Today I am going to urge your to monitor your energy use daily.  It is something that I currently am not doing, but I am going to implement it.  If our local utilities and Google get it together soon enough, this will be something you can someday do for free  with Google Power Meter.  For now though there are a lot of products on the market that can help you do this and they should definitely pay for themselves in the time it will take for power meter to be up and running.

There is a new webstore out there called Energy Circle where the staff are users of the products and where if you are not satisfied with the products you buy, you can send them back.  It’s pretty cool and for Earth Day this year they have hacked an energy monitoring device so that you can have a voyeuristic view into their own homes Energy Use.  It’s pretty interesting to watch and it is what really made me want to add this to my own home. I am almost afraid to know where I am wasting energy because I like to think that I am doing a pretty good job of conserving it.  However, I know that the truth is that I can do better.

Well, have a good day this Earth Day and whatever you do, have fun doing it.

There is a new trend in the world and it is an exciting trend to me.  People are growing their own vegetables again!  From the die hard gardeners to the White House and everywhere in between American’s are picking up their shovels and their rakes and growing again!

It isn’t so new to me since I have had a garden everywhere I ever lived, but to many they are hearkening back to something their grandma did or perhaps, great grandma did.  Many don’t know where to start or what to do and that is where folks like Salt Lake City’s D&L Urban Farms come in. 

D&L Urban Farms is a new thing for us here in Salt Lake City and they are filling a niche that has been filled in other major cities recently.  That niche helps people who want to garden, but don’t know how, get started.  D&L Urban Farms designs, builds, and manages edible gardens which are tailored to each client’s needs and available  space. Whether you live in a single-family home with a big backyard or in a studio apartment with only a balcony, D&L Urban Farms can help you grow your own vegetables and herbs.

Maybe you know what to do, but want to.  Perhaps you have the gumption, but not the time.  D&L is also there for you.  You can design it, lay it out and they can manage it.

“Our mission is: To provide our clients with a sustainable, organic, and local food source,” says Mike Lewis, co-owner and founder of D&L Urban Farms.

Prices are varied based on needs, space, plants and maintenance requirements and can vary greatly.  D&L will come out take a look at what you have and provide you a bid.

If you want more information, please feel free to contact D&L directly. If you live outside of Salt Lake City, check in your local area.  These places are springing up everywhere.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

With Toshiba’s new (currently in development) OLED (organic electroluminscence) Wallpaper, a TV or light fixture coming from your wallpaper may be a reality sooner or later.

The technology itself is adding a green dimension to things that typically would not be considered very green. It is doing so with fewer raw materials used and significantly reduced energy use.  Also eliminating the need for additional space for lamps and televisions could reduce the amount of space we need for living.  Of course we could do that by eliminating TV from our lives.

From the Telegraph article:

The problem that the scientists have had to overcome is increasing the efficiency of existing OLED devices, such as televisions that use the reduced-energy material. To achieve that, the wallpaper uses light that has been redirected by an ultra-fine grating that is fabricated by self-assembled nano particles, said Kaori Hiraki, a Toshiba spokesman.

Another key advantage, the company points out, is that OLED uses a fraction of the energy required for an LCD or plasma television.

The project – which would also enable walls to simply provide light, doing away with the need for traditional lighting – is one of the key areas of research for the nanotechnology department at Toshiba and was first announced at the Yokohama Flat Panel Display International event last year.

Despite the breakthrough, Toshiba said that its television wallpaper project is still in the research stages and is several years away from commercial production.

Source:  Telegraph.co.uk via inhabitat

Thinkbaby is another one of those companies that I just stumbled upon at the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market and I am very glad I did.

Sitting at the booth was company founder Kevin Brodwick and we had a very good conversation about his products.  Kevin got his start when he was working in a lab where he was testing products for estrogenic activity caused by chemicals like Bisphenol-a (BPA) and every test result was telling him that something needed to be done.  So, Kevin set about trying to convince bottle manufacturers to change their formulas to no avail.  No one would listen and no one was willing to do anything.  So kevin decided to go about it on his own and Thinkbaby Bottles were created.

At thinkbaby, our approach to creating safer products is simple – We are parents and share your concerns. Just like you, we believe that our children deserve the very best and our mission is to deliver products that will exceed the highest expectations. We set the bar high and refuse to compromise our high standards.

Our team spared no expense creating the thinkbaby bottle and we couldn’t be more pleased with the result. We worked around the clock, consulted with experts around the world, and tested and tested and tested some more. Our mission is directly inspired by those little hands that wrap around our baby bottles. The health and safety of your children and ours isn’t just a powerful source of motivation at thinkbaby, it is something we consider a responsibility.

We our proud to offer our safe and healthy line of products and excited about new products we are developing for both you and your baby. Your purchase is directly contributing to research and development of new products. thinkbaby also actively supports projects that promote a safer, healthier environment. A portion of your purchase benefits the nonprofit organization, Healthy Child Healthy World.

Thinkbaby has expanded their product line over time to include sports bottles by Thinksport which are made of stainless steel and insulated to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold without freezing or burning your hands and their newest product line is a baby feeding set that is made from stainless steel, is quite substantial and I like it a lot.  All of their products are top quality , well made and should last a lifetime, if not more.

I look forward to bringing you more from Thinkbaby and in the meantime it appears that all Thinkbaby products are available at Amazon.com, so jump over and check them out.

I have been blogging now for just about two years, but what you see as EcoZebra today started as a real estate blog on Active Rain and didn’t go where it is now until summer of last year.  You see, I want to talk about so much more than real estate and I could only do that by no longer being a real estate blog.

