Let’s face it, we live in a fast paced world and sometimes life gets in the way, so we don’t always have the time to read all the top health books that we’d like to. That’s where Health Book Summaries come in.

Health Book Summaries is a free service that that can summarize today’s cutting edge health books without missing key themes and ideas. Think of them as Cliffs Notes for your health, fitness, and wellness.

Learn More..

EcoRenovator brings us the news that common ordinary rhubard is an effective remover of hard-water stains.

Click Here to read the article.

It looks like the cost of replacing a hybrid car’s batteries isn’t so bad after all.

The Hybrid Cars Blog reports that the cost of replacing the batteries in a first-generation Prius is now $2299. The second generation Prius should still be under warranty but if you did have to buy a replacement battery, it would cost $2588.

Here is an interesting article on the TerraPass blog about recycling waste heat at the University of Notre Dame.

The university has begun housing some of its computers in the nearby “Arizona Desert Dome,” a conservatory for cacti and other desert plants.  The computers get cooled, the cacti stay warm.

Click Here to read the article.

I found this great article about insulation on the Energy Boomer blog.

A broad array of new insulation types are in development. They hold the promise of offering values as high as R-20 or more.

One idea being researched is gas-filled panels. They use pockets of a low-conductivity gas such as argon, krypton or xenon.

Researchers are testing vacuum insulation panels. They rely on a vacuum between two layers of metal to create very high R-values. These work like a thermos bottle.

Aerogels are low-density fibers of silica or other materials. They can offer R-values as high as R-35 per inch.

Click Here to read the entire article.

It’s always a joy to see people making a living from doing what they love. It;’s even better when involves urban farming. One of the newest ways I see this happening is experienced gardeners are becoming Gardening Coaches. In fact, there is a blog dedicated to this new profession. This article contains some great advice for budding gardening coaches.

Your existing shower head may be as good or better that that snazzy low-flow shower head you’ve been eyeing in the building-supply store.

Eco-Renovator tested a low-flow shower heads vs his existing shower head and found the existing one out-performed the low-flow shower head.

Read the article and you can use his simple technique for testing your shower head’s flow rate.

The latest item of interest to thieves? Solar Panels. Thanks right: solar panels.

ECOtality Life brings us this report that police in California are seeing a massive increase in stolen panels from around the more than 33,000 installations in the state..

Engrave your driver’s license number on your panels.

Click Here to read the article.

Thanks to EcoRenovator.org for pointing us to this list from consumer reports:

25 Ways to Save Money at Home

Rhode Island has granted a New Jersey-based renewable energy firm the right to develop a wind farm in Narragansett Bay that would generate 15 percent of the state’s electricity needs in the coming decade, officials said.

Click Here to read the article

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Agritopia a unique subdivision in Gilbert Arizona.

In this vdeo, my friend Jay Thompson – AKA The Phoenix Real Estate Guy – brings us some video of the houses in Agritopia:

Click Here to read the entire post on Jay’s blog.

Have you noticed that there are a lot more bicycles on the road these days? With the price of gas, it’s no wonder. Most drivers – myself included – are not tuned in to looking for cyclists and anticipating their moves.

Sustainablog has a great article this week about sharing the road with cyclists:

Click Here to read it.

The X PRIZE Foundation, an educational non-profit that designs and administers competitions with prizes of $10 million or more, is launching a $25,000 video contest on YouTube sponsored by Prize Capital, LLC (www.youtube.com/xprize). The $25,000 will be awarded for the best video proposing a new, world-changing X PRIZE in the field of Energy and the Environment.

The X PRIZE Foundation and Prize Capital, LLC are offering $25,000 for the best video proposing a new Energy and Environment X PRIZE. Contestants need to submit a 2-minute video via www.youtube.com/xprize. Entrants will be narrowed down to 3 finalists by the X PRIZE Foundation. Once the 3 finalists are identified, XPRIZE.org users will vote to determine the winner. The winner will be announced on XPRIZE.org in December 2008.

