Courtesy of the International Game Fish Association.

Campaign Urges Restaurants to Take Marlin Off the Menu

(ARA) - The next time you’re in a restaurant and see marlin on the menu, “just say no.” That’s the message of a new, nationwide campaign called “Take Marlin Off the Menu,” which is urging consumers to stop eating marlin, and restaurants to take marlin and other billfish such as sailfish and spearfish off their menus.

Three major marine conservation groups, the International Game Fish Association, the National Coalition for Marine Conservation and the Billfish Foundation have teamed up to draw awareness to the plight of marlin, which are being decimated by commercial overfishing worldwide due in part to continued consumer demand for marlin in U.S. restaurants and at seafood retailers.

Marlin are distinguished by a long bill, an extension of the upper jaw and nasal bone; brilliant colors when “lit up;” and sleek body shapes that allow them to swim at extraordinary speeds. They are highly migratory in nature and can travel great distances, such as crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Like lions, polar bears and eagles, marlin and other billfish are an important, top-of-the-food-chain predator species that help to keep marine ecosystems in balance.

In addition to being endangered, the three marine conservation groups also want to alert consumers and restaurant chefs about the potential health risks of eating marlin meat, which contain higher than normal levels of mercury.

“We want to take a bite out of the commercial fishing of marlin and other billfish by persuading consumers and restaurant chefs that it’s simply uncool to eat marlin,” says Jason Schratwieser, director of conservation for the IGFA, an international recreational fishing organization founded in 1939 that is best known for maintaining freshwater and saltwater sport-fishing records worldwide.

Billfish populations have plunged over the past several decades as a direct result of commercial tuna and swordfish fleets that catch marlin by accident, according to Ellen Peel, president of The Billfish Foundation, a Ft. Lauderdale-based non-profit exclusively dedicated to protecting billfish. Commercial fishing accounts for more than 90 percent of annual marlin mortality. Many recreational fishermen now practice catch and release of marlin and other billfish, a conservation effort spreading throughout North America.

The “Take the Marlin Off The Menu” campaign is taking aim at U.S. restaurants and grocery stores primarily because the U.S. is the world’s largest importer of billfish. That’s despite laws that currently make it illegal to commercially harvest marlin, sailfish and spearfish from the Atlantic Ocean.

To add some more bite to the campaign, the “Take Marlin Off the Menu” campaign will promote restaurants and seafood retailers that go “marlin free” by listing those businesses on the campaign’s Web site, www.takemarlinoffthemenu.org. The campaign invites restaurants and seafood retailers to take a “marlin free” pledge in exchange for having the campaign promote those businesses to hundreds of thousands of concerned consumers and recreational anglers throughout the U.S.

The campaign also urges restaurants and seafood retailers to consider carrying more sustainable species such as mahi mahi, halibut, wild (not farmed) salmon, trout, some types of tuna (albacore and skipjack), and some types of snapper (gray, lane, yellowtail).

“There has never been more urgency than now,” says Ken Hinman, president of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation, a Leesburg, Va.-based group comprised of conservation-minded fishermen. “If we don’t stop the widespread consumption of billfish, these magnificent ocean predators will disappear from our seas. It’s simply that critical.”

To learn more about the Take Marlin Off the Menu campaign, visit www.takemarlinoffthemenu.org.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

(NC)—The holiday party season doesn’t have to be strenuous for you or the environment. Add a “green” theme to your party to liven things up and do your part. Here are six ways to turn your next holiday event into a “greeny” good time.

1. Serve organic drinks and foods. Offer organic fruits, vegetables, organic wines and mains (store-bought organic BBQ chicken is a quick and easy option). For dessert, organic chocolate is always a hit. Keep an eye on shopping websites like The Scarlett Lounge at RedFlagDeals.com (scarlett.redflagdeals.com) for green and organic deals, too.

2. Make your bathroom/kitchen organic-ready. Put out organic soaps and hand lotion; replace old towels with organic cotton towels, and buy biodegradable bathroom tissue and paper towels.

3. Play green-inspired holiday games. Have a “re-gifting” Secret Santa for a hilarious time.

4. Get everyone to wear green. It’s the holidays after all.  And while it won’t do anything for the environment, it will get everyone into the theme. Bonus points if it’s organic fabric.

5. Make sure your holiday decorations are environmentally friendly – LED lights, a Christmas tree you can replant after the holidays, organic centrepieces, and more will make a lasting impression on guests but not on the environment.

