green ideas Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Living Off the Grid: Free Yourself

Updates on Previous Posts

Thought it was time to update some of our previous posts. Since we started this journey back in October we have run across some amazing movements, events, products, and people and we wanted to check in on them and see how things have gone.

Make It Right 9 of New Orleans has raised funds to build 81 of their proposed 150 homes. We are still waiting on word whether we can sponsor our own home. So check back or if you can’t wait please visit them and donate to a worthy cause. You can also visit them to find out more about the amazing people and organizations that are involved in this opportunity to not only give someone a helping hand but to help show that being self-sufficient in our resource needs can be done in today’s world community wide.

Our Hollywood Going Green? post back in November was about a convention being held in December. I know I said I would wait for the movie so guess what they have posted their presentations. Now to find the time watch them! If you do or attended let us know what you think. We will be starting a thread at the forum about them.

We Love It’s Not easy Being Green was about the BBC show on a family transforming an old farmhouse to their off-grid utopia. We haven’t seen anything about another season but the charity they started The Big Green Idea has continued on. Starting in summer 2008 they plan to have a green double decker bus touring the UK to let people have hands on experiences of products used to get off-grid, while also offering movie and documentary viewings. Even though these sites are geared for the UK they are a great source of ideas to bring across the “pond”.

Ava Solar from our $1 per watt of Soalr Energy post has been moving froward on mass production of their new panels. “ We are very happy with our initial pre-production runs and have decided to move up production plans on our existing manufacturing line,” said Pascal Noronha, President and CEO of AVA Solar. “Although this will be relatively limited production, we intend to accelerate our production learning curve and get our products into the market faster than we thought possible last year.” They have also announced that instead of building a new manufacturing plant in Fort Collins they will be using an existing physicality in Northern Colorado which helped speed up the production time-line.

In December we wanted you to Help Focus The Nation. The online web-cast had problems as many more than anticipated people, groups, and institutions logged on to be part of it. Though they then made it available to watch anytime. We admit that we were part of the unfortunate ones that had problems and were kicked out of the live cast. …

March 27, 2008 1 Comment

Earth Day Rx: Slow Global Warming by Stopping Junk Mail

Junk Mail Consumes More Energy than 2.8 Million Cars

Ferndale, Mich. — With growing public concern about climate change and the health of the planet, 41pounds.org offers a quick, easy and effective way that everyone can make a difference: stop junk mail! The energy used for junk mail each year creates more greenhouse gas emissions than 2.8 million cars. And, it wastes 28 billion gallons of water and 100 million trees! Junk mail is more than a personal nuisance, it’s an environmental hazard.

The 41pounds.org service will stop your junk mail for five years by contacting dozens of direct mail companies to remove your name from their marketing lists. This includes almost all credit card applications and coupon mailers, plus any catalogs you specify. 41pounds.org also will donate more than 1/3 of the $41 fee to an environmental or community organization of your choice! To sign up, go to www.41pounds.org.

41pounds.org supports non-profit organizations working for a healthy environment and healthy communities. These partners include American Forests, Trees for the Future, WildWest Institute, Friends of the Urban Forest, Habitat for Humanity (East Bay), Center for a New American Dream and others.

Each household that reduces its junk mail for five years will prevent 460 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere — and gain 8 hours of free time!

The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail per year.
More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail.
Americans waste about 8 hours a year dealing with junk mail.

Three brothers — Sander DeVries, Tim Pfannes and Shane Pfannes — started 41 Pounds as a community service project in addition to their regular jobs.

“We’re surprised and pleased at how quickly it’s catching on,” said 41 Pounds co-founder Sander DeVries. “41pounds.org is like the national ‘do not call’ list, but for your mail. We contact the direct marketing companies around the country to get your name off their lists and make sure you’re no longer deluged by junk mail.”

“41pounds.org appreciates the growing concern about climate change, and they’ve provided a simple, easy step people can take to have a positive impact,” said Deborah Gangloff, Executive Director of American Forests.

To sign up or learn more, go to www.41pounds.org.

