Archive for April, 2009

Going green can now be added to ones after death experience.

Ecopod has created 100% recycled paper coffins that are biodegradable.

Each coffin is hand made from recycled newspaper, silk and mulberry leaves. The inner lining is a calico mattress but the option is available to line the coffin with feathers. The coffins come in two sizes and eight different colors.

Ecopod also makes a line of urns, called the ARKA Acorn Urn. The artistic shell of each urn is made from molded recycled paper. Just like the coffin, the urn is fully biodegradable.  ARKA is a UK business for natural funerals, who offer various services for natural burial and cremation.

For more information on the Britain based Ecopod company, visit their main web site at: www.ecopod.co.uk

*images courtesy of Ecopod Limited

Technorati Tags: ecopod, green coffins, green urns, natural burial, Recycled Paper

It’s no secret that we all cause a power drain to our local grids on a daily basis. The biggest culprits are the appliances and electronics that still pull power even when turned off. This type of power drain is called vampire power and according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) it’s a power drain that wastes between 200-400 terawatts of electricity per year on a global scale.

In the United States alone, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported that the overall vampire power waste is costing us $10 billion a year and accounts for 11% of our country’s power usage.  Up to 40% of an appliances power drain on the grid comes from when the device is turned off but still plugged into the wall.

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Technorati Tags: power drain, power grid drain, real world green, save energy, save money, unplug electronics, vampire power

Blacklight Power has created a new form of producing clean energy that just maybe the answer to our energy problems.

Blacklight Power is a small, independent business in Cranbury, New Jersey. The employee count tops out at twenty-five people who have been working on developing a clean source of energy from hydrogen for the past nineteen years. Their main goal is to go beyond the known standard of the hydrogen fuel cell production of power to create as much power as possible in a more cost-effective way.

Click here to read full article by Laura Jean Karr at BrightHub.

Technorati Tags: blacklight power, clean power, green energy, Renewable Energy

Using straw bale construction is an excellent way to build a green home. Benefits for this type of green construction offer a higher fire resistance and load bearing capacity than that of standard construction methods.

In choosing to construct with straw bale, people are minimizing wood building consumption while creating a healthier environment for those working to build the home and for those who will be living in the home.

Straw bale is comprised of a surplus waste of wheat, oats, barley, rye and rice straw stems that are formed into bales. The material used to create the straw would otherwise be thrown away for fermentation or burnt.

One concern that many people have when it comes to using a “throw away” type organic material is how long will their straw bales last. In using straw bales for green construction, the bales are packed in various methods using clay, lime or mixed Earth based plasters. When the bales are packed they are no longer exposed to air or water and it is in the non-exposure to those elements that stops the organic break down of the straw. An interesting point to note is that straw bale homes constructed in the 1800’s across Europe and North America are still standing.

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Technorati Tags: eco construction, green build, green construction, straw bale, straw built homes

Arbor Day began on April 10th 1872 in Nebraska and has since been celebrated on various dates every year.

Each state in America has their own time period for celebrating the day but the current national day set by The Arbor Day Foundation is April 24th.

Taking part in an Arbor Day celebration can have a positive impact on the local environment. All you have to do to get involved is plant a tree.  Whether you choose to plant one or many trees is up to you but it is a wonderful way to create sustainable groves throughout the United States.

To find a state by state listing of trees and celebrations visit The Arbor Day Foundation’s Directory.

*Arbor Day logo provided by The Arbor Day Foundation online

Technorati Tags: arbor day, arbor day 2008, arbor day foundation

Here at EcoExistent we are proud to be a part of the global EarthDay Network. The network works to raise global awareness for climate change and sustainability.

Currently, the call has gone out here in the United States in support of a new bill slated for Congress. The bill is called the Markey-Waxam Climate Bill and was created by Democratic Representative’s Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Henry Waxman of California.

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Technorati Tags: climate bill, climate change, earthday network, markey-waxman climate bill

The growing popularity of the green movement here in America has brought the ideal of green building into the mainstream. Even with the housing shortage and mortgage issues that currently plague our country there are more commercial builders picking up green building, just as there are more individuals who want to start green building on their own.

Click here to read full artilce by Laura Jean Karr at BrightHub.

Technorati Tags: energy efficency, green buidling ideals, Green Building, green construction, passive solar

Earth Day started back on April 22nd 1970.

Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic Senator from the state of Wisconsin created Earth Day as a way to show people holding political offices that the general population was concerned about the environment as a whole.

That first year it was proposed more than twenty million American’s came together to participate in what was at the time a grass roots effort for environmental awareness.

The prior passing of the National Environmental Policy Act being signed into law on January 1st 1970 paved the way for Earth Day to show support and encouragement to our law makers that the general population was paying attention to environmental issues.

Since 1970 the some of the following laws have been created from this grass roots effort:

• Clean Air Act
• Water Quality Improvement Act
• Resource and Recovery Act
• Toxic Substances Control Act
• Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act
• Endangered Species Act

To see a list of environmental policies that have been enacted since 1970, click here.

To find Earth Day events and celebrations in your area, click here

To get involved with Earth Day, join the Earth Day Network at www.earthday.net The Earth Day Network is a global green initiative created with the goal of making everyday an Earth Day.

Technorati Tags: Earth Day, earth day 2008, earth day network, EPA, global green, recycle, reduce, reuse

Washington State will be banning phosphate-laden soap within the next ten months. Currently, phosphate soaps are only banned within Spokane County but those who are resistant about going green are already driving to Idaho to buy chemically enhanced commercial soaps created with phosphates.

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Technorati Tags: dish soap, phosphate ban, spokane county, washington state