The  KY-cities blog will be changing it’s format from a general approach in selecting blog topics to a more specific platform.  Each Topic will be changed each month. The Monthly blog will allow readers to view new articles, facts and current news about the Blog of the month topic and content will be changing daily.  Please fell free to write in with suggestions, input  and opinions about the Blog topic of month.   I look forward to hearing from you have a great week and enjoy of blog of the Month;

 ”Living Green in the Bluegrass”

• Bolster confidence in the products reflecting renewable energy generation.
• Expand the retail market for electricity products incorporating renewable energy, including expanding the demand for new renewable energy generation.
• Provide customers clear information about retail “green” electricity products to enable them to make informed purchasing decisions.
• Encourage the deployment of electricity products that minimize air pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• (These are just some of the topics we will be covering this month.)

Please follow the Blog through out the month as we will be  focusing on Kentuckians whom are already make steps to reduce our negative impact on the environment along with a slew of local artist and green living tips!

With everyone’s eyes on our human impact
on the environment, people must reconsider
their lifestyles down to every last drop of oil,
and every last drop of water we waste, in order
to help make global change a reality.

ECOKY.COM offers some ideas in recycling,
reusing, and reducing our carbon footprints.

Kentucky is a state rich in natural resources
and fertile, nutrient rich soil–more than
ideal for farming and growing organic food.
Some Kentucky farmers still adhere to the
‘old ways’ of farming, meaning they choose
to grow fruits and vegetables and raise
livestock without pesticides and hormones.
These qualities are the standards for which
food is labeled ‘organic.’

Many decades ago, corporations and the
powers that be introduced pesticides and
animal hormones to farmers in order to
increase their product yield. This practice,
studies have shown, has many detrimental
effects on the human system, including
cancer, obesity, and birth defects, to name a
few. Corporations and their teams of scientists
have also done well to develop and implement
preservatives and other hazardous ingredients,
which are put into foods and body products in
order to ensure increases in revenue by means
of addicting consumers to their products.

The media has inundated the general public
with inflated images of a lifestyle full of
unnecessary luxuries. We don’t need all of
these products as seen in countless
advertisements. We don’t need life to be ANY
easier than it already is. Seriously. If life gets
any easier, why even have a body? The bottom
line is this: Our bodies need nutritious,
wholesome foods and exercise in order to work properly.

Some might say that Kentuckians seem to
have few choices for a healthy lifestyle and
healthy foods with the majority of the
state’s population residing in rural
communities, where Wal-Mart, McDonald’s,
and a handful of other fast food restaurants,
are the only choices for supplies and outings.
But that’s what they want you to believe.
These corporations want to be your only choice,
Your everything. The truth is, Kentuckians do
have a choice. Granted, to unearth these alternatives,
it takes a little more effort than jumping in
your car and driving to Wal-Mart or the
nearest drive-thru, but the results are much
more rewarding and healthier for you and
your family.

Kentucky offers a fantastic alternative to
these corporate powerhouses pumping us
full of hormones and chemicals–farmers
markets have sprung up across the state
offering fresh and organic produce and
natural products in the late spring,
summer, and fall months! Farmers’ markets
are a wonderful weekly and sometimes
bi-weekly event in which people can support
local business and their communities.
Farmers’ markets are also a great way to
become active in your community, bouncing
healthy ideas and practices off of others. At many
of these open markets, people offer other
services and products, including body care
homeopathic, natural remedies, tinctures,
and tonics, as well as alternative medicine
practitioners.

A Briefing on Holistic Medicine
Until modern medicine and the excessive
‘pill cure-all’ era became the solution, people
in the U.S. relied on homeopathic and what
is now called ‘alternative’ medicine. Often
times, people would do whatever they could
with their cultural knowledge of home
remedies before seeking the professional
help of a western medicines doctor. Some
Kentuckians still use a few of these natural
home remedies for ailments here and there,
but the number is dwindling as we watch
Kentucky’s cultural and oral heritage slowly
become replaced with T.V.

Elders in the area still have a memory full of
homeopathic remedies–the plants to use,
where to find these plants, and what to do with
the plants. The only way to prevent this
knowledge from being lost with their generation
is to take an active role in obtaining the knowledge.

