conservation

Water is everywhere right? Yes and no. Sure, the wondrous liquid surrounds us everywhere we turn, but the vast majority of it is not fresh, drinkable water. Only about 3 percent of the total water on the planet is freshwater, and only a tiny fraction of that 3 percent is actually available to humans. Most freshwater is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. However, the price of water is extraordinarily cheap, and most people use it without a second thought. Environmentalists direly predict that the next world wars will be fought over precious water.

What are some solutions?

Desalination can be used to transform salt water to freshwater. However, this process can only be viably done in coastal areas and is quite expensive, because it takes an enormous amount of energy. Some places, such as the Middle East, are experimenting with desalination. Read more about it at National Geographic.

Cloud seeding is another option. In this procedure, silver nitrate is planted into clouds to promote rain. Today, Texas uses cloud seeding over a third of its area. However, conditions have to be very specific for the process to be effective. Additionally, there are concerns about the chemicals used raining down onto earth, and the fact that artificially producing rain in one area is robbing another area of rainfall. Here's an article about cloud seeding at ABC News.

Withdrawing greater amounts of groundwater may be feasible, but this too has some disadvantages. If the water table becomes too depleted, the ground above it may actually sink down into a depression. By the coast, low levels of groundwater may lead to salt water intrusion, where water from the ocean actually pushes into the groundwater system.

The best strategy? It may be boring and trite, but conserve water! This does not have to be a painful process. Turn off faucets tightly to prevent leaks, install water-saving showerheads and toliets, and don't use sprinklers mindlessly. If you're really feeling adventurous, save leftover water from rinsing dishes to water plants. Small changes can have big impacts in the future.

This image is from the New York State Assembly.

The Laker School in Michigan has taken great strides in going green. As one of the windiest places in the country, the small, rural, school gathers their power from wind. Giant, utility-scale wind turbines provide the Jr. High with year-round power, thanks to the District’s zest for embracing renewable energy.

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The school is able to afford such a feat due to acquiring various grants sought out by Junior High Principal Kathy Dickens. Threeyears ago, she helped the school receive more than a quarter of a million dollars to buy the wind turbines. Since then, Laker Jr. High has received energy smart incentives, biomass and biodiesel grants. With the help of these grants, the school can help educate about the importance of green living, environmental sustainability, and energy renewal.

Recently, The Laker School District received a $59,120 federal grant to help equip a dozen of their school buses with emission-reducing equipment, and with $44,000 of the school’s own money, replaces the district’s oldest bus with a new, low-emission model.

Along with aiding the environment, the Laker School helps prepare kids for future green careers.

With The Laker School’s own anaerobic biodiesel processor, students learn to press oil from soybeans and sunflower seeds they’ve grown by hand in order to produce their own biodiesel.

Dickens says, “Too many bright, promising students leave this county after graduation. If wind, sun, or even an anaerobic processor can provide future jobs, I’ll keep writing grants to give students the training they need for green careers.”

Tired of the cost and clutter created by the wires and adapters for your electronic devices? Well, a California company named Green Plug has come up with a solution. True universal power supply. This means no more digging through a drawer of tangled wires for device-specific adapters. With Green Plug’s compact external power adapter, you can charge all your devices with the same wire. In fact, you’ll never have to throw away any old adapters when you upgrade your laptop, DVD or mp3, because Green plug serves power to ANY device.

In addition to charging your device, the adapter shuts off power to the port when it registers that the device is fully charged and no longer needs it. This eliminates wasted energy and increases product efficiency. The Green Plug adaptor recognizes each device as it’s plugged in, and immediately knows how many Volts of power are necessary to charge them.

All of this sounds like a sweet deal to me, but to be able to use Green Plug, your device must have an embeddable chip necessary for recognition. Therefore, for a world of universal power supply to exist, leading electronics manufacturers need to adopt Green Plug’s design kits and incorporate the chips into their products. Green Plug assures that due to governmental efficiency mandates, this is already in the works. They also expect to start selling compatible devices sometime in 2009.

I, for one, can’t wait for the Green Plug future. Learn more about their plans and environmental impact on their website, and while you’re there, take a look their DEMO conference in California.

Ever wished you could keep track of how eco-friendly you were at home? Well, the Danish Designnord group has created a visual electricity meter for home use. The FlowerPod, a semi-transparent screen with an electronic flower display, grows blooms or wilts according to how thrifty its inhabitants have been in regards to their heating, cooling, water and electricity use.

If too much energy is used, the flower will wilt or die until the user changes their wasteful habits. It would connect wirelessly to a home’s energy meters and use an Internet-based home page that keeps track of average energy use in the user’s city or region. The home page would suggest ways to improve energy usage if your flower was in trouble and would only use electricity at certain intervals when getting data from the homepage.

At the moment, the FlowerPod is only a concept, but Designnord hopes to produce it for the 2009 post-Kyoto climate agreement talks in Copenhagen.

Its makers hope that the plant can remind people to save energy.

Personally, I think the FlowerPod is a great idea. It reminds me of my old Giga-Pet, (Who met an unfortunate end back in 1998) but with an energy-saving twist. As long as you don’t drop it in the bathtub, you’ll have a flower blooming in your home all year round.

The Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy is sponsoring a nationwide essay contest for college students between the ages of 18 and 24 asking them to submit a plan on renewable energy, sustainability, and conservation for America. Each of three winners will receive an educational prize of $10,000 to coincide with the celebration of Earth Day in April.

But hurry: the essay is due by February 1, 2008. You can enter online here.

Students are asked to write a four- to six-point renewable energy plan for America, laying out a strategy for the next five to ten years that will minimize our current dependence on nonrenewable energy sources.

The essay contest grew out of a November 17, 2007, forum in which presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Dennis Kucinich spoke about global warming and America’s energy future. The event, sponsored by Grist and PRI’s Living on Earth, was presented by the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy in partnership with League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, California LCV Education Fund, Center for American Progress Action Fund, and NRDC Action Fund.

Good luck!