Green in Nature

Camp Bow Wow Experiment

2008-10-10T15:15:00.004-04:00

One day while I was on duty at Bethesda we had gone to get fuel in the ladder truck. On the way back to the station I noticed a place called Camp Bow Wow, a doggie day care and I thought it might be a good place to try one of our air purifiers.

The next morning when my shift ended I stopped by to introduce myself. I told them I had an air purifier and I wondered if I could do an experiment with their facility. They informed me that they ran a very clean place and did not need such a product but if I wanted, I could leave a unit for them to try. I told them before I left that it is very good at removing dust from the air and they assured me that they would put it to the test.

The next morning I received a very exciting phone call from the owner, Neil Bleau. He told me that it snowed inside their facility last night. He went on to explain that the staff had done a super clean last night and when they came in this morning it looked like it snowed! The entire facility had a white coating of pet dander.

They also told him that when they opened up in the morning they normally clean any accidents that happened overnight right away so there are no lingering smells when clients come in. When the staff came in this particular morning, they noticed there was no overnight accident smells. By the way, the accidents were still there and needed to be cleaned up.

The unit for this experiment is designed as a residential unit that covers a 3000 square foot home. The area of this facility was 7000 square foot with a 16 foot ceiling. Needless to say, the test the unit was put to, indeed passed!!

After putting a proposal together with a few different options, they decided that two of the residential units is the way they wanted to go. Prior to doing this experiment, Neil was planning to put some money into the staff break room to make it nicer and more comfortable. When the time came, Neil asked the staff to pick between upgrades to the break room or the purifier units and they chose the purifiers. The staff understood they were breathing in all that pet dander that was floating in the air, and it was not a healthy environment to be working in.

Camp Bow Wow
A Premier Doggy Day & Overnight Camp
Owners, Neil & Gloria Bleau
1710 Page Road Ext.
Durham, NC 27703

durham@campbowwowusa.com
www.mycbw.com/durham
919-321-8971

Laundry the "Green" Clean Way

2008-10-09T11:20:00.003-04:00

As I sit at home writing this blog today I think about my uniforms in the clothes washer. I am not sure how many times I have washed them in the last two years, but I have not bought laundry soap in two years. In fact I just gave a jug of laundry soap away because I will never go back to using it.

The Laundry Pure is an appliance that hooks to your washing machine. It uses a proprietary process originally designed by NASA to grow plants in space to clean your clothes, as well as a silver ion technology. Together they lift dirt and grease from clothing in a way that is less harsh on the clothing than soap and kills odor causing bacteria. When you have to dry your clothes in the dryer they come out smelling like they were hung outside on the clothesline to dry.

Here is a clip from Fox News in Tampa that shows how well it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR0Jpa42nO8&feature=related

Some things that are truly amazing to me about this product is:

No Soap going down the drain to pollute the environment.

Uses only cold water reducing your energy consumption each time you use it.

Makes clothes brighter, softer, & fluffier because there is no detergent residue.

You can mix colors making it easier to do full loads each time you do laundry

For more information on this great product, click here LaundryPure

Information that may help home owners save money on electric!

2008-10-08T09:37:00.004-04:00

Today, I would like to share some information about a different type of product. It may be able to help you with the rising energy costs and tighter budgets. Here in North Carolina with the announcement of Progress Energy in negotiations with the North Carolina Utilities Commission for a December 1st rate increase, our budgets are sure to get even tighter. In June, Progress Energy had proposed a 16.2% increase to the commission due to rising coal and fuel costs. Progress Energy has decided to spread the increase over the next three years. So they are looking to increase the rate by 11.5% by December 1, 2008. To learn more about this you can view the article on WRAL http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3553167/. These rate increases are typical a crossed the country with the same rising cost of fuel and coal that we are seeing here in North Carolina.

The product that I am referring to is called Powerworx E3. It is a dynamic product because it has three different functions.

First, Powerworx E3 cleans up the energy your home uses so it uses less energy to do the same amount of work. The US Department of Energy acknowledges this technology as power factor. Currently, the minimum amount of savings we have seen with the use of this product is 8%. There are a lot of variables that determine the amount of savings. There are cases where we have seen as much as 25% savings on an electric bill in a single month. The US Department of Energy explains power factor at this link much better than I could http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/pdfs/mc60405.pdf.

Second, Powerworx E3 is an insurance policy that protects your appliances and electronic devices from voltage spikes, power fluctuations, and lightning strikes. The product has a 10 year warranty as well as $25,000 of insurance to replace appliances and electronic devices damaged as a result of the aforementioned above. I think you'll agree that manufactures do not give $25,000 protection plans unless they are confident they will not have to pay out on them. They have made this possible because they are sure of how well the product will perform.

Lastly, Powerworx E3s is a harmonic noise filtration product. Twenty-first century electronic devices generate noise. The ironic thing is that this noise is harmful to the very appliances that create it. The electronic noise breaks down switching power supplies causing premature failure. The biggest place we notice harmonic noise is in communications equipment and televisions. Someone I was talking to that installs TV's said that they install a harmonic noise filter on every TV installation.

This product is not a new technology as it has been around for 15 years but until recently electric rates have been low, now that rates are increasing it is more cost effective to implement. The average return on investment is two to three years strictly on the power factor savings. The savings in equipment not lost in a average home office during one bad thunder storm could be huge. Adding 10% to the lifespan of your major appliances and HVAC systems could add up to additional savings. The way I see this is, it is a ten year insurance policy you buy that pays you back in two to three years and the savings will continue for at least another seven to eight years after that.

Please visit this website for more information and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. http://www.ecotrustenergy.com/pike

Green Socks

2008-10-07T11:41:00.000-04:00

Alas I start this blog by helping a friend who has a unique vision and not one but two notable causes. Please join me in supporting the Sierra Club Socks "Sock-a-thon".

Devmir, the company that is putting on the Sock-a-thon underwent a rigorous evaluation from the Sierra Club, and were entrusted with the Sierra Club brand for the new line of socks made from organic cotton, bamboo and other earth friendly yarns.

The goal of the Sock-a-thon is to raise one million dollars for the Sierra Club and to donate one million pair of socks to the National Coalition for the Homeless. This will be achieved through the sales of Sierra Club socks. (For every pair purchased, the Sierra Club receives a full 10% and another pair will be donated to the National Coalition for the Homeless)

Please help me spread the word about this event and I encourage you to participate by purchasing a few pair of Sierra Club socks on November 1. Visit http://sierraclubsocks.com/ to learn more. Take a few minutes to pre-register and join me on November 1 to help these two great causes.