But how do you find that out?

Much easier now with a solar power calculator from the US Government’s National Renewable Energy Lab.

This calculator lets you use the standard settings so all you need to do is click on your location and you can get a general idea of the solar power you can generate in your area as well as how much credit, on average, you can earn.

For more advanced users, there is another version of the solar calculator that allows you to choose any location, not just major metropolitan areas in the US, but is more complicated to use.

To get a better idea of the solar generating potential in your area, here’s a map of the US. You’ll notice that the highest collection areas are noted in orange and lowest in blue and purple (only found in Alaska!).

Not surprisingly, the highest collection areas are in Arizona, New Mexico and parts of California, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Colorado.

Scheduled to start shipping withing the next 30 days, the Zero is an all electric powered motorcyle with a lightweight design.

The Zero is green in both design and power. It uses a completely non-toxic lithium ion array and most of the motorcycle is fully recyclable. The power pack that powers the Zero S recharges in less than four hours while plugged into a standard 110V or 220V outlet and is landfill approved. It has zero emissions and is cost effective, operating at less than one cent per mile. Very eco-friendly.

“The innovation behind the Zero S is what separates it from the competition. The Zero S is a high performance motorcycle that also happens to be fully electric and green. The fact that it’s electric means not having to get gas and reduced maintenance.” noted Neal Saiki, inventor and founder of Zero Motorcycles.

Priced at $9,950, it qualifies for the federal 10% plugin-in tax credit.

Get more details at the company website: www.zeromotorcycles.com

The study used Buy.com’s distribution model of shipping goods directly to a consumer from their manufacturer partners, skipping the ‘middle man’ shipping through a distribution center and then to either the consumer or to a store. This model was found to reduce environmental impact by 35% over driving to a retail store and reduced the total number of steps needed to get the product to a consumer.

“Consumers are looking for ways to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle, whether that be recycling at home, reducing paper and packaging consumption or purchasing products that have less impact on our natural resources,” said Neel Grover, CEO and president of Buy.com. “This study solidifies that online shopping is another avenue they can embrace to help lower their carbon footprint and energy consumption.”

You can learn more about the Buy.com model at their website.

Happy shopping!

Well, as of today, the number 1 Green Product is a 5 pack of Reusable Tote Bags. Also on the list is one of my favorites, the Clean Kanteen stainless steel water bottle. It’s a welcome alternative to the leeching plastic bottles and mine does a great job of keeping me hydrated.  They come in all sizes… one will fit you just right.

Another interesting item on the Top Ten list is the wireless Amazon Kindle Digital Reader. The device allows you to read your favorite books just like you would a paper book, with the white background pages and black ink. Lets you keep important documents like PDF’s and Word documents handy as well, and everything is done wireless at no additional cost. The Kindle has received great reviews and looks like another way to save paper and money as well.

And you can’t forget about toilet paper! The 48 Pack of Seventh Generation 2 Ply Toilet Paper also makes the Top Ten. It’s reviewed well and made from 100% recycled materials and no chlorine used in whitening.

Visit Your Green 3 to find out what products made this list and vote on the top green products you wish everyone had.

Wind farms often receive a bad press, especially when they’re situated near homes or in popular hiking areas. They can make a lot of noise and because they have to be placed on skylines for maximum efficiency they often spoil views. Offshore wind farms are less problematic in this way and can take advantage of fierce sea winds, increasing their output, but they rely on a nation having a lot of suitable coastline.

While the Netherlands does very well with its wind farms, the US, considering the comparative size of its population, is at a distinct disadvantage. For the home-owner, small wind-powered generators are available, but they’re not very efficient and often result in complaints from neighbors.

Hydroelectricity is a much more effective way of generating power, using the natural energy of rivers or tidal forces. However, there are a limited number of suitable locations for hydroelectric generators, and often these are in areas which already provide fertile farmland, so a lot of people have to be displaced and lose their land in order for them to be built. They can also have a damaging impact on local wildlife.

Of these three major alternative energy options, only solar energy passes the test of being truly non-polluting, practical and easy to access. Modern solar panels can still function effectively even in areas where it’s frequently cloudy. They don’t get in anyone’s way,  and once installed, they require very little maintenance. For these reasons, the greenest way to generate the power we need is by harnessing the power of the sun.

[ Run your online business on green energy. Unlimited web hosting powered 100% by wind and sun energy. Top support, online tools, automated software installer and more. Learn about green web hosting and keep your business in the green. ]

…more than switching to a hybrid car

…more than switching to mercury free lightbulbs

…more than recycling

Here are the facts. Raising food for human consumption creates 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than 130 times the total of human generated greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of pollution created just to grow and deliver animal food to our tables is extraordinarily high.

And water used to raise animals for human food is equally high. Here are some of the worst offenders:

• 4500 liters of water for one steak.
• 1000 liters of water for one liter of milk.
• 1170 liters of water for one chicken breast.
• 1440 liters of water for one serving of pork.
• 840 liters of water for one pot of coffee.
• 2500 liters of water for one piece of cheese.

Compare that to 70 liters of water used to deliver one apple.

And production of animal foods, especially meat, has been growing… and is projected to double over the next 40 years.

Reducing the percentage of animal foods in your diet is one of the most effective ways to help our environment. It’s also one of the best things you can do for your health at the same time. Two benefits in one!

Eating a diet of mainly raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and living grains is also:

• waste free
• better than driving a hybrid
• healthy
• sustainable
• eco friendly

I was amazed at the amount of garbage I reduced when shifting my diet. By not buying packaged and prepared foods, I went from 2 garbage bags a week, to one garbage bag every 2 weeks. And most of that is from fruit and vegetable scraps. My next project is to turn those scraps into compost and reduce my waste even further.

