Five Simple New Years Resolutions For a Healthier Diet and a Healthier Planet


Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) December 30, 2011

Celebrity Chef, Gen Anderson, creator and host of Gen?s Guiltless Gourmet, a healthy and eco-conscious cooking series premiering on PBS stations in 2012, unveils her top five New Year?s Resolutions for a ?healthy planet, healthy you.? All of the resolutions call for people to make small changes in their daily diet and shopping habits that have powerful impacts on their health and the environment.

?Consumers can make choices that really affect change in their lives and in the world,? Chef Gen says. ?Every time someone makes a healthy choice for their family and the environment, it sends a message and makes a direct impact. I think that?s an incredibly empowering thing to realize.?

As New Year?s Resolutions for 2012, Chef Gen invites people to commit to these five simple but powerful changes:

1). Participate in Meatless Monday: forgoing meat once a week not only reduces saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet, it also reduces the water, fuel, and grain needed to produce meat and the pollutants and byproducts created by large-scale meat farming. In addition, meatless options like beans and lentils are very budget-friendly.

2). Make healthy swaps: Substitute items like almond milk, vegan cheeses and vegetable margarine for butter and full fat-dairy products in recipes. Swapping one serving of each saves approximately 75mg of cholesterol and 7 grams of saturated fat each day. Raising dairy cows also has a high water and energy cost, so even a small reduction has a major positive impact on the planet.

3). Commit to organic whenever possible: Chef Gen encourages her viewers to shop organic whenever possible. But if an all-organic diet seems out of reach, consider going organic for at least breakfast and snacks. Switching to organic fruit and cereal won?t overwhelm the food budget, and it will spare families and the planet a lot of pesticides!

4). Consider portion control: Face it; many of us just eat too much. Serve a sensible amount and refrigerate or freeze leftovers immediately. Something as simple as portion control will help save on the budget, the waistline and resources.

5). Clean green: Use eco-friendly cleaning products that don?t contain phosphates or harmful chemicals to clean the kitchen and home. This will keep harmful chemicals away from the family and out of the water supply.

As her own commitment for the new year, Chef Gen is resolving to provide a new Meatless Monday recipe on her website every week in 2012 to help people commit to these resolutions!

For recipes, healthy tips, and a clip of Gen?s Guiltless Gourmet visit http://www.gensguiltlessgourmet.com.

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Related Home Energy Saving Tips Press Releases






Pittsburgh Electricians Save Thanksgiving For 18 Families


Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PRWEB) November 28, 2011

Pittsburgh Electricians, South Hills Electric Heating Cooling, restores power to 18 families in a Pittsburgh suburb just in time for Thanksgiving.

South Hills Electric Heating Cooling announced today that they have completed their electrical restoration of service to 18 families in the Emsworth area. ?We pride ourselves on being able to complete emergency electrical services to our clients.? said Pat Cray, owner of South Hills Electric Heating Cooling.

Mr. Cray added, ?Any time is a tough time to be without power, but when you add the holidays into the equation, it becomes mission critical to get the job done as fast as possible.? Power was lost when a faulty water heater released water and saturated the electrical meters installed in the utility room of an 18 unit apartment complex. Duquesne Light was forced to cut power to the apartment building when an unsafe situation arose damaging all the electrical components beyond repair.

According to current electrical codes, the electrical meters had to be relocated to an accessible location on the outside of the building and portions of the electrical service redesigned to accommodate these changes listed here:

?For any service wiring changes for which the Company has not specified a new meter location, the Customer shall comply with the following general guidelines:

(a) Residential meters located indoors shall be moved to outdoor locations as specified below and in Section 4.2.3(d).

(b) Meters other than residential may be required to be moved outdoors.

(c) New meter locations shall be chosen to eliminate house to house connections and service drops over roofs, awnings and

other structures.

(d) Meters shall be readily accessible to Company representatives. The best location is on the side of the building at the front corner nearest to the Company’s service pole or underground service point.?

~ Duquesne Light Electrical Service Installation Rules

Grounding and connections had to be updated as well to comply with the National Electrical Code. New Electrical panels were installed for all the units in the building as they were damaged by the water as well.

