The 4 Day Work Week
The notion of our standard work week here in America has remained largely the same since 1938. That was the year the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed, standardizing the eight hour work day and the 40 hour work week. Each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday workers all over the country wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast and go to work. But the notion that the majority of the workforce should keep these hours is based on nothing more than an idea put forth but the Federal government almost 70 years ago. To be sure it was an improvement in the lives of many Americans who were at the time forced to work 10+ hours a day, sometimes 6 days of the week. So a 40 hour work week was seen as an upgrade in the lives of many of U.S. citizens. 8 is a nice round number; one third of each 24 hour day. In theory it leaves 8 hours for sleep and 8 hours for other activities like eating, bathing, raising children and enjoying life. But the notion that we should work for 5 of these days in a row before taking 2 for ourselves is, as best I can tell, rather arbitrary.
The idea of a shorter work week is not a new one to anyone old enough to have lived through the energy shocks of the 1970’s. It should be fairly obvious to anyone interested in conserving oil that reducing the number of daily commutes per week would reduce the overall demand for oil. There are about 133 million workers in America. Around 80% of them get to work by driving alone in a car. The average commute covers about 16 miles each way. So let’s stop and do some math:
The Not-So-Green Picture: First Air Conditioned Bus Station
Dubai is boasting of their latest creation: the first air-conditioned bus station in the world; ironically located next to some recycle bins in this photo. Instead of employing some green building techniques to reduce the heat, the affluent country opted instead to build an energy-hungry haven instead. Not only that, but more than 800 of them are planned in the coming years.
UPDATED: Making Homemade Laundry Soap
Last night after cooking supper I decided to cook up a batch of laundry soap. A friend had sent me the recipe for homemade laundry soap a while back and I’ve been anxious to try it since. I followed the recipe shown here (if you check the comments there is even one for a dry laundry soap.)
First things first, I got some water boiling and started to carve up the bar of soap. We used Caress, which I don’t recommend, the smell was overpowering. And it reminded me of my grandmother too much. If you purchased a bar of eco friendly soap you’d be in even better shape. Or a local bar of soap would be good too.
Solar (Assisted) Electric Boat Navigates the Erie Canal
This news story caught my eye during the busy month of August. While electric cars have been the talk of the green blogosphere over the last year, this is the first instance I’ve heard of electric boating.On August 12, the Tamarack Lake Boating company launched “The Loon” a pontoon boat with 738 watts of solar panels mounted on its cover, and a 30 mile range on its 48 Volt deep-cycle battery array. (Syracuse.com)
With the flick of a switch, Canadian boat builder Monte Gisborne turned on his solar-powered pontoon boat, The Loon, and quietly slipped out of Oswego Harbor.
“It’s beautiful. It’s my first time on this canal and it’s beautiful,” Gisborne said as The Loon approached the Minetto Bridge. “The sky is clear, there’s a nice breeze blowing and people along the shoreline are waving I couldn’t be happier.”
The 12-day journey will take the Gisbornes – Monte is accompanied by his wife, Denise,
Read More
Excess Nightime Grid Energy Could Power More Than 70% Of Electric Vehicles
According to a recent U.S. Department of Energy study, there is so much excess energy on the U.S. grid nightly that if every light-duty car and truck in America today used plug-in hybrid technology, 73 percent of them could be plugged in and “fueled” without constructing a single new power plant. So much for the myth that electric vehicles will cause more emissions.
The Portland Press has a great article on the potential benefits of harnessing this excess energy and making the switch to plug-in vehicles. Apparently, each night there is a large amount of renewable power generation capacity that sits idle. Tapping into this source by plugging in our vehicles at night would harness a vastly unused portion of the U.S. grid. From the article,
“Studies have shown that plug-in hybrids produce at least 67 percent fewer harmful emissions than a standard gasoline-powered car. Even when accounting for emissions from the production of electricity, national studies have shown greenhouse gas production would fall by almost 40 percent if plug-in hybrids became commonplace. Plug-in hybrids could easily be expected to get over 100 miles per gallon of gasoline, and owners would do most of their refueling at home where the equivalent cost of electricity is about $1 per gallon.”
300 Organic Gardening Tips
If you are just getting started with organic gardening perhaps you should look over these tips to help you get started.
Some of my favorites include:
Mulch your flower beds and trees with 3″ of organic material – it conserves water, adds humus and nutrients, and discourages weeds. It gives your beds a nice, finished appearance. (mulching is sooo important)
Think “biodiversity”. Using many different kinds of plants encourage many different kinds of beneficial insects to take up residence in your yard.
