What are you doing that's 'Green' ?
W o o f -={(
The earth will compensate for the bullcrap overheating in my opinion.Evidenced up here last winter.
Big oil loves this so the less we use the higher than can drive prices.
Just my thoughts
I'm thinking about using my dog to pull me to work. :) [ Parent ]
Cheers Bruce S
Sorry - got off on a rant there.
We REDUCE (Mostly to save money) - All the usual stuff: CFL bulbs, turning stuff off when we're not using it, generating our own electricity, driving as infrequently as possible, turn down the thermostat, etc.
We RE-USE - Save our plastic bags and reuse them for stuff, then recycle. We don't use any styrofoam or paper cups or dishes in our house. Have a bin of redworms that compost some of our leftover tidbits, and save containers to be used in the garage for nails, screws, etc. Yesterday we lined our garden with wood that we scrounged from other projects. And we just sharpened our saw so we can go out in the woods and gather up all that firewood that's just lying all over the ground.
We RECYCLE. With a community recycling bin for us to use, we discovered that we only produce a couple bags of real garbage a week. We were able to cancel our garbage service and piggyback off of my parents. I've been saving cans to do one of those passive air heater things.
I was talking with one of my more liberal friends recently about who he's going to vote for, how he knows the earth is getting hotter, how bad this country is, etc., while drinking a coke he gave me. When I was done, I said, "Where should I put this can?"
He said, "Just throw it in the trash."
Oh well, people like me believe it starts with the nuclear family. So we're doing everything we can right here at home. :-)
This last winter, we switched from propane to electric heat and saved about 50% on our heating bill. In the process, we replaced our compact flourescent lights with incandescent lights. When heating with electricity, there is no advantage to using flourescent bulbs.
For us, it's pure economics. [ Parent ]
I'm not understanding this statement ? W o o f -={([ Parent ]
So if you're using them as a 100W space heater, and you're getting light, that's great! Switch to the CFLs in the summertime. Well, or install a skylight. :-)[ Parent ]
Tell me about it.
Every time I go over the Dunbarton bridge lately I see the solar panels that KGO (the only financially successful liberal talk station, as far as I can tell) put in at the base of their antenna farm.
What the HECK are they powering with that, in their max-power transmitter blockhouse, right UNDER one of the high-tension lines feeding the bay area? It's sure not heat. B-) The blinky lights on the towers? The half-dozen bulbs in the blockhouse that are only on when an engineer is there? The vent fans? The darned panels are probably generating more power by rectifying the near field of their signal than they collect from the sun.
These days price is a very good signal of sites where it's ecologically sound to install alternative energy systems. Twenty feed downwind of the San Francisco Bay salt evaporators is NOT one of them. [ Parent ]
Thats my plan!
Recycling, Wind electric, Solar PV, we keep about 400 acres in tree farm that we could clear cut and farm, Conscious decisions on all energy use, Water conservation, Burn wood for heat [not releasing ancient carbon]. Just the top of the head list.
Most important and easiest is BE AWARE of your usage.
Tom
"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."--Mark Twain
We recycle more and more. We commonly recycled paper, cans, plastic containers, bottles, etc. and we compost all our lefovers except for meat but it is only recently that I have started to recycle plastic bags of all sorts, trying to take care to what bags have a recycling symbol code on them. This lowers a bit more our garbage load.
Thinking and planning for RE. Monitoring electricity usage by plotting kwh/month for the last 4 years.
MartinEau, soleil, le vent
do you eat soya?[ Parent ]
do you eat soya?"
Your point is ? .. FYI its about 95% of soya thats fed to animals which are from 5:1 to 54:1 input->output .. Interesting read: http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00.pdf 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.'-Albert Einstein Fungus - www.reenergy.co.uk[ Parent ]
For the record, im interested on your view, from your response it suggests is a corner you fright from regularly.
Inquiring as a chap in my class is vegan also. He has now chosen not to eat soya, wondering what your stand on it is? It is a matter of strong debate.
Personally I wounder about the intensive agriculture, mono culture and desertification growing it produces. Also the use of chemicals, the associated waste and energy use, the carbon foot print of shipping it around etc etc. Not so clean cut.Jon M
www.otherpower.co.uk "I am certainly not a perfectionist, the thing is to know where you can take short c[ Parent ]
I do intend in at least reading some of the report but like you say, 400 pages! Along with college work im not sure it will get read any time soon.
Just spent a couple of hours working out the maths behind the space needed to produce biofuel.
Slightly off topic but along the same lines, using more bio fuels means less space for food to be grown so more is imported from 'third worlds'. Jon M
Range-fed cattle, though, are a net gain eco-wise. They prefer the invasive European grasses and weeds that squeeze out native plants in the absence of cattle grazing, while leaving plenty of foliage for other plant-eating species. Their water needs are mostly met by grazing rather than drinking. And the land is unsuitable for virtually any other practical food-producing use without major irrigation and other modification. (Though they're an introduced species with a taste for the invasive plants, they're otherwise quite close to the native equivalent - buffalo - which ARE breeding back up from near-extinction.)
