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".

I know, that's why I was reluctant to wean even at 2 years old, lol.

Many many cloth diapers and menstrual products are made by SAHM businesses, which is also nice, I'd rather patronise another mum's business than the big bad Huggies company, lol.

For the drool factor, have a look here:

Welcome - Made By Mom Baby Co., LLC (expensive, hard to get, lol, but gorgeous work).

BabyBeeHinds.com.au - Fitted cloth nappies for your little honey! - my friend Dee makes these, they're awesome.

Pocket diapers were my choice, we had tons of Fuzzibuns - they have a microfleece lining which wicks away moisture - voila! a stay dry cover just like a disposable

Fuzzi Bunz - THE Pocket Diaper -

The mothering forums are awesome for educating yourself about modern cloth diapers:

Diapering - MotheringDotCommune Forums

And this is a fun place, mostly Aussies

Nappycino! - Nappycino Home

And here's some cloth pad resources:

clothpadreviews.makeforum.org :: clothpadreviews.makeforum.org

Cloth Menstrual Pads

And ladies, you ought to try non disposable menstrual items. Once you get your head around the ick factor and actually try it you'll never go back.

Totally agree. I find that cloth is so much more comfortable!

Thanks Jacqui!

So you're talking cotton pads as opposed to the cups I've been hearing about? I'm still not sure how that's supposed to work. I'm too chicken to look it up on the internet! haha

My DD quit her job as a medical assistant (she was in nursing school) when she had her DD....and ended up making more $$$ knitting wool diaper covers and selling them than she was making in her old job!!!

She kept her DD in diapers, and covers, and never spent a dime on them, only on the upkeep----AND supplemented her income. She said the other day, she was wanting to drop a few pounds, so she thought she would start knitting to ward off the munching in the evening, plus she could use some extra money!!!

Personally I am glad all diapers, and menstrual needs have been left behind!!! I'll recycle my newspapers!!!

Kat

Yes, cotton (or better yet, hemp) pads. I tried a cup and something about it and my personal anatomy dont work. Crippling cramps, I'd move and just be struck by incredible pain. Which is weird since I used a diaphragm for years and am used to shoving things up there, lol, its not like I couldnt get it in.

I'll use a tampon for convenience if I"m swimming or whatever, but overall, my cycle is lighter, more regular and less painful than when I was using disposable products, and they dont make me dry and itchy.

I can see the men cringing at this conversation! haha

I'm cringing.

These are pubic service announcements! :smile2:

I have gathered much information in the past on Global Warming and well...Al Gore... and I thought this was interesting..

One of the world's foremost meteorologists has called the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous" and the product of "people who don't understand how the atmosphere works".

Dr William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the earth.

His comments came on the same day that the Nobel committee honoured Mr Gore for his work in support of the link between humans and global warming.

"We're brainwashing our children," said Dr Gray, 78, a long-time professor at Colorado State University. "They're going to the Gore movie [An Inconvenient Truth] and being fed all this. It's ridiculous."

At his first appearance since the award was announced in Oslo, Mr Gore said: "We have to quickly find a way to change the world's consciousness about exactly what we're facing."

Mr Gore shared the Nobel prize with the United Nations climate panel for their work in helping to galvanise international action against global warming.

But Dr Gray, whose annual forecasts of the number of tropical storms and hurricanes are widely publicised, said a natural cycle of ocean Water temperatures - related to the amount of salt in ocean water - was responsible for the global warming that he acknowledges has taken place.

However, he said, that same cycle meant a period of cooling would begin soon and last for several years.

"We'll look back on all of this in 10 or 15 years and realise how foolish it was," Dr Gray said.

During his speech to a crowd of about 300 that included meteorology students and a host of professional meteorologists, Dr Gray also said those who had linked global warming to the increased number of hurricanes in recent years were in error.

He cited statistics showing there were 101 hurricanes from 1900 to 1949, in a period of cooler global temperatures, compared to 83 from 1957 to 2006 when the earth warmed.

"The human impact on the atmosphere is simply too small to have a major effect on global temperatures," Dr Gray said.

He said his beliefs had made him an outsider in popular science.

