- The weather outside is frightful… Jan 19
- Green getaways Jan 17
- Eating well all winter… Jan 15
- Warm on the inside Dec 09
- Give the Gift of Green Gadgets Nov 14
- See all posts
Television
Buy an energy-efficient TV
Samsung HL T5676S
This ENERGY STAR-rated 56" 1080p resolution DLP® rear projection television has a super efficient LED light engine that should last the life of the TV, which means a lower cost of ownership. The set is only 13.4" deep.Samsung HP-T5044
This 50" plasma screen TV is big but it's ENERGY STAR compliant and has a 1365 X 768 resolution.Sony KDL-26S3000/G
This 26" BRAVIA® S series LCD Flat Panel HDTV is ENERGY-STAR labeled, and sips 105 watts when in operation. The set also has an energy-saving power-save mode, which can be set to standard, reduced, or picture off. This set is also available in black and blue colors.
Install a power strip
Belkin Components F9M923-08 9-Outlet Maximum SurgeMaster
This power strip comes with nine surge-protected outlets that have sliding covers to protect young children. An 8' power cord in a spoiler cord system elimates cord clutter.Isolé® IDP-3050 Plug Load Control
Designed for desktop electronic equipment, this top-of-the-line power strip has eight surge-protected outlets. An infrared personal sensor turns on six of the outlets when someone is there and when the space is vacant for a pre-set time, the outlets turn off automatically.P3 International Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor
Want to verify that your charger, appliance, or power strip is wasting energy when not in use? Simply plug anything electronic into the Kill A Watt Monitor and the LCD display will display the electricity used by the day, week, month, or year for that device in volts, amps, and wattage with 0.2 percent accuracy.Power Sentry 7-Outlet 1200-Joule TV and VCR Surge Protector
This power strip features seven child-safe outlets including two outlets that are spaced to handle adapters used for charging electronics such as cell phones. It comes with automatic shutdown technology and a $200,000 limited connected equipment warranty.Sears Craftsman Auto Switch
This three-outlet automatic switch supplies 110 volts and works well for power tools or electronics. It comes with a built-in circuit breaker for added safety.
Watch green TV shows
Dumped
This reality show, aired on BBC America, follows 11 people living on a garbage dump in Britain for three weeks. The participants try to make it from what others throw away to bring home some grimy truths about the mounds of trash tossed out thoughtlessly.Lemur Kingdom
In the footsteps of Meerkat Manor, this show takes an up close and personal look at the lives of two neighboring gangs of ringtail lemurs who live in the in the protected reserve of Berenty in southeast Madagascar.Living Fresh
Host Sara Snow shows viewers the hip side of green lifestyle with ideas and tips that can easily mesh into everyday life.Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
After ceasing production in 1995, Animal Planet brought back this classic nature show in 2002. This series travels to all seven continents, and focuses on a wide range of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians with an emphasis paid to rare and previously unknown species.Planet Green
Premiering in 2008, this channel is dedicated to eco-lifestyle programming with hundreds of hours of fresh environmental content.Serious
This Discovery Kids show takes teams of teens and tweens into different challenging environments (aka the Arctic, the desert, the jungle, and the Andes Mountains). In Serious Jungle the team visits Borneo to help save orangutans. Discovery Kids has lots of nature-oriented shows including Bindi The Jungle Girl, hosted by the late Steve Irwin’s daughter, Jeff Corwin Unleashed, and the Croc Files.The Green
When Robert Redford’s Sundance Channel debuted The Green in April 2007, it was launched as the first US TV network to dedicate regularly scheduled programming entirely to the environment. The Green’s “Big Ideas for a Small Planet” is back for season two on Tuesday nights, looking at green topics ranging from eco biz innovations and life off the grid to breaking NYC gridlock.





Comments
9:50pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
With water rationing threats and the drought consistently in the headlines, rain barrels are the homeowners’ answer to the current water shortage.
It’s no secret that southern California is facing a devastating water crisis. In communities around the world where it rains consistently, rain barrels are commonly used. Here in Los Angeles, an urban desert, where, not only is the rainfall low, but the drops that do drip are wasted, there is a desperate need to find an alternative to simply turning on the faucet.
Los Angeles, CA March 2, 2009 -
RainBud, a locally-owned company founded by landscape designer Paula Henson and writer Alex Metcalf, is providing Los Angeles area residents with a creative solution to the water crisis: rain barrels. It’s a simple, low-budget system for saving and storing rainwater so that it can be used on those days when no rain falls. This saved water can, in turn, be used to irrigate a garden, wash a car or fill up the kid’s pool when the heat is on, without using one drop of valuable fresh water; making sense environmentally and economically. It’s worth noting that the City of Santa Monica offers residents a $100 rebate on rain barrels.
RainBud’s rain barrels are reused polyethylene barrels retrofitted to fit under rain gutters. Each barrel has a mosquito proof intake screen, an overflow valve and a spigot at the bottom that can be attached to a garden hose or a drip irrigation system. Only recycled food-grade barrels are used; no new plastic is created and RainBud rain barrels can be camouflaged in many interesting ways by painting them or covering them with vines etc.
The statistics are eye opening:
• One inch of rain falling on a 1,000 sq. ft. roof produces over 500 gallons of water.
• Los Angeles has an average rainfall of 14 inches per year.
• The City of Los Angeles is planning to restrict homeowners’ irrigation water use to two days per week.
Currently, in most houses, the pattern goes something like this: rain falls, it runs off the roof into a rain gutter, down a drain into the street and then it runs into the storm drain pulling with it all the debris that it has accumulated along the way and out into the ocean it flows. The overall result: wasted water and polluted oceans.
RainBud’s rain barrels halt this process right at the rain fall stage and assists homeowners in being active when it comes to saving and using water responsibly and effectively. RainBud barrels are recycled, recyclable, local, and easy to install. RainBud provides and installs the barrels, and can advise on location, and possible aesthetic concerns.
CONTACT:
Paula Henson, RainBud
310-954-1318
info@rainbud.com
www.RainBud.com