Alternative medicine doctors, however,
make it their business to know everything
from these such homeopathic solutions, to
indigenous medicinal uses of plants, to
Chinese medicine. Many people around the
world are finding that alternative medicines
are much more effective than modern
medicine under many circumstances (except
of course, serious terminal illnesses
requiring surgery).

It may seem, at times, slightly elusive to
consumers, but organic products, homeopathic
vendors, holistic practitioners, and natural
remedies are right in their backyard. A great
way to find out more is to dig deeper and do
some research on the internet, talk to an elder
in your community, visit your local farmers’
market, and peruse some of the carefully
selected, earth friendly links we’ve
provided you here at ECOKY!

Things to Consider: The Benefits
of Buying and Eating Local:
1. You know where the food is coming from
and you are supporting your friends and
neighbors. In communities like Kentucky,
produce farmers live right down the way–’as
the crow flies.’

2. The vegetables and fruits are grown on
the same soil that your children play, and the
plants drink the same water you drink.

3. Less waste. For many big business food
distributors, shipping their products from their
farms, to their warehouses, to their stores
etc, means a considerable amount of gas
and natural resource consumption. I think what
many of us forget to visualize is that to ’ship’
items mean just that–distributors have to put
them on a boat or on a gas-guzzling truck to
get a bag of tomatoes or a package of berries
to us. There are a substantial amount of
resources saved by buying local!

4. Kentucky has one of the longest growing
seasons in the nation. With rainy, mild
winters, and an ecosystem which supports a
variety of flora and fauna, Kentucky is an
ideal place to grow just about anything–
bamboo grows here, and the soil is so full of
nutrients, the grass is blue! It doesn’t get much
better than that!

Natural Remedies and Homeopathic Ideas:
We would like to let those of you who don’t
know and remind those of you who may
have forgotten, about a few of our favorite
homeopathic cures and treatments.
Here they are!

1. Dermatitis and Neem Oil–Anti fungal, and
antibacterial, great for topical treatments,
balancing skin, and the treatment of contact
dermatitis, i.e., poison ivy and oak. We
Recommend Kentucky’s own Back Country
Soaps, Neem Oil Soap. Find them on the
web at www.backcountrysoaps.com
2. Dry Skin and Hemp Products–A perfectly
balanced oil, hemp is my personal favorite
skin moisturizer. It is extremely effective,
because it is rich in Omega-3, and the
plant’s natural oils soak into the skin and
are even water resistant, so the lotion wont
wash right off. And its not greasy like many
other lotions. We recommend ecoky.com

3. Allergies and Local Honey–A delicious
and effective way to cure and prevent
allergies. Local honey means to eat the
honey produced from bees in your region.
The secret is, bees use pollens to make
honey from the flowers and plants in your
area, which cause your allergies. Eating the
honey local bees provide helps your body
build up histamine, a natural chemical in the
body which causes allergic reactions. This
remedy works like a flu shot against the flu.

4. Problem Skin and Tea Tree Oil–This is
another natural antiseptic. Tea tree oil has
many uses, including blemishes, balancing
skin, athlete’s foot, and dermatitis. We
recommend Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil.

5. Ear Aches and Sweet Oil–Also known as
olive oil, sweet oil draws bacterial, water,
and other ear clogging materials away from
the eardrum and out of the ear. This was an
essential when I was a child. My mother
swears by it, because it works!

6. Poison Ivy and Baking Soda/White
Vinegar Paste–Mix together, apply to affected
area, and leave to dry. This paste cools the itch
and burn of contact dermatitis immediately.
Oatmeal baths also help soothe itchy dermatitis.

7. Sunburn and Apple Cider Vinegar–Soak a
brown paper bag in apple cider vinegar, and
then place over sunburned area. A friend
claims the vinegar draws out the burn by the
next morning! Aloe Vera, which you can
easily grow in your home, is also a nice
supplement to this treatment. We
recommend growing your own aloe!

We hope that these simple homeopathic remedies help.
However, to better serve you and our community by and large,
we need your help!

