Solar Powered “Rock”.

Today ladies and gentlemen we have some solar powered “Rock” music for your entertainment, courtesy of the “Marsh”, a rock group I’ve never heard of, which shows how much I don’t keep up with the modern pop scene. I’m from the “Beatles” era, though I have to say, I think that a lot of modern pop is ok, and the “Marsh do sound pretty good.

Anyway, to Solar Power. The portable solar array set up to power all that sound equipment would certainly power anything you would care to take on a camping trip, including your telly, and the proverbial kitchen sink. Sorry I don’t have the specs for the Solar Array, or the sound equipment, but having a quick look on the internet, I should think that you are looking at three or four hundred watts, or more. I’m sure someone out there will have some idea.

This does show the tremendous advantage of solar power, over any other power source, Solar Cells being very portable. Just lay them out, connect them up, and away you go. There is always sun, and there is always day light. For camping, during the day, solar cells can be charging batteries for night use.

The only draw back with solar power is for its use in the Polar Regions, where it would be great for six months of the year. Not that most of us will be doing much camping in those areas, or even living there. But I’m sure that it would be windy enough during the Arctic or Antarctic winter for wind turbines to take on the load.

So, for the vast majority of us, solar power is King.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the vid. (It’s only a short video, but good nevertheless).
__________________________________________________________

The Marsh playing at the Rainbow Gathering in Mendocino National Forrest in May of 2007. They set up their Solar Rig and played for 2 days out in the middle of nowhere.

Pledging For Change: A Hand Up For A Sustainable Future!

Pledging for Change is a non profit community interest company, concerned with environmental projects and charities that are helping the world get back on its feet, and is the brainchild of Karen Maskall, a very dynamic lady, who is passionate about our environment, and about helping people, and who is bringing her vision of a better world to life, through positive action.

The list of charities and charitable projects that Pledging for change is involved with and helping, is growing daily. I haven’t the room on my post to cover the whole spectrum of Pledging for Change’s activities, well I do, but it would be a very long post. The article below gives a general outline of what Pledging for Change is about. To find out more, follow any one of the links in the article. You will be very impressed.

Below I have incorporated one of Pledging for Change’s many ongoing projects, the replanting of trees in the Kenyan rain forest. It’s really frightening to know that only 3% of the Kenyan rain forest remains. The rain forests have been depleted through lack of knowledge and awareness of what their loss will mean to the world. Which leads to another very important area that Pledging for change is working in, namely the education of local people in endangered areas, in the good husbandry of their environment through sustainable farming methods. It’s a very great pity that mankind has lost the ability to live in harmony with the environment, if indeed we ever had that ability. The local population in these areas are not to blame, they have had to survive by any means they can, and this is a case where ignorance is an excuse. So education is paramount, and with education comes awareness, and that is the key.

Pledging for Change funds its charitable work through donations recieved, and an Advocate scheme that pays a commission on any Advocate fee. Charities and non profit organisations have free admission to the scheme, and can then use any commission they themselves gain, as funds for their charity, as well as helping other charities along the way.

Many thousands of charities and individuals will benefit from joining the Pledging for Change community, where everyone has a voice, and everyone has the ability to make change happen.

I have never had the intention of promoting products or services that I am affiliated with, within my blog posts. But I am shamelessly promoting Pledging for change, because it is a service, a service for our planet and our environment, and ultimately for all of us. I’m very proud to be a part of the Pledging for Change community, where I can be part of the team working towards a brighter future for our planet.

If anyone is interested in finding out more about Pledging for change, and why wouldn’t you be? Click on the share link in the article below, and join for free, under any one of the charitable links. Then if you feel that you would like to become an “Advocate for Change”, you can take the next step to that.

So without more ado, I’ll let you get on and see something of what PLEDGING FOR CHANGE is about.

_________________________________________________

Pledging For Change

Who Are We?

Pledging for Change is one of the growing number of non-profit’Community Interest Companies’, or CIC’s.

This type of company, also known as a Social Enterprise, operates in the same way as any ‘normal’ business. We are able to sell things, pay wages, and we set out to make a profit.

