Went to check in on Chad and his family building their green home in Tallahassee, the house was completed this summer. Pictures are here.
Monday, November 30
Wednesday, November 25
GREEN DRINKS - TAKE A BREAK
Green Drinks tonight at Waterworks on Thomasville Road. Take a break
from Thanksgiving day prep (or holiday house guests) and stop by at
5:45. Info on 10,000 Villages and fair trade--just in time to focus
us on buying sustainable and fair trade for the holidays!
from Thanksgiving day prep (or holiday house guests) and stop by at
5:45. Info on 10,000 Villages and fair trade--just in time to focus
us on buying sustainable and fair trade for the holidays!
--
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Monday, November 23
SOLAR MORE TRADITIONAL - SOME DAY SOON?
An article on My Florida Home Buyer starts off: One of the less traditional methods of heating a swimming pool is through the use of solar energy.
How soon will it be before we are reading: The most traditional method is solar?
How soon will it be before we are reading: The most traditional method is solar?
Sunday, November 22
PODS PLEASE, NOT PEAS
Holidays are approaching. My wish list includes 
a personal rapid transit pod. Space age? It could be here today. According to Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit, "less than 5% of Americans use public transportation. It’s just too slow, complicated and inconvenient." Not unlike Star Metro.
Alternatively, these pod vehicles are electrically powered, glide almost silently on elevated guideways, high above traffic.
Imagine convenient access stations located every few blocks throughout Leon County, vehicles waiting at each station, ready to take take passengers non-stop, directly to their destination. Each little pod can seat three to four people, or one can opt not to share a ride with anyone else. Pods are always ready to go--24 hours a day. Driving is automatic: pods can take the kids to school or bring them home from soccer practice.
The University of Washington estimates that the system could cost roughly $7 million to $15 million per mile! There's a test track in Sweden,
It makes perfect sense for urban and suburban travel. I'm waiting to open my pod under the tree.
a personal rapid transit pod. Space age? It could be here today. According to Citizens for Personal Rapid Transit, "less than 5% of Americans use public transportation. It’s just too slow, complicated and inconvenient." Not unlike Star Metro.
Alternatively, these pod vehicles are electrically powered, glide almost silently on elevated guideways, high above traffic.
Imagine convenient access stations located every few blocks throughout Leon County, vehicles waiting at each station, ready to take take passengers non-stop, directly to their destination. Each little pod can seat three to four people, or one can opt not to share a ride with anyone else. Pods are always ready to go--24 hours a day. Driving is automatic: pods can take the kids to school or bring them home from soccer practice.
The University of Washington estimates that the system could cost roughly $7 million to $15 million per mile! There's a test track in Sweden,
It makes perfect sense for urban and suburban travel. I'm waiting to open my pod under the tree.
Wednesday, November 18
FOOD INC SHOWING TONIGHT
Food, Inc showing one night, tonight, Wed, Nov 18 at 6:30PM at Free
Radicals Infoshop.
Radicals Infoshop.
Co-hosted by FSU Environmental
Group with VERDE (vegan & vegetarian group), there will also be a
vegetarian potluck. Please also bring your own dishware and utensils
to reduce waste.
The film starts at 7PM. "Food, Inc" is a documentary that critiques
our current industrialized food system.
Free Radicals Infoshop is located in the former CD Warehouse on
Railroad Ave right next to the Engine Room, just off of Gaines Street.
Saturday, November 14
The Integral Passive Solar Water Heater
The Integral Passive Solar Water Heater Book, by David Bainbridge, includes:-
How to design a passive solar water heater
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How to build a passive solar water heater
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How to install a passive solar water heater
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Examples of many types of designs that would almost any situation
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Discussion of potential improvements to the design
David Bainbridge is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Management at the California School of Business and Organizational Studies, Alliant International University.
This is a book on all aspects of designing and building a wide variety of solar batch water heaters with a great mix of how-to and engineering design information -- great for builders and experimenters.
This book is out of print, and difficult to get, but he has agreed to make the full content available as a download at the link below. (8.2MB pdf)
More on David's projects on at the straw bale website.
Thursday, November 12
REDUCE, REUSE,RECYCLE
The holidays are almost here! Who knew we could recycle the plastic containers for transparent tape?TerraCycle, the company that makes things out of juice pouches has launched a new partnership with Scotch Brand transparent tape, to recover and reuse clear plastic tape dispensers and cores.
