Very Very Cold

We have made it through one of the coldest weeks in my memory. One morning on my way into the office the thermometer read -2 degrees. I thought we have hit bottom now it will start to warm up. I was wrong. The next morning the same thermometer read -6. During the day it didn't get above 16 degrees. A warming trend is on the way, we are supposed to get above freezing by Wednesday.



We were at the Suburban Michigan Home show this past weekend. Despite the snow and cold we had very good crowds both days. There was a lot of interest in our outdoor screen systems. Not only will these screens block out harmful UV rays and diffuse winds they will provide what we like to call a pest free oasis. People always ask if their pets will ruin these screens. They won't. These things are built tough.

Why do I like to mention our outdoor screens on a blog that is about "green" ideas? If you have direct sunlight coming in from your back deck or your front porch you can substantially cool those areas of your house by lowering these screens. Lower the screens and take a load off your air conditioner and your summer cooling bill. Next weekend we are at the Novi Home Improvement Show

The North American International Auto Show is in full swing here in Detroit. Once again the hot tickets are the electric and hybrid fuel cars. I saw on the news yesterday that there is a track on the lower level where you can drive an electric vehicle. Michigan is working hard to catch the next wave of automotive technology. We have recently passed tax credits for electric car battery manufacturers.

I have added RSS feeds from the Detroit News Green section. Now you can see the latest headlines just over to the right of the main post area.

Hello 2009

Well wasn't 2008 just a fantastic year. My friend Chris and I start a new business and I was able to play golf on a weekly basis for the first time in many years. A new grand niece was born this year as my family continues to grow.

My church is growing and we continue to look for ways we can serve our community. One of the events we participate in is the "Community Christmas Party". Several churches band together and "adopt" children by buying Christmas gifts for the kids and having a pizza party with them and their parent or parents. This isn't just a church adopting kids it is families in the churches or individuals in the churches adopting the kids. So it turns out to be a wonderful experience for the family or individual to go out and give anonymously to a child of whom they only know by age and the short wish list the child or parent provided. My church was able to sponsor 96 children this year and we are not a big church. Chris and I were pleased that we could sponsor 6 kids with our new business. We hope to help more next Christmas.

Santa and his elves at the Christmas party

If you would like to help next Christmas write to me at dan.nextepgreen@gmail.com and I will get you to the right people that will accept your donation. We put a spending limit of $50 per child. If we didn't do this you might have one child with $50 worth of gifts sitting next to a child with much more. There is also the cost of the arena that is used, the inflatables that are brought in and the food and beverages. All of the workers involved are volunteers, so there is no expense there.

If you have looked around my blog you have seen that I am from Wixom, Michigan which is a suburb of Detroit. This area has devastated by the weakening economy so I expect the need in the community to be greater next Christmas.

One other goal I accomplished in 2008 was to start a blog. This blog is supposed to be about practical, sensible ideas and products that you and I can use to conserve our environment. So maybe next time I will write about that.

Don't be afraid to post your ideas.

Dan