February 2014 Blog Posts (154)

One of the biggest challenges in my local area is that there is a large population of elderly citizens that do not have the assistance or the resources to obtain substantial and health food. In response to this problem, my community has a very large Meals-on-Wheels program that works to deliver daily meals to those in need.

The closest city I live to is Gainesville. While with some Gainesville residents today, I discussed with them different hurricane disaster issues. When I asked them about how they would prepare to leave in the instance of a hurricane evacuation, they listed off things such as pack up most important personal items, pack up animals and bring other non-replacable items. I found it interesting that they didn't list things like food. When I asked them about what they would need to stock up on in…

In 2020, I will be turning 29 years old and will hopefully be celebrating very differently than I am now in terms of sustainability. By then, I hope that we are using our natural resources more efficiently and maybe my family members will not even use cars to come over to my birthday party. We may be cooking using new and improved methods and all of my birthday presents are going to be more environmentally friendly!

Something I use (or SHOULD use) everyday is a vacuum cleaner in my room and if my vacuum was solar powered I could charge it in the sun and then more easily move it around my room without having to deal with a cord and plugging it in around my room and having to change the outlet that I'm connected to. The only downside would be having to charge my vacuum in the sun but I could create an electronic "charging port" of some sort instead.

I found the amazing website called Stanford Social Innovation Review and have loved reading many stories of empowering leaders. One in particular is Eve Ensler, founder of "V-day" and great activist for women's rights. Her story can be found here: http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/partnering_for_peace_through_education

In 2020 I hope that I am eating healthier, more natural or organic food that is a sustainable lifestyle and that also provides great jobs for farmers, etc.

My favorite holiday is Christmas. I love decorating for Christmas with lights all over the house. I would like to see if we could use some solar powered energy. A solar panel that comes as a Christmas decoration that is nice looking during the day. So it absorb any natural light energy, and turns heat into energy. So any energy that is warmer than 32 degrees it will turn into energy. And that energy would last for 6 hours of full powered lights around the house. We could have that actually…

Daniel Yates founded the idea called "Opower" where people can build a better utility bill reducing the amount of used power. It allows you to compare different elements of your utility bill to others. It also provides energy saving advice and tips to also help lower your utility bill. The website gives you tutorials on how to use energy efficiently and also saving tons of money for yourself.

In the year 2020 I would like to be happily married is a family. I would like to be able to feed my family natural foods. Preservative free foods, meats, and veggies. I would like my family to not have the chemicals in their bodies. I would like fast food places to slowly disappear and we find a healthier options to fast foods. More packages of fruits and veggies. I would like to see the agriculture industry take a big boom and really prosper. Producing large amounts of healthy fruits…

It's Christmas Eve 2020. The sustainable energy source used to power this special day are solar panels on the roof of my home. The energy gained from the solar panels is being used to watch our favorite Christmas movies on our TV. Happy Holidays!

Something I use every day is my iPhone. Currently, to charge it, I need to plug it into an electrical outlet. Something I would invent would be a way to charge a phone by using a piece of equipment like a treadmill or stair climber at the gym. Simple plug your phone (or other device that needs to be charged) into the piece of equipment and run, step, walk, etc. to a higher charge on your device! The energy generated from the machine would charge your device while you work out. Great…

I believe the biggest security that we face in our nation is the lack of healthy, clean, preservative free foods that are affordable. These days the price of fresh produce, and organic produce is climbed. It is impossible for the families with a struggling budget to eat healthy. I believe this is the main factor in our nations battle against obesity. More families are able to afford Oreo's then they do an apple. I believe a solution for this would be more farmers markets. I love my farmers…

Stephen Wanyingo created a Home-made Direct Current to Alternate Current Power Inverter that is affordable and environmentally friendly. It only needs a solar panel and 12-voltage battery to run. The inverter provides communities in Kenya with power for things like lighting a home and cooking, reduces carbon dioxide emissions, reduces the amount of harmful electronics thrown away in the community, gives Kenyans a low-cost energy solution to those who live in off-grid areas and as a back up…

There are so many great water projects all around the world and I enjoyed reading about some of them for this mission. One water fund that I have donated to is the Ethos Water Fund at Starbucks Coffee Shops. By purchasing these water bottles, I have helped Starbucks donate over $7.38 million to support water, sanitation, and hygiene education programs in water-stressed countries.

Earlier this week I read in article in The Wall Street Journal about a solar energy plant in California. The $2.2 billion plant uses over 350,000 mirrors to power over 140,000 homes. The plant has recently been getting some heat, pun intended, for killing birds that are drawn to the plant's extremely hot mirror towers. Although this wildlife issue is something we need to monitor and regulate, its really interesting to learn about companies that are making strides in the renewable energy…

My bed is lofted and the power strip that I use to plug in my chargers and other electronics is tucked under my bed and hard to access. Therefore, I typically leave my cell phone and laptop chargers plugged in 24/7. After reading about all of the innovative ways that people are using to save energy, I decided to power my devices in a new way- by only keeping my chargers plugged in when I'm using them. This creates a little more work on my end by climbing around to plug things in and out but…

Earlier this week I read an article in The Wall Street Journal about a solar energy plant in California. The $2.2 billion dollar plant is using nearly 350,000 mirrors to produce energy to power almost 140,000 homes. The downside is that the energy plant has been catching some heat, pun intended, for killing birds that are drawn to the plant's ultra-hot mirror towers. Although this wildlife issue is something we need to monitor and regulate, it is great to learn about companies that are…

Every phone would have a small solar panel on it so that it would continue to charge every time you took it out of your pocket.

The chairman of Sustainable Energy for All is Charles O. Holliday. He works to provide sustainable energy for all – energy that is accessible, cleaner and more efficient.