Please feel free to email us with your favorite
homeopathic treatments, so we may share
them with the community. Your input helps
our community and environment become
healthier and more holistic!

We look forward to expanding our database
of homeopathic remedies and creating an open forum
for Kentuckians to share their knowledge,
cultural heritage, and green living tips with
each other. Email us with your ideas!

Soon To Come: Natural Healing Properties
of Foods!
And Recipes!

If there are any upcoming alternative
energy events, music and/or holistic
festivals, etc, you feel the community would
benefit from, please pass it along so we can
spread the word, here at ECOKY.COM!

“You can’t change the world, but you can
make a dent.”-D.T.S.

Angela Allen Parker is the “Wicked” behind the “WordCraft.” She is the resident keyboard jockey and fountain pen scribbler — marketing consultant and web entrepreneur. She has a B.A. in English and a background in journalism, advertising, public relations, political media coordination, marketing, fund raising and small business administration.

Angela is a Kentucky writer who embraces her life-long love affair with the English language. She enjoys finding new ways to bend and manipulate, tame and train words into useful service for her clients.

She is on a mission to improve your success — to help you put your best foot forward in traditional and Internet marketing venues, to improve the impact of your daily written communication, and enable you to seize the best words when you find yourself face-to-face or “online” with your target audience.

She is an active member of online communities for real estate agents and mobile professionals. She has served as managing editor of an industry news publication for Virtual Assistants world wide and has been a contributing writer to several virtual, technical and professional publications.

Angela has been active in the virtual community for several years and continues to promote professional outsourcing. She is a partner in www.RemoteProfessionals.com, an elite network of career outsourcing professionals offering highly skilled niche services on a contractual basis to clients world-wide. She served two terms as Vice President before being elected to serve as President of the International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA). Angela volunteers online and offline and has served on a number of professional and community boards of directors.

Wicked WordCraft, specializing in Writing and Marketing Magic, is a small business consulting and virtual assistance practice located on a 25-acre farm in southern Kentucky. Wicked WordCraft serves international clients, including those in the US, Asia, Canada, Spain, Bermuda, and the UK.

For more information on professional writing services or to discuss your marketing needs, contact Angela Allen Parker:

2007 Bluegrass Energy & Green Living Expo

was held on October 6-7– Lexington Convention Center

The results were astounding! Attendance : 1,230

Exhibitors:74 Total (55 Commercial, 10 Non-Profit, 3 Educational, 4 Government & 2 Faith-Based,

The Bluegrass Energy & Green Living Expo Mission

The Heart of the Bluegrass Energy & Green Living Expo is Making Connections . . . Connecting the people of Kentucky with information and resources that will help us create more healthy, sustainable and prosperous communities . . . Connecting businesses and organizations with similar goals to work together for the benefit of our communities . . . Connecting state and community leaders with information and resources that can help them in making decisions that benefit Kentucky’s people, communities and environment . . . and helping the citizens of Kentucky make the Connection between the personal choices we make and the quality of life we all experience now and in the future.

Google users in the United States will notice today that we “turned the lights out” on the Google.com homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. As to why we don’t do this permanently - it saves no energy; modern displays use the same amount of power regardless of what they display. However, you can do something to reduce the energy consumption of your home PC by joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

Given our company’s commitment to environmental awareness and energy efficiency, we strongly support the Earth Hour campaign, and have darkened our homepage today to help spread awareness of what we hope will be a highly successful global event.

Why did Google choose this specific organization?
We believe in doing our part to help combat climate change, and found the Earth Hour initiative to be a timely, important event. Further, we think the “lights out” idea’s individual-centered nature is something that millions of people worldwide can participate in. In short, we really like it. So we did something about it.

How can I get Google to do something similar for my organization or project?
We welcome your ideas on how we can become more socially and environmentally responsible. Although we can’t guarantee either a placement on the Google homepage or even a response to every query, we do read every email we receive and welcome your ideas of organizations that you believe we should feature. If you’d like to submit a proposal, please send it to us at proposals@google.com.

If you buy a car, it comes with a warranty, plus the chances are your state has an auto lemon law, and there are various federal safety and other standards the car must also meet. If anything is not as advertised and promised, you have recourse.

