One study that they did was set up at the home site for the Kraft family. They were working to build a home that was energy efficient in the Upper Saranac Lake area. Now these scientists are in the second part of the surveys, bind done at a control site as well as at the site of construction. They reason they have decided to use a control site is so that they can see the differences in changes in population that is due to phenomena that may be region wide and those that are actually due to the impact of construction.

To learn a lot more about this study being done, the researchers for the summer from the Wildlife Conservation society were joined by Kinna Ohman. Here is a look at some of what they found. They started out by checking the traps they had set up to see what they have. The first trap that was checked was apparently robbed by rodents, which meant they got away and were able to get out, so they had evidence that rodents were at least there. This is one of the more typical results that they get while during their studies.

Then they found another trap on their walk at the site that actually had something in it – a mole. This new find doesn’t have a tag, so they weight and tag this little mole. They are easily tagged on the mole, and is number 83 of those they have tagged. Once the mole is tagged, they simply let it go.

The next thing they do is check out the remote camera that they are using. They set up a feed trough so they can attract some of the animals to the area and so the camera will catch pictures of the animals that arrive at the feed trough. Often they get raccoons on the camera although often they get some deer as well and they’ve even seen a bear at one point.

Although the studies have not been concluded, these studies are very important. While it is definitely known that big developments will have a big impact on the environment, no one is quite sure how much impact there will be if there is only one home being built. With the conclusions of these studies, hopefully these questions will be answered.

Use Wrappers that are Recycled

If you are sending out Christmas packages or just giving gifts to those in your home, use wrappers that are recycled. Instead of purchasing brand new wrapping paper, use some things you have around your home. Consider using some of those old newspapers you have around or use wrapping paper from the last holiday season if you have it saved up. This way you don’t go out and purchase new paper. You’ll be recycling while giving your gifts and it saves money too!

Recycled Cards or Going with Electronic Greetings

Hundreds of thousands of cards are sent out during the holiday season each year. That’s a whole lot of paper being wasted. After all, many of those cards just end up in the trash at the end of the season anyway. Instead of sending out regular holiday greeting cards, think about purchasing recycle cards – cards that are made out of recycled paper. An even better option is to go with electronic greetings when you can. You can save a whole lot of paper if you send holiday greetings online and you’ll save money on postage too. You can also create your own greeting cards. This is a great activity for the whole family, and a great way to be creative.

Cut Off the Lights

One way to share the spirit of the holiday season is with Christmas lights. It’s wonderful to show off your holiday spirit in lights. Of course, leaving those lights on all night every night is a bad idea. It can raise your electric bills and can overtax your electric circuits as well. You can still share your holiday greetings in the form of lights, but once the guests go home and you’re going to bed, turn off those lights. It’s much better for the environment to only have them on a few hours instead of all night long.

Check Out Printers that are Eco Friendly

If you still want to send out paper greeting cards, check to find printers that are eco friendly. Many will print greeting cards with eco friendly practices. Some companies use recycled inks and paper scraps to print greeting cards. It may cost you a bit more, but you are working to save the environment.

You don’t have to give up your holiday spirit for the environment. You can have an eco-friendly holiday and send out plenty of greetings with these great eco-friendly tips for the holiday season.

Carbon Footprint Defined

What exactly is a carbon footprint?  The accepted definition is the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the activities of individuals and organizations as well as their consumption of natural and manmade products.  It is expressed in terms of the quantity of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted.  At present, global warming can be attributed to more than 90 percent of human activities and products.  As such, the need to lessen one’s carbon footprint takes on more meaning and urgency.

Causes of Our Harmful Carbon Footprints

There are many causes to the increase of our harmful carbon footprints.  For one thing, we cause so much land, air and water pollution by our excessive use of natural and manmade products as well as our activities like dumping garbage without thought to recycling and reusing them.  For another thing, we steadfastly refuse to embrace alternative sources of energy and ways of living.  We stick to fossil fuel when we have water to power our cars.  We use commercial personal hygiene products containing environmentally harmful ingredients when we can make our own homemade products.

Solutions to Lessening Your Carbon Footprint

Fortunately, you can reverse this deplorable trend by adopting green living habits.  These are very practical tips that only need careful consideration and thoughtful execution until you do them almost automatically in your daily life.

- Reduce your use of natural and manmade products by sticking to the basics of modern life.  Buy new things only when you have to and only when you are assured these are eco-friendly.  Reuse your old things to make new things.  You will be lessening one less garbage on the landfills and incinerators.  Recycle your junk and maybe even make money out of them by re-selling them.

- Get moving by walking to your destinations, using the stairs and riding your bicycle, all of which will also make you healthier in mind and body.

- Use solar power to provide energy and light to your home.  If solar panels are too expensive for you now, start with solar lights for the garden and pathways as well as portable solar water heaters.

- Choose organic and natural products for the home and office as well as personal hygiene and foods.

- Be mindful of your food consumption and waste – can fruits and vegetables, reheat leftovers and cook only what you can eat.

- Switch to energy-efficient home and kitchen appliances as well as make your home more eco-friendly like planting deciduous trees near windows receiving the most sunlight.

Of course, you must also know of the latest in conserving the environment.  As time goes on, more and more knowledge toward this end is being discovered and it is up to each one of us to adopt them as we see fit.

Excess Energy Consumption

Whenever and wherever possible, it would help to employ the use of solar energy as a source of home power. This is true whether you wish to heat water in the home or providing adequate lighting. Solar Water and solar lights are the best example of the best use of the sun’s power. Such solar appliances are available in a variety of stores and the assurance of simple installation makes them a must purchase. Lowe’s and Home Depot would be good retailers to procure such items.

