Just because we live in a desert, doesn’t mean you can’t have the greenest school in America!  A National contest could reward you and your school for your great eco-efforts - or even the vision for a terrific green program - at your school.  The grand prize is a cool hybrid school bus worth $150,000!

America’s Greenest School contest is put on by IC Bus - the country’s largest school bus manufacturer - claiming to make the first truly green hybrid school bus.  While the average gasoline-powered school bus uses over 1,700 gallons of fuel annually; the hybrid school bus uses around 600 gallons.  Using a lithium battery, IC says their hybrid bus can improve fuel economy by up to 30% and reduce emissions by up to 40%.

To win, just submit an entry explaining what you’d do if you were in charge of making your school a greener, more eco-friendly place.  Your entry can be in the form of a photo collection, music, a video, an essay, or photos of a diorama, collage or piece of artwork. But no matter what form it takes, it must tell the world how you’d make your school experience the greenest in the country.  Check out last year’s winner.  I know one of our schools can beat that!

The top 10 finalists will be chosen, then all of America will be invited to vote online for the ultimate champion. Students of any age can enter (although a parent or teacher will need to sponsor students under 13 years of age). Group or class entries are also encouraged.  March 8 is the entry deadline. See full rules for all the details.

The prize money includes a LEED certfied audit and green makeover for your school valued at $20,000!  There’s even a $3000 scholarship for the winning student or class and $500 in classroom supplies for your teacher!  Check out the rules and get your best green entry together right away!  Wouldn’t it be cool to see a school in the desert take America’s title for going green?  Get busy.

Gas bills are running high, so finding ways to save on your bill <and> put cash back into your bank account is smart.  Especially if you’re in the market for a new gas applicance like a washer, dryer or water heater.  One word: rebate!

Southwest Gas is offering cash back when you buy qualifying models of Energy-Star and energy-efficient models of gas washers, dryers, water heaters and tankless water heaters from now through the end of November 2011.  Even some programmable thermostats and low-flow showerheads have money-back incentives.  Of course the larger the applicance, the bigger the rebate.  The conservation rebates save you money when you buy the appliance, and the energy efficient equipment helps save money on your gas bill from then on. 

The rebates do come with rules.  So it’s best to go on-line and check out the requirements before you go shopping.  The main one is that because Southwest Gas is offering the rebates, you must be a SW Gas customer and the equipment will be installed and used in your home.  Unless you’re a builder, then that’s a different set of rebate rules.  Check it out.

The list of name brands is super long, so chances are you’ll find an appliance you like that will qualify for the rebate.  Even if you’re not ready to head to the appliance store today, do some research and be prepared.  So when the hot water heater does blow, or the washer does go kaput - you’ve had time to pick out the appliances you would buy when the time comes and you won’t have to make a panic purchase!  Print the list and take it with you when you’re shopping to see if the model you like qualifies for the rebate.  You have until November 2011 - or until the program money runs out - whichever comes first.  So hopefully you’ve got time to make a plan to save money!

The holidays are winding down and most of us are thinking “out with the old and in with the new.”  But before you toss out your old Christmas tree - think about the life your evergreen could have after the ornaments are all packed away again.  Recycle it!

The Las Vegas Springs Preserve is once again asking Southern Nevadans to bring their used holiday trees to any one of more than 20 drop-off sites located throughout the valley.  The trees will be chipped and made into mulch, where the pulpy mix will be placed in gardens and flowerbeds of city parks and used at the Springs Preserve.  The cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, & Henderson have set up sites at many local parks and other locations including the Nellis Recycling Center, UNLV’s Rebel Recycling Center on campus, and R.C. Willey in Summerlin.

 You can also drop off your tree at The Springs Preserve and see how the mulch will be used.  Annalisa Helm, Education Specialist for The Preserve, says the program is about 10 years old now and becoming very successful with thousands of trees turned in.  She says people realize the benefit of keeping the trees out of the landfill and putting them to use back into the ground, just in a different form.  The hope is that maybe even next year, you will be able to trade in your tree for mulch to take home and use in your own yard.

Many people think that re-using an artificial tree year after year is the best gift for the environment, but a live tree is actually more beneficial in many ways.  Forests are not cut down for Christmas trees.  Instead, Christmas tree farms (about 500,000 trees growing in the U.S. alone) absorb billions of pounds of harmful carbon dioxide and give off plenty of clean fresh oxygen for us to breathe in return.  They also provide habitat for wildlife.  And while fake trees will eventually be thrown into the landfill, real trees can be chipped and put back into the earth to complete the life cycle of the tree when they’re no longer wanted .

Trees must be free of all ornaments, garland and any other foreign materials.  Anything left on the tree - especially made of metal - could damage the chippers.  Flocked trees can NOT be accepted.  The program is absolutely free and runs until January 15th, with many sites open 24 hours.

If you can’t take your tree to a drop-off site yourself, there is a service which will come to your home and take down your tree for you.  They’ll even vacuum up all the pine needles before they leave.  The fee is $30.  Call 1-800-GOT JUNK.  The tree will be delivered to one of the recycling drop-off locations.  