6. Offer your guests eco-friendly favours. Everyone can use an extra energy-efficient light-bulb or perhaps for a more personal touch, soy candles – perfect for the holidays. - News Canada

Why Build A New Home To Use Solar Electric Power?

There are several reasons that you are going to want to do it this way.  But first, I would not suggest and going out and buying a home solely for the purpose of using solar electric power.  While home solar energy is very eco friendly, it as eco unfriendly as constructing and entire new home can be.  If you are however looking to move, than this is a perfect time to use solar electric power in your new home.

Adding solar electric power to an old home can be done, but there are several reasons why it is not as good an idea.  The first is that in a new home you will have all new appliances and windows.  These can be the biggest things to suck energy out of a system in older homes.  Before adding solar electric power to an old home you will have to go and update all of those systems.

Next is the insulation factor.  Insulation of today is much more efficient and can be easily put into a new home.  Adding and updating this in an old home is very costly and may ultimately not even be effective.  Many older homes are not designed to be heated efficiently and as such you will have a difficult time trying to make them energy friendly.

On top of that, an older home may not be situated on a good lot to add solar panels.  There is not anything you can do if your yard sits in the shade all day that is going to make adding solar electric power a good idea.  In addition if you purchase a new home perhaps you can get one near running water and add in hydro power as well.  Hydro does a great job of supplementing solar electric power because on rainy days the hydro power will generate more energy, while on sunny days the solar power will.

As you can see there are many reasons to look at putting solar electric power in a new home as opposed to your current one.  Hopefully this has helped you make a decision as to what you want to do.

Solar energy costs are low, but the installation of the solar energy equipment is quite high.  But the solar wind energy systems which are commercially proven US equipment are strong and basically designed for harsh climates.  Most of them are built simply and ruggedly, so that they last long. Some of these machines have a large swept area and can capture more wind and produce more energy, especially if the speed of the wind is low.

Constant Energy

These solar wind energy systems produce energy all the time, and generate power whenever you need it, not only during storms.  The bigger solar wind energy systems are used for on-grid and off-grid applications to be distributed in homes and farms.  They can be used for higher energy like telecommunications, village electrification and even wind-electric water pumping.

For Commercial Use

The power independence that is provided by such solar wind energy systems is capable of providing power to commercial, industrial and government customers.   Some of the systems blend appropriate energy sources like wind, sunlight, hydrogen, biogas, natural gas and oil with the controls and power electronics in the systems which are tailored to
the needs of each customer.

Wind Turbines

Wind turbines, which are solar wind energy systems, are especially suited to wind-hybrid applications in which the power which is generated is used directly by the end-user customer.  This system is used often by farms, schools, industrial businesses and municipal waste water treatment facilities in grid tied applications.  It is interesting to note that for remote communities it can be incorporated into a utility system and can provide power to small villages and towns.

For private homes small and efficient wind turbines can be the solar wind energy systems.  They can also be used for farms, rural areas and light commercial and industrial facilities.  These smaller wind turbines have features which are typically found only in utility scale equipment like direct grid connection, triple safety system, constant rotor speed, gearbox and tip brakes amongst others.

Tax Benefits

There are many tax benefits if you install solar wind energy systems, because the law wants to encourage the installation of solar, wind and farm-waste energy equipment systems. It also ensures property owners that their property taxes will not increase if these solar wind energy systems are installed.  The amount of exemption is equal to the increase in assessed value attributable to the solar energy system.

Solar Energy Is Free

To be clear, there is no cost involved in obtaining solar energy other than the cost of installing solar energy systems, which will be the only expense you will have to bear. What’s more, solar energy is different from gas and oil heaters for which you have to pay on a monthly basis because in the case of solar energy, once you have taken care of the cost of installing solar energy, there is no further expense involved.

Included in the cost of installing solar energy in your home is the solar collector that is something that will attract heat that emanates from the sun and collect it in concentrated form onto glass or even clear plastic. Next, you need to determine whether to use a passive or active homes and the cost of installing solar energy for either type too will vary and in the case of passive homes, there is no equipment required to heat up the home and thus cost of installing solar energy for such systems is lower.

On the other hand, active homes require special equipment with which to circulate heat within the home and thus cost of installing solar energy in such homes will be higher because you require purchasing pumps and blowers as well as an alternative source for heating in case you can’t get enough heat out of the sunlight that is captured during daytime.

Solar wind energy can also be used together and it would only require purchasing hybrid solar wind turbine generators that are reliable as well as effective alternative sources of energy, and in fact, such systems will prove to be independent units that are able to provide dependable as well as consistent energy.

