If you’re out on the Olympic Peninsula, you definitely have to make a stop and do the Dungeness Spit hike to the lighthouse. It’s more of a beach walk but at 11 miles round-trip, it just feels like a hike. Near the start of the trail, the park ranger has created a very old-school infographic on the decomposition time of different items left or washed ashore on the beach. Inspired, my kids and I decided to get all earthy and walked most of the first 5.5 miles barefoot and that wasn’t a good idea. Only bonus is that I probably shortened my decomposition time by 2 hours. [Washington Trails Association]
Dungeness Spit Hike
May 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Wired’s Review Of The ZERO DS Electric Motorcycle: Looking Beyond The ‘Green’ And At The Functionality
May 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Wes Siler’s review of the ZERO DS Electric Motorcycle was refreshing to read. So often, ‘green’ websites are sold on any electric vehicle (EV) on sight and then blown away by the manufacturer’s reported specs. But Mr. Siler went further and rode the ZERO DS for three weeks hoping that it could be his zero-emission commuting solution and it wasn’t. Here are his inconvenient truths about the ZERO DS Electric Motorcycle:
- Truth #1: [Despite its spec'd 115 mile range]Sixty miles is about as much as you’ll want to rely on.
- Truth #2: Even with a quick charger, full recharges take five hours.
- Truth #3: Easily accessible outdoor outlets are much harder to find than you think.
- Truth #4: Plugging in for 45 minutes here or an hour there at some random outlet (the quick charger is too big to conveniently take with you) does absolutely nothing.
- Truth #4: Distances aren’t one way when you can only really charge at home. A 10-mile journey has to be thought of as 20 miles, or one-third the 9kWh Zero’s effective range. That’s right, something that’s 10 miles away is one-third of your maximum reliable travel distance. You can travel there three times a day max and, once you’re there, your next move has to be limited accordingly.
Check out the full article and review for more information.
Of course I’m no different – I want to see an electric vehicle succeed. But in the future, thanks to Mr. Siler’s review of the ZERO DS, I’ll be a little more reluctant to buy into the hype. [Wired: Autopia]
Pharmaceutical Drug Heist Foiled By A Bottled Water. Maybe We Should Just Let Criminals Drink It.
May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Gizmodo posted an article, The Largest Pharmaceutical Drug Heist in History Was Ruined By a Water Bottle, about an $80 million robbery that was partly solved by captured fingerprints on a bottle of water that was left behind. Bottled water, crime fighter? I think I’ve been too hard on the bottled stuff and I guess there could be exceptions. So criminals, please drink the heck out of that bottled water and if you can, eat something greasy while you do. No sense in committing a crime thirsty so be sure to bring it along. [NBC Connecticut via Gizmodo]
Damned If You Don’t (Go Solar), Damned If You Do (Net Metering)
May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
There’s a post on Greentech Media about a debate between Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development Founder, Travis Bradford, and Westinghouse Solar CEO, Barry Cinnamon, on the effect of net metering. Net metering allows homeowners who generate their own renewable power to sell excess electricity back to utility companies. Based on where Bradford and Cinnamon work, you’d think they would be in agreement on this issue but they’re not.
Mr. Bradford is an advocate for distributed generation of renewable power; keep it local if possible as opposed to a central power generator that transmit and wastes electricity by sending it long distances. He believes un-capped net metering will aid the process of producing and keeping electricity local.
Mr. Cinnamon (Reservoir Dogs? No, they were colors.) believes there should be caps on net metering. He points out that utility companies are unable to recoup their per-customer fixed costs due to un-capped net metering. He also notes that if utilities raise their rates to account for lost income due to net metering, more people will move toward renewable energy putting utility companies in a “death spiral.” Surprisingly, this is coming from a person that works at Westinghouse solar. Sounds like he’s almost saying – “don’t buy too much of my product.”
If you get a chance, read the article and decide for yourself. [Greentech Media]
Scientists Skeptical Of Climate Change, All 3% Of You, I Hope You Are Right
May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
“…I suspect we’re just not genetically programmed to worry about two generations downstream, that may be the heart of the problem.” |
| Kerry A. Emanuel, Atmospheric Scientist MIT |
Whether you believe clouds will counter the effects of global warming or they won’t and we’re the cause – why can’t we accept both ideas and minimize the risk? We pointed this out in our post about the “If I Wanted America To Fail” video.
The New York Times Green Blog has an article on the issue of ‘how and why’ large groups of people still deny science and refuse to accept that our actions contribute to climate change. The article focuses on Kerry Emmanuel of MIT and his reasonable appeal to skeptics is “why risk it?” It’s a good 5 minute read that frames the climate debate more in terms of risk to future generations and less about the data used by both sides to support their positions. [NY Times]
Going From Eight Trash Cans A Month To One
May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Reading about Captain Andrew Lane’s efforts to live a zero-waste lifestyle in Good
inspired me to write about my family’s efforts to reduce the amount we throw out.
Capt. Lane, aka Captain Planet, has been working to reduce waste since he was in college. Even deployed in Iraq, Capt. Lane reused a plastic spoon and Tupperware and didn’t contribute to the pile of thrown out dinnerware. Now at home with his family of four, his goal is to live a trash-free lifestyle and to help others do the same.
Reducing Waste
Two years and 8 cans of trash per month ago, I posted an article about Van Calvez, “No Impact Man,” and how his family reduced their output of trash to an amount that fit in one Ziploc bag. His advice was simple:
- Compost – eliminates the stink in garbage, makes garbage dry and much less unpleasant.
- Recycle More – take a little extra time to spot recyclables in your garbage.
- Buy in bulk – avoid disposable, single use containers; switch to reusable containers.
- Cook from scratch – focusing on fresh, raw, whole, local foods.
- Analyze your garbage – keep an eye on what is going into your trash.
I tried to improve by implementing most of Mr. Calvez’s tips and the one that made the biggest difference in our house was composting. Food in the garbage goes bad – especially in the summer. Separating it from dry trash means you’re less likely to stuff the bag and throw it out early. If you can compost, do it.
Now here are a couple of additional tips that helped us go from 8 to 1 trash can per month:
- Donate – Goodwill, Salvation Army etc. You may no longer see value in what you’re donating but G & S will.
- Buy less – perishable food, toys, things. And before you do buy something, think of how you’re going to recycle it.
- Part it out – along the lines of ‘Recycle More’; some items that you’d normally just throw in the garbage have parts that can be separated and recycled. ie. The glass, plastic, metal, and cardboard of a broken picture frame or even the top lid of a pizza box.
- Patience – when you’re feeling rushed, everything goes in the trash. Even food. Taking your time when it comes to throwing stuff out is the key.
We’ll never get down to a Ziploc bag of garbage but that wasn’t our goal. We just wanted to reduce.
We all create non-point source waste commuting, working, vacationing etc. But focusing on, and limiting what we throw out at home is important. Even if you travel around the world daily, you can still take pride in reducing what goes into your garbage can. Good luck! [Good]
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