Brummet's Conscious Blog

  Lighting a home or office properly not only creates ambiance, but also helps us reduce the number of lights on at one time, saves us energy, saves us money and reduces our impact on the environment. Today’s article was submitted by Ingo Schaer is the President and CEO of Interior-Deluxe.com He has been in the lighting business for more than 20 years and is holding a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering. He regularly blogs on a variety of modern lighting and i nterior design topics, often focusing on practical solutions. You can find him on Google+. The Fundamentals Of Lighting For The Home If you are at the point of your life where you are designing a home, whether it is your first home or your fifth home you should be aware of the fundamentals of lighting for the home. Lighting fundamentals include the type of lighting that is provided, and the sources that you can gain lighting from. There are three types of lightin...

-- Quote of the Day --  “Be aware that we are interconnected: what I do to you, you do to somebody else and it will eventually reverberate back to me. …For some people (change) is just a little blip and for others it is a smack in the head. …When you are in high school everyone is going through adolescence together. With midlife we are feeling alone, and we are dealing with hormonal changes too. For women, you might go through it at 35 or I might go through it at 60. Women often go through a shake up phase in their thirties, and then menopause later on. For men 40-50 is their time. – we get this wake up call at several points in our lives where we ask the big why questions; why am I hear, etc. …Sometimes you want to change but you are afraid of change; the best way to get over fear is to get into action. You face your fear and it just blows away. Question your fear; a lot of times we take on other people’s fears.” Franki Picasso ...

-- Quote of the Day -- “… As you get into your business - I think there are a large group of people who have an innate passion and good will towards men. The ethics that are taught in families, communities, churches and schools are the things we fall back on when it comes to the interaction with people, not only in business but in the neighborhood. …Business ethics amounts to treating people the way you would want to be treated. … not only people though but with animals and the environment; a growing awareness, being more understanding and forgiving. …Fair trade is sitting down with the individuals and working out what is fair, creating a favorable economical environment. People need to be treated fairly, to be valued as individuals, to be respected as an individual, and your needs are taken care of. Fair trade is a mutual situation of cooperation. ” ~ Bruce McMullin Today’s quote originates from the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio episode titled:...

-- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Positive News today !  Positive News airs every 2-3 weeks, offering green living tips, quotes, inspiring news and technologies... Today we focus on the consumer, the trail user, and read excerpts from the Trash Talk book from the section on recycling and reusing a variety of metals.  *access the archived discussion at your convenience : http://www.blogtalkradio.com/consciousdiscussions/2012/03/11/positive-news Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio program, newsletter, blog, and more at: www.brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, or visiting the Brummet's Store - every sale raises funds for charity as well!

-- The CFL Light Bulb Contraversy -- Burnt out compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs need to be recycled and there is now a program in British Columbia (Canada) called Light Recycle that keeps CFL’s out of the landfill, helping to ensure that they are properly recycled. Light Recycle accepts all residential use compact fluorescents and fluorescent tubes. LED's are a better choice, since one bulb uses 90% less energy to produce the same lumens (as an incandescent bulb) - but are so very expensive that most of us will wait until the price comes down to a more reasonable number.  And while CFL's do use only 75% of the energy that incandescent bulbs do... they do contain a tiny amount of mercury and concerns arise when thoughts of a house fire, or broken bulbs... and inconsiderate disposal are considered. However it is also important to realize that these bulbs actually prevent much more mercury and other air pollution that coal-fired power plants produce. Locally, (C...

-- Quote of the Day -- “…I started tutoring kids when I was in college and I found that I just enjoyed being involved with them. …My first teaching job involved working with a class of 5 year olds and I got in trouble for being too creative with the kids. – And my attitude was ‘Why cant we teach them organically as things of interest comes up?’ I had to do the exact same thing with them every day and they were bored out of their minds. …For me, the one-size-fits all in education just doesn’t work, because nobody is the same. …[Teaching them] how to learn, instead of what to learn – and they will know how to learn for the rest of their lives. …Honoring who the kids are as people. ”  ~ Kristen Johnson Today's quote originates from the May 10th interview titled Arts & Youth .  *Access the archived Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show at your convenience by clicking on the hyperlinked show title. -- Positive Eco-News -- Now here is so...

