It’s Easy Being Green

With gas prices still on the rise and holding at record levels, there seems to be a lot of discussion revolving around shortening the work week to only four days.  Some schools in Arizona are considering the move because not running busses one day out of the week would save a tremendous amount on fuel costs.  It would also help out family budgets since they would be driving to school one less day every week.  But can parents handle the extra day of the kids being home to save some money on gas?  Is it worth one less day of education every week?  Those are interesting questions that will only be answered if someone actually passes this measure and it goes into effect.

In addition to schools, some employers are kicking around the idea of going to 4 day work weeks as well.  You’re still going to work 40 hours in those 4 days.  Or you could telecommute one day out of the week.  That move would supposedly save a lot of fuel consumption too.  But, if you had one extra day off work, do you think you would end up driving the same amount you would normally going to and from work that day?  Has your employer considered an idea like this or have you presented it to them?  Let us know!

The University of Arizona has unveiled their new, completely solar powered car for an upcoming competition.  Apparently it is completely street-legal.  Check out the link below:

UofA Solar Powered Car

Last week, Arizona’s newest renewable energy project went online and started generating enough electricity to supply about 9,000 homes.  Renegy’s Biomass Power Plant is located near Snowflake, AZ.  The plant takes forest waste generated from thinning projects, chips it up, dries it and then burns it in a boiler more than 10 stories tall.  Renegy claims that the process is 98% cleaner burning then if forest crews just burned the slash piles like they normally do.  Plus, we’re getting electrcity out of it.  Some of the first fuel that came to the plant is actually being cleaned out of the devastating Rodeo-Chediski burn area in Arizona’s eastern White Mountain region.  The plant has about a 2 year supply of wood chips already spread across 120 acres of land and expects there will be plenty more fuel coming from forest waste over the years.

The plant actually sits next to the old Abitibi pulp paper mill.  The plant takes all of the recycled paper from the Phoenix area and turns it into new paper.  Some of the recycled paper pulp can’t be reused again so that is normally sorted out and dumped into a landfill in the area.  But now, that waste paper that can’t be used again is dried into chips and burned along with the wood chips.  It creates another steady fuel supply that would normally just go to waste.  Both APS and SRP are purchasing power from the Snowflake Biomass Power Plant which I think is a great demonstration of renewable energy ideas we need to pursue full speed right now.

To read more about Renegy or their new plant in Snowflake, AZ head to their website.

Saturday was Arbor Day in case you missed it.  It is always seems like Arbor Day gets a bit overshadowed by Earth Day earlier in the month so I was even surprised when it popped up on my calendar just a day or two before the weekend.  In celebration of Arbor Day, The Arboretum at Flagstaff opened their doors for free on Saturday.  We trucked out there to see what was springing to life on the garden grounds.  It’s still been very cold at night but a lot of their penstemon plants are sprouting up along with various other native perennials right now.  Obviously nothing is in bloom but it was kind of fun to see the garden in that stage of awakening from spring.  Whenever I go out there I sit in awe of the amount of land they have and imagine what we could do if our garden could stretch that big.  Maybe one of these days, wherever we land, I will start an arboretum of my own to pass on to future generations just like Frances McAllister did here in Flagstaff.

On Sunday, our itch for green-thumb domination continued.  We headed to Home Depot and a local plant nursery to pick up lots of flowers, vegetables and seeds.  Some natives and cool weather perennials are okay to go outside in our cold nighttime temps.  But everything else will move in and out of the house for another month until the threat of a late frost has disappeared.  We expanded our herb collection to include chocolate mint, pineapple mint, apple mint, lemon balm and lavender.  All of them smell amazing when you prick a leaf.  We purchased a couple 1 gallon sized tomato plants to shuffle in and out while all of my tomato seedlings catch up to full-size in the window sill.  We picked up some bare root plants too like a concord grape, another hop rhizome for my home-brewing use, elephant garlic and a horseradish rhizome.

We bought some more seeds to plant too.  I have a large box of seeds, some of which are pretty old.  As I’ve been planting them in my starter trays, I’m keeping track of which ones don’t sprout or have a low germination rate.  Then I just toss them into the composter because they’re not going to grow.  So I picked up some pumpkin, sweet corn, rosemary, cilantro, bush bean and cantaloupe seeds.  It’s challenging in the high-mountains of Arizona because our growing season is so short.  It’s only 103 days long!  So, you have to pick varieties of veggies that are often smaller and mature more quickly.

