Compost is organic material that can be used to amend the soil or even as a growth medium. It is a way to organically rid yourself of the kitchen and yard waste. After a period of decomposing and aging, the compost turns into a wonderful material that can be used on your garden. Compost drastically helps eliminate the need for other fertilizers as it puts natural nutrients back into the soil. However, there are some disadvantages to composting. We’ll look at this subject more in the next few days.

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Dell releases it’s new hybrid PC. Uses 70% less energy than comparative models. More information HERE.

Duke Energy Corp. in North Carolina is facing quite a bit of opposition to its planned “Save-a-Watt” program. The opponents argue that it is too expensive and doesn’t save nearly enough energy. HERE. HERE. HERE.

AT&T joins the Green Grid to help promote more efficient data centers. HERE.

New website, GreenMadeSimple.com, had easy-to-use infomation about local, state, and national incentives for energy efficiency. HERE.

Many countries are experiencing water shortages, and, according to the UN, even more are expected to by 2025. So, with that in mind, is it really worth catching the rain? Those facing the shortages would certainly say so! The average American individual uses 100 gallons of water or more every day. Take that and compare it to the average African family that uses only 5 gallons a day!

Yet there is still another aspect that would be worth looking into: there is always the same amount of water in the world. So, the water just circulates and lands in different areas, causing some to have too little and some to have too much. When the time comes for your area to experience too little, it sure would be nice to have some sort of system in place to catch what little rain comes your way.

Time to tie in the cisterns again. They are an excellent way to hold excess rainwater. Though historically they have been kept underground in order to keep the water at a more constant temperature, with modern technology there is absolutely no reason why you couldn’t have an above-ground cistern almost as easily as you can have an above-ground swimming pool! Cisterns keep every pollutant out of the water except the contaminants that are already in the water itself, so that water is actually probably cleaner than normal fluoridated city-water. The water that is caught can be filtered, cleaning it even more, and used for small-load places such as hunting lodges and weekend getaways that are only used every now and then.

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Cisterns are storage tanks that collect rainwater from roofs or other catchment areas. The water is non-potable, or not for human consumption. Cisterns are usually located underground, but they can be at ground level or even elevated. They should be made from non-reactive materials such as: reinforced concrete, galvanized steel, plastic, etc. Concrete blocks or wood, but these can be difficult to keep watertight. They should have a smooth interior surface and an enclosed lid.

Some places have incentives for installing cisterns and rainwater catching systems. Some places even have laws requiring water catching systems to be installed on every new construction. Greenhouses often have cisterns that supply all its water needs.

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Even since the year 2000, around the time this article was written, there have been many changes and lots of research done in this area. That article said Zero Pollution Motors in France would probably have the first air-powered vehicle, the e.Volution; this same company will be unveiling a competitively-priced six-seater in North America next year. But, even considering all the changes that will take place in the next year or two, we do good in looking at this subject a little further today.

The aforementioned e.Volution is supposedly able to go about 124 miles before it needs to be refueled with compressed air. It still requires oil, but less than a quart, and it only has to be changed every 31,000 miles. This vehicle made its debut in Johannesburg, South Africa at the Auto Africa Expo 2000.

There is still much debate as to whether or not this type of vehicle is actually more environmentally friendly. They still require electricity to compress the air in the tanks, and some argue that the pollution is merely transferred from the car’s exhaust to the electrical power plant. That power plant most likely still relies on fossil fuels for its energy.

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We’ve looked at several types of more-fuel-efficient vehicles here, but we haven’t yet touched on something as revolutionary as this could become. HERE is a page of facts concerning the history of compressed air in conjunction with transportation. One of the more interesting things to note from that page is the several places where the inventors claimed the vehicle could run “forever” or for “months and months before its air tank must be artificially refilled.” This is definitely something I’ll be watching as more research is done on compressed air vehicles. If the tank can’t refill itself or recycle the air, I want to know why not, in uncomplicated terms. If inventors of the 1980’s could invent a vehicle and claim it could go 800 miles before filling up, don’t you think our inventors could do a little better now-a-days?

The concept is not a new one. Compressed air locomotives were regularly used in coal mines in the early 1900’s because they created no heat or sparks. This was wonderful for the mines where explosion was always a danger. Jules Vern wrote a novel called Paris in the 20th Century which showed glass skyscrapers as well as air-powered vehicles. Apparently he was a little before his time there.

