Category Archives: energy conservation measures

Al Casella – Tributes by Bob Croteau and Fletcher Farrar

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Al touched a lot of people’s lives. He actually named this organization. More from the people who loved him. Bob Croteau offered this:

There are usually a few formative personalities you meet who have a profound impact on your life, Alex Casella was one of those for me.

I was struggling with direction as I had abandoned my chemistry career with the maker of Alka Seltzer and One-a-Day vitamins, feeling like I was part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I needed to do something with my hands and was doing home remodeling jobs, but that was not fulfilling either and started dabbling in solar energy projects.

My sister Suzanne was attending Sangamon State in the mid-1970s and told me about this innovative university, and a guy teaching solar energy classes. She said I should come down and check it out. I came to Springfield and SSU.  When I first met Al and his students, they were building a geodesic dome and solar collectors to heat it. This was definitely the place I wanted to be where it wasn’t just talk; they were getting down to it. This was where I could blend my science and my “build it” needs.

Alex had a class called Community Energy Systems which led to the creation of a not-for-profit corporation by class members and commuity activists. They hired me and 2 others to do solar demonstration and weatherization projects. In 1984 I was hired by CWLP and just celebrated my 25th anniversary of employment there pursuing my environmental passion.

He also took it to higher levels including a policy changing campaign bringing in the gurus of energy efficiency to Springfield like Amory Lovins and embarking on the Springfield Energy Project that identified all the things with energy policy that we still need to do now, thirty years later, to help save us from environmental and economic mayhem.

Clearly I owe this man of vision, compassion and intelligence my thanks. And so I offer this song to you that I sang for him many years ago because I feel it talks to how Alex lived his life.

(editor’s note: this part was sung, and I can not do justice to that. Bob Croteau has a marvelous voice)

 

Second Story Window from Rita Coolidge‘s first album.

 

Live your life however, you want to do whatever, you want to and you’ll never die.

You can do whatever, you want to do whatever, you want to do, and you can try.

(Chorus)

And you know who your friends are, by looking in their eyes.

You know so you smile, but they never realize,

What goes on inside of every me and you, keeps on a rolling on, keeps on a rolling on.

 

Life just lasts a second, you don’t have time to  reckon things that people say and do.

Try to find your secrets, death is just a sequence, to be one day rolling through.

And you know who your friends are…

 

If you can love then you can, live forever you can, live forever if you love.

You just be a giver and help the poor deliver, it’s something less for something more.

Chorus

And you know…

You know so you smile, and sometimes they realize, What goes on…           

 

Thank you Alex

Alex is still with us.

 

Bob Croteau
MA-Environmental Studies SSU

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Bud Farrar offered this:

Editor’s note

At IT we’re sad this week about the passing of our old friend and colleague Alex Casella, who died March 5 at the age of 69. The former Sangamon State University professor was solar before solar was cool, doing most of his scientific work during the last energy crisis in the 1970s and 80’s. He was passionate about sustainable energy, but not just passionate. He was also sensible, making sure he had his facts straight and offering the best argument for the cause of renewable fuels. Al never passed up a chance to make his argument, appearing in these pages as often as we’d give him the chance in letters to the editor, guest columns and features. His tireless commitment to what he knew was right advanced the cause with hundreds of students and anyone who knew him. We’ll have to take it from here. — Fletcher Farrar, editor

Saving The World By Starting A Garden – Think about the advantages of getting your hands dirty

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To sum up and add some odd thoughts that do not fit well anywhere else. The reason that eating locally beginning with growing your own vegetables is that the corporate farms ship food around the world. Raspberries from Chile, Peppers to China, and Bananas from Central America…Not to mention coffee from everywhere. All this takes incredible amounts of energy, to the point where we are literally drinking oil. This is just wrong. I could go on about how, it is good for you and tons of other stuff but this column’s about energy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/business/worldbusiness/26food.html

Environmental Cost of

Shipping Groceries Around the World

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Published: April 26, 2008

Correction Appended

Cod caught off Norway is shipped to China to be turned into filets, then shipped back to Norway for sale. Argentine lemons fill supermarket shelves on the Citrus Coast of Spain, as local lemons rot on the ground. Half of Europe’s peas are grown and packaged in Kenya.

In the United States, FreshDirect proclaims kiwi season has expanded to “All year!” now that Italy has become the world’s leading supplier of New Zealand’s national fruit, taking over in the Southern Hemisphere’s winter.

Food has moved around the world since Europeans brought tea from China, but never at the speed or in the amounts it has over the last few years. Consumers in not only the richest nations but, increasingly, the developing world expect food whenever they crave it, with no concession to season or geography.

http://www.iptv.org/mtom/story.cfm?Lid=358

The Cost Of Food Transportation

The creation and implementation of the Department of Homeland Security has intensified the quest to make the nation’s food supply more secure.

That effort along with consumer demand is encouraging the development of an alternative agricultural economy, one that is less dependent upon imports.

Advocates of the local food movement argue that sourcing food grown closer to home would avoid the potential of terrorist contamination.

They also note a more intensive local food economy would conserve much of the massive amount of energy that is currently expended to transport food.

A visit to the local Midwest grocery store which sells tangerines from South Africa, apples from New Zealand, boxes of bananas from Costa Rica and asparagus from Mexico confirms it is truly a global marketplace.

Even for grapes grown in the U.S., the produce can still be trucked hundreds of miles to Midwest or East Coast markets.

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If you have extra produce donate it to the local foodbank:

 http://countrylife.lehmans.com/2008/10/08/extra-produce/

Extra Garden Produce? Bank It and Make a Difference

Posted October 8th, 2008 by Dori Fritzinger

We have all been there. Our little garden produces great big yields, more than we can use. You have canned all your

pantry (and you) can handle, and


 

given away enough that your family and neighbors hide when you come to their door with vegetables. Do not let that last fresh produce spoil! Donate it to your local food bank!

 

Call your local food bank and ask if it takes fresh produce donations. If so, find out on what days and times. If not, ask if they have the number of a local charity that does. Times are hard all over, with prices rising like they are, and we can each do a little to help. Believe it or not, it adds up and can truly make a great difference in someone’s life.

 

Pick your produce fresh the day you plan to deliver it. Wash it well. Pick through and discard spoiled pieces or parts. Place your produce in containers that will be easy to lift and carry. If you can leave the containers, it will save time for the charity volunteers and you. With a permanent magic marker write your name, address, and phone number on the bottom to identify your baskets. Many food banks will hold onto your containers and give them back empty when you stop in again.

