CarbonFeet

For a very long time, money used for good will was called charity, while money used to earn more money was called investing. That’s not the case anymore.

Nowadays, the two ideas are combining into a financial area called socially responsible investing. And both investors and mutual fund managers are figuring out that this new idea can be very rewarding, as well as do some good for the environment and society.

“Socially responsible investing means you don’t have to compromise your own personal beliefs to make money on Wall Street… whatever those beliefs are,” states Bob Guthrie, who is an investment broker with A.G. Edwards in Burlington, Vt.

The idea of selectively choosing stocks for social reasons dates back to the early 1900s, Guthrie said, when church members banded together and refused to invest in tobacco or alcohol companies. The trend continued with investors dodging corporations involved in the Vietnam War, he added, and most recently revolved around companies investing in South Africa.

But growth in this form of selective investing has skyrocketed during the past couple of years as more and more individuals and corporations have moved social and environmental consciousness into the mainstream of their investments. And this impact is being felt worldwide.

With help from stockholders, says Rob Kruger, vice president of portfolio management at Progressive Asset Management, business practices concerning the environment are beginning to change, While the issues may differ, he said companies are realizing they will suffer the consequences if they aren’t viewed as being socially responsible.

Kruger said, “As this investing community continues to grow, a lot of proposals are being addressed by investors at annual shareholder meetings. A whole spectrum of issues and activities is now being put forward.”

As part of its operation, Progressive Asset Management conducts research for socially responsible mutual funds. The firm screens companies for environmental problems or nuclear involvement — whatever issues their clients want investigated.

“As the clock ticks, companies are becoming more and more cooperative with us,” Kruger said. “A lot of them are now very anxious to talk about these social and environmental issues.”

Guthrie agrees that business practices are changing and says American corporations are aware of stockholders who are concerned with the environment.

He advises, “Make sure your hard-earned money is not invested in companies with little concern for the environment. Keep these things in mind when you invest and the corporations will do the same too.

Earth News Media is proud to promote global reforestation as well as help green communities with their recycling programs, waste management, water conservation and other environmental issues. Also published at Socially Responsible Investing In The Environment.

Companies know how they need to reduce water consumption, but they are also more than a little concerned about the position in the marketplace, the financial sustainability, a wide variety of risks that they may face as they pursue efficiencies. The first thing that they need to do is to make up a water inventory, revealing a water footprint. A wide variety of different risks are associated with water usage in many ways and these must also be compiled before a workable plan can be put forward.

The greenhouse gas protocol tells us that there are different categories of carbon emissions. We understand that emissions can be produced in different ways — directly when energy is produced, indirectly when it is consumed and upstream or downstream of a typical production facility. We can refer to this analogy when trying to reduce water consumption, by ensuring that we understand how water can be used in the supply chain and in disposal efforts.

Water is used as a resource to make raw materials or goods which are then supplied to a company by its suppliers. Water is generated during the production or transportation of this work in progress and the buying company needs to understand this. Even though these activities are essentially beyond the borders of the company, the fact is that the buying company is responsible for the supplier’s product and associated water usage.

Wherever possible, water use during production should be from a renewable source. We can expect a politically volatile future when more attention is paid to the way that corporations use water.

Whenever water is used in a commercial or industrial process, questions will arise about the efficient manner in which it is used. These questions will linger after the product is actually used as well, as water runoff and discharge can also lead to pollution concerns. All efforts should be made to recycle.

Water use must be restricted as much as possible, if the risks associated with its use are to be managed. Just think of the possible risk factors which could place a premium on available water. A certain locality could undergo significant weather conditions, causing a temporary drought. Arising market conditions in another area could lead to energy fluctuations, pulling water for energy generation in that area.

As water related risks can be significant in one locality and not in another, the company that is widely distributed needs to be able to assess regional risks and integrate into an overall plan. Political positions in one locality and local attitudes in another can certainly impact.

The corporate approach must be modified to reduce water consumption from a global perspective. Essentially, we have not increased our water efficiency over the last couple of decades, choosing to place most emphasis on energy efficiency and carbon emissions. Sustainability is multifaceted and cannot be polarized.

Daniel Stouffer has a great deal of information about how to reduce water consumption and why a visit to www.verisae.com can be of use to you.

What you must know and do before building a DIY solar PV system for your home, as is outlined below, will be the basis for a a system that delivers what you hoped for. You can avoid some common pitfalls when building a PV solar system for your home by carefully doing the research at the beginning and getting yourself fully prepared.

1. Avoid common pitfalls when building a PV solar system for your home. Get a good start with choosing the right type and size of panels and system components for your particular application. Begin with clearly defining your goal. Will your solar PV system serve a weekend vacation cabin in a remote area? That kind of system is the simplest one and many excellent DIY PV solar kits are available. Do you want a photovoltaic system that covers between 30% and 70% of your electric needs? These systems can range from simple (no battery storage) to fairly involved. The king of the systems is the one that will get you off the grid when you are done with the solar PV installation for your home. This option will require you to have a considerable battery storage to bridge overcast and rainy days.

2. Have you minimized the electric demand of your home? PV panels and batteries are not cheap. You don’t want to spend money on extra PV panels. Here’s what the numbers look like: Photovoltaic panels produce between 6W to 19W per square foot. Estimated prices for just the panels range from $3.0 to $5.0 per sqft.. This is based on reviewing available pricing today. It could be higher or lower . With these numbers and looking at substituting one 60W incandescent light with a 12W LED light, can lower the panel price for your DIY PV project by$7.50 to $40.0. So if you replace five 60 W incandescent bulbs, you could potentially save up to $240, just for the panels. Replacing incandescent lights with LED lights is just one way to reduce your electric demand. You can also: shut of lights and unused equipment, install motion detectors and/or replace inefficient appliances with highly efficient appliances.

3. Take out your calculator for step 3. Or you can use one of the many free online tools to calculate how much sunlight, preferably direct sunlight, the PV panels will receive at the location where you plan to put them. You can also ask a PV panel manufacturer if they could do those calculations for you. Whatever option you choose, you will need to make allowances for trees and/or neighboring houses that might throw shadows on your PV panels.

4. To help you finance your system, you can still take advantage of federal tax credits for solar photovoltaic systems and maybe even use the state tax credits for solar systems. And to top it off, in many states you can find utility incentives for solar systems. It is also important to find out what you must do to be able to have your electric utility meter spin backwards so you can sell electric power back to the utility when you are not using it. Some utilities also require special equipment to be put between their meter and your solar system.

5. Finally, educate yourself. Most likely you have never before planned, designed and installed a solar PV system. Others have. Learn from their mistakes; don’t repeat them. Many videos and books are available. And like with everything else, some are very good, some are not very useful. Spend some time at your local library or the bookstore and peruse what’s on the shelves. Attend a class at a local community college. Research solar PV systems online. The government’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site (www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/) has tons of very useful information. I also recommend investing in a set of how-to videos about DIY solar system installations.

Get ready for the fun part. Making it real. Look at all the notes and books, and maybe videos that you have studied. You can move forward ,knowing that you are well prepared. What you have learned will help you to work with a PV panel manufacturer or supplier to select the perfect DIY solar PV system for your home.

Before you start a DIY solar photovoltaic system for your home, do the 5 steps and learn about the secrets of how to successfully build your own solar photovoltaic system.