In the spirit of the soon-to-be phased out Cash for Clunkers program, Americans have a new incentive to get rid of inefficient resource-suckers. This time it’s appliances. According to American Public Media’s Alisa Roth, Congress included $300 million in the stimulus package this year to use as rebates for consumers who buy new, more energy-efficient appliances.

Unlike the Cash for Clunkers program, you don’t actually have to turn in your old refrigerator or washing machine to receive the incentive. When you buy a new appliance with an Energy Star rating, the EPA and the Energy Department’s highest rating, you can get up to $200 back. Looks like the appliance lobby worked a little harder than the auto industry lobby for this program. Here’s to wishing I owned some GE stock.

Like Cash for Clunkers, Roth says this benefits both he environment and the economy.

So one part is getting people to upgrade to more energy-efficient machines. And the other is to stimulate the economy by encouraging people to buy expensive stuff.

The program should begin in late fall.

I have some old shoes that are letting water in through the sole. This is causing me to have to dry my socks out several times a day, thus using electricity for the dryer. I need new shoes. Do you think my stimulus is coming soon?

Image Credit: infrogmation, Flickr

Today’s USDA crop report, which forecasts this fall’s harvest, estimated that the US soybean crop will be the largest ever. The corn crop will be the second-largest in history. Reuters has more:

(These) mammoth harvests…will deflate an ethanol-fueled price boom, the government said. The Agriculture Department estimated the soybean crop at 3.199 billion bushels, corn at 12.761 billion bushels, wheat at 2.184 billion bushels and cotton at 13.21 million bales weighing 480 lbs each.

The August crop report is often regarded as the most significant USDA report of the year, reflecting the U.S. position as the largest corn and soybean exporter in the world. It is the first forecast of the fall harvest and is based on field surveys and interviews of 28,000 growers.

Overall, the data is mixed, according to Agriculture Online, which claims that “floor traders say the USDA data will be negative for corn prices, positive for soybeans.” It also means that more farmers will sign up for the 2008 farm bill’s ACRE program, which guarantees more revenue in situations where prices fall.

Last night I took my family to party that held at the offices of an advertising agency. Color filled the walls, toys overflowed on desks and shelving, and the main space was open, with vibrant individual work areas arranged at angles around the room. One conference room was called the ‘Imaginarium’. It had comfortable seating and one whole wall made of material that could be written on like a white board. There were signs everywhere for a staff party day – hula skirt optional.

Our reaction went like this:

Me: Wow, what a fun place to work!

My Kids: Wow, I want to work here. You get to play all day!

My Husband: Wow, how do they get any work done?

I suspect that in between games of shuffleboard and basketball they get a little work done. I’m sure they don’t spend the entire day sitting on the ‘comfie’ furniture watching TV on the big screen. And I know the environment must make them effective or else their offices would look the way so many other companies’ lifeless cube farms do.

My husband works in manufacturing, which is a little lower on the creativity continuum. His team is all about the numbers. But they also need to come up with creative solutions to creating greater efficiency and cutting costs and making sure nobody loses a finger in the machinery. So maybe a little color would help them too.

Not all of us can do our jobs in such an exciting environment full time, but I think a little ‘Imaginarium’ could go a long way in a lot of industries.

What do you think? Are creative work spaces only for creatives?

Image Credit: txd, Flickr

Green energy isn’t as innocent as it sounds. The Financial Times reports on how the Italian Mafia is building and selling wind farms to European multinational companies:

Anti-Mafia magistrates in Sicily have opened a sweeping investigation into the wind power sector where local officials, entrepreneurs and crime gangs are suspected of collusion in the construction of lucrative wind farms before their eventual sale to multinational companies.

Italy ranks fourth in Europe in terms of installed wind power capacity.

President Barack Obama on Thursday highlighted his ambition for the development of high-speed passenger rail lines in at least 10 regions, expressing confidence in the future of train travel even as he acknowledged that the American rail network, compared to the rest of the world’s, remains a caboose.

The president noted that his administration’s investments in improving roads, bridges and ports constituted “the most sweeping investment in our infrastructure since President Eisenhower began the interstate highway system in the 1950s.” Still, spending on rail travel in the United States remains a tiny portion of what Eisenhower spent or what Europeans or some Asians are spending.

I absolutely agree with Obama on this. It has been a long time coming.

