Repell-em Blog

I’ve had guests these past few days and we have been able to sit outside in absolute comfort.  We were not annoyed by pesky flies, or stinging mosquitoes, or chiggers.  We came inside not because we were driven by hordes of bugs, but because we wanted to.

Thanks to Repell-em, it’s comfortable in our yard now.  And back in the garden, all the vegetables are healthy

I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be able to enjoy the outdoors like we are this summer.    With Repell-em, the outdoors is almost as safe as the indoors!  No bugs and no animals to bother you,  and nothing but a breeze, some sunshine, a lawn chair, and some lemonade.

No bugs.  Not even a trace.  Thank you, Repell-em.

The weather in southern Indiana is warmer every day, and if it ever stops raining, I am going to start putting out my garden.

Usually, I lay trash bags around each plant, and cover the paths between the rows with plastic, too.  This spring, however, I am going to experiment a little more with my fantastic Repell-em bags.

When I get my garden planted, I plan to put Repell-em trash bags around each bedding plant and between the rows.  So often, the tiny plants are devoured by insects and animals before they even get a chance to sprout tomatoes or peppers, and this year, I’ve vowed that it will be different!

So be prepared.  In a few weeks, I will post a picture of my vegetable garden, glowing bright red between the rows and around each little sprout.  I’m betting that my plants will be safer this spring than they’ve ever been before!

I don’t have to worry about having my vegetables touch the Repell-em bags, either, because Repell-em products are made of 100% natural, harmless ingredients.

I don’t have to worry about Repell-em bags harming the plants or the soil by putting anything harmful into the ground, and I don’t have to worry about polluting, either.  Repell-em products are also 100% biodegradable.

Last year, the deer and other animals ate almost all of my garden.  This year, I’m betting that my family gets to eat almost all of my garden.

Thanks to Repell-em, I think I’ll win that bet.

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous Christmas Tree lighting eel of them all?????? That’s right I said Christmas Tree Lighting eel. This one’s no joke ladies and germs. Straight out of Japan comes Inventor Kazuhiko Minawa and his tree lighting eel. Guaranteed to survive even the most devastating of all Godzilla induced blackouts, Minawa just may have discovered a use for Mother Natures electric generator.

By attaching two aluminum panels to the inside of his eel tank and connecting cables that run to his nearby tree, Minawa was able to power the lights on the his tree for the world to see. And that’s exactly what’s happening. Everyday the inventor wakes up to a huge crowd just dyeing to see his eel in action. Normally a source of food, the eels which contain several necessary vitamins, swim back and forth all day producing electricity as they move about.

“If we could gather all electric eels from all around the world, we would be able to light up an unimaginably giant Christmas tree” exclaimed Minawa. Imagine a future where we come home, toss our keys on the counter, and feed our eels so they will have enough energy to power our television long enough for us to watch the night’s big game.

Now I know this sounds a little far fetched, but with all seriousness how much energy could be produced by say a whole tank of electric eels? Zoos could supply their own energy, Fortune 500 companies could power entire skyscrapers with a lobby full of eel tanks. Maybe cars could even be fitted with mini fish tanks! All I know is that as long as people keep coming up with new alternative energy ideas, someday we might be able curb our dependence on oil.

It seems like just yesterday I was complaining about having to trudge through the cold to get firewood and wouldn’t you know the temps are expected to be in the lower 70’s this weekend. If anything is an example of Global Warming in effect it’s the fact that here in Alabama we are all walking about in T-shirts and shorts two weeks before Christmas. And some experts say it’s just going to get worse unless a large scale plan is enacted to reverse the effects of climate change.

This week a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development was released and it’s not good. According to the report by the year 2070 over $35 trillion…let me say that again $35 trillion!! homes and business will be at risk of flooding due to rising coastal waters around the world.

Among those cities most in danger of flooding Dhaka Bangladesh, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam, Miami, New York, and New Orleans are seen as being at great risk. Climate change is already happening, and concerted action is needed now to prevent its worst impacts.A range of economic policy options is available and political commitment is needed to implement them” Says the Secretary General of the OECD. The reports list the hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans as a prime example of what the rest of the world can expect in terms of destruction. “New Orleans may never fully recover and another major hurricane landfall could trigger further decline or even total abandonment.Given the large and growing concentration of people and assets in port city locations, and the importance of global trade, failure to develop effective adaptation strategies would inevitably have not just local but also large national and even wider economic consequences"

If your relationship with your significant other is like mine, most of our free time is spent together. I shop with her, she watches the game with me, I tolerate her family, and we both ignore mine. Well the folks over at MSN have come out with this great list of 11 Ways To Be An Earth Friendly Couple” and I thought we’d take a look at how feasible they may or may not be. Here we go!!

