Brummet's Conscious Blog

Eco - Events February 2 World Wetlands Day February 7-9 Eco-Green-Solar Expo Canada  Location: Toronto, ON @ Exhibition Place Bringing local and regional businesses together with consumers for the sole purpose of exposing consumers to companies products and services, geared towards saving the environment. Info :  http://www.canadaegs.com February 10-13 GLOBE Location : Vancouver, BC The largest and longest-running sustainable business summit and innovation showcase in North America featuring industry leaders, cutting-edge technology and inspiring events, lectuires and markets.  Info : GlobeSeries.com February 16 Canada's Agriculture Day ~~ Visit the Brummet's @:  http://BrummetMedia.ca ~~

-- Quote of the Day --   " If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations,  I must first see, at least,  that I do not pursue them  sitting upon another man's shoulders."   ~ Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience -- Recommended Resource --  Hey all - check out the Inhabitat website focusing on creating a better world... they have some ongoing, fresh, exciting topics there that I'm sure our readers would want to know about.   Inhabitat | Design For a Better World! Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!    

 -- Quote of the Day --    “Better to keep yourself clean and bright;  you are the window through which you see the world.”  ~ George Bernard Shaw -- Positive News -- Alternative power is picking up by leaps and bounds across the globe! It is an exciting time we live in. You know, one of the issues with peak oil effect is that greener energy sources, combined, have to replace all that oil does for us with the same or similar power behind it. So can we fly a plane on solar? Can we power a train? These kinds of questions are certainly being answered. Scroll through the archives on this topic and you'll see we've highlighted incredible experiments and trials and successes over the years.  Just recently I learned of the Solar Impulse 2 aircraft which runs entirely on solar power and is leading the way to proving solar can indeed replace oil.  There are many ways of generating solar panels from the r...

Answers to Common Questions Solar Companies Receive * Today's article was submitted to us from Tiffany Olson - an established guest blogger from a small town in Northern California. She has a special interest and passion for sustainable living topics. In her downtime she loves to cook, do yoga, and travel.    Solar panels have become a popular topic of discussion and are intriguing to both home and business owners, but before jumping to make such a large investment, there are typically several questions that they’ll need answered. The concept of solar energy can be quite challenging to understand, but solar installation companies should be able to provide you with the knowledge you need to make an informed decision. Below you will find answers to a few basic questions that solar companies are commonly presented with by potential customers. How Do I Know Which Solar Panels My Home or Business Needs? Your solar company wi...

-- Quote of the Day --  “Regardless of the new technologies that come and go, strategy is the one thing that will remain constant and knowing how to formulate, create a strategy that is long term – not just something that generates income in the short term. …Researching demographics and buying patterns and knowing who the audience is and being able to pinpoint who a potential customer may be  …[Todays] marketing really is so much more than just putting an ad together it has to take into consideration the features and benefits of the product, the pricing strategy, how it is being distributed.  ...A common definition of work ethics – a trainable set of values and behaviors – The seven values and behaviors are: positivity, reliability, professionalism, initiative, integrity, respect for authority, and gratitude ” ~ Joshua Casto Today’s quote originates from the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio episode titled: Busines...

 -- Conscious Living Event -- Sept 27-29th Corporate Recycling & Waste Conference Orlando, Florida (USA) Info : www.crwcconference.com -- Positive Eco-News -- I read an interesting article in the Japan of Sustainability org newsletter about an eco-friendly train station. Apparently West Japan Railway built the station with a dome roof that allows natural light to penetrate inside, they’ve installed solar panels that can produce about 90,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, and they are using misting for air conditioning. The company has future plans to utilize the more than 2900 square meters of building rooftops within their corporation as gardens – that’s enough space for 30,000 plants and 90 trees – which they intend to rent out to locals.  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...

  Compareelectricityrates.com wrote us with some really nice comments about our work her on the blog. they also wanted to offer the following article for our readers, which I'm certain you will enjoy.  10 Cool Ways to Provide Power to Your House  Electricity is something most people take for granted and don’t really have any idea how it’s generated. They just flip a light switch or plug into an outlet and pay the monthly bills for the service. This is amazing considering the fact that people lived without electricity for thousands of years. Even though we’ve only had this luxury for less than 200 years, most of us would have a hard time living without it. If something catastrophic happened or if you just want to live “off the grid”, what are some cool ways to provide the power you need for your own home? Solar – If you live in an area with plentiful sunshine, solar panels would be a likely source to consider. There has been extensive res...

-- Quote of the Day -- " The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard, he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans, too ." Luther Bear -- Conscious Living Event -- May 5-6  Solar Ontario Conference and Trade Show Location : Windsor, Ontario – Canada Info : www.cansia.ca  -- Positive Eco-News -- In keeping with the topic of alternative energy today, I'd like to offer some exciting news about wind energy.   Wind turbines generating power of up to 20 megawatts are now 'realistic', according to a report, released at the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) 2011 conference in Brussels. According to the Up Wind Project , the technology is improving so much that they can now get wind turbines to 20 megawatt (most produce 5). Using rotor diameters of around 200 meters on today's standard five-megawatt turbines would also allow huge increases in pow...

-- Eco Sky Roof -- Source: www.japanfs.org The Seven Ryoju Estate Group Companies, including Ryoju Estate Co. of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries group, recently announced that they have developed a rooftop unit called the "Eco Sky Roof," which combines photovoltaic generation and solar heat recovery, in cooperation with OM Solar Co., and will start selling it from the middle of October 2009. The product combines a tandem solar panel and solar system, which secures an air-flow path between the solar panel and the roof surface. Using the flow air, it recovers heat from the solar panel side, generating electricity and hot air. By recovering the heat, it can then be used for household heating and hot water supply. The rise of temperature at the back of the solar panel is limited, and generating efficiency is likely to be reduced very little. Considering that the use of solar heat at the installation space for the solar energy generation unit, which has an output of three kilowatts, t...

