Many people have flags that are worn out and used, but they just don’t know what to do with them. A government approved way to dispose of the flag is to have it burned at an American Legion, Veterans group or boyscout group. If you know how the ceremony goes you can burn it yourself. Another way that is not as well known is to recycle the flag so that new one’s can be made from the old.

Back when burning a worn out flag was approved, flags were made of Cotton, today they are made of nylon that can harm the environment when burned. Nylon is also a petroleum product, so not only are we harming the environment, but we are increasing our dependency on foreign oil because we need the oil to make more flags. If we recycle used flags we cut down on this need for oil and reduce the demand for it.

Recycling flags is easy, again you contact the same groups as you would if you wanted to burn the flag, but you have to mark your flag’s header with the word RECYCLE. I would call ahead to the group of your choice and make sure that they are involved in the recycling part of this program. Many are still not. You can also check with your local recycling company to find out if they are involved in this.

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Maybe this is why I was kept up bored and trying to find something to do. It’s Monday, at least for another hour on the east coast. This also means that it’s going green Monday. Today I’m going to share something personal with you. My quest to help the environment and the US economy.

The first thing I did was buy a car that got good gas mileage, the next was to make sure the car ran well and the tire pressure was good. Then I started to think of other things I could do. One was to take classes online this summer so I’m not driving much at all. I work from home so it’s all good. The next was thinking of next year and that was when I decided I needed to move. I’m not only wasting my money on gas, but all of that gas use is polluting the environment. Now I know not everyone can move, but I can so I should.

The next thing I want to do is get a laptop and a solar powered charger for that laptop. I know they have them, I’m just not sure where. I’ll find them eventually. So here is my question. What are you doing to go green?

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One thing that I have always wanted to put into a home I will eventually own is a tankless water heater. There are many good reasons to use one, they heat water fast so you don’t have to wait for it. Also you never run out of hot water. It’s also nice because a tankless water heater can save you cash too. The energy used to run a tankless heater is much less then is used to run a regular water heater. Instead of energy used to heat gallons of water several times a day you only need to heat what you are going to use that minute.

This helps not only you get ready for your day quicker, but lowers the emissions from our energy use. It also will help lower your electric or heating bill depending on what type of energy you use to heat your water. Example, my mom has propane, she has no choice unless she switches to electric. So if she installed a tankless heater she could save hundreds of dollars off her propane bill. Now thats a nice idea.

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Happy Earth day everyone! Today I have a great list of websites you can check out to find more information on global warming and the history of earth day. I also have a great site where you can help save the rain forest for free. Thats right you don’t have to spend a dime. What do you have to do? Well just click the picture under this paragraph and thats it. You can also come back here every day and do it or bookmark the site and visit on your own.

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Radiant glass was a product I did some research on for my interior design blog. I decided that the product was so environmentally friendly that I had to share it on this blog for going green Monday. Radiant Glass is glass that has be manufactured with an electric current going though it. The power that is run is the equivalent of running two light bulbs and in most cases a few pains of this glass will heat or cool your entire home year around.

Radiant Glass Industries makes this product and it really works well. Many users have claimed that they almost never run their heater and instead of feeling hot or cold next to a window it’s usually the best place to be. The glass is also fog resistant so that you can see out of it year around also. A great addition to any home that has an amazing view.

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The following is a paper I wrote for a class. I found the information interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Ethanol is said to be the answer to all of our gasoline needs, it burns cleaner then gas and we wouldn’t be relying on foreign oil. Corn is also an abundant source in the United States and therefore we should be able to make enough ethanol and for everyone to run their cars on and maybe even to export. The problem is that using corn to make ethanol is a huge problem not only are there environmental impacts but there is not enough corn to make ethanol for everyone and still be able to feed the people of the United States and other countries. The energy used to make ethanol is more than oil produced gasoline and it’s only somewhat cleaner. Does that mean that we should not use ethanol, no it does not. It would still reduce our dependency on foreign oil and is still a little better for the environment.

Corn based ethanol is produced by using all the modern farming techniques; they have to grow the corn and use pesticides and other chemicals that are harmful to the environment. They also use more fossil fuels to produce the ethanol. Even after everything is said and done it would take 3 gallons of ethanol to produce 4 gallons for consumer use. That is not a very efficient way to produce anything and using the ethanol would require farmers to buy all new machinery that will run on ethanol.

There is still hope, there are many other products that can be used to produce ethanol. Corn stalks are one of these things, yes it would still require growing corn, but the corn itself would be for food, this would help the price of food made from corn go down and it would help the economy. The stalks would then be sold for ethanol use. Type of non food plant that could be used are poplar trees and switch grass a cheap and easy grass to grow. The last product that I am going to mention is sugar beats. There are many farms that already grow sugar beats for sugar production, these farms could also grow them for ethanol since sugar cane is a better way to produce sugar. All of these non food plants have a cellulose base that can be converted into ethanol.

There are still many difficulties in getting ethanol from these sources. The process is more time consuming.The fermentation process requires more advanced technology and the process is more costly then corn based ethanol. Research is now being done to find a cheaper and better way to take the cellulose out of these non food plants for use in ethanol production. With time and research we should soon be able to produce ethanol with these plants. The benefits of doing it this way are numerous. The main one being that the process is more efficient, it can produce 4 to 6 times the energy used to produce it and it would not take away from our food supply.

Ethanol is not the replacement for foreign oil. When we do get the technology to produce ethanol from non food products we still would only be able to cover 30% of our oil use. Still this is a good number and could help in combination with many other types of renewable energy.

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Concrete flooring no longer has that dull effect that reminds you of a grocery store, warehouse or a parking structure. Concrete flooring has come a long way. Now you can get concrete in a variety of finishes and colors. It can be made to look like stone, brick or any other strange creation you can come up with.

You can also die it any color so if you like blue with pink and purple stripes for your living room floor concrete may be something for you. I personal like how it can change with a room in a way that will bring them together in a great flowing way.

The best part about using concrete for flooring and other things in your home is that it is great for the environment. Here are some statistics taken from concreatenetwork.com

 This is something that can be helped, with the use of concrete to build your home and your floors you can help keep more trees from being cut down for home use.

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