I just want to take this time and wish everyone here a very happy holidays.


Just share a peek into my day with my family and friends:

I did something a little different this year by sending and giving presents in reusable containers, no Bows or name tags.

Most of the gifts provided were requested this year as opposed to just giving what I felt like providing which by intent is designed to promote less returns. I won't share what was given I just wanted to share the vehicle used to deliver the gifts (by vehicle I mean gift box, etc )

Again, I wish everyone here a very happy holidays!!

----
1987 Chevy Spectrum - 200,000+ Miles -Junk Yard
1994 Honda Civic DX Coupe - Truck Hit it
1998 Acura 2.3 CL - End of Lease
2002 Acura TL 3.2 - End of Lease
2004 Acura MDX - End of Lease
2007 Mercedes ML350 -Lemon
2007 Honda Civic Hybrid w/Navi - Active

Happy Holidays!
I bought some eco-gifts this year. Fancy canvas shopping bags so my family doesn't have to choose between "paper or plastic", cloth napkins with metal napkin rings I found at the GoodWill store, things like that.
Every year I reuse or recycle all the packaging...boxes, paper, the few bows that we still get. I don't think I will have to buy any packaging or wrapping materials next year at all.
I drove my hybrid to the family get-together, and my brother-in-law seems very interested in hybrids. I feel bad for him though, because he works for a GM-related company and it is looked down upon for the employees to purchase non-GM cars. He has said if he had his choice, he'd buy a Prius.
I hope someday he can get a "brid" as he calls them.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

Thanks. Happy Holidays to you guys too.

PS: Way to make me feel bad about wasting wrapping paper. Oh well. There's always next year.

Happy holidays, all! Nice to see a little holiday spirit here.

My family picks a Christmas theme every year and tries to find presents to fit the theme, and this year my sister came up with 'Green.' I was hoping to go out and find a lot of eco-friendly products that people would like, but it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. A few relatives did get CFL bulbs (along with silly stuff like sugar-free lime jello, green tea, and Salsa Verde), and my sister and I found an EnergyStar Dell for our mom. Still, I was really surprised and disappointed by how hard it was to find blankets made out of green fabrics like bamboo, recycled anything, or even plain old organic cotton at any of the stores I tried. That list included Target, Sears, Penny's, Linens and Things, Carson's and The Bombay Company. Between the lot of them, I ended up with one measly offer for organic cotton towels. If I'd had enough advance time and a higher budget, I could have ordered stuff online and had it shipped, as it turns out, but I'd say from this frustrating experience that there hasn't been much market penetration of really green products in stores at an average mall. I couldn't find any information at all about which toasters or toaster ovens were more energy efficient- there needs to be some sort of rating system for all appliances, not just washing machines. In the meantime, I'm stuck with giving people CFLs and lime jello!

Wouldn't it be nice to have a huge budget to be able to buy your family and friends nice green gifts like Energy Star appliances, Low E windows, High efficiency heat and air units and the best gift of all a 2008 fully loaded Honda Civic Hybrid!!!

Merry Christmas all and Happy New Year!!!

It would be great to be able to give other people the gift of efficiency (in more aspects than one!).

I currently use all CFLs in my house (and you can recycle them at your local IKEA, btw) with the exception of about 2 light fixtures. One of them being the dining room chandelier and another is a ceiling fan, which is rarely ever used (and will be replaced if/when I most my office into that room).

My stepdad got a Geothermal unit installed last month, and just hit his first month without a nat. gas bill. I'm waiting to find out how much cheaper it was for him (its def more environmentally friendly). I have an oil furnace, and with that cost coming up to 3/gal I'm not sure how much longer I want to keep it. The only sad part, is that I got the new furnace and new a/c unit about 2 years ago. My current budget plan for oil is 120/month with a cap at 2.38/gal for this winter. Considering that the price now is 30% higher, that monthly budget would go up about $40/month.

Hope everyone had a good holiday!

Matt, you could go to a air source heat pump and use the oil fired unit for back- up heat? H

Harold -

I have heard that you can do a "hybrid" system, where you keep the traditional heating source as a backup for those extra cold days (we won't have them much longer with global warming hehe). I need to find out more information on them, to look at the cost/benefit calculation. If it can cut 70% of my heating & coolin bills, thats a big plus. Not to mention that much less emissions coming from the house as well. However, I get a feelingthey are close to 10K to get installed. Regardless, at that rate, it would be less than 10 yrs for repayment period, and maybel closer to 4 or 5 with prices continually going up.

Anyone here got solar panels, or know much about them? I'm thinking of them for my house, but keep getting conflicting numbers from the different places.

Mtatt

Matt, try www.renewableenergyaccess.com .H