 It is also helpful to look towards eco and economically friendly LED or fluorescent lights. When combined with solar power, these lights will allow you to enjoy low electric bills. It also does not hurt to turn off the lights when no one is in the room. This will allow you to save money while also going green.

Additionally, you have the ability to lessen energy consumption in the laundry area, kitchen, and even the bathrooms by taking the following steps:

Always use tap water when operating a dishwasher and only run it with full loads.

Wash clothes with tap water as well and avoid using hot water. Lessen dirt from clothes through soaking them for 15 minutes prior to washing.

While not always preferable, taking cold showers instead of hot tub baths in the summer is advised. A programmable thermostat will turn on heat only when needed is helpful.

When purchasing appliances look for those that have an Energy Star Label which means energy use will be as low as 50%.

Resource Conservation Tips

Within the home, water is among the most wasted resources. You have the potential to reverse wasteful practices by way of adopting small measures such as brushing your teeth with a glass of water as opposed to letting it run non-stop. Also, it is wise to only water plants when necessary and look towards a water saving device for installation in the toilets. High efficiency faucet heads can also deliver highly positive results as well.

 Is there another important resource that lends itself well to conservation? Yes and it comes in the form of food. When you cook the right amount of food and freeze the rest for a later date, you are cutting back on waste. It is possible to store fresh fruits and vegetables according to the best temperatures so as to prevent rotting and subsequent waste.

Recycle, Reduce and Reuse

 The possibility to reduce your carbon footprint increases significantly when you learn the proper way to recycle, reduce, and reuse things. You can also save a little money and even earn it, too. To reduce your consumption of Earth’s resources through purchasing less at the supermarket is one method and it is also a cost saver, too.

A quality means of reusing something can be found in the venture of donating the item. This delivers a great many different benefits that not only help someone in need, but it reverses the trend of overfilling landfills with items that still have value and use. Yes, it is true when people say there is gold in trash and that becomes doubly true as it is more eco-friendly.

 In summation, green living forever remains a possibility regardless of your situation in life. Careful thought may be involved and it will lead to great rewards that generations to come will experience.

What had I known previously? That for several years, gasoline had been mandated to be mixed with 10% ethanol, because it was better for the environment. However, because of the law of unintended consequences, the use of ethanol was driving up the cost of corn (from which it was made), and causing the poorer people of the world even more misery as they were now unable to purchase it as their staple food.

So, today, as I said, I began doing some research.

To begin with, ethanol can be made from several substances. In Brazil – the world’s largest ethanol producing country, they make ethanol out of sugar cane rather than corn. Sugar cane has a 30% greater concentration of sucrose than corn, and is also much easier to extract. In addition, the “bagasse” (the fibrous residue remaining after the stalks are crushed to extract their juice) is then used for a variety of purposes – nothing is wasted or dumped into landfills.

So why does the United States make its ethanol out of corn, I wondered. (One doesn’t really need to research that. Farmers already had corn crops in place, probably, and want to make money out of that, and our politicians want to keep our farmers happy. That’s why the US adds a tariff to ethanol produced outside the United States. Brazil ethanol is much cheaper than that produced in the US, because it does not need to be converted into sucrose – it already is sucrose. (In addition, Brazilian producers don’t have to pay their workers near as much as American farmers have to pay theirs.)

CNN Money reported on August 7, 2007: “The reason we use corn and grains in this country to make ethanol is that’s what we produce best. It’s the easier thing for us to do at the moment,” said Matt Hartwig, spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association. “The likelihood that cane will become a huge ethanol foodstock isn’t high, though you may see it in the future.”

This despite the fact that ethanol made from sugar cane is: “about six times more economical to produce than corn ethanol and has the potential to help the environment because it requires few chemicals to grow.”

It’s the Corn Lobby in the US government that is producing a shift over to sugar cane…the government simply has too much invested in its corn-into-ethanol programs.

To lessen the amount of energy your computer is consuming try some of the following tips:

• Power Down- Whenever your computer is not in use turn the power off. This will prevent something called phantom power load consumption.

• Energy Settings- Built into Microsoft are power savings, these come into play when your computer is temporarily not in use.

• Monitor- When you are using the pc only have your monitor as bright as you absolutely need. Turning the brightness levels down can save lots of energy.

• New Computer- The next time you are in the market for a new computer considers purchasing a laptop instead. These smaller computers use about half the energy of a desktop.

• Replace- After a couple of years of use a computer will slow down considerably. This is the time many people choose to purchase a new machine, however a simple reinstall of windows will perk up your system by doing away with unnecessary files and
Not all of the energy consumption and environmental impact attributed computers comes from actual use. There is a fair amount of energy consumed to create the devices in the first place and once they have served their purpose too many of them wind up in landfills. When computers end up in landfill they not only take up precious space, they can also leak toxic substances into the ground polluting it and many of our waterways. For this reason, several companies have cropped up offering to recycle computers and protect the environment.

These companies do what is called E-Cycle, a cute term for electronic recycling. The problem is often the number of computers they receive overwhelms these companies and the units end up going to the landfill anyway. Some more unscrupulous individuals go a step further and ship these units overseas where low paid workers are expected to strip the devices down in order to mine the profitable metals from them. Not only does this contribute to greenhouse emissions due to the shipping methods, the conditions under which these people work are horrible and dangerous.

When it is time to upgrade to a better model be sure you check with the company you are using to recycle electronic debris. Better yet, try upgrading some of the internal parts such as hard drive and memory and end up with a computer that is comparable to many of the new models on the market. You will save the environment and potentially save yourself some hard-earned money in the process.