 Compressed air can be incorporated into hybrids with batteries or fuel tanks. They can also use regenerative braking, but we’ll look more into how they work in a later article. I believe this is something to keep you eye on. With gas prices as they are, and no prosepect of them ever coming significantly down in the near future, I expect we’ll see a lot more research done on anything that will reduce our dependence on oil.

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$6.9 million in grant money given to 27 individuals and businesses by the USDA to be used for increasing energy efficiency of farms or businesses and developing renewable energy systems. HERE

Most CFL bulbs readily available in the US market rate low in a critical performance area, the Power Factor. HERE

Could drilling oil in our own borders really bring back “the days of $2-a-gallon gas?” HERE

Turning off the lights and engines could save companies up to 20% in energy costs. HERE

Okay, so you’ve planted a rather large garden, and now you have the produce coming like crazy. What are you going to do? The only answer, besides let it all go to waste, is preserve it in some way or another. We have briefly looked at root cellars; that’s one way to do it, especially for those crops that don’t can well (potatoes, carrots, melons, etc.). Tomatoes, beans, relishes and pickles, jams and jellies, and juices can very well; corn, squash, and peas freeze well. Preserving is yet another thing that must be done if the garden is going to be efficient. You can get lots of produce from it during the growing season, but it is worth so much more when you can still get produce from it, indirectly, in the winter. Some things, like herbs, dry well and can be stored in cool, dry places waiting to be put to use. Preserving is an excellent way to “stretch” you garden! There are lots of places out there to guide you step by step through just about any canning/freezing/drying/preserving method you could want.

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We slightly touched on the topic of a “green” garden in this post. We mentioned the importance of truly organic gardening, and gave the reasons for avoiding the big companies. We also told about the fuel and grocery savings when you have your own in this article. So now I wanted to write about the amazingly aesthetic and flavorful benefits of an organic garden, and how you can be a part of an organic garden indirectly.

Can you ever drive by a beautiful, thriving garden and not think about how good the corn and beans taste? What about your grandparents? Wasn’t all the food out of their garden so much more flavorful than the exact same thing from the grocery store? That is because the fresh produce from the grocery store has to be able to be shipped all across the country or even world! Sometimes the produce is even harvested way before it’s ripe because it will ship better that way. Obviously this does nothing beneficial for the flavor. With the rising fuel prices the fresh section’s prices are also soaring. This is something you can help by growing your own. It doesn’t really matter, if you’re only going for flavor and savings, if you don’t know how to grow anything. Buy a couple of tomato plants down at the local co-op and water them well. Allow the tomatoes to get good and red before you pick them; almost nothing beats fresh, homegrown tomatoes. Of course, being if you’re going for a “green” garden, you can’t do this. The seed you use must be heirloom, so that you can save them for next year’s garden. And, obviously, you must save them! This is ultimately the best option, in my opinion, but there are a lot of things to learn in taking a step like that if you’ve never done a garden that way before.

I mentioned being a part of an organic garden indirectly earlier. This is another way to get delicious produce without actually doing the work yourself. Farmers markets are great for every-now-and-then customers, but if you love a variety fresh veggies all the time a CSA is the way to go. CSA is a Community Supported Agriculture. Most are vegetables, but some, where the laws allow, have farm raised meat too. Each week the operators of the CSA will put together a box or basket of the produce that is fresh that week. Granted you probably don’t have as much say in what you get like picking things out at a farmer’s market; instead you buy shares in the farm, and then pick your box up at an appointed time. Here is a good article about a new CSA explaining how it works. Here is their website.

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Let’s take a few minutes to look at this aspect of gardening. First, glance at the interstate. What do you see? Despite the rising fuel costs there is little change from when fuel was reasonably priced. There are still a lot of cars, probably more SUVs, and tons of semi trucks. Focus in on the semis for a second. Now think, many of those semis are bringing in grocery items from various parts of the country and world. There are, in my opinion, at least two things wrong with this picture: 1) the food they often truck in is not the best quality, it’s nothing like you can grow; 2) diesel exhaust accounts for approximately 26% of the total hazardous pollution in the air, and 66%  of the particulate pollution from on-road pollution. Those truck create noise and smog; they’re just not good for us or our environment. One way that we can do our part in not contributing to bringing those big trucks through our area is to buy locally grown produce from local suppliers. By reducing the demand it is conceivable that the trucks, who bring in the supply for the demand, will drastically reduce also.

