going to use it, don’t keep it in the trunk or on the roof rack.

NOTE: Sponsors and partnerships like these allow us to bring you expert content at no cost to you. All editorial opinions expressed are our own. Thanks!

The post New Driver? The 10 Ways to Save Gas This Summer You Need to Know appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Do you love daffodils and cherry blossoms…but hate pollen? As you’re oohing and aahing over the forsythia, are your kids sneezing, coughing and rubbing itchy eyes? Here are 7 ways to help your kids breathe easier throughout the pollen season.

Why Is Pollen So Hard on Kids?

Spring can be tough on little lungs, especially if they belong to kids who suffer from asthma and allergies.

Pollen is essential because it’s what plants use to propagate. It helps feed insects, too. That’s why pollen gets released for a good six months of the year, if not longer, depending on the climate.

It starts in early Spring, when deciduous trees, like maple, oak, ash and sycamore, send forth great waves of pollen-filled dust.

As the season progresses into Summer, grass pollens get into the act. And by the end of the summer going on Fall, there’ll be goldenrod and other flowering plants to contend with.

Here’s the problem: one pollen spore is typically smaller in diameter than a human hair – which is why spores are so easy to inhale.

Billions and billions of spores are released every year, making them impossible to avoid. When they get in our kids’ noses, lungs and respiratory tract, they wreak havoc.

At a minimum, they’ll send kids into what’s called the “allergic salute” – rubbing their noses upward to soothe an itch and then maybe rubbing their eyes.

In the worst cases, pollen can cause kids to suffer an asthmatic attack, which may lead to wheezing, difficulty breathing, and tightening of the chest.

None of these reactions is any fun, and in the direst scenarios, they can be life-threatening, especially when it comes to asthma.

7 ways to help kids breathe easier when they want to play outside in the Spring

1. Pay attention to pollen counts. Listen to local weather forecasts, or check out Pollen.com, a handy website where you can plug in your zip codes and get a report on the day’s pollen count and the top allergens in the air, and sign up for a mobile app that will send Allergy Alerts to your phone. The American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology National Allergy Bureau also provides pollen counts for many cities in the U.S.

2.Limit time outdoors when pollen counts are too high for your child. This is a hard recommendation to take to heart since we all want our kids to be away from computer screens as much as possible and active. But if your child has asthma, or you notice your kid wheezing or blowing her nose a lot, she probably needs to spend a little less time outdoors. Pollen counts are usually lower in the later afternoon than earlier in the day, so sending kids out before dinner may be one way for them to get outdoor exercise without it taking a big toll on their lungs. Putting a little surgical mask over the nose and mouth may help, too. Maybe kids can invent games to play that involve them wearing masks. They could draw mustaches on them, or whiskers!

3. Enjoy the rain. Fortunately, spring is a pretty rainy season in many parts of the country. Rain washes a lot of pollen out of the air, so playing outside during a light drizzle or right after it rains is usually fine for most kids.

4. Keep car windows up and don’t circulate outdoor air into the vehicle. There’s no need to send pollen-laden air into a trapped space at high speed.

5. Dust with a damp cloth and vacuum. Even if you keep the windows in your home closed in the Spring, pollen will have a way of intruding. Dust with a damp cloth so you pick up the pollen rather than just send it swirling around, and vacuum to contain as much pollen as possible.

6. Laundry hung outside should be shaken off before being brought into the house. Pollen lands on everything outside!

7. Consult your family doctor or pediatrician. Depending on the severity of your child’s reaction, your doctor may prescribe antihistamines, an inhaler, or other medications. Your doctor may also conduct allergy testing to find out exactly what kind of pollen your child is most allergic to.

Are your kids allergic to pollen? We’d love to know how you help them deal with their allergies once Spring comes around.

Note: I originally wrote this article for MomsCleanAirForce.org. They’re a terrific group of more than one million moms working to protect us and the planet. Please check them out!

The post 7 Ways to Help Kids Breathe Easier When Springtime Pollen Arrives appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Protect EPA

Protect EPA?

We shouldn’t have to say it, or do it. EPA – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – is supposed to protect us.

Yet, the EPA is under siege. And if we don’t help protect it, it won’t be around to protect us.

The threats EPA faces is real.

The new Administrator of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, has a long track record of suing EPA and trying to overturn the very laws he is now supposed to enforce. And as thousands of his newly released private emails show, he’d rather protect oil and gas polluters  than you or me. These are the same industries that are working to undercut our country’s efforts to stop climate change, keep our air safe to breathe, and our water safe to drink.

Members of Congress openly oppose EPA doing its job – so much so that Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida has introduced a bill to terminate the EPA as of December 31, 2018.

President Trump continues to attack EPA and the environmental laws and regulations it’s supposed to oversee.  Though he’s only been in office for a month, already he has allowed coal companies to delay cleaning up their polluted mining sites. He has given mining companies permission to dump their toxic waste into our streams and rivers. He has also okayed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, despite well-documented concerns about the potential for the pipeline to leak and pollute drinking water.

Read More: Exploding Coal Mines, Crashing Oil Tankers Make Clear the Need for New, Clean Energy

In short, Pres. Trump is happily giving toxic industries permission to pollute your water, your air, and your planet, your health — and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — be damned.

That’s just wrong.

It’s wrong to pollute our drinking water with toxic chemicals that could give us cancer.

It’s wrong to pollute our air with toxic emissions that give us asthma and respiratory failure.

It’s wrong not to do everything possible to stop climate change.

It’s wrong to pollute the planet, destroying Nature and the natural systems that sustain our lives, and the biological systems we need to thrive.

And it’s wrong to undercut the federal agency that’s been designated to keep us safe.

Thanks to EPA, the environment has gotten cleaner. Our air has gotten healthier.

Take a look at these photos pulled together by MomsCleanAirForce.org. They document how polluted our air was before the Clean Air Act was passed, when industries “treated our skies and water as cesspools.”

Does anyone really want to go back to a time like this? I sure don’t. And I can’t imagine you do, either.

That’s why we need to stand up for EPA: to protect the agency that’s been protecting us since it was created in 1970 – by a Republican president, no less.

CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
URGE THEM TO PROTECT EPA

Here’s what you can do:

First and foremost, contact your two U.S. Senators and your Representative in Congress. Let them know you support keeping a strong EPA working on our behalf to fulfill its mission to protect the environment and human health.

Find addresses for the President, Members of the U.S. Congress, state governors, state legislators, U.S. mayors and county executives all at USA.gov.

Second, attend town hall meetings with your Senators and Representative. Take friends and family with you. Make signs. Talk to the media. Make sure your elected officials know that you want them to protect EPA.

Check their website or phone their office to find out when they have a town hall scheduled. Or, ask when they’ll be back in their district and what their office hours are for meeting with constituents.

Want to see what it looks like to successfully use town halls to pressure Senators? Paige Wolf at SpitThatOutTheBook.com has documented her success organizing folks to hold Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) accountable. If she can do it, so can you!

We need the EPA.

But if we want it, we need to protect it.

Whether your Members of Congress are Democrats or Republicans, tell them today that if they want to protect their jobs, you expect them to protect the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The post Protect EPA Against Efforts to Shut It Down appeared first on Big Green Purse.