 

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If you have extra produce, sell it or barter it at a local Farmer’s Market:

 http://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2008/jul/110301.htm

Should You Sell Your Extra Produce at a Farmers’ Market?

7/2/2008

By Andy Larson
Small Farms Specialist
Iowa State University Extension

 

We are approaching that time of year when Iowa home gardeners have more tomatoes, green beans and zucchini than they can use. The recent buzz about local foods makes you wonder, “Could I make a few bucks selling my extra produce at a farmers’ market?”

 

The answer may not be as simple as you think…

The number of farmers’ markets has skyrocketed, but few markets are so loosely organized that they allow anyone with a vehicle and a table to sell food. Most markets are administered by a market association with a market master who can provide rules as well as a vendor application.

 

Market documents should detail

  • hours and season of operation,

  • what kind of vendors may sell and whether they may sell only products they produce,

  • what types of products may be sold,
    necessary permits or licenses required, and

  • the schedule of fees.

Guidelines are established with the safety of the customer and the character of the farmers’ market in mind.

Occasional selling at farmers’ market
Some markets have daily vendor rates. There are a few things to consider before spending six or seven hours of your weekend trying to sell excess produce.

 

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Give it or sell it to a local grocery store.

 

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/588162

Grocery stores that sell local produce in NYC?

I try to get to GreenMarket a couple times a week, but since I mostly only have nights free I don’t get to the farmer’s markets nearly as often as I’d like. I’m new to the city and am wondering if anyone knows of grocery stores (preferably in the East Village area, but not necessary) where I can buy local, organic produce and meats. The only local produce Whole Foods on 14th has right now is onions… Thanks for the help.

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Give it directly to the poor themselves. That’s right find a poor family and give it to them. OR go to a social service agency and have them match you up to a family.

ODDs and INS

Do not burn your YARD WASTE, including garden clutter! Please pretty please…

Seeds from last year – toss them in the river or by the roadside. Give them a chance to grow. I toss sunflower seeds in my compost pile and they go nuts all summer long.

Buy a good juicer and use it. No cooking and very little prep-time. Health. It is a no brainer.

Don’t forget the herbs. Open your pantry door and take out all of that rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, parsley, cilantro, dumb garlic products, and many other herbs. Throw them on the compost pile. Fresh is BEST.

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Energy Saving Gardening – What a lot of work

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Here is where we separate the real gardeners from those with a passing interest. This one word scares the bejesus out of most people who are unfamiliar with the process. CANNING. But modern appliances and some shortcuts have made it a lot easier to do.

http://www.homecanning.com/

www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm

foodsafety.psu.edu/canningguide.html

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/general.html

There are BOATLOADS of places that push canning and other cooking methods of food prep for long term storage. This takes energy, and your bills will reflect it. But when you add up those bills and compare them to what you save on your food bills, you will save a ton of money. Plus you are not drinking oil. IT’s healthy. But it is hot and it is a lot of work.

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General Canning Information

How Canning Preserves Foods

The high percentage of water in most fresh foods makes them very perishable. They spoil or lose their quality for several reasons:

  • growth of undesirable microorganisms-bacteria, molds, and yeasts,
  • activity of food enzymes,
  • reactions with oxygen,
  • moisture loss.

Microorganisms live and multiply quickly on the surfaces of fresh food and on the inside of bruised, insect-damaged, and diseased food. Oxygen and enzymes are present throughout fresh food tissues.

Proper canning practices include:

  • carefully selecting and washing fresh food,
  • peeling some fresh foods,
  • hot packing many foods,
  • adding acids (lemon juice or vinegar) to some foods,
  • using acceptable jars and self-sealing lids,
  • processing jars in a boiling-water or pressure canner for the correct period of time.

Collectively, these practices remove oxygen; destroy enzymes; prevent the growth of undesirable bacteria, yeasts, and molds; and help form a high vacuum in jars. Good vacuums form tight seals which keep liquid in and air and microorganisms out.

OK, I need a canner?  Why types are there?

Equipment for heat-processing home-canned food is of two main types–boiling-water canners and pressure canners. There are many other types which are NOT recommended by the authorities (see this page for more about obsolete and unsafe canning methods)

Most are designed to hold seven quart jars or eight to nine pints. Small pressure canners hold four quart jars; some large pressure canners hold 18 pint jars in two layers, but hold only seven quart jars. Pressure saucepans with smaller volume capacities are not recommended for use in canning. Small capacity pressure canners are treated in a similar manner as standard larger canners, and should be vented using the typical venting procedures.

Low-acid foods must be processed in a pressure canner to be free of botulism risks.  This is because botulism-producing bacteria produce spores that can survive boiling water temperatures, but are destroyed using a pressure canner with the appropriate time and pressure, which reaches temperatures between 240 and 250 degrees F.  Low-acid foods include meats, dairy, sea food, poultry, all vegetables (except tomatoes) and many fruits (notably figs).  Be sure to see this page for a detailed list of the  Acid content of common fruits and vegetables.

 Higher acid foods (and those which have been acidified and tested) that may be safely canned in a boiling water bath canner include jams, jellies, pickles, applesauce, apple butter, peaches, peach butter, pears, pear butter, spaghetti sauce without meat, tomatoes, ketchup and tomatoes.

Which Type of Canner Should I Get

There are advantages and disadvantages of Pressure and Boiling Water Bath Canners.  Which is best for you depends upon what you want to can and your budget.

Water bath canners are faster for higher acid foods

Although pressure canners may also be used for processing higher acid foods, boiling-water canners are recommended for this purpose because they are faster. A pressure canner would require from 55 to 100 minutes to process a load of jars; while the total time for processing most acid foods in boiling water varies from 25 to 60 minutes. A boiling-water canner loaded with filled jars requires about 20 to 30 minutes of heating before its water begins to boil.

A loaded pressure canner requires about

  • 12 to 15 minutes of heating before it begins to vent;
  • another 10 minutes to vent the canner;
  • another 5 minutes to pressurize the canner;
  • another 8 to 10 minutes to process the acid food; and, finally,
  • another 20 to 60 minutes to cool the canner before removing jars.

But Water Bath Canners cannot be used for meats, dairy, sea food, poultry, vegetables and many fruits.

And the food quality and storage time is better with a pressure canner.  Because they get hotter (240F vs 180F-212F) pressure canners result in a better flavor and the ability for to store for a longer time.

A pressure canner can be used as a boiling water bath canner, just remove the gauge and weight.  That way you have 2 canners in one!

Conclusion: Pressure canners cost more to buy, but ultimately, you can “can” more foods in them, store the foods longer, and use the same canner as a pressure canner or without sealing the lid, as a boiling water bath canner.

