It's Easy Being Green

A $31 Million package of incentives and tax credits for alternative and green energy sources has passed the U.S. Senate’s Finance Committee.  The package is expected to be ready for President Obama to sign by mid-February.

The packages would give homeowners tax credits for investing in alternative energy sources like wind or solar and for making their homes more energy efficient.  Alternative energy companies can also carry their current tax credits for an additional five years.

I think this is fantastic and a good way to encourage people to start making the move to alternative energy and maximum efficiency.  Unfortunately I feel like unless these packages were to be extended for several years, it’s not going to do much right now.  The economy is in such poor shape that who, aside from the wealthy (once again), have the money to invest in solar panels and wind turbines right now?

I don’t think the answer will reveal very many people willing to make the investment in these rocky times even with as much as it will pay off in the long run.  I hope our government realizes that this is a vital move to keep alive for several years and not just one tax season.  Do green tax breaks like this one do enough to encourage you to make the move to alternative energy sources?  Share your thoughts and opinions by posting a comment below!

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As I talked about yesterday, I’m not sure most people heed warnings and prpeare themselves to be without essential services like power and water for extended periods of time.  The devastating ice storm here in Indiana and Kentucky has pushed the idea to the forefront of my mind because I’ve seen firsthand how people have reacted.  It’s always reactionary it seems.  Most people just don’t prepare themselves.

So what should you do in the event of a blackout?  The Red Cross offers up some simple tips that you should remember or jot down in a special disaster book somewhere in your home that you can refer to.

1. They recommend only using flashlights for lighting and not candles because of the fire danger.  Obviously if you take careful precautions, candles can be a good source of light in an emergency so be smart about it.

2.  Turn off electrical equipment you were using when the power went out.

3.  Avoid opening the refrigerator or freezer.  This will help ensure the cold air stays in.  When it comes to packing the items in your freezer, the more densely it’s packed the more cold it will have to keep itself frozen for awhile.

4.  If you have a generator don’t run it inside your home.  Three people died in Louisville last week from carbon monoxide poisoning because they kept the genrator running inside.  Also, unless you have a full-sized backup generator hooked up by an electrician, make sure you don’t wire your generator into your home wiring.  It can send a charge down the line away from your house and actually jolt an electrical worker when they touch the lines.

What about steps you can take before the blackout hits?

5.  Always make sure to have flashlights and fresh batteries for those flashlights on hand.

6.  Buy a battery powered or even better hand crank powered radio to listen for important information.

7.  Keep at least a gallon of drinking water on hand per person.  Even more will help your family last longer if the outage is prolonged and water cannot be pumped in your area.

8.  Have a small supply of food

Have you ever gone through an extended blackout for a day or more?  Share your experience with us and tell us challenges you faced without power and how you got through them.

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I’m glad to say we’re safe and sound following the major ice storm that just ripped through the Midwest this past week.  It’s been a stressful time and that’s why I haven’t popped much up onto the blog in a few days.

We were some of the lucky few that have had power all the way through this event.  The night of the storm, our power went out for a few minutes while transformers and power lines blew all around us.  We laid awake in bed thinking that was the last we’d see of the power for a few days but luckily it came back on a short time later.  People living just around the corner though are a different story and down in Madisonville, KY it looks like a warzone.

This event has proven once again that people need to take steps to prepare themselves for the worst.  It seems like as much as this message is pounded into people’s brains, a majority of them choose to ignore it or believe an event like this will never happen to them.  The lines of people trying to cue up after the storm and get gas for generators, cars and heaters is just proof that people choose to deal with the event after it happens and panic in the process.

I got to thinking that we’re not as prepared as we should be.  We have  large cache of food staples stored in the basement and probably have enough to last us a month or maybe more if we rationed it well.  I have several large 5 or 6 gallon jugs for water but don’t have them filled up at the moment.  While I don’t let my pet’s food supply completely dwindle down before buying more, I probably couldn’t provide for them for an extended period of time if we were stuck somewhere.

I got to thinking about generators too because we don’t have a generator.  But then I remembered about our motorhome.  It has a propane stove, oven and fridge and it has a gas powered generator.  That made me feel better since we basically have a rolling disaster kit should another problem strike.

I know I want to take even more steps to make sure I can provide for myself and my family should luxuries like electricity disappear for a few days or even weeks.  What steps have you taken for yourself and your family?  Please share with us by posting a comment below.

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Engineers at Toyota are apparently working to build a completely solar powered car.  It will be a few years before the solar powered vehicle will be ready for sale but it’s a move the auto manufacturer hopes will help turn it’s business aound.  Toyota, just like most other auto manufacturers, have been hit hard by a slumping globabl economy and reduced demand for their products.

Sources say the car will be equipped with solar panels on the roof and will also be able to be recharged by conventional solar panels you might have on your house or business.  Toyota also hopes to eventually build and market a car that can be solely powered and recharged by it’s own installed solar panels.  The move has surprised many since Toyota is reporting its first sales loss in 70 years of business.  But the auto giant says it won’t halt it’s research in green technology despite the current bad business environment.

Toyota already has a history with solar power and other green technology.  The company’s plant in Tsutsumi has solar panels spread across it’s roof that would cover 60 tennis courts.  The panels produce enough electricity to supply 500 homes with power.  The company says the panels are reducing 740 tons a year of carbon emissions…the equivalent of 1,500 barrels of oil in reductions.

Toyota will also apparently get some help through one of it’s battery research partners, Panasonic.  Panasonic just recently took over Sanyo Electric Corp., a leader in solar energy.

I hope these researchers are able to get this done sooner rather than later and are able to make the technology affordable to the normal car buyer.  Can you imagine in sunny locales like Arizona and California, these cars would work like a dream…quietly whisking you from one errand to another powered by the cosmic giant above.