The test program will begin later this year and will involve the collection of more than 25,000 dispensers through 1,000 TerraCycle collection programs, called "Brigades." The Scotch Tape Brigades will collect empty clear plastic tape dispensers and cores and pay two cents per dispenser to a charity of the collector's choice. The Scotch Brand will then take the items and reuse them for their original purpose.
Terracycle collects a number of items in addition to juice pouches, check out the website to join a brigade.
Wednesday, November 11
CLIMATE CHANGE DISCUSSION IN TALLAHASSEE
The FSU Environmental Service Program is hosting a Focus the Nation discussion panel on global climate change on Saturday, November 14, from 11:30AM-2:30PM in the FSU Claude Pepper Center’s Broad Auditorium.
Details at Green Calendar.
Details at Green Calendar.
Tuesday, November 10
Finally, the City of Tallahassee has adopted a nationwide movement--significantly reducing the amount of time we waste burning gasoline while going nowhere.You can take the pledge to reduce unnecessary idling: posted here at the City of Tallahassee's website.
Since our Green Readers have stopped consuming fast food in an effort to eat local and eat slow, we're no longer idling at the drive-thru (and that includes Starbucks). We've reduced our exposure to the vehicle exhaust that increases the risk of death from heart and lung disease and lung cancer.
However as posted here last year, a great deal of idling takes place at schools, where buses and cars line up to drop off and pick up children, and the children end up breathing the exhaust.
Stopping unnecessary vehicle idling is one relatively easy way to contribute to improved air quality and respiratory health in our communities. Are Leon County schools and parents taking the pledge?
Tuesday, November 3
Simplified Residential Solar Hot Water System Calculator
Developed by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), this calculator provides consumer information on the energy, cost and environmental savings potential of residential solar hot water systems in Florida.
The calculations and assumptions were modeled on the solar system calculator tool (SHW-calculator_simple.xls, 204k) available for Microsoft Excel and developed by FSEC's Deputy Director, Philip Fairey.
To use the calculator, answer basic questions and decide if you would like to change any of the pre-selected assumptions. It also calculates payback costs over time.
Monday, November 2
Florida's solar grid power plant will temporarily be the largest in the US, generating an estimated 25 megawatts, until Austin Texas comes on-line with 30 megawatts and one planned for California which will be built in three phases to generate 80 megawatts, when completed. Miami is using economic stimulus money for a major roll-out of smart meters for FP & L customers. Green jobs are going on-line throughout the southeast, with unemployed people learning new skills.
Sunday, November 1
HOW GREEN DOES MY PET HAVE TO BE?
The new book, Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living, compares the ecological footprints of popular pets with those of various other lifestyle choices - and our pets do not fare well. We predict that the book, from authors Robert and Brenda Vale, two architects who specialize in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, will not become a best seller in the US.
The book, (and there is all that pesky conversion as the calculations are done in grams), measures the ecological paw, claw and fin-prints of the family pet by analyzing ingredients of common brands of pet food. They calculated, for example, that a medium-sized dog would consume 90 grams of meat and 156 grams of cereals daily in its recommended 300-gram portion of dried dog food. At its pre-dried weight, that equates to 450 grams of fresh meat and 260 grams of cereal. That means that over the course of a year, the pooch wolfs down about 164 kilograms of meat and 95 kilograms of cereals.
From this, calculations account for the amount of land used to produce these products. The resulting carbon footprint (paw print?) is quite large due to the consumption of meat.
The book, (and there is all that pesky conversion as the calculations are done in grams), measures the ecological paw, claw and fin-prints of the family pet by analyzing ingredients of common brands of pet food. They calculated, for example, that a medium-sized dog would consume 90 grams of meat and 156 grams of cereals daily in its recommended 300-gram portion of dried dog food. At its pre-dried weight, that equates to 450 grams of fresh meat and 260 grams of cereal. That means that over the course of a year, the pooch wolfs down about 164 kilograms of meat and 95 kilograms of cereals.
From this, calculations account for the amount of land used to produce these products. The resulting carbon footprint (paw print?) is quite large due to the consumption of meat.
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