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Welcome back!

Make sure you have a pen handy- this is quick and cute and great eco friendly info.

Top 20 Frugal and Thrifty Blogs

1. Frugal Families
2. The Crazy Green Cheapskate-
3. Living the Low Income Life
4. The Frugal Family Blog (Australia)
5. The Frugal Family Kitchen
6. The Frugal Family Fun Blog
7. The Simple Dollar
8. How I Save Money-
9. The Save Money Blog
10. Not Made of Money
11. Money Saving Mom
12. Frugal for Life
13. Big Green Purse
14. Cheap Like Me
15. Frugal Village (www.frugalvillage.com)
16. Simply Thrifty
17. Savvy Frugality
18. A Frugal Living by a Frugal Guy
19. The Dollar Stretcher
20. Living on a Dime

Optical WebBlog and Business

Tax Dollars at Work -Logging

I Just Gotta Tell Ya

• The United States originally had a billion acres of forest.
• Now only 40 million acres remain uncut.
• American people own 635 million acres of public land  U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and are compris
• Public lands provide 80% of municipal water supplies and half of the remaining habitat left to endangered species
• The U.S. Forest Service routinely loses $1.2 billion per year for the taxpayers, since they spend more money building logging roads and administering timber sales for timber companies than they receive from the sale of public trees.
•  An honest, full cost accounting of the Forest Service would reveal that revenues from living public forests are worth over $117 billion per year, yet revenues from Forest Service lands are only $354 million per year. “ 

Tongass Logging 

According to Forst Service Reco commerial logging in the Tongass National Foret lost taxpayers $48 M in 2004. Since 1982 Taxpayers have spent nearly $1b subsidizing the timber industry clear cutting of Tongass Nation Forest

In one deal alonen the Forest Service spent nearly $4.3 M preparing 450 acres of pristing forest for sales by building logging roads then sold it for $53,000.

Tongass Logging Subsidies http://65.110.78.8/Library/Documents/upload/Factsheet-TongassSubsidies-TCS.pdf

Siskiyou National Forest

The Government Accounting Office (GAO) today confirmed that logging after the Biscuit fire in southern Oregon’s Siskiyou National Forest lost money. The report released by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee revealed that the Biscuit logging project cost taxpayers nearly $2 million dollars. (Portland Independent Media Center) http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/346999.shtml

Taxpayers  have to foot the bill for building roads and other operations that will make the extensive logging project possible, according to the agency documents compiled by PEER:

Resources- 

• Sierra Club
•  Kucinich- http://environment.kucinich.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=1
• Heritage Forests Campaign 
• IRS Laws http://www.scribd.com/doc/537733/US-Internal-Revenue-Service-forlog

Green Taxes- Energy Credits

Sustainable Investing Conference- NYC

FT Sustainable Business, Responsible Investing

Where Corporations and Investors Connect on ESG Issues
March 2, 2009 – Altman Building, NYC

Register today for the inaugural FT Sustainable Business, Responsible Investing Conference: Where Corporations and Investors Connect on ESG Issues. This event will bring together CSR Executives, Responsible Fund Managers, Institutional Investors, Financial Advisors, and NGOs. (Use marketing code FTCSRFS to save 20% off admission.)

Featured Speakers include:

Tod Arbogast, Director of Sustainable Business, Dell
Ben Bingham, Managing Director, Benchmark Asset Managers
Victor DeLuca, President, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
Rob Frederick, VP, Director of Corporate Responsibility, Brown-Forman
Bennett Freeman, Senior Vice President for Social Research and Policy, Calvert
Hunter Lovins, President and Founder, Natural Capitalism Solutions
Sonal Mahida, Vice President, Carbon Disclosure Project
Michael Musuraca, Designated Trustee, NYCERS Board
Jane Nelson, Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
Dina Powell, Global Head of Corporate Engagement, Goldman Sachs
Gavin Power, Deputy Director and Head of Financial Markets, United Nations Global Compact
Rev. David Schilling, Program Director, Global Corporate Accountability, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Stephen Viederman, previous President of Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, Finance Committees of the Christopher Reynolds Foundation and Needmor Fund
And more!