But if you buy a first class airline ticket, costing $10,000 or more - as much as a small car - you have almost no rights at all, not even a guarantee that you’ll get a full first class experience.

If you buy a loaf of bread and it is stale, you can return it. The supermarket will be apologetic, won’t demand proof the bread is stale, and will either fully refund you the cost or give you a new loaf of bread in exchange. But if your seat is broken on a long flight, or if the airline doesn’t have your first choice of meal, or if anything else goes wrong with your flight experience, you’re unlikely to get a sympathetic hearing or fair compensation.

And if you complain about poor service, you run the risk of being accused of ‘air rage’, of being arrested, and possibly being banned from that airline for life.

We need an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights.

You can find the most current information on your rights while traveling through US airports at www.airportbillofrights.com

Support the fight for an airline bill 0f rights by signing the petition in favor of airline passenger bill of rights at: www.apbor.com

Please stand up for your rights before it is to late. Be an advocate at: www.apbor.com

Sunday, March 16, 2008

RENEWABLE GREEN ENERGY

Green Alternatives Re-UseableLlifesyles

Renewable energy

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Renewable energy sources worldwide in 2005 (2004 for items marked * or **). Off-grid electric and ground source heat pumps not included. Source: REN21^[1]

Renewable energy effectively uses natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity/micro hydro, biomass and biofuels for transportation.

In 2006, about 18 percent of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, like wood-burning. Hydropower was the next largest renewable source, providing 3%, followed by hot water/heating which contributed 1.3%. Modern technologies, such as geothermal, wind, solar, and ocean energy together provided some 0.8% of final energy consumption.^[2] The technical potential for their use is very large, exceeding all other readily available sources.^[3][4]

Renewable energy technologies are sometimes criticised for being unreliable or unsightly, yet the market is growing for many forms of renewable energy. Wind power has a worldwide installed capacity of 74,223 MW and is widely used in several European countries and the USA.^[5] The manufacturing output of the photovoltaics industry reached more than 2,000 MW per year in 2006,^[6] and PV power plants are particularly popular in Germany.^[7] Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert.^[8] The world’s largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW.^[9] Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country’s automotive fuel.^[10] Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA.

While there are many large-scale renewable energy projects, renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications, sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development.^[11] Kenya has the world’s highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20–100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.^[12]

Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices, peak oil and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. EU leaders reached agreement in principle in March 2007 that 20 percent of the bloc’s energy should be produced from renewable fuels by 2020, as part of its drive to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, blamed in part for global warming.^[13] Investment capital flowing into renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100 billion in 2006.^[14] This level of investment combined with continuing double digit percentage increases each year has moved what once was considered alternative energy to mainstream. Wind was the first to provide 1% of electricity, but solar is not far behind.^[15] Some very large corporations such as BP, General Electric, Sharp, and Royal Dutch Shell are investing in the renewable energy sector.

With an ongoing fuel crisis, many of Americans have turned their attention to alternative energy sources. While this, in my opinion, is wonderful and a step in the right direction, using bio-fuels is becoming a huge social issue. Despite its promising appeal to the ever present global warming issue, it will soon desperately wage a huge social war–contributing to even more global hunger, as well as the downfall of the American farmer.

Consider our current rate of fuel consumption in America. Then substitute ethanol biofuel. Growing car fuel from the soil, the same place we get our food, is incomprehensible. If ethanol use increases any more substantially, i.e., enough to satisfy Americans’ insatiable need for and overuse of their vehicles to drive EVERYWHERE, global hunger will become even more pervasive, soil will become stripped and depleted of natural nutrients, and land erosion would occur on a large scale–three life altering, environmentally horrifying side effects from the over production of ethanol. The many Americans thoughtlessly jumping on the band wagon should be aware of these crucial draw backs of ethanol consumption, and start to think for themselves. Ideas like these affect EVERYONE–all over the world.

