It's Easy Being Green

Prime Minister Gordon Brown apparently made waves in the UK on Valentine’s Day. Showing his love for the environment and sustainable living, Brown announced he is planning to develop new towns in the UK that will be completely free of cars. His idea is that these “eco-towns” will dot the English countryside, providing much needed housing while creating as low an environmental impact as possible. Under the plan, the first “eco-town” will allow vehicles to be parked on the outskirts in designated parking lots making the interior of the town pedestrian friendly and open to public transportation. Brown’s “eco-town” will consist of about 10,000 homes.

The announcement didn’t come without concern though. Brits have already started organizing protests and petitions against Brown’s plans for several “eco-towns”. They fear that these new developments will mean a “massive loss of greenbelt land” according to the Mirror.

I think, as long as everyone can come together and hash out reasonable spots for the prototype “eco-town” to be constructed, that it’s a great idea. Would you live in a town that banned cars from running around the interior, making it a pedestrian community? What do you think the drawbacks could be? If you’re interested in the subject of new, sustainable communities, check out my blog entry and video on the Masdar Initiative.

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This week our car decided it wasn’t going to start on a very random basis.  We had been out running errands all morning and decided to stop at Sam’s Club and stock up on our usual grocery staples like milk, eggs and bread.  When we got back out to the car 20 minutes later it acted like the battery was dead.  Perhaps it was karma coming back to bite me after I muttered a profanity at all the people fighting over who was in line at the only two check stands open.  After munching on fresh fruit and potato chips in the parking lot for half an hour, our roadside assistance showed up and jump started our car.  Home we went!

Once we pulled in, I turned off the car to see if it would restart.  As luck would have it, dead again.  I had a co-worker pick me up for the ride into town and I schlepped my battery to the auto parts store.  It tested ok (as it should since it was only a few months old) and they informed me it must be my alternator.  Fantastic!  I knew I was either looking at a very long weekend and close to $300 for one silly part or about $600 to have a mechanic do it for me.  I guess I was in vapor lock mode.  My girlfriend and I decided we would tackle the alternator together making the experience more fun with the two of us at each other’s side.  Four hours later we were steaming hot mad and hadn’t removed a single damn part.

We finally decided we were defeated and that the car was going to have be towed to a mechanic where we would shell out the insane amount of money to have a mechanic do it for us.  I reconnected the battery cables and thought why don’t I just try starting the car.  I did and it started.  We let it run for about 30 minutes while we got ready to head into town, not wanting to shut it off again until we got to the auto parts store.  We pulled into the parking lot and the helpful clerks tested our electrical system.  Their tests showed everything was fine.  The battery was great and the alternator was putting out plenty of juice so they told me to clean up the cables and battery posts.

We did just that and it only cost us $4.00 as opposed to at least $300.  We bought a battery terminal brush, mixed up a quick concoction of 1 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda, grabbed the vaseline and headed to the garage.  As it turns out, making sure your battery has a good electrical connection is super easy and takes just a few minutes.  First, disconnect the negative battery cable from the terminal and set aside.  Next, disconnect the positive cable.  With a paint brush, wipe on some of the baking soda solution.  As it comes in contact with the battery acid buildup it will bubble and sizzle.  This is a natural reaction so don’t get worried.  After you let the backing soda neutralize all that buildup, wipe it off with a clean towel.  Apply the baking soda solution to the wire rings that clamp to the battery posts and wipe clean.  Use the battery terminal brush to help scrape the extra stuff off both the clamps and the posts of your battery.  Once you’ve cleaned all the surfaces, reattach the positive cable and then the negative cable to your battery.  It’s that simple!

I also ready many anecdotes involving pennies.  Supposedly if you place a copper penny near each battery post it will attract the corrosion from the battery acid to the coin as opposed to the posts and cables.  I haven’t tried that but I guess it couldn’t hurt.  What a weekend!  We grew together as a couple once more after getting seriously frustrated with our weekend’s car repair.  I guess we were technically successful though since the car is running again!

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A team of scientists and researchers have developed a new way to harvest energy from the sun. According to an article on the Idaho National Laboratory’s website, the team developed “nanoantennas” that collect the suns rays on a tiny antennae about 1/25th the size of a human hair. The reports says the antennae could be stamped on just about any flexible material and essentially cost just a few cents per yard of material. To make the idea even better, the product can harvest energy long after sunset.

The team says their “nanoantennas” are more efficient at producing solar energy because they are also able to harvest infrared radiation, released from the earth long after the sun has set below the horizon. It’s also a spectrum that solar cells can’t currently turn into energy. They say while conventional solar cells can harvest about 20% of the sun’s rays, the new technology can harvest 80%.

Now the team will set forth on another challenge, figuring out how to take the harvested energy and turn it into something that’s usable. The frequency of the current generated switches back and forth about ten thousand billion times per second. Your common household appliance cycles power frequencies about 60 times per second. But the future is bright for this invention which could one day coat the roof of our home or be embedded in the clothes we wear.