To deter deer from grazing in your landscape, try placing strongly scented bar soap, or human hair, around your plants. The hair can be “recycled” from a salon or barber shop. (this doesn’t work for Iowa deer, but maybe others)
Preparing Australian Agriculture for Rising Energy Costs and Water Insecurity
Don’t let the common first name confuse you. The following is a guest post by Aaron Edmonds. Aaron was a 2002 Australian Nuffield Scholar and researched how broadacre agriculture was going to need to adapt to manage the follow through effects of the Peak Oil crisis. Ironically this Scholarship was initially established by the philanthropist Lord William Nuffield, the inventor of the Morris Minor car, where after the Second World War he saw food supplies dwindle to dangerously low levels in the UK. Aaron farms 2000 hectares in the Central Wheatbelt of Western Australia with his family and is pioneering the development and adoption of low input broadacre agriculture. Many thanks to Aaron for permission to republish this essay.
Preparing Australian Agriculture for Rising Energy Costs and Water Insecurity
A ‘Planet Earth’ Contest!
If you haven’t seen the recently released BBC production of Planet Earth: The Complete Series. You don’t know what you’re missing. This series is an exquisite look at life on Earth in all its spectacular variety and breathtaking wonder.
Whether you watch it simply for the fantastic images masterfully caught on film or use this documentary as a way to educate and inform you and your family about life on Earth, the Planet Earth series is a fantastic portrayal of this wonderful world of nature of which we are all a part. I can’t recommend it more highly. And… we’re giving away five copies.
You can read my entire review of the series here or you can just skip below to our contest.
Solar Powered Wireless Means Backcountry Internet For Eco Geeks.
So you’ve got the backwoods hobbit house, the flexible solar panel for charging your laptop, and a wind-powered chimney for everything else. Problem is, you’re three acres away from the nearest wireless signal and you’d love to actually get some work done. Up until now, there weren’t many options — besides some homebrew kits — for making it all come together. Thankfully, a company called Meraki has introduced a $549 router/repeater kit powered by solar and capable of forming a WiFi mesh network with other units. Not only does this thing stand up to rain, snow, sleet, wind, hail, and direct sunlight, but it also optionally allows you to charge for people to access your network — including the ability to run ads and other clever marketing.
Right now San Francisco is currently the test market for these solar WiFi networks. Backed by Google, Meraki is making some serious waves in distributing wireless to the world. This innovation will be especially useful for setting up networks in developing countries a good distance away from electricity or network access. The solar kit will be available sometime in late 2007. Stay tuned.
Introducing The Wind-Powered Cell Phone Charger. Yup.
Looking for a portable charger? The world of renewable energy has lately been flooded with gadgets of all kinds featuring solar panels and hand cranks offering you endless opportunities to stick it to the man and get your juice for free. Up until now, wind energy has been left out in the breeze. No longer.
Orange, the U.K.-based telecommunications firm, has announced plans to launch The Orange Mobile Wind Charger, a mini turbine that “latches on to the top of a tent and stores power in a separate “control box” that users can plug into when their mobiles need juice.”
Adventures In Sustainability: Grow My Little Jatropha, Grow
Well, it’s been over two months since I started my little Jatropha experiment and I thought I would chime in on how things are coming. First of all, Jatropha is incredibly easy to grow. I had a delay of about three weeks with my initial seeds since most of it was “old” Jat seed according to some growers and stymied my efforts. In desperation to up the odds, I planted about 20 seeds into one container and was finally rewarded with about six plants. After a few weeks, I transferred two of the strongest plants to a larger container and they’ve taken off in their new home. Surprisingly, the other four plants are doing fine (albeit with not as dramatic growth) and continue to increase in foliage.
Since I’ve had some time to spend growing this plant, I’ve also discovered some interesting facts. For instance, this is a deciduous tree. I’ve always heard it referred to as a ‘weed’ but this may be because it has an easy time adapting to poor soil conditions, droughts, and can survive almost anywhere it stay relatively above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, Jatropha can grow 8-10 meters tall under the right conditions. Once it drops its leaves and flowers, the seeds will follow shortly afterwards and then mature three months later. It’s at this point that we can attempt some biofuel extraction.
