President-elect Barack Obama and others believe the so-called ‘green economy’ and ‘green technology’ could be the recipe to jump-start job creation and the U.S. economy.
As days grow shorter and leaves fall off trees many people start to get depressed. The official explanation is that this seasonality-triggered funk is related to a lack of sunlight. But some see correlations with our societal spending habits, too.
In the article Does Consumerism Make Us Crazy? at Scientific American,
Distancing ourselves from nature, Roszak maintains, has negative psychological consequences for people and also leads to ecological devastation at the hands of a society that, as a result, lacks empathy for nature.
Our spending habits reveal what’s important to us, and many of us do not spend money thinking about our natural world.
Here are three free and one cheap way to get in touch with nature — before Spring, and without getting too dirty.
1. Volunteer - it’s free. People don’t stop littering, developing raw land, or polluting rivers when it gets cold. Join groups that work in areas like environmental restoration or advocacy work. Wallet Gain: You will build your social contacts and your professional skills by being a volunteer. It looks good on a resume and can lead to better job opportunities in the future.
2. Go for a walk - it’s free. Going outside, even when it’s cold, will improve your mood. Wallet Gain: Regular walks increase your health and can contribute to smaller health-related bills.
3. Plant Trees - it’s cheap. You can derive a lot of pleasure planting a tree. Your efforts help make your environment healthier and improve your view outside. You can plant most trees so long as the ground isn’t completely frozen. Join the Arbor Day Foundation for a small fee. You’ll get discounts on plants and may qualify for ten free trees. Wallet Gain: People pay more for houses with landscaped yards.
It is a horrible time to be looking for a job and it is predicted to get worse for the college seniors graduating in 2009. However, this does not mean that it is impossible to find a job so you want to be doing all you can to make the best impression among those companies that you are applying to.
1. Update Your Resume – Keep your resume updated constantly and have someone else read it over. You can stare at it for hours yourself, but you still make overlook some important aspects that should be added or even a spelling error. If your school offers a student career center then use it! Usually their services are free if they are through the school and they can be a huge help.
2. New Cover Letters – Yes, you can re-use your resume but do not re-use your cover letters. Make sure that your cover letters are as specific to the job that you are applying for as it can be. You don’t want the recruiter to read through your cover letter and think it is generic. Apply your experience and knowledge in your cover letter to things that relate to the job description that they provide you with. Make sure you also do your research before writing your cover letter as it will be important to meshing with the company’s culture.
3. Dress Professional – It is better to be over dressed than under dressed for an interview. Yes, the company may have a business casual work environment, but you want to make sure you look as professional as possible and show that you can look the part. If you feel as though you are overdressed compared to your interviewer then take off your suit jacket. Just remember that looks are the first impression you give when you walk into a room and before you say anything. You want to look clean and tidy in order to make a great first impression on the company.
4. Always Take 2nd Round Interviews – Even if you do not feel as though the job is for you after your first interview, try to take advantage of 2nd round interviews if you get offered one. I suggest this for several reasons. Perhaps your 1st interview was not a clear depiction of the job or the company. You don’t want to judge how you feel just on a few hours. Another reason is that you get a lot of experience from doing actual interviews. Although you may not think you are right for the job, going on this interview may prepare you for a 2nd round interview at a job you really do want.
5. Follow-Up – Within 48 hours of meeting with your recruiter, you should always write a thank you note. A personal handwritten note is best because it gets the point across that you really cared that they took their time to interview you. If you are unable to write one, at least send an e-mail. E-mail is a little bit less personal but will still get your point across.
6. Network – This is one of the most important things to getting yourself in the right job. You want to connect with the right people. Make sure you are always friendly with anyone you meet at interviews and career fairs because you really never know who could be your next boss. Even when you get into your job, networking with everyone and anyone is extremely important for advancing within the company.
One of the best things to do in a time when no jobs seem to be on the market is to make sure you are being patient and consistently applying to whatever jobs you think you will be a good fit or that seem interesting to you. Don’t ever assume that you will not get an interview, because without applying you will never know!
Photo: Kevin
In a “cooling” stock market what reduced-priced stocks are heating up?
Last year investment bank UBS launched the Global Warming Index. Says UBS: “The new index provides investors with an efficient and simple way to obtain exposure to the weather asset class.”
Exposure, indeed! Says an article in Salon:
Investors can buy exposure to the index just as they might to a more traditional index, like the Dow Jones — an act tantamount to placing a bet that global warming is going to happen. If warming happens, the investors accrue income; if global temperatures fall, their bet flops and they lose money. “There’s something sick about this whole process — the idea that we can profit from impending doom,” says Mark Lynas, author of “Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet.”
