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While pundits and economists worry about Wall Street’s well-being, American’s worry about keeping their jobs, paying their bills, and the health of the planet. The capitalist marketplace promotes the exploitation of people and natural resources as cheap fixes. But we don’t have to abandon our values to save a buck. Welcome to the People’s Marketplace.

By Martina Steiner

Does the Summer weather have you all hot and bothered, because, if the heat doesn’t kill you, your electricity bill just might? Well, don’t despair. There are plenty of low-cost ways to chill out without cranking up the air conditioning.

Some simple, cheap changes around the house can transform a hot box into an oasis. The Planet Green website at www.discovery.com, has lots of good tips. For example, do you have a gas stove? Planet Green suggests adjusting the pilot light. It can be set too high, heating up your home and wasting gas. If you don’t use your oven in the Summer, turn off its pilot light — you can still use the burners.

If the air in your home feels stale and stifling, change this by creating cross ventilation. Use your windows well! If you open some, make sure they are opposing so you have a cross-breeze. Open them at night, and turn off the AC. Make sure that direct sunlight is being blocked by light colored curtains or buy reflective drapes, which have reflective material on one side to totally block out the sun. A small investment in fans of all kinds for your house will pay off big. Use them strategically. Don’t put a fan directly against a wall. If you do use an air conditioner, turn it down and use fans to move that cold air around.

Get ceiling fans for your home. They are very effective and cost a fraction of the price of air conditioners. On www.energycircle.com, a writer calculated the cost of running his ceiling fan compared to his air conditioner. The ceiling fan bill cost $4. The air conditioner, $167. And whenever you buy anything new, make sure its certified as Energy Efficient.

If you can afford to make bigger changes to your home, consider replacing existing windows with double-pained ones, installing awnings above all windows that get direct sunlight, or investing in solar panels. Go to www.house-energy.com for tons of green up-grade and remodel possibilities.

We can’t talk about keeping cool without addressing climate change. The last decade was the hottest on record. Ironically, this means we’ve all been contributing to global warming in our efforts to escape its discomforts. Air conditioners use tons of electricity, which is produced by burning fossil fuels, like coal. The more air conditioning we use, the more fossil fuels are burned, which makes the planet hotter. See the vicious cycle?

So get creative, you can beat the heat for cheap and show the planet a little love. Try it, and stretch your dollar to meet your values. For the People’s Marketplace, this is Martina Steiner. Together, we can take back the economy.