Editorial

‘Going green’ has been a pretty popular bandwagon to jump on lately. Automobile companies, grocery and clothing stores are all coming out with products that encourage eco-conscious lifestyles. But there is one industry that is also pushing ‘green’ products that you may find a bit unexpected, to say the least: funeral homes. Yes, even funeral homes have things to offer that are not only cheaper, but also more eco-friendly than traditional end-of-life arrangements.

A June 15, 2009, Chicago Tribune article pays its respects to a funeral home in Bainbridge Island, Illinois, that offers many alternative and green choices, for shall I say, its customers. In place of an ordinary casket, you can choose a hand-woven one made of willow, sea grass, or bamboo. These unique caskets are biodegradable and surprisingly, cost less than a customary one. Another option you have is a floating urn that disintegrates in water after sinking. This urn is also easier on the pocket book than a regular porcelain or ceramic one. Because funerals can be pricey, these options allow families to commemorate a loved one, and not the cost associated with their passing away.

Although the topic of funeral can be like talking about the elephant in the room, it is good to know that some funeral homes offer unique and eco-friendly alternatives to families. Despite the fact that ‘going green’ is generally associated with higher costs, this is one instance in which helping the environment won’t break the bank.

The state of New Jersey is getting creative in its efforts to promote renewable energy. A new project by the state’s largest utility company will make New Jersey no. 2 in the nation in solar energy production. – California being no. 1. 

Despite a lack of sunshine, high winds and open land, New Jersey has made strides to become a leader in renewable energy production. New Jersey Public Service Enterprise Group, the state’s largest utility, is in the process of installing around 200,000 utility poles with solar units, and the state is encouraging industrial solar installations. Postal giant, FedEx, says they will begin installing what will become the nation’s largest rooftop solar facility on the rooftops of its distribution hub in Woodbridge, NJ next month. 

A $514 million dollar state program along with a 30% tax credit from the federal government provides incentive for companies like FedEx to invest in alternative energy sources in New Jersey. New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program launched the Renewable Energy Incentive Program, providing incentives for renewable energy projects using solar, wind, and biopower technologies. These programs follow New Jersey’s 2008 Renewable Clean Energy Programs, including the Customer On-Site Renewable Energy (CORE) Program and the SREC-Only Pilot Program, which ended as of December 31, 2008.

The state has seen a great response to their clean energy initiative in the past. Due to the high volume of applicants for up-front solar rebates beginning in 2005, the project quickly exceeded its budget. Now there is a line-up of applicants – over 1,200 waiting to join the program.

The state also provides tools and resources to encourage more responsible consumption. NJCleanEnergy.com provides resources to stay on top of the renewable energy industry, including tools to calculate emissions; news of recent program changes; and a library of information sources. 

What a positive way to affect change. If New Jersey, a state of less than 7,500 square miles can come second in solar production to nearly 156,000 square-mile California, imagine the national impact if the next 48 states followed their lead.

It seems our friends on the East Coast are really stepping up their game. First we hear about the strives New Jersey has made to stimulate production of alternative energy sources. Now we’re seeing New York municipalities launching programs to help residents become more energy efficient.

Municipal governments from Long Island to the Bay Area are helping residents purchase efficient furnaces, weatherize their homes and put solar panels on their roofs. The costs of such procedures are usually enough to keep most homeowners from making the shift to energy-efficiency. But, these programs are designed to be “recession proof.” Long Island suburb Babylon’s town supervisor reported to the Wall Street Journal, “To me it’s the perfect recession programs. It’s cost-effective. You’re actually creating jobs in a way that is not impacting taxpayers. But it’s helping everyone by improving the environment.”

Babylon launched its “Long Island Green Homes” program last October after a redefined solid waste program freed up $2 million of the solid waste reserve fund to seed the program. Now, residents can apply for as much as $12,000 in loans to finance home energy-efficiency improvements and rooftop solar panels.

The program works like this: After an energy audit, the town pays a local contractor to make energy improvements. The homeowner then pays the money back to the town through regular trash bills, with 3% interest. The best part is that the loan is structured so the homeowner pays less than he or she is saving in utilities.

So, local contractors are getting more business. People are conserving our resources and reducing their environmental impact – all while saving money. This sounds like winning situation.

So far, the program has been a hit. Babylon reports that about fifty homeowners a month call the town to ask for energy audits, most of which are converted to work contracts. A local contractor has already reported retrofitting 42 homes and counting since the program began and has had to hire additional employees and plans to hire more.

These New York municipalities are surely trailblazers and it seems that more local and state governments are close behind. According to the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy, eleven other states now have laws on the books that allow local governments to establish financing programs for home-energy improvements. Pilot programs, like Babylon’s, have launched in five cities in California and several other local governments around the nation.

While reading the June 15 edition of the Wall Street Journal, I came across an article in the Environment section entitled “It’s Time to Cool the Planet,” contributed by Jamais Cascio of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. The headline was accompanied by a clever illustration of the world resting in a bathtub filled with ice and two fans cooling it from either side. Intrigued, I read on and, I have to say, the content of the article proved to be more shocking than the illustration.

The article outlined a new technology called “geoengineering.” Basically, geoengineering attempts to slow the effects of CO2 emissions by extracting atmospheric carbon and controlling global temperatures through sunlight blocking or reflection. Cascio explains that temperature control is the most timely and cost-efficient method and therefore the most likely to be introduced.

Temperature control is achieved by blocking or reflecting light before it reaches the earth. Aside from laying thousands of square miles of light reflectors across deserts (destroying entire ecosystems) or launching millions of tiny mirrors into orbit (deemed unrealistic), the most feasible approach is to increase the Earth’s reflectivity by injecting tons of sulfates into the stratosphere and pumping seawater into the lower atmosphere. The sulfate will, presumably, generate a similar effect to that of a volcanic eruption, scattering light and creating a cooling effect within a matter of weeks. Pumping seawater into the lower altitudes will produce new clouds and thicken existing ones in order to reflect more sunlight. If the phrase, “playing god” hasn’t crossed your mind yet, I compel you to consider the effects of this course of action.

Although Cascio maintains his “reluctant support” of geoengineering, he goes on to list several possible consequences of its introduction. First, sulfate injection, as well as cloud intensification, will have unpredictable effects on global weather conditions.  Unprecedented levels of rainfall or drought could affect areas and studies suggest that, if geoengineering were to abruptly stop, global temperatures could spike. Second, manipulation of the environment cannot be contained to one area. The changes we make in one place will have global effects regardless of political boundaries. So, who decides what the world’s temperatures should be or who is allowed to influence major changes to the environment? This leads to further implications if geoengineering could be manipulated into a military weapon.

Reading these side effects prompted me to wonder how we have come to this point. Are we a world in such environmental disarray that we consider global plans with unpredictable, precarious and highly dangerous implications? Whether you believe in reversing global warming or just reducing your impact and conserving our resources, don’t you think its time to start taking personal responsibility before world leaders are forced to intervene? It’s clear that we are running out of time before drastic measures begin to take place. So here is my cry: do your part, conserve, show the world that we can take matters into our own hands and we don’t need scientists to save us from ourselves.