$30,000 Electric Car By 2009. And It’s Not The Volt
The electric car market is going to heat up in the next couple years. Which is a good thing — because I’m sick and tired of oil changes and all the other crap currently plaguing my combustible engine. I’m not under the illusion that I’ll have no issues with an electric vehicle (especially during NY winters), but I have more confidence that I’ll feel a lot less dependent on fuel and seriously giddy every time I drive by a gas station. But I digress…
News today from CNN Money of an electric car that goes 80mph, travels 120 miles at 60mph, and costs $30,000. It’s called the XS 500 from Miles Automotive and while that number may not be financially practical for most people, it represents a true price shift from current available models. How is it possible to market such a vehicle so soon? Two words: Cheap Labor. From the article,
Growing Our Own And More On The Bullseye Diet
It was mainly Peak Oil that drove me out into my garden with a new mission; no longer just to grow a few tomatoes for fun each summer, but in an effort to grow the majority of the food my family eats. I set out a goal of producing more calories than I consume on my own property and within 5 years. I called my project ‘Growing My Own’. But there were others factors tugging at me, entreating me to take personal responsibility for the needs of my diet.
And I can see now that there are lots of other people becoming interested in local food and they’re doing so for a variety of reasons. Some of them want to avoid the potential health threats increasingly associated with industrial agriculture. You can get your daily update of just what food has been recently recalled as a health hazard by visiting this handy website the U.S. FDA recall website. The fact that such a site exists is a telltale sign of our increasingly dysfunctional relationship with what we eat. To be sure there have always been local incidents of accidental food poisonings and the like, but now that our system of growing and distributing food is so centralized, the risk of mass contamination from food borne illness is much higher. My favorite example is the recent Castleberry’s Chili recall in which cans were literally bursting with botulism. In the face of all the human health problems swirling around the anonymous origins of industrial food, many people are now opting to get their food from known local sources.
Kate Bosworth Litters at Global Cool
I can’t believe we are following up a happy green post on Orlando & Kate promoting the environment with this.
Says the Mirror:
Bloom was furious when Kate – who plays Lois Lane in Superman Returns – dropped some litter and a cigarette butt at a green charity’s rock festival in Japan. The Pirates Of The Caribbean star was embarrassed because he was there to make a speech…
Our source revealed: “Japan’s very clean and everybody carries around disposable ash trays to stub out their cigarettes.”
“Orlando had a massive go at her. He said they were meant to be there to promote the environment and she was chucking litter around. There was a lot offing and blinding. Kate kept saying ‘nobody saw, I don’t know what your problem is’.”
Orlando, 29, had planned to be at the festival for two days. But they cut short the trip and flew to Tokyo where Kate, 23, was plugging Superman.
We hope the lovebirds don’t let a bit of litter come between them…
As for these “ashtrays to go” that were mentioned? The pouch says: ”The earth is not your ashtray.” Well, actually, it says, “The earth is ont your ashtray,” but we get the picture.
We need this to become popular in the US. Maybe then we’ll stop catching these “green” celebrities, RED-handed.
Iowa State Fair Builds Wind Turbine To Power Rides, Grounds
You know the fair is coming to town when flatbed trucks loaded with rides guaranteed to make you sick start appearing. This year in Iowa, another thing that spins is making an appearance — the creation of a 133ft. tall wind turbine for the Iowa State Fair.
Built by MidAmerican Energy Co. as part of its Renewable Advantage Program, the turbine will power all the rides and grounds for the extent of the fair. According to installers, the entire site could be taken off-grid as a result. We’re guessing this is a 1.65MW variety turbine. From the article,
Electric drag racer
I don’t care who you are, this right here is pretty darn cool. What an interesting way to reuse an old car and make a nice commuter vehicle, although it appear he may have gone overboard!
When the starting light flashed, the Datsun, known as White Zombie, shot silently past the Corvette and kept widening the lead as the two cars faded into the distance. “Oh man, right off the [starting] line he had me,” said the Corvette’s owner, Robert Akers, shaking his head.
Piping in your world
American’s average 8 hours a day of TV time per household. A DAY!!
Folks, it’s time to get outside. Turn it off and go for a walk. Play with the dog. Play with the kids. Start a garden. Have a catch. Whatever, just go enjoy your world.
I don’t think when you are 80 and looking back on your life you’ll wish you had spent more time watching TV.
New Study Says Wind A Cheaper, Efficient Alternative To Nuclear
A report commissioned in the Netherlands and leaked to a Dutch newspaper confirms that wind power will quickly replace nuclear energy as the fossil fuel alternative of choice. The researchers concluded that not only will technological advances in the coming years make wind financially competitive but also security costs tied to nuclear energy will further add to the value. From the article,
“According to the report by the Energy Research Centre (ECN), the cost price of electricity production – around 6.6 euro-cents per kilowatt hour – is already comparable.
However nuclear power is more expensive if the additional costs of security against terrorist attacks is taken into account. Meanwhile technological advancement will make wind power increasingly cheaper in the coming years.
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