To view the complete agenda and list of speakers, please visit our web site at:
http://www.ftconferenceslive.com/csr

4 EASY WAYS TO REGISTER (mention VIP code FTCSRFS for 20% discount)
Online: http://www.ftconferenceslive.com/csr
Phone: 212-641-6415
Fax printable form to: 212-641-6479
Email: annette.bialowas@FT.com 
*SIF members receive a special rate!

Green Taxes 2008- 2009

Green Money – Investing in Socially Responsible Companies

With all the economic troubles we are having- is it possible to make money in the stock market?  After reading all the information- it appears Green Investing will have a Silver(green) lining. With Corportations, the government, the world and consumers buying more and more ‘Green Products and Services’ the Green Market has to increase. 

I am not a financial planner, investment broker, or even claim to be close to being a money maker. My suggestion, if you are looking at re-investing, or even investing to consider some of the below companies- BUT DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST!

Some Green Funds 

Domini Social Investment-As a shareholder in the Domini Funds, you make a difference in the world. Engaging companies on global warming, sweatshop labor, and product safety. Revitalizing distressed communities. Bringing new voices to the table. Redefining corporate America’s bottom line. Invest for your future while helping to build a world of peace and justice.

Social Funds Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) SocialFunds.com features over 10,000 pages of information on SRI mutual funds, community investments, corporate research, shareowner actions, and daily social investment news.

Green Century Funds With Green Century’s mutual funds, you can use your investment dollars to help the environment. We seek competitive returns while we put your money to work for cleaner air, cleaner water and a healthier planet. We believe that, in the long run, companies that now seek to protect the environment may be more profitable than companies that pollute. And that means a better future for everyone

Green Money Journal: The Green Money Journal promotes the awareness of socially and environmentally responsible business

Alternative Energy Stocks 

Clean Tech Investing 

New Alternative Funds New Alternatives Fund is a Socially Responsible Mutual Fund Emphasizing Alternative Energy and the Environment. We seek investments in listed companies that have a positive impact on the environment. We are different from funds that make their environmental contribution by only avoiding companies that harm the environment

Summit Global- Summit Global Management is a San Diego-based investment management firm with a strict Discount to Appraised Value philosophy of securities selection, designed to achieve consistent long-term returns while minimizing risk.Our value discipline has encouraged an unrivaled, 30-year specialization in global hydrocommerce and other industries directly impacted by water. Water has historically proven to be an attractive non-cyclical opportunity, and the current reality of exploding demand coupled with diminishing supplies suggests an increasingly compelling and persistent investment theme.

Natural Green Pages- Has listing of many financial Companies and funds 

Investing For The Soul “Investors desiring a better world, concerned about ethics, or their spiritual development, the environment, and so on, must incorporate related values in their investing decisions. The reason for this is that when we invest in a company, (or many companies such as in a mutual fund, unit trust, ETF, etc.), we share in the responsibility for the activities of those companies as well asparticipate in the outcomes of their corporate actions.”

Good Reading and Research 

Chicago Tribune- 

Business Week- Tips for Investing in Green Companies 

Environmental New Network 

Michael Blue Jay- All Sorts of Information, with listing of Socially Responsible Funds 

Stephen Leahy- Environmental Journalist- 

Coop America- Strategies for Investing

Renewable Energy Stocks Blog

Green and Smoking! Tax Payer Dollars

Can you smoke and still be green?

I do everything I can to be environmentally conscious. My carbon impact is getting better and better. But here it is ‘ True Confession’s- I still smoke. Yes, I have quit many times, yes, I know the health and environmental issues, yes I am the last of my friends that still smoke, yes, I am a courteous smoker in San Diego, Yes, I know about pollution, yada, yada, yada, but the truth of the matter is, I like to smoke. And Yes, this was a hard thing to admit in a Green Blog!

While I am in agreement with public areas, beaches and planes banning smoking. I am also in agreement that many smokers are slobs. (That is from the amount of cigarette litter I pick up.) I am not in agreement with the government telling private businesses whether they can allow smoking in their establishments. The reality is most smokers are standing outside smoking and throwing their butts in the street due to lack of available ashtrays. Now they take the pollution outdoors instead of indoors.

Last nite, I was having this discussion with a friend- Her Statement- “No matter how ‘green’ you can be, there is nothing more toxic than smoking.” Of course, She just issued me a challenge, what blogger could resist that!

So here’s what I have to say.- The issues of smoking are the same as any environmental issues. Pollution, Toxins, Litter and Health. All Are Problems, All Cost Taxpayer Money, all are bad on health and the environment. We all have our vices and hard to break habits, but that litterbug is just as intrusive as a smoker. The Organic can be just a toxic as a smoker. The over-fragranced person can just be a polluted as a smoker. The Leaf Blower is just as obnoxious and polluting as a smoker.

That said – the challenge is on:

Looking at Facts and Stats:

• Cost of Smoking to Taxpayers= $10 Billion
• Cost of Obesity to Taxpayers= $39 Billion
• Cost of Cleaning up Toxins in Landfills- $200 Billion
• Cost of Cleaning up Litter (Billions) see earlier posts on taxpayer cost.
• Cost to Clean up Illegal Waste Dumps (see below examples of costs)
• Cost of E-Waste to Taxpayers- $450 Million
• Cost to Taxpayers Dependence on Oil =$215 Billion
• Ground Water, Soil and Air Pollution Taxpayer Cost- $24- $240 Billion
• Cost of Landfills- $20 Million Taxpayer Dollars to build- and millions to maintain-
• Costs of Cleaning Water, Oceans, Lakes, Streams, Underground
• Costs of Water to Taxpayers (Billions) (see below articles)
• Costs of Disposing of Plastic Bottles -per city- $70 Million Taxpayer Dollars
• Plastic Bags- approximately 4 billion dollars in increased good costs per year.

Toxins in Landfills

Landfills produce significant amounts of methane gas, along with leachate, a toxic liquid that comes out of all that compressed trash. Leachate is full of organic and inorganic pollutants, including toluene, phenols, benzene, ammonia, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated pesticides, heavy metals and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

I tried to get more accurate data, but it’s hard to find so here are estimates taken from various sources (listed below)

• # of Legal- Active Landfills in US = 3091
• # of Old municipal Landfills in US= 10,000
• 82% of Landfills leak (For the sake of argument) 8,000 landfills are leaking
• Cost Average of cleaning up Landfill = $20 Million

E-Waste

E-Waste-  Ted Smith, executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, watchdog group in California, says, “E-waste is one of the fastest-growing and most toxic waste streams, threatening human health and the environment.

• E-Waste in Landfills- Less than 10% of Electronics are recycled.
• Taxpayer cost in recycling= $450 Million (NY paid $6.4 Million in 2007)
• California Cost- 1 Billion (old article)
• Toxins involved-3-8 pounds of lead in average 18 inch TV and 17 inch computers, Circuit boards contains, chromium, lead. batteries contain nickel, cadmium to name a few.

Gaz Guzzlers:

• ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2007) — ” The pollution produced by light trucks, SUVs and minivans is only half a percent higher than smaller cars.” Now, where I live, every other car is a SUV or minivan. Not only that, these gas guzzler’s increase our dependence on oil. They also  block our views on the road, take up valuable parking spaces, increase our dependence on oil, now they pollute more!
• Half of all vehicles leased by members of Congress with taxpayer funds are gas-guzzling SUVs, a review of congressional financial records show. Taxpayers spend about $1 million per year to lease vehicles for 127 members of the House of Representatives, more than a quarter of the 435-member body. Senators are prohibited from leasing vehicles. (Database of Cars leased by Members of Congress)

Toxins and Beauty Products

I just blogged on this, and to know that the average person uses 7 beauty products a day is amazing. Let me count the ways how bad this is for the environment. 1.) Energy involved in manufacturing. 2.) Toxin (hazardous) products used in making the products. 3.) Amount of packaging and over-wrapping that goes into landfills. 4.) The continued reliance on oil to produce the products …….

Toxins and Fast Food:

• Do I need to say more? Trans – Fatty Acids? Obesity – see above comment in taxpayer cost and we know how much obesity effects.
• 20% of Litter is Fast Food, taxpayers pay for litter clean up

Coffee To Go

I have already blogged on the amount of coffee cups in landfills and some cities are considering taxing. (Your dollars, but the taxpayer pays for this in landfills and in litter clean up, plus most of the take outs are non-biodegradable.

Plastic Bags Costs by Taxpayers

• The City of San Francisco estimates that each plastic bag costs tax payers 17 cents to pick up and dispose of.  That means you’re already paying a hidden tax for the convenience of plastic bags.
• The City of  San Francisco estimates that it alone spends about 8.5 million dollars on cleanup and disposal of littered plastic (excludes Adopt a Highway
• Right now the high cost of picking up and disposing of plastic bags is about 17 times the store cost of distributing them.  Taxpayers are footing that bill.
• Plastic bags cost consumers in US approximately 4 billion dollars in increased good costs per year.
• California alone estimates that landfilling plastic costs taxpayer more than $750 million per year

Water Costs by Taxpayers

• Some comprehensive studies are now showing that there are over 2,100 toxins in our drinking water.These toxins include: chlorine, lead, chemicals that get into the water supply from large farming runoffs, and corporate pollution. We as taxpayers pay to clean up our city water and obviously many continue to really pay for bottled water (which is not cleaner) and we again as taxpayers have to pay for land fill space and the toxins released, and lets add on the dependancy on oil (which we pay for again)
• Industrial Farms: Water Hogs and Subsidy Guzzlers-Many California farmers still pay the government between $2 and $20 per acre-foot for irrigation water — at little as ten percent of the water’s full cost. Taxpayers make up the difference; between 1902 and 1986 irrigation subsidies have cost taxpayers around $70 billion. And as the degraded Bay-Delta watershed demonstrates, massive federal irrigation projects cause irreparable environmental damage, destroying rivers, fish and other wildlife.
• WASHINGTON – Four large irrigation water districts in the Central Valley of California still owe federal taxpayers nearly $500 million for a network of dams and canals constructed for their benefit in the 1960s, according to a new report issued by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO).
• City Spending on Bottled Water-T he U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution today encouraging mayors to phase out city spending on bottled water and to promote the importance of municipal water. The resolution, authored by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and sponsored by mayors from 17 major cities, aims to redirect taxpayer dollars to other essential city services. Cities are also spending more than $70 million a year to dispose of plastic water bottles. San Francisco and other large cities were also spending more than $500,000 a year on annual contracts.  (Taxpayer Dollars)
• Cost of Water During a Drought- All you over-watered, abusers- heed this  The drought has taken a toll everywhere: people’s daily lives, their pocketbooks and municipalities’ public utilities budgets. Raleigh officials were considering a 50 percent surcharge to pass that cost onto residents. For use that use water sparingly, we are going to be paying up the ….
• The State of Florida has given a Nestle bottling plant the right to pump as much water as it can get out Madison Blue Springs State Park, which is presently in drought conditions. The right lasts until 2018, and cost Nestle $230 in permit fees. Florida is presently in bitter dispute with its neighboring states over a region-wide water-shortage…..As an added incentive for Nestle, the state approved a tax refund of up to $1.68-million for the Madison bottling operation. To date, Nestle has received two refunds totaling $196,000 and requested a third tax refund.

Clean Up Costs of Illegal Waste Site

Berkeley

• Annually, 160 tons of materials, debris and waste are dumped on the streets of Berkeley. Clean up of illegal dumping cost Berkeley tax payers over $100,000 per year and increases the cost to maintain clean and healthy streets. One litter crew commits 22% of its time removing illegally dumped material. The yearly impact to the community is that Clean City is unable to provide litter service to 5,885 blocks in residential and commercial areas.
• San Bernadino- $1.2 Million
• Los Angeles Llano Illegal Disposal Site––”In eastern Antelope Valley of the county, south of State Highway 138, unknown parties have dumped an estimated 1,000 cubic yards of solid waste in several parcels next to the California Aqueduct. Most of the waste––800 cubic yards––lies on property owned by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). Homes are located less than a mile from some of the trash.”The Board approved a $154,000 cleanup project for the site to remove household trash, construction and demolition debris, furniture, appliances, vehicles, tires, and landscape cuttings. Some of the waste was routinely burned over the years and additional trash lines a natural drainage, exposing the water to contamination. All recyclable items will be hauled to recycling facilities. Nonsalvageable items will be landfilled. Hazardous household wastes will be properly disposed and the DWR will fence off its property against further …
• Tri Cities In the 2007-2008 fiscal year alone, Dougherty oversaw the cleanup of 65.4 tons of trash on 79 miles of road in the county and 44.5 tons of waste at 22 illegal dump sites.One of the largest sites he has encountered was located on Lower Grass Creek Road, just outside of Nickelsville.

