It’s Easy Being Green

I really enjoy living in a place where you can feel connected to nature and the natural environment that surrounds you.  Last night, while coming into the village where we live I got to see the local herd of elk grazing on grass around midnight.  I stopped the car probably about 10 feet away from them.  They looked at me and continued munching their evening meal.  I just watched for a few minutes before coming up the hill to the house.  It was a very relaxing and peaceful sight to watch.

Today, I was out in the the front yard talking to one of our neighbors when all of a sudden, I felt a piercing pain in my right hand.  I immediately looked down to see a wasp planting his rear end  into the palm of my hand.  Sure, it stung and still does nearly an hour later.  But, I just brushed the little guy off and let him go about his day and thought how lucky I was it picked me!  Sometimes it’s just the simple little things that put a smile on my face.

The idea of turning our waste into energy we all can use has been around for awhile.  Now a professor at the University of California - Davis, has developed a new technique to get more energy out of that garbage.  Ruihong Zhang has been working on her Biogas Energy Project for the past eight years.  Now the university has taken the steps to acquire the license on the product and a power company has even signed on to adapt the unit for commercial use.

The piece of technology Zhang has been toiling away on is called an “anaerobic phased solids digester”.   This type of machine is already in use at wastewater treatment plants and livestock farms around the nation, breaking down the sewage into usable gas.  Zhang has apparently improved the technology to allow the use of more wastes like food scraps, yard clippings and animal manure.  It also apparently cuts the processing time in half and produces hydrogen and methane.  Other systems apparently only produce methane.  That would be a true energy revolution, just like bio-diesel.  Can you imagine the food scraps we don’t eat and animal manure being turned into a fuel for our car?  That would be truly amazing.

UC Davis estimates that about 5 million tons of food scraps go into California landfills every year.  If one ton can produce enough energy for the average day at 10 homes, that year’s worth of food could power 50 million houses for one day or 130,000 houses for the entire year.

If you’d like to read more about Zhang’s system, head over to the website of UC Davis.

The NOAA is predicting a warmer and drier winter than normal this year. That might sound like music to many people’s ears considering the high cost of heating oil and natural gas. But, with those prices on the rise too, it will quickly outweigh the benefit of using your heater less. Here in Arizona the Corporation Commission, which is in charge of governing the state utilities, says they’re actively trying to lower the cost we pay for natural gas. However, they add it’s unsafe to consider alternative heat sources like wood stoves and wood pellet stoves. They say it’s a fire risk and I just can’t imagine why a state commission charged with regulating the local utilities would make a statement like that. Maybe it’s because their pockets are lined with the dollars from the state utilities!

Regardless of whether there’s any real under the table deal making going on between the Arizona Corporation Commission and the utilities, the group is obviously going to protect the utility companies. It’s not a shocker that they would try to steer you away from cheaper, alternative methods to heat your home. I can tell you first hand that our wood stove does a damn fine job of warming up our humble home at night. In fact, our thermostat regularly reads a balmy 72 degrees while we have a fire going.

I know many people who plunk down about $160 for a cord of juniper or oak firewood as their primary heat source. In Northern Arizona, that cord will usually get them through the winter just fine. Imagine, $160 to heat your home for the winter months compared to probably around $50 to $150 a month to heat your home with natural gas. Now which seems more economical? Maybe that price tag is too much for you to shell out at once. In the Coconino National Forest, you can get your own wood cutting permits starting at $20. The permit is good forest-wide so you can harvest dead and downed wood and you’re doing your part to help cleanup the forest and prevent devastating fires. Or, if you’re willing to drive a bit out of your way you can get a free wood permit. There are a few areas on the forest that are overflowing with dead trees, ready to be cut. Secure the permit and you’re on your way to a free firewood extravaganza and you can feel good about the work you’re doing, helping to protect the forest from a massive wildfire.

Many people out there bock at the amount of work involved with cutting your own firewood and splitting it. I look at it of more of a way to connect with the past and learn techniques that will help me get through this world if anything terrible ever happens. What are you going to do when we have an oil shortage and you can’t run that $2,000 gas powered wood splitter? If you’re like me, you learn how to do it by hand with tools that don’t require gas or electricity to run…just good ‘ol fashioned manpower! I found that splitting wood by hand is a great cardio workout and it really builds your arms and chest too. Online, I’ve found several great hand tools that are similar to one I borrowed from a friend and used to split my wood.

There’s the Super Firewood Splitter , the Easy Motion Splitter, and the Wicko Super Spear Splitter. All of these will save your back from the swing of a maul or sledge and potentially offer you more splitting force. It requires nothing more than some calories to burn and some yearly lubing to keep it splitting smoothly!

If you don’t know much about using wood for your heat, head over to one of my favorite resources, Mother Earth News. It’s a great magazine that teaches you the ins and outs of sustainable living and homesteading. Their online article archive is a great tool for anything on the subject of sustainable living. They also have a great article in the archive called A Connoisseurs Guide to Fuelwood. It will tell you just about everything you need to know!

