The Green Issue

Install a Smart Irrigation timer: The latest irrigation technology allows you to program your system to target specific plants and soil types, making it less likely that you'll over water. Some timers can sense moisture levels and precipitation, i.e. no more watering in the rain.
Kill Your Lawn: O.K. put down the blowtorch. We don't mean it literally. But many homes around Central Oregon have an over abundance of turf. Consider scaling back on the bluegrass, expanding natural areas with rock and native plants. Remember, the desert look is right at home in the desert.

I have a confession to make, I'm not composting – at least not in the way that I know that I'm supposed to. I'm mulching my grass and all, but my orange peels and coffee grounds are still going down the drain or into the garbage.
It's not that I'm not aware of the benefits of composting, or that it's too much work. Like most people, I'm just too lazy and cheap to make the initial investment of time and money.
Don't get me wrong, I actually care about the waste I'm putting into the landfill – an issue that was hammered home during a recent visit to said landfill for a story about a new methane gas conversion project.

Save money! Pollute less! You can dramatically improve your home's energy efficiency with these key tips.
Weatherize: Get yourself a caulking gun and some weather stripping and go to town sealing all the little air leaks around windows and doors.

1. Avoid preheating Most modern ovens are so well insulated that preheating isn't as necessary as it used to be. Unless you are baking bread or something very heat sensitive like soufflés, you can generally skip the preheating step, or only preheat for a few minutes.
2. No oven peeking Once food is in the oven, don't open the door. Each time you peek, you risk leaking as much as 50 degrees of heat. Use the oven light instead.
3. Use the right burner for your pan The coil of an electric burner should not extend beyond the bottom of your pan. Flames from a gas burner should not lick the sides of a pot. If these things are happening, you are using more energy than necessary for the pan you are using.

You should be buying local food! When you do, you help ensure that lands in our area will be devoted to food cultivation and protected from more intensive development. And you cut down on food transportation costs that, according to some studies, now account for about 10 percent of the world's carbon emissions.

Water in our area comes from streams and aquifers. Every gallon you use means one less for fish, and one less gallon in our underground reserve for future generations.

Dean Abney started his sustainable energy career more than three decades ago installing small inverter systems in rural eastern Oregon. The modest units powered television repeaters that he and his father were licensed to install, bringing network television to ranchers whose children were clamoring to watch the Brady Bunch and other shows. Back then there was no DirectTV, and certainly no cable television or Internet. Abney's repeaters were a lifeline to the outside world in remote places like Harney and Wasco counties.

It's lunchtime at Bear Creek Elementary School, and principal Matt Montoya rolls the last lunch table into place as the parade of children begins streaming in through the cafeteria doors. Stations are set up for students to pay their lunch money, get milk out of the cooler, select fresh fruit and veggies, and pick out a hot lunch option. When the masses finish their meal, they give a “thumbs up” and get up to visit the final lunch stop: the disposal station, including a new lunch composting bin – the first of its kind in Central Oregon schools.

Get Your Dog Food (Bag)
Out of the Garbage
If getting your pet a premium, meat-based dog food developed right here in Central Oregon weren't reason enough to consider the possibility of switching from the supermarket brands to Orion's Choice dog food, then the fact that it is delivered to your door in a recyclable bag probably ought to be. Find out more about how this local dog food company is going against the grain at orionschoice.com.

The sun has made a comeback in Central Oregon after a long, gloomy winter. The sunshine has returned just in time for the opening of Bend Broadband's new data center, dubbed “The Vault,” which has become a showcase for the latest solar panel technology. Bend's own Sunlight Solar took on the project, which stands as the homegrown company's biggest installation to date.
When it came to Bend Broadband's new data center, the company wanted to make the facility as green as possible. Bend Broadband execs said incorporating such a large solar installation was important because typically, the energy-intensive data center industry hasn't gone out of its way to be clean and green.