Environmentally friendly, green ways of living
There are 363 posts filed in Green (this is page 34 of 37).
So, where is my fuel cell? Ten years ago they were supposedly ten years away.
I could deal with the drought two ways with a fuel cell. I could (quietly!) generate electricity for my air conditioner, heat my hot water, and produce my own water (though probably not enough to whet my lawn’s thirst). Sadly, without using hydrogen as a fuel the cell would produce carbon dioxide in the process, so it wouldn’t otherwise help on the green front.
So, why aren’t residential fuel cells on the market yet?
Just found out that Anita Roddick, founder of the Wake Forest-based, eco-friendly Body Shop store chain, died yesterday of a massive brain hemorrhage. Roddick, dubbed the “Queen of Green,” was a long-time eco-activist who also maintained a frank and entertaining blog.
A few connections to Roddick and The Body Shop: I applied for an IT job at The Body Shop a few months ago, one of her books was published by Kelly’s former publishing company (Charlesbridge), and my mom once interviewed with Roddick for a job as Roddick’s administrative assistant. My mom called it a memorable interview and I can see why!
Roddick was quite a woman.
I was delighted to find out today that Raleigh’s District B has some real choice for next month’s election: Rodger Koopman. I think Koopman will bring a breath of fresh air to the Raleigh City Council, something it desperately needs. He gets bonus points for being a veteran and an IT geek like me.
Koopman is also steadfast against paving our nature parks, like Horseshoe Farm Park and my beloved neighborhood park, Durant Nature Park. In other words, Koopman will actually listen to his constituents. Imagine!
Koopman is attending some meet-and-greets tonight. I might show up to see what he has to say. For those who can’t make it, you can watch the Youtube campaign video from his run for Wake County Commissioner last year.
I just finished the Bill Bryson book, A Short History Of Nearly Everything: a fun, fascinating review of all the science you never paid attention to in school. Bryson has a lot of ground to cover, bringing to life discoveries in the atomic world, genetics, geology, physics, astrophysics, and many, many others. He whittles these complicated subjects down to their human stories, while keeping the science real. I found it very entertaining, as I mentioned here before.
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I never thought I’d be happy to get a $182 electric bill but I was today. In spite of record-breaking heat this summer, with a string of days above 100 degrees, our August power bill is actually less than it was last August! With power experts warning of bills 11% higher or more, I was sure we’d be looking at a record power bill. Needless to say I’m pleasantly surprised!
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Lately I’ve been wondering what impact this situation has on global warming. I’m sure its a dramatic one, and one that’s probably often overlooked.
Steve Wozniak, the legendary engineer who created the Apple computer, has now focused his considerable talent on creating more energy efficient houses.
Woz has always been a huge proponent of engineering efficiency. This drove him to design the Apple do some miraculous things with a mere handful of parts – a fraction of what competitiors used. Its no surprise then that he’s drawn to the clever tricks that can be used to heat and cool homes.
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That does it, I surrender. With the stage 1 water restrictions taking effect Tuesday and the thought of Falls Lake going dry in January, I can’t in good conscience pour thousands of gallons of city water onto my fescue lawn. From now on, whatever water it gets won’t be coming from the tap.
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We are awash in chemicals and have only the faintest idea how they’re affecting us.
(h/t Huffington Post)
I just placed another digital thermometer on the south side of my house. It just registered 113 degrees! This while my weather station reads 112. Its obviously in the shade.
It really is that hot outside! No wonder my long-suffering lawn is dying (and my home AC is struggling).