But there's nowhere near enough of 'em to grow all the hamburgers and steaks consumed. So at this point vegans are still reducing the human crop footprint by eschewing rather than chewing meat.[ Parent ]
But there's nowhere near enough of 'em to grow all the hamburgers and steaks consumed. So at this point vegans are still reducing the human crop footprint by eschewing rather than chewing meat. " Agreed, but range-fed doesnt always equal good as one of the main uses of the land in the amazon where the rainforests were is being used for ranches, not much is very black and white :) .. Another thing, not sure if its the same there, but here in the highlands a lot of sheep are farmed on the hills, they nibble down just about every plant on the hills and leave them quite barren even though they're spread out over a large area .. the places where the sheep can't go have markedly more biodiversity .. 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.'-Albert Einstein Fungus - www.reenergy.co.uk[ Parent ]
Lots more to do.Jon M
www.otherpower.co.uk "I am certainly not a perfectionist, the thing is to know where you can take short c
Electric usage: converted to CFL's and fluorescents totally. Replaced old refrigerator with one more than 40% more efficient. I use a whole house attic fan in lieu of A/C when feasible. Added peak vent to increase efficiency. Reduced electrical appliances where feasible that have standby power. Choose lower powered items when purchasing new electric items, reduce use of ones that aren't as efficient or practical as hand powered ones.
Grass is cut with a reel push mower. No gas, no gym needed, and makes lawn more attractive(cuts instead of shearing grass stems) Covered garage with ivy to keep it cool in summer.(it actually adds to winter insulation, also)
Ride a bike instead of driving for trips less than 3-4 miles, shop close, plan trips in car, and use less than 1 full tank of gasoline in a month. Recycle items where feasible, i use a lot of recycled items in my "projects"
Now did i do this for "earth day" NO! I did it because I'm lazy! If I use less, I have to work less, if I spend less, I have less to throw away too, recycling also saves me money.
So being lazy is my contribution to the "earth".
Another thing is, this summer we are not going to put the window-unit A/Cs back in. We're just going to deal with it if at all possible. If we don't get used to the A/C, maybe we won't need it as much.
We're going to start turning everything possible off and only turn them on when needed. Getting the kids to do this is like pulling teeth out of a chicken. . .probably not going to happen! But, we're going to try.. . . Basically, the only thing that should be running when no one is home is the Internet Router and switch, the refrigerator, and the small 486 laptop that controls the rest. . .
I measured yesterday with a clamp-on ammeter with only a fan, several alarm clocks the refrigerator running and the Internet stuff and I am sure several other phantom loads and it was about 2A on one leg and about 1.2A on the other leg. Total of about 3.2A AC. Not too bad. . . Oh, I forgot, there are two Dish Network boxes plugged in as well. . .
We're going to start trying to ride our bikes again instead of driving now that the weather has warmed back up.
I am going to try to get some kind of soalr water heating system set up for hot water and hopefully added heating next winter.
I am going to attempt wvo in my 1984 Nissan Sentra Diesel. Should be easy enough. . . lots of extra room under the hood. . .
Hope everyone has a Great Earth Day!
Doug
later Elvin
later Elvin [ Parent ]
Let's see now...
We have two windmills with another to follow soon...
We heat the house with wood from our own woodlot...
Water is heated by wood in winter and solor hot boxes in warm temps...
House heat is supplimented by solar hot boxes...
Compost and recycle...
Collect waste veggie oil from local businesses and make our own biodiesel...
Run farm tractors and road vehicles on bio &/or SVO...
Lister running on biodiesel &/or SVO...
Solar panels...
Forklift batts & SLA's
Use creek to water animals instead of well (usually)...
CFL's and LED's and T8's where possible...
Share the ride and plan trips carefully to conserve...
Ride the horses when possible instead of vehicles (kinda fun too)...
Share information with anyone interested in following the green path..
Never really thought about all the stuff we do that's green until Woofer came up with this survey. Pretty cool, thanks Woofer
behoof, suzzie n' holly
Happy Earth Day folks and Thanks for doing your part!
This is utterly and completely stupid.
Just some reality. Its probably illegal too.
Hopefully you are joking otherwise you should be shot and then shot again should you survive the first round.
"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."--Mark Twain[ Parent ]
As usual, Thank you for your kind words.[ Parent ]
boB[ Parent ]
I'm wearing green today. Does that work ?? It sure beats burning tires off rims to recycle the metal.
I was out installing 10,000 watts of PV. This day for me is no different than any other day. I try to install PV and small wind every day. When I cant, do field work, Im talking, teaching and leading by example. I know of no other way.
Have fun everyone, and happy Earth Day :-)Have Fun!! RoyR KB2UHF
A couple years back I was at the dump recycling some glass, papper, card board, batteries, paint and such and I saw a guy getting ready to dump some scraps of Choice Deck. The plastic wood stuff.