1.    Commit to compact fluorescent bulbs- I know, big whoop we are changing light bulbs together. Seriously though what if each of you swore off old bulbs and made the jump to energy efficient’s? The folks at MSN say “If Americans replaced just one bulb in their home, it would save enough energy to light 2.5 million homes in one year and prevent an amount of greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of 800,000 cars.” Imagine what the two of you could do by changing all your bulbs!!
2.    Bring Your Own Mug- Part of being in a couple is drinking coffee together. My wife never drank the stuff before I came along and now it’s two cups a day for both of us. Well how about saving on paper cups at the local shop by bringing your own mugs with you? Just keep them in your car and wash them out afterward.
3.    Save on water- Insert your own joke. No seriously as a couple you can make a huge environmental impact by taking such

simple steps as turning on the dishwasher only after it’s all the way full and taking shorter showers. Less time in the shower means more time together!! Though as a smelly guy a little extra time with some soap may not be the worst thing.
4.    Turn off the computer- I was shocked to learn that 75% of home electricity is used by electronics sitting on standby. The VCR, DVD player, computer, all those alarm clocks…think of all those must haves that just sit on standby all day waiting to be used.
5.    End Junk Mail- Cancel catalogs and shop online. If you can’t stop all the junk mail, make sure you recycle it. Remember we are not just talking about what one person can do, but what you as a couple can do. That’s a ton of recycling.

Ok that’s enough for now. I’ll pick the list back up tomorrow. Until then go hug your significant other till they promise to change light bulbs with you tonight.

I love Christmas Trees. As a kid we would drive an hour out into the middle of the country, trudge deep into the woods until we found the evergreen with the perfect shape, and bring home a beauty for all to see. As an adult my wife and I got married during December and the place was covered with trees. We always put up two. A fancy one in the front over looking the street and the tacky one in the living room. Of course the tacky one is my favorite since it’s filled to the brim with literally 150 ornaments featuring everyone from Snoopy to Spiderman. Oh and gone are the days of chopping our own, we went fake a looong time ago. The thought of it taking all those years an evergreen to reach the size of a Christmas tree only to be cut down and tossed to the side of the road after a few weeks just doesn’t seem right.

This year we aren’t  the only ones worrying about the environmental impact of Christmas, Rockefeller Center is getting in on the act as well. The 84-foot tall Norway spruce which will take it’s place in a line long of trees going back to 1931 will be covered with 30,000 energy-efficient LEDs (light emitting diodes). That’s five miles of Christmas lights. And to make things even greener the lights will receive the majority of their power from solar cells located on a nearby building. "Now they (New Yorkers) will see an example of green leadership which may inspire them to make greener choices in their own lives," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week.

This year’s tree lighting will kick off on November 28th with the usual giant sized ceremony. After which the tree will be lit daily form 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. until the first week of January. Oh and then instead of being tossed aside like the trees in my day, the Rockefeller tree will be used by Habitat For Humanity to build homes for those in need.

Repeat after me “I (insert name here) have a weight problem. I sit at my desk and read blogs all day when the boss isn’t looking. I have a permanent powdered donut mustache. The only exercise I get is from shaking the vending machine in an attempt to shake loose a free Baby Ruth. I (insert name here) need help”

Never fear!! The Global Warming Diet is here!! Brought to you by the fine folks at the Center For Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health say this new diet is guaranteed to help you loose weight and cut greenhouse gas emissions at the same time!  All you gotta do is cut out all red meat and replace one 30 minute drive a day with a 30 minute walk.

In all seriousness this is a new program being sponsored by the CDCP and is something you will be hearing more about in the future. The program estimates that if every person in the U.S. between the ages of 10-74 would walk just thirty minutes a day we would see a drop of 6.5 billion gallons in gasoline usage and we’d lose 3 billion pounds a year (roughly close to 13 pounds each).

“A simple intervention like walking to school is a climate change intervention, an obesity intervention, a diabetes intervention, a safety intervention” says Dr. Fumkin from the CDC. Now I don’t know if I want my kids walking to school, but there are opportunities to do things outside that as a family we often pass over for other unhealthy practices like lumping on the couch like a bunch of grazing buffalo all evening. 

