Archive for January, 2010:
The Green Dilemma
The slogan for today’s consumer is “Go Green.” As it seems that the up and coming technologies are almost all based on ideal touted as being “eco-friendly,” the consumer must make a choice as to whether the benefit is worth the added money.
The cost of a certain popular base model hybrid SUV is around $28,850, minus the $750 federal tax credit the purchase price is still $29,110. While the government tax credit sounds great it still passes on an extra $8,000 in cost to the consumer as opposed to buying the same model SUV with a standard gasoline engine.
The hybrid SUV is rated for an estimated 42 miles per gallon, while the standard version only gets around 24 miles to the gallon. This translates to the hybrid driver getting around 120 extra miles per tank of gasoline, and with the price per gallon of gasoline hovering around $2.75 it translates to around $10.30 saved on every 15 gallon tank of fuel used.
That really sounds like an astounding amount of savings and a great buying incentive, but a bit of simple math shows that the hybrid driver would need to consume about 776 tanks of gas, or around 372,000 miles of driving just to break even on the original extra purchase price of the hybrid.
This kind of cost benefit ratio isn’t limited just to the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. A close investigation of nearly all the present green technology, from electric cars to solar homes illustrates the same kind of debacle. Many times the original added cost of green technology prohibits its widespread usage.
In today’s economy it simply isn’t practical for the average person to outlay a huge sum of cash in the hopes that the investment will pay for itself many years in the future. Not many people have that kind of disposable income.
Market executives, scientists and developers of green energy sources and technology have recognized this as a legitimate problem in getting the green energy movement off the ground. It has finally been realized that the only way to make green energy popular is to make it cost the same as conventional sources.
Is the answer more government intervention? It would seems that the US government has decided to take a vested interest in the problem since recently President Barack Obama promised $2.3 billion in federal subsidies to green energy developers in an effort to allow the development of better and more cost effective energy sources.
In many other countries these subsidies have helped to jump-start the development and distribution of green energy sources. In Germany, for example, the government has subsidized green energy sources in the form of feed-in tariffs which allow the producers of green energy to sell the energy produced at above market prices. This has led to Germany having more solar panels in use than any other country on earth.
These subsidies may assist in getting movement toward green energy started, but the truth is that the only way to make green energy attractive to the masses of to make it at least as cheap as conventional energy sources. Until that happens, the dream of green energy becoming a cornerstone of energy production might remain just a dream.
Going Green Can Be Very Simple!
Is your New Year’s Resolution to go green? Many of us want to go green, we just don’t know where to start. Did you know that going green can be accomplished just by simply using new trash bags?
The Greencore trash liners are no more expensive than regular trash bags that you purchase on your grocery aisle, yet they have an added bonus of helping out the environment all at the same time. Can your other trash bags do that?
The Greencore trash liners have a guaranteed strength and performance of being better than the regular trash bag. Each bag as a 3-ply construction with a leak-proof flat bottom and is rated Heavy Duty and Extra Heavy Duty for even the strongest bulk of garbage.
The trash liners are 70 percent post-consumer recycled content which gives you superior source for reduction. The trash liners also reduce carbon pollution by as much as 20 percent. Now you can purchase trash liners with green technology without the added cost.
The trash liners are not only good for the environment, but it is also a wise investment. Why buy trash liners that are going to stay in our landfills throughout our lives, and maybe our children’s lives and even our grand-children’s lives? How does that sound? Sometimes when we make purchases that are easy and convenient, we don’t take the time to think about the long term effects that it has for many years to come.
Since 1970, Petoskey Plastics have been the innovator in making plastic bags and films that are made for performance. The Greencore can liners contain 70 percent post consumer recycled plastic. They started in 1978 and haven’t stopped thinking green yet! They want to please the customers by giving those products that are good for them and better for the environment. Using their innovative multi-layer manufacturing process, the can liners meet and exceed the strength of virgin plastic liners of equal thickness.
So next time you want to go green, think of the simplicity of just buying new can liners!
Green Business in the US
What is a Green Business? It seems as if almost everyone is talking “Green.” Green is everywhere around us. Bill companies are going green, grocery stores are going green, everyone is cashing in on green, but do we fully understand what it is.
A green company or business is marked for its ability to decrease the impact made on the environment by waste, harmful chemicals and materials used to process or make products and services. The direct impact made from all of these products produce a gas which is referred to as carbon dioxide and is referred to as the carbon footprint. The carbon footprint therefore branches off from ecological footprint analysis, which then examines the ecological capacity required to support the consumption of products.
One of the most popular examples that we see today of going green is going paperless which is what the majority of bill companies and banks try to get us to do. Instead of sending out paper and paying for stamps they want you to sign up for emails or create accounts online in which you can see your account activity and take care of your business without using or wasting paper.
Green Businesses look for alternative ways to create or use products repetitively so we don’t have to produce new ones such as paper, lead pencils, emails and more products which are not harmful to the environment and still function the same or at a better level and preferably with a lower cost.
A company’s green initiative can include conserving materials through remanufacturing, converting harmful gases into clean energy, generating green power and improving fuel economy. Designing this for the environment is a process for a green business as well as making for a sustainable business. This process aids the users into considering the potential for environmental impacts of a product and the process that is takes to make that product.
In turn, weighing all of these options take time and effort which makes a business a good business because they want to get their products right in order to help the environment and therefore cut down or eliminate harmful wastes.