You might already know where I’m going with this if you stayed at virtually any hotel around the country in the last couple years.  First, consider the number of bath towels washed every single day at hotels and motels around the world, many of which are barely, if at all, soiled or dirty.

So basically, a little card might say,

“Help us conserve our natural resources.  If you would like your towels replaced each morning, please leave them on the floor.  Towels left hanging on the towel rack tell us that you wish to reuse them.  Using towels  more than once saves hundreds of pounds of detergent and thousands of gallons of water each year.  Thank you for helping us conserve water and save the environment.”

I’ve noticed over the last couple years more and more hotels posting similar policies in the guestroom bathrooms.

Now, from a business standpoint, since hotels don’t charge additional fees for more towels being washed and dried, if they could reduce the number of them that are cleaned each day, they could potentially save significant amounts of wasted money on water, detergent, and electricity (remember it’s not just the water and detergent to wash them but all the heat to dry them right away!).  I suppose it’s just nice to see when the desire for greater profitability falls in-line with green business practices.

There’s literally so much at Build It Solar that I don’t know where to begin.  First, there are literally hundreds of Do-It-Yourself green projects from solar homes and bio-fuels to lighting, cooking, cooling, and heating!  One of the first things that caught my eye was their “Half” Program.

What is Build It Solar’s “Half” Plan?  Basically, it is a program for cutting your energy use, energy cost, and CO2 emissions in half!  In their own words:

We used the Half Plan to cut our total energy use, energy costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in half (and then some).

We cut our energy use from 95,000 KWH per year to 36,000 KWH per — this is saving us $4,800 per year in energy costs, and has reduced our CO2 emissions by 18 tons.

They detail pretty extensively how they achieved this and how for others to follow in their footsteps.  It has also received critical acclaim from various Green websites and magazines such as Home Power Magazine.

Finally, this site is a detailed resource on overall design elements and tools needed to pull of any of the green projects.  You’ll find comprehensive technical solar analysis, material properties, government incentives, and many potential suppliers of materials for any of the projects.

To sum it up, if you’re looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint, save money, or start a fun weekend or summer-long project, Build It Solar is there to help make it happen!

“Hi, my name’s Randy, and I just really love beer.”

My name is not actually Randy, but I do in fact really love beer.  So much so that my wife surprised me with a variety pack for my birthday, which happened to include an organic amber ale courtesy of the Clipper City Brewing Company out of Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Now, I’ll admit, I’m no beer connoisseur; however, I know what I like and I know what I don’t.  When I drink a beer, I’m looking for full flavor, texture, and a certain “this is new, unique” that you don’t find just anywhere.  This is perhaps how I could best describe my first swig of Oxford Organic Ales - Amber Ale.  Hold the artificial sweeteners, flavors, and additives–give me an all-natural, 4-ingredient organic beer and I’m a happy man.

That’s right 4 ingredients: water, organic barley malt, hops, and yeast.  The way I see it, this is the way God meant beer to be: straight from the earth, simple, and delicious.   The beer is certified organic by the Maryland Department of Agriculture and by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

What does the USDA Organic certification mean?  Getting an organic certification (according to Wikipedia) typically means that a product follows the following standards:

• avoidance of most synthetic chemical inputs (e.g. fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives, etc), genetically modified organisms, irradiation, and the use of sewage sludge;
• use of farmland that has been free from chemicals for a number of years (often, three or more);
• keeping detailed written production and sales records (audit trail);
• maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products;
• undergoing periodic on-site inspections.

So if you get a chance to get your hands on one of these killer brewskis, don’t pass it up!  Not to mention you might enjoy it that much more knowing that you’re drinking it the way God intended, all natural Organic!