Big-Box Retailers Give Solar a Shot
By myerman | August 10, 2008
The New York Times reports that big-box retailers, looking for tax benefits and piling on to the “green is good” bandwagon, are installing solar panels on their roofs. I’m not trying to be a spoilsport here, but….duh?
I mean, think about it. Most of these places (Wal-mart, Safeway, etc) have buildings that look like, well, big boxes, featuring giant flat roofs…and underneath those roofs, huge volumes of space that need cooling and heating and lighting–they’re veritable energy-sucking cubes hosting the consumerist masses yearning to buy cheap stuff.
Just from an ROI perspective, installing solar panels would seem to be a pragmatic approach. And it’s also a good thing when, you know, big companies like Wal-mart, you know, buy a whole ton of photovoltaics, causing demand to go up, and like orders into the like big photovoltaic factory, and maybe they like totally revamp their processes, making photovoltaic cells cheaper for the rest of us? Surely not!
Okay, okay, I know that the sun will burn out sometime in the next 10 billion years or so, so maybe that gave all those little bean counters pause. After all, it’s so much better to get our power from coal-burning plants that spew carbon into the air….that’s always a good feeling when you’re buying lead-laced toys made by underage children in Asian sweat shops. Urk.
I mean, really! Let’s just make a faulty apples-to-oranges comparison and then chuckle to ourselves on the kind of bureacratic inertia that reigns supreme at corporate headquarters worldwide. On my little house in Austin, a solar array takes about 10 years to pay off its investment in energy savings. I can’t even imagine how fast the ROI is on a 50,000 foot store. But perhaps I’m overthinking this, and speaking of apples and oranges, I’m hungry. Hmmmm.
I guess I should just shut up and be happy that someone is doing something to move the energy independence ball forward.
Topics: Rants and Raves | No Comments »
Learning the Story of Stuff
By Hope | July 16, 2008
Ever wonder where you got that urge to buy all that stuff? Ever wonder why you continue to do it? Worried that the world will “fall apart” if you stop consuming (oh, purleez–but I have actually heard people say just that).
Well, a friend of mine (thanks Andrew!) sent me this link. It’s a 20-minute long video, but well worth the time investment. Find out the answers to all these questions and then find out how to do something about it.
Enjoy.
Topics: Home and Garden, Rants and Raves, Recycle, Reduce, Reuse | No Comments »
Getting Those Fresh Veggies
By Hope | July 8, 2008
Okay, for those of you who don’t have the space for your own vegetable garden but still live too far from the grocery store to get your veggies fresh every few days, I’ve discovered a couple of wonderful alternatives.
First, popping up all over town are mom-and pop-growers setting up vegetable stands in small neighborhood areas. In my own neighborhood, right next to the Texan Market (on Amherst between Duval and Parmer) on Wednesdays, 4-7 pm and Saturdays, 8-1, we have a local organic farmer who brings whatever he has that is fresh that week. I’ve found a similar offering on Jollyville Rd every Wednesday. Those are the two closest to me. Ask your friends and neighbors if they’ve seen one close by. We discovered ours via word of mouth and have been telling all the neighbors. Remember, to keep these folks coming back, we need to support them! It’s also hugely beneficial to the environment and our wallets to have one person travelling to provide the produce for so many of us versus everyone in the neighborhood having to go to the store, adding to all the CO2 emissions and spending all that gas money!
Another option for families is the produce delivery service. Check out this New York Times article for more information. It’s a great concept, although for couples wanting to do this, it might be more efficient to share with another couple, as there will probably be a lot more food than one couple can consume in a week.
Once you’ve got your veggies–however you go about it–keep them fresher longer with Debbie Meyer Green Bags. You’ve probably seen the annoying ads on television. Well, let me just say that I’ve been using Green Bags for many, many years. They really do work and are cost effective too, as they are reusable. I just wash and dry them between batches of produce. I buy them at my local Whole Foods, who have carried them for years. But you can also get them at the Green Bags web site as well.