Whatever the cost of installing solar energy one thing that you can be sure of is that it works out to be very cheap in the long run and it also affords you a chance to get off the grid and best of all solar energy is found everywhere and thus there is no problem on this account either.

Cheaper Each Year

Like all technology, solar energy for residential homes is getting cheaper with each passing year. It’s significantly lower than what it was just a few years ago, but it will still cost what you’d pay for a few years of power off the grid. If you pay around $250 a month for electricity, then a solar energy system for your home would take about five or so years to pay itself off. However, by paying $15,000 for solar energy for residential homes, you would save $250 a month, meaning that you would start effectively saving $250 a month (probably more, depending on how much energy costs rise between now and then). Don’t think of this form of energy as a purchase but as an investment. In fact, if you generate excess electricity, you can sell it to the local power company for a profit!

However, deciding on the size of the system for your own home largely depends on a number of factors. First, how much electricity do you plan on spending for air conditioning during the summer? This is perhaps the biggest user of electricity out of any one thing, but it will probably only be used for four or so months out of the year. However, each window air conditioner can draw a peak of 1200 watts, which is basically about 50 fluorescent light bulbs being run simultaneously. To get the most out of your solar energy for residential homes system, you may want to check out purchasing a larger system, capable of generating more electricity, or complementing your system by drawing power off of the grid only when necessary and selling it back when you have more than you need.

Solar energy for residential homes is the cleanest and most secure form of energy available for homes today. It’s actually cheaper when you consider that you’ll be saving big bucks down the road, and you’ll be doing a big part to help the environment. Other eco friendly fuel sources such as hydrogen fuel cells will further help to supply steady, clean energy to meet all of your needs, but these technologies are still a few years off. For today, solar energy for residential homes will help to keep you energy independent.

Solar and wind energy systems are a vital part of solar heating energy. They are systems that produce energy via a windmill or similar tool, and which can then be used to provide electricity to an entire home. As a result, the environment is not only benefiting but as well the homeowner will be saving a great deal of money.

Benefits

It is important that all people be aware of the benefits that these solar and wind energy systems and how they can use them to their and others’ advantage.

Having Your Own

If you are thinking of setting up your own solar and wind energy system, there are a few things that you are going to want to take into consideration. First there are the political issues, namely that you are going to have to consult the city zoning ordinances before setting up a windmill, especially if you are planning to have a larger sized one.

You simply can’t set up a 35-foot tower without getting permission, so make sure that you do this before you get started so that you can make sure everything is going to be legal and that you are not going to get into trouble.

Also if you are keen on making your own solar and wind energy systems, you are going to need to have the finances available for it because there is usually a high initial cost for this. You should also spend a bit of time doing some research on your own, so that you can learn more about this and get some valuable information and advice before you get started.

It is going to be well worth it for you to go through with something like this, especially in today’s day and age where there are so many different environmental concerns and issues that we have to worry about. By using a solar and wind energy system you will not be polluting the environment and will be using an energy efficient means to power your home and whatever else you use with the system.

Steps To Take Before Getting A Solar Power System

While a solar power system is a great cost effective way to lower your energy bills and add a renewable source of energy to your home, there are some things you can do before you get the system to maximize its effectiveness. The first thing you need to do is have a good understanding of your energy consumption.

This starts by knowing how much you are using.  If you are like most of us, you pay your electric bill each month without really looking into it unless it is drastically different from the month before.  For many of us we have lived in this cycle month after month and year after year.  You should sit down and take a long hard look at your bill to see if your energy consumption is way out of line for a house of your size in your area.

If the case is that you are consuming way more energy than you should, before you get a solar power system you should first work to lower your consumption of energy.  The easiest and quickest way to do this is to replace all the light bulbs in your house with energy efficient fluorescent lights.  These lights will shave quite a bit off your energy bill.

Next, work to use energy only when you need to.  Turn of lights when leaving the room.  Turn off the television when you are not using it, or use a radio instead of leaving it on in the background for noise.   Make sure to have your computers set up to go to sleep when they are not in use.

After you have done all that you should see you bill drop considerably.  Without investing much money you already have started saving.  Now you can put away that money saved towards a new solar power system, or better yet try to reduce your consumption even further by replacing the old appliances in your home with newer more efficient ones.   Also look at your windows and see what you can do to get better ones.

After taking these steps you should significantly reduce your energy consumption, hopefully to a point where you can use solar electric power to truly run your home.  These simple steps are an easy way to save money and save the environment.  If everyone around the world took these steps we would reduce the amount of power needed to run things by a great deal.  Hopefully this has helped.

