30 January 2006

Conserving energy in winter requires simple living and wise use practices by David Reister

Since space heating uses 49 percent of the energy in our homes (see Figure), to save energy, turn down your thermostat to 65 degrees. For every degree you lower your heat in the 60-degree to 70-degree range, you’ll save up to five percent on heating costs.
Wear warm clothing, add a sweater. Set the thermostat back to 55 degrees at night or when leaving home for an extended time - heat pumps, however, should be set back only two degrees to prevent unneeded use of backup strip heating. Install a programmable thermostat that is compatible with your heating system.
Traditional fireplaces are an energy loser. It’s best not to use them because they pull heated air out of the house and up the chimney. When not in use, make absolutely sure the damper is closed. If you decide not to use a fireplace, block off the chimney with a piece of rigid insulation from the hardware store that fits snugly into the space.
Reduce hot water temperature. Set your water heater to the “normal” setting or 120 degrees, unless the owner’s manual for your dishwasher requires a higher setting. Savings are seven to eleven percent of water heating costs. Insulate the first five feet of pipe coming out of the top of your water heater.
Take shorter showers. Simply reducing that lingering time by a few minutes can save hundreds of gallons of hot water per month for a family of four. Showers account for two-thirds of your water heating costs.
Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Air dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle.
Plug home electronics, into power strips and turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use.
Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes. Look for the Energy Star label on home appliances and products. Energy Star products meet strict efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Driving Tips
Idling gets you zero miles per gallon. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed. Any more time simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.
Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and hard braking) wastes gas and will lower your highway gas mileage 33 percent and city mileage 5 percent. Avoid high speeds. Each five mph you drive over 60 mph equals to 10 cents more per gallon of gas. When you use overdrive gearing, your car’s engine speed goes down, which saves gas and reduces wear.
Use air conditioning only when necessary. Clean out your car; extra weight decreases gas mileage. Reduce drag by placing items inside the car or trunk rather than on roof racks. A loaded roof rack decreases your fuel economy by 5 percent.
Check into carpooling and public transit to cut mileage and car maintenance costs.
For further information visit:
Department of Energy http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/
California Energy Commission http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/flex/tips.html
______________________
David Reister is a Member Sierra Club Sustainable Consumption Committee
Taken from January/February 2006 Old Dominion Sierran

25 January 2006

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the first female president of Liberia. In 1985, she announced her intention to stand as senatorial candidate in the elections, opposite Samuel Doe. After giving a speech very critical of Doe, she was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. She served 2 short periods of detention before fleeing into exile. After returning to Liberia after the 7-yr civil war, she was a late entry to the presidential race as part of the Unity Party. She lost the election to Charles Taylor, who won 75% of the vote. She was then charged with treason and forced back into exile. Finally, she won the 2005 election, still part of the Unity Party. This is quite a brave woman; not only is she the first female president of Liberia, she's the first African woman to win a presidency. ~*Ashley*~ http://people.africadatabase.org/en/profile/2655.html#profile98700

Happy News

Seeing as most news today is all about negative aspects of our lives, you can bet I was more than excited when I found Happy News. Of course, not everything on Happy News is revelent to your life, alas, most news that is profound is also most likely bad. However, it's refreshing to see something nice once in awhile. ~*Ashley*~ http://www.happynews.com/

North Shore Animal League America

This is a charity that I posted about in another blog awhile back. I wanted more people to see it, so I'm posting it again. It's based in Port Washington, NY. It started in 1944 (before the major animal liberation movement began) in a garage. There was one major difference between this and others is that since their founding, they refuse to kill any animal, even the old and ailing. When the organization began to fail because of their deminishing money, Alex and Babette Lewyt helped them out, and now they are still up and running. They do so much now; you can adopt through them, they'll help find good homes for neglected pets, help senior citizens, and you can even donate your car to them. Here's the url: http://www.nsalamerica.org/ . Take a look at it. ~*Ashley*~

24 January 2006

A Sweat-Shop Free Company

I found a company that is "produced by independent trade union members in the US, Canada, and the developing world", meaning no cruel sweatshops. Here's the url if you want check it out: http://nosweatapparel.com/ . ~*Ashley*~

Dana Schutz

I recently saw some paintings by Dana Schutz, and they were phenomenal. You should totally check out her work, and pick up the latest issue of Vanity Fair (the one with Lindsey Lohen on the cover) to read an article about her. Here's a site that has some of her paintings on it: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/dana_schutz.htm . Her art is so unique and unusual. Trust me, check it out. ~*Ashley*~

Who I Want To Win the Democratic Nomination

Russel Feingold
I've never wanted anyone to win their party's nomination this much. I recently read an article about him in Vogue, and I wanted to share with everyone what I learned about this man.

  • He was the lone senator to vote against the Patriot Act, only 6 weeks after 9-11. Most senators felt that if they dissented, it would be political suicide.
  • 1 of 23 to vote against the Iraq War Resolution.
  • 1st member of congress to propose a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
  • When he became Senator, he promised to keep his family home in Middleton, Wisconsin, accept no pay increases, and rely on in-state money for his campaigns. He vowed he would not "go Washington".
  • He holds a public meeting in each of the state's counties (72 of them) every year.

Here are two good sites to do a little bit more research of Feingold:

http://www.draftruss.com/index.html

http://www.russfeingold.org/

Wouldn't it be a great election if Russ Feingold and John McCain ran for President in 2008? Either way you really can't go wrong.

A New Low for Our Judicial System

This is what I saw when I logged onto AOL this morning: "No Jail Time For Officer Convicted of Killing Iraqi General". So of course I read the article. Here's the Highlights:

"A military jury recommended a simple reprimand Monday for an Army officer who killed an Iraqi general by stuffing him headfirst into a sleeping bag and sitting on his chest during an interrogation.

"Welshofer, 43, was charged with murder, but was convicted over the weekend of negligent homicide and negligent dereliction of duty that carried a penalty of up to three years and three months in prison, a dishonorable discharge, loss of pension and other penalties.

"The murder charge carried a potential sentence of life in prison. Instead, Welshofer faces no jail time, the forfeiture of $6,000 in salary and what amounts largely to a restriction to his barracks for 60 days."

What's even more surprising is the poll on the same page as the Article.

How do you feel about the sentence?
It's too harsh
43%
It's too lenient
35%
I'm not sure
22%
Total Votes: 30,005

I've never had much faith in our judicial system. If someone kills a child they seem to get less time than people who commit money-related crimes. This just reiterates why something needs to be done, and why other nations hate America. How can we expect anyone to have faith in our government if murderers get to go (basically) free because the murdered party happened to be Iraqi? Despite the fact that Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush was in jail, and the fact that we are in war with Iraq, is irrevelent. America's standards should be much higher than that, otherwise this nation is will never become great. The government is a terrorist in it's own right.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060123171409990015
~*Ashley*~

My Introduction

This is my first post, but it's definetly not my first blog. After keeping up with a myspace blog for awhile, I decided I wanted to try a blog on an actual blog site. Be prepared to read; there isn't much I won't talk about. I might even bring some stuff from my other blog, but I haven't decided yet. I guess I should write a bit about myself, so I'm 18, a liberal, vegetarian (almost vegan) enviornmentalist, and you can bet my blog reflects that. I also love British history and current events, so that will also show up quite a bit. And I love feedback, so don't be shy. ~*Ashley*~