However you go about it, adding the freshest local produce to your diet and your families will benefit you from a health perspective. But it also minimizes the effects of having all that food transported from across the country, adding enormous costs to the food prices and pollution to the environment. Just think of what a change we could make globally if everyone bought only local produce when it is available.
Topics: Home and Garden, Reduce, Reuse | 1 Comment »
Cool Info About Plastics
By Hope | July 2, 2008
For those of us who are thoroughly confused about which plastics are okay and which should be avoided at all costs, here is a handy dandy chart that my husband discovered the other day. It gives a rundown of the types of items you would find using the various plastics as well as a quick-look guide to the types of plastics to stay away from because of toxicity. I hope you find this chart useful!
Topics: Home and Garden | No Comments »
UT Austin Testing New Bus
By Hope | June 11, 2008
Just the other day I was doing my bi-weekly combined trip to the mail center/bank/grocery store when I stopped at a light. Opposite me, I saw a slightly smaller-than-usual bus and took note of the wording along the bottom below the windshield: “Hydrogen Fuel Cell”. Hmm. The electronic notice board above the windshield stated that the bus was not in service but on a test run.
Curiosity took over and after the bus (conveniently) turned toward the same direction I was headed, I could read the side. It turned out to be a UT Austin bus that had emblazoned on the side (in UT burnt orange, natch): “Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plug-In Hybrid”.
I was thrilled to see this tooling around in North Austin on its test run. I look forward to seeing more of these buses when the school year starts again. What a great way to reduce the CO2 emissions on a daily basis and get more cars off the road as well.
Way to go, UT!
Topics: Future Tech, Reduce | No Comments »
Composting Basics
By Hope | June 11, 2008
I’ve been asked for this post so many times, so here it is. How to start a compost pile.
It really couldn’t be easier and will benefit your plant beds greatly. To set up a compost pile in my own yard, I simple picked up a three foot x three foot piece of “construction cloth”, which is just wire mesh. Chicken wire will work fine also. It comes in a roll and can be found in the garden section of your local home and garden store.
I just straightened out the roll and attached it with wire at each end to the corner of my yard’s fence, nicely hidden behind some bushes and at the back of the yard away from the general living space. It’s useful, but hey, it can smell a bit if it’s too close to the house.
General consensus says that a compost pile should be three feet square, but mine is a triangle and works fine. Plus, I put it together with less that $10 worth of supplies because two of the three sides are already existing fence.
As for what to put in your compost pile, it couldn’t be easier. Remember to stay away from fats; so no meat scraps or animal products–nothing that has vegetable oils on it either. Compost is best when it’s a mixture of green and brown. So, carrot tops and peels, onion skins, coffee grounds and used teabags are wonderfully rich foundations for a good compost. Any plant scraps can go into your compost pile, even grass clippings (although I leave mine on the grass to add nutrients there). I strongly recommend you DO NOT put any invasive weeds into your pile. Otherwise, you’ll end up spreading those weed seeds all over your yard. Yuck.
To maintain your pile, just add scraps as you get them. Generally, I keep a covered container on the kitchen counter and add to it throughout the day. Then, when it gets full, I take it to the pile, toss it in and dump the dogs water bowl over it. Hey, they need fresh water every day anyway, and I can use it to rinse out the container while adding a bit of moisture to the pile. Then I use an old pitchfork (one with bent tines that I just leave out there next to the pile) to cover the scraps with the older stuff in the pile. This keeps the critters from scavenging my compost materials.
Turn the pile, at a minimum, once a month and water it about once a week. Let the heat from the sun do the rest. Don’t be surprised if you see your compost pile steaming on really hot days. It’s supposed to do that; it’s breaking down the organic materials. In 6 months or so you’ll have a rich compost ready to use throughout your garden.
Topics: Home and Garden, Recycle, Reduce, Reuse | No Comments »
Making Gasoline from Algae?