Self-control and Self-preservation:

More Americans should be supporting the idea that we need a more innovative, more efficient and effective solution to this fuel crisis/global warming issue. Sadly, for many lazy and ‘time is money’ driven Americans, driving less, car pooling, walking, or using public transit is simply not an option. Although alternative modes of transportation, such as walking or riding a bike would kill two social issue birds with one mighty, opinionated stone–obesity and our fuel crisis–too many Americans are more concerned about their drive-thru fast food services so they can get home to watch more, and more, and more television. Maybe using our precious food source for vehicle fuel instead of food would do our country some good for a brief period of time!

It seems that many Americans need to change their attitudes, and consider being more to life than how much money they have in their piggy banks, how much food they can consume in one sitting, and which television show they missed because the fast food line was too long. Self worth is something people gain from doing good things for themselves and others, not how much ’stuff’ we have.

How Ethanol is Affecting the Farmer:

For those who do not have the pleasure of a readily available farmer to consult for environmental insight and concerns, they are and have been taking a serious hit from increases in ethanol use. Some media sources have mis-led many in thinking the increase in popularity of biofuels have helped farmers via the increased price of corn, but a vital piece of information not mentioned is that the cost of fertilizers for growing corn has equally gone up in price, creating a wash in cost and profit for farmers. This is starving the farmer!

What Else We Can Do:

Everyone should dig deeper and further research other, more effective alternatives. Countries such as Iceland have done well to research and develop highly effective alternatives. Every home and business in Iceland uses geothermal power as their solitary energy source. (With a large portion of the “Ring of Fire” under U.S. soil, that is a long vein of underground volcanic activity, geothermal power is within our reach, and could easily be tapped into as an effective U.S. alternative. Some states are presently using alternatives, such as geothermals and wind power!) Icelandic scientists have also been in the process of developing vehicles powered by electricity and hydrogen alone–meaning no harmful exhaust released into the air, and little to no depletion of natural resources.

If you want to be a part of this solution, petition your congressman and state representatives, and continue to make the transition into an organic, conscious lifestyle. Your consumer spending and purchasing habits effect corporations–the real men behind the curtain. There are a variety of eco-friendly products available on the market today. From eco-travel and vacations, to biodegradable clothing (including shoes), energy reducing household items, and even recycleable packaging and vehicle parts! The next time you go shopping, think before you buy. What will these products do to my body, and what will they do to the environment in which I live?

“You can’t change the world, but you can make a dent.” -Smoochy

As the sun goes down behind you, a red moon will rise before your eyes. Rising moons are often reddened by clouds or pollution, but this moon will be the deep, extraordinary red only seen during a lunar eclipse. As you watch it ascend into the night, imagine what it would be like to stand by Shackleton Crater watching from the opposite direction.
Up in the sky, a big black disk covers the sun. A red “ring of fire” appears where the sun was only moments before, and its glow turns the ground red beneath your feet.

The charm of the eclipse comes from Earth. Our planet is big enough by a factor of three to block the entire sun but, curiously, this doesn’t cause complete darkness. Rays of sunlight bend around the edge of Earth, filtering through the atmosphere. Rising moons are often reddened by clouds or pollution, but this moon was the deep, extraordinary red only seen during a lunar eclipse. As you watched it ascend into the night, imagine what it would be like to stand by Shackleton Crater watching from the opposite direction.

To our ancestors, there were no two more important objects in the sky than the Sun and Moon. They represented the rhythms of life itself. They feared lunar eclipses, thinking it might even be the end of the world. Embedded in the fear was also fascination and wonder. Today we know why eclipses occur, but understanding did not take away the wonder and beauty of this shadow play of Earth and Moon. Join us in an exploration of our nearest neighbor in space, and the only other world that man has walked upon.

Today the Kentucky state road department of Transportation began drilling a hole at the north side of the old iron bridge on Tebbs Bend in Taylor county near Green River Lake. The core sample taken is to test the integrity of the already existing foundation. The bridge has roots going back as far as the Civil War and is one of the highlights of the Tour of the historic battle at Tebbs Bend.

Today the date for demolition and reconstruction was confirmed–the bridge is to be replaced in the Fall of 2008. This historic landmark, known by locals as “The Old Iron Bridge” will be replaced by a similar bridge with a concrete floor instead of wood. Although the bridge will remain one lane, some may feel we are losing a part of our historic heritage.

What is your opinion? Please feel free to post your comments below.