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I caught an interesting program on The Science Channel the other day while I was at work, called Invention Nation. The show profiles some pretty cool inventions and developments in the green movement while the three hosts take a veggie-fueled trip across the country to get an up-close look at each one. While I don’t think the production quality or the hosts do the idea much justice, it’s nice to see various aspects of sustainable living shaping up across America, despite the reefer-infused hippie bus theme the show portrays.  Come on, green is more mainstream than that! This one episode got my attention because they were making stops in the Flagstaff area, visiting a LEED certified home. The house, being built in Bellemont just 10 miles west of Flagstaff, is one of only four platinum-certified homes in the U.S.

So what makes this house so green? The list is a long one and amazes me that they’ve packed so many environmentally responsible features into one home. The show focused on the “brain” of the house, an automated control system that essentially runs the place. A weather station installed outside the home monitors all weather conditions and relays them into a computer. That computer automatically opens and closes windows, adjusting the interior temperature with the outside temperature. The system also keeps the interior humidity at a healthy range. Aside from just the way the home feels, the system also tracks water and power useage, providing the homeowner a full rundown of just how much they’re using in the way of resources. The power monitors also look at the power output of the solar system, generating a little more than 7 kW hours of power and a wind turbine harvesting the almost regular northern Arizona wind, generating 2kW.

The Bellemont home is not connected to any water service. Instead it harvests all of its water from the sky through 40,000 gallons of collection tanks. The home’s designers say that’s enough for 2 years of potable water and irrigation uses. It doesn’t matter whether it’s rain or snowmelt, it all eventually finds its way into a collection tank where it’s stores and purified. The computer monitors just how full the collection tanks are. A newly planted apple orchard at the home is watered thanks to the home’s grey water system.

The eco-friendly house produces zero emissions. It’s zero energy and zero carbon emissions and produces more energy than the home itself uses. The extra electricity is fed onto the local power grid where the home actually earns energy credit for the power it produces. The home is outfitted with all Energy Star appliances and lighting. In fact, the house has such a high Energy Star rating that it exceeds IECC 2007 requirements by over 75%. When it comes to heating and cooling, a solar hot water system feeds an in-floor radiant heat system throughout the house. It’s also designed with thermal massing and passive solar design to reap the rewards of the Arizona sunshine during the cold winter months. Sewage from the home is treated with a UV alternative septic system which designers say is the first to be installed in the state of Arizona.

I think this home is truly remarkable and inspiring for the sustainable living movement. As the idea catches on and more and more homes are built with the ideas being demonstrated in the LEED Pilot Home, I think green construction will become more cost effective and mainstream. It shows people that what seems difficult could be really very easy. It would be easy for many to live green if their home was outfitted that way from get-go!

The house was designed by Architectural and Environmental Associates. Carl Ramsey, the company’s owner, seems truly committed to green and sustainable design.

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Who knew a book investigating what exactly goes into each and every one of our meals would end up a best seller, illustrating the apparently mainstream idea that a lot of what we eat isn’t good for us. I’m talking about Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. His book investigated what goes into each and every one of our meals from a value meal at the local fast food joint to a home-cooked dinner with ingredients purchased from the natural food store.

Now Pollan has written a follow up called In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. This new book delves into scientific explanations of the diets and nutritional values of many traditional societies. Pollan’s goal is to develop a common-sense alternative to eating what he calls “edible food-like substances” that our mass produced for us on a daily basis. His conclusions is that we should continue eating but in moderation of course and add a lot of vegetation to our daily diet.

You might remember Pollan also wrote The Botany of Desire, examining whether plants use humans just as humans use plants.

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I just wanted to take a minute to plug one of my favorite places to visit in Flagstaff, The Arboretum. They have more than 2,500 different species of plants that grow great here in the high altitude of northern Arizona and they have great collections of the native plants that grow here on the Colorado Plateau. I like to make a trip out there once or twice a year and see what all is going on. It’s quiet, peaceful and best of all they have a bunch of different demonstration gardens including a killer greenhouse. I envy the greenhouse because eventually I want one similar to it. Anyway, if you live in the area and are looking for a great volunteer opportunity, you should check out the Arboretum. They’re currently looking for volunteer docents to lead the daily tours of the garden. If you’re interested head over to their website to find out more on volunteering.

If you happen to be in the area and want to learn more about gardening with native plants of the Colorado Plateau, stop on in!

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When we ran to Sam’s Club the other day we perused the wine selection like we always do. We’ll typically pick up a bottle or two to enjoy over the next couple of weeks. One half bottle practically jumped off the shelf at us. The frosted black bottle of German Eiswein Nachtgold looked mysterious and the description on the bottle sounded downright tasty!

“These precious grapes from which we press our Ice-wine are harvested in the early morning hours when it’s still dark and frozen. Our vintners therefore call this noble and sweet wine “Nachtgold” which means “Gold of the Night”.

The wine hails from the Rheinhessen region of Germany where there are about 26,000 hectacres of vineyards.  It’s known as the largest viticulture region in Germany.  This Eiswein is produced when temperatures in the vineyard drop to 19 degrees Fahrenheit or what they consider a “hard freeze”.  In the darkness, the grapes are harvested frozen and immediately crushed because the water inside the grapes is still frozen, leaving the vintner with a golden yellow liquid to ferment.  It maintains a golden-yellow color after maturation and leaves intense aromas of apple, peaches and melons.  It has a rich mouth feel and a smooth sweetness of caramel or honey.  We loved it.  I highly recommend this dessert wine if you run across it sometime.

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