See this page for a selection of pressure canners at excellent prices, and this link for boiling water bath canners

You can also find free information about canners from the USDA in this PDF file (it will take a while to load!) about selecting and using canners here!

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One of the few get to it guides:

http://www-podunk.com/home-canning-guide.html

Sugar and Salt

Sugar helps retain the color, shape and texture of canned fruits. Sugar is usually added as a syrup. To make syrup, pour 4 cups of water into a saucepan and add:

  • 2 cups of sugar to make 5 cups of thin syrup or
  • 3 cups of sugar to make 5 ý cups of medium syrup or
  • 4 1/4 cups of sugar to make 6 ý cups of heavy syrup.

    •

Heat until the sugar dissolves. Make 1 to 1 ý cups of syrup for each quart of fruit. Up to half the sugar used in making syrup can be replaced with light corn syrup or mild-flavored honey. Fruits also can be safely canned without sugar. Pack the fruit in extracted juice, in juice from another fruit (such as bottled apple juice, pineapple juice, or white grape juice) or in water.Salt may be added to vegetables and tomatoes before canning. Since its only function is flavor, it can safely be omitted. Canning fruits and vegetables without adding sugar or salt does not affect processing times or microbiological safety.

Packing Instructions

The two methods of packing, food into canning jars are raw pack and hot pack. Raw pack is packing raw, prepared food into clean, hot jars and then adding hot liquid. Fruits and most vegetables need to be packed tightly because they will shrink during processing. However, raw corn, lima beans, and peas should be packed loosely, as they will expand. For hot pack, heat prepared food to boiling, or partially cook it. It should be packed loosely boiling, hot into clean, hot jars. Hot pack takes more time but has been found to result in higher quality canned foods. For either packing, method, pack acid foods including tomatoes and acidified figs to within ý-inch of the top of the jar. Low acid foods to within 1 inch of the top of the jar. After food is packed into jars, wipe the jar rims clean. Put on the lid with the sealing compound next to the jar rim. Screw the band down firmly so that it is hand-tight. Do not use a far wrench to tighten screw bands. There must be enough “give” for air to escape from the jars during, processing. Process food promptly after packing it into jars and adjusting lids. Processing times are given for pints and quarts. If you are using half pint jars, use processing times for pints. For one-and-one-half pint jars, use processing times for quarts. Fruit juices are the only product that may be canned in half gallon jars.

Processing in a Water-Bath Canner

Use a water bath canner to process acidified tomatoes, acidified figs and all other fruits. A pressure canner can be used to process acid foods but the quality will not be as good.

  1. Fill the canner half full with water; then cover and heat. For raw-packed food, have the water hot but not boiling. For hot-packed food, have the water boiling
  2. Using a far lifter, place jars filled with food on the rack in the canner. If necessary, add boiling water to brine, water 1 to 2 inches over the tops of the jars. Do not pour boiling, water directly on jars. Cover.
  3. When water comes to a rolling boil, start counting the processing time. Keep water at a boil for the entire processing time. Add more boiling water to keep water I to 2 inches above jars.
  4. As soon as the processing time is up, use a jar lifter to remove jars from canner. If liquid boiled out of the jars during processing, do not open them to add more. Do not retighten screw bands, even if they are noticeably loose.

    5.

Processing in a Pressure Canner

If you live at an altitude of 0-1000 feet you can process foods in a weighted gauge pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure. If you are using, a dial gauge pressure canner, use 11 pounds pressure. If you live at an altitude more than 2,000 feet you need to increase the pounds pressure at which you process foods. These increases are not given in this bulletin. Contact your county extension center to get this information. If tomato products are acidified, they can be safely processed in a water bath canner. If not, they must be processed in a pressure canner.

Here are some pointers for using a pressure canner:

  1. Pour 2 or 3 inches of water in the bottom of the canner and heat to boiling.
  2. Set jars on the rack in the canner. If you have two layers of jars in the canner, use a rack between them and stagger the second layer.
  3. Fasten the canner cover securely so steam cannot escape except through the vent.
  4. Once steam pours steadily from vent, let it escape for 10 minutes to drive all air from the canner. During, processing, the canner must be filled with steam, not air, since it is steam that reaches the desired temperature of 240’F.
  5. If the canner has a weighted gauge, start counting the processing time when it jiggles or rocks. The target pressure for this type of canner is 10 pounds pressure. Adjust heat so that gauge jiggles 2 or 3 times a minute or maintains a slow, steady , rocking motion.
  6. If the canner has a dial gauge, bring pressure up quickly to 8 pounds, then adjust the heat to maintain 11 pounds pressure. Start counting the processing times when the gauge registers 11 pounds pressure.
  7. When the processing time is up, turn off the burner. (If you are using, a coal or wood stove, remove canner from heat.) Let the pressure in the canner drop to zero by itself. This may take 45 minutes in a 16-quart canner filled with jars and almost an hour in a 22-quart canner. If the vent is opened before the pressure drops to zero or if the cooling is rushed by running, cold water over the canner, liquid will be lost from the jars.
  8. When the pressure has dropped to zero, open the vent or remove the weighted gauge. (With a weighted gauge canner, pressure is completely reduced if no steam escapes when the gauge is nudged or tilted. If steam spurts out, pressure is not yet down.)
  9. Remove canner cover carefully, tilting it away from your face so that the rising steam cannot burn your face or hands.
  10. Remove jars from canner. If liquid boiled out of jars during processing, do not open jars to add more liquid. Do not retighten screw bands, even if they are noticeably loose.
  11. Place hot jars upright to cool on a towel or rack. Leave space between them so air can circulate. Keep jars our of drafts.

Check Seals

Vacuum seals form as the jars cool. When jars are cool (12 to 24 hours after processing), check the seals. If the lid is depressed or concave and will not move when pressed, it is sealed. If sealed, carefully remove screw bands. If a band sticks, loosen it by covering, it for a moment with a hot, damp cloth. Bands left on jars during storage may rust, making later removal difficult. If you find an unsealed jar, do one of the following:

  • Refrigerate the food and use it within 2 to 3 days.
  • Freeze the food. (Drain vegetables before freezing.)
  • Reprocess the food. Remove lids, empty the contents in to a pan, heat to boiling, pack into clean, hot jars, and put on new lids. Process again for the full time. The eating quality of twice-processed food may be poor. If more than 24 hours have gone by since processing, throw out the food. It might be unsafe to eat.

