Apropos of yesterday's post. . . .

For my night job, I read a lot of online newspapers and magazines, many of which are from international papers. It's interesting to read the opinions that journalists and citizens of other countries hold about the United States, and the financial and environmental issues we all face.

Yesterday, I wrote a post highlighting the fact that many Americans are increasingly choosing to take public transportation to work, rather than spending the cash to fill up their gas tanks every week. Lo and behold, last night I came across an article from a British paper, commenting on the opinion that our next U.S. president, whomever that turns out to be, should follow in the footsteps of the UK and other European countries, in reducing congestion and sprawl. I have to say, I studied abroad in Europe on two separate occasions, and I rode my first city bus, my first 'metro' (subway) train, and my first passenger train while in Europe. I also, by the way, benefited from universal health care systems, which were great (don't knock it 'til you've tried it, folks)!

Apropos of a comment left by a reader yesterday (thanks, Leonard!) regarding home energy savings, I also came across an interesting article about an 'eco-home' in the northern reaches of Great Britain. Amazingly, the entire house uses FOUR lightbulbs (LED), and although this house is located in a town that is at the same latitude as Alaska and Greenland, the owners haven't used the heat in three months! This is due to insulation with compressed foam, and argon-gas windows. From the article, it sounds as if the cost would be prohibitive for people like you and me, but imagine if this type of home insulation were affordable! My optimistic side thinks that sometime in the next two decades we'll all be living in homes in which eco-friendly add-ons are the standard.

As for me, I had an energy audit done on my house last year. Improving my home's insulation was first on the list (I actually don't believe my 50's home has ANY insulation, and since I have a flat roof, I don't even have an attic in which I can easily---and affordably---add some), along with replacing the aged water heater and the furnace. These projects are a little out of my price range at the moment, but I'm keeping them in mind for the future, when I've paid off my debt and beefed up my emergency fund. The best part about the energy audit, aside from the fact that it was free, was that the technician brought a giant box of CFL lightbulbs, and proceeded to replace most of my old lightbulbs, also at no cost!