The first solar array to power a zoo exhibit in Texas will be switched on in Houston on April 22.
I am including this as a post corresponding to the efforts of some many who are trying to change their ways. The story just warmed my heart.- Lara
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Zoo’s lion den goes green
Houston Business Journal - by Greg Barr Reporter

The Houston Zoo and Green Mountain Energy Co. have installed the $64,000 solar power system at the zoo’s African lion exhibit.

To celebrate Earth Day, children from Rosehill Christian School will flip an honorary electric switch to mark the change to the new power source.

Zoo officials estimate the solar array will produce 8,188 kilowatts of electricity a year and will prevent 15,639 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

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My thesis is that clean energy technology advancement is a broad movement occurring today while some media programs and networks mired in conservative and elitist viewpoints are doing an injustice to the world’s future and using old news to inform their audience incorrectly.

On Friday, April 18 Kudlow & Company aired a program on CNBC. It really dogged me that Mr. Kudlow would form the basis of his opinion using old information. For instance, ethanol’s energy output vs. input debate has long been put to rest. To refute his claims that ethanol as an alternative energy source, is too energy intensive to be of any use, new sources of media are covering that cellulosic ethanol is the next generation and will provide better results. For months the U.S. Department of Energy has been releasing news of R&D advances that prove this true. Furthermore, innovations among ethanol producers are also backing up this claim.

An elitist who hides behind moral capitalism, Mr. Kudlow sounded baseless in his judgments. I have long held his program in high regard but I stood there flummoxed at what I was hearing from him. He stood for view points of conservative oil men who refuse to believe that man’s spewing CO2 into the atmosphere might be laying damage to the earth’s ecology. Chiefly his ignorance stood out with the announcement that the science was “still out” about man’s responsibility of climate change. According to the worlds leading scientists, the debate is over about climate change. IT IS HAPPENING.

So, instead of informing us (the audience) of representations of how the world is not changing, Mr. Kudlow ought to have been reporting on the many changes occurring around him. For instance, businesses such as General Electric and WalMart are preparing their infrastructure with environmental considerations. Developing technologies and revamping the supply chain are their respective initiatives to date, however, the people in charge are also modeling the company to accept more changes. Consider that a burgeoning industry is reacting positive to the business challenges of today. Companies such as SunPower, Airtricity & Green Mountain Energy are seeding the path for success of the new clean technology fields.

These and many more examples are proving that U.S. companies see the future of environmental sustainability, and are working to meet those challenges. Unfortunately, Mr. Kudlow does not extend the same respect to those efforts and instead retreats to old arguments that defeat the main purpose for broadcasting. This is a disservice that only continues to perpetuate ignorance and fraud over the American people.

This is a simple blog.
I was thinking today about the adage I learned as a girl. April showers bring May flowers. But in the current state of climate change will that remain true?

Scientists and the weather channel if you like to watch that tells us that in areas that rained frequently that changes in the climate may act as a lever and shift the levels and intensity of this simple process. Rain in some areas could hand over to drought. Or in other areas, rain may intensify the amount dropped but go longer periods without raining. Ecology is expected to be bothered by these changes in weather.

I’m no expert on the science of climate change but I do no that things could shift and shift they will. But what about the flowers? Will they survive?

Last night on NatGeo TV I watched “the human footprint” and what an amazing site to behold- our American human footprint. Visually I doubt anyone could argue that the show wasn’t creative. I am especially thankful that the pigs received all the bananas at the end. The show probably cost a lot of money to produce. Did it change anyone’s thinking? Can it act as a lever to shift a person’s actions?

In many of the cases they outlined I felt proud that my footprint wasn’t as big as all that. I don’t buy many clothes or shoes and often get stuff mended or resoled before going out and buying a new. I also borrow heavily from my friends closets for one time occasional wear. I recycle a lot which is not easy living in an apartment in Houston. I have to store and then deliver my recycling items to the City Center. We don’t buy much prepared food (with excess packaging.) Once in awhile I do get take out but its rare. I buy local stuff. However, as my mother was always proud to tell me I was the first generation to wear Pampers. Yikes! All that wonder bread laid out too. People eat that much bread a week? No wonder they are fat. In the end, even though my footprint may be smaller all is does is help bring the average lower. Still, look how large it still is.

