From the monthly archives:

August 2008

Free Water

by veg-head on August 31, 2008 · 0 comments

in WATER


Tara gives lessons on free water Bill Gates Foundation has just budgeted $4m to investigate the potential of rainwater harvesting in the third world. But what about the first world?

America is rapidly catching on to water caching, as rainwater harvesting is also known.

In the Bay Area, Tara Hui, a rainwater campaigner, climbed under her deck, nudged past a cluster of 55-gallon barrels and a roosting chicken, and pointed to a shiny metal gutter spout.

“See that?” she said. “That’s where the rainwater comes in from the roof.”

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Make your home off-grid ready

August 31, 2008
Make your home off-grid ready

Warmth and comfort not optional Start by calculating how much energy your home is consuming and what you can save by changing your habits and retrofitting your home. Online aids, like the Home Energy Saver in the US (hes.lbl.gov) or the Energy Star web site or Canada's Natural Resources home heating calculator (www.canren.gc.ca) are invaluable.

The next step is to calculate the return on investment of generating your own energy, beginning with the simplest technologies and those that give the biggest immediate bang for the buck.

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John McCain’s hood ornament

August 30, 2008
John McCain’s hood ornament

Palin: snakelike advocate of Big Oil Sarah Palin, is a true enemy of the ecological movement. The current Governor of Alaska is also a sharp and dangerous adversary.

Below is an interview she gave on Fox TV in May this year, advocating oil and gas drilling in Alaska, and paying a little lip service to renewable energy on the side.

Trish Rolfe, who runs the Sierra Club's Alaska office, thinks Governor Palin has been a disaster for Alaska's environment. "The idea that she stands up to the oil companies is a joke," she says.

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Good Links

August 30, 2008
Good LinksI am always searching the 'net looking for good, cheap, inexpensive, easy ways to DIY, these sites are right up my alley, I thought you might like them too. The first one is how to make a hay box cooker with more modern (and sanitary) materials:http://www.selfsufficientish.com/hayboxcooker.htmThe second one is how to make a minimum solar box cooker:http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Minimum_Solar_Box_CookerJust don't try to combine the two, it's not safe to use the materials used in that hay box cooker in a solar oven, the temps get way too hot and the materials used in the hay box cooker would off gas potentially toxic gasses, would probably make your food taste bad ...

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Obama embraces eco-themes

August 29, 2008
Obama embraces eco-themes

Obama: unstoppable Following are energy and tax proposals listed by Sen. Barack Obama in a speech accepting the Democratic Party nomination for president on Thursday, according to excerpts of the speech released in advance.

Energy policy

- Investing $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy, wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels. Obama says that will lead to new industries and 5 million new well-paying jobs.

- Ending U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East in 10 years.

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Renewable Energy 101

August 29, 2008
Renewable Energy 101

Mojave solar rig - world's biggest Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, geothermal heat and wood - which are all renewable (naturally replenished). Renewable energy technologies include solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity, micro hydro, biomass and biofuels.

In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, 13% from traditional biomass,

»Keep reading 'Renewable Energy 101'

Updates

August 28, 2008
UpdatesIt's been very nice since my Dad has been here, we have been falling into a comfortable routine of eating, resting, enjoying nature and the views. My Dad brought his little dog, her name is Baby Girl, she is half pomeranian and half chihuahua, unfortunately she started going into heat the day she got here, so things have been a bit of a mess... fortunately she is good at staying put on a towel, so it's not too bad. We do have to watch her like a hawk when she goes out, there are other dogs that run wild around here, I'm sure they know about her by now.We had a good cookout, Dad brought steaks, big baking ...

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Silas Baxter-Neal interview

August 27, 2008
Silas Baxter-Neal interview

Silas - skating high One of the world's top skateboarders comes from an off-grid background in Eugene, Oregon. He talked frankly about his life off-grid, and drugs and skating to Thrasher magazine's Jake Phelps:

Of his time in Oregon he says:

I stuck around until I was 18 or 19 before I moved out. Acid is cheaper and easier to get than beer, or it used to be. I don't know if it is anymore, but it was for a while, when The Dead shows came through and we had the summer festival country fair. We'd have all these roving bands with vagrant hippies coming through, trying to ...

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Green stars shine at DNC

August 26, 2008
Green stars shine at DNC

Affleck: Green baize evening We've got to admire Val Kilmer, Sean Penn, Ben Affleck, Matt Gonzalez and Spike Lee -- they have all put their names and faces to an event in support of Green Party Prezzy candidate Ralph Nader in Denver today.

It would have been easier for each of them to throw their weight behind Obama and the DNC, but they decided to go with the underdog.

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Ben Affleck hosts one of the hottest tickets in Denver this week -- a poker evening -- so its no question Nader is pulling in the talent.

Daryl Hannah was also on the fringes giving interviews advocating off-grid living.

»Keep reading 'Green stars shine at DNC'

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