Caledonia Wealth Management

A standard incandescent bulb will use almost five times the energy of an LED bulb, a German study concludes.  On its face this hardly seems significant since it’s well known that an LED is about five times as efficient as an incandescent bulb from a use standpoint.  However this study, conducted by Osram, looks at energy efficiency from a life cycle standpoint.  This is important since it refutes the notion that the efficiency of LED bulbs is compromised by an energy intensive production process.  In fact, the study finds that the primary energy used in the manufacture in an LED is less than 2% of the total energy consumed over the life of the bulb.  Compelling stuff.  Even mainstream media such as the NYT has been quick to publish the results.

However a closer examination of the study is revealing.  While 2% may sound impressive and further the study highlights how the energy consumed in manufacture is actually less than that of an incandescent, it’s important to understand the assumptions.  While it may be true to say an LED is 35% more efficient to manufacture than an incandescent, this calculation is based upon a 25,000 hour versus a 1,000 hour expected life.  That a factor of 25.

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1. Enroll in e-statements. Aside from reducing paper waste, opting to receive your brokerage and bank statements online can save you time and money.  Vanguard, for instance, will waive custodial fees if you sign up to receive statements and other documents electronically.  However do pay close attention to storage and access policies.  Charles Schwab is great in this regard as it provides access to all statements, confirmations and tax documents for no additional charge for 10 years.  Yet other institutions, particularly banks, may only offer access to records for as few as several months in some cases.
2. Pay your bills online. This is an obvious time savings but this practice can also save money.  You no longer have to pay for checks, envelopes and stamps.  For many this can result in a savings of hundreds of dollars per year.  However do be careful of online banking fees as some institutions will gouge you under the radar.
3. Use your credit card more. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m only suggesting responsible use of a credit card (where you pay it off monthly and don’t carry a balance).  During tough economic times like we’re experiencing now, more service providers than ever now accept credit cards in order to guarantee payment as well as receive it more swiftly.  Although it may not be advertised, you can now use your credit card to pay everything from legal fees to school fees.  No need to write checks anymore and further benefits to you include the advantage of an essentially an interest free loan from the credit card company and either program points or cash back depending upon the credit card.  There are other sound reasons to use a credit card for routine purchases and you’ll find some of those here.  Read more…

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Auto factories normally conjure up images of smoke stacks and waste pipes spewing filth indiscriminately into their hapless surroundings. Subaru on the other hand has achieved “Zero Landfill” status with its Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. plant. In fact, the manufacturing site itself is a natural wildlife refuge and this from a facility that can produce up to 200,000 vehicles per year.

Not surprisingly, Subaru has bandied its achievements in environmental stewardship in its advertising. Subaru cheerfully makes bold statements on its own website:

“Here’s something to think about: next time you take out your trash at home for collection, you’re sending more trash to landfills than the entire Subaru manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Indiana (SIA) does in a year. The Subaru plant was the first auto assembly plant to achieve zero landfill status – nothing from its manufacturing efforts goes into a landfill. It’s all reused and recycled. Each year, SIA actively recycles 99.3% of excess/leftover steel, plastic, wood, paper, glass, and other materials. The remaining 0.7% is shipped to the city of Indianapolis and incinerated to help generate steam. In 2006, SIA recycled 11,411 tons of scrap steel, 1,537 tons of cardboard and paper, and 963 tons of wood. That’s equal to conserving 31,040 mature trees, 31,572 cubic yards of landfill space, 711,631 gallons of oil, and 10,759,000 gallons of water.”

Now passionate environmentalists might argue that recognizing Subaru’s efforts are akin to congratulating the tobacco industry were it to produce a less poisonous cigarette.  After all, much of Subaru’s line up is composed of inefficient vehicles such as the Tribeca SUV.  Furthermore, Subaru’s positioning within the marketplace with its standard AWD is an efficiency trade-off as the extra weight, cost and complexity of an AWD drivetrain will always be at odds with good fuel economy.  And to make matters worse, while AWD does offer specific benefits, to tout it as a necessity, particularly for safety, is a consumer rip off right up there with high octane gas.

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When automakers successfully sued California, they claimed it was unfair for California to impose its own CO2 and fuel efficiency standards upon others.  One strong argument was there should be a single national standard.  Well, today Obama granted this wish.  And ironically, the standards are tougher than those California tried to enact.

So where are the lawsuits and lobbyists now?  In the wake of congressional hearings and collapsing financials, Detroit’s swashbuckling has given way to compliant thumb sucking.  They even “support” the measure (although there is little doubt they had no choice). Read more…

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This attention grabbing headline was featured on Yahoo! Finance today and featured an interview with Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz and Associates.  While much of Davidowitz commentary is extreme and over-hyped, he is an expert in the retail industry and provides some good insights as it relates to the consumer markets.

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