Items in the Community Category
Rid your dryer of chemicals, once and for all.
Posted in Community, Healthy Home - 11 November 2011
Often we are marketed a “green” or “natural” product touted to solve some problem we face (e.g. extract of flower used as a mosquito repellent) or replace an effective, if somewhat toxic or less-than-natural product, only to be disappointed with lackluster performance. So when we happen to come across something that actually does work, well… we can’t help but share the information.At an event last year, we happened to be located next to the ladies from “The Stoney Mountain Farm” who were showcasing their wares. Among the many products on display, were these little wool “dryer balls“. They explained to us the number of chemicals that were in traditional dryer sheets and how these balls effectively replaced these.
Well, with three young kids in the house and a general disdain for unnecessary chemicals in our lives, we figured we’d give it a shot. After more than a year of using them, we are very happy to report that they actually work wonderfully! Along with the benefit of no chemicals, they also seem to last forever. Every once in a while we have to throw them in with the laundry, but once out, they perform as good as new.
Please note that we do not receive any compensation of any kind from the makers of this product. We simply wanted to share a truly effective alternative to placing unnecessary chemicals on your clothing. Over the past year, we’ve purchased these as stocking-stuffers for most of our family. With the holidays fast approaching, we thought we’d offer this little suggestion. We hope you enjoy these as much as we do.
The Great Bicycle Debate – By David Suzuki
Posted in Community - 8 October 2011Bicycling infrastructure pays dividends
Re-post: By David Suzuki with contributions from Ian Hanington, Communications and Editorial SpecialistMost arguments against bike lanes are absurd. Consider this: We have wide roads everywhere to accommodate cars, most of which carry only one person. On either side of many of those roads, we have pedestrian sidewalks. In most large urban areas, we also have bus lanes and transit systems such as subways and rapid transit. When cyclists ride on roads, drivers often get annoyed. If they ride on sidewalks, pedestrians rightly get angry.
Human-powered transportation will only get more popular as gas prices rise and as the negative consequences (more…)
350.ORG Despite Some Rain, A Resounding Success
Posted in Community, General - 27 September 2011We had a great time and met lots of interesting people at the recent 350.org event in Durham NC. It’s always nice to get a chance to talk to people about what we do, who we are and answer questions. The thing that excites me most is when we get the younger generation sidling up to the table to ask us about renewable energy like solar thermal and photovoltaics, or even green building.
350.org in Durham
More and more people are becoming aware that the way of the past is no longer sustainable. Even with a global recession, energy prices are still sky high. It wasn’t that long ago that fuel was pushing $4.00 / gallon and the country was aghast. Despite the slow economy, we’re still hovering near that and now we aren’t phased. Once the global economy starts picking up and demand for our precious energy resources gets into high gear, we will no doubt be facing even steeper prices.
The good news is, there are solutions available today in the form of solar, energy efficiency, building sciences, hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles and even cheaper and better technology on the way. The future is bright if we choose to face it with courage and conviction rather than choosing to remain in the dark and hope someone else fixes things for us.
Why we can’t afford to wait for the government to develop a responsible energy policy
Posted in Community, Energy Efficiency, Legislative - 9 June 2011If you tuned in to watch the President’s last State of The Union address, you may have heard him speak about the need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, further our clean energy research and eliminate the subsidies to our petroleum industries. Encouraging words no doubt, but as history shows us, most likely to be empty and with little substance behind it.
Whether or not you enjoy “The Daily Show“, you can’t argue with the point he is making in this montage of previous President’s commitments to develop a forward looking energy policy, going all the way back to President Nixon.
(more…)Out of the mouth of babes….
Posted in Community - 3 June 2011This came from my son’s pre-kindergarten class… Its a different world from when I was a kid:
Q: How can you help save the earth?
-I will clean up every piece of litter I see.
-I turn off the water while I’m washing my hands and while I brush my teeth.
-I have three recycling bins, one for bottles, one for cans, one for paper.
-I re-use paper because paper comes from trees and if we cut down trees then we wont have fresh air.
-I turn off lights.
-I clean my room (oh, if only!).
-We can re-use paper
-I make art from things I re-use.
-I don’t waste water.Bill Gates Comments on the Energy Crisis
Posted in Community, Energy Efficiency - 1 March 2011Every now and then, I like to watch a few videos on TED.com. If you are unfamiliar with the site, it is dedicated to sharing inspirational ideas. Some of my favorites are from unlikely speakers such as this 12 year old talking about what adults can learn from children.
Bill Gates delivered a speech at the recent TED conference on “Innovating to Zero” – the idea that there are basically four variables in the energy equation — population, services requiring energy, amount of energy per service, and the CO2 being emitted per unit of energy. Bill makes a very simple but convincing argument – those first two variables are increasing, the third perhaps has some wiggle room for decreasing, but it is the fourth factor, CO2 emitted, that could really change the value of the entire equation.
(more…)Sundogs Solutions’ Weatherization Works
Posted in Community, News - 7 December 2010
We’ve been busy this year, making homes more energy efficient and comfortable through the NC “Weatherization Assistance Program”. We were recently asked to demonstrate our weatherization work in action to Congressman Brad Miller – see the story here: www.easternwakenews.comRenewable Energy initiatives at NC’s most prominent schools
Posted in Community, Solar Hot Water / Solar Electric - 21 October 2010Appalachian State University has the reputation of being one of North Carolina’s greenest schools. Nestled in the mountains near Asheville, NC, ASU is a perfect testing ground for what can be accomplished by a community determined to make a positive change. (more…)
Habitat for Humanity – Orange County
Posted in Community, Green Building - 10 July 2010With the work site shut down for the week of the 4th of July, I figured it’s a great time to give a shout-out to a great cause. Habitat for Humanity Orange County is in the process of building about 50 energy efficient homes in a small community off of Rogers Road in Chapel Hill, called “Phoenix Place”. With 5 homes completed, they still have a long way to go before they wrap this location up. (more…)
