(by Trey Granger of Earth 911) – Over the past three weeks, we have spoken with waste officials in more than 40 states while compiling Earth911’s Christmas tree recycling directory, and we noticed some reoccurring trends.
As you get ready to “undeck” the halls, here are a few helpful tips to guarantee your Christmas tree doesn’t end up in a landfill. Considering the EPA estimates 20 percent of our municipal solid waste is already organic, it’s worth the time to properly dispose of your tree.
http://earth911.com/blog/2009/12/21/5-step-treecycling-guide/
(From Michigan Green) – Energy’s future may have come to light with Exxon Mobil Corp.’s proposed purchase of XTO Energy. If ExxonMobil’s predictions are right, unconventional formations such as shale would provide significantly more of this country’s generation and transportation fuels.
Texas-based XTO, which has the resource equivalent of 45 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, shale oil and coal-bed methane, might be the perfect fit for ExxonMobil — or any deep-pocketed oil partner, for that matter. Indeed, Big Oil has made huge profits from high-priced gasoline in recent years and that money must get reinvested. By betting on natural gas, ExxonMobil is saying that fossil fuels will remain paramount but that tighter air quality restrictions are coming; natural gas emits far fewer emissions than either oil or coal.
“This is not a near-term decision; this is about the next 10, 20, 30 years,” says Rex W. Tillerson, Exxon Mobil Corp.’s chief executive, in a conference call. “We think there will be significant demand for natural gas in the future.”
The $31 billion deal that also includes the acquisition of $10 billion in XTO debt is expected to conclude in the second quarter of 2010. ExxonMobil’s venture comes atop earlier estimates this year from the Potential Gas Committee that said the country’s natural gas reserves are 35 percent greater than two years ago. Reserve levels now stand at more than 2,000 trillion cubic feet, it says, which is the most they have been in 44 years.
The increase is because of shale, which is a sedimentary rock that is less porous than sandstone where traditional natural gas is found. While explorers have always known that such formations are filled with gas, it has only been in recent years that retrieving those resources has been technologically feasible. With horizontal drilling, producers can move laterally beneath cities and neighborhoods to extract the product.
http://www.michigangreen.org/article690.html
Those last minute Christmas presents you’re thinking about aren’t like this one. A team of Michiganders is manufacturing and selling a solar powered lantern. It can also function as a flashlight. It costs $50 and lasts 10 years. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus has their story.
They’re green and clear plastic, about 8 inches long. They come with a thin solar panel, about 6 inches long. Herman Moffett is packing them in boxes. They’re called K-lights.
“This lantern is changing lives. That’s a good thing. This lantern is changing my life as well. It’s allowed me to be employed. It works out nice on both ends.”
The two ends are the basement of an old furniture warehouse in Grand Rapids where Moffett is working. And the other is East Africa. The K-Light lantern is made and sold there as well as here. Just 1 out of 4 homes in Sub-Saharan Africa has electricity. People walk miles to chop down fragile forests so they can cook and heat and light their homes.
Product pictures and more info can be seen by clicking on the link below.
http:/
/www.michigannow.org/2009/12/23/michigan-made-solar-lamp-sold-here-and-abroad/