Is it wrong to “invest” in global warming? Or just a natural consequence of our devastated environment?
With stock prices “on sale”, let’s hope you invest your money in global warming solutions instead.
Related:
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Why the Amish are Hip to Solar
When you think of poverty, you might think of it as the state of one who lacks an amount of money needed to cover basic needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter. However, have you considered that there is another possible definition of poverty? While it can cover a need for necessities, it can also be an absence of material comforts.
Britannica’s online encyclopedia explains that in order to define poverty, you first need to determine what constitutes as “Basic Needs”. The narrow definition of this could be those things that are necessary for survival. However, a broader definition shows that sometimes, these basic needs reflect a “standard of living” that exists in the community that you live in.
According to Mollie Orshansky (developer of the poverty measurements used by the U.S. government), “to be poor is to be deprived of those goods and services and pleasures which others around us take for granted.”
This could be as simple as food, clothing, and shelter. But ask yourselves these two questions:
Maybe it’s time to sit back and meditate on the more important things, learning to be content with what we have even if we have the means to obtain more. Remember, about 1/2 of the human population suffers from poverty. Instead of pursuing your own desires, find ways that you can help those in your own community (or even on a worldwide scale) overcome the ever increasing problems that result from poverty.
Here are a few sites that you can check out to learn more about how you can help:
Global Issues
One Campaign
United Nations World Food Program (WFP)
There are many more international organizations that have related information about poverty, hunger, and preventable diseases. If you find one that you would like to share, please do so in our comments section, or post about it in our group here: Community Outreach
Related:
4 Ways Poverty Impacts Your Personal Finances
Poverty Among Woman Increasing During Retirement - 4 Tips to Help Prevent This From Happening To You
Blog Action Day 2008
(Photo Courtesy of : Puravida / morguefile.com)
Today’s posts concern the broad topic of “poverty” in recognition of today’s worldwide efforts by “Blog Action Day ‘08″ to bring poverty to the forefront of discussion. Why discuss poverty at a personal finance site? Some Geezeo users are addressing individual financial hardships due to job loss, unforeseen medical bills, or crippling amounts of debt. These Geezeo users find comfort connecting with others in similar situations. We need a reminder that the terms “poverty” and “working poor” are somewhat subjective — but that those affected by such conditions in this country and around the world affect us all.
Here are four reasons poverty impacts you personally:
1. Recent economic booms left out the working poor. Our economy is getting better at creating two broadly defined types of jobs: “skilled” and “unskilled”. Those in the “unskilled” category continue to see opportunities to make “living wages” decrease. (Wages have stagnated for over ten years). Quite naturally, segments of these people fall into food- and shelter-insecure lives.
To solve this problem we need national leadership that provides job training for the so-called “new economy”. We also need to build an economy that isn’t based on 19th-century ideas. That takes a national vision of training everyone in our society for economic productivity, and a commitment of money to make this possible.
Why This Affects Your Money: Taxes. Some dare call taxes “unpatriotic”. When you vote November 4th you’ll either be supporting the broad infrastructure necessary to lift more people into working conditions… or you won’t for fear this will cost YOU too much.
2. Worldwide cheap labor provides cheap goods for all. A worldwide economy allows those of us in the West to purchase cheaply produced goods. As a nation we’ve all become accustomed to buying things that do not reflect the true cost of production. And in particular, the true cost of production by the people who do everything from growing your winter-time fruits and vegetables, making your sneakers, or cultivating your coffee.
Why This Affects Your Money: So how do you know if what you’re buying hasn’t been produced by the exploitation of poverty-stricken, desperate people unable to eat?
You make a commitment to purchase “fair trade” or “local” whenever possible. Sometimes that costs extra. And to go back to point #1 — not everyone can afford the “luxury” of voting with their purchasing dollars.
3. Rising health care costs. Approximately 45 million Americans, or one in six, were found to lack health insurance, the largest number since data was first collected in 1987 (source). One misfortune can literally bankrupt a family.
Why This Affects Your Money: If you do not carry adequate health or car insurance, your savings, investments, and ability to earn wages could be drastically removed with one accident. More bankruptcies are caused by the inability to pay medical bills than nearly every other cause. It’s obvious to see that people burdened by bankruptcy PLUS an inability to work fall into poverty-stricken situations.
When you vote you can demand that our country address health care reform. Changing our system so that it is more affordable to all will go far in preventing unnecessary suffering.
4. You can now fight poverty directly. Poverty is a social ill that has always been here — but now, we have one more weapon beyond donating our time and efforts: technology.
