These are so awesome! Rooftop wind turbines would make clean energy affordable for homeowners. The production grant from the government wasn’t that much money. I can’t wait to see this get moving!

Click the picture to start the rooftop wind turbine video. Check out GreenEnergyTV for other great technology videos.

Thursday is Bike to Work Day, so get on those 2-wheelers and get pedaling.

Actually, it’s Bike to Work Week, so any day will be great!

I know Crocs aren’t the cutest things, but they are so comfortable.

When your crocs are worn out, you can recycle them through Soles United. Your Crocs will be melted down and made into new shoes which get sent to places around the world where people can’t afford shoes.

Nike also has a shoe recycling program called “Let Me Play: Reuse-A-Shoe.” Worn out shoes - any brand! - are processed and made into playing fields, courts, tracks, and playgrounds.

Since the birth of Reuse-A-Shoe, we’ve recycled more than 20 million pairs of athletic shoes and created more than 250 sport surfaces; giving thousands of young people access to new playgrounds and athletic facilities around the world.

Here’s a math problem. I’ve been thinking about how efficiently my vehicles get me to work. Here we go…

My husband and I have a Honda Civic Hybrid, a Suzuki Grand Vitara, and a Genuine Buddy scooter. Gas will cost $4 soon, so we’ll just say $4.00 is the price of gas. This is how far we can go on one gallon of gas:

Civic - 42 miles
Suzuki - 16 miles
Buddy - 98 miles

My daily commute is 8 miles, so I can drive to work this many days for $4.00:

Civic - about 5
Suzuki - 2
Buddy - 12

Essentially, I can drive to work 2 days in the Suzuki for $4, or I can fill up the Buddy for $4 and drive to work 12 times. (My husband takes the Civic now, since I take the Buddy.)

I drive to work about 20 times per month, which costs $40 in the Suzuki, and about $8 in the Buddy.

A monthly bus pass costs $50 - for endless miles around Akron!

What’s your families’ car math?

This one has some good dialogue.

Check out the Garbage Island, and the other quality shows on VBS.

If you get mom some flowers for Mother’s Day, look for Fair Trade Certified flowers, or flowers that are sustainably grown.

Buying Fair Trade and sustainably grown flowers ensures that all of Mother Earth’s creatures are treated well. Most flower workers are women (or children) and buying Fair Trade certified means that the workers are paid a living wage, and their working environment is healthy and safe.

VeriFlora sells certified sustainably grown flowers. You’re likely to find VeriFlora at your local grocery store. Make the right choice for your mom, and the workers who picked her flowers.

Visit FairTradeCertifiedFlowers to learn about the workers who pick the flowers, the farmers who grow them, and where to buy.

A bunch of thoughts from my head…

My favorite blog, Planet Green, changed its layout and I don’t really like it. Plus, the first few posts I read on there were “brought to you by Wal-Mart.” While I can see that Wal-Mart is coming around, I still don’t want my environmental news and conservation suggestions brought to me by a multinational corporation.

My cats go crazy when we play audio on the laptop. It makes me wonder if there’s something going on in the background that I can’t hear. Is it harmful? Or, do they like it? Does anyone else have this problem?

The busiest post on this blog is “Build your own electric car.” “Electric car,” or some form of it, is the search term that brings the most people here. I hope this blog is helpful, or at least guides you toward some help in converting your car, if that’s what you’re looking for. It also tells me that a lot of people want an electric car. The big automakers are busy creating fuel cells, or hydrogen cars, or natural gas cars, or gas-electric hybrids. Consumers want simplicity. We want to plug our car in to the wall (which hopefully will soon have electricity generated by solar or wind power). It’s pretty simple. The other technologies that they’re concentrating on will require a new fueling infrastructure. Keep It Simple Stupid.

My mind is on Burma lately, for a few reasons. I know many people from Burma, and they are so happy and sweet. Their country is being ravaged by bad government, and now a cyclone. I also learned that Chevron is not exactly helpful in the situation. If we need another reason to get off oil, it’s to protect the human rights of the people who process oil, and who live near the pipelines. Oil is dirty. For us, it’s great because we pull up to the gas station and it just comes out. There’s a human story in the background that cannot be ignored.

WordPress, where this blog is hosted, added a new feature that I like. The bottom of each post will have 3 or 4 links to other blogs with posts of a similar topic. If you want more information, or a different perspective, you can follow those links.

I’ll have some more relevant discussions soon.

World Fair Trade Day is May 10, and NE Ohio is celebrating! A World Fair Trade Fashion Show is being held in Independence from 5-8. The event is sponsored by the InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF), and by Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice.

Expect a fantastic fashion show, speakers, poetry slam, food, energetic tables, and loads of information on how you can buy fair trade products.

Saturday, May 10 5-8pm
Independence Civic Center
6363 Selig Drive

In Akron, you can find Fair Trade goodies at the Market Path, Brueggers Bagels (coffee), Hattie’s Cafe (near UA).

I must confess, I bought something new. I’ve been pretty good about “buy nothing new,” but when I saw this thing last year, I knew I had to have it. It’s a Genuine Buddy 125cc scooter. Looks kind of like a Vespa, at 1/2 the price. It gets about 100 mpg, and it just makes so much sense. I got my Buddy at Pride of Cleveland Scooters. (the one pictured isn’t mine) They now have two stores for more convenience.

When you think about the price of gas, and the concept of a 4-wheeled car, it just doesn’t add up. We’re paying for gas to move a 1,000 (or 2,000) pound car, to move a 100-200 pound person. The gas we pay for doesn’t move us, it moves 1,500 lbs (approx). That process is so inefficient. And, most of the time, the 5-person car is occupied by 1 person, who drives less than 20 miles a day to work and home. This is one area where technology innovation has not kept up with lifestyle.

Enter… the scooter. It’s a 1 person car, driven by one person. It weighs about 200 lbs, and carries my 120 lb person to work at back, 8 miles a day. That makes sense. The gas I buy moves 350 lbs.

Plus, it’s fun to drive. I can smell the flowers, and see everything. The wind freaks me out a little, but other than that, I can’t wait to get back on the scooter! It’s a quicker ride to work, and I can always find a parking space. The benefits are endless.

I looked for electric, or diesel scooters, but couldn’t find anything practical. (to survive Akron traffic, you have to go at least 45mph) After buying the gas scooter, I’ve seen a few electric conversions that people are doing themselves. This guy built his from forklift parts. What ingenuity!

The best is an electric bicycle! You can pedal sometimes, and when you’re tired, or it’s too hilly, the electric motor kicks in to get you through it. I love that idea! (it looks pricey, but some bike enthusiasts pay more than that for just the frame)

Overall, the good news is that there are options! We can have a 1 person car, or a 5 person car, or an electric car, or a scooter or an electric bike. Whatever suits our lifestyle and our needs. We just need to invest a little research and find one that fits.

Take 30 seconds and do the test in this video. You’ll see why later…

I hope everyone passes this test! I didn’t.