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March 22, 2008 No Comments

Make Your Landscaping Green

Green or natural landscaping ,also known as native gardening , is when you use indigenous plants in your residential or commercial landscaped gardens. These plants can include local ones such as grasses, ground-cover, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees, as well as using boulders, rocks and locally found material to border theses plantings. Making the landscaped area and the surrounding natural environment blend seamlessly is an important aspect of green landscaping.

Before making the move to change your landscaping to a greener design, you should look into changing your current practices of your existing landscape. Look for ways to reduce your use of power tools. Use mulch, sometimes available from local landfills, to conserve you water needed for your plantings. Making a compost pile to process organic waste and reuse as fertilizer in your gardens. Use natural enemies instead of pesticides to rid your plants of insects, see the EPAs’ integrated pest management for more information.

Now before running to your local nursery or garden store for local plants to use take the time to actually asses your property and the needs you have for it. how much sun and shade does it get and where. What is your soils type(s) and where is your drainage, or do you need more/less drainage. Make a rough plot map that shows your homes’ location including doors, walkways, patios, driveways, etc. Make note of neighbor concerns such as views you wish to keep or cover, noise reduction, privacy issues, etc. Make sure buried utilities are noted, most communities have a service to help with that, as well as overhead lines. Plants that you wish to keep should also be marked and their full height, and known characteristics and needs. Don’t forget to mark your directions of , south, east, and west as well as slopes and their direction and degree.

Once your map is complete now think of what use(s) you want from your land. Do you have children and wish to incorporate a play area or pool, have dogs that need a run, want to grow some or all of your own food, need to store a boat or RV, need additional buffers for privacy, noise or wind, and any other concerns or desires you can think of.

Now you need to research your local environment. What plants are native, which plants work well together, what plants meet your needs. Going to local parks and nature centers and walking through them will give you ideas of your likes and dislikes. Local park service may even have clinics or talks to help you. Use the internet and research your zone. The EPA website has dedicated sections to each geographic zone and how to green landscape there.

Time for putting it all together on you map and then start buying your new plants. Once your plan is completed go for it. All this work will pay …

March 10, 2008 1 Comment

Why Not Traditional Lanscaping

Some problems with traditional lanscaping are water pollution, air pollution, noisew pollution, consumption of our natural resources, produces solid waste, harmful to health and safety, declining biodeiversity, flooding, and to top it off it’s labor and cost intensive.

Homeowners over-apply pesticides and fertilizers often more than that of farmers. Additionaly people dump excess pesticides on the ground, in their drains, and/or in their trash rather than taking them to hazardous waste collection sites. Plus since turf has such a shallow roots and is a bad stabilizer for stream banks, so that heavy rains can result in bank erosion and stream silation. Added to that is the tens of millions of gallons of gasoline that are spilled each year while refueling garden equipment. Water pollution is increased with traditional gardening by:

extra applications, improper disposal and use of pesticides and fertilizers
contributing to erosion
spills during refueling of power equipment

Air pollution is contributed to by the operating and refueling of landscape equipment, vehiclesEmissions from landscape equipment (mowers, blowers, trimmers, etc.). These are often greater than that of a car per hour of operation. The most polluting are small gasoline-powered engines.
Noise Pollution is added to by the operation of the power equipment and vehicles need to maintain traditional lanscaping. How often have you been outside on a blissfully warm day only to have it ruined by a neighbor mowing their lawn? Some actual lanscaping equipment can actually lead to hearing impaiement.

Using up our limited supply of natural resources to have curb appeal is not the wisest action we could be doing. 30% of our water consumption in the urban areas of the eastern United States is to water lawns. Additional resources that are being consumed to improve our yards and gardens in traditional methods are:

the coal and gas needed to generate electricity and fuel our landscape equipment
the water used to irrigate plants
the soil that is lost through erosion
Use of peat moss, which often comes from wetlands, to amend soil

Adding grass clippings and leaves to our everday trash collections. Almost 1/5 of all solid waste collected by municipals are yard waste and organic waste that could be composted by homeowners. Though some is then composted by the municipalities, most ends up in landfills that are quickly reaching capacity.

On top of those concerns is that of health and safety to ourselves. The repeated exposure to chemical pesticides nad accidents that can occur from the use of power tools and equipment. By gardeners over using or not following directions of pesticides they are putting themselves, their families, neighbors, and even animals in increased health risk. Adding to that is that nearly half of all households have stored pesticides within reach of children. 230,000 people every year are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to lawn and garden tools.