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I live in growing zone 5 which will not mean much to nongardeners. Draw a line from New Jersey to Central California. Draw another line from Georgia to Somewhere in mid Salinas Valley California and you just about have it. I bring this up because corporate foodies will say that when the garden harvest comes in, it comes in at the same time. So you will have thousands of canners firing up at the same time. This is a waste and they can do it “au masse” cheaper, faster and more efficiently. Of course then they have to transport it….AHHH they don’t really have an answer for that because shipping is not their cost. It is an externallity. Which is why corporate america should be kept away from our food supply. Very Far From Our Food Supply.

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Changing To A Sustainable Economy A Matter Of Choice – It’s in the can man

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It really is a matter of quitting. We do not have to emit life threatening  green house gases into the upper atmosphere if we do not want to. That’s a fact jack:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-sweden-carbonfree_goeringmar03,0,3023238.story

Going green: Entire Swedish city switches

to biofuels to become environmentally

friendly

Industrial community makes change with a minimum of cost, pain

By Laurie Goering |Tribune correspondent
March 3, 2009

KALMAR, Sweden — Though a fraction of Chicago’s size, this industrial city in southeast Sweden has plenty of similarities with it, including a long, snowy winter and a football team the town’s crazy about.

One thing is dramatically different about Kalmar, however: It is on the verge of eliminating the use of fossil fuels, for good, and with minimal effect on its standard of living.

The city of 60,000—and its surrounding 12-town region, with a quarter-million people—has traded in most of its oil, gas and electric furnaces for community “district heat,” produced at plants that burn sawdust and wood waste left by timber companies. Hydropower, nuclear power and windmills now provide more than 90 percent of the region’s electricity.

Kalmar’s publicly owned cars and buses—and a growing share of its private and business vehicles—run on biogas made from waste wood and chicken manure, or an 85 percent ethanol blend from Brazil.

ust as important, the switch from oil and gas is helping slash fuel bills and preserve jobs in a worldwide economic downturn. And despite dramatic drops in fossil fuel consumption, residents say nobody has been forced to give up the car or huddle around the dining table wearing three sweaters to stay warm.

“We are not eco-freaks,” said Carolina Gunnarsson, a sustainability officer with the Kalmar County regional council, as her teenage daughter, wearing a tank top, lounged on their living room sofa on a snowy February afternoon. “We’re just making it easy to change, giving people the tools.”

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If you think it’s just those liberal Swedes whose sole reason for their success is “it’s small and has a homogenous population”. Like why they can supply nationwide healthcare, universal education, paid maturnity leave and have the happiest population in the whole world. Well they do the same thing in Illinois, I mean the environment part.

http://www.prairiecrossing.com/pc/site/index.html

Welcome to Prairie Crossing

Prairie Crossing is a critically-acclaimed conservation community that was designed to combine responsible development, the preservation of open land and easy commuting by rail. The community offers a variety of housing options, including 359 single family homes and 36 condominiums, all designed in Midwestern vernacular architecture and built to the highest standards of energy efficiency. The single family homes are sold out, but a limited number of condominiums are still available! Please explore our website for information about the Organic Farm, shops and restaurants, Metra commuter rail service, Charter School, and our restored natural areas, as well as the Guiding Principles underlying the community. 

wetlands-home1.jpg

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Then you could say, “well that is all well and good for Illinois. But that wouldn’t fly in a small rural state”. Of course unless you are in say Georgia:

http://www.serenbecommunity.com/home.html

At home at Serenbe.
Let’s say you could create the perfect place to live. Blank slate. Anything you want.

You might want a place where your quality of life was extraordinarily high. Where you felt an easy sense of community. Where the principles of sustainability touched everything from your home’s methods of construction to the organic produce on your table that was grown by one of your neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, you might prefer an eclectic group, from artists to writers to farmers to business people. You might like to walk paths that take you through both forest and meadow, ride horses along tree-canopied trails, or hear music outdoors in your neighborhood amphitheatre. Maybe you’d just like a place to get away, a place where you can enjoy a simpler life. For miles around you the Chattahoochee Hill Country is protected with a master plan that calls for 80% green space.

Let’s say you’d like a place where you can stroll as well as stride. Where you can spend time being as well as doing. Then perhaps Serenbe is a place you’d be at home.

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Power Shift 09 And The Climate Change March In Washington – I hope this all goes well

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I am not sure how many youth focused websites have gotten the word however. More on the Youth Environmentalist Movement and their medium:

http://www.futuremajority.com/

  Sarah Burris’s blog

“The Republican party isn’t exactly Internet savvy”

Bloguette Meghan McCain had an interesting article in the Daily Beast yesterday that addresses the techless nature of the GOP.

During the campaign season the only youth outreach I could find coming out of the McCain campaign was Meghan and her friends that traveled with the campaign and reported on the goings on.

Since this seems to be the week of children of the GOP coming out to tell all it is fitting Meghan wanted to talk about her experience as well. She says that the whole idea of the blog and project about being on the trail “was met with confusion and resistance” to begin with. “A few people even asked me what’s a blog.”

For the record, what you’re reading right now…. is a blog.

She also said that she got the idea that people thought she was wasting her time, “The Republican party isn’t exactly Internet savvy,” she says.

I would argue that there are many people in the GOP that are very tech savvy. The College Republicans developed a nice little social network site that no one really uses, if you’re a frequent reader of FM you know we know all about that site. And there are a hand full of remarkable tech savvy guys (sadly they’re all men) who do some good work for a party that has little to no support for them. Meghan’s lament isn’t an isolated one.

“Unless the GOP evolves as the party that can successfully utilize the Web, we’ll continue to lose influence. I think nothing confirms this fact to be more true than this recent election. I don’t claim to be an expert on mobilizing voters, but a significant number of the readers on mccainblogette.com, my blog, were between the ages of 18 and 30, a key demographic that either party would want. Many of the established Republican strategists told me that young people would not visit my web site.”

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Though I am not sure that the Hip Hoppers are on board either:

http://hiphopcaucus.org/

Full Events Calendar »

 

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It kills me to point out that the Illinois Math and Science Academy page hasn’t been updated since September 2008. What? Did school start or something?:

http://lorax.wordpress.com/

McCain and Obama: Energy Voting History

Posted by syntaxflute on Friday, September 26, 2008

 Watching the presidential debate has pulled my vote in different directions – but I am weary of falling victim to the theatrical allure of words and public speaking when the position comes down to action.  If you are interested in the green words the candidates have buzzed about in oration, have a bit of fun.