Okay, so you don’t really want to pay the higher prices for the premium produce from the farmer’s market. How are you going to do your part? There’s that ugly patch of nothingness out in the back landscaping. Why don’t you turn that spot of uselessness into a lushious garden that gives you top-notch vegetables for not much more that your labor? This would be the best option because you would, at the same time, not demand anything from the suppliers who use the semis to truck the produce in, and reduce your own air pollution by not going to the grocery store or even the local farmer’s market. I would imagine that if you had a green roof this would also be a wonderful area to transform into a productive garden. Gardening can be very therapeutic. You can pull up weeds when you angry, and watch the plants grow when your meditative. They’re a great way to work out stress.

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We had looked at green roofs and root cellars pretty well recently, so I think that this topic comes in quite seamlessly. Gardening is an excellent way to save on energy. Growing your own food would save a good bit of money both in the fuel it takes to get to the market and in the produce you would normally buy there. How extensive your garden is is entirely up to you, the amount you feel capable of handling, and how much space you have available both for the garden itself as well as the area for the food you decide to preserve.

If a garden is going to be truly “green” it should be based on heirloom varieties and utilize “organic” methods. If the garden is not primarily heirloom and “oraganic”, then it is necessarily connected to gigantic seed and chemical companies. These companies do not have a policy of protecting our environment through the production of good seed and safe chemicals. their policy is instead one of profit. They will sell whatever as long as it rakes in a bundle of money. As I thought about this article I took a look at one very major seed company and its policies. There are fears that this company has too much influence in the government and that it is developing “Terminator” seeds. Terminator seeds are those that cannot be saved. The mature plant develops seeds, but the seeds are unable to complete the natural cycle and grow  into mature plants. This is feared by many because of its potential to completely wipe out the small farmer who has been growing and saving his own seed for generations. There is even a campaign that is completely against this seed company.

This is another reason for doing your own gardening. You are able to control what seed you are able to use and what chemicals you apply. It would be a major step in both personal and even national security if people would once more turn to gardening for their food supply. It makes complete sense that the more food products we import the more we make ourselves vulnerable to subversive attack. Just think for a minute, we import food from hostile countries as a political move. That is endangering the entire country by opening it up to any sort of poisoning that the hostile country could come up with. The inspections that the food undergoes is not perfect, and all the hostile country would have to do is come up with a new type of lethal poisoning that the inspections would not catch and they’d have the whole country in its power. We’ve got the same thing going on here in the food industry as we do in the oil industry! Think national security and personal protection, people! Pull your head out of the lion’s mouth quickly before he decides to bite!

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Are WOLEDs, or white organic light-emitting devices, going to push even CFLs out of the lighting market in the near future? HERE

Top three energy efficient countries: Japan, Denmark, and Switzerland. Efficient mainly because they have to import things expensively, this is a big incentive to use those things efficiently. HERE

“Rosenfeld estimated that the savings from doing things more efficiently amounts to about 15 percent of the total electricity Californians use in a year.” HERE

“The result is a home in harmony with its environment without sacrificing the comforts of a modern lifestyle.” HERE

After looking into root cellars a little, the only natural step is, of course, to delve into spring houses a bit. Spring houses were used to store things that couldn’t necessarily keep very long or well in the root cellars. Milk and butter specifically come to mind. Spring houses were build directly over a stream or possibly as an outlet for a hillside spring. The water would be directed through a trough before going out the other side and continuing on it’s natural course. Jars of milk and butter would be stored right in the water. This kept them plenty cool to stay fresh for several days. There are many elaborate stone spring houses, but there were some that were much simpler made out of wood. However, as we have seen, stone is a much better insulator than wood, so they probably stay a little cooler, besides standing longer without as much maintenance.

The placement of the spring house is fairly crucial. They should, if at all possible, be placed in shade; this will help them stay even cooler. They were usually placed on top of the spring or small creek or stream, but in areas where there were no natural springs, parts of larger creeks were often diverted through the spring house. The water from these sources, but especially from the spring, stay at a fairly constant temperature throughout the entire year. Spring houses were very important in history, and many of them still stand. They may even still be operable if the spring hasn’t dried up through the years. What a legacy! Families passed their land and everything on them down through the generations. That included the spring house. I rather doubt that we could had our modern refrigerators down too much!

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I linked to a couple of websites about root cellars yesterday, including one that told how to change an old freezer or refrigerator into a root cellar. I thought I’d do the same thing today. So, without further ado, here are a few links that tell how to make root cellars, how to pack root cellars, and so on and so forth:

This site tells how to make a root cellar out of pallets.

In this article, Mike Wells tells about his root cellar adventures.

The Return of the Root Cellars is a rather long, but informative article that covers several aspects of a root cellars.

This article tells how to turn a  corner in your basement into a root cellar.