Imagine if just 1 in 100 people did this. Imagine the millions of pounds of garbage we’d save alone each week, not counting the reduction of greenhouse gases, fuel and other energy used by eating predominantly animal based foods.

Something to consider.

Keep it green!

Related resources:

• Healthy Living Talk
• Vegan Raw Diet
• The Raw Food Diet
• Free Weight Loss Tips

Our health, resources and the well being of future generations will depend on what we do every day, not just one day out of the year. It’s wonderful to see the growing number of events, actions and products that are environmentally aware… and it’s a great start.

For example, here are a few things we can do every day that will make an impact on our environment today and into the future:

• Consider buying items that are used often in bulk. This saves you buying additional packaging from small containers/packages as well as transportation costs from less shopping trips.
• Consider buying fewer packaged items, especially foods. Packaged foods are also processed, enriched, modified, often filled with artificial ingredients and far less healthy than whole foods. Fresh, ripe and organically grown fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and natural grains are considered the healthiest foods.
• Consider car pooling with co-workers.
• Consider telecommuting, working from home. If you can’t arrange that full time, try a few days a week. With the internet and advanced telecommunication today, most any type of work can be done remotely.
• Consider starting a home business.
• Consider switching to an online fax service and recycle your traditional fax machine. You can save a considerable amount of paper and electricity while sending and receiving your faxes by email or directly from any application on your computer. Much easier to organize as well.
• Get reusable shopping bags in place of paper or plastic when grocery shopping. Cities like San Francisco have already banned plastic bags and many stores including Walgreen’s, Fry’s, Whole Foods, and Safeway, among others already offer reusable bags, as well as being available online.
• Let off the gas pedal. It’s surprising how much fuel you can save by driving at a moderate speed rather than speeding away from a light and speeding ahead of others on the highway. Studies have shown that you get better gas mileage at around 60 than 70 miles an hour and by speeding up moderately. Often it’s amusing to watch drivers speed around me in frustration on surface streets just to meet them again at the next light knowing how much I save every much. I’ve literally added 5-6 extra miles per gallon by following several efficient strategies including these. Depending on your regular mileage, that can save you 1-2 gallons on every fill up… a big savings at today’s fuel prices.
• Recycle paper, metal and plastics with your local trash service program. If you have plastic bags from the grocery store, recycle them at your local Whole Foods, one of the only locations that recycle them (surprisingly).
• If you do business online (or plan to) use a web hosting service that is eco-friendly. There are hosting companies that are powered exclusively by wind and solar energy and socially progressive in their business operations to conserve energy.

Keep it green every day!

This is especially true with electronics equipment since it’s usually not easy to find a place to recycle them. Throwing electronics in the trash isn’t the best choice since there are hundreds if not thousands of toxic substances contained in many electronics equipment that will be buried in the ground and leak into our water supply.

In fact, the first choice before recycling would be to donate the equipment if it’s still in working condition. Consider offering it to a local homeless shelter, Big Brothers or Goodwill. Offer it for free pickup on Craigslist.org or FreeCycle.org.

For example, in our community in Chandler, AZ, the local Whole Foods is having an Electronics Recycling even today. They’re even giving away free reusable shopping bags to the first 100 people that recycle.

You can find your local Whole Foods store by visiting WholeFoods.com and searching the events for your store. Each store in our area offers recycling on different dates.

You can also find companies and locations that offer electronics recycling in your area and nationwide at the EPA website.

To recycle your old cellphones, visit this site and search for your make and model. You may also get paid to send it in, depending on the model.

Keep it green!

Additionally there’s the fax machine paper usage. Did you know that:

• 210 billion sheets of paper are consumed by faxing in US companies every year.
• 12,500 sheets of paper can be made from 1 tree
• 10,000 sheets of paper per year are used by a single US office worker
• 95% of this paper will eventually be thrown away, not recycled.
• 4 trees per year are cut down to meet the fax requirements of an average US company.
• 17 million trees per year are cut down to supply fax paper for the US as a whole

So what’s the solution?

Email to fax service.

An online fax service makes it easy to send a fax to email as well as receive a fax by email. You can send a fax online using online fax software, print any document from your computer directly to a fax or send a fax by email, attaching it from any number of document types including MS Word, PDF, Excel and many others.

Online fax service is available from many vendors. You can compare the costs, features and benefits of email fax services here to see which fax to email solution makes the most sense for your situation.

In addition to the energy and cost savings of using an fax to email service is the convenience of receiving all your fax documents by email. If you travel or aren’t at the office, you can still get your fax by email at any computer with an internet connection.

By using online fax software, you not only save energy, but you also save paper by handling all the communication electronically. With most fax to email software, you can modify or annotate the incoming faxes you receive and send them right out again without needing to print, scan and fax again. Most services send your faxes in PDF format and can be stored efficiently on your hard drive or backed up on CD/DVD’s if you require archives. No paper needed!

And there’s the time savings. No more running back and forth from the fax machine, waiting for paper jams or other faxes to be received, waiting in line and then waiting for faxes to be delivered to your desk. How much time to do you waste with the office fax machine?

I liberated myself from my fax machine over 6 years ago and have found using an email to fax service easy, convenient, cost and energy efficient and just plain cool. To find a place to recycle your old fax machines, visit the EPA web site for organizations in your area.

Here’s to turning your office green!