When solar is discussed it's usually in two different categories -- small scale for personal use and large scale projects which provide an alternative to coal, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, all of which have significant environmental impacts.

With the recent earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan, the fragility of nuclear power has been exposed. Coal power, the most commonly used source of energy, is contributing to rising temperatures through the greenhouse effect which is already drastically altering the world's climate. Hydro-electric, while pollution free, requires massive habitat destruction during construction and use. All of these systems need to be replaced and renewable energies such as solar and wind are the best alternatives.

While it's true that there is an abundant source of unlimited energy hitting the earth every day of the year, there are some immediate disadvantages to large-scale adoption of this renewable form of energy. We've all seen images of massive solar arrays in the desert, with giant, glistening panels shining happily in the noon day sun. But there is a major drawback to this type of large-scale implementation of solar technology -- distribution.

The energy generated from those solar arrays cannot be efficiently delivered to homes and businesses hundreds or thousands of miles away as much of the gain gets lost in transmission. Additionally, the transmission lines are extremely expensive to maintain. New lines cost around $1.5 million PER MILE, making the development of new transmission lines very expensive.

Small scale solar however has none of these disadvantages. If placed close to home or work, solar panels lose virtually none of the energy they generate. Small scale solar also doesn't require expensive transmission lines, since the distance traveled is minor. An additional advantage to this option is that homes generating too much power can feed it back to the grid, further contributing to reducing the load needs of traditional power plants.

As the US is used to developing large scale power plants, a shift in focus will be necessary to put a massive investment into solar power. Subsidies and tax break models can replace the need for huge projects, moving the necessary funds into the hands of home and small businesses who can be responsible for installing, maintaining and using their own power systems.

Instead of hundreds of large-scale power generation systems, what's needed are tens of thousands of micro power plants. This shift in priority is utterly necessary if we are ever to transition to environmentally friendly forms of energy generation and hopefully avert a growing possibility of climate change catastrophe.

The author is an environmental activist who writes about the advantages of solar energy and offers suggestions about DIY solar panels and other small-scale solar options.

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Babies and small children come with a lot of packaging and it can be a challenge to even think about green living when you are lost in a sea of disposable diapers, wet wipes and laundry. Unless you are a committed eco-mommy and have already embraced cloth diapers, you probably have a guilty feeling that it isn't possible to be truly green and energy efficient with a baby in the house and a busy lifestyle.

But disposable diapers aren't the beginning and end of an eco-friendly family lifestyle. Nobody said it has to be all or nothing. Even if they are essential to the smooth running of your household, there are still plenty of other smaller green living measures that you can take to help the environment. In doing so you will also be raising your kids to be aware of green issues, which is an important part of building a sustainable future. After all they are the ones who will inherit the earth from us, so energy awareness is essential to their education from an early age.

Try a few of these simple green living tips to increase the efficiency of your energy use and reduce the impact your home has on the environment. Remember the green mantra: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. Reduce the amount of resources you consume, re-use things like paper, plastic and cloth wherever possible and only then recycle what you can no longer use. This saves you money and makes the best possible use of resources.

1. Use both sides of the paper

Kids love drawing. Before you know it they can have accumulated a stack of artworks equivalent to a small tree. Encourage them to use both sides of the paper. Re-use office scrap paper for drawing on before you re-cycle it.

2. Switch to cloth table napkins

Disposable paper table napkins not only use up an immense number of trees to produce, if you count up how many each household can get through in a year, but they also end up in landfill sites. Get your family a bunch of colorful cloth napkins, or make some from leftover fabric scraps or old soft cotton shirts, and use them at family meals. They take up little space in the laundry and can be used several times before washing; just give each family member a different color or else an individual napkin ring to identify their napkin.

3. Recycle

If you're not already re-cycling find out about options in your area. There may be a local pick-up scheme if you separate out your garbage or you may have to find a drop-off point. Kids will catch on quickly if you have separate bins for re-cycled paper, glass and plastics and it's a great start to educating them about the environment.

4. Hang out your laundry

Whenever the weather allows, hang out your laundry on the clothes line rather than using the dryer. Older kids can help with the pegging out and folding afterward. Your clothes will last longer and you'll save a lot on electricity.

5. Use energy saving light bulbs

Replace your light bulbs with the curly energy efficient bulbs, as the old ones give out. Switch off lights when you leave a room and make sure any lights left on at night, for kids that are scared of the dark, are of a low wattage, energy saving variety.

These may seem like small measures, that won't do much to save the planet, but think about it this way: if every household in the US were just to switch to cloth napkins for a year, millions of trees would be saved, as well as the energy and water consumed in turning them into paper. Each small measure adds up.

Once you have incorporated these green living tips into your family lifestyle, you could gradually introduce a few more, greening up your home and your kids one small step at a time and saving money too.

Kit Heathcock is a writer and mother of three. She aims to bring up her children as healthily as possible and is striving for green living, but admits to lapsing from her ideals when it comes to chocolate, computer games and disposable diapers. Read more green living tips, recipes and articles at Food and Family.