EcoInsomniac

I thought really long and hard about if I wanted to set a New Years resolution because they tend to be forgotten after a couple days or weeks.  Then I got inspired by this contest at JessicaKnows.com and the people who entered it.  So, I thought I’d share my green New Years resolution with you.

My green resolution for the New Year is to work daily to help myself and others to go green.  I will get my Eco-Handyman business off the ground and use the business to do some good in my local area.  I will reuse all the material from building and demolition jobs to build new products that can be sold with a percentage of the profits going to local green organizations and/or the local animal orphanage.  I will use the local ReStore to shop for materials before going to a big box store when possible.  I will start saving to fund the purchase of more land outside of San Antonio to build my family a green home and personal farm.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you share your resolution with me by using the comment form below.  I hope you have an amazing New Year!

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Gay Guilott is the owner of Guilott Realty, Inc located in Bandera, Texas made a decision to go green with her company and did it in a big way.  Guilott Realty, Inc built a brand new building and went as green as they possibly could.  

Here is the list of things Guilott Realty has done:

• Renewable pine walls in the interior (no sheetrock)
• Implemented a new recycling program for waste
• Fluorescent light bulbs used throughout
• Composite plastic decking for the outside deck
• Rainwater collection (no use of city water at all)

This is a great set of accomplishments for any company that made a commitment to go green.  There is a problem though.  The rainwater collection part of that list is raising all kinds of stink in the small town of Bandera.  The city is demanding that Guilott connects her building to the city water line and starts paying a bill even if it’s the minimum monthly bill of $16 a month.  City officials have gone so far as to threatened arrest and a $200 a day fine if she does not comply soon.  I think this is completely wrong.  I’m not sure if it is part of the building code or what, but Bandera is a small enough city that it should be able to change with the times.

Mrs. Guilott had the ability to see that the time to go green is now.  These cities especially small cities should be grabbing a hold on the green movement and using it to gain ground and a better tax base by giving incentives to go green.  Threatening people for saving the city and its taxpayers water and probably money is just not the way to go about business Bandera.

I’m proud to see small businesses still leading the way in innovation and taking risks.  I hope that the city does right by this woman, her business and the citizens of Bandera Texas by allowing and celebrating green building.

What do you think? Have you ever done anything green just to have some entity come and tell you that you couldn’t?

KSAT’s story about Mrs Guilott’s fight

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Top Gear is a great show for motorheads who can’t get enough of seeing the newest cars put to the tests or crazy races by the three hosts. I really do enjoy the show as I’m a big car fan. They finally were able to get a hold of a car that appeals to my car side AND my green side the Tesla Roadster. Want to see the result? You can watch it below or click on the video to watch it on youtube in a wider version.

UPDATE: Here is Tesla’s response to the Top Gear video: http://jalopnik.com/5112828/tesla-issues-response-to-top-gear-review

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Many people have shunned the CFL bulb because of its weird shape and inability to cover with some lamp shades and no company had really answered the problem. GE’s latest announcement is a great solution.

“These fit in more lamps and fixtures than standard GE Spiral® CFLs with the plastic base,” says Kathy Sterio, general manager of consumer marketing, GE Consumer & Industrial. “Some people just want an incandescent bulb profile so they can easily use it with clip-on lampshades or smaller table lamps. Other people may see it as more aesthetically pleasing than GE Spiral® CFLs in lamps or fixtures where the bulb is visible. It provides a more finished or tailored look that appeals to a lot of consumers.”

GE plans to have a 15w version (60w equivelant) of the newly shaped light bulbs in Target stores by December 28th and they’ll spread out from there first to Ace Hardware in January then everywhere else come Earth Day on April 22nd.  I think we may a faster shift towards CFL bulbs with this new shaped bulb on the market.  I don’t know about you, but I’m very please by that.  Here is what it looks like:

Fancy isn’t it?  Check out the complete press release here.

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Interesting title, eh? I wasn’t kidding either VerTerra has come out with some absolutely beautiful sustainable temporary dinnerware.  Let me explain how they’re made so you know just how eco-friendly and sustainable these things are.  Their fair-waged workers gather fallen palm leaves, steam and press the leaves into the molds, then the molded dinnerware is heated to set the shape.  That’s it then they’re packed up and sent for us to use them.  No dye, toxins or chemicals are used in these products at all.  They’re ready to be used and tossed in the compost pile with the rest of your veggie scrap.

This line of disposable plates and bowls only has one problem.  They’re way too pretty to toss out.  Don’t go putting them in the trash these things are 100% compostable dinnerware.  VerTerra designed these plates to bio-degrade in around 2 months once disposed of in the compost pile.  Beautiful dinnerware and no waste sounds like a heck of a deal.  The plates cost between 50 cents and a 1 dollar depending on the size, shape and quantity that you purchase.  You can buy them here at the VerTerra shop.  

Let me know what you think of them if you pick them up or if you’ve tried them before.  I’m going to order some for our next get together and when that happens I’ll get some pictures with some food on them.  I added some pics below for you to check out before you buy them.
Credit for the beautiful photography goes to: Theodore Samuels

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