LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

HOUSE # 1:

A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt," either. It's in the South.

HOUSE # 2:

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground Water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.

ANSWERS:

HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of Nashville,Tennessee. It is the abode of that renowned environmentalist (and filmmaker) Al Gore.

HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas. Also known as "the Texas White House," it is the private residence of the President of the United States, George W Bush.

So whose house is gentler on the environment? Yet another story you WON'T hear on CNN, CBS,ABC, NBC, MSNBC or read in the New York Times or the Washington Post. Indeed for Mr. Gore is "an inconvenient truth".

Bitter: I'd be real surprised if a Republican administration would set up a tax breaks for people to buy hybrid cars. A much better liklihood if a Democrat were to be elected though.

When I get my taxes done, they always ask if I've purchased a hybrid vehicle in the last year, of course I always say no so I don't know what would happen if I had.

Why are they asking if not for a tax break??

There already is a tax break for hybrids

There already is a tax break for hybrids

I'd rather see the 'break' up front, on the price. Like Bitter....

I'd rather see the 'break' up front, on the price. Like Bitter....

Me too, I'd be more inclined to buy one then.

I read some of your comments and we are so much alike on this band thing. I had to laugh out loud and it is 1:50 am. I eat chcolate kisses too and anything else that will go down, mostly not good for me. I am hung up on cheetos chips now. I banded 06-27-2006 and have lost about 42 lbs, had 5 or 6 fills and 2 unfills. I have forgotten what it is like to enjoy food. Slime is an everyday event in my lif and friends and family sure don't want to hear about that! I do think I will reach my goal someday. I have troube eating in the mornings. I started reading on this website and it helps to know that I am not alone! I will read more of your postings and Good luck to you!

Mary...

I am a closet Cheetos freak, too. But not a successful one, as the orange fingers tend to give me away.

I basically had to start all over, after being unfilled for almost 3 weeks due to a dilated esophagus. Be careful with those fills. If you get too tight, you will likely end up with complications.

One thing I am doing, partially to help cut down on landfill waste, is stop using tampons and pads. I ordered a keeper online. Its a reusable cup. I had never heard of that sort of thing until recently and then after I did someone I know mentioned that she switched to one and liked it and so forth, so I've ordered one. I'm excited about its arrival. Pads are just uncomfortable and can be messy. Tampons there is risk of toxic shock and you have to be careful to have the right absorbancy, etc (I'm always running out of my lights). Plus you have to have more with you when you need to change them, they really are just contributing to garbage, etc. I figure if one rubber or silicone cup lasts a few years thats going to down on waste. If most women did that, imagine the difference it would make!

DH and I were talking about putting a windmill in the yard since I'm big on green power but current ones are too big for where we live. So now I'm back to wanting some solar panels. If I were to build a new house or something like that I would get all sorts of stuff in it, like a heat pump. I think those are really cool. I like to plant trees, I'm thinking maybe a maple or a willow would go nicely in the back yard. I unplug chargers, etc. We have a tankless Water heater (its awesome), use the compact flourescents, buy energy efficient appliciances when we do have to replace them, and are always adding more insulation to the house for increased efficiency in heatng.

The environment is actually something I think a lot about. If/when I ever get a car (I don't drive currently and would like to wait as hubby recently got a newer car) I would be getting a hybrid or diesel. One thing that upsets me is that they make so many diesels (and those are more fuel efficient, and with biodiesel, friendlier than gasoline cars) that they just don't bring over to north american. I'm sure there is more i can do. I'll get to it when I can- right now though the house is so messy and life is chaotic that is has to settle before i can figure out what strategy is different or better. Course I haven't seen inconveniant truth yet either, but I have the DVD. I did read some of Gore's writiings on environmental stuff years ago in one of my biology classes and I was impressed with the level of scholarship/thought. I heard that all of his stuff wasn't as good, that some of it was even a little out there though. But thats ok. What i did read has stuck with me.

I really like what you are doing, Kyethra, in order to reduce your footprint. Your approach seems well thought out. Kudos to you!

missyg: Obviously there's already a tax break in effect if they're asking you - uness of course it's another "big brother" step they've taken to monitor our behavior.

I don't do our taxes - haven't for years so I'm pretty much in the dark. Which is how I like it.

I don't do our taxes - haven't for years so I'm pretty much in the dark. Which is how I like it.

Oh, you should at least take a peek at your taxes. Most people don't really look at the numbers and know what "big brother" takes out of their hard-earned money. The biggest coup the government ever executed was withholding taxes from paychecks. If citizens had to write a check to the government every paycheck, month, quarter, or year, we'd likely have another tea party.

