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.”
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.
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.
I 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:
Just 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 and might make you sick.
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.
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,
It’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 potatoes and a smoker with him, I sliced up some summer squash and roasted them after the steaks & potatoes were done. Wow, it was soooo good! We can’t get good steaks from any of the local stores out here, so this was a real treat. :)
Pekoe is doing so much better, her breath smells sweet, her remaining teeth look good, white and healthy, she is still coughing and sneezing quite a bit, but that is getting better too.
I wanted to let you know about a free long distance service I found on line, I have used it both for local and long distance calls, it works great, it even works with my internet phone, the way it works is you sign up (it’s 100% free), you need to give them your phone number, you go to their site, you enter the phone number you wish to call on their website, your phone will ring a few second later and you will be connected to your call, it has worked great for me. I don’t get anything for promoting this, I am doing this because this works, it’s free and you can call long distance free. https://labs.jaduka.com/dukadial They have other free products & services on their site too, check them out.
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 make money and selling hits for a buck or two.
Q: Coming from a hippie culture, do you feel like you’re more open to people, or are you more reserved?
A little of both. I’m pretty open to most people, but I feel tons of resentment towards the drug-dealing fucking scum hippies. I don’t like being called a hippie because I don’t like being associated with that crowd. I guess I kind of have a reservation towards that, but I’m open towards most people.
Jaya said in an interview one time, “My parents are hippies, but they’re not dirty hippies.” If your parents are free-thinking people, that’s always good.
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They try to live off the land and have property, get off the grid. When they had kids, they were like, “We don’t want to raise our kids with a bunch of rednecks.” That’s the school system up there, and they didn’t want to home school us, so we moved.
Meth’s big up there too.
Yep, meth’s real big. A lot of tweakers. It’s crazy to think that in a place so pristine and natural, some people become tazed by something so fucking violent.
But it’s like that everywhere. You know, you’ve been all throughout Montana, and it’s the most beautiful place, but you also run into the most backwards, fucked-up redneck tweaker dudes ever. It just comes with the territory. Getting away from the mainstream and the cities and getting into the woods, it brings in all sorts of different people. It brings in the hippies who wanna chill, and it brings in the tweakers, too.
What do you think about skaters who wear jewelry?
Well, I wear rings and I have a necklace, but I don’t wear bling. It seems like it’d be hard to skate with, but we’re in a time in skating where you’re not just skateboarding. You’re everything, and so if you’re trying to personify a thug look–if that’s what you’re into–then I guess when you’re off your board …
… You better rock it.
Yeah, exactly. If that’s what you’re into, whatever. It seems silly to me. If you were to have an iced-out necklace, what would it be?
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.
Pflug – pulling the plug The local government in the town of Guelph, Ontario is running a campaign against a group of young people living off the grid.
A dozen or so who have squatted a piece of disused city parkland may soon be homeless.
The group, in their late teens and 20s, had set up gardens, a composting toilet and even a bike repair site, but signs posted by the city say they may be evicted this week.
My Dad and I took Pekoe to the vet this morning, I had to have her there between 8 and 8:30 am. Once we got there, and got her checked in, I carried Pekoe back to a little room full of cages, I placed her in one, kissed her on top of the head, and left, it was hard to do, but I knew it would be for the best. They told me to come back around 4:30 to pick her up.
We drove back home and waited. Around 3:45 we left to go back and pick her up. One of the assistants carried her back to me, Pekoe looked so pitiful, she was droopy eyed, well just droopy all over. But she was glad to be back with me. We paid the bill, that one came to about $107, so all total the bill was around $200, again I want to thank everyone who donated, it came in very handy and is very much appreciated.
On the way back to the truck, I set Pekoe on the ground to see if she would want to potty, she couldn’t even stand up yet, so I set her on a towel in my lap and came on home. It’s been a few hours and she is still droopy looking, but she wagged her tail at me so that is a good sign that she is OK. I know the next few days will be difficult for her, they pulled 6 teeth, an assortment of molars and other teeth, I’ll wait for a few days (or longer) to look in her mouth to see exactly which ones are gone. The lady at the front desk said Pekoe could eat as early as tonight if she wanted to, I expect it will be tomorrow before she will want to eat. Right now Pekoe is curled up on our bed resting.
