2007 - GreenDream - The Art of Green Living

Green Living columns are published bi-weekly in the Las Vegas Review Journal, appearing every other Thursday in the Home section. They are written by GreenDream Enterprises president, Steve Rypka. In the list below, the left side has links to the columns and the right side has links to further information relating to each particular column topic. The list is in reverse chronological order.
Green Living Column	Date	Related Information
Consumer? Not! (Click to read column)	12-27-07	Watch “The Story of Stuff” – *Highly recommended*! (20 mins.) Wikipedia, “person as consumer“ Affluenza, a PBS special Wikipedia, “Affluenza“ Affluenza.org and their “Home & Family” page Student project against consumerism Dictionary definition of “consume“ Search the Clark County Library for a copy of Affluenza See how “consumers” are made by altering our perception of beauty:
The Commons / Environmental Footprint (Click to read column)	12-13-07	Calculate your Environmental Footprint with the Ecological Footprint Quiz Tragedy of the Commons essay by Garrett Hardin, 1968 More thoughts on the Tragedy of the Commons Ecological Footprint according to Wikipedia Article about the footprint of 300 million people in the U.S. Info on the idea of a Steady State Economy A small part of our environmental footprint is the tremendous impact on the Colorado River Delta.
Home Improvement (Click to read column)	11-29-07	Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The IPCC Report: The New World War Two, World Changing Economic Analysis of Nevada’s Future Electricity-Generating Alternatives, EcoNorthwest (PDF) (This is the MUST READ report!) Emissions Growth Must End in 7 Years, U.N. Warns, Report Lays Out Stark Choices to Avoid the Deaths of Species World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity
Passive Solar (Click to read column)	11-15-07	Passive Solar Energy Book by Edward Mazria (an excellent reference on the topic) The Return of the Solar Cat Book by Jim Augustyn Passive Solar Design, NM Solar Energy Association The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling by Daniel Chiras History of Passive Solar Design, CA Solar Energy Center Passive Solar Design for the Home, NREL (PDF)
Green Schools (Click to read column)	11-1-07	Build Green Schools – Get the facts and learn how you can make the case to build green schools. Case Study: Fossil Ridge High School with $0 additional cost for LEED. (PDF) Greening America’s Schools: Costs and Benefits by Gregory Kats (PDF) U.S. Green Building Council – LEED for Schools Time Magazine article on Green Schools EPA’s site on High Performance Schools Article: Green Schools Offer Healthier Classrooms Hear it from the kids themselves:
Personal Care Products (Click to read column)	10-18-07	Not Just a Pretty Face, a new book by Stacy Malkan on the dangers of personal care product toxicity I’ll Have My Cosmetics With a Side of Infertility, Please – Interview with Stacy Malkan Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Skin Deep – Cosmetics Safety Database: A safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products Toxic Ingredients in Cosmetics and Skin Care Products Fragrance Info, Fragrance Inhalation: Environmental Health Network Twenty Most Common Chemicals Found in Thirty-One Fragrance Products Organic Labeling article in USA Today What’s Hiding in your Bathroom? – Toxic-Free Skin Care Solutions
Poking the Beast (Click to read column)	10-6-07	Transitioning to a Renewable Energy Future, International Solar Energy Society white paper by Donald W. Aitken, Ph.D. Information on additional lectures at UNLV School of Architecture 2030 Challenge, Ed Mazria’s excellent work American Solar Energy Society’s excellent publication, Tackling Climate Change in the U.S. The Science of Abrupt Climate Change: Should we be worried? by Dr. Jeffrey M. Masters Chief Meteorologist, The Weather Underground, Inc. (Good summary on abrupt climate change.) Read the reviews for Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future by Peter D. Ward, Ph.D. (This is not recommended as a primer on the topic of climate change.)
11th Hour (Click to read column)	9-22-07	The 11th Hour – film’s official web site with trailer 11th Hour Action – supporting web site with lots of information and ideas on what we can do Internet Movie Database listing for 11th Hour Wikipedia listing for 11th Hour More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes Leonardo DiCaprio’s Eco Site Vanity Fair article including some good quotes from the film
Green Weddings (Click to read column)	9-8-07	Hottest wedding trend is going green: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something … green Green Weddings Tread Lightly On Earth, article Vibrant, green wedding planners WedShare.com, wedding communications Green Weddings & Events , green event planners GreenEleganceWeddings, green wedding planners Great Green Weddings, green wedding planners
Peak Oil is Here (Click to read column)	8-25-07	The Oil Drum Petroleum Products Consumption, EIA GAO Peak Oil Report Provides Urgent Call to Action: U.S. Vulnerable and the Government Unprepared for Unacceptably High Risks of Oil Supply Shock (PDF) Hubbert’s Peak: The Coming Global Oil Crisis The Community Solution Peak Oil Primer Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas Post Carbon Institute Richard Heinberg, a foremost Peak Oil educator Richard Heinberg’s book: The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies Richard Heinberg’s book: Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World Calculations used in this column (PDF)
Green Happenings! (Click to read column)	8-11-07	Reid Has Plan to Leave Coal in the Dust U.S. House shifts $16 bln toward renewable energy House OKs clean-energy legislation LEED for Neighborhood Development Union Park and City of LV Union Park Info Pulte’s Reverence community of 1,200 green homes 2007 Inaugural Energy Symposium at UNLV Crinis – Nevada Renewable Energy Leadership Award banquet GreenNV – Green Building Expo and Renewable Energy Summit Southern Nevada Solar Home Tour