Non-native plants can “escape” from gardens …

March 5, 2008 No Comments

Green Can Make You Some Green

On the “The Early Show” a segments was noticed about green jobs and how they are growing both in need and in pay. Even in today’s economy this segment of the job force is growing and paying well. So learning all you can about taking your home off-grid and making it more green can actually lead you into a new career.

After installing your own solar panels you can look into becoming a solar panel technician. You can do that by attending a vocational program or entering a community college and getting an associate degree. Which has the median pay of $40,000 right out of school. Not to shabby and you are hlping our environment and energy crunch at the same time.

Or you have made your home a healthy one by selecting eco friendly products, ergonomic furnishings, and green products for cleaning. Have a knack for design or love to help others get green and you should look into becoming a healthy home decorator or advisor. Use all that research you did to make your home healthy and self-sufficient for you and your family and help others do it too. The sky can be the limit or it’s a great way to make some extra money on the side.

Have you started making your own soap, honey, clothes, lotions, ect. because you couldn’t find it made healthy enough for you? Started a business that uses green or alternative energy sources to make your business more environmentally friendly? Any of these ideas and more are now being looked at by the big corporations to help them get in on the green and eco-friendly markets. “Burt’s Bees”, the lip balm maker, was bought out by Clorox for $913 million, “The Body Shop”, that green store that was in most of malls, was acquired by L’Oreal for $1.4 billion, so who knows if something you started or are thinking of starting might not be next.

So next time your staying up late, researching what product is best for your home, installing something to make your home more efficient or an alternative power source you just might be finding a new career for yourself.

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February 18, 2008 No Comments

Home Depot Teaches Green

Home Depot has not only caught onto the green movement but is offering “how to” clinics to show us how to. Their clinics are not only offered in their stores, but for those of us with tight schedules they offer “Green Your Home Inside and Out” as an online choice. The local Home Depot even has a “Do-It-Herself Workshops^{sm” for “}The Smarter, Warmer Eco-Friendly Bathroom” being offered this month. You can check your local ad, store or go online to see when it’s being offered in your area.

Knowing that main stream stores are not only jumping on the band wagon but trying to get to the front is hopefully a sign of how the move to be self-sufficient and efficient in our energy and utility usage is moving toward being a viable option for everyone. Clinics, classes, seminars, etc. have been around for a long time, unfortunately you usually have to travel to different locations and most workshops are only offered a few times a year, if your lucky. Or your other options were to take course at the local colleges and universities (that dealt with theory more then hands on), find someone local who is willing to and able to share, or stock up on how-to manuals and surf the web for information. Seeing this information being put out by a large retail chain does show how popular becoming more responsible in our energy, water and other resources is becoming.

Popularity equals reduced cost as more demand for materials goes up. Also a louder voice in our communities when decisions concerning our environment, energy production, water conservation, etc. are made. Just looking at large companies jumping into the green movement can be a bitter pill to those who had to fight those same companies just a few years ago, but even if their reasons don’t mesh for the why. The fact is that they’re now trying to promote and help mainstream Americans be resource responsible and for that alone we should be willing to give them a chance.

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February 11, 2008 No Comments

Earthships – Another Recycling Frontier

Earthships are earth-sheltered autonomous buildings made of tires rammed with earth, which are usually arranged in “U” or horseshoe shaped modules. Each tire is rammed full of earth manually using a sledge hammer. Windows on the sunny side admit light and heat. The open end of the “U” shaped structure faces South in the northern hemisphere, and North in the southern hemisphere, so that the house will catch maximum sunlight in the colder months. An Earthship is designed to interface with its environment wherever possible and create its own utilities.

Internal, non-load-bearing walls are often made of a “honey comb” of recycled cans separated by concrete. The walls are then usually thickly plastered, using the pull-tabs on the cans as a lath to hold the adobe and stucco. This is known as a tin can wall. The roof of an Earthship is heavily insulated.

