The green smarts of keeping your tires inflated.

When tires are not inflated to their capacity, it takes more energy to get them moving and to help them to stay at the speed a driver wants.

But on top of that, under-inflated tires end up translating to higher fuel costs, which means more pollution filtering into the air. And that means more money out of your pocket, too.

Automobile specialists normally recommend checking tire pressure at least once a month, but checking the pressure twice a month is even better. It's easy to forget about this though since so many people are just so busy nowadays. But remembering to take the time to check tire pressure will be a better bet in the long run.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy branch says on www.fueleconomy.gov that gas mileage can be bumped upward by 3.3 percent if tires are properly inflated on a regular basis.

This translates to around 11 cents per gallon saved.

And gas mileage efficiency can drop by 0.3 percent for every single pound per square inch (otherwise known as PSI) lost in all four tires on a vehicle.
 
Even if these numbers don't seem that huge, they convert into several hundred gallons of gas extra used each year for a vehicle that would guzzle away around $300 to $500 more in fuel, says environmental journalist Larry West.

This is the case when a vehicle averages around 12,000 miles annually.

For each gallon of gas burned off while driving, around 20 pounds of carbon dioxide releases into the air.

Tires inflated to the proper pressure wear more evenly than ones with lower pressure and also tend to last longer for that reason.

Since 2008, automobile manufacturers have been required by Congress to install tire pressure monitoring systems on non-commercial vehicles so that people can keep a better eye on this from their dashboard.

To get a better idea of how tire pressure affects your wheels, read the sidewall information on your tires, check out your owner's manual, or talk to your mechanic.

Blue Moon Florist Reflects on Year into Solar.

DOWNINGTOWN, PA – After more than a year of producing solar energy in East Brandywine Township, Chester County, Pa. instead of pulling electricity for her floral shop from the grid, Ami Trost of Blue Moon Florist is easily proud of her decision to push forward in green-speak.

Trost is the president of Blue Moon Florist, while her husband Kevin Morgan serves as its sales director. Their 20-mile delivery radius from the shop includes floral shipments to Honey Brook, Coatesville, Elverson, West Chester, Malvern, Exton and other nearby towns.

With almost two decades in running the business, an average of 100 wedding clients in the tri-state area each year, and tens of thousands of flower arrangements prepared by Blue Moon Florist since opening, it’s easy to understand that Trost’s electricity costs would be pretty hefty.

Before solar, the shop’s electric bills often lingered around $700 to $800 monthly. Compared to that now, her 49.2 KW ground-mount behind the shop is helping her to now have bills that are always under $85 each month.

Installed by GreenPointe.Energy of Berwyn, Chester County, Pa., the system consists of 240 solar modules, each with a 205 watt rating. In the past, operations at the shop led to about 59,000 KWH used annually. But now Trost sees those old usage numbers translating into what she’s producing, thankfully.

“I’ve always been interested in solar since I was a little girl back in the 1970s when solar was first introduced to everyday residential applications,” Trost said. “It was really an alternative energy that came about back then but never really took root the way that it has today.”

She even tried to encourage her parents to bring solar energy home around the age of 9, seeing it as a no-brainer in terms of electricity cost savings and being more decent to the environment. But it wasn’t until she chose to bring solar into her own business setting with Blue Moon Florist that her childhood dream finally stepped into the picture.

“If we do sell the property sometime in the future, if this system lasts 40 to 45 years, it’s going to make us money,” Trost reflected. “Then the system becomes valuable to the real estate value. So how can you go wrong with that? You’re being green, and you have zero carbon emissions, which is very important to us and our son and our future and his children and thereafter.”

“It kind of goes hand-in-hand, being a florist and going green,” Trost said. “We’ve had at least one person a day since its inception ask us about the solar energy system. They’re just very curious about it and think it’s a cool thing.”