Let me know how you heat your home and any tips on alternative heat sources you might have.  Do you have a special wood splitter or tool that you’ve found works really well?  Let me know!

So, maybe you’re considering a trip to escape everything during the holidays.  Or, maybe you’re thinking about treating yourself to some time alone after the holidays!  Whatever it may be, there are now more ways than ever to travel in a “green” way.

The first and most obvious way to travel green is by putting some careful thought and consideration into your trip.  This can be as simple as running your daily errands and considering a gas-saving route to complete them.  If you’re going to be hitting the road, heading to Grandma’s house, you can make sure that your tires are inflated to proper pressure, pack a little lighter and make sure to use that cruise control set around 65 or 70mph to get the most out of your gas mileage.  You could also rent a hybrid car for your trip.  Most of the big rental car companies now offer hybrids and will even teach you how to use them if you’re feeling intimidated about the technology on-board.  There’s now one whole rental car company that rents nothing but environmentally friendly cars in California and Phoenix, AZ.

But with the current green movement underway, there’s now all sorts of environmentally friendly ways to travel about.  You could plan to visit green cities.  One city that’s consistently ranked tops for it’s green way of life is Portland, Oregon.  The city is surrounded by nature, has a great mass transportation system, plenty of parks and open space and a host of environmentally responsible hotels and restaurants.  What could be better?  If Portland, Oregon isn’t in your trip planning future you could look for green hotels at any destination.   There’s now a Green Hotels Association, where innkeepers can pledge to make a difference with their property. You can check out a listing of their members by clicking this link to the Green Hotels website.  If you can’t find a listing for a green hotel in the area you’re headed there’s some steps you can personally take at any hotel.  The number one suggestion: don’t have your room serviced every day.  The wastefulness of washing every room’s sheets and towels once a day when the same people are staying in the room is ridiculous.  You don’t wash your stuff at home that much, why let the hotel do it!  Also, take your own bottles of soaps and shampoos so you don’t have to use the ones at the hotel.  If you do use them, take the leftover with you and get the most out of it before throwing away the packaging.

If you’d like to literally lend a helping hand to the environment and have an unforgettable trip, there’s several groups offering ecological experiences.  One based in Flagstaff, Arizona takes on projects for places like the National Park Service.  You volunteer your time to the task at hand and pay a fee that covers food and expenses, usually for a week at a time.  You can log onto the Wilderness Volunteer website to get an idea on what kinds of trips they have to offer.

Last but not least, when you head out of the house for that trip, shut it down!  Lights are essential to make your house look lived in while you’re away.  But, put those lights on timers so you’re not wasting electricity 24/7.  If you haven’t already, change the bulbs to compact fluorescents.  That will also help you save the cost of energy.   You should also unplug electronics that always suck power, no matter what.  These are your VCR’s, DVD players, televisions and most of all…your computer.  If you’re not going to be home to read your email for a week, turn it off!  There’s so many fun, new ways to tread a little lighter when we head out to travel.

A lot of people have funny thoughts about home brewed beer. One of the many visions people get is the quintessential picture of someone brewing beer in their home bathtub. It is a funny thought but not one that represents home brewing at all!

I’ve had the hobby of brewing for about 7 years now. A good friend of mine down in the Valley of the Sun decided to try it out one day and were quite impressed with our results. We both enjoyed fine liquors, beers, wines and cigars. Beer happened to be one of those products we could make ourselves! We used to brew pretty regularly, putting together a batch about every other month. It’s definitely motivation to have a “brew buddy”. When I moved away, I kind of lost the spirit and enjoyment of the process without my “brew buddy” and really only brewed once or twice a year. It didn’t help that I ran across some batches of brew I didn’t particularly enjoy. What do you do with two cases of beer you don’t like? Give it away…and hope the bottles find their way back to you!

Lately, I’ve been trying to get back into my homebrew hobby. So, over the weekend I got together with a buddy of mine from work who also brews and we put together two separate batches. Last fall, I brewed a Pumpkin Ale. It was like drinking a slice of pumpkin pie only in a beer! A couple of bottles were fun to try but not anything you would drink on a regular basis. This year, I opted for something a little more mainstream…a Honey Brown Ale. Most people should be able to enjoy more than a couple of bottles of that! Fermentation began within about 8 hours of pitching the yeast. That’s always a good sign when your fermentation kicks off that quickly. This morning, when I woke up, fermentation was literally on a roll. The wort (liquid that is fermented into beer) towards the bottom of the jug looks like it’s boiling. Streams of tiny bubbles rush toward the surface of the carboy (jug) and then burble through the airlock to be expelled. No matter how many times I see it, I’m always fascinated.