Why This Affects Your Money: Instead of using the old model (i.e., give charitable donations and hope they arrive at their destination), now you have a range of tools to give directly. For example, you can use Kiva to give microfinance loans directly to impoverished regions of the world. Or you can choose peer-to-peer lending to help people here at home. And, you can encourage your friends, family, and associates to contribute to groups of charitable organizations using tools like Givvy.com, among others.
It is important to remember that no matter the condition of your personal finances there are others in this country and abroad who suffer greatly. Take steps to protect yourself from poverty and be brave enough to reach out and help others where possible.
Related:
Poverty Among Women Increasing During Retirement – 4 Tips to Help Prevent this Happening to You!
Imagine a World Where Shares are Shared…
Is Your Spending Vulgar, or Virtuous?
There is just one more day left to vote in the American Express “Member’s Project”. The winning philanthropic project will receive vital funding from American Express.
Five worthy causes remain:
Feeding 1 Million Children Daily
Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children
Help 100,000 Children Thrive in the Classroom
Loans That Change Lives
and currently in the #1 slot, Alzheimer’s Disease: Early Detection Matters
Click here to vote - it just takes a second!
As a reminder: if you use American Express or any other credit card you can rate it here at the Geezeo Financial Marketplace. Your vote will inform other members of the Geezeo community as they search to find the right card. Just click here.
In recent years, Halloween has become more and more popular among adults. Yes, parents definitely still take their kids out trick-or-treating and schools still have kids dress up on the holiday, but parents and young adults alike are taking time out for some fun themselves this Halloween season.
This year alone, consumers are expected to increase their spending on the Halloween holiday. Spending on candy, costumes, cards, and decorations will amount to about $5.07 billion dollars in total with the average consumer spending about $64.82 according to the National Retail Federation.
Consumers tend to not make their own costumes anymore; instead they will trek to the costume stores and buy elaborate costumes and accessories to go with them. Adults are holding themed parties with food, candy, alcoholic drinks, and of course everyone has to wear costumes to go with the theme!
So, why has spending increased in a holiday that many do not even recognize in other parts of the world?
People want a break from reality and everyday life. With the economy currently in a recession, people want one night to pretend that none of this is happening and instead focus on the fantasy of Halloween and dressing up to be something they aren’t in everyday life.
It is good for consumers to get out and have a little fun once and a while! Not everyone has to spend a lot of money on the holiday either. There are many different ways to make your house and life festive without spending a ton of money.
1. Borrow Costumes
Nobody really wants to wear the same costume two years in a row (although this is completely acceptable as well), so instead borrow from your friends! Borrowing costumes allows people to recycle their costumes without spending any extra money.
2. Dollar Stores
I know this may sound cheap, but places like dollar stores and the Christmas Tree Shop (if you have one around your area) have a ton of Halloween decorations for cheap. This way you are not going to one of the Halloween specific stores that charge you a ton of money for something that probably won’t last for next year. My mum last year bought me a lot of decorations for my apartment and each one did not cost more than $1 at the Christmas Tree Shop.
3. Don’t Dress Up At All
My friend’s birthday is around Halloween but she said she was over dressing up for the holiday. Instead she is going to still have a Halloween themed party with fun drinks and snacks, but instead people don’t have to dress up. She doesn’t want people to have to spend a ton of money/time thinking of a costume, so she is instead going to have everyone wear black, orange, or purple! I thought this was a great idea and still a lot of fun for everyone.
4. Prepare for Next Year
Once the season is over, EVERY store has a sale to get rid of their extra stock. Prepare yourself for next year by purchasing things that you may see that you like ahead of time. This doesn’t always work for everyone, but if you have a place to store things buy them, but the key is to remember that you have them when the Halloween season rolls around again next year! This can save you a great deal of money with markdowns going extremely low to get rid of surplus inventory in the stores.
So, have fun this Halloween season but try not to spend too much money on the whole event. You don’t want to regret spending so much money on one night when the bill for your credit card comes later on. Have fun and let loose, forget spending a lot on the holiday and celebrate on a budget instead.
Photo: Kevin Rosseel
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By Ucilia Wang, Greentech Media
On Friday afternoon, President Bush signed the mammoth bill containing about $18 billion in energy tax credits, part of a large tax package and financial market bailout plan Friday afternoon.
The signing came less than two hours after the House of Representatives passed the bill.
The House approved the energy tax credits after rejecting them only a week ago. The tax credits will go to businesses and residents who invest in renewable energy, from building and operating solar and wind power plants to installing small-wind turbines on residential properties.
The vote ended more than a year of bickering between the House and the Senate over extending the credits. Without an extension, the tax credits would have expired at the end of the year.