Past Action predicts present – 50 McCain No votes for energy policies and Obama’s short voting term as Senator. 

the significance in voting

the significance in voting

But when it comes down to it, policy and action are the skeleton of a candidate.  Each offers an Energy Plan – Obama’s ‘New Energy for America’ vs. McCain’s Lexington Project.  Obama’s backbone policy: eliminate foreign oil, 1 million hybrid cars by 2015, and a cap and trade program cutting CO2 emissions by 2050.  McCain in short: increase off-shore drilling, open domestic natural gas, cap and trade system, construct nuclear plants, a clean car challenge. Refer to the policies and note the time lines and numerical promise as measure of policy strength. 

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You would think Solve Climate would be on board with it too. Well not exactly:

 http://solveclimate.com/

February 20, 2009

Reid Plans Climate Change Legislation by End of Summer (AP)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the energy legislation expected to be taken up in the coming weeks will be limited largely to promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Transportation Secretary Eyes Taxing Miles Driven (AP)

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he is considering taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn. A few governors are also floating the idea.

Scientists Map CO2 Emissions with Google Earth (AFP)

A team of U.S. scientists unveils an interactive Google Earth map showing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels across the United States.

Cost of Solar Fell 27% in Past Decade (San Francisco Chronicle)

The cost of installing solar panels on homes and businesses fell 27.6 percent from 1998 to 2008, according to a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that questions some of the conventional wisdom about solar’s price.

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These folks basically live in Washington. You would think they would be excited:

http://theusconstitution.org/blog.warming/

Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy

Last night, the NY Times offered hope that the long-awaited endangerment for CO2 finding may soon be near:

Lisa P. Jackson, the new E.P.A. administrator, said in an interview that she had asked her staff to review the latest scientific evidence and prepare the documentation for a so-called endangerment finding. Ms. Jackson said she had not decided to issue such a finding but she pointedly noted that the second anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. E.P.A., is April 2, and there is the wide expectation that she will act by then.

The article also notes that the endangerment finding “would set off one of the most extensive regulatory rule makings in history,” which may in turn “accelerate the progress of energy and climate change legislation in Congress.” This, of course, is exactly what we have argued should happen, if the Obama Administration is to succeed in bringing about its desired cap-and-trade bill in the near future.

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These folks can be forgiven for not attending. They are in India attending there own conference:

http://www.whatswiththeclimate.org/

Gayatari Pariwar offer full-fledged support to IYCN

Kabir / 19 February 2009 / News

Shirdi/ Kabir Arora

The Divine India Youth Association, working under the leadership of Gayatari Pariwar (a Spiritual Organization), offered support to the Indian Youth Climate Network, at a recent conference in Shirdi. Members of the organization pledged to promote eco-friendliness at all of their religious gatherings. Proposals included the use of paper-bags instead of plastic ones, investment in solar powered energy systems, the replacement of plastic cups with traditional clay cups, and the promotion of organic farming as not only an ecological solution but a spiritual pathway as well.

At their gathering at Shirdi, two IYCN members displayed many of the small changes we can all make. People showed keen interest in the IYCN campaign.

Gayatari Pariwar was founded by Shri Ram Sharma Acharya and is now based in Shanti Kunj, Haridwar.

Yes, They Could. So They Did.

Kartikeya Singh / 14 February 2009 / Commentary, News

February 15, 2009

Climate Solutions Road Tour Launch, Chennai, January 3, 2009

Thomas Friedman, New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/opinion/15friedman.html

So I am attending the Energy and Resources Institute climate conference in New Delhi, and during the afternoon session two young American women — along with one of their mothers — proposition me.

“Hey, Mr. Friedman,” they say, “would you like to take a little spin around New Delhi in our car?”

Oh, I say, I’ve heard that line before. Ah, they say, but you haven’t seen this car before. It’s a plug-in electric car that is also powered by rooftop solar panels — and the two young women, recent Yale grads, had just driven it all over India in a “climate caravan” to highlight the solutions to global warming being developed by Indian companies, communities, campuses and innovators, as well as to inspire others to take action. (more…)

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They publish Hansen and he doesn’t even mention it. Whoa:

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009432.html

Climate Change Demands a Transformative Change in Direction

WorldChanging Team
February 16, 2009 11:38 AM
Article Photoby James Hansen

Over a year ago I wrote to Prime Minister Brown asking him to place a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in Britain. I have asked the same of Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and other world leaders. The reason is this – coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet.

Our global climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear, and there is a potential for explosive changes with effects that would be irreversible – if we do not rapidly slow fossil fuel emissions over the next few decades.

Tipping points are fed by amplifying feedbacks. As Arctic sea ice melts, the darker ocean absorbs more sunlight and speeds melting. As tundra melts, methane a strong greenhouse gas, is released, causing more warming. As species are pressured and exterminated by shifting climate zones, ecosystems can collapse, destroying more species. The public, buffeted by day-to-day weather fluctuations and economic turmoil, has little time or training to analyze decadal changes. How can they be expected to evaluate and filter out advice emanating from special economic interests? How can they distinguish top-notch science and pseudoscience – the words sound the same?

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Our Energy Future – What does the omniscient Web say

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The Web, like the Great Oz himself, knows all and sees all. He can give the Scarecrow a brain:

 http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11580723

Energy

The future of energy

Jun 19th 2008
From The Economist print edition

A fundamental change is coming sooner than you might think

Instead of bullying and scaring people, the prophets of energy technology are attempting to seduce them. They promise a world where, at one level, things will have changed beyond recognition, but at another will have stayed comfortably the same, and may even have got better.

This time it’s serious

Alternative energy sounds like a cop-out. Windmills and solar cells hardly seem like ways of producing enough electricity to power a busy, self-interested world, as furnaces and steam-turbines now do. Battery-powered cars, meanwhile, are slightly comic: more like milk-floats than Maseratis. But the proponents of the new alternatives are serious. Though many are interested in environmental benefits, their main motive is money. They are investing their cash in ideas that they think will make them large amounts more. And for the alternatives to do that, they need to be both as cheap as (or cheaper than) and as easy to use as (or easier than) what they are replacing.

For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. The biofuels or batteries that will power cars in the alternative future should beat petrol at today’s prices. Of course, today’s prices are not tomorrow’s. The price of oil may fall; but so will the price of biofuels, as innovation improves crops, manufacturing processes and fuels.

Electrical energy, meanwhile, will remain cheaper than petrol energy in almost any foreseeable future, and tomorrow’s electric cars will be as easy to fill with juice from a socket as today’s are with petrol from a pump. Unlike cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, of the sort launched by Honda this week, battery cars do not need new pipes to deliver their energy. The existing grid, tweaked and smartened to make better use of its power stations, should be infrastructure enough. What matters is the nature of those power stations.

