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buffalo
Guest
Hookup all the exercise machines in all the gyms to the grid.
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lynnvinc
Guest
That’s a great idea. In fact it might be a draw – “help your health AND the planet!” Sometimes we need 2 reasons to motivate us to do a good thing. $$ have just clinged into my eyes – one could start a chain of “Healthy Planet Gyms.” Since I’m booked with other work – how about someone here stepping up and starting this!! It could have a wheatgrass juice bar, and … the imagination runs wild.
I remember years ago some product whereby one can hook up their bicycle and generate electricity…sort of like using the bicycle as an exercise machine. Put it before the TV and run the TV on it!
As I write I google & look at these:
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4elise
Guest
Good article - so even if someone is ‘not able’ to go vegan - they CAN make a difference by reducing their consumption of meat, poultry, dairy - to ONE serving a day. A good - hopefully - first step… as anyone (baring rare health issues) ‘can’ go vegan if they value the difference it can make, I believe — BUT this would be a great first step!
Nice.
Another great idea.
Make the “environmentally friendly” alternatives economically competitive to the conventional.
The only efforts I can say I have made toward environmentalism occurred because I was watching the bottom line.
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Luna_Lovecraft
Guest
Same here. I remember complaining about being cold during Michigan winters and my folks telling me to put on a sweather because they weren’t turning up the thermostat. When I got my first apartment I turned up the heat and walked around in shorts in December… until I got my first bill… and then I put a sweater.
Luna
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Arizona_Mike
Guest
Works great out here in Arizona. I’ve cooked a peach and cherry dump cobbler and made stews in the backyard in the summer using a similar solar cooker set-up. Keeps the house cooler, too. It helps to paint the cooking pot black to absorb more radiation. Like using a crock pot or slow cooker, it also helps if you’re not in a hurry to eat and have time to prepare and wait for it to cook.
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lynnvinc
Guest
The amazing thing is nearly every environmental measure also saves money (or doesn’t cost). That is, some things have an upfront higher cost, like CF & LED bulbs, but save money long run.
I think the main blockage here in America is that we shy away from things that cost more, even if they last longer and/or save money long run. For instance when we visited a friend in Germany some 25 years ago, it was a bit colder than we had planned and she gave me a pair of her knee-high stockings. I wore them for years, while American brands wear out in a few weeks or months. Then years later when we visited Germany again, I wanted to go to the store and buy some of those knee-highs, but ended up not doing so, bec the price was too high, even though it really was not high when figuring the cost of all those American knee-highs it would outlast. It was like a psychological blockage.
Anyway, once a family has saved lots of money from the many environmental measures that save, then they might consider implementing some measures that cost more. Like buying organic foods. But then again, organic foods are more nutritious (reducing the amount needed to eat) and may save on health care costs down the line.
I’m having a hard time thinking of environmental measures that cost more and never ever go on to save money long term. I thought that would apply to our new Chevy Volt, but then did a spreadsheet and figured even that, very high priced as it was, would be saving money long run over the car my husband wanted.
What I have found out in all this – bec so many people I know do not opt for the cost-effective environmentally better alternatives – is (echoing the “free lunch” dictum) “there is no such thing as an economically rational man.”
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lynnvinc
Guest
You’re ahead of me. I’ve got to try this…
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Arizona_Mike
Guest
Use a big old pot and cover, spray paint exterior of pot and lid with black engine block paint. (Wait to dry, of course) In the pot, empty two large cans of sliced peaches after you drain the juice out. (Reserve the peach juice and drink it like Steve McQueen in “Nevada Smith” if you’re of a mind to do so), or 1 large can of drained sliced peaches and 1 large can of cherry pie filling. Sprinkle on some cinnamon or cinnamon-sugar mix if you’d like. On top of that, dump a box of dry white cake mix (don’t add the eggs, oil, or anything else the box tells you to add for a regular cake). Then, pour a can of 7-Up all over the top. Cover with a lid, put inside large plastic baking bag and place in your solar cooker. It can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours depending on how sunny and hot it is, best to start around 10:00 am or so in the summer. Check the cobbler occasionally, when the crust is nice and brown (it will be a little soupy), it’s ready. Serve with sun tea if you’re a total hippie.
Two good plans: solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Fun-Panel and solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Windshield_Shade_Solar_Cooker
I can agree with the lights you mention, but they simply do not fulfill many purposes people have.
I utilize dimmer switches in my house, a CF or LED simply will not do the job.
But I do utilize these in other places and can readily attest that they last many years longer then a standard light bulb, and ammortized out is much cheaper.
The cars…not so much.
They will not suit. Many people (as I do) simply own their car outright.
It is cheaper to continue to fuel my van even if it gets 15 to the gallon then it would be to make a new car payment every month.
There should be a better marketing scheme. I am sure there are sales to be made in touting the environmental friendliness of a product, but people listen to the bottom line.
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Luna_Lovecraft
Guest
We’re in central California and really love our solar cooker. We’re not particularly handy people so we bought one online: solarovens.org/
People say they do their baking in theirs, but I’ve not had much luck in that area. I tried bread once last summer, but it came out a bit gooey. The temps inside our cooker only reach about 275 degrees, which I don’t think is hot enough to get a good crust.
