By David W. Powers
For Weekly Surge

Kermit the Frog once sang, "It's not easy being green." Of course, he said it back in the 70s, and it was true back then. But as the eighth year of the new millennium opens before us, it is easier and cheaper to go green, by being better stewards of the environment, than ever before. Technology, public opinion, and ease of use have made the notion of being environmentally friendly go from the fringe of the hippie culture to mainstream America. People of all walks of life have found ways to come out of the green closet. Moms and dads are doing it, and so are the kids. Cool people are doing it and geeks too. It's so normal now to be green that the new counterculture movement is made up of people who don't take care of the environment.

There are at least a million and one ways to increase your green-ness. Many of them are useful, although not necessarily all are economical. Others are pure urban legend and exhibit very little green sensibilities although you might feel better for the effort. As going green gets more and more popular up the food chain from the consumer to manufacturers, you will have little choice but to go green. Offensive products will just cease to exist and earth-friendly will be your only choice.

A case in point is the use of incandescent light bulbs. The regular Thomas Edison-style light bulbs that we've all been using since man came out of the Dark Ages are known as incandescent light bulbs. They are great for light, but not for energy consumption and usage. The trouble with incandescent bulbs is that much of the energy they put out is turned into heat rather than light. This leads to an increase in the energy needed to light the room and also heats the room quicker, which leads to a need for more air conditioning, which leads to higher energy usage for the entire home and...well, you get the idea.

The new swirly compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFL's, are more energy efficient. According to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Energy Star website at www.energystar.gov, CFL bulbs use 75 percent less energy, create 75 percent less heat, and last up to 10 times longer than regular incandescent light bulbs. This not only lessens the environmental impact but also your power bill. By adding up the energy savings in a typical home, replacing every bulb in your home with the new type will save about $1,000 in 10 years. Think about it, going green in just one way saves electricity, keeps green ($) of a different variety in your pocket, and keeps you from having to change light bulbs from a shaky ten-foot ladder as often.

In December, Congress passed an energy bill that will see all incandescent bulbs phased out of the market beginning in 2012. Retailers are also helping assist in the massive changeover. Home Depot stores nationwide gave away one million CFL bulbs on Earth Day last year. Wal-Mart has also pledged to sell at least one bulb to each of its 100 million customers in 2008. So why wait till the end of the year? Go out this week and buy some bulbs. It's a great way to start a greener New Year.

Santee Cooper is also doing its part to spread the use of CFL's. "To date, we've given away over 64,000 CFL bulbs to co-op and direct customers. It's a plan we'll continue to support in the future," said Mollie Gore, a Corporate Communications officer for Santee Cooper. If you haven't received your free bulb yet, just drop in one of the Santee Cooper offices to pay your bill and ask for one. The location and phone number of all offices is printed on your bill.

Just as with fitness, weight loss, or any other New Year's resolution, you need to change your habits to make any real impact. And Surge is here to help you turn over a new, green leaf in 2008.

Aside from all the nifty new products you could purchase that cost a lot of money and promise a smaller carbon footprint, you can simply change your behavior and make a much larger impact on the environment. The only problem with the idea is that many people find it easier to throw money at a behavior change than to look inside.

The three main tenets of environmentally friendly behavior are known as three R's: Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle. They almost seem too simple to be effective, but they aren't. Look at it this way. If you reduce your consumerism by using less stuff to live each day and re-use what you can, then you should be able to recycle whatever is left over. A great experiment would be to see if you could practice the three R's to the point where you have practically no garbage left at the end of the week.

If you think your efforts won't really mean much in the long run, you should call Jennifer Sellers, the Coordinator of Recycling Programs for the Horry County Solid Waste Authority. She is basically the recycling guru of Horry County. She can schedule you to take a tour of the landfill or recycling operations to see exactly how your efforts contribute. To stress the point, she said, "Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees from being cut down." Those newspapers and magazines add up quick. So just in case you are one of the few people that don't save and catalogue all your Weekly Surge issues, be sure to recycle them when you're done reading.

There are many ways to do all three R's without significantly changing your life all at once. Just like any good habit, practice it little by little until the behavior becomes automatic. Start small with little changes and add items as the first ones become a part of your daily routine. Once you begin working on your green complexion, you may be surprised how easy it can be. Much of it really is actually common sense. Another thing that may surprise you is how green you already are. You may see a lot of ideas in the following green tips and tricks that you already do.

REDUCE

RE-USE

RECYCLE

(Editor's Note: For the low-down on recycling, check out the sidebar about Horry County Recycling Centers on page 12)

AROUND THE (GREEN) HOUSE

Even with all the easy tips and tricks for changing your behavior into one that is more green than say, red or yellow, you may still be worried if it's really possible. If you are, then just start on a small scale at home. This way you can complete your transformation in private and enjoy the shopping that will make it possible. Don't go overboard with the shopping though. There are many ways to go green without losing all your green. For a start, you can just buy green as you replace things without going through a total re-greening of your home. The next time you buy anything made of fabric, think hemp. That's right, hemp, the industrial cousin of the green drug known as marijuana. Hemp is widely cultivated in countries all over the world, with the exception of the U.S., where a few states, including California, North Dakota, and Oregon are pursuing attempts to have it legalized. This is ironic, considering that the first drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written by Thomas Jefferson on hemp paper, according to the North American Industrial Hemp Council, Inc. It is now used in thousands of applications from paper and textiles to biodegradable plastics and health food. As a plant, hemp is about as green as you can get. It requires very little pesticide, replenishes the soil with nutrients and oxygen, controls topsoil erosion, and converts carbon dioxide to oxygen very efficiently. Most any fabric item in your home can be made from hemp, including shower curtains, regular curtains, blankets, sofa covers, and cushions. Just don't mix it with your brownies.

