Alternatives to Heating Your Home with Oil or Natural Gas

The recent spikes in oil and natural gas prices have put the topic of alternative fuels for home heating at the forefront of discussions around the country. Alternative fuels that in the past were seen as marginal, odd, or strictly for rural use are getting a second look.

Wood heat has been used for generations in the rural U.S., but has been replaced in the past fifty years or so by central heating provided by oil- or gas-fired furnaces. However, in recent years, wood stoves have been making a comeback. Attractive stoves by Jotul and other manufacturers have taken their place in communal living areas like kitchens and living rooms to supplement heating while providing a cozy ambiance to the rooms. Wood furnaces, both internal and external and in many new designs based on the latest technology, provide the ability to load the furnace so as to provide hours of central heating before needing re-stoking. An advantage of burning wood, at least in rural areas, is that it can be locally obtained; people with a wood lot can get it with "sweat equity", and can supplement their income by supplying their neighbors as well.

New plant-based fuels like wood pellets and corn pellets can also provide heat when used in specially designed, clean-burning furnaces and stoves. In addition, more and more people are taking a new look at biodiesel, a fuel manufactured from vegetable oils, primarily soybean oil. Most furnaces can use B20, a fuel made of 80 percent traditional heating oil and 20 percent biodiesel, without any adjustments; some people are getting their furnaces adapted to be able to burn B100, a fuel made entirely of vegetable oils. The biodiesel burns much cleaner than traditional heating oil, but has its own problems (for one thing, biodiesel tends to cause rubber gaskets to erode), so be sure to check with your furnace servicer or manufacturer before you opt for B100.

If you choose to use B100, and your furnace will handle it, you have a couple of options. B100 is becoming more available around the country; check on the Internet to find a supplier near you. Also, waste oil - that is, used vegetable oil discarded by restaurants - can be filtered and used in some furnaces. Several furnaces on the market are designed to burn waste oil. Commercially manufactured B100 has an additive that keeps it liquid at low temperatures, which recycled vegetable doesn't contain, so do your research - and check again with your furnace servicer - before you attempt burning used vegetable oil.

We're facing a new world with lots of challenges in terms of how to heat our homes, especially in colder winter climates. Luckily there are technologies like wood gasification and biodeisel, available today which can help us move away from our decades-old dependence on fossil fuels.

Water ionizers counters the effects of Urbanization

This article is designed to show why the water we're drinking is bad for us, since it is highly unlikely that the urban water filters that are in place can filter out all of the little contaminants that are present in the water. Those contaminants are listed as part of the effects of urbanization on our water.

These contaminants will acidify the water once they begin to decompose and therefore you will end up drinking acidic water which pushes your already high level of acidity even higher. All of these industrial pollutants, caused by the industrial traffic can be filtered out by water ionizers and leave you with pure water to cleanse your body with.

Waterborne pathogens

Waterborne pathogens can be disease-inducing protozoans, viruses or bacteria that are absorbed by a person when they drink unprocessed or insufficiently treated water. There are two main protozoans which are receiving media coverage lately and they are Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Consumption of those can result in grievous problems within the digestive system, which could possibly be life-threatening for those people who are either very young or very old or those with impaired immune systems.

A large number of cities regularly examine urban streams to determine the level of certain bacteria within them, which have similar origins to the waterborne pathogens, although they are not detrimental. The sources are waste from humans or animals. The nontoxic bacteria therefore perform the role of indicators to alert the monitors of the likely occurrence of other bacteria that are unsafe. The water coming out of wastewater treatment plants which has been treated is also screened for these bacteria. Additionally, in some larger cities additional testing of drinking water has started.

Heavy Metals

The deposits of various toxic metals have a tendency to accrue within the food chain and they can damage living organisms. Previously, the majority of toxic metal pollution originated from mining activities and individual sources, for instance wastewater-treatment plants and smoke-stack emissions. However, Federal and State regulations have resulted in the lowering of the level of toxic metal issuing from these sources. However metals have a predisposition to affix themselves to sediment and dirt, and therefore they are still ever-present within the banks and of beds many urban streams.

Pesticides

Pesticides are substances, either chemical or biological in nature, projected to manage pests, such as algae, insects, bacteria and weeds. Pesticides are used a great deal on arable land, but inside urban areas, it is mainly used on residential and commercial properties. However when storms hit, the rains runoff from both yards and roadsides and carry dangerous pesticides into local streams, where they may injure aquatic life and enter drinking-water supply intakes.

The results show that pesticides are prevalent within streams and ground water sampled within agricultural and urban areas of the Nation. As anticipated, the substances that have been heavily utilized are the substances that are discovered most often. They occur in geographic and regular patterns that mostly match the allocation of land use and the associated use of pesticide. The rate of recurrence of pesticide contamination, however, is far greater than predicted. At the very least one pesticide was found in almost every sample of water and fish composed from streams and in about one-half of all wells sampled. In addition the individual substances were rarely found alone, the majority of the fish samples from streams and about half of all samples from wells with a measurable pesticide contained two and sometimes more pesticides.

If you use water ionizers you will receive the pure alkaline water that your body really needs. The ionizer will counteract all the impurities that have been put in the water during the course of urbanization. The ionizer as a tool to counteract the affect of urbanization on our water has become more and more essential as time has passed and the condition of our water has decreased.

Water ionizers help us to counteract the effects of urbanization on us and especially on our water. These appliances will help us to cleanse and purify the bodies that have been badly affected by the process of urbanization, mostly due to the deterioration in the state of our water. The switch to ionized water from plain tap water is becoming increasingly necessary if we are to live healthy lives in this urban age.

All water ionizer information has been researched and written by Juliette Pickup.
Quality Water Ionizers

10 Tips for a Greener Christmas

Don’t give gifts or cards, that’ll help the environment, but it could also make you unpopular, so perhaps not. Instead there are a whole load of things that can be done in the name of reducing waste, resource and electricity use, that don’t make you look like Ebenezer Scrooge.

Here’s our top ten favourites:

1. Cut up old Christmas cards to create gift tags, or recycle them after Christmas

2. Decorate your house using ethical or fair-traded decorations and raid the garden or those of friends for fresh plants or flowers to create a Christmas bouquet.

3. Get a Wollemi Pine for your Christmas tree and plant outside or look after it in its pot to use again next year.

4. Select cards made from 100% recycled paper or even better send e-cards, or create your own greeting and email it out.

5. Buy presents made from recycled, renewable or ethically produced materials and with minimal packaging.

6. Use newspapers or reuse wrapping paper to wrap gifts and reduce waste, or go for wrapping paper which made of recycled paper and which has a low impact on the environment.

7. Remember less is more, if buying for kids, buy fewer better quality presents that will last, rather than lots of cheap disposable presents.

8. Purchase services rather than products. How about a massage gift voucher, tickets to an event or alike instead of another Christmas jumper?

9. If you have bought or received a gift that requires batteries invest in some rechargeable ones, they will save money in the long run and the environment.

10. When picking up the food for your Christmas BBQ or turkey roast, select produce which grown locally to reduce food miles, and go for organic and fair-trade if possible. Don’t forget to take the reusable shopping bags. Most importantly of all make sure you relax and enjoy the Christmas break! Discover more great tips about sustainable living, renewable energy and ways to reduce your carbon footprint .