As for the diet targeting red meat, the reasons behind this are due to what it takes to get that steak on your dinner table. If you look at all that goes into production, transportation, the methane released by fertilizer, and other indirect consequences that come from creating that T-bone, you’ll discover that 18% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the production of red meat.

I’ve been on some diets in my life, but never anything as easy as this or as good for the environment. So what do you think guys, anybody out there going to give this a shot?

I know not everyone is religious, but it seems to me that one of the signs that the end may be near is when we begin to argue for control over water. Again you may or may not believe in the idea that Global Warming is a very real event that is effecting more than just the polar icecaps and in my opinion is changing the entire planet around us, but there is no denying the fact that water supply is becoming a major issue.

As if heralding in a new era of environmental awareness New Mexico Governor and might I add Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson told a Las Vegas newspaper last week “We need a dialogue between states to deal with issues like water conservation, water reuse technology, water delivery, and water production. States like Wisconsin are awash in water” Which in regular Average Joe speak means “Nevada is thirsty and those Great Lakes are really great lakes”

It’s hard to imagine we know live in a world where local state governments are prepared to fight one another over something as basic as water. I mean of all things to get wound up about like civil rights, immigration, the war, the last thing you would think would cause a fuss would be the sharing of water. However that is exactly what is happening as seen in this response from Michigan Govern Jennifer Granholm “Hell No. That’s my response. This is exactly why we need someone in the White House who understands Michigan’s concerns. The minute someone starts talking about a national water policy, watch your lakes. That’s all I can say.” But then changed her mind and said more “I’m sure I would be joined by 10 million Michigan citizens who would stand in the way of anyone coming to put a pipe in or haul out our water. This is a great national resource. We’re not going to be sending it to the Southwest”

Where will this muddy road over water woes take us? Though that’s yet to be seen, with the U.S. still experiencing a drought, many states are actively looking for ways to conserve and collect water. Let’s just hope they don’t wait too long before the sharing begins.

Is it just me or are those in the know always predicting the same thing this time of year. The same thing that you just know is going to happen anyways without some pencil necked economist sending out a report stating the obvious. “Home heating bills on the rise”. No kidding. Every year we hear how the price to heat your home will be higher than the year before. Unlike summertime, where if you get hot you can jump in a pool, turn up the ac, or where less clothes; winter is the oil baron’s best friend. There are plenty of ways to cool down, but getting warm is a different story. Nobody likes to be freezing cold.

According to our friends at CNN the price of oil used in heating your home will climb over 10%. That’s an average of $977 per home during the winter months making this a record-breaking year if it comes true. Which it probably will since the report coincides with another that says winter temps will be 4% lower this year than last.

So we’ve got temps getting lower, oil prices getting higher, and Congress doing nothing about it. Sure there’s talk of bill that would require utility departments to obtain 20% of their power for renewable sources, but that’s not even expected be in effect for another13 years. Who knows how expensive gas will be by 2020, what about now?

Now oil supporters will tell you that the rise in oil prices has nothing to do with winter and everything to do with the decreased value of the dollar, hurricane fears, supply and demand surges, and mid-east conflicts but why are the price hikes coming when we need the gas the most? When we need it to heat our homes? Because we are willing to pay more to stay warm than we are to get cool. That’s why.

The 2008 weather projections are coming out from the National Weather Service and it looks like it may be a busy year for weather watchers around the U.S. The office is stating that a La Nina weather pattern has formed and should last through the first part of the year.

During a normal weather pattern strong trade winds blow over the Pacific Ocean taking with them much warmer water away from North and South America. At the same time cold water rises up to take fill the gap. When El Nino is in effect the winds cease, the warm water stays where it is, and this causes an increase in the number of storms that hit the U.S. El Nino is also responsible for droughts in Australia.

What has now formed and what will be affecting the U.S over the next 6 months is the opposite called La Nina. Instead of warm water collecting the in the Pacific, cold water is accumulated and the U.S Midwestern region normally sees a period of drought. One major effect of La Nina is that it often causes the Atlantic Ocean to become a hot bed for hurricane activity.

According to the lead forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Gerry Bell Ph.D “Today’s El Nino/La Nina forecast from the Climate Prediction Center indicates a slightly greater than 50 percent probability that La Nina will form during the peak of the hurricane season. But more importantly, we are already observing wind patterns similar to those created by La Nina across the tropical Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea that encourage tropical cyclone development. The conditions are ripe for an above-normal season.”