When asked how South Hills Electric Heating Cooling was able to pull off such a large job so quickly, the owner stated, ?This is the nature of our business. We specialize in coordinating efforts to resume electrical services to our customers as fast as we can. This requires actionable plans to contact and inform the electrical service provider, the owner, our suppliers, our employees, electrical inspectors, and any other third parties of interest. Also South Hills Electric Heating Cooling would like to give special thanks to Bill Hertrich of The Hite Company and Schneider Electric for all their assistance in procuring the necessary electrical equipment. Some of it right off of the manufacturing floor. Without which the service installation would have taken weeks not days.?

?Codes and Regulations are in place for a very good reason; to protect homeowners and tenants from dangerous situations that can arise from dealing with electricity and electrical equipment failures.? ~ Mr. Cray

As a result the families were able to return to their residence and enjoy Thanksgiving as they should.

About South Hills Electric Heating Cooling:

South Hills Electric Heating Cooling is located at:

South Hills Electric Heating Cooling

930 Glass Run Rd

Pittsburgh, PA 15236

(412) 537-0687

on the web at http://southhillselectricheatingcooling.com

and by email: patcray(at)southhillselectric(dot)com

South Hills Electric Heating Cooling provides first class electrical, heating and air conditioning services to the greater Pittsburgh area. Since 1993, we have installed furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, air conditioners, electrical systems and hot water heaters. We are licensed, registered certified and insured to work in your home or business. We carry an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and are registered with the PA Attorney General License #PA012126.

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VIC Households to be Hit with January 1 Electricity Price Rise – Bills to Increase by at Least 10%, According to Ben Freund of GoSwitch.com.au


Australia (PRWEB) December 19, 2011

Victorian households already struggling with rising cost of living pressures now need to budget extra dollars for their electricity bills, courtesy of new pricing coming into effect on January 1, 2012.

Electricity prices for Victorian households are expected to rise by at least 10% across the board, with some areas slugged more than others, says Ben Freund, CEO of leading price comparison website GoSwitch.com.au.

?We really aren?t seeing any substantial justification for these price increases, with ?network costs? blamed once again. Wholesale electricity prices have been subdued compared to previous years; it?s almost as if it is simply becoming an annual ritual.

According to Freund, many households are not even aware that the changes are coming.

?Every Victorian household is now facing a substantial increase in the price of a basic necessity. Our concern is that many people don?t know about the price increases and will get a nasty shock when they receive their next bill and realise it is substantially more than they budgeted for.

?A big part of these price rises is also an increase to the supply charge, the cost of simply connecting. In some areas of Victoria this will mean an additional $ 100 of charges per year, which consumers simply cannot avoid.

?What households need to know is that there are two main ways you can rein in your electricity bill. The first is to make sure you pay the least amount per kilowatt you can, and the second is to try and use as few kilowatts as possible.

?One in three Victorian households continues to remain on the default plan for their area, which is often the most expensive. The average household could save up to $ 400 by switching to a cheaper electricity suppliers plan at GoSwitch.com.au.

?Being smart with your energy usage can also have major impact. Simple changes like closing windows and curtains during the day, drying clothes on the line instead of using the clothes dryer and turning on the fan instead of the air conditioner are great ways to cut down your kilowatts over summer,? said Freund.

http://www.GoSwitch.com.au allows consumers to compare electricity and gas plans across retailers by typing in just a few details from their last energy bill. The website is free to use, and also details hundreds of simple energy saving tips households can use to reduce their usage this summer ? including an easy to use GoSwitch Power Diet Plan.

To compare, switch and save on electricity and gas visit http://www.GoSwitch.com.au

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Italian Cruise Ship Disaster Highlights Need for Reforms, Say Miami Injury Lawyers at Gerson & Schwartz


Miami FL (PRWEB) February 09, 2012

Half submerged off the western coast of Italy, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is an all-too-vivid reminder that the international cruise industry is in dire need of safety reforms, says veteran Miami injury lawyer Philip M. Gerson. Indeed, the industry, says the long-time advocate for cruise ship injury victims, has operated for decades in a regulatory vacuum that has left crew certifications and training lacking — and put passengers at risk.

?One hundred years after the Titanic nothing has changed,? says Gerson, the senior partner at Miami?s Gerson & Schwartz. ?The way the industry operates, it is a disaster waiting to happen, and on the night of January 13 that, unfortunately, is exactly what we got. After the ship grounded and lives were lost and saved, there was a great focus on the actions, or in actions, of the captain. But as the investigation continues, what we?re seeing now is the crux of the problem in the cruise industry today: inadequately trained crews and a regulatory black hole. It?s something that should have been fixed decades ago.?

