Our Environment

Since many of my friends know that I run several environmental related web sites and that I am always up to speed on the various issues affecting the environment, I am often asked to weigh in on these topics. Recently I was asked by a colleague to write several custom essays dealing with the environment and various sustainability issues. Unfortunately, with my hectic schedule, I could not find the time to help him out with the project. I have, over the years, hired copy writers for various marketing projects and felt that I would be qualified to give him some pointers on finding a custom writing service that would meet his needs.

Before you buy an essay or contract anyone for writing services, there are a few things that you should consider:

Are the essays written from scratch?
The last thing you want to do is turn in a plagiarized work. You can use sites like copyscape.com to search the internet for text that has already been published.

Do they guarantee turnaround time?
If you have a deadline to meet, you need to know that the work will be done in a timely manner. Make sure that there is a published guarantee on their web site.

Are the works released to you?
This is important. The work you have done should become your property and should never be used by the contracting writers again with out your written consent.

Does the Service Guarantee Quality?
A legitimate service will let you view the work for approval and guarantee a certain number of rewrites in order to meet your needs.

These are the most important factors to consider. Remember that when you buy essay from the cheapest service you may be sacrificing quality and you run the risk of purchasing work that belongs to some one else.

In this time of depressed real estate values it is important to find ways to increase home value and decrease your own energy costs. Remember that many prospective home buyers will look closely at your utility bills during the past year before making an offer.

Here are a few ways that you can increase your home’s energy efficiency and add value.

Decrease Your House’s Thermal Envelope
The thermal envelope includes the wall, floor, roof, windows, insulation, and weather stripping. In other words, anything that creates a barrier between you and the outside. Each of these elements affects the amount of energy used for heating and cooling. Improvements can include storm windows and doors, upgraded weather stripping, and proper insulation.

Decrease Energy Used by Appliances
This means using modern appliances whenever possible. Heating and cooling systems made over 10 years ago are over 40% less efficient than those made today. The same is true of washing and drying machines, dishwashers, and conventional ovens.

Utilize Natural and Fluorescent Lighting
Just replacing 25% of your incandescent lights with fluorescents can decrease your light bill by 50%. Look for areas in your house where a change in shutters or curtains will allow light in during day light hours. This will cut energy use considerably during the day and give your house a natural feel.

Eco living, saving money, and helping the environment go hand and hand.

The newest way to make your message stand out above all of the other noise on the Internet is through the use of social networking sites. These sites tend to focus on a specific niche and users suggest, promote, and discuss their topics with the rest of the community. Whether you are interested in literature, video games, seo news, or environmentalism, there is a social site to cater to your interest.

Here are a few of the most popular social hubs that have an environmental focus:

•Care2 – environmental sustainability and green living
•Greenvoice – A Digg like site with environmental news
•Hugg – Another Digg like site where users vote on their favorite articles
•Playgreen – A wiki that focuses on sustainability
•Worldchanging – A group blog where users post and comment on articles
•Yahoo! Green – A Yahoo answers for the environment

If you still have trouble getting your site noticed, consider consulting a SEO company (Search Engine Optimization). A SEO expert can make sure that your content is presented in a fashion that will get noticed by the search engines.

The number of green mortgages, otherwise known as Energy Efficiency Mortgages, has increased in recent years. This is due in part to the increased public awareness of energy consumption as well as the financial advantages associated with owning an energy efficient home.

Traditional mortgages are based on a person’s debt to income ratio only, while a green mortgage applies the money saved each month in energy cost as income. This allows home buyers to qualify for a larger loan. This also presents an opportunity for those wishing to remortgage, since energy saving home improvements can be applied once an existing home is certified by a home energy rater.

Purchasing an energy efficient home also increases the resale value by as much as 5%. A $200,000 home that is certified as meeting efficiency requirements, on average, will realize an increase of $11,000 over a comparable home that is not certified. In addition, US home owners can take advantage of the Energy Policy Act which gives tax benefits to those who conserve energy.

More and more frequently when potential home buyers compare mortgages, they find that going green not only helps the environment, but their wallets as well.

Water conservation is a hot topic and rightly so; many places in the western world are struggling to provide water for growing metropolitan areas. As a result many water systems are pushed to their limits making it difficult for people to conserve water by practicing such energy saving practices such as substituting showers for baths.

Typically, more water is used taking a bath than when taking a shower. Unfortunately, in many areas, water pressure is not sufficient to make taking a shower a practical alternative. This is especially true where public utilities are exceeding their maximum output or for persons living in multi-floor dwellings. A solution to this problem is to install a shower pump which will add pressure to the existing water supply and enable a steady stream of water to flow from your shower head.

In addition to shower pumps, electric shower heads also conserve energy expended through the heating of water. Instead of using a massive boiler or water heater to keep a large reservoir of water heated constantly, electric shower heads heat water as needed thereby reducing the consumption cost of hot water. By installing an electric shower head, such as those manufactured by Mira Showers, you can save a considerable amount of electricity every day.

Both of the technologies mentioned place more control of energy expenditure with the individual and create the opportunity for conservation. It is still up to us, however, to take make use of these devices for the good of the planet.