-- Recommended Resource -- http://www.solarbotanic.com - SolarBotanic’s work focuses on artificial trees that make use of renewable energy from the sun and wind, they are an efficient, clean and environmentally sound means of collecting solar radiation and wind energy. SolarBotanic Nanoleaves are able to pick up any light, from the visible spectrum to the invisible spectrum, Infrared light, while producing millions and millions of Pico watts day in day out. -- Polystyrene Recycling -- Of course the best way to reduce or consumption of polystyrene (commonly referred to as "styrofoam" and "packaging peanuts") is to avoid the use of it all together. There are many packaging alternatives that are light and affordable for shipping needs, we can choose to use reusable or compostable disposable cutlery, plates and drink cups, we can bring our own container from home when visiting restaurants - rather than asking for their "to-go" container you can use your own....

-- Don't forget - Prize Draw Reminder -- A copy of She Wore Emerald Then (poetry) by Carolyn Howard-Johnson -&- Magdalena Ball - a collaboration on the subject of motherhood & A copy of Shawna Stewart's book suspense novel, Twisted Lessons To enter the draw all you need to do is: Email me at: ldbrummet @ yahoo . com (remove spaces before sending) with the word "prize" in the subject line. Deadline will be Sept 20th - noon (pacific). -- Recommended Resource -- StopWaste.Org is a wonderful public agency that provides waste reduction assistance to mid-sized and large businesses in their region - click on the hyperlink above to find the org. -- Positive Eco-News -- *Source: Japanfs.org Tokyo Gas Co., a major natural gas utility servicing the Kanto area, installed a solar energy system at its branch office located in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, and initiated its operation in July 2009. The system utilizes heat captured by a solar energy collector to operat...

-- Time Management -- Today's Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show features Karen Leland, a partner of the Sterling Consulting and Marketing Group – an international management consulting firm. Her knowledge of the world of marketing and time management will definitely appeal to small business owners and entrepreneurs, parents ...and really anyone who wants to manage their time better. The show airs live from 10-11 AM (pacific) and we'll have the chat room open for our live listeners, as always. The archive of today's interview will load shortly after the broadcast airs, and will be available for anyone around the globe to listen to at their convenience. Simply click on the hyper-linked show title (above) or look to the right for links to the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. -- Solar - A Hot Topic -- I first heard of this project (below) through a Twitter acquaintance; article location: http://solar.coolerplanet.com "... According to a Bloomberg News report, ...

-- Quote of the Day -- “ A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history .” ~ Mahatma Gandhi -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Today’s featured guest, Joseph Malki, is the co-founder and partner of Seven-Star, Inc – www.sevenstarevents.com - located in Asheville, North Carolina (USA). Seven Star Events is a global leader in greening the entertainment industry and has recently been honored with the EPA Waste Wise Award – no small feat, to be sure. Joseph and I had a wonderful discussion about how to the organization is run, the work they do and so much more. We discussed: Greencitiesmedia.com, GlobalExchange.com, Green Festivals, Green America, Coop America, SustainableWaves.com, Mother Earth News, Better World Telecom,...World Wildlife Federation ... and others. Learn how willing volunteers are to participate in green events, how to market the green event and educate the patrons. Discover alternative produ...

-- Quote of the Day -- “… So I think that we have so many facets, but we tend to label and classify ourselves that actually stop our growth us. We are here as evolving beings – we here to grow and expand and whenever we get stuck on one path, what is going to happen is a little bit of suffering until we learn to get out of our own way. …We go through this every 5 to 7 years. …Many people take other peoples path, we see how other people have done things, we learn from it – but if you don’t at some point if you don’t take your own journey, you are going to get stuck. …I never tell people that they should home-school. Sometimes I’ll hear stories and say ‘Wow public school is really working for you - good for you!’ …Continue thinking about their best interest and your children will never be ruined, that is the thing, kids know when you are thinking about their best interest. It is when we put them in school because we don’t want to have to think about what we have to do as parents. We put...

-- Quote of the Day -- " All the joy the world contains comes through wishing happiness for others. All the misery the world contains comes through wanting pleasure for oneself. " ~ Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva -- Brummet's Fund-raising Efforts -- Lillian and Dave Brummet are known for their volunteer work with school theater productions, art presentations, fund-raising events, participation in green initiatives and donations of thousands of books over the past 10 years to the following organizations: Grand Forks and West Boundary Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy - Women's Resource Center - Whispers of Hope Org . - Grand Forks Public Library - Community Futures Resource Center . When the Brummet's became published authors they decided to make sure that some of the proceeds were given to charity. While there are so many worthy causes the Brummet's would love to play a role in - realistically they must limit their efforts to only a few. But yo...

-- Quote of the Day -- “…People no longer have to suffer in silence… if you look at the state of the social internet today there are 3 main pillars: the oldest - forums, then blogs, then the behemoth sites like myspace, facebook, etc. The Experience Project is placed right in the middle of these. …Blogging (like journaling) is very therapeutic, I’ve seen studies that show huge benefits… but the blog is public. I’ll use myself for an example: I had a blog, loved it, but then I found out that my mom was reading, then my boss’s wife was reading it and I found myself really curtailing and editing what I was sharing there. But at the Experience Project our members are anonymous so they can really be themselves. You can talk about the things that make you who you are – some of those are triumphs and some of those are challenges …Sometimes we might be lucky enough to have a circle of friends of family who are helpful to a certain extent, but there are a lot of issues that would be taboo to ...