Category: sustainable living
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Pop Quiz, “1,600 hours to get 7,500 miles,” How fast is that?
That’s about 5mph. Your car, my car, our time and money. This No Tech Magazine post has some wonderful excerpts from a book, “Energy and Equity” written in 1978. With his much lower salary, the Chinese acquires his durable bicycle in a fraction of the working hours an American devotes to the purchase of his…
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Bicycle Cargo Racks
I was thinking about bicycle racks recently, and I’ve noted some items that I think are worthy of mention. Of course, you can find cheap bike racks on Amazon, but we’d rather support local business, no? Don’t forget you can also get cheap Bell brand bicycle computers at Fred Meyers ~$12. I think the most…
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Consider: Organic, the World Over?
This is a great little article about how organic farming should be able to scale globally. I’ve heard many interviews on various science podcasts where guests (and their sponsoring corporations) are convinced that existing agriculture techniques are incapable of feeding the whole world…thus the “obvious need” for GMO crops. Let’s presume that’s false for a…
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Ever heard of Bio-char?
I don’t recall where I’ve heard of pyrolyzation before, but it’s the partial burning of biomass…creating charcoal. This post discusses an article and how biochar fixes carbon dioxide into the ground in the form of charcoal. I don’t necessarily believe the numbers. Also, if a leading source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is actually…
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Imagine Bank Subsidy for Community Solar
I stumbled up this news release about a bank in Uttar Pradesh, India, that is providing loans to help install solar panels. I’m going to alter a section and make it more American just for the sake of illustration–to help you image the number of people this press release is talking about: For providing the solar…
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Box My Bike? Whuutchatalkinbout? #bike
Apparently, Portland is going to adopt “bike boxes” in busy intersections. These are setback to the limit-lines painted in intersections where cyclists are allow to land ahead of cars–and right-on-red turns are prohibited! Here’s a picture from the article: These bike boxes will not obviate the need for cyclists to learn to claim the lane…
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SpinCycle Spotted in Bellingham!
I wish I took a picture! We were at the Procession of the Species Parade celebration and a gray haired woman rolled up on a lustrous purple tadpole-recumbent trike. My hand flashed out and I pronounced, “Now, that! …is the bike I’ve been talking about! Don’t you want that, sweetie?” The pilot was so impressed…
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Bullet Time for Pigs
I get a large fraction of my meat from independent farmers, and I’m enrolled in a local CSA. I grew up in The Meatrix, but I hope to keep my children free.
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(Tech Nation) Interview with John Hagel
Ever consider what role passion plays in your career? Do passionate people interested in a common topic group geographically? This interview with John Hagel discusses these topics. The most interesting quote from the interview: “…the larger the organization, the lower the level of passion; whereas people in smaller businesses show higher levels of passion. Entrepreneurs,…
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