Ed Begley, Jr.

Environment
Healthy Solutions for the Planet!
Tips and F.A.Q.

Transportation
How we get from point A to point B has the biggest impact on our air, water and land. Walk or ride a bike to the market or to go to the bank or video store. Picking up a few small items is not the sort of chore you need a 2,500 pound machine for. It's sort of like using a sledgehammer to pound in a carpet tack. Major overkill. Use public transportation whenever possible.

For the truly dedicated: electric or natural gas vehicles are available at reasonable prices in many parts of the country. For electric car information call (909) 949-7914, or call the Electric Vehicle Association or the Electric Auto Association in your local directory for a listing. For Natural Gas Vehicle information, call the NGV Technology Center at (800)NGV-9440 or call your local gas utility.

Home Energy Use
Chances are, there's a lot of power going to waste in your own home. The easiest thing to start with is lighting. Whenever a light bulb goes out, replace it with a compact fluorescent. They cost more to begin with, but they last nine times as long and they save you a lot of money on your energy bills.

Energy saving thermostats also save a great deal in heating and cooling costs and usually pay for themselves in a few scant months. The savings from them is all money in your pocket.

If you're thinking of replacing an appliance, certainly a large one like a fridge, the newest generation of energy saving models will cut your electric bills substantially. You can get a super-efficient model from the Real Good Catalogue at (800) 762-7325 or from most appliance chains that now offer fairly efficient units as well.

Food
If you're fortunate enough to have a small patch of dirt near your house, plant some seeds and enjoy the truly delicious treats all, or part of the year, depending on where you live. If you live in an apartment, start a community garden, if you can secure a local lot. Or at least grow something in a window box to get a small sense of where food comes from. Most kids today know thousands of brand names by the time they're 8 or 9, but only a half dozen plants - a clear sign of how unaware we've become that dirt is the basis of all true wealth.

Reduce Waste
I've reduced my waste to about a glove compartment's worth of trash a week. It's getting easier to do that in many cities as curbside recycling programs are put into place in nearly every state. Aluminum, newspaper, plastic, and glass recycling are fairly commonplace now. It's the rare community that doesn't have curbside or drop-off centers for these items.

A lot of additional waste is probably paper. If they don't take paper at the curb where you live, look in the Yellow Pages under "Recycling." Chances are, they have a site near where you live that you can also take white paper, colored paper, corrugated and chip cardboard and many other items.

Yard waste is another big component in our daily refuse. Keep it onsite, if you can. Mix it with table scraps (no meat or bones, please), sawdust, wood ashes, etc., and you've got a rich soil amendment for your plants.

PRE-cycling is another effective way to reduce your waste. I really consider packaging when I purchase things and don't buy items that I can't recycle.

Fitness enthusiasts often take supplements, powders and the like. When making purchases of this sort, think "green." The easiest plastic containers to recycle are the ones that have a 1 or a 2 in the center of the recycling triangle logo (usually on the bottom of the container). The 3,4,5 and 6 containers are the more problematic. If you want to know about recycling these or any other items call Californians Against Waste (916) 443-5422.

There are hundreds of other recommendations that one could make on how we might tread more lightly on this planet we call home. The book "50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth" lists them quite nicely, but remember, simplicity is the key. Start with these, and you'll surely have your hands full for a while. 

F.A.Q.'s

"Where did you get that bike that powers your toaster?"

To answer your question, I hooked up my exercise bike to my battery array in 1990 and it’s still working great!

FYI, what made it fairly simple was having a battery array already in place. (I need a good sized battery pack to store power for my solar electric system on my house.) But, you could hook up an exercise room that generates power instead of using it, without having any solar set-up!

Check out: http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm

Or, for a LOT of human powered gadgets, go to: http://www.freeplayenergy.com/products/portable-power/weza

It’s a company that sells the plans for the bike, or a unit fully assembled.

Or: http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedgen.html

Also, the company that makes electric bikes for my show is going to start making exercises bikes real soon! That company is called Izzip, and they can be found on our website at: www.livingwithed.net

Good luck with this!
Ed

"Where did you get that wind turbine on your house?"

For info on wind turbines, check out: http://www.livingwithed.net And look at "PRODUCTS ED USES" on the right. When PacWind scrolls past, click on it. And, keep watching for our show on HGTV. We have more episodes coming!

All the best,
Ed

"Where did you get your artificial grass?"

Just go to:

http://www.aglgrassbykiktavi.com/

Or send and email inquiry to:

office@aglgrassbykiktavi.com

All the best,
Ed

"How do I go about getting solar?"

I’m so glad you want to try solar, but before you do, I want to make sure that you’ve picked the low-hanging fruit first. That is to say, have you already done all the stuff that is cheapest and the most cost-effective?

• Compact fluorescent bulbs
• Energy saving thermostats
• Extra insulation
• Double pane windows (when building new or remodeling)
• Energy efficient refrigerators (when purchasing a new one)

Keep in mind, for every $1 you spend on the conservation measures listed above, you will save $5 on the cost of your solar system. If you still want to try solar (and I hope you do), here are some solar sites that you might find useful:

http://www.findsolar.com

http://www.dsireusa.org

And, check out Real Goods for lots of info on solar panels and wind power. http://www.realgoods.com

AND…If you live in Southern California, I have a great company that does solar installation:

All Valley Solar
6851 Cahuenga Park Trail
L.A., CA 90068 (818) 342-3839

And, some good California energy sites:

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org

http://www.socalgas.com/residential/savemoney

And, thanks for caring!
Ed Begley