What green thing(s) are you doing to contribute?

[Seasoned Oak]

Reducing consumption of meat would have a huge impact on the environment. Might save the rain forest and UNclog yur arteries.

 

[katwillny]

Heck yeah it counts. "Keep it local" is catching on.

Ive been more conscious of spending money local and investing in local economy. Sure i can go to the walmart and save some money, but Id rather pay a few more cents on our Main Street supermarket and give the guys the business. Locally owned market, or go to the corner store and pay a few cents more for the gallon of milk and eggs. It keeps my fellow Beaconites employed and gives my city tax revenue which hopefully keep that police officer employed and that music teacher teaching my kids the importance of music and arts. It all counts.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Buy local ,who knows what chemicals are in foreign food as its just not tested on a regular basis. WHen they do test thay find some nasty stuff in some foreign foods like "farm raised" seafoods. And also produce.

 

[begreen]

Buying local also dramatically reduces the carbon emissions needed to transport the food (or beverage) to you. I just tried a new stout made just 5 miles from my house and it was quite nice.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Buying local also dramatically reduces the carbon emissions needed to transport the food (or beverage) to you. I just tried a new stout made just 5 miles from my house and it was quite nice.

Just read that the average "meal" consumed in the US travels 1500 miles from, its origin,thats just crazy,makes you think fuel cost to little it this is economically feasable.

 

[lukem]

Just read that the average "meal" consumed in the US travels 1500 miles from, its origin,thats just crazy,makes you think fuel cost to little it this is economically feasable.

That's an amazing number, not to mention all the energy required to maintain temperature during transit and storage. Even been to a grocery DC? They have massive coolers and deep freezes that spin the meter like you wouldn't believe.

I have several meals a week with less than 10 miles on them during the growing season, and into the winter until the freezer runs dry.

I grow my own veggies, taters, and chickens within 1/4 mile. Buy whole hogs from 5 miles away, and hunt deer 10 miles away. That saves a lot of diesel and refrigeration energy.

 

[Normande]

Reducing consumption of meat would have a huge impact on the environment. Might save the rain forest and UNclog yur arteries.

More like change were you sorce your meat and production systems are highly subjective to management, but I see you have been reading "folks this ain't normal", excellent example of more sustainable system.

 

[btuser]

I have a friend with an SVO kit. He spent several thousand dollars, and 3/4 of his trunk is taken up by a tank and he's always worried about making a mess.

He struggles with bad grease and filtering it.

I spent half as much.. keep the mess out of my car. I am very fortunate that I have a GREAT grease source that does pre-filter for me. I eat there frequently and I give him a little cash now and then to keep him happy. More often than not, I barter with my wife's photography services for the restaurant owner's family. They are my neighbors.

I need to shop methanol for this season. I'm sure my costs are going up over last year's BUCK a gallon all in price.

That's a great situation. Do you run 100%, premix or top off while at home?

I'd totally be willing to invest in the infrastructure if I could guarantee my supply. In this way I'm no different than your average multimillionaire.

 

[JP11]

My home oil burner runs about 66% bio. The cars run 100% bio from april to december.

You can add petro diesel at any time.. but I don't go that far from home. I have been known to put a couple jugs of homebrew in the trunk to avoid the pump on a long trip.

Oil burner in my home CAN run 100% bio.. but needs cleaning, or at least checking too often. Output of the boiler is too closely matched to home requirements.. so the less "punch" from b100 was just too much of a handicap. With the blend.. I keep the heat up, and clean it about every 400 hours or so of burner time. Equals 3 cleanings a winter. Or at least it DID.... before I installed wood boiler last month.

JP

 

[Seasoned Oak]

We have been getting a lot of wild game lately,seems many of those fisherman and hunters do not eat their catch. WIfe cooked up a big batch of deer meat the other day and our 15 Yr old daughter raved about how good it was until we told her it was deer meat, then fell silent. Just had some mountain ram stew yesterday. Excellent. Eating wild game is VERY green IMO.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

We have been getting a lot of wild game lately,seems many of those fisherman and hunters do not eat their catch. WIfe cooked up a big batch of deer meat the other day and our 15 Yr old daughter raved about how good it was until we told her it was deer meat, then fell silent. Just had some mountain ram stew yesterday. Excellent. Eating wild game is VERY green IMO.

