I’m an interior design student, and just finished up with my second course in lighting. During that time, we learned a little bit about this somewhat new technology. First of all, LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. What a diode is, I still don’t know, but what I do know is that these lights use less energy than even the currently popular CFLs. I even noticed on a recent trip to Costco, that they are using traditional shaped bulbs and filling them with these diodes so we can use this new energy-saving technology right in our own homes. Many of us have probably already used them during the holidays in our lighting decoration.

What is great about this technology is that they use less energy, are very compact so they can be used in more creative ways, and last about an average of 15 to 20 years. So if you bought a new house and changed the bulbs when you moved in, you’d likely never have to worry about them again - which is even better for those high and hard to reach without an extension ladder fixtures! There are a few considerations though. LEDs currently only come in two color temperatures - so make sure you know what you’re getting. You don’t want your warm beautiful living room to be lit like a hospital surgical room. Also, if you consider using LED under cabinet lighting, be mindful of the reflection of the diodes on your countertop. That’s not something you’re going to want to see.

With the obesity rate in this country reaching an all time high it is time to start talking about fitness and eating right in order to turn this tide. If you’re keeping up with what all the talk in regard to health care you will find that much of it is about prevention. One of the best and quickest ways to reduce your need for medications and get healthier is to reduce your weight. I know because I have done it.

Several years ago I bent down to retrieve a towel off the floor and could not straighten up. Eighteen months later I was heavy medicated for pain, 50 lbs heavier and having different side effects from the medications so I was taking other medications for those. I decided one day that I was done with the hard dose meds and just stopped taking them and started doing double the prescribed back exercises and gritted my teeth to get through each day. Now I still do the back exercises have lost all the weight I had put on and exercise 4 to 5 days a week as well as watch what I eat. You have to do this once you learn that it takes 3000 to 3500 calorie differential to loose just 1 pound. In other words, it takes you working on it from an exercise view point of burning calories as well as from an eating viewpoint of consuming fewer calories to make the greatest difference.

Yes, it’s time to talk about fitness but more importantly, it’s time to do something about fitness!

One of the best ways to create a great garden for small spaces is with containers. You can have one plant in a small container up to 54 plants in an urban raised bed that is designed especially to fit on your patio or deck in a space as small as 3ft x 4 ft. Plants are very resilient for the most part and grow just about anywhere they can root. I even had a volunteer tomato plant come up in a pile of leaves and weeds!

The one thing you have to watch out for more than anything else when growing in containers is watering. Pots and containers as well as raised beds tend to dry out more quickly than if you are planting in-ground. Because of this, most plants die or under produce due to lack of water. I have also seen people water them too much and that’s not good either. You need to monitor watering and make sure you are giving just the right amount. Find out sooner than later which planters drain through and which do not as this will make a huge difference as well.

I recently sat in a meeting of Realtors and Builders talking about the “greening” of America and how so much of it is misunderstood. The fact is that if you pay a lot of money for something it doesn’t mean it “must be green”. There are many products on the market today that are said to be Energy Star and green when they simply are not. Let’s talk about a few items that are beneficial to you and the earth we know and love.

If you invest in a tankless water heater, make sure it is an “on-demand” water heater that starts and stops as you use water. Any water heater that runs all the time is not your best choice. You can also invest in a solar water heating system. Both of these will save you money on energy costs as well as give you a federal tax credit. Another thing that can be done is adding to your existing insulation with environmentally sensible insulators like soy-based foams, loose fit cellulose and denim. You will want to go with the one that has the highest R-value. Do your own research and choose your best option for the type of construction you are building or live in.

A few weeks ago U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu brought up this idea at a conference in London though it’s not the first time this has been mentioned as an easy way to reduce global warming. The first to bring this idea to the world’s attention was a group of researchers at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory in California.

Painting all the roofs in the world white would reflect enormous amounts of sunlight off the Earth’s surface thus causing the Earth to cool. We all learned that dark surfaces absorb heat while light colors reflect heat so it makes a lot of since. Secretary Chu says this scheme would be the equivalent of turning off every car on Earth for a decade. Some go so far as to say that it would cut energy consumption by reducing the need for air conditioners as buildings cool. My question is this; would you be willing to paint your houses roof white to help cool the Earth? Seems like a no brainer to me; so why haven’t we heard this before and why isn’t everyone not doing this?