 -- Positive Eco-News -- During the most recent Positive Eco-News segment of Conscious Discussions Talk Radio , one of the listeners mentioned some curiosity about e-waste... and I wanted to follow up on some of this today. Of course we've done several shows in the past on this subject, interviews with professionals in the e-waste industry, however I saw an ad by the return-it.ca program for electronics recycling here in BC (Canada) and found that the program has grown quite a bit.  Display devices (such as monitors and TVs), desktop computers, portable computers and computer peripherals (such as keyboards and mice) are all recyclable. This has grown to include: scanners, printers, fax machines, non-cellular phones and answering machines, vehicle audio and video systems, including speakers, home audio and video systems including record players and speakers, personal or portable audio and video systems such as ghetto boxes and cameras. – Wow! - Lots of things are accepted...

-- Earth Hour -- Earth Hour is an initiative that anyone can participate in - All we need to do is turn off all our lights for one hour at 8:30 PM - (pacific) - on March 27th . Earth Hour is a global event that is organized by the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF: http://earthhourcanada.org/earthhour ) and is held on the last Saturday of March. According to earthhour2008.com , " the first Earth Hour took place in Sydney, Australia in 2007 ...more than 2 million residents switched off their light s." By 2008 more than 50 million people across the planet took the time to participate in this amazing event. Today, there are hundreds of millions of participants. So why is it so popular? - This initiative not only increases awareness about the issue, but measures the results and allows people to see the direct result of their action. Shaw Cable sent out an email notice celebrating this opportunity for the average individual to make a huge difference on the planet, and in this noti...

-- Quote of the Day -- "I love stuff as much as the next guy, but I’ve come to understand that, regardless of the cost of acquiring it, the price of having it is freedom. " ~ Colleen Wainwright -- Recent Media Appearances -- CHEAP CHEETAH radio interviews Lillian Brummet re: looking at “trash” as a resource @ http://tobtr.com/s/743032 Part 2 of a writers-advice interview with Lillian Brummet on the Conversations With Authors Blog @ http://bit.ly/4uuHx6 Lillian Brummet joins in the latter-half of the Jeff Bushman Show @ http://tobtr.com/s/721026 -- Authors Read Radio -- Today's featured guest had some unexpected life issues that prevented her from being able to attend the Authors Read Radio broadcast this morning. However I decided to continue today's theme, which was poetry, by sharing excerpts from my popular poetry book: Towards Understanding . Currently available in paperback & in limited edition of hardcover formats, as well as a recently released revised e...

-- Conscious Discussions Radio -- Today's featured guest - Jill Spiegel - shows us how to Connect With People during the interview that aired this morning on the Conscious Discussions talk radio show. Jill is the founder Goal Getters , a motivational firm where she spreads her message through her hit seminars and speeches to fortune 500 companies, organizations and community centers across the country. Along with her husband and business partner, Joe Brozic, Jill has authored four motivational CDs and five books including her newly released, " Jill Spiegel's How To Talk To Anyone About Anything! " Jill has been a guest of multiple television and radio shows including Oprah. Jill says, "There is magic in communication!" To access today's interview simply follow the hyper-links above or look to the right for links to the Conscious Discussions talk radio show. -- Stamping to Save the Planet? -- A new stamp project has been created with the aim of protec...

Whew! This day has simply flown by. I found myself only able to spend a few hours in the office this morning. Appointments and engagements kept me out of the office until... well, here it is 4 in the afternoon already! -- Quote of the Day -- “…(re: illness) It is like the old story about the toy on the top of the stairs – if you know it is there, you can take the extra steps to avoid it. If you don’t know it is there, you are going to go down those stairs at a velocity you really don’t want!” ~ Richard Diaz 06/26/08 This couldn't be more true! I feel that though Richard Diaz was originally referring to the health of our bodies, that quote can easily be applied to the health of our planet as well. Consider the seemingly small and fairly harmless Battery... Electronic waste and batteries contain toxic substances like lead, mercury, and cadmium, yet are illegally dumped in landfills at an alarming rate. In 2005 in San Diego alone, 2,237,570 pounds of batteries were sold but only 790 p...