By myerman | May 30, 2008
Wired Blog reports this morning that a San Diego startup called Sapphire Energy is refining fuel from algae, and that it could start producing up to 10,000 barrels a day within 5 years.
Admittedly, that’s not even a fraction of the 20 million or so barrels a day we need to run the US economy, but it’s a start, and hat’s off to Sapphire for the smart thinking. We need more of this kind of thinking if we’re going to lick the energy problem (and stop the massive transfer of wealth to a bunch of people who want to see us destroyed, oh by the way).
Topics: Future Tech | No Comments »
Do Good-Feel Good Sheets and Towels
By Hope | May 15, 2008
So a few weeks ago I saw a program on HGTV about what homeowners can do to green up their homes. The show offered lots of tips on the basics like energy efficient light bulbs and low-E window and door upgrades. They went in depth on complete renovations for solar panels and kitchen appliances, etc. But they also talked about something I had never heard of–sheets made from bamboo. Bamboo? Yeah, bamboo.
So the next time my combined-trip shopping needs took me to the local Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I asked about them and also organic towels (which I was in the market for anyway, hence the need for the trip). Sure enough, they had them both. The organic cotton bath towels, hand towels, and wash clothes are lovely, soft, and what you would expect out of a towel. The environmental benefit, of course, is that no chemicals were used in growing the cotton to make the towels.
The bamboo sheets are a wonder! Made from 100% bamboo fiber, you have to feel them to believe them. They have the feel of fine silk and are softer to sleep on than 350 thread count cotton sheets. What an incredible product that comes from a renewable, environmentally friendly source.
One last thing: Remember to clean out your dryer’s lint trap before you dry a load of these sheets/towels. Don’t forget, the 100% natural fiber lint can be composted!
Topics: Home and Garden | No Comments »
City of Austin’s Single Stream Recycling to Begin October 2008
By Hope | April 30, 2008
The City of Austin has recently firmed up the dates of its Single Stream Recycling program. What had been intended to begin “sometime in the fall of 2008″ is now set for October.
The city will provide 90-gallon carts (similar to the large trash carts but with blue lids) to all its residential customers. Beginning in October 2008, the new single stream system will allow customers to put all their recycling into one container for pick up every other week based on a new schedule.
The much-expanded single stream system, when it begins, will include currently unavailable recycling for things like box board (cereal boxes are a good example) and all plastics from numbers one through seven (currently only one and two are acceptable for recycling in Austin). So, beginning in October, those pesky number five yogurt containers and those little number 7 individual applesauce serving containers will all be recyclable. Yea!
A large benefit of the every other week pick up schedule is the reduced CO2 emissions and of course lower fuel usage and wear and tear on vehicles.
This is one of the first steps in the city’s new goal of Zero Waste by 2030 plan. I’ll offer more details on that when the city can explain it better.
Topics: Home and Garden, Recycle | No Comments »
iMac in the Box
By Hope | April 30, 2008
Well, I recently got an iMac. Some of my proselytizing friends have been begging me to get away from the PC. That, only so they could stop hearing me whine about all the horribly oversized, overpriced software that bogs down a PC; the endless mandatory Microsoft update that usually mess up more programs that they fix (and do it at night so that you can’t stop it).
But one of the best parts of the iMac outside of the obvious (almost never crashes, user friendly, more power than a Porsche et al.) is that the all-in-one body is made from recycled aluminum and the screen is made from recycled glass!
Of course, I would expect nothing less. The packaging on all Apple products I’ve encountered so far (whether iPod, MacBook Pro, or an iPhone) are all as minimalist as possible. The products are well protected, understand; simply not overprotected. And you get basic ‘get you up and running’ type documentation without reams and volumes of useless stuff you’ll never read. It’s just done smart.
One last thing: the day I bought it, Apple emailed me a code to use if I had a computer to send in for recycling. I didn’t this time, but it is nice to know there is a computer company out there thinking about how to help the planet and their customers when it’s needed.
Topics: Recycle | No Comments »