Be thankful for what was given to you, sometimes those folks just happen to luck out and harvest what is a surplus for them, other times they can't "catch" (term my wife uses to mean something else) a thing.

We won't discuss other things that transpire.

 

[osagebow]

I'm lucky to have parents that lived thru the depression and taught me frugality,flexibility and fixabiliy. (Youngest of 8 -dad was Italian... Do most of what's been mentioned, but the bears don't let me compost. One was face-to face with the wife in the window as she was cooking. (fed him her cooking, and he hasn't been back- hehe... ) she's actually a good cook, and had me eating a lot greener. I know some may not agree, but in most parts of the country, deer are an abundant,heart healthy,low cfp protein source, and can devestate the environment. We camp in Shenandoah Nat. Park, and it's ecosystem is falling apart from the deer. ( I teach bio and ecology, and have plenty of tie dies and dead shows under my belt btw . =D ) Usually get a deer for me and one for our single mom neighbor if I can. Her girl is the only one that can handle sitting my 2 craaazy boys...no mas

 

[velvetfoot]

Too bad diesel (and, of course, fuel oil) is so expensive here. I used to get 50 mpg in my Beetle TDI, but my MINI's 40+ mpg or so, isn't that bad in comparison when cost taken into account.

 

[ihookem]

I went to a car that avr. 40 mpg instead of my deisel truck. In 2 months I saved 100 gal. of deisel. I also, compost in our garden. I burn my garbage. This is a debate but ash is little. I also have 5 chickens that live off the yard and scrap like egg shells, old bread, cereal and fruit. I kind of quit cfl's. They burn out fast for me. I saw 100 watt incadecent bulbs that use 72 watts. At least it's the right direction. Oh well. I do very little driving after being home.

 

[btuser]

I went to a car that avr. 40 mpg instead of my deisel truck. In 2 months I saved 100 gal. of deisel. I also, compost in our garden. I burn my garbage. This is a debate but ash is little. I also have 5 chickens that live off the yard and scrap like egg shells, old bread, cereal and fruit. I kind of quit cfl's. They burn out fast for me. I saw 100 watt incadecent bulbs that use 72 watts. At least it's the right direction. Oh well. I do very little driving after being home.

If the CFLs are burning out too quick try a different brand. I know some are not good in upside/down fixtures and will burn out quick. Another common killer is dimmer switches.

 

[ihookem]

Never thought of them upside down. I know not ot buy the real cheap ones. I might spend a bit extra and get GE or sylvians. They're all made in China though. If they can make a regular bulb burn half what it used to I'd just use those.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

CFLs are old tech already,LEDS are taking hold,they are everywhere,from cars and truck lights to street lights,been replacing CFLS one at a time at home wth LEDs.

 

[begreen]

Actually, I've had great luck with 4-6 bulb packs of cheaper CFL floods from Home Depot and the like. We have 8 in the kitchen and I date the bulbs. They last a little longer than the halogens I used to use. We get about 2.5 yrs on average, but they are on a lot and use less than half the power of the 45w halogens, which used about half the original incandescent savers that were in there. (GE Miser 90w). The halogens weren't cheap either.

We only used cfls for bulbs that are on for extended periods of time. The bulb in our living room floor lamp is going on 4 yrs now. It's on every night. In the winter it can be on for about 10 hrs./day.

 

[Slow1]

CFLs are old tech already,LEDS are taking hold,they are everywhere,from cars and truck lights to street lights,been replacing CFLS one at a time at home wth LEDs.

I agree here - I've been watching for the LED bulbs when they come up on sale at Lowes for under $10. Still a lot to pay for a bulb, but I am working them into the highest use locations and so far they seem to be much nicer than the CFLs as they are instant-on to color/brightness and have been accepted by the family. Interestingly they are directional by nature thus putting some in the kitchen cans has worked very well even though they are not actually intended to be used as floods. I don't expect to buy any more CFLs.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I agree here - I've been watching for the LED bulbs when they come up on sale at Lowes for under $10. Still a lot to pay for a bulb, but I am working them into the highest use locations and so far they seem to be much nicer than the CFLs as they are instant-on to color/brightness and have been accepted by the family. Interestingly they are directional by nature thus putting some in the kitchen cans has worked very well even though they are not actually intended to be used as floods. I don't expect to buy any more CFLs.