Like working in your pajamas, greening your home office combines the best of both worlds. You can build an energy-efficient home in a setting that allows for tax writeoffs, equipment sharing, and upgrades that serve you away from the desk, too. Here are 12 ways to create an energy-efficient, eco-friendly home office:

1. Put Your Machines to Sleep

A large copy machine takes as many as 1,400 watts of electricity to operate. Printers, fax machines, desktop computers, and monitors also suck up energy. Turning machines off when you’re not using them use saves energy. Setting your computer to automatically sleep after a short period of time—say, 2 minutes instead of 10—also helps you conserve.

2. Replace Energy Hogs

If you haven’t updated your office equipment in a number of years, you’re probably using energy hogs. They include everything from laser printers, whose quality printouts can be matched by some new inkjet printers, to traditional light bulbs, which lose 95% of their energy through heat. Look for equipment with EnergyStar ratings. Here are a couple of examples:

Energy hog: Incandescent lights.
Replace with: Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

Energy hog: Laser printer, fax machine, copy machine.
Replace with: An all-in-one printer/fax/scanner/copier designed to create high-quality prints, such as the HP Officejet Pro 8500.

Energy hog: Traditional printer paper.
Replace with: Paper that contains post-consumer recycled waste.

3. Lease or Share Equipment

Renting or sharing equipment with other professionals helps you get the best use—and bang for your buck—out of potential energy hogs like printers, copiers, and computer monitors. You don’t have to repair leased equipment yourself, which saves you money. Sharing equipment, on the other hand, lets you split energy costs with a partner.

4. Bundle

Bundling your purchases can save you money upfront as well as cut down on waste. Buying software bundles, such as the MacHeist or the Windows 7 Enterprise Bundle, will save you the time, gas, money, and waste it takes to buy software piecemeal. Moreover, bundles offer discounted upgrades, saving you money in the future, too.

Other useful bundles include Internet-cable-telephone bundles and all-in-one printers.

5. Go Paperless

Paper and packaging are still produce exorbitant amounts of landfill waste. Luckily, going paperless is easy. Electronically sign and file your important documents. Print and photocopy on both sides of the paper. Print drafts, notes, and memos on scrap paper. When you must print, purchase printer paper made of post-consumer waste, available online and at chain retailers like OfficeMax. Recycle the paper you waste.

6. Recycle

This includes recycling plastic, cans, paper, ink cartridges, batteries, used equipment, and even composting. Some items, like ink cartridges, require special disposal methods. Devise a system that makes it easy to recycle everything. Put your can/paper/plastic recycling bins in an easily accessible place. Leave the recycling bags that come with ink cartridges in an accessible place, so that you’re ready to mail in cartridges once they run out. Print out this chart on a piece of scrap paper to remind you where to dispose of batteries. Set up a composting in a ceramic compost pot indoors or in a bin outside.

7. Green Your Cleaning Supplies

Swap out traditional toxic cleaning supplies for green ones. Most supermarkets sell brands like Clorox Greenworks http://www.clorox.com/products/overview.php?prod_id=gw, Simple Green, and Seventh Generation. For quick desktop jobs, green cleaners perform about as well as traditional ones.

8. Audit Your Energy Usage

Audit your home yourself, or call your utilities company for a professional—usually free—one. Fixing and upgrading air leaks, insulation problems, old light bulbs, and old appliances will shrink energy costs.

9. Weatherize

This usually comes after an energy audit. Seal your windows during winter. Open them during summer. Consider installing energy-efficient ceiling fans instead of using your air conditioner. Upgrade your insulation. Buy EnergyStar windows for a tax credit of up to $1,500. Read here for more weatherizing tips.

10. Sign Up for Sustainable Energy Sources

Renewable energy credits, wind energy, and home solar systems are a few ways that you can use sustainable energy sources in your own home. Most major utilities companies have renewable energy programs; see your company’s website for more information. Some alternatives may be costly, but they can reduce your carbon impact by as much as 60%.

11. Maintain Your Equipment

It takes little effort to keep home equipment clean and maintained. Cleaning your computer, printer, and even your portable devices every 6 months will keep the machines running smoothly and save you the possible headache of replacing a fried hard drive. At home, minor tasks like replacing your furnace filter and cleaning the lint out of your dryer will stop machines from consuming more energy than they need.

12. Take Advantage of Natural Light

Move your home office to a space with lots of natural light. This diminishes the need for lamps. Add houseplants, which naturally clean air, to the mix, and your home office will feel like a green mini-retreat.

Note to readers: HP has arranged a special offer for our readers to save 20% ($80) on the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One. Go here for the coupon code and terms and conditions. Visit here for more product information.

