I just read this article yesterday. Some of you may have seen it. However, for those who didn't I will summarize it here.

1. Maintaining a constant temperature

Cause: A persistent myth suggests that you can save energy by leaving the house at a set temperature.

Effect: You could miss out on significant potential energy savings by not using a programmable thermostat and adjusting the temperature overnight and during the workday.

Though the impacts of adjusting the thermostat vary based on your climate and other factors, studies show that knocking the temperature down by 10 degrees for eight hours per day can cut heating bills by 5 to 15 percent.

Sure, the furnace will cycle on for a longer period to return to the more comfortable temperature, but it will be far outweighed by hours of savings when it didn't have to work as hard.

2. Cranking up the temperature to warm up the house

This is a myth because the heating unit only has one temperature, it uses time to cycle the overall temperature up to your setting. If your thermostat is in a poor location, too close to a heat source then you have a different problem.

3. Closing off vents in unused rooms

Experts recommend never shutting off more than 10 percent of vents. Sealing your ducts is a more efficient way to save energy, preventing loss in the walls, attic and under the house.

4. Using the fireplace

The problem here is a traditional fireplace. In the traditional arrangement, you have an open fire that vents up the chimney. Because heat rises and fire needs oxygen to burn, the effect is to pull air into the house through any leaking window, crack or vent to feed the fire as the heat is blasted up the flu and out into the outside air.

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There are really two stories here. First, from my headline is the ability to print a car. Note, only the body is printed. You may already know that 3D printing is becoming common place. Currently you can get your hands on one that uses ABS, Syrup, and other materials as the medium. One of the more advanced units I read about recently uses two substances, one of them that will dissolve easily in water so that the finished item can be more complex than the printer would be able to create without temporary supports as part of the print out.

Printing a car with one of these printers is really a neat idea. This allows very quick one-off production of a CAD design without the tedious process of clay modeling. However, I think the artists that do clay modeling will be upset.

The second story here is the lightweight aerodynamic car is estimated at 200 MPG! This kind of efficiency may be better for the environment in the near future than hybrids. Of course, all electric vehicles will likely be the best in the foreseeable future and who knows what comes after that.

To read a bit more on vehicles and understanding the impact of high MPG cars, use the search feature and look for "MPG" or click here.

To read a bit more about the Urbee Blue, follow the related link below.

I know the rains have just started, but in California and other arid locations, droughts are always in the future. We consistently need to plan our water usage, conserving wherever it is convenient and continuing to be frugal with its use.

According to statistics, about 30 percent of all water used by an average household is devoted to outdoor uses. Even more painful is the stat that about 50 percent of all outdoor water goes to waste through evaporation and improper system design.

An easy way to cut down on this waste is lower the requirement of the number 1 water user in the yard, the lawn.

The Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance (TFCA) is trying to reduce domestic water use by identifying new water-sipping, drought-tolerant grass. So far the organization has been able to produce and test several types of Bermuda grasses that retain 70 percent of their green color after two months in summer temperatures without irrigation.

The research has also shown that this new variety of drought-tolerant Kentucky blue grasses could save up to 10,000 gallons of water over a single growing season as compared to some heat-tolerant varieties.

While this research is still young, it is very promising and may be something we want to look at for our future yards.

In a never ending quest to be green, there are things in our daily lives that are beyond our immediate control. Styrofoam seems to sneak into my life no matter what I do. The problem with it is that it does not break down. Once you make it, it's basically here forever. The best way to deal with it is to reuse it so we don't make any more. However, this concern may be changing in the future.

Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University in Ohio have devised a recipe to make biodegradable Styrofoam substitute from milk and clay. According to the researchers, the foam-like material is strong enough for commercial uses and a third of it is biodegraded within a month's time. Different variants of the material can be used in insulation, packaging, furniture and even cushions.

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This is the best kind of bombing. Using a retrofitted C-130, Lockheed Martin Aerospace is able to plant more than 90,000 trees a day! The technology is simple, the bomber drops pointed tree cones in remote areas that bury themselves in the ground at a uniform depth and spacing. The cones contain fertilizer and material that soaks up surrounding moisture to water the roots of the tree.

Note that this project originated in 1999, but has not been implemented. Hopefully with recent changes in environmental focus, it will be given a real opportunity.

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