Friday, April 11, 2008

The Big Oops

Faced with the reality that the national average cost of gas is about $3.36 cents, it’s tough to not talk about energy costs, gas prices and the like. Earlier this week on April 8, the Alliance to Save Energy issued a statement saying it was urging consumers to help tackle spiraling energy prices by reducing consumption.

That same day Saflex® announced tit would be implementing a price increase of up to 40 percent, effective May 1, on its PVB sheet products to address the rising raw material, energy and transportation costs. You can read the entire release at
www.usgnn.com. Of course, Saflex isn’t the only company that’s had to raise prices. Many have and many will be doing so soon, I’m sure.

But enough about increasing costs … they are here to stay and all we can do is try and save energy—individually or on a global basis. There’s a lot of good that can come from trying to live a greener life, and believe it or not, there are still some people not familiar with “living green.” Just a few weeks ago, in fact, I was explaining it to someone … it’s not that difficult to be green and just because you are doesn’t necessarily make you a tree-hugger. And actually, if we all were a little more earth conscious would it really be so bad?

Some of you have probably heard me talk about my sister, my little tree-hugger, who's beenin California teaching outdoor education since 2002. I’ve learned a lot from her and in many ways I am trying to live more like she does – taking my own bags to the grocery door, turning off lights when I leave a room, recycle … I’ve learned that I can’t do everything to fix the problem; I just do what I can and the more little things we can do the better.

And on another note … we all know no one’s perfect, right? Just this week Max wrote in his blog about the CrystalGrey oops in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I’d also like to share an oops that I saw in a magazine, Country Living, it was (bear in mind, that having been a magazine editor for a good number of years, I pretty much can’t open a magazine [or a book, restaurant menu or newspaper] and not find an oops).

So anyway, I’m reading this great little article about how we can all make our homes more green—50 ways to be exact. And, there it is, right in the middle (or almost), number 22: “Prevent heat loss and gain inside your home by installing double- or triple-glazed windows … you may save more than 30 percent on energy costs by doing so.” Sounds good, right? There’s more. “Look for windows with the EPA’s ENERGY STAR label …” Huh?

The EPA? Last I checked ENERGY STAR was a DOE program. Sounds like the editors at Country Living forgot to do some fact checking. Don’t worry, I’m sending an email to make them aware of their oops.

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