We use ours like you’d use a slow cooker: stews, pot roasts, baked beans, stewed fruits, etc. I detest adding heat to the house when it’s 115 degrees outside, which is common in these parts in July-August, so without our oven I very much doubt we’d eat much hot food in the summer.Luna
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lynnvinc
Guest
Thanks for the tip. Might get one.We’re in central California and really love our solar cooker. We’re not particularly handy people so we bought one online: solarovens.org/
People say they do their baking in theirs, but I’ve not had much luck in that area. I tried bread once last summer, but it came out a bit gooey. The temps inside our cooker only reach about 275 degrees, which I don’t think is hot enough to get a good crust.
Luna
We do cook rice everyday (my husband is from S. India), so it would work for that. Also maybe the sambar…thick lentil soup that we put over the rice.
I do have to confess, however, that rice is a high GHG food, along the lines of meat. So it is one of those things we do that does not reduce our GHGs.
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lynnvinc
Guest
I believe they do have CF & LED dimmable lights now. See greenelectricalsupply.com/dimmable-compact-fluorescent-light-bulbs.aspx?gclid=CLvc8a-FsK8CFaldTAodiBz9DQ and homedepot.com/buy/electrical-light-bulbs-led/philips-12-watt-60w-equivalent-a19-ambient-led-soft-white-light-bulb-dimmable-117236.html
We also had a dimmer switch for our dinning room light back in 1990 when I started switching to CF lights, so we just replaced the dimmer switch with a regular one. One of the ways we reduce the light (dim it) is to slightly unscrew one or more of the bulbs, then screw them in tight when we want it brighter.
Also, they have 2w to 14w CF candle bulbs (= 10 to 60w incandescent) – see lightbulbemporium.com/torpedo_cfls.asp . If one has an assortment in their candelabra, then they can unscrew various ones to get just the right dimming.
We could have bought our Volt with cash, since we’ve been saving $1000s for over 40 years of environmental living (like always living within a mile or 2 of work for over 43 years), and we always bought beater cars with cash. So we’ve been saving royally.
However the interest rate on the car load was so small – 2.5% – that we decided to get a car loan for the first time in our married 43 year life, and pay off some other investments we have that are at higher interest rates (the one at 6.75%)…
So again, we’re actually saving money by getting the car loan.
I think the issue is, if people seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all things will be added unto them. If people seek first economic benefit, I’m thinking it would be like grasping at a mirage and ending them up worse off economically. Maybe that’s how divine economy works. Because we never thought of the money saving aspect – that was just a side benefit.
$25.00 bucks each!
At 66 cents each for standard, these things need to last at least 75 years just to make up the cost.
Of course, I did not put in possible energy savings. But that is only 25 watts difference. I doubt the saving is going to be readily noticeable on the monthly electric bill.
I like it, it is cool technology.
But I am not going to have it since it simply is too expensive.
My church teaches that we should be good stewards.
It does not teach that I should make economically unsound decisions to mitigate environmental consequences that may not be there.
The good steward thinks through first, then acts in the best interest.
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RACJ
Guest
Ground Al Gore’s and the Obamas’ jets. :yup: Rob
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lynnvinc
Guest
Good stewards also involves giving charity to those in need AND reducing one’s harm to other people to whatever extent feasible. Living prudently and frugally, so one has some extra $$ to donate to charity and to implement measures that would reduce one’s harm to others.
And if you haven’t got a halfenny, then God bless you. And I’d suggest becoming an environmentalist so as to save pennies and $$ and get onto the road to prosperity
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lynnvinc
Guest
It would be good for us all to find ways to reduce our need for air travel. Now we do travel by air several times a year – both business travel and personal – so I’m far from perfect, and just hope my other measures help compensate for that.
It would be great if we could have some “silver bullet” trains like that have in France. We went from Paris to Lourdes in a fews hours; it was great. It would also be even greater, if those trains could run on alt-energy electricity or fuel. One of the benefits of train travel is that people don’t have to go through airport rigamaroll, which adds an extra hour to two to one’s travel.
The problem we have in America re plan and train travel is that we are scattered so far around, unlike Europe, where people are closer to each other.
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Ridgerunner
Guest
There might be health benefits in reducing the consumption of meat from what most people eat. But consider this.
1/3 of the planet’s habitable surface is suitable for nothing but grassland. You can’t grow crops on it. The only way to derive food from it is to run that grass through a cow, goat or sheep. Ranching uses very little energy compared to crop growing. Massively less. But the energy utilization climbs when cattle are grain fed (“finished”) at the very end, for 80-120 days, though it still doesn’t compare with the crop-growing for human consumption. That’s to get more fat into the meat, and it’s called “marbling”. Aussies don’t do that. They eat totally grass-fed beef, mutton, etc, and prefer it. Vegans would actually REDUCE energy consumption if they backed up on the vegan diet and ate more meat…so long as it is grass-fed.
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