I said to him, if you don't mind can I have that. He said sure its just crap.
I've been using that crap now for a couple years now for motor end caps, wind genny bases and now I have a scheem for this scrap to make the center hub for blades I'm making from through away foam filled plastic pipe.
I've allways wondered what our earth and our lives would be like if we'de been recycling for the last 100 years instead of throwing allmost every thing we make into a hole in the ground.
JK TAS Jerry
Airheads Page
[ Parent ]
So I grabbed it. Works just fine. Wife and I figure they got a new LCD. [ Parent ]
We recycle everything possible. The volume of actual garbage is so small it is amazing. Aluminum cans, scrap aluminum and copper gets sold. Nothing to sneeze at.
A TV show a few years ago said recycling a can takes only 5% of the energy of making a new one. I'd rather my money was spent on wages for recyclers, than landfills, mines, and crude oil.
Selling scrap to China is getting some of our trade deficit back! G-[ Parent ]
Rgds
Damon[ Parent ]
Installed a pellet stove in fall and heated the house with pellets through Feb. (Switched back to gas due to surgery - can't lift 40 lb bags - and a blown igniter that's waiting on warranty repair due to the company deploying to a longer-lived one, but expect to use pellets all winter next year.) Harman model - bottom-feed and can burn all sorts of stuff. (Looking into getting a little pellet mill to make pellets from the invasive introduced weeds we clear out at the Nevada place while restoring the native plants there.) Switched from electric to gas drier. Low-water front-loader washer.
Lighting is nearly all fluorescent now. Cooktop is gas.
Front yard relanscaped with a variety of low-water-using plants (which will be able to live on dew most of the year once they're established). Mahonia, Manzanita, Redbud, brewer's oak, ... Chosen because they're native to the area and most of 'em look green and healthy even in dry times (so the zeroscape doesn't look like a desert most of the year even if it IS one. B-) ) Some of this (like the oregon grape and some of the oaks) are breeds that grow food.
Back yard is redone as an orchard, vegetable, berry, and nut farm, with some maples for summer afternoon shade (unless they don't establish and we switch those to crabapple). Blight-resistant filberts, several kinds of apples, netcarine, peaches, cherries, several kinds of citrus. Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, serviceberries, strawberries. (Rear fence is backed by a blackberry row now. Let's see the crooks hop THAT. B-) ) Salad greens, mustard, spices, peas, ... Needs a small amount of water in a few spots but far less than grass would.
Expect to get around to RE eventually. (Than's why I'm hanging out here.) But needed to get a few other things done first. B-)
The townhouse windows, siding, roof, and venetian blinds (and yard grass due to drought non-watering) were all due for replacement, too, so this was a matter of "doing a needed repair as an upgrade" rather than "tearing out something perfectly good (and making trash) to put in something that appears more green". Upgraded the attic ventilation during the siding replacement, too.
= = = =
No air conditioning on either house at least so far. Country house was constructed to be energy efficient from the start. Gets all its daytime heating from solar due to the window design and is very well insulated to hold it most of the night. (Humidity is low enough there that we can use a swamp cooler rather than a heat pump.) Heating set to don't-freeze-the-plumbing and lights to just-annoy-the-woodpeckers-into-pecking-elsewhere / burglars-are-visible-to-neighbors when either is unoccupied.[ Parent ]
Ron Adventure is just bad planning." -- Roald Amundsen
Converted to CFL's to reduce electric bill. Added shaded patio and window shades on south face of house to reduce AC use. Will be adding attic evacuation fan, I had a good experience with these on previous house, cool attic costs less than more AC use.
Can't have a clothes drying line here, but I air-dry pants indoors to shorten dryer use.
Dug out half my grass, replaced with red gravel and low-water-use drip-irrigation plants.
Only 7 miles to work, so I am converting bicycle to electric for fair-weather riding.
Eat less meat, when eating meat...eat less beef. "Recipes for a small planet" book message is, it takes many pounds of grain to make one pound of meat. Beef cattle belch lots of methane.
As a dump truck driver, my mind is boggled by how much recycleable stuff I see thats dumped in landfills.
Frequenting otherpower.com and builditsolar.com to plan green retirement home...
I hang my Levis on the front porch rail... In the middle of town. And theres a junk microwave there for over 2 weeks now too. "I'm not really a hillbilly, but I play one on my front porch"? A related joke... http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/2050/April1.jpg
She does eat venison. No extra methane. Not a lot of extra lead. 50/50 it would have met its end on the road and rotted. She has her own M500C in 20ga with 2 barrels. G-[ Parent ]
Not sure where you live but many clothesline bans are illegal depending on where you live. Here's a clipping from a 2004 article I read,
<<<In Fort Lauderdale, Madden's clothesline is protected by a state law that encourages the use of solar power. Local governments are prohibited from banning devices that use renewable resources. Other states have similar laws, but only Florida and Utah specifically protect clotheslines.>>>
We switched to using a clothes line and I don't remember when we used our dryer last.Andy[ Parent ]