One of the first things that people wonder is if solar energy products are safe and the answer to that is as long as you are using professionally installed certified products then absolutely they are safe.  There is little or no danger involved with dealing with solar energy products and if you have them installed then the contractor will explain to you all of the details you need to know to stay safe while using your new solar energy products.

Another misconception about solar energy products is that it is expensive.  Many states are using solar energy products to power their road signs and other small devices used on a regular basis.  They use solar for these devices because solar energy products are designed to save you money.   There is an upfront investment for the equipment and you will need to get together with a contractor to discuss exactly how much the initial investment will be, but once the solar energy products are installed they will do nothing but save you a huge amount of money on your energy bills and that is why you install them in the first place.

Anyone Can Do It

Another very common misconception is that solar products require a Masters degree to operate.  This is also not true.  All of the equipment that the user will be required to operate is very simple to operate and very simple to maintain.  Of course there will be other maintenance required on some of the other parts but for the regular day to day maintenance and activity you will soon realize that anyone can benefit from the money saving ways of solar energy.

Energy from the sun is the way of the future and it is a very clean and efficient way to save yourself a lot of money on your energy bills.  Get in touch with a professional contractor soon and ask them any question you may have about installing and using solar products.  You will find that not only are the common misconceptions unfounded but the benefits far outweigh any hesitation you may have about using solar energy products.

Redecorate Your Yard and Help Reverse Global Warming

 (ARA) – With the growing popularity of green building practices, more companies are incorporating environmental and sustainability policies. These are all positive steps toward reducing the impact of global warming and caring for our earth. But what do you really know about a product you buy that is labeled green? Is it really environmentally friendly, or is it just a marketing scheme? And how much of a difference is it actually making?

“Green and sustainable forestry practices are a step in the right direction. But even the most stringent standards, those certified internationally by the Forest Stewardship Council, are only a modest step away from the large-scale deforestation practices that were prevalent until recently,” says Raul Hernandez, founder of Old-Growth Again, an organization dedicated to restoring logged forestlands back to their ancient form.

Hernandez goes on to explain the problem is sustainable forestry does little in the way of restoring large and ancient trees overtime. Without these trees as a significant portion of working forests, the effects forestlands can have on global cooling are limited. Under sustainable forestry practices, lands are cut at rates of up to 30 percent per decade. At this rate of cut, a forest is “sustained,” but it’s maintained as a young forest in perpetuity with trees rarely exceeding 80 years of age.

Redecorate Your Yard and Help Reverse Global Warming

OGA is changing this by practicing a much higher “Restoration Forestry” standard. Restoration forestry involves many practices including limiting the rate of cut to a maximum of 10 percent in any one decade. This conservative rate allows for a growth increase of standing lumber at rates of approximately 20 percent per decade, allowing the forest to mature so that a large amount of the forest canopy will once again be dominated by trees over 200 years old (the definition of old-growth).

Why is this important? “Depending on the tree species and geography, forests managed on a 200-year cycle sequester 3 to 4 times more carbon per acre than forests managed on 60 to 80 year cycles,” says Hernandez. “Restoration forestry practiced on a global scale would cause dramatic global cooling to take place while growing the highest quality lumber.”

How can you help? With the nice weather, more people are spending time outside enjoying their yards. If you are looking to add some new furniture and decor, consider Forever Redwood, OGA’s thick-timber products, which help fund the organization’s mission. Add some new lawn furniture, a gazebo or pergola, a swing or just some planter boxes. The look and design of the products is a throwback to another era when lumber was plentiful and of extremely high quality.

Besides supporting a good cause, redwood products are very long lasting and can be left outdoors for decades in elements such as harsh sun and snow, without maintenance. You can choose from three grades of redwood for Forever Redwood products — young, mature and old-growth. Half of the lumber used is from salvaged material left on the forest floor when the forest was first logged in the 40s and 50s. This wood is carefully inspected, and because of its high quality, much of it is in great shape and can be used, a testament to the longevity of the old-growth lumber. The other half comes from careful harvesting of the forest.

“One of the biggest aspects of global warming is deforestation. If forest lands are managed so they sequester carbon as they did before the high levels of harvesting, a big part of global warming equation would be eliminated,” says Hernandez.

To learn more about Forever Redwood furniture and products, and how old-growth forests are helping counteract global warming, visit www.OldGrowthAgain.org.

Courtesy of ARAcontent