However, unlike a normal company any profits made do not go to the owners. Instead they are re-invested and used to help the community (members of this network)for which the company operates.

So far Pledging for Change provides many free services and promotes active members in our free ezine.
We are legally regulated and able to accept donations and we also rely on investor members to generate revenue for distributing via referrals and grants.
For more information on CIC’s please visit – www.CICregulator.gov.uk

“Our Mission”
” To be the very BEST Visionary Business inspiring all visionaries for a better world to unite in the creation of a sustainable future for all by working and supporting each othere “In the Spirit of Harmony with our Planet”

“Our Pledge“: Please open link.
________________

We currently have three major projects lined up or already happening on Pledging for Change.

Trees for the Future: We will plant a tree for every new member who joins Pledging for Change, and we will plant a tree for every £1 donation we recieve and we will plant 50 trees for every investor member.

World Land Trust: For every 20 investor members we will purchase an acre of threatened rainforest to help protect endangered species.

Aceer Foundation: We will provide educational visits to the Amazon Rainforest as part of our incentive and achievement awards for our Share Program.

Pledging for Change will Plant one tree for:

* Every member that joins the network
* Every £1 donation that we recieve to help us continue our work on behalf of all our members
* Every organisation that signs up to our “Share Program”

Pledging for Change will Plant 50 trees for:

* Every investor member
* Every recurrent investment for Premium Advertising on the right hand side of the network viewable on all pages.
_____________________

This is just one of the projects we are involved in.

The Project Trees for the Future: Kenya Project


Overview of Social and Environmental Issues

Poaching in the National Parks close to Somalia and Ethiopia has been increasing in recent years and the Kenya Wildlife Service may close those parks because of the danger and expense. There has been extensive deforestation for firewood and other uses. Only 3% of Kenya’s original forest remains. There has been extensive cutting of native hardwood species by carvers and carpenters.

[caption id="attachment_947" align="alignleft" width="198" caption="Kenya Forest Group Nursery"][/caption]In early 2008 Kenya was encompassed by post-election violence, primarily in Western Kenya. The issues have not been resolved, despite the violence ending. Kenyans understand the importance of tree planting and there are many groups and individuals who want to work with Trees for the Future. There is population pressure on the arable land in Central and Western Kenya.

The Response

Kenya has large projects throughout Central and Western Kenya. There are several demonstration farms that are being developed to educate local communities on sustainable agriculture and agroforestry. There are several reforestation projects in and near protected forests, such as Mount Kenya, and Kakamega Forest Reserve. Trees for the Future is working with several women’s groups and some local trade schools.
[caption id="attachment_952" align="alignleft" width="198" caption="Mzee cleaning hands after planting tree."][/caption]2008 saw a large expansion of the Kenya Program. Many organizations are interested in the program and tree planting. In 2009, Trees for the Future has hired a Kenya Program Coordinator to implement projects throughout Kenya. The Kenya program projects focus on reforesting natural areas and working with local community organizations to provide economic opportunities for rural youths. Trees for the Future distributed 300,000 seedlings in 2008.

With you help Pledging for Change can continue to support this project.

Please invite as many friends as possible to Pledging for Change and lets make it our year for Planting over a million trees in Kenya.

Photvoltaics – Affordable Renewable Energy?

Photovoltaic cells have definitely moved to the next generation, and I predict that the new plastic photovoltaic cells are within months of being in mass production, and where the silicon photovoltaic’s cost around $2.40 per watt, the new plastic variety are mooted to cost only around 1 cent per watt. This will put solar power within the affordable reach of everybody. I say everybody, because even the areas of the world that are still under development, will benefit through the aid of charities, that will now be able do divert resources to the implementation of solar energy.

I do have another blog post on the same subject, but looking at the information on the web, there are more and more companies delving into the technology of thin film plastic Photovoltaic’s. I say plastic, but as you will see from the YouTube footage below, the cells, or strip, is made up of plastic that is sprayed with compounds in layers, with each layer reacting to a different light frequency, so making these photovoltaic’s truly versatile.

Watch the YouTube video’s, and be as excited as I am at the prospect, of cheap, truly renewable energy, that will be available to us all in the very near future.