Things are Heating Up!

We are almost a week out from the start of the 2007-2008 NBA season. The Suns have started off the preseason 4-2, which doesn't mean much. However they have been playing really well together and have yet been aided by the services of Amare. Where will the Suns finish this year? I'm hoping that D'Antoni will use a deeper rotation giving the Suns fresher legs going into the postseason, even if that means not finishing first in the West. Dallas has a lot to prove, San Antonio is a year older, the East is least, no one really scares me. The Fredstrom really likes the Suns chances. What do you think?

Go Green or Go Home Pt. 4

TRANSPORTATION

If tires were properly inflated it would save America 4 million gallons of gas per day
Consolidate trips whenever possible.
Driving slower can save up to 5 miles/gallon.

FUELS OF THE FUTURE:
Research says that corn-based ethanol is not a good idea.
This would effect the globally poor because corn is one of the staple foods for them.
It raises the cost not only of corn but wheat and other grains.

Filling a 25 gallon SUV tank would require over 450 lbs of corn, which contains enough calories to feed one person for a year.
The amount of energy used for planting and harvesting corn is phenomenal. Row crops such as soy beans and corn produce major run-offs and require high amounts of fertilizer and pesticides.

They are the major contributors of nitrogen runoff which has caused the so called “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico an ocean area the size of New Jersey that has little or no oxygen to support life…this effects the fishing industry.

If we increase corn production this would contribute to habitat and ecosystem loss.
The amount of energy to turn corn into ethanol requires the burning of either coals or natural gas which counter-acts the reason for this energy saving idea.

What do you think?

Go Green or Go Home Pt. 3

FOOD

The average meal travels 1,200 miles from pasture to plate.
The closer your food comes from the less emissions and gas are required.

Go to Localharvest.com to find the nearest farmers market.

One acre of land can produce- 50,000 lbs of tomatoes, 40,000 lbs of potatoes, 30,000 lbs of carrots, or 250 lbs. of beef.

2,500 gallons of water are required to produce 1 lb. of beef and only 25 gallons of water are needed to produce 1 lb. of wheat.

Consider where your food comes while trying to consume less meat.

Even the Fredstrom is going to try to cut down on those burgers!

Go Green or Go Home Pt. 2

Check out these amazing recycling facts...

A ton of recycled paper saves:
17 trees
30 cubic yards of landfill space
7,000 gallons of water,
4,200 kilowatt hours of energy which is enough to heat a home for half a year,
390 gallons of oil
and prevents 60 lbs. Of air pollution.

If recycling rates increased from 30% to 60% we would save 315 million barrels of oil a year.

Recycling aluminum uses 95% less energy than making new aluminum

dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist…..cuts down on junk mail sent to you.

Visit lime.com and type in items that you want to discard. Did you know that those Crocs sandal shoes can be ground up and used for childrens' playground surfacing? Or the soles of running shoes for artificial grass filler? You type the item, they tell you what you can do with it!

ARE YOU DOING YOUR PART?

Go Green or Go Home???

I was listening to a Mars Hill Bible Church podcast and wanted to relay some interesting facts regarding our Earth...
REDUCE ENERGY COMSUMPTION

25% of your energy bill is from phantom power...meaning just having things plugged in and not using them uses up energy. Consider using a power strip and turning it off when you are not using those items.

If every American used Energy Star appliances, it would equate to taking 3 million cars off the road.

If every house in America switched out one incandescent bulb for a compact- fluorescent bulb, it would be equivalent to taking one million cars off the road.

Stay tuned for the next entry regarding recycling...there are some amazing stats you have to read to believe!

Off to a Great Start!

Week two is done and in the gradebooks... Fredstrom's class is doing a great job so far, and he is very proud of them. After some assessing, it has come to his attention that 18 of his 21 students are below grade level in reading...this shows how important it is for students to turn off the video games, computer (unless you are reading this!), or TV and open a book! Research consistently shows the more TV and video games a child watches or plays the lower their achievement levels! Starting September 10th, Arrowhead will be offering "READ IT", an opportunity every weekday morning for students to either read to or be read to by a teacher for 30 minutes before school starts. This is offered to all students and is FREE! It starts at 7:55 in the library. Hope to see you there!

Back to School!

School starts Monday and I would like to wish all those involved: parents, students, teachers, and administrators the best this year. For all of my regular blog suscribers...there will be a number of school-type posts, you can read them and see what we are up to in the fourth grade, or just delete them. Welcome to the 2007/2008 school year!