Change is in the air- literally!

Today my thoughts stray to renewable energy. If I hear one more person chirping about saving the earth like they're telling you to floss or drink 64 ounces of water a day I'm going to scream. This is serious stuff people! not a fashion trend.

I've been serious about saving the planet since the second grade. My mom can attest to this and my compulsive habit of turning off the light in a room pretty much the instant one leaves a room, even if one is going right back in. Just doin' my part! This is added to my badgering her to buy the biggest conceivable bottle of dish soap instead of the handy little bottle she insists on buying. I don't mean that she has to use the gallon sized Joy to wash the dishes- just to refill her container! Every time she goes shopping I think she says a little prayer of thanksgiving that I no longer live at home.

For more on the lesser of two evils see the insightful book, Hey Mr. Green: Sierra Magazine's Answer Guy Tackles Your Toughest Green Living Questions by: Bob Schildgen available at amazon.com and many major book sellers.

But all joking aside, I've decided to learn more about sustainable and renewable energy resources. I figure if I'm going to study sustainable land use, it would help if I didn't call wind turbines "those windmill-like thingies," or solar panels, "those really big car sun shields, but cooler."

According to Esquire a company called Verdant Power, a Virginia-based energy start-up was given $1.5 million by the state of New York to see what kind of tidal energy is possible in the depths of the East River between Queens and Roosevelt Island, which is pretty cool. Fear not animal lovers, it's not an underwater food processor for the fishes. The motion of the eight-foot blades and fish interaction was compared to "pedestrians strolling through revolving doors."

I also found a really interesting magazine, OK, sortof interesting magazine called Home Power. It reads like Popular Mechanics, heavy on technical details, light on well, shiny objects and sparkly graphics. But it definitely helps lay people get a better understanding of how to literally incorporate wind, solar, and hydro power into one's daily lives.

My aunt and uncle have talked about living "off the grid" for a while, as they are latent hippies and my dad, in his sporadic "take the guns and run for the hills" moments has also researched alternate energy sources.

I have to admit, I'm not exactly enthused at the idea of padding Big Business's pockets just so I can turn on my TV, especially when there is so much exciting new possibilities out there. Power from potatoes? Bring it on! I already like what spuds did for alcohol and the spirit of progress.