Going Green!

Above, Sen. Tom Carper takes a look at one of NextGen Energy’s innovations, as Bob Light (right) and Brian Lisiewski answer his questions.

A micro-windmill.

Tanya Mock’s fourth-grade class at East Millsboro Elementary School has been participating in a recycling program at the school. At left is the class’s recycling robot.

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After

1: a branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environments
2: the totality or pattern of relations between organisms and their environment
Human ecology
1: a branch of sociology dealing especially with the spatial and temporal interrelationships between humans and their economic, social, and political organization

Each year, the fourth-grade students in Tanya Mock’s class at East Millsboro Elementary School study a unit about preserving and protecting the environment.

Standing in the cleaning aisle of the grocery store can make you feel a little like you should have paid more attention in chemistry class.

In the current real estate market, there’s a lot of competition, so it’s a given that every home for sale has to stand out. The same goes for the new-home building industry.

Two new homes nestled back in Ocean Way Estates, built by custom builder E.S.B. Inc., are turning the heads of passers-by. The solar panels atop the roof may be one of the most noticeable features of the houses, though for these eco-friendly dwellings, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

It’s one of the most popular destinations for “green”-minded residents and visitors to the area, but as of March 2008, the recycling drop-off center in Millville will itself be headed for the recycling bin.

The presents have all been unwrapped and put away, the tree is getting ready to go back up in the attic and all we are left with is empty boxes, torn wrapping paper and lots of cardboard.

Sound familiar? This is the time of year that I really feel for those guys on the trash truck. During the holidays we have more trash in a week than some small nations, it seems.

“It’s not a trend to me,” said Clif Diver of C.P. Diver in Lewes. He is talking about the recent surge in “green” activity — green living, green dying, green cars, green jobs — Americans are being saturated with eco-friendly ways to do almost anything.

Ah, the holidays… when all good geek brains turn to thoughts of e-goodies and tech toys. Yes, it’s time for the annual round-up of my top tech gift ideas for you and yours, with items for all budgets and every tech lover on your gift list.

With all the recent talk of “being green” and “going green,” it’s hard not to think about how you can make a difference this holiday season. What does it all mean? Should you start recycling? Buy a hybrid? Figure out what a carbon footprint is and how to reduce yours? Well, let’s start simple with recycling.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) was in Sussex County this past week and visited with Robert Light and Brian Lisiewski of NextGen Energy Inc., located in Millsboro. Carper toured their office and discussed H.R. 6, the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007, co-authored by himself and Sen.

The Indian River School District partners annually with the Center for the Inland Bays to take middle-school students to James Farm Ecological Preserve to introduce them to and educate them about the watershed. District elementary school students might soon receive that same type of hands-on education without ever leaving their schools.

After months of exploring opportunities and familiarizing with energy industry jargon, Perry Mitchell and his group, Consumers for Alternative Power, are getting organized.

Bethany Beach resident Bob Parsons spent part of his Thanksgiving holiday taking photographs of beach erosion from the coastal storm that hit the area Thanksgiving Eve and continued through the weekend, wreaking havoc to dunes and boardwalk alike.

But it wasn’t a photographic exercise or to show to distant friends.