Behind the scenes of luxurious cruises, says Gerson, a longtime advisor to the International Cruise Victims Association, the picture is far less rosy. ?Crew members are generally not long-term employees of a specific cruise line, but independent contractors who sign aboard for a few months at a time, and often move from vessel to vessel, cruise line to cruise line,? says Gerson. ?Crews are poorly paid and inadequately trained. And what compounds the problem is that there is scant regulation and enforcement. A crew member who is ill-prepared for an emergency on his first cruise will likely be ill-prepared on his fiftieth cruise. He?ll move from ship to ship and operators have little incentive to foot the cost of his training — and often, little legal obligation.?

As the Costa Concordia investigation unfolds, it is becoming clear, says Gerson, that a poorly trained crew was a primary factor contributing to the tragedy. ?What we are hearing, both from official channels and from Costa Concordia passengers who have contacted our firm, is that many crew members just didn?t know what to do. They were telling passengers to return to their cabins, that it was just an electrical fault, when it was, of course, an urgent emergency. There were heroic crew members, to be sure, but by and large, the people who survived did so because of their own good judgment.?

As details of the disaster and its aftermath emerge, the public will get a full picture of training and safety deficiencies that not only plagued the crew of the Costa Concordia, but the entire cruise ship industry, says Gerson. ?We have to make the changes that should have been made years ago,? says the veteran Miami injury lawyer. ?First, we have to have uniform, mandatory, and strictly enforced certifications of competence and ongoing training for all cruise ship crew members. And it has to be done on an international level, not the loose, lax, piecemeal regulatory structures that exist — in some places, for some crew — today.?

The next step, says Gerson, is to eliminate the current liability caps that limit the financial responsibility of ship operators. ?These caps are not only unfair and unrealistic, but dangerous. If a ship?s operator has little fear of liability, they have little incentive to strengthen their safety training requirements, because doing so costs money. As the catastrophe off the coast of Italy makes clear, without the prospect of substantial liability, safety and training will be compromised. It?s time to change that — and changing the laws will be a big step in the right direction.?

About

Founded in 1970 by Miami personal injury lawyer Philip M. Gerson, the law firm of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A., has spent the past four decades protecting, and vindicating, the rights of individuals who have suffered serious harm — from automobile accidents to medical malpractice to cruise ship injuries. In the process, the firm has become recognized as ?Top Lawyers? by the South Florida Business Review, and recognized widely for its work with public interest groups like the International Cruise Victims Association and the National Center for Victims of Crime. To learn more about the trial lawyers of Gerson & Schwartz, visit http://www.injuryattorneyfla.com.

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Find More Save On Electricity Press Releases






Kenmark Air Cooling & Heating Partners With Award Winning Patented Aeroseal Technology For Groundbreaking Duct Repair Solutions In Southwest Florida


Fort Myers, FL (PRWEB) December 19, 2011

Kenmark Air Cooling & Heating of Southwest Florida is proud to announce the inclusion of the patented Aeroseal duct sealing technology as a fast and cost effective method for lowering utility costs, saving energy and improving indoor air quality for homeowners in Southwest Florida. Kenmark?s Aeroseal of SWFL is a cutting edge process that tackles leaks in air duct systems and seals them through a computer-controlled injection of aerosol mist particles. The technology was developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and funded by the U.S. Environmental protection agency, U.S. Department of Energy (http://www.energy.gov), the Electric Power Research Institute, and California Institute of Energy and Environment with efforts to potentially save Americans an estimated $ 5 billion a year on cooling and heating costs. The cutting edge duct sealant process puts escaping air under pressure and causes the mist to stick first to the edges of a leak, then to each other until the leak is closed. Its ability to seal leaky air ducts is saving homeowners up to $ 850 per year on their home energy bills.

Aeroseal was selected as one of this year?s best new home products in ?This Old House magazine?s Top 100 Best New Products awards. The process also won the ?Best of What?s New? award from Popular Science magazine, and the ?Energy 100? award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). As stated by Aeroseal.com, ?The DOE also rated the Aeroseal duct sealing process as one of the 23 most beneficial technologies available to American consumers that has come out since the agency was created.?