Home appliances and electronics are a large area ripe for green improvements, but also a high dollar one. Any time you purchase a new washer, dryer, or massive 72-inch plasma television, be sure to look for the Energy Star label. This label certifies that the item has passed stringent requirements set by the EPA for energy efficiency. You can find the labels on anything from major appliances to computers. Also look for it on other home improvement items such as windows and doors. For a low cost alternative you can purchase a programmable thermostat for about $20 at just about any local retail store or have one installed by a qualified technician. Controlling your thermostat more efficiently will show an instant savings in power and create a more comfortable home environment.

Verlon Wulf, the owner of Carolina Cooling and Plumbing in Surfside Beach, is a big proponent of programmable thermostats. "Not many people are using them here on the beach, but they are a great help. They not only increase convenience and comfort but provide better livability. You simply set them and they provide the optimal temperature for your home at all times of the day. Who wants to be uncomfortable in their own home?"

Toilets tend to last forever, but if you do need a new one, go for the green model. There are several toilets on the market now that feature dual-flush modes. The low water mode is for yellow (urine) and the large volume flush for more solid items like children's toys, jewelry, and solid waste.

You can also go low-tech in your house to save additional energy dollars. New low flow showerheads will give you the skin-tearing level of spray you like but still limit actual water use. There are also lovely little water heater cozies available at big box home improvement stores. The thick insulation is made to wrap around the hot water heater, keeping the water in the tank warm once it reaches the right temperature.

If you do have the money to spare and plan on remodeling your home, then you can go as green as your money will allow. Remodeling green is a great way to turn a normal house into an environmental haven. With the right remodeling efforts, you can:

Since it's so easy to build green, don't hire a remodeler who won't work with you to fit it into the budget. Be sure to maintain some control over materials that are used in the project. Some areas where you can make green choices are:

AT THE OFFICE

Although your home is often the first consideration, don't forget offices and other commercial spaces you use or rent. It is just as easy to go green in the office as it is your home. Several Grand Strand businesses have gone the extra mile to establish a green persona as part of their regular business practices. The Beach First National Bank center located on Grissom Parkway in Myrtle Beach became the first LEED-certified building in Horry County when it was built in 2006. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is one of the most stringent green certifying agencies in the nation. LEED standards were developed by the U.S. Green Building Council and are considered by many to be the national benchmark for residential and commercial green building. Another business, Ocean Breeze Awnings & More in Surfside Beach was one of eight nationwide winners of the Energy Star Small Business Award for maintaining an energy efficient and environmentally-healthy office and warehouse environment.

Another great way to change your green-ness is to get a green job. With all the new green opportunities available, not just individuals, but also companies, are going green. This creates a number of new opportunities for the environmentally-friendly job seekers. Some companies are adding green responsibilities to existing jobs while others are creating new positions and divisions.

Local electricity utility Santee Cooper has always been a leading provider of earth-friendly power. Aside from power, the company has also been a great advocate for conservation throughout the years. Last month the company organized all its green efforts into a new department called Santee Cooper Green.

In a press release, CEO Lonnie Carter emphasized, "It is more than two decades of green efforts and is what an entire department - 32 people strong - is and will continue to be constantly focused on."

Aside from companies that are moving more toward ecological-minded positions, there are always companies and organizations whose sole purpose is eco-advocacy. If you would like to work for a green company, but do something not so openly green like accounting or legal, then one of these companies might be a good fit for you.

According to last month's issue of The Environmental Magazine, green jobs are growing in many of the most popular job sectors. The hottest growth spots right now are travel and hospitality, planning and land use, alternative health and medicine, renewable energy, environmental law, information technology, environmental education, design and construction, corporate responsibility, and food and farming. To encourage disadvantaged Americans into some of these jobs, both the House and Senate passed bills last year for job training in what the Senate called "green collar" jobs.

There are a number of sites on the Internet to look for green jobs. Aside from checking out individual employer sites, more than a dozen environmental career sites have popped up. Some of the most popular include www.greenjobs.com, www.ecojobs.com, and www.environmentalcareer.com. EnvironmentalCareer.com listed two jobs in South Carolina although neither was in this area. EcoJobs.com listed one, which is in Charleston.

Don't despair just because none of the open jobs are in the Grand Strand area. That fact only means that the field is wide open for you to create one. There may exist an opportunity in your current job to turn it green. Speak to your employer about adding green tasks to your current position. In time, in many industries, the green responsibilities should eventually become a full time task. This could happen very easily in some industries such as construction or travel. If there is no room for green where you work now, the option also exists to start your own green business.

As you can see, the main impediment to having a truly green 2008 is not your pocketbook. The only real barrier is you. Make a commitment to going green in 2008 and both you and the planet will be the happier for it.

{Editor's Note: The author is the Chief Operating Officer of Ocean Breeze Awnings & More, which is mentioned in the article.}