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It’s that special time of year where mad shoppers flood retail stores for the best deals and deck the house from top to bottom in holiday cheer.  The envionmental impacts of the holiday season can be astronomical though.  Over the course of the month I will post several tips and ideas on how to reduce your environmental impact and please share your ideas too.  Where it’s a recipe, homemade gift idea or some other way you work to “green” up your Christmas or Hanukkah please share it with me and I’ll post it right here on the blog!

Meanwhile, this weekend we decided to start decking out the house for Christmas.  We put all the fall decorations away and drug out the Christmas decorations and ushered in our seasonal tree.  Most years we do our part to keep our local forests healthy by getting a tree permit and head out into the wilderness to find the perfect one.  Since we’ve moved from Arizona, that tradition is going to have to go by the wayside for awhile so we choose to go with a farm raised Christmas tree.  Some sources say a fake Christmas tree is a much more environmentally friendly way to go but I tend to disagree.

A fresh tree has provided oxygen for our atmosphere and habitat for animals over the several years it has grown.  It’s providing income to a nearby farmer and it’s keeping our landfill from filling up with old fake trees that are simply tossed into the garbage when people are done with them.  A fake tree won’t decompose and break down since it’s made with metal and oil based plastics.  On top of that, there is a lot you can do with your real tree when you’re done with it.  If you need some ideas, just read my blog post from last year on Tree-cycling.

If you happen to live in a climate where you can plant a tree during Winter, you could also consider a living Christmas tree.  These were another popular option in the low deserts of Arizona and just about every home improvement center or hardware store carried them.  After the holiday you take the living tree outside and plant it in your yard or donate it to a park or school for their use.  The only drawback with living trees is that they can usually only survive indoors for a few days because they require a lot of light.

What kind of tree do you like and how do you make sure it’s a sustainable choice for you and your family?

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Here in Evansville, Indiana, recycling seems to be somewhat antiquated.  Compared to the system we had in Flagstaff, Arizona, there are even fewer things the recycling program here will accept.  To make matters worse, they only provide you with one small bin to put all your stuff into.  I quickly made friends with the man who runs our curbside pickup (which by the way, only happens every two weeks and is a huge drawback for big time recyclers like us) because I watched him have to sort out every category of item and place them in specific bins at the curb.  I thought that just seemed a terrible waste of time for him and decided we would sort our own items into separate containers.  Using old plastic storage bins, we now have four containers we place curbside.

My Crude Recycling Setup

Yesterday, I completed a week’s worth of sorting duties on the back porch and was amazed at how much we actually recycle.  Each week, we generally only produce one or two bags of garbage thanks to composting the organics and sorting out the recyclables.  My  neighbors aren’t so diligent though and that’s when I ran across something they should watch.

A Canadian filmmaker has released a new project that is all about our waste: the trash you put in that container to be picked up and hauled away.  Andrew Nisker shot his documentary using the McDonald family.  The family of five were asked to collect every piece of trash they generated over three months and keep it in their garage.  What was generated three months later is said to be an eye-opener.

Garbage: The Revolution Starts at Home runs 76 minutes and explores the waste generated by the family as well as where the materials came from to generate the waste and where they will go in the end.  The film shows how we act with our garbage has a profound impact on our surrounding environment.  To learn more about the film or to order a copy, head over to their website by clicking the link above.  I think it’s worth a look-see and can’t wait to watch the film.

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So I haven’t really announced to my readers yet that I’m getting ready to make a cross-country trek to a new home. I’m leaving Flagstaff, AZ after so many wonderful years and heading to Evansville, Indiana. I got a new a job there, the cost of living is much lower and I will have a long growing season to spur a quite productive garden. At least that’s my hope anyway! The drive is more than 1500 miles and we obviously can’t take perishable food on the road with us. So we’ve been dwindling down our supplies both in the cupboard and in the freezer. That’s led to some very uninteresting meals but also extremely low grocery bills. I knew we hoarded food for a reason!

Within our stash of food, we had several bags of frozen fruit. Two of those bags were a triple berry mix with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. The third was a bag of strawberries. I’ve dipped into them on occasion to make one recipe or another but they were mostly unused. Not wanting to waste all those berries or give them away, we decided to whip up some quick batches of no-pectin jam. Pectin is that stuff you buy in the little box at the grocery store that gels up your fruit mix. I didn’t have any to begin with and really didn’t want to waste the gas driving into town for some so I found pectin-free jam recipes online (my canning book was packed away by my very efficient box packer).

My first batch of triple berry jam worked out great. I found a recipe that basically is nothing but 4 cups of fruit and 4 cups of sugar. Boil it until it gets to 220 degrees and then can it in sterilized jars. Pretty simple! But my next batch of strawberry jam wasn’t working out so good. After an hour of rapid boiling I could not get the temperature to climb above 203 degrees. Getting worried I headed to the world wide web to do some SOS searching on what to do. Luckily, I stumbled across Laura and Barb’s blog called My Sisters Kitchen. Their blog post on making jam without any added pectin informed me of a temperature correction formula if you’re above sea level. At 7500 feet, I definitely needed to correct down on a boiling point for my jam!

I quickly rushed back to my kitchen and began putting my strawberry jam into sterilized jars. Those two saved my day! I could have been waiting for strawberries to boil until they absolutely could boil no more and turned into some strange gooey concoction that would have made for a dish washing disaster! Check out their blog. They seem to have a lot of wonderful recipes and life experiences to share. I’m going to add them to my frequent list!

What have you done to avoid wasting food?  Have you found yourself making changes due to rising food prices?  Share your hints and tips with our other readers.  For some time we’ve been using a whole chicken right down to the bones for several meals.  For more on that, read The Art of Resourcefulness.

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