Giving your tree a life after the holidays may be one of the best gifts you give this year!

If you’re finally getting around to putting up those holiday lights, and you want a change - you might consider energy-saving LED lights this year.  If you’ve already priced them, you know they cost more - sometimes twice as much - but why?  The answers could save you money long after the holidays pass us by. 

Light-emitting diode - or L-E-D lights - are constructed from tiny solid-state chips which convert electricity to light without the use of a filament or glass bulb.  Without the filament, there is nothing in the bulb to “burn out” and there’s very little heat produced… unlike the incandescent bulb, where roughly 90% of the electricity used by the bulb goes to heat that’s produced by the bulb.   

So because LEDs don’t produce heat, they use 90-99% less energy than regular holiday lights, but the technology makes them burn up to 10 times brighter.  They are also safer because they are cooler to the touch, hence cooler to whatever surface you string them to or wrap them around, and they practically last forever!  LEDs have a 50,000-plus hour bulb likfe outdoors - and indoors it can be up to 100,000 hours or longer!  Provided the dog or cat doesn’t chew on them between treats.

Incandescent mini-lights use 10 times more energy than LED minis, and the larger ones use 100 times the energy of the LED version of the same size.  So, here’s the real payoff.  A household using a string of 1000 LED lights for 6 hours a days spends only 50 cents a month to power them.  While the same number of regular mini-lights would cost about $5 a month in electricity and the larger C7s or C9s would run up an extra $50 or more on your monthly power bill. 

And here’s another bonus, when and IF one of the LED bulbs does go out, the rest of the string stays lit, unlike the old kind where you have to endlessly search each and every little socket until you find the faulty bulb!  I know you hate that as much as I do!  To me - that’s worth the extra money right there.  What a bright idea for the holidays!

Feasting with family and friends is a huge part of the holidays for most of us, but cleaning up is a messy job.  All of the cooking oil and grease left behind can be a big “pain in the drain.”  In fact, Thanksgiving and the day after are known as the two busiest days for plumber house calls because of backed-up drains and pipes. 

The Clark County Water Reclamation District is urging all of us to not pour our used cooking oil and gunky grease down the drain into our pipes and out into the sewer system.  Julie Chadburn, with Water Reclamation, says you may not see the problems that can be caused once that fat, oil, grease and grit (or F.O.G.G., as it’s called) goes down the drain, but clogged sewer lines often happen because people don’t think about what they’re putting in the sink.  Their “Don’t Be a Pain in The Drain” campaign is trying to bring attention to how Southern Nevadans to can help prevent it.

That’s why the county is once again offering a used cooking oil & grease recycling program.  So if you’re thinking of doing that deep-fried turkey this year and don’t know what to do with all that peanut oil after you’re done - you can can pour if off into a container and take it to any one of the county’s recycling drop-off locations starting Nov. 27.  The oil actually gets turned into biofuel, which is used to run fleet vehicles like buses and trucks.  (Remember the RTC’s french fry bus that runs on cooking oil?  It’s the same thing.)  Their website gives the locations and hours.  Republic Services transfer stations will take used oil yearround.  Their stations stations are on the list, too.

Greasy gravy and meat scaps on plates should go into the trash can - not the sink!  For the normal weekly bacon or fish fry, that cooled congealed grease can be scraped off into a can lined with newspaper.  When the can is full, simply pull out the paper and throw it in the trash.  Then line the can again and start over.  You can even get cute little cans through the county program or use a coffee or veggie can from home.  So however you do it - just Can It! when it comes to greasy, oily gunk and your drain.  Your sink will be happy and so will your plumber because he’ll get to finish his turkey and his football game on Thanksgiving!

While green lawns aren’t necessarily a natural fit with desert living, many of us have them and want them to be green and lush at most any cost.  Oftentimes that means polluting the air, ground and water to maintain them.  But a new lawn service says the environment shouldn’t have to pay the price for us to have green grass and lush landscapes.

EcoGreen Lawn & Tree Co. is putting the green back into Las Vegas - one yard at a time.  That’s what it says on their eco-friendly mobile trailer, with two unassuming solar panels sitting on top!  Parked outside in the sunshine all day, the panels pull enough amps of energy to keep battery-powered lawn tools charged and running from sun up to sundown.  Then excess power is stored in batteries so it never runs out. 

Nick and Tim Militello started the business with the desire to use safe enviromental methods in their gardening.  They say it’s only natural for gardners to care for the environment where they make their living.  Natural nutrient-rich compost, organic fertilizers and weed killers keep chemicals out of the water stream.  Battery-powered lawn mowers, edgers and blowers work quietly to keep polluting gas fumes from filling the neighborhood air.  And while the solar panels weren’t cheap - the Militellos say they will pay for themselves within the first year of business.  There aren’t many start-up companies who can brag about that.  Why aren’t there more yard services using these methods?  It seems only natural to me.

