There are so many ways to recycle anymore, we think that at times people take it for granted. “I put the paper in the recycle bins” or “I put the cans in the right container”.
So, you do your part, right? Possibly, but paper and plastics are still the most thrown away item in the dumps. According to Wikianswers; “The packaging that you buy makes up 80 percent of most household trash.” Think about it for a second, when you buy a package of turkey at the store, do you take the plastic and the paper product and recycle it? Or, how about when you buy grabage bags, so you take the box that they come in and recycle it? We think that the majority of people don’t think about that stuff. That is why we are here, right? “Take a stand, make a difference” ring a bell?
So, let’s take a look at what you are all reading this post for….the $$$$
Instead of putting your cans and bottles at the curb(if your county has that option, save them. It takes a little extra time to take a gargabe bag or two full of cans and bottles down to the recycling company. They DO still pay. Boxes, boxes, boxes. Boxes are typically good strong cardboard. Why not take all the cardboard you get from packages, moving supplies, etc down and make a couple dollars. When you go shopping at your grocery store, ask them if they purchase bags back. If they do, you are going to the store anyways, why not make a little change while going. Toner cartridges…Staples if offering a “reward” for any information regarding the where-a-bouts of toner cartridges. What about your old jeans that don’t fit. You could sell them, or just donate them to a thrift shop. These are all forms of recyling. Now, you may not be the Bill Gates of the dumpsters but, you could make money AND feel good about what you are doing.
HERE is a post about making money off recycling newspaper.
Economically, personal energy independence just makes sense. Whether it be wind, solar, gasification, other renewable sources, or a mix of few of these, there are some serious adavantages. And while it will be tough for an individual to become fully independent, our furture may count on getting as close to that mark as we can.
Let’s imagine that you didn’t have a monthly power bill, what would you do with the extra money? As energy prices keep rising they steal more and more of our discretionary income, which is income that doesn’t see its way back into the market to help bolster the economy. And what about the other energy cost we have…how free would you feel emotionally and econmically if you didn’t have to stop at a gas station for your everyday fuel needs? Converting to a renewable home power system cuts out the middleman, and you produce the energy you need when you need it. In addition, converting to an electric car lets you use that energy for all of your basic fuel needs. Those changes make a big dent in the outflow of your hard earned money and give you more to spend on the other important and sometimes non-important expendatures.
Keeping more money in the checking account should get just about everyone excited, but there’s also another consideration: the energy crisis. There are energy resources in this country that are getting old and need to be decommissioned. These power plants are going to have to be replaced, and it gets hard to keep up with power requirements when U.S. power demand is growing, plants are closing, and our economy is dragging its feet. Disastrous things happen when we start to have energy shortages. We need leadership and personal initiative. We could take responsibility in this crisis and calm the stress on the power infrastructure by making power locally in the home. If we don’t look at this problem as it is and leave it to the same people that have been dealing with it for decades, we are in for a rough ride.
One of the great side effects of working toward personal energy independence is that we cut down on our use of carbon based fuels. Athough the debate rages on about the environment, there is no doubt that fossil fuels will someday run out. We need to prepare for that right now with renewables. If indeed we are doing damage to our surroundings, then renewables offer a responsible way to power us into the future.
All of these great things and it seems like we’re crawling to implementation. Unfortunately, many of the renewable technologies aren’t ready for primetime, and their infant state makes them expensive (we still think the econmics work in their favor). On the bright side Americans have shown the will in past times to push through difficulties and do what is right for the good of the many. Call us hopeful, but we believe it can be done. It is just going to take an attitude that doens’t accept business as usual. So, whether it’s wind, solar, or a hybrid, let’s do the hard stuff now so that we can survive the future.
Have you seen the Pickens’ Plan video? If you haven’t, get over to the site and watch it now (it’s about five mins long). You can see the video here. You’ll find that the plan is ambitious and certainly meant for purpose of someone making a profit, but there are some real gems in there. Now, I don’t know if the directions that T. Boone wants to take us in are totally correct, but at least they get the discussion going. The one issue I’d like to focus on is the outflow of American money that goes toward bringing foreign oil to our shores. He estimates that the dollar figure on our oil imports, 70% of what we use, is 700 billion annually. Question: Is our economy in trouble right now? I don’t know what feelings you’ve been having lately, but frankly I’m a little scared about where we are going. There are some experts that even say we could be headed for a depression–let’s hope they are wrong. The point I’m trying to make is that we would be in a better situation, on the order of billions of dollars, if we could get that money to stay here at home. Some exports are fine, but c’mon, not to the point where it cripples us financially. We’ve got to pull together to quit this oil addiction and get our economy back on track. How do we do that? There are many different ways that we’ll be talking about, yet first we all have to agree that investing in ourselves is the key. That money needs to go back into our economy.
