4 Reasons to Buy Renewable Energy and 3 Easy Ways to Do It

Listen, laugh & learn with the Green Divas (and Green Dude Scott) anytime - Podcast here!

For just two of us in the studio this week, we managed to jam in a lot of information about a variety of topics! We did a fun product review segment that included a couple of health & beauty products for green divas, then we had a couple of green baby product reviews from one of our favorite green diva momma’s Carly. Green Dude Wayne contributed a little testosterone to the show by calling in and doing a review of some men’s natural haircare products from Every Man Jack.

Our feature interview was with Kerry Coughlin, the Regional Director of the Americas for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). We learned a lot about how unsustainable our fish supply is and how important it is for fisheries to employ more sustainable practices to ensure that we have a healthy supply of fish for the future! Look for the Certified Sustainable Seafood label in your fish market or local restaurants and if they aren’t selling it or serving it, let them know they should be!

The Sleeping Naked is Green segment: Buy Renewable Energy – This of course, is a huge topic, but we managed to get a lot into 5 minute!

What is Renewable Energy?

Renewable energy is energy that is generated from naturally replenished resources like sunlight, wind, geothermal heat, tides, even rain.

About 16% of global energy consumption comes from renewables.

What’s the 84% of non-green energy doing?

Choosing green power could make a big difference for the environment because electricity generation is the largest industrial polluter in the country (as we discovered in last week’s Eco Friendly Printer KNOW YOUR GREEN Quiz)

Electricity generation currently produces:

• About two-thirds of the annual U.S. emissions of sulfur dioxide, the main cause of acid rain and very small soot particles. These fine particles are believed to be responsible for the largest share of the 50,000-100,000 deaths caused by air pollution in the United States each year.
• About 30 percent of the nitrogen oxide emissions, which stress forest ecosystems and combine with organic compounds in sunlight to form smog. High smog levels can also trigger heart and respiratory problems and contribute to air pollution deaths.
• About 40 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions. This heat-trapping gas causes global warming, which may lead to increased droughts, flooding, disease, ecosystem disruption, and severe weather.
• Toxic-metal emissions (such as mercury and lead) and nuclear waste.

[FROM: union of concerned scientists]

How do you buy renewable / green energy?

• Green Pricing is an optional utility service for customers who want to help expand the production and distribution of renewable energy technologies. With green pricing, you do not have to change your electricity provider. Instead, customers choose to pay a premium on their electricity bill to cover the extra cost of purchasing clean, sustainable energy.
• Green marketing is the sale of green power in competitive markets, where consumers have the option to choose from a variety of suppliers and service offerings, much like they can choose between long-distance telephone carriers. The key difference between green marketing and green pricing is that with green marketing, you are actually switching electricity providers.
• Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs or sometimes “green tags”). A REC represents the environmental attributes or benefits of renewable electricity generation (usually one credit = one kilowatt-hour). RECs can be purchased in almost any quantity and are usually available from someone other than your electricity provider.

[from green-e, the a leading independent consumer protection program for the sale of renewable energy and greenhouse gas reductions in the retail market]

certified Green-e renewable energy finder

Listen to this week’s 5-min segment on Buying Renewable Energy.

We also announced the winner of last week’s Eco Friendly Printer KNOW YOUR GREEN Quiz - Marie DeVenezia, who won a $50 Gift Certificate to the Eco Friendly Printer! Please go to our facebook page and find this week’s quiz and play to win!

As always, please visit our website for LOTS of relevant links & resources from the show - Green Divas website.

Hope you’ll listen to this broadcast!

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