The Earthship, as it exists today, began to take shape in the 1970s. Mike Reynolds, founder of Earthship Biotecture, a company that specializes in designing and building Earthships, wanted to create a home that would do three things. First, it would be sustainable. It would use material indigenous to the entire planet as well as reuse materials wherever possible. Second, his homes would generate their own utilities and be independent from the “grid” so they would be less susceptible to natural disasters and free from the electrical and water grids that Reynolds considered ugly. Finally, it would be available. He wanted to create a home that the average person with no specialized construction skills would be able to create.

Eventually, his vision took the form of the common U-shaped earth-rammed tire home seen today. However, as a concept, the Earthship is not limited to earth-rammed tires. Any dense material with a potential for thermal mass, such as concrete, adobe, or stone can be used to create an Earthship. However, the earth-rammed tire version of the Earthship is now the most common for several reasons, and is usually the only structure referred to as “Earthship”.

Unlike other materials, rammed-earth tires are more accessible to the average person. Scrap tires are indigenous to all parts of the world and easy to come by; there are an estimated 2 billion tires throughout the United States. According to the Scrap Tire Management Council, as many as 253 million scrap tires are generated each year in the United States and of those 253 million tires only 53% are reclaimed by the scrap tire market. In addition to the availability of scrap tires, the method by which they are produced, the ramming of the earth, is simple and affordable.

The earth rammed tires of an Earthship are usually assembled by teams of two people working together as part of a larger construction team. One member of the two person team shovels dirt, which usually comes from the building site, placing it into …

February 10, 2008 2 Comments

Enertia- Natural Materials, Natural Energy Homes

Anything massive, once warmed, tends to stay warm. The Earth maintains a habitatable environment in the minus 459 degree cold of space because our atmosphere allows the planet to capture, distribute, and store energy from the Sun. The atmosphere, like the glass skin of a greenhouse, contains this energy, and thermal currents – the wind, the jet streams, and ocean currents distribute it over the Earth. This system is an example of thermal inertia.

The thermal inertia of Earth is best visualized by using the analogy of the flywheel. A flywheel takes a lot of energy to get up to speed, but once moving only a small thump on a regular basis is needed to keep it going. Each day’s sunshine is the thump that keeps the thermal flywheel going. In twenty-four hour rotation, the planet takes this one-sided blast of solar energy and distributes it through thermal currents, to create our solar system’s only habitable environment.

All that natural energy gave builder Michael Sykes an idea- “What if a house could store and release energy through convection currents, just like the Earth?” So, Sykes set out to design a house which has a miniature atmosphere surrounding a massive structure that can store energy.

Since the late 1980’s, his company —Enertia Building Systems, INC. — has been producing homes that heat and cool by design, rather than through mechanical systems like furnaces and air conditioners. Sykes makes his Enertia homes available nationwide as pre-cut, numbered kits.

The thermal performance of solid timber homes is well known to their owners. Once heated, they stay warm- far longer than a conventional stick frame house. Once cooled, they remain cool. These thermal storage properties, along with proper southerly orientation, allow an Enertia home to heat and cool itself through its design, rather by mechanical system.

Instead of being a tight box to contain heated air- like a conventional home- an Enertia house stores energy in its massive walls. Air that has been warmed through passive solar gain is confined to the outer envelop, and is used for moving energy into the massive internal walls. The heat experienced by occupants is radiant: warm walls and floor.

The thermal current that distributes the warmth is created by both convection and geothermal cooling. Three feet below the surface of the Earth, the temperature is a steady 50 to 55 Fahrenheit, so the basement is always cooler than the heated air above it. Warm air rises in the south of the house. As the warm air reaches the attic, it travels towards the cooler air on the north side of the house (since this side of the house receives no direct sunlight). This completes the loop and distributes heat to the north side of the home.

In the summer, the air that is heated in the outer envelope rises, and is allowed to escape …

February 2, 2008 No Comments

green ideas

Updates on Previous Posts

Earth Day Rx: Slow Global Warming by Stopping Junk Mail

Junk Mail Consumes More Energy than 2.8 Million Cars

Make Your Landscaping Green

Why Not Traditional Lanscaping

Green Can Make You Some Green

Home Depot Teaches Green

Earthships – Another Recycling Frontier

Enertia- Natural Materials, Natural Energy Homes

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Junk Mail Consumes More Energy than 2.8 Million Cars

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