Here’s another article taking you through the steps of turning a basement into a root cellar.

This page lists several food items and what they particularly like in the root cellar.

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The key to root cellaring is knowing when to harvest the produce. There are fairly specific times when only the best produce is harvested for that type of storage. This website has a lot of information about several types of produce that can go into the root cellar as well as having a handy chart at the bottom of the page that shows what temperatures and humidity levels are optimum for many types of produce. For example, winter squash, pumpkins, onions, and garlic like the humidity level much lower than celery, beets, and parsnips.

As well as know when to harvest and how to store though you’ve got to have a working root cellar. Many root cellars are like hobbit holes, if you will, but there are some that are made of things that you may well have in your trash pile. Do you have a use for that old, broken refridgerator? or perhaps it’s a deep freezer? or maybe just a trash can that you don’t have a use for? Well, turn trash into treasure! Solve two problems with one cellar. Don’t worry about hauling that freezer off; use it! This website gives the steps involved in turning your old freezer into a root cellar.

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Have you ever visited an old farmstead or a living history museum where they allow you to go down under the ground into a dark, cool, and damp room? What were your thoughts? Perhaps you thought that it was something akin to the modern day basement. Possibly. Or maybe you immediately guessed the significance of that room for the early pioneers. Root cellars were just about the only way they had to store crops that needed to stay cool in the heat of the summer. They were also used, in the more northern areas, to keep things from freezing in the winter. Well, root cellars are still capable of doing that today. They are a cheap and effective way to store your potatoes, carrots, apples, etc. In the early pioneer days people would have to dig out their cellars with pick axes; today we have the modern convenience of a back hoe.

There are basically three types of root cellars: 1) The ones that are built into the side of a hill. 2) The ones built flat on the level ground, and 3) those that are in someway connected to the main house. We’ll look into these different types in a later post. The main purpose is, and has always been, temperature control. The most effective temperature control is attained about ten feet under ground, but going that far down is not always feasible or practical.

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Green walls are full of benefits! They have the obvious benefits of attracting attention which could turn into business and then there’s the aesthetic benefit. Of course people would rather look at greenery than concrete; in this way, it may even have a psychological benefit. There’s also the environmental benefits: adding organic life to a sterile environment helps alleviate polluted run-off and improves the air quality. This is just a few of the benefits of living walls.

Here are several links to more information about green walls:

• The Green Walls Column

• Building Green

• Patrick Blanc

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Green Walls, also known as vertical gardens, living walls, and biowalls, are typically composed of three parts:

1. Metal frame
2. Layer of PVC
3. Layer of felt

The metal frame can be mounted onto an existing wall or free-standing. A 1 centimeter-thick layer of PVC is then attached to the frame. This adds rigidity as well as waterproofing. Then a layer of polyamide felt is stapled to the PVC. The felt gives good water distribution; the roots of the plants grow on the felt.

There are two main categories in green walls: green facades, and living walls. Green facades are usually climbing plants growing either directly on the wall or on specially design structures. Living walls are made up of pre-vegetated panels attached to a wall. These walls can be put up anywhere as long as there is access to artificial light, water, and fertilizer. The walls are watered from the top, and the watering and fertilizing are usually automated.

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This is another green roof category. It is not as common, and there is not a whole lot about it out there, so I thought I’d mainly do some linking. The best summary of semi-intensive green roofs that I have come across is: “This combines the benefits of lower maintenance and accessibility to the green roof area.”

Here are the links:

• Minnesota Green Roofs Council

• Green Roof Servic, LLC

• Carnegie Building Services

• ELT Easy Green™ Green Roof Systems

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More people and businesses looking to cut costs and be more efficient HERE.

“…Wisconsin businesses big and small are ready to get serious about energy savings. Forget the environmentalism cliches, they say, this is about dollars and cents…” HERE.

“…Even if all customers drove very fuel-efficient vehicles, we found that it is more efficient for a farmer or delivery person to distribute products to individual homes, rather than for customers to pick up products at centralized locations…”HERE.

“Hawaii has become the first state in the nation to pass into law a requirement that all new homes built after January 1, 2010, be equipped with solar or other energy efficient hot water systems.” HERE.

Is it really possible for this extremely irritating weed (to put it mildly) to be useful? Is there something that we can turn this stuff into other than goat feed? Well, according to some, the answer is “perhaps.” Theoretically it is possible, but there are still kinks to be worked out.

• Kudzu Gets Kudos as a Potential Biofuel

• Leafy, invasive, irritating kudzu could be NASCAR’s fuel of the future

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