The winning video must answer the following three questions:
1. What is the specific prize idea?
2. What is the Grand Challenge or world-wide problem that you are trying to solve?
3. How will this prize benefit humanity?

Click Here for more information

URBANA, Ill. – Jim Payne is a one-man recycling program.

He walks the streets each morning, as he has for 25 years, sifting through your trash for the treasures within.

Like a brand-new vacuum cleaner, still in the box. Microwave ovens. Unopened boxes of laundry soap, A perfectly good computer printer/scanner. A six-pack of beer. And those are just the recent finds.

Payne is not homeless, or even poor. He owns a small manufacturing firm and lives with his wife, Mare, in a charming brick duplex with a yard bursting in colorful prairie plants.

Payne is waging a private crusade to stop the Earth or at least his corner of Champaign-Urbana from becoming the desolate, trash-strewn planet.

Read More…

Courtesy of ChicagoTribune.com

Modern appliances may allow you to lower your water heater’s thermostat.

The instruction manual for my Maytag wash machne says:

beginner or an expert.
This washer has a heating element that automatically heats the
water to the best temperature on select cycles.

My dishwasher also has a flow-through eater that heats water upon demand to a temperature of up to 161F

These are the only two appliances in my house that use hot water. Our only other use of hot water is showering. If that’s the case in your house too, then you should be able to lower the thermostat of your hot water heater to your normal shower temperature and suffer no ill effects – The dishwasher and clothes washer will take care of their own hot water needs.

Away at college. For new freshmen, there are lots of mixed emotions and lots of new experiences, including your first dorm room. But in all the excitement and anxiety, it’s easy to forget about being green.

Treehugger’s Planet Green has a great article about staying green in your new dorm room.

“Your dorm room is your castle, while you’re at school, at least, so there’s no better time to learn some green lessons that you can apply to living the rest of your green life. Read on for a bounty of ideas and tips for greening your dorm room this year.”

Click Here to read more.

Did you know that the City of Albuquerque maintains over 360 acres of farmlan within the city limits?

“Since the purchase of the Candelaria Farm Preserve in 1977, the City’s Open Space Division has proven to be one of the key local agencies involved in the protection of agricultural lands in Albuquerque,” says Mayor Martin Chavez. “Our achievements in farm preservation provide another example of why we have one of the most celebrated Open Space programs in the nation.”

WHAT: A Celebration of Open Space, urban agriculture, local food, and community with music, fun, workshops, and more!

WHEN: National Public Lands Day, September 27th, 2008, 2pm – 7pm

WHERE: Open Space Visitor Center, 6500 Coors Blvd NW. The Visitor Center is located east of Coors at the end of Bosque Meadows Rd, which is between Montano and Paseo del Norte.

COST: FREE

For more information about the event, call 452-5216, or see www.cabq.gov/openspace.

Email: kswanson@cabq.gov

Organic Gardening Tips is a new blog dedicated to just that: organic gardening tips. These three entries provide a wealth of information:

How to Water Your Organic Garden

How to Use Organic Compost

Organic Pesticides and Fungicides

Wal-Mart stores in Arizona now stock Grand Canyon sweet onions while aisles in New York display state-grown eggplant, as the world’s largest retailer says it has become the nation’s largest buyer of locally grown fruits and vegetables.

For Wal-Mart, which leverages bulk purchases to keep prices down, buying from local farms might not appear to fit the company’s strategy. However, the Bentonville-based company has focused on buying fruits and vegetables from farms closest to its distribution centers, making shipping easier while cutting down on trucking in produce from outside of the area, said spokeswoman Deisha Galberth.

For example, the retail giant once bought peaches from only a few suppliers. Now, Wal-Mart buys 12 million pounds of peaches annually from farms in 18 different states, she said.

Because of that, the company estimates, it saves about 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel a year and cuts away 672,000 food miles.

Click Here to read the entire article