Storm Drains:

• Los Angeles: 8th and 6th Streets Storm Drain Outfall Sites––Trash and other wastes that accumulate at storm drain outfall sites and spread downstream to beaches, urban streams, and wetlands is a significant pollution problem in southern California. The 8th and 6th Streets storm drain outfall sites in downtown Los Angeles are two major sources of pollution in the Los Angeles River. Besides the trash, other associated pollutants include bacteria, viruses, oil, grease, nutrients, metals, and toxic chemicals. These sites receive urban runoff from an area larger than 1,000 acres with sources of pollution concentrated from food processing, commercial, and transportation-related businesses, and estimated 3,000 homeless people.The Waste Board has agreed to help clean up these sites with a grant of $584,136, to be matched by the city.With the city’s matching funds, the total cost of the cleanup project is estimated to top $1.4 million.
• The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (3/28/00) awarded a $15.2 million contract to Riverside-based Riverside Construction Company to construct the 20th Street and San Antonio storm drains in Upland.
• Baltimore; “The fact is, the city has already required taxpayers to pay high costs associated with cleaning up less visible water pollution.  City residents are paying almost $1 billion in higher water and sewer bills to fix up the city’s leaky sewage system.”

I started this out to talk about smoking and of course it just led into a whole other things.  I’m not trying to justify my poor habits by all of the above- it just got away from me

Green Smoking Comments:

• Keeping it Green- Comments
• Earth Plus- Article on Healthy Smoking

Green Smoking- Now I have not tried any of these and don’t know whether they are good or bad.

• Green Smokes Green Smokers Club.com proudly introduces Green Smokes™ — a revolutionary electronic cigarette designed as a healthier smoking alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes. Using advanced technology, Green Smokes™ allows one the freedom to smoke virtually anywhere, without the flame, ash, tar, or carbon monoxide found in traditional tobacco cigarettes. As Green Smokes™ is completely free of tobacco, this product likewise does not contain the thousands of harmful carcinogens typically found in tobacco products. With no offensive second-hand smoke, Green Smokes™ offers a safer, healthier environment to both you and the non-smoking community. Simply put, there is no longer a need for anyone to breathe the unwanted, dangerous second-hand smoke produced by traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Quit Smoking Blogs

• Quit Smoking Herbs
• Quit Smoking Together- Small group of people that are supportive of each other in the quit smoking goals.
• Butts and Gum- portable ashtray The boodi eco-ashtray is the first ever portable ashtray to be made from recyclable, biodegradable and compostable materials. We invented it to provide an alternative to the millions of plastic pocket ashtrays that are ending-up in landfill sites. Like plastic bags, these portable ashtrays are damaging the environment throughout their lifecycle – from production to landfill.
• iquit
• My Quit Smoking Blog – good research, fairly new blog If you’ve tried everything so far and have not yet succeeded, then try again, you’ve got nothing to lose. I am someone who tried and tried and tried but I succeeded. I can smoke a whole pack of cigarettes right now and go on without even thinking about smoking again. This is just to show you knowledge is freedom.
• Quitting Smoking Again the name’s Chris. 30-something y/o guy from New Jersey, wife, two boys. Did I miss anything? I quit smoking for the second time on 7/7/07, and fell off the wagon in September 2008
• Stop Smoking – Great Resource and information
• Tammy’s Quit Smoking blog

Resources:

• Earth Trends
• Battling the Problem of E-Waste
• Wisconsin State Journal – Toxin Cleanup in Landfills
• Clean Computer Campaign
• Great article about Toxins in everyday life
• Cost of Obesity in RI = ( www.cdc.gov/obesity/stateprograms/fundedstates/rhode_island.html)$305 Million
• Military Waste Dumping- Old article but Billions spent
• Zero Waste America
• Investor’s Edge- Toxin Cleanup
• Clean Technica- Cost to Taxpayer in lost royalty Oils
• How Petroleum Benefits at the Taxpayer Expense
• How Landfills Work- has some cost Statements as well
• Toxics in Connecticut Data Summary

Green Money

This doesn’t really have anything to do with ‘Green’ and Eco except for Money is Green. 

But I read this great article on Sunday at the LA Times about missing money and thought I would at least post a comment on this. Unfortunately I was not listed as missing money but several of my family members were. 

Read the article first, as it has helpful hints: 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-perfin24-2008aug24,0,4650643.column