If you’ve ever looked into buying solar panels or photovoltaics for your house you know how much it cost. It can be anywhere from twenty to thirty thousand dollars for a typical home. What if you could instead lease a solar system for little or no money down? That’s what some companies are doing now and it seems to be catching on. Two I’ve discovered lately that do this are Citizenre and SolarCity. Basically it’s like renting a car, but with much longer leases, you pay very little down to get the system, and you pay them a monthly rent. You are protected from utility price hikes because the cost of the solar doesn’t change and you save money over what you’d be paying without solar panels. You also don’t have to worry about maintenance if anything goes wrong, these companies cover that for you.

One thing I noticed is that neither company seems to mention the generous incentives homeowners get if they buy their own system. According to American Solar Electric’s site a 22,478 dollar system only costs 9,878 dollars after APS/SRP rebates, and Federal and State tax incentives. Depending on the financing you can get this might be the better solution. Of course if anything goes wrong with the system or a much better cheaper form of energy comes out you are stuck with those solar panels and out a lot of money. If like me you live in a location that isn’t served by SRP or APS leasing sounds like it might be a great option to save money and the environment.

I had no idea about any of this, very interesting article about Cox’s environmentally friendly ways.

Embracing a green life and work style isn’t anything new to Cox. Our company founder, James M. Cox, was passionate about protecting the natural environment when he started our company over a century ago. An avid outdoorsman and agriculturist, he embraced the latest farming techniques to protect soil and he promoted the preservation of land through his newspapers. Today, his grandson, Jim Kennedy, chairman and CEO of Cox Enterprises, our parent company, has challenged Cox employees to continue this tradition and find innovative ways to conduct business with the least amount of impact to the environment.

Locally, Cox Arizona has a goal of reducing its total carbon footprint and greenhouse-gas emissions by an additional 20 percent by 2017. Our “green” call center allows 280 Cox customer-service representatives to work from a home office several days a week. They’re happy and productive with less commute, which saves fuel and preserves their income. Fewer employees in the office allows Cox to use office space more efficiently. Likewise, our local “home-start” program encourages our field-service technicians to start their day from their homes and work in their own neighborhoods. All in all, good for the environment, good for customer service. [azcentral.com]

Call to action canceled. Looks like AZ Biodiesel will be moving to a new city. Update forthcoming.

Check out the popular posts to the right. –>

The City of Chandler Arizona has ordered AZ Biodiesel to cease operations because of zoning compliance issues and refuses to let them operate while these issues are worked out. AZ Biodiesel is a small company making WVO Biodiesel and can’t afford to be shut down while waiting for Chandler to complete this 3 to 6 month process. AZ Biodiesel has the full support of the city’s fire marshal and has been safely producing biodiesel for their own vehicles for three years at their current location. They are located in a light industrial zone which has been approved for biodiesel production in the City of Phoenix. AZ Biodiesel is the only source of biodiesel made from waste oil in the Phoenix area and it would be a huge shame for the city to loose this valuable resource. Please encourage the City of Chandler to let AZ Biodiesel operate while this process is completed by emailing, calling, or faxing them at the address and phone numbers below.

**Update please read before contacting the City of Chandler. Please check the comments below for the response you’ll get back from Chandler and also AZ Biodiesel’s response to that. There are definitely two sides to every story and maybe both parties have some blame to accept for this mess. As far as I can tell AZ Biodiesel wasn’t trying to get around any planning and zoning laws, they were under the impression they had followed all the rules and had done everything the City had asked. That was until they were shut down without warning. It seems there was some sort of communication disconnect between the City and AZ Biodiesel and instead of working with AZ Biodiesel to fix any issues they shut them down and told them they’d have to wait. Hopefully our letters can help move this process along and get these issues resolved without having to make AZ Biodiesel move or go out of business.

Bunna Coffee Tea & Market

7520 S. Rural Rd. Suite 12
Tempe, AZ. 85283
BunnaCoffee.com

Hopefully this will be the first of many reviews on AzSustainably of local restaurants that are trying to do their part to be ‘green.’ Although eating at home is probably the best way to eat ‘green’ (assuming you eat fresh and/or can get a hold of locally grown produce and you are not a tremendously wasteful person in the way you cook, etc) but eating out is fun! It is one of our main recreations (just ask our expanding waist lines and our thinning wallets). Finding a new and unique restaurant, coffee shop, or tea house just makes our day. What makes it even more exciting is when you can find all three in one shop and to top it all off they are independently owned and actually care about making a positive difference in the environment!

Besides being absolutely delicious, their wide variety of coffee and tea is organically grown and fair trade. We found Bunna on the Local First AZ website, saw what they were all about and convinced our friends Tori and Josh to meet us there. The brunch that they offer every weekend from 7am-2pm is made from as many locally grown and organic ingredients as possible and it was fantastic!! By purchasing their fresh produce locally they are avoiding the toll on the environment of transporting from across the globe as well as the energy and packaging that goes into frozen foods. Also, by going organic they are preserving the soils for future healthy agriculture along with avoiding all sorts of crazy pesticides and herbicides you would not want to be eating.

The atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming with cool artwork on the walls by local artists and a talented guitarist and singer playing. The seating was comfortable and the front counter was inviting, not at all pretentious as some cafes can be. It was not too loud to have great conversation and I can’t wait to go back again. They even have free wi-fi so if I need a place to get some work done online this is going to be the first place I head to.

I had the bowl of granola with strawberries and soy milk. They were extremely generous with the berries as most places really skimp on that and they are the best part! It was very tasty. I also had the jasmine green tea. I am a bit of a tea snob and with such a large variety of organic teas it was difficult to decide but I do adore good jasmine green tea. Tori ordered the White Peony tea and it was very tasty as well. I lucked out, again they were very generous with the tea. I loved that they had various sizes of mugs rather than paper, plastic or goodness forbid styrofoam cups. I had a large mug and there so many leaves in my bag I had four refills of hot water and it was still the perfect strength! James and Josh both expressed that the coffee was quite good, as well.

The boys, ironically, ordered the smallest portions with breakfast sandwiches that came on English muffins. They looked really yummy but for the price I would say try something else if you are coming with a big appetite. Tori had the veggie sandwich #2 and gave it two thumbs up. They have a ‘green’ outlook, amazing coffees and teas, good vegetarian options and everything was yummy. We would certainly return on a week day for some nearly guilt-free (in so far as it is organic and free-trade) teas and coffees and on the weekends for brunch. Go Bunna!

The Automotive Service Association of Arizona has been approved by the The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to certify Arizona service locations as green. Auto shops already have certain environmental standards they must meet, but the shops certified as green go above and beyond what is required. To become certified shops must complete a checklist and score at least 300 points. This checklist covers areas such as cleaning, degreasing, energy conservation and require shops to use low hazard, low-pollution solvents or water-based cleaners, recycle waste fluids and oils, use energy-efficient lighting and A/C to name a few. To see a list of shops certified green and to see the checklist head over to ASAAZ.info.