It may not officially be winter yet, however temperatures have declined to the point that we can no longer deny it is on its way. Over the years, we’ve seen the news about homes and families—even locally—who have been stranded for days with no heat or power because of a widespread outage in relation to winter storms.

Crews work as fast as they can when these scenarios occur to get your home back on track. However, they can only work so quickly, and many times the weather doesn’t cooperate as we hope it will so they can get the power back up quickly. Therefore, homeowners are sometimes left without heat, refrigeration, or the use of any important appliances. That is, at least, if they don’t have an effective and efficient whole-house generator.

Have you ever been stuck in the middle of winter with no working heater? Hopefully, the answer to this is no, and also hopefully you’ll never have to deal with this. A generator is the leading way to reduce the risk of this happening. Remember, a power outage can very easily take out your heating system, leaving you will chilly weather and no defense against it.

Do any members of your household rely on electrically-powered devices for medical conditions? Perhaps it’s an oxygen breather or some other type of machinery. If so, then a generator can literally be a life-saver for them. There’s no reason to wait on a generator installation if you rely on medical equipment.

As intangible a benefit as this is, it’s still an important advantage. Even if you never face a significant power outage this winter or next, you’ll know that you are well-prepared in case one does happen.

Technology moves faster than the blink of an eye these days, with each recent product purchase becoming obsolete mere months after it hits the shelves. The result? An electronic waste crisis, created by millions of used computers and mobile devices improperly disposed of into landfills. Electronic waste, or e-waste, dumped by the nation’s consumers adds up to a staggering 300 - 400 million electronic items per year, according to EPA estimates. Less than 20 percent of all electronics are recycled, the rest ending up in landfills to the detriment of our environment and our bodies.

The vast majority of materials used in computers, cell phones, and smart devices can be recovered to make new products, particularly since most devices are retired due to psychological, not technological, obsolescence.