Green

Environmentally friendly, green ways of living

There are 363 posts filed in Green (this is page 27 of 37).

Home tonight

We got back this evening for an overnight stay in Raleigh before heading to the coast. Our timing put us into RTP right before 5PM, meaning we ran smack into rush-hour traffic. Gazing at the sea of brake-lights heading east, I thanked my lucky stars once again for my bicycle commute!

We stopped by Linville Caverns on the way home. The caverns didn’t disappoint, being sufficiently dark, damp, and stalagtite-y to keep us entertained. I expected there to be bigger rooms here and there but that’s not the way caves work. Still, it was a fun diversion.
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Stacking the forums on the biolab?

I’m really perplexed at the outpouring of support for the troubled Butner biodefense lab which appears in the WRAL forums today. In my opinion having deadly pathogens in my backyard is on par with having a nuclear waste dump there. Yet, there are posters in the WRAL forums who inexplicably loves them some anthrax.

Either someone’s stacking the forums, they don’t fully appreciated the danger of such a facility, or these people know what it is and truly think its a good idea.

How dry I am

I wish it would rain again. I’m down to my last 220 gallons of rainwater!

All kidding aside, the rain tank has been nicely supplying water for our landscaping and vegetable garden. I’ve been taking 5 gallon buckets of water around to the various plants around the yard. While carting buckets does the job, what I’ve really needed is a pump to distribute the water.

This afternoon I got what I needed. My pump arrived from Northern Tool and Equipment, a Wayne Stainless Steel Sprinkler Pump. Its got a full horsepower for running sprinkler heads or for watering through long stretches of hose. I can probably run more than one sprinkler on it if I wanted to.

I also wanted a continuous-duty pump. Many I had seen were rated to cool for 30 minutes for every 15 minutes they ran. That might be good for some uses but I wanted something a little sturdier. Supposing I get a bigger tank someday, like a 1200 gallon tank, I want a pump that can drain it dry without missing a beat. This pump might be the one.

Of course, even a 330 gallon rain tank is not enough to water the yard with on a regular basis. This pump can push 720 gallons each hour, so it will drain my tank in short order. What I hope to do, though, is give the grass an occasional sip during dry spells. And if things work out I can add a bigger tank later.

Now all I need is for the suction hose to arrive and I’ll be able to run the sprinklers or wash my car with water from my tank.

Weather (and gas pump) avoidance

It should top out above 100 degrees today. That heat and my cold didn’t keep me from biking today, though. I’m proud to say I’ve kept two-wheeling in whenever I can.

We’re looking to duck out of the heat this weekend, though, when we stay at a Black Mountain cabin for a few days. We then will return home before heading out to Carolina Beach for another few days. One of these places, I suspect, will be cooler than the other.

On a related, biking-to-work note. Today’s N&O told of people trying to live near where they work. Imagine that: people not driving all over creation to get to their jobs! What a concept! I had to chuckle when I read that and thank my lucky stars that we’re living downtown and I’m working downtown. My guess is we’re saving about $300 each month on gas.

Silent streets

Kelly figured out that her daily errands take her six miles each way from home. She wondered if we might trade one of our gas vehicles in for an all-electric one, which would comfortably fit that range. If we can find one thats affordable and doesn’t roll to a stop just outside of walking distance from where it started, we might give it a try. But there is another drawback to an electric car (or benefit, depending on how you look at it): they’re whisper quiet.

One thing I’ve noticed in my months of biking to work is how attuned people are to the sound of an approaching car or truck. Many times I’ll cringe as people open their car doors or walk out in front of me, paying no attention to the bike closing in on them. And its not just a matter of of not seeing me: they don’t even look for me. My bike is not loud enough.

If your vehicle isn’t making a racket, expect to brake for all kinds of chaos.

When obsessions conflict

I recently switched out our shower head for a low-flow version that spits out 30% less water. Knowing I was saving water satisfied my urge to go green … until I realized that the new shower head doesn’t pour water out in individual streams like the old one but instead sprays it – like an aerosol.
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Home Depot recycles CFL bulbs

Remember my post about the dangers of not recycling CFL bulbs? I just got word from the City of Raleigh’s recycling program that Home Depot will accept CFL bulbs for recycling. Says Linda Leighton, Raleigh’s Waste Reduction Specialist:

Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) are lighting more homes than ever before, and Raleigh Recycling encourages our residents to use and recycle them safely. Carefully recycling CFLs prevents the release of mercury into the environment and allows for the reuse of glass, metals and other materials that make up fluorescent lights. Until now CFLs had to be taken to one of Wake County’s Household Hazardous Waste Facilities, the North Wake facility open the first Saturday of each month and the South Wake facility open the third Saturday of each month.
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Why Pat McCrory is an idiot

Infamous bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks allegedly replied “because that’s where the money is.”

In a press release explaining his position supporting offshore drilling, N.C. Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory asked:

“If we’re not willing to drill off our own coasts, then where will you drill?” he asked. “Off Venezuela? Off Nigeria? Saudi Arabia? Russia?”

Um, maybe someplace where there’s actually oil, Pat? Have you noticed that Venezuela has four times the oil, Nigeria has almost twice the oil, Saudi Arabia has ten times the oil, and Russia has three times the oil we do? And it would be even more lopsided if Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay was excluded?

There is more oil in the Middle East than all other world regions combined. We don’t drill off North Carolina because that’s not where the oil is!

Please get a clue, Pat.

Offshore drilling

Anyone who wants to drill for oil off our beautiful North Carolina coast needs to check themselves into Dorothea Dix Hospital. Any oil there is too miniscule to make a difference in supply, it will take at least a decade to get anything from it, and one spill would absolutely devastate our coastal tourism industry: about the only thing Eastern North Carolina can depend on. Possibly for years to come.

McCrory and Dole need to get a clue. Bev Perdue wins on this issue.