Sams club usually has the best prices on LEDS and CFLs.

 

[begreen]

I agree here - I've been watching for the LED bulbs when they come up on sale at Lowes for under $10. Still a lot to pay for a bulb, but I am working them into the highest use locations and so far they seem to be much nicer than the CFLs as they are instant-on to color/brightness and have been accepted by the family. Interestingly they are directional by nature thus putting some in the kitchen cans has worked very well even though they are not actually intended to be used as floods. I don't expect to buy any more CFLs.

Can you provide a link to the bulb for under $10 that you are using in the kitchen cans?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I think i paid $15 for a 2 pack at sams. That would be $7.50 a bulb. Goin there soon,every time i go there (2 to 3 x a year)they are cheaper.

 

[begreen]

The 2 paks for conventional style LED bulbs are going for $20 out here at Sams Club, but they are wimpy 2.5w bulbs. The brightest PAR38 floodlight they sell is only 4w, but that is equivalent of a 30w incandescent. I want 100W equivalent. The best I find it at Lowes which is 65W, but they want $28 for them and the lamp draws 16W. That's pretty close to the 19W CFLs I currently have installed at about $2.50 apiece. But the CFLs are brighter. 3 watts saved for over 10x the cost for less light? I still don't see the value here. Where's the beef?

(broken link removed)

 

[Crane Stoves]

I use recycled "everything" whenever im able for 2 purposes #1 im broke and it saves money #2 it helps the environment

I just started learning about composting and have added that to my repertoire...im going to make my own soil instead of buying the plastic bag fulls from home depot.

 

[jharkin]

To answer the original question, what we do....

• We live in an old house
  • I think that living in a house that was built by hand before the modern age and updating it represents far less overall consumption of energy/resources than tearing it down and building new does, no matter how much "green tech" you use
• We have update said old house for better efficiency
  • Blown in cellulose insulation, extensive air sealing, storm windows
  • I've measured a reduction in energy use for heating from over 12 BTU/HDD/FT2 down to ~9 BTU/HDD/FT2 due to this work and there is still more to do
  • Same as with the old house, I think keeping our 100+ year old wood windows (that can easily last 100 more) well maintained and covered in storm windows is a much lower long term energy use that ripping them out for replacements made of crude oil that will fail in 20 years.
• Wood accounts for 30-40% of our heating needs.
  • I try and get as much of the wood as I can locally from trees that were downed anyway and process by hand.
• We have installed CFLs throughout the house and now some LEDs in high use fixtures.
• Energy star dishwasher and Fridge
• We try and turn off lights as much as possible and have the AV stack, computers, etc on switchable power strips
• We recycle everything the town will accept.
  • -Most weeks we put out two full bins of recycling or more. If not for twin toddlers we would average less than a can of trash a week. (we just couldn't deal with cloth diapers... i know I know)
• We do not irrigate the lawn.
• We do not use chemicals on the lawn.
• My wife has an herb garden and is trying to expand it to vegetables.
• We are buying more (not all) local, organic and in season food.
  • We try and support local farm stands and small town groceries. We have thought about joining a CSA at some point.
• To commute to work I drive a 10year old car that gets 30+ mpg.
• Our second car is a bit of a guzzler, a Honda pilot. However:
  • We bought it used.
  • Usually there are 4 of us riding which actually equates to a better passenger miles per gallon than my commuter car.
• I do all my own maintenance on both cars and recycle everything (not sure if that makes a difference)
• We always look for opportunities to buy things we need secondhand, I try to fix rather than throw away and replace when things break.

I think I am doing better than average, but am under no illusions that the above is more than a drop in the ocean towards solving the problems society faces. If I use one of those carbon footprint calculators I think it said I'm using a 3 earth share of natural resources.... much better than the 5 or 6 earth USA average but still a major problem given we only have ONE earth available.


Oh and Ive been doing most of this since long before "Green" was trendy. I totally support being green I just get annoyed by people who are only into it because its popular and or think buying ("green") stuff is the solution.