There is a tax credit for buying a new hybrid, and oddly, it's a higher tax credit if you buy a Prius than for any other hybrid car. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

We started with an empty piece of property and have been evolving. We have our own well and aerobic system, and we compost and recycle. We are getting ready to build our dream home here... A 750 square foot concrete dome home that can be heated and cooled by a single window unit, even in beastly hot Houston. We will have enough solar panels to be able to sell excess to the power company instead of getting a bill. The dome is hurricane proof, tornado proof, fireproof, mold proof, so we won't be burdening the Government with our need for their help following any natural disasters. We grow our own vegetable and some fruits for part of the year, and we get eggs and milk from the neighbor. Our grazing animals mow the fields and our browsing animals keep the fencelines clean. they all provide fertilizer for the plants and fields. Mulch is provided by any left over animal hay. We use a clothes washer, but no dryer unless it's raining.I do drive a van to haul the animals and farm supplies around, but my total mileage is only 4000 miles a year.

There is a tax credit for buying a new hybrid, and oddly, it's a higher tax credit if you buy a Prius than for any other hybrid car. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

We started with an empty piece of property and have been evolving. We have our own well and aerobic system, and we compost and recycle. We are getting ready to build our dream home here... A 750 square foot concrete dome home that can be heated and cooled by a single window unit, even in beastly hot Houston. We will have enough solar panels to be able to sell excess to the power company instead of getting a bill. The dome is hurricane proof, tornado proof, fireproof, mold proof, so we won't be burdening the Government with our need for their help following any natural disasters. We grow our own vegetable and some fruits for part of the year, and we get eggs and milk from the neighbor. Our grazing animals mow the fields and our browsing animals keep the fencelines clean. they all provide fertilizer for the plants and fields. Mulch is provided by any left over animal hay. We use a clothes washer, but no dryer unless it's raining.I do drive a van to haul the animals and farm supplies around, but my total mileage is only 4000 miles a year.

This is a most interesting post. I think what you and your family are doing is wonderful, Betsyjane. There are so many creative and often low-tech, low-energy ways of dealing with the challenges of the environment - the heat of the summer, the cold of the winter, storms, etc - available to us. Often an examination of how other less advanced cultures handled or handle these problems can give us insights into new ways of approaching these issues.

Actually I was only speaking tongue in cheek about being in the dark about my taxes.

I agree that if we had to pony up a check every April for our federal taxes, we'd all want to balk. If we had a genuine caring desire to help the less fortunate in our country, we might not have to have taxes automatically taken out of our paychecks. But then that's about like saying if all fathers took care of their children they wouldn't have to pay child support through the courts. Too bad we all aren't as responsible as we would like to think we are.

Betsyjane: Your life in the Houston area sounds like a bite out of history. We've always boasted about our "industrial revolution" and bragged about the marvelous things that our technology has brought into our lives. Your experience may make us wonder about how much of all that "stuff" is really needed for a happy life. What's life all about anyway?

I can conjur up a mental image of a beautiful pastoral setting with grazing cows, birds chirpping, bees buzzing and the quiet enjoyment of home grown food beneath a spreading chestnut tree. Quite a contrast to the city life: jumping into our luxury gas guzzling auto merging onto our major highway beating a path to our favorite fast food place and bolting our unhealthy fat and sugar laden meals while driving and talking on our cell phones on the way to some loud, competitive sporting event. That's living, huh?

It does sound like a splendid life and I am going to suggest that BJean and I invite ourselves down for a visit. You might know that I have never, ever tasted true Bar-B-Que, eh. (By the way, do you have any of those real nifty post lapband surgery drugs kicking around?:nervous )

green: I'm with you. Especially wish I had kept the post surgery drugs that I didn't take. I would gladly replace my current chocolate cravings for a little pain reliever fix now and again.

You might have to make a serious trek to Houston without me. I'd rather not sweat like a pig under the chestnut tree, as would happen in the ultra humid Houston area. However, if you would meet me in the mountains in New Mexico or Colorado we could find a nice spot by a trout stream to count our blessings. Later we can we can figure out how to use some fly fishing gear and snag us some lunch. Not QUITE as tasty as honest to goodness Texas barbeque, but much healthier! Will you bring the chocolate or should I?

Ooh, I can't deal with heat and humidity, either. Let's go to the mountains and trout us a fish. I'll bring chocolate and wine. And yes, it is too bad you didn't save your drugs! A grrl never knows when she might enjoy a rest from the rat race. Haha *wink*