I’ve liked this car for a a long time. The addition of the solar roof, intelligent parking assist, and a full EV option make it my first choice when it is time to buy another vehicle. It’s not the only one I would consider but the other options, the plugin-hybrid Mini Cooper and the Chevy Volt, are not actually in production yet.
There is a green movement in America. Everyone wants to be green and for the past few years they have been paying more for the privilege. The current economy might seem like the death knell for being green but I think it is actually going to be great for the green industry. The bad economy is going to force companies to bring the prices of their green products down to, or at least in line with, the non-green or ‘less’ green versions.
Until then, I want to let you know about a few things that you can do that are green and will save you some green.
Summer is coming and in most parts of the country this means that you will be using your A/C. Before you turn it on:
- Check your filters and make sure they are clean. You don’t want any that look like this. Make sure you change them regularly. Write the date on the edge with a permanent marker and change them on the day you pay your electric bill.
- Get up in your attic and check your duct work. You may need to start the system it and let it get cold first and them run your hands over the ducts and look for leaks. If you feel one, get some duct tape and fix it.
- Take a walk around the outside of your home and look at your doors and windows. If you find peeling caulk around your doors and windows pull out the old caulk and re-caulk them.
- Go down to your local Home Depot and look for these little foam inserts that go behind your outlet covers. You only need to use these on outlets that are located on exterior walls.
- Also look for space around your doors (hint look for light) and if you see some pick up some weather stripping while you are at Home Depot.
- If you can afford it, get an energy audit done of your home. If you don’t know what an energy audit is here is a good description at Wikipedia
I’ve been looking online for information about the green community in New Orleans and to be honest I couldn’t find much. I know there are things going on besides the efforts of Global Green USA in the Holy Cross neighborhood.
I decided to create this blog as a resource for those in New Orleans interested in being green or building green. I plan to bring you info on green companies in the area, green homes going up, green legislation, and any other areas that may be of interest to the green community.
I can’t do it alone though. If you see something of interest please email me at CHRIS [AT] THEJOHNSTONTEAM [DOT] NET or send it to me on Twitter @GreenNewOrleans.