?Duct leaks are not a do-it-yourself project. They can be hard to find or costly to seal with older or conventional, less effective methods other than the Aeroseal process. We are here to educate homeowners and help them improve the cost-effectiveness of their HVAC system,? say?s Ken McDaniel, President of Kenmark Air. ?If your energy bills seem high, your home is dusty, the rooms in your house are different temperatures or the quality of your indoor air is poor; studies show that the Aeroseal duct sealing process is the most effective solution for combating these problems and plays a critical role in saving energy and money in your home or office,? McDaniel concludes.

For more information about Aeroseal technology solutions, call Kenmark Air at (239) 437-7040 or visit http://www.KenmarkAir.com. Kenmark Air is located at 5811 Country Lakes Drive, Fort Myers FL 33905

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Find More Save Money On Electric Bill Press Releases






Conserving Water and Money

Save water, energy and money all around the house

Everybody knows the significance of saving electric power and as well as saving money, but most people do not comprehend how much water most of us use every day, there is a cost related to using water, particularly hot water. Your life style accounts for a great deal of wasted water and if you are willing to take the time to improve a few of your behaviors as well as being aware of some simple truths you’ll make a positive change in your power bills.

If you just save a small amount of water on a daily basis it’s going to accumulate within the year into large savings.

Here is a listing of several straightforward actions you can take to conserve water, energy as well as money using very little effort

Correct any leaking water lines and / or faucets; a fixture leaking just one drop of water per second can easily waste 2700 gallons a year.

How much money is that; particularly if it really is hot water that is leaking?

You should make sure your toilets are not leaking; you may glance on the inside and see there is a small trickle of water is actually running through the bowl, often it results in a little staining. You can place a small amount of food coloring to the tank water and wait a minute or two and see if the tinted water can make it into the bowl. Swap the flapper valve should it be leaking.

Place the temperatures on your water heater to one hundred twenty-five degrees; you can save money by simply sustaining a reduced water temperature in the water tank

Just take quicker showers; having a quick shower as opposed to a bath and / or staying and soaking while in the shower for a long time of time can help to save as much twenty gallons of water

Turn the water off when you are shaving as well as brushing your teeth; this alone can conserve as many as five gallons of water daily

If you ever exchange an older toilet which had been built before 1994 with a brand new model it will use about 50% less water, and that is a lot of water saved in a year

Always wash full washer loads of clothes; if you want to launder reduced loads you should definitely utilize the appropriate setting on your washing machine

 

Preston Sandlin is a home inspector and real estate investor in Charlotte NC. He has been performing home inspections and buying real estate in Charlotte NC for over 12 years. He is a member of the North Carolina Home Inspector’s Association, the Charlotte Regional Realtors Association, and the BBB. For more information please visit our websites: http://askthecharlotteinspector.com/ http://www.homeinspectioncarolina.com/






carbon-investments.co.uk: Carbon Trading Can Help Struggling Economies


London, UK (PRWEB) November 29, 2011

Carbon-investments.co.uk today released an article claiming that carbon trading can help national governments cope more effectively with their struggling local economies. Compliance cap-and-trade schemes, states the carbon investments portal, can provide valuable revenue streams and economic opportunities.

The article comes in response to a recently published study by Boston-based research company, Analysis Group. Over the past three years, the study closely followed the performance of the U.S. RGGI?a compliance emissions trading scheme implemented in 2009 across 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states (Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and New York).

Carbon-investments.co.uk explains that, under RGGI, an annual emissions cap of 188 million tons of CO2 was imposed on power plants across the 10 participating states. This limit will be in effect until 2015, when the carbon quota will gradually go down by 2.5 per cent each year until it reaches its target rate of 10 per cent CO2 emissions reduction by 2018.

Under RGGI, the article further says, power plants compensate for their emissions by purchasing allowances via an auction process and retiring them at the end of each three-year compliance phase (the first one being 2009-2011). Carbon-investments.co.uk reports that, so far, the revenue that state governments generated through auctioning off carbon credits has amounted to about $ 912 million. The money was utilised differently in each of the 10 states, but some of the programs funded were related to energy efficiency, renewable power initiatives, assisting low-income families with paying their utilities bills, education and job training.