The price is right

They, too, are more and more likely to be alternative. Wind power is taking on natural gas, which has risen in price in sympathy with oil. Wind is closing in on the price of coal, as well. Solar energy is a few years behind, but the most modern systems already promise wind-like prices. Indeed, both industries are so successful that manufacturers cannot keep up, and supply bottlenecks are forcing prices higher than they otherwise would be. It would help if coal—the cheapest fuel for making electricity—were taxed to pay for the climate-changing effects of the carbon dioxide produced when it burns, but even without such a tax, some ambitious entrepreneurs are already talking of alternatives that are cheaper than coal.

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Please read the rest of the article for the pessimism that I cut out. He can also give the Lion courage:

http://www.energyfuturecoalition.org/editorsblog/Coalition-and-Partners-Launch-Rebuilding-America

Coalition and Partners Launch Rebuilding America

Submitted by jana on February 2nd, 2009

The Energy Future Coalition, in concert with a diverse cross-section of partners, recently submitted a plan to Congress to use building retrofit programs to put people back to work while reducing the U.S.’s energy footprint.  The building sector consumes 70% of electricity and emits 40% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.  Implementing energy efficiency retrofits presents an opportunity to create good jobs that not only reduce our environmental impact, but also create long-term energy savings for schools, homes, and businesses.

The plan would target retrofitting 4 million homes over the next two years.  Over the long-term, the plan recommends improving the efficiency of 50 million existing structures by 2020, creating 200,000 jobs. Energy efficiency is much cheaper than building new power plants and should be the first option for meeting energy demand.

Learn more >non

News Clip: Efficiency in Troubled Waters, Grist Magazine

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Please visit their amazing website. I couldn’t post it all. He can give the Tin Man lubricants that do not contain fossil fuels and a big old thumpin heart:

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/future-energy/

Free Energy Forums

Post New Topic

 

16Feb

Solar Energy “Power Towers” for California

Solar Power Towers California We mostly talk about solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. But we can utilize sunlight by using another technology known as concentrating solar technology. In this technology reflective mirrors are used to concentrate light onto a liquid to make steam. This steam then converts energy into electricity with the help of conventional turbines. Deserts are best places to avail this technology. One important aspect is, its air-cooling process conserves water, an important consideration for desert projects. Concentrating solar technology is to be utilized in California which has a directive to generate 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. 8 Comments

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But can he get Dorothy home to Kansas? I think the answer is yes:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment/

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn’t just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment — it cripples our economy and strains the budgets of working families all across America. President Obama and Vice President Biden have a comprehensive plan to invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs.

The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

  • Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
  • Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
  • Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
  • Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
  • Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Energy Plan Overview

Provide Short-term Relief to American Families

  • Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation.
  • Swap Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices.

Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years

  • Increase Fuel Economy Standards.
  • Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
  • Create a New $7,000 Tax Credit for Purchasing Advanced Vehicles.
  • Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
  • A “Use it or Lose It” Approach to Existing Oil and Gas Leases.
  • Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.

Create Millions of New Green Jobs

  • Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
  • Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source – Energy Efficiency.
  • Weatherize One Million Homes Annually.
  • Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology.
  • Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.

Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050

  • Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
  • Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change.

itsgettinghotinhere.org

kansas.jpg

Actually Kansas…..

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Valentine’s Day Energy Blogs – Those that talk of the energy of love

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Yes youall know that I am a google whore, but heh this year is on a roll. Martin Luther King’s Birthday in the same week that an African American is sworn in as President. Lincoln’s 200th Birthday in the same week as Valentine’s Days 600th Birthday. It’s true Valentine’s Day was invented by Gregory Chaucer 8 years after his likely death. Your first Romantic Blog is all about financial love. Ignore the buff guys name:

http://www.billgross.com/

 

How Electricity Should Be Priced – Proportional to Use

billUncategorizedComments (4)

Here’s a very bold idea on how electricity should be priced that I believe could completely change the world in several positive ways.

It would be the first, global, progressive pricing scheme that would give “life-line” like service to all in need of the freedom and convenience of basic electricity.  Second, it would, at the same time, provide the incentive for renewable energy to blossom, in an extremely fair and global way.

The idea is this – take the lowest possible electricity price anywhere on the planet, about $0.03 per kilolwatt hour, and offer that rate to everyone on the planet, for their first kilowatt hour (per month, per person).  For each doubling of usage, increase the rate $0.01.  So if you use 2 kilowatt hours per month, your rate is $0.04.  For 4 kilowatt hours per month, per person, your rate is $0.05.

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This collection of “alternative energy” was a lot like love, starting fast and quickly dieing down:

 http://www.bioeconomyblog.blogspot.com/

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Launch of the AlternativeEnergyBlogs

AlternativeEnergyBlogs is a gateway to the following Alternative Energy Blogs:

The Bioeconomy Blog
The Bioeconomy Blog is devoted to the promotion of all key literature relating to biorenewable fuels, most notably bioethanol and biodiesel. It will focus on the economic, environmental, medical, political, and social aspects of bioeconomy initiatives. The Bioeconomy Blog is a companion to the The Bioenergy Blog, which is devoted to the technical aspects and technologies associated with production.
[http://www.bioeconomyblog.blogspot.com/]
Facebook Group
[http://iastate.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2350983131]

The Bioenergy Blog
is devoted to the documentation of key literature relating to biorenewable fuels, most notably bioethanol and biodiesel. It is focused on the technical aspects and technologies associated with the production of these fuels. The Bioenergy Blog is a companion blog to The Bioeconomy Blog, which is focused on the non-technical aspects of bio-based fuels.
[http://thebioenergyblog.blogspot.com/]
Facebook Group
[http://iastate.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2363348674]

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This Blog reminds me of the J. Geils Band’s take on love…but is that Love Stinks or Whammer Jammer baby!

http://enviropundit.blogspot.com/

Bà R?a-V?ng Tàu: ?? lén 20 t?n ch?t th?i nguy h?i ra ??ng ru?ng

L??ng ch?t th?i này d?ng b?t có nhi?u màu xanh, vàng, ??, ?en… khác nhau ???c ?óng trong thùng phuy. Ông Tr?n Ti?n D?ng, chuyên viên Chi c?c B?o v? môi tr??ng t?nh BR-VT, cho bi?t ?ây là lo?i ch?t th?i nguy h?i, có kh? n?ng gây nguy hi?m cho môi tr??ng n??c và không khí xung quanh. Hi?n ??n v? này ?ã l?y m?u g?i xét nghi?m.

