The Good Earth


   May 18

5 Ways to Make Your Home Office Green

By cfairweather

If you are enrolled in online classes, you know that having a good home office is vital to your success. You need an area that is free of distractions, where you can focus on your coursework and take your tests. Have you ever thought about whether or not your home office is “green” or environmental friendly?

We often do things to make our home more environmental friendly, and many of us look for ways to recycle. But, there are some specific things you can do in your home office to help make a difference for the environment.

Use a Laptop and Unplug your Desktop

Laptops use half the amount of energy desktop computers do. A very easy way to take advantage of this is to invest in a laptop instead of a desktop. When you shop for a laptop, look for one with the “Energy Star” seal. This is issued by the government and tells buyers which products are energy efficient (sometimes by as much as 70 percent). Another option is to turn your desktop computer completely off and only fire it up when you are planning on using it. Laptops are much more convenient for online school anyway; they give you the option of taking your classes with you wherever you go.

Go Electronic with Your Bills

Most companies you get bills or other documents from (like your cell phone provider and your power company) allow you to go paperless. This means that instead of getting mail from the company, you will get all correspondences through email. Of course, cutting back on the amount of paper you use means you are helping decrease the amount of natural forests that are logged to make paper.

Don’t Print Every Piece of Course Material

Most of the material you use for your online classes is on the Internet. You log in and access readings, notes, assignments and lectures. Another way you can cut back on your paper use and help decrease air pollution is to only print what is absolutely necessary. Don’t print every draft of your paper, and if you can, do your readings from your computer screen, instead of printing out pages and pages of text.

Choose the Right Lighting

When you aren’t in your home office, turn off the lights. This seems like a small thing, but it can make a big difference in the amount of energy you use. It can also help you cut back on your power bill. If possible, opt for energy efficient light fixtures and light bulbs. These bulbs can be a bit more expensive than the regular kind, but they last much longer and use much less energy.

Of course, there are lots of ways attending online school is environmentally friendly. For example, when you enroll in online classes, you don’t have to be on campus nearly as much (if at all) as you would if you were attending a traditional school. This means you don’t have to drive your car as much, cutting back on air pollution.

As you earn your online degree, keep these tips in mind and implement them in your home office as you see fit. You’ll be helping the environment and maybe even saving some money!

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   Feb 20

A Look at Environmental Guitars

By admin

Over the last five or ten years, society has decided to finally get off the couch and do something to change the way it impacts the environment. Now we have hybrid cars, solar energy, recycled plastics, and even environmentally safe guitars. Yes, that’s right – guitars have “gone green” too. Simon Lee makes a line called the Cyclotron Guitars, and every part of the design was thought through as a way to help better the environment while still maintaining the integrity of the guitar. They are the first guitars of their kind to push the limits of how humans can help the world, and hopefully they will inspire others to do the same. Here is an overview of these amazing works of art, just to give you an idea of what the music industry is doing for the environment in the modern world.

The Body

The body of the Cyclotron Guitars is made entirely out of recycled plastics. All those left over laundry detergent and cleaning supply bottles that people throw away are actually used to create some really cool designs for the face of the guitars. They use everything from crushed CDs to rejected yogurt containers to produce six different faces for the guitar’s body. Each one comes out a bit different, so everyone gets to enjoy a unique guitar that helps out the planet. You could compare this to marble or granite because there are no two designs that look exactly the same. Pretty neat, eh?

The Construction

One of the biggest innovations that the designers came up with in the Cyclotron Guitars is the “sandwich” style construction. Every part of the electric guitar is layered o that it uses less material and still produces quality sound. The guitar is actually designed to create the same sound quality as non-environmental guitars without a loss of energy. All of the parts are isolated from the others so that they can be easily accessed and adjusted if need be. Everything is held together with steel or titanium bolts which should last for the lifetime of the guitar. This will save you from having to buy another guitar for a long time in the future.

The Design

The Cyclotrons feature a sleek, ergonomic design that is reminiscent of some more classical pieces. This gives the guitars a universal feel with a modernized look, bridging the gap between various members of the guitar community. They look great and sound just as good as anything else, and you don’t have to worry about how it was made. Everything about the guitar was planned around the environment so that we can get the most out of the materials we use. The innovation here will make a big difference in our world in the future.

This a great guitar for tree huggers, paralegals, and rock stars alike, and everyone gets to feel a little bit happier about their impact on the world. Who says that Mother Nature can’t be your next groupie?

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