One UK school wants its students to go veg. If they won’t do it willingly, they can be forced, via cost-conscious parents. From the UK Telegraph:

Parents whose children sign up to the ‘Vegetarian Scholarship’ could save £1,500 each year at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, Glos. The “progressive” school was founded by a vegetarian Methodist minister in 1882, and today’s governors hope the new incentive will keep his values alive.

The school was founded by GW Sibly. He chose the school site for its clean water and proximity to a railway station, and the pupils grew their own fruit and vegetables. Vegetarianism remains an important part of school life.

I’m surprised nothing like this has happened in the US, where childhood obesity remains a major problem. Reducing tuition is a good way to push all kinds of agendas, especially during hard economic times.

Need a great excuse to invest in green energy? Need a new Lexus hybrid?

Solutions 4 Solar Finance (S4SF) has got you covered! In addition to and ROI of 8%-13%, for a limited time they’re sweetening the deal with a free loaded Lexus 400h AWD Luxury Hybrid SUV worth over $50K!

Sign me up!

Oh wait… here’s the fine print:

Investors with an investment level of approximately one million dollars in qualified leases will get the free Lexus 400h.

Approximately. Give or take.

S4SF’s Jeff Donahue says they “needed to offer a huge incentive to increase awareness of our fantastic investment opportunity.” And that they are “offering the most outrageous incentive that we can.”

Not really. But what they are doing is getting the story about their investment opportunity out there in an outrageous manner. What journalist can resist the lure of the free hybrid hook?

So let’s play along, shall we?

The Solar Leasing Biz

Leasing provides an affordable option for residential and small business clients to install solar energy technology. Investors become lessors on residential and/or commercial solar electric (photovoltaic) systems, which are ’sold’ as operating leases – providing tax shelter under the 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit and accelerated depreciation. Win-win.

Jeff Donahue describes the investment:

“The Solar Lease is a relatively safe investment vehicle as 60% – 80% of the initial investment is returned in tax incentives. We lease to only the strongest homeowners and businesses. Lessors have the opportunity to invest in alternative energy — the fastest-growing industry in the world. The lease is unique in the U.S. due to its low upfront cost (around $1K on small residential systems), the short 6 – 8 year original term and level payments for the duration — up to 20 years with renewal options. We believe that we have put together the ideal win-win lease. The customer gets a short-term affordable lease, saving them thousands of dollars over the term. The investor gets a great R.O.I. on a very safe investment and one of the best luxury SUVs available — for free.”

Free, when you spend a million bucks. Nice. Gotta love good marketing.

Image Credit: Wyemji, Flickr

Spiegel reports that world economic woes have taken the wind out of green energy’s sails:

Plunging oil prices have made renewable energy sources relatively less cost-effective, while thinner profit margins have prompted big industrial users of power to tighten their budgets for sustainable energy programs — cutting into sales by green energy suppliers.

With demand weakening and prices in decline, the green sector is hoping for more government support to carry it through the economic turmoil. Many forms of alternative energy already enjoy government subsidies to move the cost of green power closer to parity with cheaper fossil fuels. Now companies are looking for direct investments by governments in clean energy projects.

Being leveraged to the hilt means going under for green startups. Big utilities companies, meanwhile, have a decided advantages both in buying smaller companies and receiving government funding. Green energy might be more of a slow, silent transition than an economic bubble.

It’s something to keep an eye on as Obama enters office.

Slate has an informative ditty about how turkey suppliers meet huge Thanksgiving demand, which amounts to roughly 46 million turkeys during a single week. Suppliers must plan a year ahead:

Market leader Butterball…has already begun the production cycle for next year’s holiday season. Eggs for breeder birds have been purchased from one of the world’s two major genetic suppliers, Hybrid and Nicholas. Those eggs will then be hatched and placed in turkey farms so that they can grow and become sexually mature during the winter. Come springtime, these birds will produce the eggs that are destined to become the turkeys we actually eat.

The eggs laid next spring will be incubated for 28 days and then, after they hatch, the resulting turkeys will spend about 10 to 18 weeks on a farm before they’re brought into the processing plant in late October and November. The birds are slaughtered, quickly chilled…then shipped out to retailers, usually all in the same day.

The article adds that turkeys need to be bred with human help:

The vast majority of turkeys sold in the United States…have been bred to produce as much white breast meat as possible, resulting in males so large and unwieldy that they can’t properly mount the females. Toms therefore have to be manually stimulated and “milked” for their semen, which is then inserted into a hen using a syringe.

And that, folks, explains how your broasted bird made it from farm to table. Not a pretty process, but the outcome sure is tasty.