Ng??i dân t?i ?ây cho bi?t kho?ng 20 gi? ngày 7-11, có b?n xe ?ông l?nh và m?t ôtô mang bi?n s? TP.HCM ch?y ??n khu v?c này, ?? l?i các thùng phuy này r?i b? ?i. Trên thân nhi?u thùng phuy v?n còn ghi Nhà máy d?t Th?ng L?i TP.HCM. Phòng C?nh sát môi tr??ng Công an t?nh BR-VT ?ã vào cu?c ?? ?i?u tra v? vi?c.

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As if you could tell right? Love can be all over the map. Sunny, rainy, warm and cold on the same day. Much like this last Blog for the day:

 http://entropyproduction.blogspot.com/

Misplaced Priorities

So the Securities Exchange Commission is said to be probing Apple over accusations that they may have misled the public over the state of Steve Jobs’ health.

Let’s play a word association game:

Pancreatic cancer
+
Corporate executive
=
?Healthy?

One can imagine that if Jobs had cancer in the Islets of Langerhans, the portion of the pancreas responsible for insulin regulation, that yes, he might have some diabetic-like health issues associated with that. Doesn’t the SEC have something better to do? E.g. meanwhile we learn that Merrill-Lynch maneuvered to deliver $3 billion inbonuses before being bought-out by Bank of America. Merrill-Lynch lost over $20 billion in that quarter, and BoA is demanding that it be bailed out by the US taxpayer now for the same amount. This idea that financial companies need to pay out bonuses to retain “top talent” during a period when the financial sector is undergoing a severe contraction is a canard. Where are they going to go work, the construction industry?

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Cisterns, Another Personal Story – A house that was meant to recycle water

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I was reminiscing with a Guy who grew up in a rural Sangamon County household whose house was built to recycle water. I was telling him about my daily bucket brigade duty when I was staying at my great grandparents house. His name is David. He said, “OH yah well I had to do that everyday for almost 15 years”. He said that he grew up next to his grandmother’s house and she already had a well. It was hand dug by his dad and his grandfather. There was no way his dad was going to dig another well. So when they build his families house they put in a huge tile lined cistern feed from all of the downspouts off the roof. That was fed into  a tank inside the house by an electric pump which pressurized the whole system. The holding tank fed a hot water heater and a cold water line. The rest of the house was plumbed like a regular house.

The reader is probably thinking that what we are describing is a classic quaint little farmhouse setting with the large kitchen with the little bedroom off the kitchen for the married couple. They had a slightly larger “sitting room” that had a couch, some over stuffed chairs, a desk and some pictures on the wall for more formal entertaining and the children lived in the cramped attic. Where they sweltered  in the summer and froze in the winter. These house were usually all porch because folks spent most of their time outside. Well yes I am talking about those houses BUT these people have a cistern too:

 

http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~liz/home.html

 house_dec03.jpg

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That’s right please also note that there is a solar water preheat system (not shown) on the garage. This is a house in Floirda that is totally disconnected from any centralized distribution system, and they use a chemical composting toilet.

They did not drink cistern water mainly because of taste. Dave said the well water from his grandmothers house was so sweet it was like drinking candy. So that was his job as the little man in the house, he went to the well and filled up a 2 gallon porcelain bucket twice a day everyday until he went off to college. He noted that the job changed as he got older and so did his grandmother. He first started checking on her to see if she needed anything. Pretty soon he was getting water for her too. He said she had a reservoir on the back of her cob cook stove (which I had forgot about – my grannies did too). Eventually he was taking her ashes out for her too. The advantage was he got one breakfast from mom and then another from his grandma. 2 Breakfasts in one day. What a treat.

But the funniest stories were the ones about water conservation. He said repeatedly, “We were taught water was precious”.  Those lessons have not changed:

 http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=1681

He said, “You got whatever it was wet (teeth, body, dishes) and then you did whatever you needed to do. Then you turned the water back on BRIEFLY.” He said,”When you were in the shower if you heard the pump come on you knew it was time to get out of the shower no mater what because it was about to get real cold.” Laundry day was the toughest because his mother had a wood rod that she could stick in the cistern to measure its level. She knew that she could only use so much water washing clothes because they needed it for other things..the nearest water was 10 miles away.

Finally he said, “This was rammed home to us every couple of years because when it got really dry in some summers and falls we had to buy 500 gallons of water at a time. This guy from Sherman had a water truck and he would fill it up. He run a hose to your well or wherever you wanted it and dumped away.” It was kind of exciting when you were a kid. But, as he got older he realized that those gallons of water meant fewer new clothes for the school year, or that his shoes would have to last longer, or that maybe his sister couldn’t go to the Prom at school.” Then he said it again, “You know water is precious.”

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These people think so too:

 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/30/MNC615JNHB.DTL

Severe drought expected after mild January

Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 30, 2009

 

California teeters on the edge of the worst drought in the state’s history, officials said Thursday after reporting that the Sierra Nevada snowpack – the backbone of the state’s water supply – is only 61 percent of normal.

January usually douses California with about 20 percent of the state’s annual precipitation, but instead it delivered a string of dry, sunny days this year, almost certainly pushing the state into a third year of drought.

The arid weather is occurring as the state’s water system is under pressure from a growing population, an aging infrastructure and court-ordered reductions in water pumped through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta – problems that didn’t exist or were less severe during similar dry spells in the late 1970s and late 1980s.

“We’re definitely in really bad shape,” said Elissa Lynn, chief meteorologist with the state Department of Water Resources. “People can expect to pay higher prices for produce … and more agencies may be rationing … some raising fees. We just don’t have enough water.”

In Sonoma County, water managers are expected to take a bold step Monday – telling residents to prepare for severe rationing within weeks.

“We have entered uncharted territory,” said Pam Jeane, deputy chief engineer of operations at the Sonoma County Water Agency. “A 30 percent mandatory rationing order is just the beginning. Further decline in reservoir levels could necessitate 50 percent cutbacks.”

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Life With Cisterns – My Great Grandparents were big water recyclers

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When I was a young boy in the 1960’s I spent 2 weeks with Edna and Court Lutz, my great grandparents. They were independent hog farmers on a subsistence farm in a rural unincorporated village called New Philadelphia Illinois. It was a subsistence farm which for years had no running water. Part of the roof runoff went into rain barrels, and part of it ran directly into their well. The well was in the back of the house and it had a big 3 foot tall pump on the top it. Court had run a water line from the well into the house in the pantry/sink area off of the kitchen and put in a much smaller hand pump on the edge of the sink. We ate and cooked in the much larger 15 x 15 kitchen area which housed a 6 burner corn cob cook stove a big kitchen table and the refrigerator.

pump.jpg

www.depagro.com

short-pump.jpg

www.oak-barrel.com

I learned a lot about hard work from those folks, but in many ways they were the original eco friendly folks. I got my first tastes of many things the Christmas before our first summer stay. The Ross side of the family had Christmas dinner at Court and Edna’s  house. After dinner (it was actually late lunch but they called the evening meal supper) Edna said, “Would you boys pump some water for me”. So we rushed into the pantry and proceeded to pump and pump and pump. Finally between the two of us we got the water coming and filled up one of the sinks. But we were tuckered out.

