MATRIX

What’s happened to the term energy efficient home? I read the best definition of an energy efficient home by Dennis Crook. He’s built energy efficient homes since the Carter Administration in the 1980’s. His definition of an energy efficient home follows:

“The energy-efficient home acts as a smooth-functioning machine in which the equipment produces as much, if not more energy capacity than needed to operate the ideal human environment, including air quality, moisture conditions, temperature, and lighting. The ideal energy-efficient home retains the best environment for human habitation while minimizing the cost of energy.”

Thank you for this simple explanation! I finally understand what an energy-efficient home is.

But, what I don’t get then is what green building means?

I hear people suggest growing grass on my roof. Wouldn’t I need a flat roof? I heard flat roofs need repairs more frequently, once every ten years. That is more than pitched roofs. Where will I put the soil when it needs repaired? When it needs mowed how does the mover get onto the roof? I already have enough lawn to mow.

Won’t there be added weight on the building from the soil and moisture from rain? I would be concerned about molds forming from the moist soil.

I certainly don’t want my walls made out of straw bail. What happens if a tiny hole occurs in the wall? That’d be a great nesting place for rodents. What happens if there is a fire, straw will immediately spark right?

Has anyone really thought through the term “green building”? Or was the term developed as a new marketing ploy to sell products? I think I’ll stick with my home being energy efficient. At least I understand what it means and won’t have to rebuild my house. Energy efficiency is a series of modifications you can make to your home to make more efficient then what is it currently operating at.

I recommend you check out Energy Efficient Home Articles. It is a GREAT resource website that will explain and tell you how to make your home a better operating, more efficient, money saving, unit.

Latin America is a traveler’s paradise and Bolivia offers some of the most spectacular landscapes that you as a volunteer will get to see. A geographically diverse country, Bolivia is also multi-ethnic and has partial control over Lake Titicaca, which is the highest navigable lake in the world at an elevation of 3,805 m. Bolivia is also known as the Tibet of Americas as it is one of the most remote countries in Latin America or for that matter the western hemisphere.

Why Volunteer In Bolivia

Volunteering in Bolivia is an exotic experience because you will get to understand the Bolivian way of life and take part in different types of conservation, eco-tourism, and community development projects. You will get a first hand experience into the various cultural and traditional aspects of Bolivian people. Apart from this, the fact of the matter is that Bolivia has one of the highest poverty levels in the Latin America and as a volunteer, you can make a difference to the country’s under-privileged population.

Types Of Projects Available

As a part of volunteering in Bolivia, you will get to choose the kind of project you are interested in. The different types if projects available include:

1. Children with special needs: There is a saying that all of us are born with a gift and so are you. The important thing is how you use that gift to benefit others. The special children of Bolivia are those who are either mentally retarded, physically handicapped or suffer from critical illness. You can as a volunteer take care of them and instill new hope and faith in them.

2. School for the deaf: It is always a special experience working with the deaf, blind and dumb people and often we are reminded of how lucky we are. As a volunteer in Bolivia, you can work with schools for the deaf people and educate them towards becoming independent.

3. Teaching: Imparting valuable education through teaching is important and even more so in Bolivia where lack of basic education is one of the main factors driving poverty. The various teaching work that you can get involved in as a volunteer include teaching languages like English, and Spanish; teaching science, social science, economics etc.

4. Conservation: There are quite a few conservation related projects that you can volunteer for in Bolivia. Bolivia has some of the most diverse environment and microhabitats and you can work with environmentalists, researchers, and scientists on conservation projects like breeding programs for wild animals in captivity, tagging animals and monitoring their activity and breeding etc. You can also work as a volunteer with the Santa Cruz Zoo or the Botanical gardens.

5. Children’s Orphanage: As a volunteer in Bolivia, you can work with orphaned children by educating them, playing with them, and helping them to grow up. Taking care of one child is a full-time job and taking care of a bunch is going to be challenging and interesting.

6. Animal Rescue: This is a different type of volunteer job although you don’t need to have any prior skill sets but compassion and a spirit of adventure will be enough. Animal rescue work can vary from saving exotic animals in captivity to saving the street dog in distress. It is a challenging and interesting work and you will be working closely with non-profit organizations and expert animal trainers or handlers. Some of the volunteer projects will involve working with the Machia National Park authority to protect the animals within the park and to offer them a safe environment.

Volunteer in Bolivia Requirements

There are different types of requirements for volunteering in Bolivia and some of the requirements vary from project to project.

Age: The minimum age for volunteering in Bolivia should be 18 or older.

Languages: English

All volunteer programs in Bolivia are open to participants from all over the world and to individuals, families, and couples.

Fee and Other details

There is a fee attached to each of the projects that you volunteer for. The fee is charged in advance and is charged for the following:

1. Accommodation

2. Food/meals

3. Transportation within the region

4. Staff support

5. Training support: This will include all types of training materials

6. Spanish Classes

7. Orientation on arrival

8. Local sightseeing & recreational activities

Conclusion

Most of your needs as a volunteer in Bolivia will be taken care of by the project coordinator during the entire span of the project, which can vary from 2- 4 weeks and even more.

Do you want to decorate your Christmas tree and fight global warming at the same time? Well now you can! Just make sure that you use Solar Lights for free lighting at Christmas.

Improvements in technology now mean that the costs of Christmas lights powered by solar energy have reduced to the point that everyone can now afford them. And the best part is that once you have bought and installed them the cost of lighting them is free.

Solar powered lights require no connections to an outlet so there is no electric bill for solar lighting. Of course you have to live in an area where you get sufficient sunlight each day to charge up the batteries with solar energy during the winter season especially around the Christmas holidays. Even if it is cloudy it can still be possible to charge a battery enough for good night time lighting, however it is always best to check that the type you are looking to purchase will do this if it is of concern to you.

As with all solar lights installation is easy. Your main problem is going to be finding a location with direct access to sun light for the mini solar panel that collects the suns energy to charge up the power unit. But now there is no need for long and dangerous extension cords trailing around the floor.

You can even get solar lights for Christmas trees which are totally for outdoor use and which will cope with whatever the weather chooses to throw at them. So now you can easily put lights on trees in your yard that were previously out of reach. Just hang them up and you are all set.

A typical scenario might be a string of say 60 lights on a tree along your driveway which are charged by the sun during the day and which turn on automatically at dusk and then run for about eight hours during the night with no energy cost at all. There are now many different solar lighting solutions designed specifically for use at Christmas and other holiday occasions. Due to the new technology, miniaturization and the use of LED lights you can now find many new and innovative designs that previously you could only dream about.

Solar powered Christmas lights for both indoor and outdoor use are now available in many different fixtures and fittings to suit any use or location you many want them for. You can of course also use them year round with no energy costs to enhance your yard, property or trees in any way you wish and most units will continue to illuminate from dusk till dawn.

There are many different designs available including string lights, snowman lights, Santa lights, Christmas tree lights, stake lights, garlands, reindeer, snow balls, stars, maple leaves, flowers and in fact almost everything you can imagine for displaying a Christmas theme. And these are all available in many different and beautiful colors. Whatever you want you will be able to get.

So now it is easy to create a really festive Christmas attraction or a party atmosphere and decorate a tree or building with one or more sets of solar powered lights designed specially for the holiday season. And you can do all this with no electric cost using free energy direct from the sun.