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Time to Change
Do we have to destroy all the natural things and the beauty of this world?
Do we need the ugly buidings, the asphalt and the noise?
Do we have to see smoking chimneys, the garbage and the dirt?
Do we want to eat so many chemicals, kill the insects and the birds?
Can this brutal chaos go on forever?
Do we dare to wait and see?
Is there another way to live, or is this how it has to be?
The truth is really quite simple;
If we want to live at all, its time for us to change.
Its time to heed the call.
We can stop making so much of a mess, stop cutting down all the trees;
Stop making horrible monsters, polluting our rivers, our air and our seas;
Stop using everything up, stop throwing it all away;
Its time to think of tomorrow, not only of today.
It must be time to use wind power, solar power and wave power.
Horse power, man power and people power;
It must be time to reduce, re-use and recycle;
To walk, to run and to bicycle.
Well need to look after our bees, plant more trees and save our seas;
Well eat less meat, turn down the heat
And keep stress away from our doors;
Well need to work together like brothers and take care of the others.
We must forget about making wars.
Its time to realise too that the earth is not ours to do as we please;
Its for us to use, not for us to abuse.
And if the message is clear, let everyone hear!
We need this world as a working sphere;
Its to pass on to our children to grow on;
And their children to grow on and so on
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Its time also to re-discover that the Earth is our mother;
That wealth and happiness, health and stature
Are more easily found living closer to nature.
There is only one way forward: with an ECOLOGIC pattern;
So if we want to survive on this planet,
Its time to start making things happen!
Ibiza Ecologic
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Alternative Energy
Since humans discovered how to obtain energy from burning fossil fuels, their indiscriminate use has increased exponentially, exhausting world supplies and causing an enormous amount of accumulated atmospheric pollution which threatens our very existence on the planet. With the end of the supply now clearly in sight and the problems of global climate change becoming such an important issue, it is time to change our energy consuming habits and make a rapid transition towards both renewable and non-polluting alternatives.
Since the late 1950's, isolated pioneers have been experimenting with various clean energy systems, but due to the lack of any real investment, progress has been very slow. However, because of an ever increasing demand and the obvious need to find a quick solution, the technical advances in sustainable energy production are at last being taken seriously by both large industries and world governments.
On our planet, sunlight is so far the most abundant form of natural energy. In modern times, solar collectors and modules have been designed to capture some of the Suns energy and convert it into more usable forms such as heat or electricity, which are the two most important types of energy we consume.
Here are a few of the many different methods of obtaining clean and renewable energy available today:
Solar Photovoltaic Energy: A clean, quiet, and reliable energy source that uses solar panels to directly convert sunlight into electricity. These systems often use batteries to store the collected electrical energy.
Solar Thermal Energy: Using solar collectors, the sunlight is directly converted into heat. Solar water systems can save 50% or more on the energy bill for domestic hot water production.
Wind Energy: Wind has been used by humans for thousands of years, first to carry ships across oceans and, later, to pump water and grind grain. More recently, wind is being harnessed on a large scale as a clean, safe source of energy for generating electricity all around the world.
Hydro-electric energy: Today, the energy from falling water is used mainly to drive electrical generators at hydroelectric dams. As long as snow and rainfall can fill streams and rivers, moving water can be a renewable source of energy.
Geo-thermal Energy: Geothermal heat has been used to heat homes and businesses on a commercial scale since the 1920's. In most cases, communities take advantage of naturally occurring geysers, hot springs, and steam vents for domestic heating and in some cases to turn high-speed turbines that drive generators to produce electricity.
Ground Source Heat Pumps: This works the same way as your refrigerator, using a compressor, lengths of sealed tubing for gathering and dispersing heat, and a gas called the refrigerant. An essential part of the heat pump system is the network of tubes buried deep in the ground near the home, where it can be used to cool the house in summertime and warm it in the wintertime.
Biomass Energy: The term "biomass refers to any form of plant or animal tissue. The energy stored in biomass can be released by burning the material directly, or by feeding it to micro-organisms that use it to make biogas, a form of natural gas. Energy from biomass is used around the world, for everything from cooking and heating to generating electricity and driving motor vehicles.
Wave Energy: Waves, particularly those of a large amplitude, contain enormous amounts of energy. It is estimated that if less than 0.1% of the total energy contained within the worlds oceans and seas was harnessed it would supply our entire global energy needs.
Tidal Energy: Changes in sea level can be used to generate electricity by building a dam across a coastal bay or estuary with large differences between low and high tides. Holes at the bottom of the dam cause water to rush past turbines at great speed, generating electricity.
Plasma Conversion: This is essentially an electrochemical system that, while safely destroying waste (even hazardous waste), converts those materials into useful and valuable commodity products. It does this economically and efficiently, with relatively few moving parts, and without combustion.
For more information and web links, check out www.greenheart.info/alternative energy
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Simple ecologic guide for living.
When you go out shopping, choose products made or produced in an environmentally friendly way (not tested on animals, avoid meat full of hormones and antibiotics or things made using underpaid labour in developing countries).
This reduces unnecessary suffering of both animals and people who may have been exploited in the making of the product you are buying.
Avoid buying products containing harmful additives, or which have been contaminated with toxic chemicals during their production.
Inform yourself well, this could save your life!
Support recycling projects, by separating your rubbish and deposting recyclable materials in their correct containers.
This encourages local authorities to continue improving their recycling schemes and also gives you a good feeling to be doing at least something positive for your environment.
Do not ingnore your own possibility to help conserve our natural environment by acting in a responsible and ecological way. The actions of each individual, multiplied by the number of people taking the same action, is having an enormous effect on our collective future.
IF WE ALL BEGIN NOW TO EVOLVE ECOLOGICALLY, MAYBE WE ARE NOT YET TOO LATE!
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