Tips for a Sustainable Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we thought we'd share some sustainable tips before you prep your Thanksgiving dinner! For those who have a huge family gathering planned, or even one with just the immediate family, these tips can help save you more than just the planet.

Go Organic. Buying organic food helps support a cleaner and healthier environment. Organic food doesn't involve the use of harmful chemicals to manipulate its growth. Instead natural fertilizers are used, which is better for you, the environment, and it tastes better too! As far as your organic turkey goes, it wasn't treated with hormones or fed any byproducts or other unnatural chemicals. Those few extra dollars are well worth it when purchasing the healthier and more sustainable option. 

Shop at Your Local Farmers' Market. Yes, you can most likely find organic food in your local grocery store, but supporting your local farmers' market means you are also supporting local farmers. Local farming reduces stress on our environment by having more scattered small and sustainable plots of land for growing crops and shorter transportation routes for delivery. You will also be supporting sustainable farming by purchasing in-season produce grown in natural conditions.

Eliminate Plastic & Paper Use. Break out that beautiful China you've been storing all year long and put it to good use! Avoid using paper and plastic dinnerware and spend a little extra time after dinner to wash your dishes.  Use washable napkins and table cloths as well, eliminating the unnecessary quick build up of trash at the end of the night.

Store Your Leftovers. More than likely you will cook enough food for 4 families, so why throw out all that extra food you slaved over in the kitchen for all day long? Invest in Tupperware and make room in your fridge to save it. Just to think you could be eating Thanksgiving dinner for an entire week! And if you really don't want it, I'm sure those leftovers will make someone at your table a very happy person. 

Save Your Scraps. Dedicate a bucket for food scraps while you're cooking instead of throwing them in the trash. Use this bucket to turn your food scraps into compost for your or even your community's garden. Don't forget to throw in the left over food from your company's plates!  

Our team wishes you a very happy Thanksgiving and hope these tips help keep your bills down and our environment in good hands!

Solar to Reach Grid Parity by 2020

Solar electricity (PV) is expected to reach grid parity by 2020, according to Navigant Research's most recent "Solar PV Market Forecasts." The article states that prices will be cost-competitive with retail electricity without subsidies by 2017. Solar costs are expected to continue to drop internationally, causing installations and the industry to continue to skyrocket.

Navigant predicts that module costs will continue to fall between 3-8% annually, reaching an average of $1.50-$2.19 per watt globally by 2020. Navigant also foresees solar PV capacity increasing from this year's 35.9 gigawatts to 73.4 gigawatts in 2020. Dropping costs, and available rebates and tax credits have made solar appealing to, and affordable for all social classes, as well as developing nations.

At the rate solar PV is soaring across the globe thanks to dropping costs and increasing technology, it will not be long before grid parity is reached especially with the high-cost of today's retail electricity.  And solar WILL be the next disruptive technology when grid parity is ultimately reached. 

Click here to view the original article.

Is Solar Energy this Century's Automobile?

Solar energy is this week's hot topic as being the next disruptive technology. With prices dropping and technology becoming more efficient and available, solar will be everywhere in the coming decades. It is the next automobile, projected to be implemented into peoples' standards of living across the globe. The main difference being that solar energy has a positive impact on our environment, health, and well-being. Just as how smart phones and Netflix eliminated land-lines and Blockbuster, it will soon "disrupt" the need for power companies. Solar energy is the clean energy source of this century, and we are in dying need of a fast revolution away from fossil fuels. Homeowners are embracing the possibility of becoming energy independent, and soon solar energy will be the technology that leads this much-needed change. And with the 65% tax credit available in North Carolina, the possibility of net-metering from certain utilities, incredible loans programs, and the actuality of free energy, why wouldn't you go solar? Join the rooftop revolution; this is definitely the next trend everyone should take part in. 

Source: "Home Solar Power = This Century's Automobile"