We’re very ready for the gardening season to kick into full swing but we’re finding plenty to do while waiting.  How is your garden growing?  Let us know about what activity you have going with your green thumbs right now!

I’ve often referred to Phoenix as a cultural vacuum. I was born and raised in that city and every time I go back I sometimes shudder. Now I’m not so worried about the lack of culture in Phoenix but the lack of compassion and care for our environment. Everything in Phoenix is all about waste. The soccer moms driving Hummers and SUV’s speeding down the highway burning oil like it’s going out of style. Lush green yards and sprawling golf courses in a desert that only gets a few inches of rain every year. It’s all waste and it’s hard to look at when you spend so much time trying to green up your own life more than one hundred miles away.

A couple weeks ago we stopped at the Desert Ridge Marketplace in the north Phoenix/Scottsdale area and were shocked about the waste that was put on display for everyone there. In the middle of the food court was a roaring gas fireplace. The thing must have been about five or six feet wide and probably 15 feet long. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the upper 80’s, maybe even close to 90. There was absolutely no need for a fire to be roaring that afternoon, burning natural gas as if it was coming from a limitless supply! The scary thing was, there were people from Scottsdale just parking themselves in front of the fireplace complaining about how cold it was. Give me a break! Go stand in the sun for a moment, it’s almost 90 degrees!

As if that wasn’t bad enough, just ten feet away people were dining on the patio of a restaurant that had an entire bank of a misting system running non-stop. I’m not sure about anyone else but 80 to 90 degrees, in the dry desert of Phoenix, is actually a very comfortable temperature. It’s not too hot, not too cold. People just don’t blink an eye in Phoenix at those types of situations. Places like Phoenix are going to be the first cities that run out of water and are going to be looking to everyone else for help and a bailout. We have to live smarter than that regardless of whether or not you have thousands of dollars to drop in a swanky shopping mall and silicone implants in your chest that are making you cold.

Just to prove how nonchalant the Phoenix metro populous can be, check out the latest cover of the Phoenix New Times. A giant green f-you is emblazoned across the cover with the title “Green Fatigue: Is anyone else tired of eco-chic?” While the article might discuss ways to live a greener life, who would even bother picking it up with a message like that? There’s another hundred thousand pounds of paper going to waste!

Have you seen wastefulness in your city or some place you were visiting? Tell us about it and share your thoughts on it!

It’s that time of year again where high school students begin to fret over who they’re going to prom with and what they’re going to wear. I remember how stressful that one event was or at least how stressful we as high schoolers perceived it. My how things change! Prom can be a wasteful event, especially when it comes to the $100+ girls will spend on special shoes and a formal dress that might not ever be worn again. The guys have it easy when it comes to renting their tux. It’s eco-friendly since that penguin suit is worn again and again for multiple occasions. But, when it comes to the one-time worn prom outfit that looks hot on the girl, it’s not so hot for our environment.

What can you do you ask? It’s easy! After your big night, donate your outfit. I know it might seem harsh but just think of the amount of girls who might not be able to afford all that glam to go to her prom next year. Across the country there are dozens of organizations that take donations of dresses, shoes and unused makeup and provide them totally free for other girls. The Fairy Godmothers of the Flagstaff Elk’s Ladies is one such group that collects hundreds of dresses each year and racks them up for a big weekend event. Girls who pick a dress out will even return it after their prom is over, giving that special dress another chance to shine again. The Glass Slipper Project also offers a list of organizations that do similar things in other states. You can also Google your state and “prom dress donations” to find other community groups on the same mission.

It’s a fun, easy way to be green and help another girl enjoy the experience of going to prom.

You can join millions of people around the globe Saturday, March 29th by participating in an event showing awareness and support for our planet. Started by the World Wildlife Fund last year, the event is a simple one to join. Beginning at 8pm your time, wherever in the world you may live, turn off all your lights for an hour. If you’re at home turn out all the lights in your house or if you’re in an office…work in the dark for an hour too!

The City of Phoenix was chosen as a participating city and will show their support by shutting off all the lights in their city run buildings. U.S. Airways Center (home of the Phoenix Suns) and Chase Field (home of the Arizona Diamondbacks) will also go dark during the event tonight. So, join in with millions of your fellow humans around the globe showing your awareness about climate change tomorrow night….at 8:00pm.