The recession is official today. This is evidenced by the job numbers report. Does the thought of losing our job due to "contracting economy" scare us? Yes, A little bit. But it really scares us working in the financial and mortgage industries. I have been always curious if a thought of rainy day will make us run for cover and I think it does. Our spending habits change when the news from media starts brewing in our minds. Suddenly, the drive to LA for a weekend getaway becomes a little bit less interesting and so, does an evening latte in Starbucks. Many of us begin to adapt to the changing market by "conserving" and that is a good thing. Conserving not only helps us save for a rainy day, it helps the environment as well. There are ample ways to have fun without using gas for long painful drives.

 Going slightly off topic, conservation will also help the economy. If the masses have good amount of savings, it will help build a solid foundation for the country. This helps the economy and well-being of the population. The Big Oil and Big Marts would not be as big though.

And finally a big thanks to the Minimalist for providing helpful editing inputs!

Posted by praneymittal at 11:30 PM PDT

Updated: Saturday, 5 April 2008 6:45 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | View Comments (1) | Permalink

Ecolories does not result in any searches on google and that's why I picked this world. I dont consider myself qualified enough to coin new words but this word seems to convey the message best. Being environment friendly is a way of life. Conservation is more so a move forward. I compare this very much to a person on diet. The person watches calories and carbs and has a natural tendency of turning food bottles and cans and reading the food value. A conservation freak is a person playing the same tune, only difference being that wherever this person sees wastage and excess, he/she measures it is ecolories. The lesser the number of ecolories, the lesser the wastage. For example, a person commuting to work in a Chevy Tahoe is gaining ecolories much faster than the person who is say, driving a hybrid or even better, not driving in the worst traffic hours.

So, how many ecolories did you gain today? Can you count? Yes, that to-go lunch pack came with a lot of plastic, you gained a few ecolories there. Oh, and that can of coke that went into the regular bin instead of recycle bin got you some. The water bottles also pile them fast. ... Think ... and post more examples.

Posted by praneymittal at 5:58 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

This is an interesting thought as we never think that we will ever be short of food grains. But we are in an interesting situation where Detroit life saver Ethanol is stealing your bread. Today, pressure on detroit to develop alternative clean energy has Auto industry hawks eyeing your food plate. The competition for Corn and Wheat is more than ever. Lets see who needs wheat and Corn -

1. Variety of foods - Breads, Flour etc. for humans

2. Beer (For some, it should be number 1) and some other Alcohols

3. Livestock is fed on these grains and is used further up in the foodchain by humans

4. Detroit Automakers who would like to divert wheat and corn production to Ethanol production.

The prices of wheat and corn have been going up because of the lesser production of wheat and more demand for ethanol production which is further leading to increases in prices of livestock based food items as well. I am wondering if this is really green to derive the alternative fuels from human food supply. Ethanol is especially bad as it takes more energy to produce than it has.

I think it is time our policy makers should stop Detroit from going in the direction of Ethanol.

Posted by praneymittal at 10:26 PM PDT

Updated: Wednesday, 2 April 2008 8:19 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

I got some interesting comments on my posts on Digg. A well-qualified gentleman commented as follows -

"The green movement is from the owners of big oil, international bankers like Rockefeller and Rothschilds.
They use the movement to promote social controls on the world, to make us willing slaves.
They empower UN Agenda 21 which is active in the USA today...but we weren't told. Being green isn't about saving the earth, its about controlling the Human beings."

I agree with it in most part. This is interesting as the UN agenda 21 is about bring social awareness and building self sustainable societies. One of the means it suggests is educating the people about environment. I also discovered  a wealth of material on internet which relates it religious beliefs of people, which I found concerning. I dont believe that saving environment is about saving the human beings of any specific religion. It is about saving the planet and making it liveable for all.

Posted by praneymittal at 9:50 PM PDT

Updated: Saturday, 29 March 2008 10:22 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Just when I mentioned the Chevron's contribution (of problems) to the environment. Here is another good article describing the oil companies backing off....

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/OilGiantBacksOffGreenPush.aspx

Posted by praneymittal at 4:22 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

How green is Chevron?

This is the last year's meeting coverage of "Big Oil" Chevron  and describes what "Green" means to Chevron.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/04/25/EDGEBOS8S91.DTL

Posted by praneymittal at 1:09 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

From rice in Peru to miso in Japan, food prices are rising all over the world. I wonder if this is due to food competing with gasolene.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23781864/

Posted by praneymittal at 4:48 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Today onwards, I will be posting a green article everyday on this site. It will mostly be an article of environmental concern which may or may not be linked to human activity. Today's article is about the polar ice caps :

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23695810/wid/18298287/

Posted by praneymittal at 9:46 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Impressed by Letterman's Top 10 lists for gaining popularity, I thought I will come up with my top 10 list of myths about being green. The basis of this list is really just my knowledge and I invite comments from the readers -

10. My car is electric and hence, it is a green vehicle with no emissions - and where did the electricity come from? Not counting the distribution losses in electricity making to your car from the power plant, a lot of coal was burnt, a number of fish were captured behind dams to get the electricity to you.

9. BP's flower logo and green corporate color makes it a green friendly company - you know why it made it to this list better than I do.

8. I drive a Prius, this is best green car to drive - There is no car green enough. Think about the stone age (yes! those bull carts and bikes) for perfect green transportation means. If you are driving a Prius, it is mainly to satisfy your guilt emerging from the shallow knowledge of environment. Think about the lead in the batteries for an answer. 

7. Today is St. Patricks Day, so , it is a polution free day - Of course, if you think everything painted green is environment friendly, you are the type most influenced by green car and big oil ads.

6. Coal Companies, Big Oil and Utility companies are the ones causing the environmental damage - NO it is not them, it is us! They are doing business as usual and managing their profits. You are one buying their stuff and asking for more.

5. I am a green friendly guy, I shouldn't worry about the oceans since they are blue - No comments.

4. Ethanol is the answer to America's green problems - Ethanol takes more energy and emissions to produce. Again, this is an example of fuel that helps you get rid of the guilt from shallow knowledge. This is a reason why our bread prices are going up.

3. I bought Solar Panels, so I am perfectly green - Why do they charge thousands of dollars for the cells ? The production is expensive and it takes fuel to produce those fancy looking greenators. No wonder, most of them never recover their cost in their lifetime. An advantage of buying the ones made in countries across the globe is that it pollutes their air and keeps ours green. But then there are Trade winds.

2. I live in Washington state, so my life is automatically very green - Sure enough, wait until a few years.

1. Let me drive my private Jet, you guys work on the green stuff - You get to live only once

 As I said, reader comments are most welcome. I would like more ideas here.

I also liked this article though I believe that it has been edited to not make certain people unhappy.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/energy-environment-2007/environmental_myths_a1.asp

Posted by praneymittal at 1:21 PM PDT

Updated: Wednesday, 19 March 2008 9:01 PM PDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | View Comments (2) | Permalink