Bridgestone-Firestone is a huge international corporation, more known for its tires than for being friendly to the earth. But the company has a strong “green” philosophy and corporate culture that values conservation and environmentalism. The company, which bases its U.S. headquarters in Middle Tennessee, pushes innovation and awareness of the environment from top to bottom. The company is rather low key about their commitment to the environment, yet it is being recognized by conservationists and organizations that track environmental performance. In 2008, the company was named Industrial Conservationist of the Year by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation. Bridgestone’s commitment is as much about little details, such as using energy efficient light bulbs, as it is about the big picture. Manufacturing of industrial products is done with minimal environmental impact, or at least that’s the goal. Every single employee is encouraged to make a difference and to participate in the company’s greening efforts.

Each Bridgestone manufacturing location has an environmental manager. For example, the plant in Warren County, Tenn. has surfaced as a leader among production facilities for its energy-saving innovations and land preservation efforts. The plant uses hydrogen fuel cells for engines used at the plant, a cutting-edge “clean energy” method that emits water instead of carbon into the air. The water-efficient toilets installed at the manufacturing plant save hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a year. And, there are plenty of other examples of the company’s vision. Bridgestone’s La Vergne, Tenn. plant was able to reduce the,use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerant was reduced by 88 percent. CFCs are widely blamed for contributing to depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer.

I recently sat in on a conference of Realtors that were talking about the use of green technologies in homes and how many people label things “green” when they are not. It seems that the term green or sustainable gets tossed around like a badge of honor but the reality is that there are a lot of products on the market and are being labeled as good for the environment that really are nothing more than high dollar add-ons; especially to the uneducated homebuyer. Since I am not a Realtor and am just an interested bystander, it was very disheartening on one hand to see that this was such as issue, yet very encouraging on the other hand that there were those who were policing, if you will, builders who don’t know what they are talking about!

Green is not a religion, not a political party (though there is a Green Party) and it is not a phase that will be going away. Instead, it is a way of life that simply asks that we do what we can; our part to make our world a better place. If that means growing some or all of your own food, using less gasoline, hanging your clothes outside instead of using a dryer so be it. Whatever you can do, do it. Green is also not about a “look”. If you dress like a hippy or wear a three piece suit, you can and should educate yourself about what is and what isn’t considered energy efficient or energy star quality, or at the very least, hire a consultant who does know the difference.

If the auto industry had not fought the increase in fuel efficient cars back in the 70’s and 80’s, we may not have the dependency on foreign oil that we do today. I can say that with some authority if the information we are getting from the current administration is true about what the new standards will do for America’s dependency on foreign oil. So the new standard is to increase the average fuel efficiency of light trucks and cars to 35.5 miles per gallon by the year 2016. This reportedly will save over 1.8 billion gallons of oil over the lifetime of autos sold in those five years.

To pout a different perspective on it; that is more oil than the US imported from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Nigeria all together last year! At the same time oil and gas has gotten and stayed cheaper (even though we are paying over $2 a gallon again) and I wonder if this time we can stay on course and plan our own path out of being dependent on foreign countries for the fuel we need to run the nation and our lives. Stay tuned and see what happens!

In a recent conversation about what is in the processed food we eat the question of illnesses was brought up. While this conversation cannot be considered as scientific research, the perspectives offered does make for some interesting conversation. It seems like there are a lot of baby boomers that have illnesses such as different kinds of cancers and MS or Parkinson’s disease not to mention the rise in Alzheimer cases. If you look at processed foods there is a correlation with the baby boomers as they are the first generation to have access to a lot of processed food.

However, there are other factors that may come into play here as well like to fact that people are living longer than ever before because of improved healthcare and medications as well as the discovery of diseases that were once just labeled dementia. What is not clear is this; are these diseases exacerbated by processed food? My gut tells me yes if only because my body behaves totally differently when I eat natural, good whole foods instead of processed, packaged foods. It is only because of that experience that I feel I can say anything at all. However, it would be good to know if the scientific facts were there to back up that feeling.

Most of the time I am of the opinion that buying a storage shed means that you just buy too much stuff. But, thanks to a friend, I began to look at that judgement in a different light. My friend just downsized and moved into a new smaller home (for some very green reasons; less energy, less consumables needed, etc.) and in the process, she bought a large shed. I was a little dumbfounded, since this friend puts me to shame in living out her green ideals. Her answer was one I had never considered.

“The shed lets me store things that would usually be kept in closets and attic space in my larger house, but this way I don’t have to pay for heating or cooling the space that they occupy, and it keeps my carbon footprint smaller.”

Duh. It totally makes sense. Why do you need to heat or cool all your closets and spare bedrooms (read: junk rooms)? For the fist time in my adult life, I went and looked at sheds online tonight.