Re-Gain

There is a tremendous opportunity to identify and better manage our hidden resources. Awakening to new uses for our by-products directly recharges our valuable earth. Improved inventories of what we discard will stimulate a greater understanding of new ingenious ways to grow.   Such renewal creates new prosperity since such resource management taps into new energy and materials. Better tracking of resource and material use can provide us with a more holistic approach to “best use” and new enterprises. Preserving our world is a gold mine of new commerce and industry. Over seven billion people now live on this earth.   In the next decades, an additional several billion people are estimated to increase our ranks.   It is imperative we measure, manage and sustain resources for the future uses. Each year Americans use, discard and recycle more than 17.3 billion tons of waste including non-sewage wastewater.   The total volume of non-waste water is 4.9 b...

Understanding the exact context of how things interrelate or where things come from and go provides us greater ecological wisdom. Exploring how things flow on to new forms and uses gives us a greener awakening. Just look how water transform from a cloud, to rain, to water, to ice, back into the air over and over again. There are many phases how an organism or product goes through. All living and non living thing go through a series of stages throughout its life and death. For example our very body composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen eventually returns back into our larger ecological cycle. Life on this planet consists of many cycles revolving around and around. Whether it is the hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, or whatever cycle that occurs understanding how these cycles interrelate are vital to our advancement. For example accounting for materials flows gives us greater understanding our larger life cycles.  Because material ...

Observe Jan 16 and Shout Out for Solar Day! Since the 1970’s I have advocated solar power and worked with the Solar Lobby and other groups. I help build solar homes and much more.   Let’s give the Sun a chance to give us greater energy.    Support giving solar power its investment tax credit (ITC) that expires in 2016.   We give it to coal and oil why not solar? Today, the solar industry employs 143,000 Americans and pumps more than $15 billion a year into the U.S. economy.  This amazing growth is due, in large part, to smart and effective public policies, such as the ITC, Net Energy Metering (NEM) and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).  By any measurement, these policies are paying huge dividends for both the economy and environment.  Despite all of the progress, solar now faces an uncertain future. Please spread the word to encourage all of your colleagues, friends, neighbors, family members, and others to supports solar to give us a “...

As human doings we now must face the challenge to become human beings.   Let’s be truthful about both our blessings and curses to improve our planet's prospects.   We have to speak the same language and agree on a few ley things if we wish to best go forth. Increasing better management and efficiencies increases our quality of life.   Now for us to embark with this intention to wisely act is the tenor of the times.   There are many ways to plant seeds for the future stimulating resource conservation and waste reduction. However there is a risk involved, massive financial experimentation, uncertain results, complex relationships, and an inescapable mandate for improvement. The world economy will eventually face this reality so we best conserve and preserve this place.  Our output and inputs must balance with increased environmental and social considerations on how this Earth’s future welfare is assured.   Creating new business that...

Taxpayers for Common Sense recently cites in “Free Gas”, a real American tragedy (http://www.taxpayer.net/library/article/taxpayers-are-losing-millions-on-natural-gas-extracted-from-federal-land?utm_source=wastebasket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=free-gas).   Let’s agree that wasteful free subsidies for oil and gas companies is not good for this country or this earth.   Why do these profitable corporations pay nothing for over $380 million in royalties on the gas they have extracted over the past eight years on federal land? The gas and oil industry has avoided paying royalties on gas they use as fuel for their drilling rigs is decades old.   Since 1946 our Congress has permanently exempted any natural gas used for fuel on well sites from royalty payments.   How does it make sense that royalty-free fuel for oil and gas companies. Now the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in the Department of Interior, is considering changing these outdated free drill...

When I respect things, no matter if they are natural, human or spiritual, it is a form of thanksgiving.  Showing such reverence, either by conserving or just observing, I directly become interlinked with a profound appreciation of being on this Earth. Counting my blessings becomes a gift that keeps sustaining me. Nothing for me can be more rejuvenating than expressing gratefulness for all the ways this life and its people, and resources has provided me. Just maintaining a state of gratefulness re-energizes me, and moves me to shift my attitude so that I look for the silver lining in every cloud. Instead of looking at things as a curse, I can see them as the blessing they truly are.  This is a peak experience because this brings me in a flow state, since I am in ultimate relationship with all things.  The power of gratitude leads me to a greater sense of purpose, and a richer life. Invoking appreciation gives me ...

Americans have yet to address healthcare efficiency as a priority. Health care reform offers an enormous potential for boasting the economy's prospects. If we can emulate Canada and only spend 11% of GDP on health care we would save $950 billion a year. [1]   In the last five years I have been taking care of all aspects of my Dad’s affairs.     The estimated economic value of unpaid work by some 42 million family caregivers in 2009 was $450 billion according to AARP. ...the total Medicare spending in that same years was $509 billion ...nearly $ 3 trillion was estimated in lost wages, social security benefits, private pension for men over fifty caring for their parents. Met-life estimates roughly $350k for woman and $284K lost for man for a typical fifty -years and over caring for their parents. [2]   Due to being self-employed just a few hours a week has allowed me insight as my father’s advocate.    A large part of my father’s life was...

Recently a friend of mine asked me to talk to another friend about climate change.  Friend X, a highly educated individual does not believe that humans impact our weather.   So my response was three-fold.  First, I would challenge friend X to see what our military has observed in the last few years.  Secondly talk to the other experts where roughly 97% of the scientific community agreed on such a thing in the past.   Finally, let’s see what the insurance and financial industry experts say about this warming.  Several years ago a number of retired generals and security experts presented national-security study. Using the military's risk-assessment practices, 11 retired generals and admirals issued a report saying that climate change creates massive instability around the world. " The impacts of climate change will be huge — deserts move north, coastal areas threatened, the dislocation of people ," said retired Adm. T. Joseph Lopez, who ...