Ilyce Glink's BlogWelcome to Ilyce Glink's blog! Here you'll find Ilyce's latest insights on personal finance advice, real estate advice and consumer issues. Come back often for timely and interesting posts on a wide variety of topics. Sunday, August 03, 2008 Green Baby Gift WebsitesIf you're looking for an eco-friendly gift for a new baby, I mentioned these sites on the show this morning: Labels: Baby Gifts, environment, Green
posted by Ilyce Glink at 12:18 PM
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Monday, July 21, 2008 Compressed Air Cars
According to Wikipedia, a compressed air vehicle is powered by an air engine, using compressed air, which is stored in a tank. Instead of mixing fuel with air and burning it in the engine to drive pistons with hot expanding gases, compressed air vehicles (CAV) use the expansion of compressed air to drive their pistons. One manufacturer claims to have designed an engine that is 90 percent efficient.[1] Compressed air propulsion may also be incorporated in hybrid systems, e.g., battery electric propulsion and fuel tanks to recharge the batteries. This kind of system is called a hybrid-pneumatic electric propulsion. Additionally, regenerative braking can also be used in conjunction with this system. Tata's compressed air cars might sell for less than $13,000. To paraphrase Paris Hilton, now that's Hot. Labels: auto, Cars, Compressed Air car, environment, Tata
posted by Ilyce Glink at 12:53 PM
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Wednesday, June 18, 2008 More People Want to Live in the City, Says Coldwell Banker
I love telling my out-of-town friends and family how I'm able to walk to the supermarket. And the dry cleaner. And that I can catch the bus or the train to get to places. My aversion to driving is one of the big reasons I choose to live in the city. Apparently I'm not alone. Coldwell Banker recently announced that more home buyers say they want to live in the city. Seventy-eight percent of 903 urban agents surveyed said that clients are requesting to live in the city because of rising fuel costs. In addition, 81 percent say their clients want to shorten their commute to work. Fifty-four percent say clients say access to public transportation is appealing. Of those polled, 75 percent agree that being able to walk to places is a positive. Some other interesting stats are that 84 percent of agents said they saw an increase in requests for properties with a home office. Sixty-four percent say clients want green features in their housing and another 42 percent say clients ask to save energy. Housing seems to be the place where people try to live out their values. As energy prices continue to go up and eco-friendly living becomes a greater concern, I think we will continue to see more young professionals moving to the city. Labels: Coldwell Banker, environment, Gas, gas prices, Home Buyers
posted by Melanie G. Rogers at 12:31 PM
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008 Save Money, Save the Environment
Right now I pay some of my bills with paper checks and others electronically through the Web. Soon, when my student loan payments come due, I will have those automatically deducted from my account. Paying electronically is the way to go, according to NACHA, a trade group of financial institutions who participate in the Automated Clearing House Network. NACHA released some stats about how paying electronically benefits the environment: - By switching to electronic bills, statements and payments, the average American household can conserve 6.6 pounds of paper, 170 pounds of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of not driving 167 miles or planting two trees), 63 gallons of water and 4.5 gallons of gasoline in one year. - If an additional 2 percent of all American households switch to making payments electronically and receiving bills and statements electronically, the environment would save 181,128 trees, avoid creating enough wastewater to fill 218 Olympic-size swimming pools, avoid creating enough waste to fill 614 garbage trucks, eliminate 194,453 tons of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of taking 32,308 cars off the road). - Paper checks use over 674 million gallons of fuel and add more than 3.6 million tons of greenhouse gases/carbon dioxide to the environment, each year. - To transport 533 million pounds of billing statements and checks, it requires an estimated 235 million gallons of fossil fuels, resulting in more than 1.3 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. - About 35 percent of your FICO score is based on payment history including detail on timely payments and late or missed payments. Paying bills via Direct Payment ensures you will never have another late/missed payment. - People who pay bills online do so in 15 minutes, each month. Those who write out checks waste two hours. - 97 percent of those who use Direct Deposit are "very satisfied." - Paying bills electronically saves the average person a minimum of $150 annually on checks, stamps, late fees, etc. So if you want to save your credit score, save money and save trees, try paying more of your bills electronically. Melanie G. Rogers ThinkGlink.com Labels: ACH, banking, energy, environment, Green
posted by Ilyce Glink at 3:40 PM
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