Green Living columns are published bi-weekly in the Las Vegas Review Journal, appearing every other Thursday in the Home section. They are written by GreenDream Enterprises president, Steve Rypka.

In the list below, the left side has links to the columns and the right side has links to further information relating to each particular column topic. The list is in reverse chronological order with the most recent column at the top. You can also read past columns from 2006 , 2007 and 2008. Reader comments are welcome via email.

Green Living Column

• National Clean Energy Summit 2.0: Jobs and the New Economy
• Solar hot water in China
  

Senator Reid discusses the National Clean Energy Summit

• Visit the FOOD, INC. website for info on the film and what you can do.

FOOD, INC. trailer

The thumbnail above is a photo of an accidental explosion during a fireworks show in Capay, CA on July 4, 2008. A fire department professional was injured.

Photo: Steve Rypka

• Declare Your Independence from Toxic Fireworks Pollution
• 8 Fun Alternatives to Fireworks - Avoid the Danger and Toxic Pollution with These Alternate Activities
• Chris Conway's take on toxic fireworks (lots of details and references).
• Enough of those toxic firework displays! - Guardian
• Fireworks Harm Environment, Health
• Officials warn of fireworks danger
• Fireworks warnings are nothing new - NY Times, 1987
• Preventing blindness from fireworks.
• Effect on the lakes of New Hampshire (downwinders)
• Does the Dose make the Poison? NOT! Read here and here.
  

Fireworks are not worth the risk

• Las Vegas Green Building Tour flyer & registration info (PDF)
• New Horizons Academy
• Energy Education Station
• Video about the New Horizons Academy Green School Project
• Core Construction
• Molasky Corporate Center
• Springs Preserve
• Villa Trieste
• Funding Green Buildings
• Learn about the Earth Bus

• HomeFree Nevada
• Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program
• RESNET - Residential Energy Services Network
• BPI - Building Performance Institute
• How to Become a Home Energy Rater (PDF)
• Green For All - A national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.
• Download the Green Jobs Guidebook (PDF)

PBS' NOW interviews Van Jones, Green Jobs Handyman

• Pool pump savings calculator (Pentair)
• Pool pump savings calculator (Hayward)
• Pool pump rebates from NV Energy
• Variable-Speed, Low-Energy Pool Pumps Can Help Slash Energy Costs
• Basic pool efficiency info from the Dept. of Energy: Installing and Operating a Swimming Pool Pump for Energy Efficiency
• Pentair intelligent pool pumps

• The Green House of the Future, Wall Street Journal (includes section on William McDonough's vision of a House like a Tree.
• Brief synopsis of the above on TreeHugger.com.
• A New Geography of Hope, William McDonough
• Treescaper Tower
• The King of Green Architecture
• Visit VerticalFarm.com for some great info on urban agriculture potential.
• Watch this Discovery Channel clip on vertical farming.
• Skyfarming, New York magazine.
• Meet Farming’s Future, Next American City.
• High Rise Farms? The New Model for Sustainable Cities by Peter Gorrie
• Solar Today article on Vertical Farms by Rona Fried, Ph.D.
• Vertical Farms for Food & Restoration, Rona Fried's interview with Dickson Despommier.
• The Hanging Gardens of the Future, by Peter Madden

Successful organic urban farming in Cuba.

• Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster, an excellent book full of low-cost, practical solutions for wiser water use.
• Home Use of Graywater, Rainwater Conserves Water--and May Save Money, University of Arizona
• Safe Use of Household Greywater, New Mexico State University
• American Water Works Association: Water Use Efficiency
• Greywater Central, Oasis Design
• Recycling Water the Greywater Guerrillas' Way
• Graywater: Don't Lose It - Use It!
• Residential Graywater Reuse Study, Water Casa
• Water Efficient Landscaping (see page 7) , Environmental Protection Agency
• Using Gray Water at Home, Arizona Dept. of Environmental Qualtiy Gray Water Guidelines
• Arizona gives a Gray-Water Conservation Tax Credit! (Why not Nevada?)

Brad Lancaster talks about graywater.

• NREL description of Southern Nevada wind resources
• NREL wind map for Nevada
• DOE Wind Powering America
• DOE Wind Powering America 50 meter wind map for Nevada (PDF)
• NOAA - Chart of Average Wind Speeds for U.S. Cities
• DRI - Chart of Average Wind Speeds for U.S. Airports
• American Wind Energy Association - Rooftop Wind info
• FirstLook Wind Speed Mapping (create free account)
• AWS Truewind - windNAVIGATOR Wind Speed Mapping
• Skystream 3.7 wind turbine information
• Skystream 3.7 spec sheet (PDF)

• Las Vegas Sun, WATER: Using Less but why?
• Review Journal, NOT A DROP IN THE BUCKET: Top 100 users consume enough water to supply 1,950 homes
• Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada: Water for All
• Water Footprint Network
• No Such Thing As Waste Water
• Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster, an excellent book full of low-cost, practical solutions for wiser water use.
• Toward Sustainable Sanitation (PDF book)

• Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
• Henderson District Public Libraries
• Kill A Watt monitors join 'green' books
• Efficiency Maine's Kill-A-Watt Program, South Portland, ME
• Kill-A-Watt Program @ Efficiency Maine

• City of Las Vegas, Home Energy Audio info
• NV Energy, Energy Audits
• RESNET, Residential Energy Services Network
• Home Energy Connection, Home Performance Specialists

• Pulte Homes - Villa Triest info
• Eco Home article
• UNLV lends expertise to eco-friendly homes, Las Vegas Sun
• RJ articles 1 and 2 on Villa Triest
• Watch a video about green homes from the U.S. Green Building Council

• Cradle to Cradle Certification
• Forest Stewardship Council
• Green Seal
• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP), EPA
• Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art
• Report: PRIMARY GREEN PRODUCT STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS: A COMPARISON (PDF)

• Dept. of Energy, Passive Solar Home Design
• The Passive Solar Energy Book: A Complete Guide to Passive Solar Home, Greenhouse and Building Design, by Edward Mazria
• Sunlight Passive Solar Homes
• Passive House
• Solar House Plans