Fun, Efficient Showers (Click to read column)	7-28-07	Oxygenics Showerhead Residential Water Conservation: Showerheads Flex Your Power: Showerheads NPR report: Extra Shower Time Adds Up to Extra Energy Use U.S. News & World Report: Sin City’s Continuous Flow Residential Water Use Summary
Green Update for NV (Click to read column)	7-14-07	Live Earth – Find out what you can do Sierra Club’s Cool Cities and 2% Solution campaigns Nevada Conservation League and the Heat is On campaign Nevada SB437 Energy Bill (PDF) NV Power Rebates, Sierra Pacific Rebates Nevada Solar One plant near Boulder City & NPR report LEED certified projects in Nevada The Enchantment Way – Green residential project & article Vegas Rock – Cradle to Cradle mining HybridCars.com – More of them all the time
A Pain in the Gas (Click to read column)	6-30-07	Southwest Gas 2003 Annual Report (PDF)(“Energy efficiency” only mentioned as cause of lower profits, page 27.) Southwest Gas 2004 Annual Report (PDF) (Same as above, page 33.) Southwest Gas 2005 Annual Report (PDF) (No mention of energy efficiency, but tiki torches made it twice.) High Noon for Natural Gas: The New Energy Crisis by Julian Darley US: Demand outpaces gas production, Energy Bulletin Energy Efficiency & Natural Gas Natural Gas Tips, Alliance to Save Energy NRDC on Natural Gas Example: Vermont Gas – Effieciency Programs
Water & Energy (Click to read column)	6-16-07	Water Rebate Program – SNWA Energy Rebate Programs – NV Power Conservation Page Drought Alert – Las Vegas Valley Water District Water in the American West – 10 Things You Can Do Coal Plants and Water Use – Union of Concern Scientists Water Quality Issues of Electricity Production EPA’s Water Sense: Efficiency Made Easy U.S. Geological Survey – Thermoelectric-power water use Consumptive Water Use for U.S. Power Production – National Renewable Energy Laboratory (PDF)
How Cool to Carpool (Click to read column)	6-2-07	Regional Transportation Commission’s Carpooling Info Join the RTC’s Club Ride program Nevada Carpool Center at eRideShare.com CarPoolWorld.com See what Wikipedia has to say about Carpools 10 Tips for Successful Carpooling LV Sun article on hybrid vehicles in carpool lanes
Tsunami of Change (Click to read column)	5-19-07	EPA’s Energy Star Program Alliance to Save Energy Nevada Power Home Energy Conservation Rebate Programs Nevada Power Energy Conservation Tips Home Energy Saver – Energy Audit Tool The Power is in Your Hands Department of Energy – Energy Savers The 6 Degree Challenge Senator John Edwards on the Future of Coal Plants (video)
Read All About It! (Click to read column)	5-5-07	Read the Reviews: The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery Heat by George Monbiot Big Coal by Jeff Goodell The Solar Economy by Hermann Scheer
Earth Day 2007 (Click to read column)	4-21-07	Pew Center on Global Climate Change Carbon Blindness – Interesting dialogue on the issues. Words of Power blog with impacts from around the world. Earth Day on Wikipedia The Nation: “Why We Can’t Wait” by James Hansen Peak Oil Primer Be the Change
Precautionary Principle (Click to read column)	4-7-07	Precautionary Principle – Science and Environmental Health Network TakingPrecaution.org – Excellent site with info on how San Francisco adopted the Precautionary Principle The Precautionary Principle is Science-based – UK site looks at a few of the many examples where scientific evidence has made a compelling case for the application of the precautionary principle. Climate Change Brings Us an Uncomplicated Choice – “The economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment.” An Ounce of Precaution – Essay by Donella Meadows Wikipedia’s defintion with some arguments both pro and con.
Springs Preserve (Click to read column)	3-24-07	Springs Preserve web site – an exploratory adventure. Web Cam at the Springs Preserve Las Vegas Valley Water District Springs Preserve on Wikipedia Article in the Business Press Article in LV Life
Those (not so) Hidden Costs (Click to read column)	3-10-07	Carbon Negative – How to think differently about climate Subsidizing Climate Change – By offering price breaks for oil use, energy generation by coal-fired power plants, and airlines, humans are in effect spending much-needed money on our own destruction Comparison – How Do Costs Compare between Renewable and Traditional Energy Sources? Precautionary Principle – It’s Way Past Time to Wake Up Coal Subsidies – Taxpayers for Common Sense Oil & Gas Subsidies – Taxpayers for Common Sense
Unchecked Growth or All Grown Up? (Click to read column)	2-24-07	Sin City Goes Dry, National Audubon Society Robert Glennon’s book Water Follies is an excellent way to learn about the effects of ground water pumping: Water Follies book review 1 Water Follies book review 2 Water Follies book review 3 (read the customer reviews too) Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers and Dennis Meadows, et al. Very good resource on growth issues. Facing the Limits to Growth, excerpt from the book on Alternet (Both books are available in the Clark County Library) PLAN report on water pipeline: Effects and alternatives Water in the Urban Southwest (PDF), Western Resource Advocates Desert Wars: Water and the West, Documentary
Promise of Plug-In Hybrid Cars (Click to read column)	2-10-07	Plug-In Partners – National Campaign California Cars Initiative – 100+ MPG Hybrids EDrive Systems Hybrids Plus Hymotion Article on Toyota’s Plug-In Hybrid Plans Toyota Prius
Eating Our Way to a Healthier Planet (Click to read column)	1-27-07	Vegetarian is the New Prius U.N. Food and Agriculture Report, Livestock’s Long Shadow University of Chicago Article Meat Contributes to Climate Change, UN Study Confirms Cow ’emissions’ more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars The Planetary Costs of Eating Meat Fight Global Warming by Going Vegetarian The Food Revolution by John Robbins
Burning Carbon: Our E-Ticket Ride (Click to read column)	1-13-07	Heat: How to Save the Planet from Burning Tackling Climate Change in the U.S.

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