Well, its all coming at us fast now, but we are slow to respond. We are just fat and stupid living in our own garbage. Wasn’t there a comedy out with Luke Wilson about this? Ironic really, but all I want to know is if I will see flowers in May.

Greening the supply chain. Why should your business care? Because the case for integrating environmental criteria into the company’s procurement process is a strategic bottom line issue.

In the battle on climate change, the single most effective way we know of reducing our “environmental footprint” is through local efforts. Regardless of what the U.S. or International community at large says or does; it comes down to what you and I are doing.

There are many ways that companies are using their supply chains to decrease the use of toxic and non-renewable materials, use energy more efficiently, reduce labor costs, and promote greater employee participation in environmental improvement activities. And to save money.

Start by examining the criteria that a procurement office uses to achieve its goals. Is it to save costs? Use less of something? Find the best products at the lowest cost to achieve the desired end result?
By examining the role that procurement has on the business and by making a decision to change some of the factors that determine product worthiness a company can achieve much more than just environmental benefits. At your company, does everything come down to bottom line cost? Does it matter that certain products may lasts longer and use less energy but might cost more up front? Is the procurement process integrated into other aspects of the business? These minor tweaks to a business process can have huge impacts to the operation.

Being green is not easy. Many changes have to be made, but just like any other lesson that is challenging, the rewards are directly beneficial to the efforts your business makes. Refocusing attention to the supply chain’s “greenness” may not sound very sexy, but in the end, an exponential transformation can be made by working with vendors and suppliers and determining the factors of most benefit to the procurement process.

Green Habits is an environmental sustainability consulting company that works with businesses on greening their business operations. Look us up at www.greenhabitsconsulting.com

The website GreenBiz and its editors embarked on a journey to solve a mystery. Using data on a slew of indicators comprising the GreenBiz Index, part of the inaugural “State of Green Business 2008″ report was released last week. See www.greenbiz.com to download the report. The conclusion: Environmental performance overall in the U.S. is gradually advancing, but often not at the pace needed to offset economic growth or avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Hmmph. I read this and let it sink in. I thought about it upside down and right side up. I pushed it to the side and crossways, too. Two days later, the news has sufficiently sunk in. Typical-typical Americans. My reaction to this is of aggravation, let down and nonchalance. After all, I’m an American. I am a part of it, the conscious being that spotlights something only as long as consciousness prevails. And in this case, I fear it will be short. Will American businesses continually strive for progress in “green” matters?

What I try to impress in the course of my business is that greening is a process. Green habits is like the concept of energy in that it is everywhere, but there are different options to how you produce that energy, or different choices on which way you expend that energy. For a business making the commitment to be green is only the start. Now you actually have to do the work to enable that message to be true. It is not a one step- done- kind of process.

Labels are hard to define, to get them into focus and to learn it. Green or environmental performance is like that. What is it? What does it mean? In most instances, business has a choice whether to regulate its CO2 emissions or not, whether to look for alternatives to traditional energy technology, whether to reduce its “environmental footprint”. The choice is being considered and weighed. That is what Greenbiz’s report has highlighted.

All I know is that green is a process, a habit. The choice is deliberate. However, we haven’t come up with all the answers yet. We are still defining the labels. Why temper the output of tailpipe emissions when there is the option of smoke stacks to clean? Should you build a better, smarter, more efficient building, or just purchase REC’s?

I just want this habit to begin to weave in to our consciousness; to seek answers, to define what we are doing, and to find market opportunities because of changing conditions. What I don’t want is to see the disappearance of efforts because American’s have lost consciousness.

It is our mission to improve the eco-stewardship of businesses. It behooves all to change our habits to those that are more responsible to the environment; to our Earth.

Our Creed: It is possible to achieve profit in a carbon constrained world.

Our Values:
We are committed to acting with Integrity. Integrity to us means a belief in fulfilling a perfect condition. We strive for ultimate clarity in communication & actions.

We believe that conservation is not only about going without but going with as efficiently as possible. It is our duty to be responsible for the stewardship of dwindling natural resources on this earth.