In 2009 I have a lot of plans for the Zebra.

As you know, if you read the blog, I am a stay at home/work from home dad.  Something that started last May.  So I am going to take the blog in that direction a little more.  We are doing everything as organically as possible for our little man, from the paint on the walls to making most of his food ourselves.  So I am going to share much more along those lines.  We’ll cover the trials and tribulations along with the products we find along the way.

I garden organically as well and you are going to see more on that as I have joined a local gardening group and have some trials and tribulations with my own little urban farm that I want to share. One exciting thing is that I may be inheriting some chickens from neighbors who are moving and I haven’t raised chickens since I was a child.  This is going to be fun!

Home improvement is always a big thing when you live a 100 year old house, so I will continue talking about all the things we do to green our existing home and the products that we use to do it. That along with my love for modern architecture will keep me posting on the interesting things we see all over the web and at sites like Jetson Green.  That means that I will keep the consolidation of interesting things coming.  Something that has been pretty much our focus since the beginning, but will now just be one of the many things we post on.  I am a Realtor as well, so I will post on Real Estate occasionally.  At least when it applies to the world or green.

Press passes are also something I discovered this last year.  My blog qualifies me for press passes to trade shows and events.   I am going to use this to cover upcoming products from green retailers or retailers going green.  It is a great way to spread first hand news on products coming to or already on the market!  The first show this year was supposed to be CES, but a family issue kept me from attending after all, so the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market will be the first show I cover this year.

We will have new writers in 2009!  I have signed on two contributors at this point and would like to add more, so watch out for posts from them.  If you are reading this and you want to write for us, please feel free to contact me and let me know.   At this point, your writing would be for free, but eventually I will be working out a payment plan for writers and those who come first will get some sort of profit sharing plan.  We just don’t have much of income at this point and barely cover our hosting expense right now.  However, I expect that to change with what we are doing next.

Opening an online store! The EcoZebra Store is in development right now, but will be opening soon.  Products will include everything from cleaning supplies to groceries, toys to gardening tools and more.  All organic, natural, sustainable and educational.  Revenue from the store will be used to pay for this blog, keep my kid out of daycare and pay our writers.  In the meantime, please use the Amazon link in the right sidebar.  I call it the keep the blog going, the writers paid and the kid out of daycare fund.

So that’s it.  2009 and the Zebra in a nutshell.  I am excited about making this a wonderful year!

After being manufactured each pot is painted by urban artists which gives you a myriad of colors and styles to choose from.

Photo: Terracycle

Environmental Benefit:	These pots are made from100% e-waste (such as crushed computers and fax machines) that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill.
Social Benefit:	These pots are painted by inner city artists. Each pot is unique and individual. To learn more about TerraCycle’s graffiti culture check out Graffiti Jam
Sizes:	At this point only 8″ pots are available. Stay tuned for more sizes.

For those who who needed one more excuse to bike to work, now you don’t have to worry about keeping your gadgets charged without a lighter socket. Deco Goodman has found a way to generate power from your seat posts and your brakes. Effectively taking those bumpy roads and traffic lights and turning them into energy generating systems.

First there is the seat post generation. Mounted to the post this invention will generate power from the piston like action of the seat post as you go every bump.

Then comes the generator from the rear wheel where you generate even more energy with the rotation of your tires. Last, the energy you generate from braking creates even more power that is captured.

All of this power generation then handily powers your lights and charges your gadgets. Creating a safe ride and continuous iPod and cell phone use throughout your journey.

Of course everyone rides safely and no one rides and listens to the iPod. RIght?!?

All of this positive energy may also keep riders from running red lights and stop signs even. Why waste an opportunity to generate more power from your brakes?

Source: Deco Goodman

How it works is very simple:

As warm/hot drain water flows down the vertical heat exchanger it clings to the surface of the inner section forming a very thin film of water. This thin water film allows for ultra-high heat transfer. Heat that was normally wasted now instead is rapidly absorbed by cold water flowing through the outer section.

The preheated freshwater exiting the heat exchanger then proceeds to the conventional water heater. This preheating of the water before it enters the water heater substantially reduces the energy/fuel used by any water heating system. Re-Therm focuses on the many benefits of this system, with just a few of them being that it recovers up to 30% of the heat that would have previously just gone down the drain, it requires no power to operate and will last 40 years or more. You can get more information on this product at the Re-Therm website by clicking this link.

This is a very simple to install technology and I will definitely be considering it for my home since with a plumbing system that is over 60 years old, I will be re-working things soon anyway. If I were building a new home it would absolutely become part of my plans.

Source: ReTherm

So what is so great about TerraCycle? The products are made from garbage, packaged in garbage and shipped in garbage. The products re-use waste that would otherwise clog our landfills and to top it all off, you can collect the garbage through your schools, groups, or charitable organizations and GET PAID to send that garbage to TerraCycle.

So what does TerraCycle do with all of this garbage? They take it from the landfill and turn it into useable everyday products. Products like the fertilizer I mentioned above and more. Backpacks, pens, notebooks, cleaners, firelogs, shopping bags and more!

If you want to know where to purchase their products in your area click here for a store in your area or here to purchase them online.

Image: Terracycle

According to the site the entries will be judged by the greatest (they say at least) thinkers of the 21st century! A panel made up of designers, architects, philosophers, scientists, economists, actors, activists, environmentalist, and entrepreneurs.

The finalists will be flown to New York City to attend the awards gala held on December 8th, 2008. You know what that means, no procrastinating. If you have a good idea, then get started!