Edna filled up a large kettle to heat water to wash the dishes and then started in on them.

kettle.jpg

www.physics.uc.edu

Mabel (my grandmother) decided that she wanted some lemonade and needed a gallon of water to make it. Court offered to go out to the bigger pump and get it. Steve and I said,”Will do it”! Once bundled and outside Court watched amused as we tried to get the pump arm to even move. Both of us at 6 and 7 years couldn’t budge it. Court laughed and said here let me get it started for you and he pumped the handle a couple of mighty pumps. We got water on about the third pump but we filled up the bucket which was way to much water. Damn thing was hard to control. We never asked about the toilets. We were not there long enough to need them. As we were leaving, I asked Court why they had rain barrels on the front gutter downspouts. He said that I would find out soon enough.

rainbarrel.jpg

www.iaswcd.org

We went back the next summer of 1961. We had been prepared somewhat. We had been told what outhouses were and of course because our father was a Biologist we were told how they worked. We had been told about chamberpots and how to deal with them. We had been given a deck of cards and informed that they had no TV. We had been told about their half acre garden and had been given some gloves. Also some advice on dealing with blisters. We had been warned about hogs (they had 5) and that Court got up early in the morning. BUT WE HAD no idea what we were infor. And yes that is all one word.

outhouse.jpg

truenorthhh.org

pot.jpg

www.crabcoll.com

truck.gif

truckpatchfarms.com/products.html

hogs.jpg

www.soc.iastate.edu

Little did we know we were about to become water mules. Court got us up at 4:30 in the morning. Gave us coffee. Something that we had never had before, and then took us out to “slop the hogs”. Which involved hauling food scraps and water in 8 gallon pails out to the hog lot. Then we had to “mix the mash” which amounted to us hauling water out to an out building and pouring it in barrels of corn to ferment. Then we hauled already fermented mash out to the hogs. Then we hauled our sad asses into the house for breakfast. Which we ate ravenously. More coffee. Grandma clucked. Then we went to take care of the garden. Which amounted to….you guessed it hauling water in 8 gallon buckets out to the biggest garden I had ever seen. I mean row after row. We hauled it from the rain barrels which were much closer and easier then pumping at the well. Yep that is what water recycling is all about. PHwefff  Sometime I will tell you about the 2 hole outhouse. Nothing left that farm but pigs and people. The pigs mercifully did not come back.

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For more info about up close and personal water recycling please see:

 http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

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Should You Be Drinking Cistern Water – I am not sure it’s such a good idea.

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Look if the world falls apart, like the survivalists predict. Civilization falls and the barbarians are at the gates. By all means drink any water you can get your hands on. But for day to day useage right now I would not. If you are seriously harvesting rainwater and recycling water your useage would be so low that sipping from the public water supply would be minimal. One of the problems is we so heavily pollute the air that you could never be sure that you were harvesting minute amounts of things like lead and mercury.

But if you must:

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http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education2/9-cistern-water.htm

CISTERN WATER

In some areas there are attempts to collect rainwater in cisterns. In general, these cistern waters are harder and contain more total solids than rain. This is due to the accumulation of dirt and dust on the surface of the cisterns. One study shows that in 500 household cisterns, hardness ranged from 35 to 150 ppm. Further, cistern waters often have a high bacterial count and noticeable color. While in many cases the organisms found in cisterns are nonpathogenic, it is advisable to chlorinate this water where it is used for drinking purposes.

According to recent news and reports, most tap and well water in the U.S. are not safe for drinking due to heavy industrial and environmental pollution. Toxic bacteria, chemicals and heavy metals routinely penetrate and pollute our natural water sources making people sick while exposing them to long term health consequences such as liver damage, cancer and other serious conditions. We have reached the point where all sources of our drinking water, including municipal water systems, wells, lakes, rivers, and even glaciers, contain some level of contamination. Even some brands of bottled water have been found to contain high levels of contaminants in addition to plastics chemical leaching from the bottle.

A good water filtration system installed in your home is the only way to proactively monitor and ensure the quality and safety of your drinking water. Reverse osmosis water purification systems can remove 90-99% of all contaminants from city and well water to deliver healthy drinking water for you and your family.

Click to see details of Ultra Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System !
Healthy and Convenient! Our Featured Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System

 

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Indeed some claim that it could be real dangerous. If you have a weak stomach quit reading:

 http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/13/1/38

Atmospheric Deposition and Roof-Catchment Cistern Water Quality1

Edward S. Young, Jr. and William E. Sharpe2 ABSTRACT

The water quality in 40 roof-catchment cistern systems in rural Clarion and Indiana Counties, Pa. was studied to determine the impact of atmospheric deposition. Roof-catchment cisterns are open to atmospheric contaminants such as the toxic metals Pb and Cd, and corrosive acid components present in acid precipitation.

Bulk precipitation samples failed to meet the drinking water standard for Pb on several occasions and were consistently quite corrosive. Mean Pb, Cd, and Cu concentrations were well below drinking water limits for all cistern water samples. Cistern water was corrosive in all but a few cases, as indicated by the Langelier saturation index, although not as corrosive as the bulk precipitation due to the dissolution of CaCO3 from cistern walls and floors. Vinyl-lined cisterns contained water nearly as corrosive as the incoming precipitation.

Seventy percent of the systems on one or more occasions exhibited cistern bottom sediment/water Pb or Cd concentrations that exceeded the drinking water limits. This indicated that metals deposited on roof catchments were accumulating at the bottom of the cisterns. Standing tap water samples exhibited high Pb and Cu concentrations. Nine of the forty systems studied produced standing tap water Pb concentrations that averaged above the drinking water standard. The mean Pb, Cd, and Cu concentrations of running tap water samples all fell below the drinking water standards. Atmospheric deposition of Pb and its infusion into tap water as a corrosion product pose a significant health threat to users of roof-catchment cistern systems in western Pennsylvania.

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On the other hand after proper filtration and clorination these folks seem to think its OK. But I let you read it for yourself:

 http://www.inspect-ny.com/water/WaterCisterns.htm

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