Welcome to the IDT Energy Blog

We all have the same thought at some point — Eco-friendly is nice, but can we REALLY live in a truly energy saving, eco-friendly, recyclable home?

 CNN has this video on a woman in Oregon who built her own home:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2007/07/17/sharify.tiny.house.affl

Now, you should feel the need to question — great, so what?

Answer:  If she can do it for 85 square feet you can for even bigger.

Solar Electricity — It really works:   Try it for yourself. 

Plan and buy here:

http://www.idtenergystore.com/Outdoor-Solar-Panels/c52/index.html

Energy saving lighting, buy here:

http://www.idtenergystore.com/Light-Bulbs/c50/index.html

Tips for saving money and energy when it comes to lighting:

1. Use compact fluorescent bulbs, which use only a fourth of the amount of electricity as regular bulbs. You can save 10 dollars or more per bulb in long-term electricity costs.

2. Let the light shine through - dirty lights and fixtures can hamper efficiency by as much as 20%.

3. Darken your doorstep – say goodbye to outdoor decorative lights. You’ll feel good knowing that by turning off eight gas lamps that had been burning year round, you can save as much natural gas as it takes to heat an average-size home during an entire winter.

4. Want to reduce the 11% of your electricity bill that goes towards lighting? Use timers to monitor your lighting use and only use bright lights where and when you need them.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/08/tech/main2547648.shtml CBS News explores the top ten green cities in America, according to Country Home magazine.  

Parameters examined included air and watershed quality, mass transit use, power use and number of organic producers and farmers’ markets.  Burlington, Vermont tops the list. Be honest – what is more exciting, their green effort or Ben & Jerry’s? “Among its green assets: v      A compost facility that collects food scraps from restaurants, supermarkets and food manufacturers and sells the compost to farmers, gardeners and landscapers. v      The Burlington metropolitan area’s 16 farmers’ markets, five organic producers and three food co-ops. v      Although mass transit use isn’t big, car pools are — 12.3 percent of Burlington-area commuters use them, according to Bert Sperling, a research consultant who worked on the rankings for Country Home. v      About 5.6 percent of the work force walks to work, and 4.6 percent work at home…”

I am losing it.  I am REALLY losing it.   Steven Furtick from the Elevation Church (http://www.elevationchurch.org/) is the HOTTEST on the web.  Not because of his holiness.  Not because of the church.  Because he doesn’t want to respond to negative publicity.  What about us living in reality.  Something here doesn’t make sense….. What about our economy.  What about the war.  What about our ENERGY.  WHAT ABOUT LOWERING OUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND STOP THE NECESSITY FOR BUYING OIL AND ENERGY!  Brazil did it.

When are our hundreds of thousands of clients going to GET INVOLVED!  Get into Energy.  Make energy our Steven Furtick.  Make a difference.  Read this.  Comment.

Visit our energy efficient store — How about Environmentally friendly BATTERIES.  Our chargers that use the sun and NOT OIL!

Our store:  http://www.idtenergystore.com

E-friendly Batteries:

http://www.idtenergystore.com/product_info.php?products_id=80

Sun Chargers:

http://www.idtenergystore.com/index.php?cPath=52_60

Check out Jetson Green for tips on how to make sure you are getting the most, environmentally speaking, from your landscaping efforts: http://jetsongreen.typepad.com/jetson_green/2007/03/green_building_.html. 

Some highlights:

1. The writer is a big fan of composting, pointing out “You can use organic waste from your home to return needed nutrients to the soil. Things like fruit peels, grass clipping, leaves, etc. are great materials to recycle and mix into garden soil. Composting has many benefits, including: (1) Reducing municipal waste, (2) Improving soil moisture retention, (3) Boosting plants’ immune systems, and (4) Reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.”

The IDT Energy Store happens to carry a garden composter – details here: http://www.idtenergystore.com/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=56

2. Use solar powered landscaping lights.

3. Buy an energy efficient lawn mover.

Plus other concrete suggestions for keeping your lawn green. 

This story on a champion leaf raking grandmother may encourage you to abandon your power leaf blower completely: http://www.burbia.com/node/574

MSNBC News Services

Updated: 12:05 p.m. ET Feb. 20, 2007

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia will be the world’s first country to ban incandescent lightbulbs in a bid to curb greenhouse gas emissions, with the government saying on Tuesday they would be phased out within three years and replaced by compact fluorescent lighting.

Well, the Aussies have beat Uncle Sam. Congratulations, Down Under…. or, is it…?

Here is the original article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17233145/

Now, the Canadians have jumped on board… Here is an article with many comments:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourview/world/2007/02/australia_says_lights_out_to_i.html

A nice piece summarizing the pros and cons of leaving your computer on or turning it off on a regular basis. You will save some money on your energy bill by turning your computer off, which is obviously a nice plus.  

What I get from this summary is that this issue seems to come down to personal preference/how you individually function. For example, if you are less concerned with saving money and more concerned with always having a computer that is ready for work, you should leave your computer on. If you want to make sure that your RAM gets cleared on a regular basis and you don’t mind opening up your files when you want to work on them, you should turn it off, etc. etc. etc…

CNN: “A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California’s groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The ‘How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act’ would ban incandescent lightbulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs.”

Relatively radical idea, considering that he needs to overcome age-old habits and buying preferences. Imagine the potential criminal outbreak: possession of incandescent bulbs – underage lighting – bulbs being smuggled over the border. California should reserve  tax dollars to deal with the infractions that may arise if this law is implemented.

Beat the rap – buy your CFL bulbs at the IDT Energy Store.

I usually shy away from linking to blogs, but this post has concrete, compelling information about Compact Fluorescent Lighting that is worth sharing (no it is not sponsored by Wal-Mart as far as I can tell).

Convinced? Get your CFLs here.

New York Times opinion piece that questions people’s ability to break negative associations with fluorescent bulbs: “But fluorescent light’s greatest setback in conquering the home might be its own great success with having conquered the workplace and other commercial spheres. People’s associations with it are not only not good, they’re actively bad. Anyone who has ever sat under flat fluorescent light in an office cubicle, a waiting room, a government bureau, a cheap restaurant or a dirty motel understands this pretty well. You equate fluorescent light with your boss, license renewal, indigestion and divorce. Not beautiful sunsets, blush wine, fireside s’mores, and candlelit dinner dates. An ‘incandescent’ evening.”

 Fluorescent light is also unflattering to the skin, a problem in our culture. Some feel that the shape and nature of the bulbs are difficult to incorporate, design wise, into homes. In Japan, by contrast, they have figured out some design tricks, such as rice-paper windows and room-dividing walls, which work with the nature of fluorescent light.

 The message as I see it: If you want to be ready for your close-up, you will need to pay for it in dollars and environmental costs. Can we as a nation overcome our aesthetic discomfort and embrace light which does not present us or our homes at their most appealing? Wal-Mart bets that we can.

 Check out the bulbs at the IDT Energy Store and see what you think.