The carbon investment article also states that some of the key findings from the Analysis Group study prove that, since its implantation, RGGI has enhanced local economies by: (1) producing a net present value (NVP) of $ 1.6 billion (about $ 33 per capita if spread across the population of all 10 participating states), which led to more purchases of goods and services in the economy; (2) saving businesses, individuals, governments and other energy consumers about $ 1.1 billion over the three-year period (the article does note that, although initially prices of electricity went up to compensate for the cost of carbon credits, over time, RGGI led to less energy used and lower utility bills); (3) reducing the dependency and costs on outside fossil fuels (the 10 states saved a combined $ 765 million on imported fossil fuels); (4) creating 16,000 new jobs.

The RGGI study, states carbon-investments.co.uk, is a poof that when compliance cap-and-trade schemes are properly conceived and implimented, monitored effectively and utilised creatively, they can provide invaluable benefits to local economies, especially in countries facing serious financial challenges. Carbon trading brings in much-needed funding and leaves room for innovative approaches as to how the funds can be best spent, so they can bring positive long-term results for industries, consumers and governments alike.

?Cap-and-trade programs may hold the key to the economic recovery of nations-in-crisis,? says Tonka Dobreva of Dezz, the UK digital media group operating carbon-investments.co.uk. ?Governments can — and should — take advantage of these new revenue streams and the flexibility spending they offer,? she adds.

You can read the full article and learn more about carbon trading at http://www.carbon-investments.co.uk/how-carbon-trading-can-help-struggling-economies.php

About Dezz

Dezz is a UK-based boutique digital media company providing original and reliable up-to-date information in the area of carbon credit trading and sustainable investments to large investment company decision makers, NGOs and to eco-minded individuals. Dezz Limited, 843 Finchley Road, London, NW11 8NA. Registered in England and Wales as a Limited Company. Company Number: 07376661

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Schneider Electric Introduces New Solutions for Comprehensive Building and Data Centre Energy Management with Cisco

(PRWEB UK) 31 January 2012

Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, today announced at Cisco Live, Cisco?s premier IT and communications conference in Europe, that they are planning to expand their existing relationship with Cisco to significantly broaden their energy management solution portfolio. The company will demonstrate these ?proof of concept? solutions at the Cisco Live show. This announcement builds on the recently launched Schneider Electric Torana? Application Server which integrates Schneider Electric?s EcoStruxure? architecture and the Cisco






?Victory in Achieving Energy Security and Independence is in Sight, but Washington?s Leaders could Still Blow it? Says Energy Alternatives for the 21st Century

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 22, 2012

“For years, Energy Alternatives for the 21st Century (EA-21), has advocated energy security and independence. Our calculations confirm what the just-released BP energy study predicts: after years of hard work, finally, victory is in sight,? said EA-21 President Jack Halpern. ?Despite this great progress, Washington?s leaders could still blow it if they fail to provide the support needed for advanced biofuels to fill the small remaining gap, and create obstacles to the production of unconventional oil from the Canadian tar sands and U.S. shale.?

Halpern cautioned that that there remain three potential obstacles to success that still lie ahead: the White House veto of the proposed pipeline from Canada to the U.S. gulf refineries, new regulations that would limit the recovery of oil and gas from shale without any scientific basis for those regulations, and a failure to support steps such as the Open Fuel Standard and R&D funding that would help bring advanced biofuels to consumers.

?Washington seems poised to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,? explained Halpern. ?Instead, they should realize that providing the energy we need for transportation will always entail some adverse impact, whether our nations relies on gasoline, natural gas, fuel cells, biofuels or even electricity from wind or solar. So the goal of policy-makers should be to support the best solutions rather than figure out ways to interfere with every proposed approach or project for supplying energy. They should maximize job creation, cost the least, reduce the need to import oil from insecure places, and provide a strategic reservoir of a variety of fuels for the future including sustainable fuels and unconventional oil and gas from tar sands and shale.?

?Despite the claims by naysayers, it now appears that U.S. energy security and an end to dependence on foreign oil from outside North America are well within reach,? said Neil Goldstein, Executive VP of EA-21. ?Because of new so-called ?unconventional? sources of oil and because of scheduled improvements in automotive efficiency, the gap that must be filled by exports from outside our region has shrunk enormously and could easily be filled by advanced biofuels.?

EA-21?s calculations are provided below.

EA-21 is a not-for-profit public interest advocate for U.S. energy independence that has led the effort for an Open Fuel Standard through production and sale of Flexible Fuel Vehicles that can run on ethanol and methanol in addition to gasoline.

Calculations: How close is the U.S. to Achieving Energy Independence?

Current Status

According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency:

1.






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