Two weeks from now I’ll rack the brew into another carboy for secondary fermentation. On December 16th, my homebrewed Honey Brown Ale will be ready for bottling. Homebrewing is a fun and rewarding hobby. While it’s really no cheaper than buying good store bought beer it is a good lesson in self-sufficiency. With just a few simple ingredients available at your local homebrew shop, you can whip up some suds you really enjoy and know that it didn’t take a truck, traveling thousands of miles and using hundreds of gallons of fuel to get to you.

I’m absolutely blown away by the amount of paper Victoria’s Secret wastes on their catalogs.  I think we must receive a new catalog at least once every week in our mailbox and it’s because we order from them, not because we want the catalog.  What’s even more frustrating is that there’s no indication on the catalog that they use any form of recycled paper for the printing.  Thinking about the amount of paper they use and the amount of gasoline it must take to transport their catalogs to the masses around this country makes my head spin!  Maybe I’ll just tell them not to ship the darn thing to us anymore.  In the meantime, I’ll continue doing my part by throwing them into the recycling bin.

On the flip side, we just bought new print cartridges for our HP printer.  I’m impressed with the steps HP goes to make recycling printer cartridges an easy process.  I know our toner cartridges at work come with prepaid UPS labels to ship the empty cartridges right back to them for recycling.  Here at home, it’s super easy by going onto their website and requesting free, postage-paid envelopes to be sent to you so you can drop in your cartridges and send them back too.  I’ve also noticed most of the packaging for their products is recyclable.  They use cardboard boxes with none of those annoying, non-recyclable plastic bubbles.  Plus, the plastic they use to hold the cartridges securely in the box is a #1…making them totally recyclable in my area.

It’s funny how once you start recycling at home, you really begin to pay attention to the packaging of everyday products.  I’ve even formed some purchasing decisions around the packaging that the item comes in.  But, those purchasing decisions have led to our recycling bin overflowing every couple of days while we really only generate about one bag of trash per week.  That makes me feel great!

We’re all being confronted with a steadily rising price at the local gas pumps. I can’t believe that already, we’re facing $3.10 for a gallon of unleaded gas in Northern Arizona. I worry about how much higher prices are going to climb and how much this commodity runs my life and maybe even ruins it.

It seems like we will never see prices dip to the levels they were at four or five years ago. I can fondly remember filling up my gas tank in Phoenix with prices hovering around $1.50 a gallon. I can remember when the price climbed to $1.75, people were outraged. But here we are nearly double that amount in a five year period and everyone seems as calm as a Hindu cow. How does that happen? How do we just seemingly ignore the fact that the situation with oil is getting way out of control both with prices and with future supplies? It frustrates my girlfriend and I a lot, so we’re trying to do what we can to limit our demand on oil.

We live about 12 miles away from the city in a small, relatively rural bedroom community. We both commute into town to work but we’re really trying to plan our trips smartly. Before we head to town, we think about where we have to go and what we have to do. Then, we plan our route making one big circuit. Not only does it save you the frustration of having to drive back and forth from one place to the next. It also saves you gas! While 12 miles into town and back hardly seems like a long trip, we’ve programmed ourselves to believe it is. That 24 mile round trip will burn one gallon of gas in our Nissan Maxima. That number makes me cringe, thinking about a 1 gallon container of gas being thrown out the window. When we come up with something we’d like to do in town, we try to think of other things we can accomplish if we’re going to burn the gas to get there. It’s a great, easy technique that we’ve found works really good to make a dent in how much gas we consume.

We’ve also started talking about trying to buy a hybrid car. Our 1999 Nissan Maxima gets about 26 miles per gallon city driving and 31 on the highway. That’s really not bad compared to some other “energy hogs” driving on our roads today. Considering a Toyota Prius hybrid can get 44 miles per gallon, we’ve got a long way to go! We can’t afford to buy a home in our area because prices are way out of line for first time home buyers. So, we’re thinking about investing our money in vehicle that will save us from the pain at the gas pump.

I’ve been doing some research on hybrid cars and I’m just really not impressed with the way auto manufacturers are finding ways to save us money and energy. Chevy has announced a new hybrid Malibu but it’s only rated at 24mpg (miles per gallon) in the city and 32 on the highway. That’s just a 2mpg increase over the normal engine. That hardly seems worth it! Ford’s hybrid Escape SUV get’s about 34mpg in the city, 30 on the highway. That’s pretty decent but the price seems too high starting at $25,075. Buying American would be nice and I’d feel better about supporting some of the last remaining manufacturing that goes on in our country or at least supposedly does. But it seems like once again, the foreign automakers are leading the pack on hybrids. Hopefully American automakers will get their act together or just like our oil reserves, they’ll dry up.

Here’s some cool resources I found on the web while doing my research. The Fed’s fuel economy website gives you details on the current tax credits associated with buying a hybrid car:
Federal Fuel Economy Website

To find rebate and incentive programs offered by your state you can head to the U.S. Department of Energy website:
Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center

And, for those of you that would like to see some side by side comparisons of hybrids, head to the website by the Union of Concerned Scientists:
Hybrid Center

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