“By passing this bill, Congress has finally given the solar energy industry ‘policy certainty’ that will attract investment, expand manufacturing and lower the cost of solar energy to consumers,” said Roger Efird, SEIA chairman and president of Suntech America, in a statement. “This will allow companies like mine to move forward with expansion plans to serve the growing U.S. market.”
The House agreed to the same energy tax credits it had rejected last Friday, when it mulled over the provisions along with a slew of other tax breaks for education, businesses and families, as well as relief money for hurricane victims in the Gulf Coast (see Senate OKs $18B in Tax Credits and Volleys Continues Over Renewable Energy Credits).
The entire tax package had come from the Senate. The House modified the package before voting for it last week because the Senate’s version didn’t contain enough revenues to offset the tax breaks.
The chambers had disagreed over tax breaks for fossil-fuel production. The House removed incentives for refineries to process oil from shale or tar sands – or make fuel from coal – provisions inserted by the Senate to win Republicans’ vote.
When the House on Monday rejected a $700 billion plan to prop up the ailing financial market, Senate leaders saw an opportunity to push for the tax package again.
Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Tuesday night that the Senate would tweak the House’s version of the financial-market bailout package and vote on it, but only along with the same tax package that included the incentives for renewable energy projects. Overall, the tax incentives approved by the Senate on Wednesday night are worth about $150 billion (see Senate Sends Energy Tax Credits Back to House).
The House voted for the tax package along with the $700 billion bailout plan on Friday because lawmakers feared “a global economic meltdown” if it rejected the bailout package again, The New York Times reported.
Tax deductions for U.S. oil and gas production will be delayed and reporting requirements for stock sales by brokers will be enhanced to pay for the energy-tax credits approved by the Senate earlier this week, and by the House on Friday
The bill the House approved Friday calls for investment tax credits for solar developments for eight years. And unlike the current tax-incentive program, the new one will allow utilities to take advantage of the incentives.
The bill also includes production-tax credits for renewable-energy power plants that already are generating electricity. The legislation extends the production-tax break by one year for wind and by two years for solar, biomass and hydropower.
The bill opens up $800 million worth of bonds to pay for power plants using wind, biomass, geothermal, garbage and other sources, and doles out $2,500 to $7,500 rebates for drivers who buy plug-in electric cars and trucks.
Residents and businesses that want to install solar panels on their properties also would benefit from the bill, which extends investment-tax credits for eight years and eliminates today’s $2,000 cap on the credits. The new program also will allow homeowners who install small-wind equipment and heat pumps to take advantage of the credits, but will cap the incentive at $4,000 for wind and $2,000 for heat pumps.
Related:
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By Jennifer Kho, Greentech Media | MainStreet.com
At a speech in San Francisco on Wednesday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt proposed a new energy plan for the U.S. that the company claims could reduce fossil fuel-based energy generation by 88 percent.
The plan calls for the replacement of all coal- and oil-fired electricity generation with natural gas and renewable electricity, including a whopping 380 gigawatts of wind power, 250 gigawatts of solar power and 80 gigawatts of geothermal power.
Other elements of the plan include reducing energy use 33 percent via energy-efficiency measures, boosting sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles to 90 percent of new car sales in 2030, increasing the average fuel efficiency of conventional vehicles from 31 miles per gallon to 45 miles per gallon in 2030 and turning over the country’s current fleet of vehicles more quickly so that cars are driven only 13 years, instead of an average of 19 years today.
The goals are ambitious, to say the least.
The company said it would require a number of new policies, including a long-term national commitment to renewable electricity – not a minor feat considering the Congress hasn’t yet been able to pass a multiyear extension of tax credits for renewable energy after months of effort. It would also require increased transmission capacity, a “smart” electricity grid to better monitor and manage energy use, and higher fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles.
The plan would cost plenty of cash. According to Google, the cost of the proposal – called Clean Energy 2030 – is a hair-raising $4.3 trillion dollars. But the company is also quick to point out that the investment will result in even greater savings of $5.4 trillion over the 22-year life of the plan, according to Google’s calculations.
“We see a huge opportunity for the nation to confront our energy challenges,” wrote Dan Reicher and Jeffrey Greenblatt, both of Google.org, in a blog post Wednesday. “In the process we will stimulate investment, create jobs, empower consumers and, by the way, help address climate change.”
The plan is not the first to attempt to solve the country’s energy challenges.
Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens and former U.S. vice president Al Gore also have suggested their own proposals for solving the problem (see T. Boone Pickens Has a Plan and Al Gore Sets Energy Goal).
For more information on Greentech Media, please visit www.greentechmedia.com.
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