November 2014 - Our Daily Green

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Cleaning your solar panels

Everyone who has solar panels installed at their home or business knows the value of these systems. Solar panels are good for the environment as they limit the reliance on electricity. Not only do the panels reduce your carbon footprint, they reduce your energy costs. While there are numerous benefits to having solar panels, they will need to undergo maintenance periodically. Many people know that they need to repair any broken panels. However, the same level concern is not given to cleaning solar panels. Here are three reasons to hire a solar panel cleaning firm in Brisbane to keep your solar panels in working condition.

Helps Your Solar Panels Last Longer


Businesses and homes schedule solar panel repairs in Brisbane fairly often. Regular maintenance helps you to detect issues before they become expensive, major problems. Having your panels cleaned regularly can prolong the life of your panels. Even though solar panels can last for 20 years, their components need regular cleaning and maintenance. Being negligent in maintaining your panels can cause problems that can affect your entire system.

Helps to Ensure That Your System is Running Properly


During your scheduled cleaning, a CEC solar panel cleaning expert will not only clean and inspect your panels to make sure they are running properly. If your solar panels are not functioning correctly, you could negatively affect your quality of life and experience a decrease in energy efficiency.

Prevent a Void in Your Warranty


Scheduling preventative maintenance for your solar panels is required under Australia Standard AS5033. You are required to have your solar panels inspected regularly or risk voiding your warranty and service provider agreement. Even missing one appointment can void your warranty. Without your warranty, you will be held financially responsible for any repairs to your solar panels. Solar panel repairs can be costly. Why risk the expense if you do not need to so?

When you have your solar panels cleaned, you can expect the company you select to schedule regular cleanings and a yearly audit and inspection. During these inspections, any problems with your solar panels will get fixed and runs properly. Look into solar panel cleaning companies to see if any offer any maintenance packages. These packages will help you save money on cleaning and repair services. Solar Service Guys are known for their repair and cleaning work. They are leaders in solar panel repair and help homes and businesses keep their solar panels in good, operating condition.

We'd like to thank today's sponsor for this valuable information about caring for solar panels. 
To find out more information, visit http://solarserviceguys.com.au/. 

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

GreenHab the Office (infographic)

While you most likely practice recycling and energy saving at home, it’s critical to be an active participant in helping your office reduce its carbon footprint. Cafe Quill has created an infographic entitled “GreenHab the Office”. From starting a recycling program at your office, to smart ways to conserve energy, this infographic has tons of great tips to making your office as green as possible. For instance, did you know that 60-70 percent of all printer cartridges end up in landfills? By starting a printer cartridge recycling program at your office, you could save hundreds of printer cartridges from a slow death in a landfill.

GreenHab Office
Courtesy of: Quill.com


"image source: http://cafe.quill.com/greenhab-office/"

Monday, November 17, 2014

[Giveaway] Junior Explorers Giveaway- New EduTech Program!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

A Free Fruit-for-All (reprint from Otherwords)

Along with the apples, plums, and figs, community orchards yield common dreaming





I got back from the airport just in time for the last half hour of Cider Fest, one of the Bloomington Community Orchard’s large public events.
This publicly owned and volunteer-run organic orchard occupies a single acre. Entering its fifth year, it has become an important part of the Indiana city’s eco-system, to which the over 200 people who attended this year’s Cider Fest are testament.
At this event we mingle apples harvested from the orchard with apples community members bring with them, pouring them into the antique cider press the orchard’s resident beekeeper shares for the day.
There’s face painting and just about every kind of apple-themed baked goods you can imagine.
When I was walking toward the gathering, a child bumped into my leg, looked up at me with his face painted like a cat’s, smiled, and ran off after some other kids — half of them clutching ripe apples in their little hands.
It’s easy enough for me to remember this orchard, with its numerous varieties of 100 or so fruit trees (apples, peaches, pears, plums, paw paw, cherries, jujubes, figs, and more) and equal number of fruit bushes, vines, and flowers, as little more than a flat expanse of mowed grass. A few years ago, it was just a dead zone between a park and the road beyond it.
But the community dreamed of an orchard available for all, where if there were a fence (which there is, for we have deer a’plenty), it would never keep a person out. At this orchard, the beautiful hand-wrought gate has no lock: Everyone’s welcome.
Of course the orchard began — as much as we can say a thing begins — with a young woman thinking about food security, which simply means having regular access to safe, nutritious food.
Many individuals and communities around the world suffer from a lack of food security, for all kinds of reasons. One is an under-utilization of productive, food-growing space. In other words, we need to reconsider where gardens and farms and orchards might exist.
Amy Countryman researched the Indiana city’s urban canopy — its managed trees — to find out how much of it produced food. Less than 2 percent, it turns out. So she suggested we do something about that.
When she approached Bloomington’s forester with her proposal for a free fruit-for-all community orchard from which the harvest would go to whoever needed some, he quickly jumped on board and secured for the project an acre plot of land and some seed money.
Large community meetings followed, committees were formed, and the hard work of building the dream began: remediating the soil, building compost, securing grants, designing the site, selecting trees, and more.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people from the community and beyond pitched in. This diverse crowd earned blisters and sore backs as they sweated through their shirts to help to build their collective dream — to help feed their neighbors. Bloomington being a city (albeit a small one), most folks don’t know all their neighbors.
This common dreaming, in addition to apples and plums and figs, is the real fruit of this orchard. The orchard is a way for us to imagine how to better care for one another. How better to love one another. One kid over there chomps an apple. Another slurps some cider. Who knew the simple joy our labors and our love could make?
Ross Gay is a poet, gardener, and teacher living in Bloomington, Indiana. His books include Bringing the Shovel Down and the forthcoming, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (U Pitt Press, 2015). He works with Split This Rock.Distributed via OtherWords.org

Creative CommonsExcept where otherwise noted, content from Otherwords is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative 3.0 License.




Saturday, November 1, 2014

Storage options for every home

Are you struggling with a general lack of storage space? Are you tired of having things out on your counters because there’s simply nowhere to put them? Even if you live in a small home, you don’t have to accept a cluttered environment. There are ways to get organized and give yourself the extra space you deserve.


  • Purge and Purge Again

Even if you've purged before, there may still be items you can let go of. The simplest and fastest solution is to get rid of the items that you don't love, use or need. As they leave the house, you'll have more space to enjoy.


  • Smart Organizing

Containers, bins and baskets can help you get organized. When you toss all of the small first aid items in one neat bin, then you can easily access everything without having items fall over. Go with plastic bins with lids so that you can stack items and fit more into a small space.


  • Home Value and Storage go Hand in Hand

The best option by far is to turn the problem over to the professionals. Let a contractor take your closets apart and rebuild them with smart storage solutions. They'll provide you with space for hanging clothes, neat shelves for stacked items, and clever drawers for those smaller things. You'll suddenly have more space for your stuff, and you’ll also make your home more appealing to future homebuyers.

If you're tired of struggling with a lack of storage space, you can order here to have your closets transformed. You deserve to have the storage space you need, and it may be closer than you think when you work with the professionals.

Thank you for today's sponsor to help us learn effective and useful ways to practice the first of the three R's, reduce.