"It bothers me that my fellow scientists are not speaking out against something they know is wrong," he said. "But they also know that they'd never get any grants if they spoke out. I don't care about grants

Ok. We're straight now. We may as well all get on board with this one because a well thought of meteorologist, who has a talent for predicting hurricanes, has spoken out saying that humans don't have an impact on the weather, at least global warming. And just to prove he's right, he says all the research that has been done by scientists, who are in agreement about the atmosphere and gobal warming, is all about grants. Really? How convenient.

What I don't understand is what harm, exactly, will it do if humans live a cleaner, safer life? The only obvious harm I can see is that it will harm the corporations polluting our environment in the pocketbook. And we might all have to tighten our belts (so to speak) because of corporations having to spend money to comply. That's a huge sacrifice for something that Dr. William Gray says is no threat to our environment. Ok. I get it. Thanks for the heads up. I'll watch this space in 10 or 15 years and be awed by Dr. Gray's brilliance.

I'm not 78 years old, I hope to be around in 10-15 years.....unfortunately I personally doubt we will have found it to be foolish....but as I say, that is my own opinion.

The population and the things we have done to the earth we live on are a lot different than they were in 1900 to 1949.

Kat

Ok. We're straight now. We may as well all get on board with this one because a well thought of meteorologist, who has a talent for predicting hurricanes, has spoken out saying that humans don't have an impact on the weather, at least global warming. And just to prove he's right, he says all the research that has been done by scientists, who are in agreement about the atmosphere and gobal warming, is all about grants. Really? How convenient.

What I don't understand is what harm, exactly, will it do if humans live a cleaner, safer life? The only obvious harm I can see is that it will harm the corporations polluting our environment in the pocketbook. And we might all have to tighten our belts (so to speak) because of corporations having to spend money to comply. That's a huge sacrifice for something that Dr. William Gray says is no threat to our environment. Ok. I get it. Thanks for the heads up. I'll watch this space in 10 or 15 years and be awed by Dr. Gray's brilliance.

aaaaawwwwww BJean, you sarcastic you....

YOu always want to have all the sense, I thought it was interesting so I posted it, you bash everything that anyone posts that does not agree with your views, I know that by now..., if it makes you happy then go for it... my post was information , just that, take it or leave it... but I sure wasn't looking for your little sarcastic ways, I'm not in the mood for that today....:smile2:

I'm not 78 years old, I hope to be around in 10-15 years.....unfortunately I personally doubt we will have found it to be foolish....but as I say, that is my own opinion.

The population and the things we have done to the earth we live on are a lot different than they were in 1900 to 1949.

Kat

Yeah, you sure have a point... I hope I hang around for 15 more years as well, we'll see.....

In fact, I didn't used to be so sarcastic. I used to actually use logic in a good way. But I got burned, bad, by an extremely conservative right winger one too many times. Now I have fun biting back.

I've never understood why Republicans believe that Al Gore invented the term "global warming."

I am glad you post things that you find interesting and that support your viewpoint. But I'm sorry if you have no stomach for someone disagreeing with you or trying to point out an opposite viewpoint.

I guess I like you better than you like me. C'est la vie.

In fact, I didn't used to be so sarcastic. I used to actually use logic in a good way. But I got burned, bad, by an extremely conservative right winger one too many times. Now I have fun biting back.

I've never understood why Republicans believe that Al Gore invented the term "global warming."

I am glad you post things that you find interesting and that support your viewpoint. But I'm sorry if you have no stomach for someone disagreeing with you or trying to point out an opposite viewpoint.

I guess I like you better than you like me. C'est la vie.

Re-read your posts..... you really can't handle other people disagreeing with you without you attacking..., which you call "biting back".... I can stomach a lot, I think I've proven it already...., I just wanted to point out to you how sarcastic you are.... maybe you haven't t realized it? ....I wish I would've known you when you used to use to debate in a "good way", that must have been refreshing to say the least.. besides, why letting a right winger change how you really are?? I know that I'm not about to be a a jerk with other people just because someone got on my nerve...

and frankly, I don't really think you like me....:smile2: