Today's Insight

Happy Leap Day!

So just for fun, today's quiz is not about energy but about the occurrence of February 29th! Here are a couple of fun questions for you.

The chance of being born on a leap day are:
A. 1 out of 24
B. 1 out of 99
C. 1 out of 1,461
D. 1 out of 1 million

People born on leap days are called:
A. Leapfrogs
B. Leaplets
C. Leaplings
D. Leapers

Which famous ancient Roman ruler introduced the first leap day back in 45 BCE?

Scroll down for the answers...

The correct answers are

C. 1 out of 1,461

C. Leaplings

and

Julius Caesar

Today's Energy Insight

Paper or Plastic?

The next time you are asked "paper or plastic?" consider the following statistic... Only about 700 paper bags can be made from one 15-year old tree.

Consider bringing along a re-usable bag or two the next time you head out shopping. Some stores even give you credit for bringing along your own bags.

So together we can save a lot of trees, one bag at a time.

Today's Energy Insight

Did you know 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the raising, processing, packaging, and shipping of meat products for consumption? If every American substituted a vegetarian dish for a meat dish just one day per week, the carbon dioxide reduction would be equivalent to taking more than 500,000 cars off of the road.

Be GREEN and eat more GREENS!

Today's Energy Insight

"Of all the forces of nature, I should think the wind contains the largest amount of motive power—that is, power to move things. Take any given space of the earth's surface— for instance, Illinois; and all the power exerted by all the men, and beasts, and running-water, and steam, over and upon it, shall not equal the one hundredth part of what is exerted by the blowing of the wind over and upon the same space. And yet it has not, so far in the world's history, become proportionably valuable as a motive power. It is applied extensively, and advantageously, to sail-vessels in navigation. Add to this a few windmills, and pumps, and you have about all. ... As yet, the wind is an untamed, and unharnessed force; and quite possibly one of the greatest discoveries hereafter to be made, will be the taming, and harnessing of it."

— Abraham Lincoln

     1809-1865

All about SOLAR!

If taken advantage of to its fullest extent, sunlight that beams on the earth for one hour could meet world energy demands for an entire year.

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."  ~ Thomas Edison

Today's Energy Insight

Did you happen to catch a 30 second commercial televised during the second half of Super Bowl 50 that wasn’t selling anything? Colgate toothpaste aired its first Super Bowl ad this year and the focus was on the millions of gallons of water people waste by leaving the tap running while brushing their teeth.

Americans on average waste 4 gallons of water every day by not turning off the faucet while brushing. That equates to 3,000 gallons per year! So if you multiple that times the number of Super Bowl viewers (assuming a modest viewership of 110,000,000) then the potential is a huge 330 BILLION gallons of fresh water could be saved every year by this simple request. So hopefully if you haven’t thought about this before, you will now and make every drop count!

Images courtesy of Colgate Palmolive

Today's Energy Insight

Top 5 Bathroom Products People Forget to Recycle

1) Toothpaste Box
2) Shaving Cream Can
3) Shampoo Bottle
4) Toilet Paper Roll
5) Body Lotion Bottle

According to earth911 only 41% of Americans say they always recycle products from the bathroom. As a result, common bathroom products like shampoo bottles and toothpaste boxes are more likely to end up in landfills than their kitchen counterpart.