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"Green Living: How Important is It to You?" Survey

  How important is green in your life?  Keen For Green is conducting a poll to learn about people's green habits and what is important to you. Click here to take our brief survey!

My Company 'tis of Thee

Talk about a cover-up. Just today, the Boston Globe disclosed that electricity giant NStar has been conducting a secret operation that allows their customers to pay more to get their electricity from wind power rather than a carbon-polluting source. Actually, the program, NStar Green,” isn’t a company secret -- but I hadn’t heard of it, none of my neighbors had, and Brookline Climate Action had to go door-to-door to tell people about it. It might as well be secret.

I don’t think NStar Green is some big, bad greenwashing scheme. NStar probably let the program languish because investing more money in it would yield little profit. And that’s okay, because it’s not NStar’s job make clean energy -- or dirty energy. It’s NStar’s job to make money. A corporation is responsible for making profit, and anything after that is optional as long as it’s legal.
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Green Game Day Recipes!

When I sat down to write for Keen for Green today, I was originally going to do a piece on the top tips for greening up those fall tailgates this year, but upon a little perusal, I think they’ve already got that covered!  Between advising you to find local beer, or even better, brewing your own and an awesome article on the best tips for how to throw a fantastically green barbecue, there’s not much left!  (Of course as long as you can get yourself to the game with a barbecue in tote and a cooler full of your beverages, that is.)  In light of that, I thought I’d take a different direction and go strictly food.  Because, truth be told: I don’t drink nor do I watch football, so game days are, for me, 100% about the food.  And to be completely honest, I’d much rather “watch” from the comfort of my own home with a bowl of chili and a hunk of freshly buttered cornbread than stand outside in unpredictable weather with a possibly semi-burnt hotdog in hand.  In case I’m not alone (c’mon ladies!), here are some of my very favorite green game day recipe recommendations.... read more

The Debate Over California's Solar Energy Policy

California Solar Policy

In July, California Governor Jerry Brown, announced a plan to increase the state's renewable energy to a 12-gigawatt by 2020, by relying on “tens of thousands of little decisions” by residents and business owners. Brown cited the cost of routing large-scale energy farms in remote areas as a reason for focusing on smaller projects. He also cited the delays in previous large-scale desert projects due to litigation over natural resources, native animals, and Native American sites.

However, a recent article from Freakonomics.com points out several concerns with this plan, based on simple cost-benefit analysis:

-Individuals (such as homeowners and small businesses) do not make decisions based on what is “socially optimal”... read more

Cleantech Funding Drops 44% from 2010 to 2011

cleantech venture capital

Like there hasn't been enough bad economic news in the past few weeks? According to a recent Reuters article and study published by Ernst & Young, investment in clean tech/ green tech companies dropped 44% (when comparing the second quarter of 2010 and the second quarter of 2011). This may be in part due to the increased attention on internet IPO's, such as LinkedIn and Zillow.  Still the cleantech field is receiving more financial attention than most: from April to July of this year, cleantech companies saw $1.1 billion in investment funds. ... read more

Walnut Creek, California Retirement Community Residents Go Solar!

Community Solar 

A 4-plex of residents in a Walnut Creek, CA retirement community decide to go solar. The result is a small solar community, with other residents watching on and catching the “solar bug.” - “It's a win-win situation.”

Solar Communities” are beginning to pop up around the country – especially in states such as California and New Jersey where financial incentives are strong. A solar community is a block of residents joined together to install solar panels – often receiving the same bulk discounts you might get on a 42-pack of socks at Costco.

Tim O. of Walnut Creek, California recently did just that in his retirement community. Rossmoor is a large retirement community which houses single-family homes, duplexes, four-plexes, and condo apartments for those 55+.... read more

Boycott Taco Bell & KFC: Demand an End to Deforestation in Indonesia

Taco Bell Rainforest

Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace recently began to put pressure on YUM!Brands, parent company of many large fast food restaurants, due to the immense damage they are doing to tropical rainforests. YUM! Owns chains including Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, A&W and Long John Silvers and has over 38,000 locations across the globe.... read more

San Francisco Promotes Financial Incentives for Eco-Friendly Home Improvements

The San Francisco Department of the Environment (SF Environment) is partnering with the city Assessor-Recorder's office and Energy Upgrade California to launch the SF Home Improvement & Performance (SFHIP) incentive program. The goal of the program is to increase the affordability of "green" home improvements for San Franciscans. San Francisco is one of the only cities in California that provides governmental incentives in addition to state and federal incentives for going solar.

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Meatless Mondays!!

Meatless Mondays

I am all about making small lifestyle changes to decrease my negative impact on the environment. While I may not be able to afford solar panels or an electric car, I CAN by local foods, hang-dry my clothes and do other small things which can add up to a BIG impact by the end of the year.... read more

San Francisco Electric Plug-In Car Project Faces a Few Roadblocks

San Francisco Electric Vehicles

Plug-in electric vehicles are becoming more affordable, available, and popular. Leading “green” city, San Francisco, passed legislation to help increase the convenience of electric vehicles in hopes of enticing residents to purchase the green cars. The city is challenged with the task of installing 80 public charging stations at 20 locations by 2012.

The city has been working for roughly two and a half years to implement the charging station policy and necessary infrastructure. ... read more

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