Computers and other electronics are some of the biggest energy hogs in our homes and offices.  So anything that helps recude your power use is worth taking a look at and maybe giving it a try.

The EcoButton is a handy little power-saving gadget that sits quietly beside the keyboard to help remind you to save electricity when you step away from your computer.And it’s really simple to use.  It plugs into a USB port and then the L-E-D glowing disc sits on the desktop and waits for you to give it a press when you’re taking a break. 

The EcoButton website takes you through the easy install steps and includes a power consumption screen where you input the wattage of your computer, the size of monitor and the price per kw of electricity to help calculate your energy savings.

While most computers have a stand-by mode, the EcoButton takes your computer down to a deeper energy savings without totally shutting down your computer; it’s called S3 sleep state.  The beauty of that is when you’re ready for lunch or to slip away from your computer for awhile, just press the EcoButton and your computer takes a snooze without losing the work that’s open on your screen.  When you return press any key on your keyboard and the computer refreshes - right where you left off and you’re ready to work again in seconds.  Cool. 

The nifty gadget costs about $20 and the maker says it can save you up to $100 a year on your power bill - depending on how often you remember to use it.  The EcoButton works with Windows 2000, XP and Vista programs.  It is not Mac compatible yet, but they’re working on one.  And you must have the hibernate mode available on your computer for the EcoButton to work.  I couldn’t find it readily available at U.S. retailers, but you can get it on-line.  Here are some sites I found - other than EcoButton.  If you find it in stores - let us all know.  It might make a great stocking stuffer for the holidays!

It looks like a puffed up Alka Seltzer tablet BEFORE it becomes a moistened paper towelette.  It’s called the Ec’o Towel (not a typo - “Ec’o” is the right spelling of this product) and I think you’ll be amazed at how a few drops of water can produce a handy little wipe in a matter of seconds. (See demo.)  Pour a few drops of water on this hydrolic-processed thick nickel-sized pellet - and voila! - it grows into this moistened 10″x8″ handy wipe, ready for use to clean up whatever you’ve got - wherever you are!  I loved it.

The Eco’o Towel was discovered by a woman named Gertrude, who thought it was a fantastic product that could help clean up our footprint on the planet by cutting back on using paper towels, napkins, wipes, etc.  The little white wipe is 99% lint-free and it’s totally reusable.  You can wash it and use it again… and again.  When you do throw it away, it’s bio-degradable so it breaks down in the landfill. 

The towel is darn convenient, too.  You can carry it in your purse, your pocket, the briefcase, a lunch kit, the golf bag or the diaper bag.  I think the price is affordable for the convenience; $4.95 for a 10-pak and $8.95 for 24.  Check out Gertrude’s website for ordering and some other nifty products.  She also carries bio-degradable doggie poop bags and kitty litter pan liners by Bio-Bag.  Neat stuff to keep our planet a little cleaner.

Are you looking for some fun, new art to hang on the wall?  A lot of local personalities, organizations and even well-known celebrities have created one-of-a-kind decorated masks that can be yours - all to help raise money for a local school.  The Innovations International Charter School of Nevada is a bilingual K-12 Clark County school with a creative mind for learning. 

Donny & Marie Osmond, Patricia Arquette from CBS’ The Medium, Mayor Oscar Goodman, Disney’s Lion King, Terry Fator, Channel 8’s George Knapp, and even “The Donald” Trump (his mask is made of dollar bills!) are all helping to increase the mind power of the kids over at Innovations.  The school’s fundraiser is called “Unmasking the Mind Art Auction & Gala” and it’s this Saturday night at The House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.  Tickets are $60 to the event. 

Before the event, you have a chance to contribute by bidding on these beautiful, unique and even funky masks created with their own message in mind.  My son, Ethan, and I created our mask with the Living Green theme (up top) and naturally - I hope you’ll bid on it!  We spent a lot of time on it and it was great fun!  Bidding starts at $50 for all masks and the on-line auction is going on now until Wednesday, Oct. 21 at midnight!  So sign on and get in a bid.  I hear George Knapp’s mask has a hidden camera in it, so be careful where you hang it in the house!  Just kidding.

If you’re an avid cyclist or you just ride your bike for fun with the kids, biking is healthy for you and the environment.  And more people are looking at their bike as their commuting vehicle of choice.

RTC’s Viva Bike Vegas is returning this weekend to encourage Southern Nevadans to get out on the open roads to enjoy and help preserve the beautiful desert scenery.  The Saturday morning event will offer a 35-mile, 62-mile and 118-mile route for riders.  Cyclists will take off from the Regional Transportation  Commission’s office at 600 S. Grand Central Pkwy. (across from the Factory Outlet Stores).  Other family members can hang back and let the kids ride in the kids’ bike rodeo.  Lunch will be available for purchase, but the sunshine will be free of charge.  You can register at the RTC’s website.  While there, check out the plans for a new bike transfer station downtown where you can ride in, park and lock your bike, and even take a shower before heading off to work.  A bike repair shop will be on site, too for those flat-tire troubles and other necessities to keep you safe on the road.  Ride on RTC!